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Depending On The Writer / Anime & Manga

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Examples of characterization changing dramatically Depending on the Writer in Anime and Manga series.


  • Area 88:
    • In the manga and OVA, Mickey is cheerful and friendly without being overbearing, and his angst is mostly internalized. In the 2004 TV anime, he's loud, overbearing, and has serious anger issues.
    • In the manga and OVA, Shin is sociable and develops warm relationships with others at Area 88. In the TV anime, he speaks only when necessary and is aloof from the other pilots, only developing shallow ties to Mickey and Kim.
  • The title character of Cardcaptor Sakura can range between being something of a fairly normal Naïve Everygirl with visible cynicism and neuroses, or an incorruptibly sweet and cheery Cloud Cuckoo Lander. This usually plays into the characters she interacts with (against Kero or Tomoyo for example, Sakura is something of an exasperated Straight Man, when paired with Syaoran however, her obliviousness and affectionate qualities are exaggerated to unbearable levels for the poor guy).
  • Daimos: Richter is either abusive as all hell to the most loyal of his underlings or caring enough to personally see that they get their injuries tended to and makes exceptions to their family members from punishment.
  • Dragon Ball:
    • Goku suffers a mild case of this. Toei, the people who write and make the anime adaptation of the series, tend to portray Goku as more heroic than his manga counterpart. Goku is still a good person in all media, but Akira Toriyama's version of the character is more selfish, self-centered, and prone to overconfidence. His level of childishness also varies. The dub tends to play down Goku's immaturity and just make him fun-loving and somewhat clueless, while Toei sometimes play up his childishness and naivety for comedy. The manga version of Goku can be childish and very laid-back, but is mostly serious. Toriyama famously complained about this in an interview in The New '10s, and subsequently Dragon Ball Super (which has Toriyama's involvement) portrayed Goku closer to the manga version (if not even more amoral and childish); one scene in particular has him openly admitting "I'm Not a Hero, I'm... just a guy looking for a good fight", but he still battles evil people and protects the innocent because it's the right thing to do.
    • Raditz being low class or elite seems to vary from who is writing and the source, Daizenshuu goes so far as to say that he was not only low class but one of the weakest saiyans to ever exist, while other sources say that he was an elite warrior, having the same status as Nappa, even if he was much weaker than him.
  • Fairy Tail has quite a lot of Fanservice with the male protagonist Natsu reacting to it in different ways across the manga, anime and OVA specials. He's either just as perverted as the other guys and enjoys seeing resident Reluctant Fanservice Girl Lucy and Shameless Fanservice Girl Erza naked, is unfazed but acknowledges it due to having Seen It All due to the sheer amount of times the girls have ended up in embarrassing situations, is embarrassed himself and shies away from the girls, is straight up oblivious to it, or is a Shameless Fanservice Guy like Erza and doesn't mind being naked around the girls with only Erza of course returning the favor. Thus, he has five different reactions and can't seem to stick to one consistently. His reaction to love meanwhile varies from being Oblivious to Love, implied crushes or She Is Not My Girlfriend defenses.
  • Getter Robo:
    • The original manga team generally alternate between the Sociopathic Hero characterization of the original manga and most of the more recent animated productions and the more conventionally heroic 1970s anime version.
    • Played with to amusing effect in Super Robot Wars Z where, due to Super Dimension Century Orguss's dimension hopping shenanigans the two versions meet. The cartoon Getter Team are understandably horrified by their Darker and Edgier counterparts.
  • It's hard for those who have only seen Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell movies to imagine the introverted and philosophical Major Motoko Kusanagi getting drunk off her ass or engaging in a drug-fueled cyberspace lesbian sex orgy but that's just the way Masamune Shirow rolls. The TV series, meanwhile, strikes a comfortable balance. While the Major's less of a party animal she does retain some of the manga version's sarcastic sense of humor, and her vices are hinted at, but kept mostly off-screen.
  • Lupin III can vary wildly in tone, ranging from fairly innocent PG affairs (especially when Hayao Miyazaki is involved) to hard R-rated stuff, and from wacky comedy to serious drama. As such, the characters can be pretty different depending on who's writing. The difference between the anime adaptations and the original manga are the most jarring.
    • Lupin III himself is consistently the world's greatest thief, but other aspects of his personality can vary wildly. Most adaptations have him as a Chivalrous Pervert with a special place in his heart for Fujiko. He's also a more playful thief who only kills in self defense (and NEVER kills anyone who doesn't already have it coming) and helps people in need along the way. The original manga, however, depicted him an outright lecherous rapist who was much more willing to kill.
    • Inspector Zenigata, Lupin's foil, ranges from completely goofy to completely serious. Most of the time, he's a Large Ham Determinator who is constantly chasing Lupin while also being on the receiving end of numerous Amusing Injuries. However, there are times where he's not a victim of slapstick and is treated as a completely serious threat to Lupin, even willing to shoot him dead.
    • Whether Lupin and his gang are the heroes of the story or the villains, and whether the series is a case of Black-and-Gray Morality, Evil Versus Evil, or Grey-and-Gray Morality also depends.

  • My Hero Academia:
    • The Bully and The Rival Bakugou is either on good terms with Kirishima, making it the only positive relationship he has with someone in the class, or someone who just barely tolerates his existence. It varies amongst all the adaptations and is somewhere in the middle.
    • Yaoyorozu does have an arc on regaining her confidence, but her other anxieties such as the fact that she needs to wear a revealing outfit for her quirk work, is dealt with her either being a Shameless Fanservice Girl who pays it no mind even if she has to flash the guys, to a clumsy wreck when the embarrassment sets in.
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • Ash totters around the territory of Idiot Hero, though in some episodes he is just Book Dumb and otherwise lucid and competent, while in others he is an absurdly oblivious Butt-Monkey and prone to arrogance and hotheadedness. It doesn't help that post-Sinnoh after some fairly consistent development, his characterization has been all over the place with Best Wishes regressing his maturity and battling skills back to Kanto-era levels in a widely controversial move. XY would return him to his mature and competent Sinnoh-era characterization, while Sun and Moon with its Denser and Wackier tone in the earlier portions has him flip-flopping between The Ace and the Butt-Monkey depending on the situation.
    • The closeness of Jessie and James varies with each writer. They either are in Ship Tease zone, Just Friends that get along quite well, or are Vitriolic Best Buds.
    • The Team Rocket trio as a whole vary on the villain scale. Their most iconic depiction is that of goofy Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains, though they have on multiple occasions acted out rather menacing or downright sinister plans. They can also either be Anti Villains with a huge moral compass, or Faux Affably Evil Jerkasses who enjoy being as despicable and cruel as possible.
    • Goh's resourcefulness tends to take many dips as he's portrayed as a prodigy that is just as good as, better, or worse than Ash himself. Some episodes aren't sure if he should be smarter than Ash to solve certain issues that he could easily solve using his vast amount of growing Pokémon reserves.
      • There is also how he connects to Pokémon on a personal level that relate to his shut-in past. Sometimes, he can relate to them. Other times? The narrative tries to force his past into situations that don't really need it for him to help a troubled Pokémon get out of their funk.
      • A big part of his character is how he basically avoided making friends due to his obsessive nature in Pokémon because he never saw the worth in making human friends and how they in turn saw him as a strange kid (despite the fact everyone likes Pokémon by default). After making friends with Ash, who was no different than any other person, Goh either has no problem making more friends, or he suddenly gets cold feet in specific situations all in the name of Rule of Drama.
    • Are legendary Pokémon one of a kind or not? Many times (often in their debut), much will be made of a legendary Pokémon being a unique creature, yet that same Pokémon will reappear years later with the implication that it's a totally different one (this tends to happen a lot with the legendary birds).
    • Mewtwo has had multiple interpretations. In the main games, Mewtwo is a compassionless Blood Knight whose heart is stated to be the most savage of any Pokémon. Pokémon: The First Movie made Mewtwo a Tragic Villain who plotted to wipe out all life on the planet (though he got over it by the end). Pokémon: Genesect and the Legend Awakened featured a second Mewtwo (itself a vast divergence from all other continuities, where it's a one of a kind Pokémon) that was feminine and more heroic, though still distrustful of humans. Pokémon Origins, being more accurate to the games, depicts Mewtwo as a powerful, feral and vicious wild animal.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica:
    • Kyubey's characterization varies somewhat across the different series he's appeared in. In the original anime, he is a Starfish Alien with Blue-and-Orange Morality, but still a Well-Intentioned Extremist. The spinoff mangas mostly adhere to this interpretation, but in Puella Magi Tart Magica he has a sense of honor and doesn't cause Jeanne to turn into a witch, because she did what he asked, destroying La Crepscule de la Reine even though her victory came at the cost of fully dirtying her Soul Gem (although it is implied that this Kyubey goes on to separate from the Hive Mind). In Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion and Homura's Revenge, however, he is actively malevolent; in the former, he traps Homura in the her own labyrinth and unleashes her Superpowered Evil Side just so he can reinstate the Witch system, while in the latter he manipulates the main cast into trying to kill Homura several times.
    • Sayaka's relationship with Kyouko. In the original TV series, Kyouko initially considered Sayaka an enemy but developed a deep, Les Yay-riffic concern for her over time (which Sayaka didn't reciprocate), though it was suggested that they would be on better terms in better circumstances. This leads to writers taking a number of routes with them; sometimes they barely interact or stay enemies or rivals to the end, sometimes they're friendly but not much more than that, and sometimes they're a straight-up Pseudo-Romantic Friendship that's one kiss away from Official Couple status. Also, whether Sayaka's crush on Kyousuke is still a thing also tends to pop in and out depending on who's writing.
  • Sailor Moon:
    • Minako/Sailor Venus' maturity varies wildly; sometimes she's the more mature, experienced one, and other times she's an overbearing, proverb-confusing oddball. Some of it can be chalked up to the fact that Minako is something of a Stepford Smiler who deliberately chooses to act silly and cheerful to hide her feelings but gets very serious when it's necessary. However, especially in the first anime adaptation, there are points where her ditziness is played to extremes and her more serious side seems to be forgotten.
    • The dynamic between Usagi and Rei/Sailor Mars in the '90s anime casts the two of them overall as Vitriolic Best Buds who squabble frequently but nevertheless care about one another. The specific tone of their interactions, however, varies from episode to episode; sometimes they are quite friendly, while in some episodes their bickering is so fierce that they seem more like archrivals who are barely friends at all.
    • Chibi-Usa's main dynamic with Usagi was (ostensibly) being smarter and more mature. This was especially noticeable all-throughout Super S...with the exception of any episode directed by Junichi Sato, who kept them on the same level of maturity, so that they resembled a pair of squabbling sisters.
    • Depending on the episode in the S season, Michiru Kaiō/Sailor Neptune can be more contemplative or merciful than Sailor Uranus, or just as extremist and rude like her.


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