History AlternateContinuity / AnimeAndManga

* The ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' manga and ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' start off fairly similar, but begin to diverge more and more as they progress. [[BrokenBase Do not ask people which one is better]]. There is also a second anime adaptation called ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]'', which follows the manga's continuity much more faithfully than the first, .

* The ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' manga and ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' start off fairly similar, but begin to diverge more and more as they progress. [[BrokenBase Do not ask people which one is better]]. There is also a second anime adaptation that follows the manga's continuity much closer than the first, ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]''.

* Though not as broken up as some others, ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' began as a manga and was made into a TV series. This ran for thirteen episodes and was a victim of OvertookTheManga, so the plot began just as the Manga's did, but halfway through a new BigBad was introduced and half the characters of the original plot never got animated. (It ended on with a CliffHanger and left a lot of loose ends.) The [=OVAs=], on the other hand, follow the manga very closely. (And despite some rumors, there is no live-action movie being made.)

* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'': There is the original 1974 series and its 1977 movie compilation (which has two endings; [[spoiler:one has the crew reach Iscandar and find out that Queen Starsha has died but left a recorded message]]. But either way, the Earth is still saved but one ending leaves no room for the events of New Voyage, Starsha's daughter Sasha, or Mamoru's later role). Then you have ''Arrivederci Yamato'' and its 1978 TV expanded version with alternate ending (allowing a logical continuation). The ''Yamato III'' series may or may not have taken place in 2205, according to some printed sources. Either way, ''Final Yamato'' takes place in 2203 so that means that the ''Yamato III'' events have either been eliminated or, given that Galman and Bolar get a brief mention in ''Final'', the events of ''Yamato III'' might have happened in a condensed version. There are two continuations that are clearly alternate realities: the aborted Yamato 2520 and the later ''Yamato Ressurection''. We also have manga versions of the story soley by co-creator LeijiMatsumoto that are strictly Anime/{{Leijiverse}}; Yamato freely interacts with ''Manga/CaptainHarlock'' and ''Manga/GalaxyExpress999''. Matsumoto has rights to the name Yamato and all of the visual design elements while the Yoshinobu Nishizaki estate has rights to the name Yamato, established characters and established storylines. It's anyone's guess where the forgotten OVA ''Dai Yamato Zero'' lies in terms of continuity, given its setting in the year 3199, but neither Matsumoto or Nishizaki did appear to have been involved in its production. Last but not least, we have reboot ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'', and as an honorary mention, it is worth counting the [[Anime/StarBlazers Westernized version of the original series.]]

* The ''Manga/DeathNote'' live-action films eventually veer away from the plot as seen in the Manga and Anime versions. The [[Film/DeathNote2017 American film]] takes place in a completely new continuity from the Japanese versions altogether. That's not even counting the [[Manga/DeathNotePilot original one-shot]], which doesn't feature Light as a Death Note wielder at all.

* For ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', these are only a few of the alternate versions:
** [[Anime/{{Devilman}} the 70's anime]]: Akira never meets Ryou, Amon is the dominant personality since Akira dies in their first encounter, [[spoiler: and Miki survives]].
** ''Devilman Grimoire'': [[spoiler:Miki gets a Devilman form of her own]] among other upsets.

* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'': There is the original 1974 series and its 1977 movie compilation (which has two endings; [[spoiler:one has the crew reach Iscandar and find out that Queen Starsha has died but left a recorded message]]. But either way, the Earth is still saved but one ending leaves no room for the events of New Voyage, Starsha's daughter Sasha, or Mamoru's later role). Then you have ''Arrivederci Yamato'' and its 1978 TV expanded version with alternate ending (allowing a logical continuation). The ''Yamato III'' series may or may not have taken place in 2205, according to some printed sources. Either way, ''Final Yamato'' takes place in 2203 so that means that the ''Yamato III'' events have either been eliminated or, given that Galman and Bolar get a brief mention in ''Final'', the events of ''Yamato III'' might have happened in a condensed version. There are two continuations that are clearly alternate realities: the aborted Yamato 2520 and the later ''Yamato Ressurection''. We also have manga versions of the story soley by co-creator LeijiMatsumoto that are strictly Leijiverse; Yamato freely interacts with ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'' and ''Manga/GalaxyExpress999''. Matsumoto has rights to the name Yamato and all of the visual design elements while the Yoshinobu Nishizaki estate has rights to the name Yamato, established characters and established storylines. It's anyone's guess where the forgotten OVA ''Dai Yamato Zero'' lies in terms of continuity, given its setting in the year 3199, but neither Matsumoto or Nishizaki did appear to have been involved in its production. Last but not least, we have reboot ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'', and as an honorary mention, it is worth counting the [[Anime/StarBlazers Westernized version of the original series.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}'' was planned from the beginning to be a "media mix" of multiple continuities, initally a manga, ''Manga/MobilePolicePatlabor'', and an {{OVA}} series, ''Manga/MobilePolicePatlaborTheEarlyDays''. The [=OVAs=] were followed by the better-known film series, and also spawned a third continuity in ''Anime/PatlaborTheTVSeries'' which ran in parallel. The three main timelines share the same characters and concepts but follow different storylines, although some events show up in multiple continuities.

* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'''s [[GainaxEnding last episode]], Shinji has a vision of his life as a typical high school comedy anime (except, you know, it still has HumongousMecha) during a MindRape. This concept was so popular as to spawn ''several'' DatingSim games and the manga ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionAngelicDays'', which is one of the longest-running spin-offs.

** In addition, both the manga version of Evangelion and the ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' movie series are standard alternate continuities that retain the core elements of the story, but change a number of significant details along the way. Especially the latter which goes completely OffTheRails a bit into the story.

** Another Alternate Continuity titled ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionCampusApocalypse'' goes way further in its differences: NERV is a Catholic boarding school; [=EVAs=] are actually unique conventional weapons (i.e., Asuka wields a {{whip|ItGood}} while Shinji has a handgun, etc.); Angels are instead disembodied consciousnesses which can kill and take over any body they choose; and the motivation for killing the Angels is to collect their {{Co|smicKeystone}}res so [[TheWorldTree Yggdrasil]] won't [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt collapse, destroying all realities]].

** There are also a ([[NoExportForYou Japan-only]]) three-part [[LightNovel/DigimonAdventure novelization]] of the first series which, although co-written by Hiroyuki Kakudo (the Adventure director) and Masaki Hiro (a main writer), has several episodes' events play out differently than depicted in the anime.

* The ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' franchise is right up there with ''Tenchi Muyo'' in its own right. It originated as a 15-book LightNovel series, which has ''over 30'' prequel novels (''Slayers Special/Smash/Delicious''). From there...

* When Creator/KyotoAnimation adapted the light novel ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'' into an anime, the resulting adaptation is practically this towards the original.

** There's also the continuity [[DoingItForTheArt made by the original story team specifically for]] ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Z}}2 - Saisei-Hen'', which diverges from the anime post-TimeSkip.

* The ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' manga and [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist its 2003 anime adaptation]] start off fairly similar, but begin to diverge more and more as they progress. [[BrokenBase Do not ask people which one is better]]. There is also a second anime adaptation that follows the manga's continuity much closer than the first, ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]''.

* ''Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar'' has three alternate continuities: the original novel series, the anime OVA, and the manga version of Chronicles of Heroic Knights. While the anime OVA compresses the material down and is usually suggested to be treated as if it ended about halfway in, it contains numerous continuity errors with the original novel and the manga adaptation of that part of the story. Most other manga fit into the core timeline, along with the anime series of Chronicles of Heroic Knights. The manga of Chronicles, however, inexplicably rewrites the second half of the plot completely, reaching a separate but equal SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, and is notable for developing secondary characters much more than the series. It's still a separate canon though. ''Anime/RuneSoldierLouie'', since it is set on a separate continent and features no returning characters, disregards the differences between the alternate continuities. As for ''Legend Of Crystania'', it fits into the core timeline (non-OVA), but since it came out when most people in the west didn't know of any other Lodoss continuities than the OVA, it propagated the confusion with its differences.

* The three manga adaptations of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' are all Alternate Continuities of varying degrees. ''Lelouch of the Rebellion'' is mostly a straight adaptation of the show, but with no HumongousMecha and a greater focus on humor. ''Suzaku of the Counterattack'' focuses on the ForgottenChildhoodFriend to the point of [[CompositeCharacter combining]] three of the Anime's characters into a single new one to better suit the plot. ''Manga/CodeGeassNightmareOfNunnally'' is a completely alternate take where TheHero's IllGirl little sister becomes a super-powered MagicalGirl with a mystical mecha fighting other super-powered girls with mystical mecha. The fourth manga is even more bizarre. Lelouch leads the Shinsengumi and the "Black Revolutionaries" in the midst of the Bakamatsu and Geass is the power to ''summon'' ''[[HumongousMecha Knightmare Frames]]''.

** The ''Wild'' sub-franchise. Announced in February 2018, stated to include a new anime, manga, and tie-in video game for the Nintendo Switch.
%%BoxOfficeBomb

** The ''Wild'' sub-franchise. Announced in February 2018, stated to include a new anime, manga, and tie-in video game for the Nintendo Switch.

* ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'':

** Another Alternate Continuity titled ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionCampusApocalypse'' goes way further in its differences: NERV is a Catholic boarding school; [=EVAs=] are actually unique conventional weapons (i.e., Asuka wields a [[WhipItGood whip]] while Shinji has a handgun, etc.); Angels are instead disembodied consciousnesses which can kill and take over any body they choose; and the motivation for killing the Angels is to collect their [[CosmicKeystone Cores]] so [[TheWorldTree Yggdrasil]] won't [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt collapse, destroying all realities]].

* The 20th Pokémon movie, ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'', is an alternate retelling of the first season of the anime, with several key differences: Ash has a slightly different outfit, he has two different travelling companions, he has closer ties to Ho-Oh, and meets Pokémon from all generations a lot sooner than he does in the main anime. Two sequels would follow, confirming it to be a ContinuityReboot for the films after [[{{Sequelitis}} the last two]] beforehand [[BoxOfficeBomb bombed]].

* ''Manga/{{X1999}}'' was released first as a movie, then again as a TV series five years later. The movie, for reasons of length and limited information, had an extremely simplified plotline. Also, both were finished before the manga, and all three killed different characters and resolved the plot in different ways.

* The three manga adaptations of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' are all Alternate Continuities of varying degrees. ''Lelouch of the Rebellion'' is mostly a straight adaptation of the show, but with no HumongousMecha and a greater focus on humor. ''Suzaku of the Counterattack'' focuses on the ForgottenChildhoodFriend to the point of [[CompositeCharacter combining]] three of the Anime's characters into a single new one to better suit the plot. ''Manga/CodeGeassNightmareOfNunnally'' is a completely alternate take where TheHero's IllGirl little sister becomes a super-powered Loli with a mystical mecha fighting other super-powered Lolis with mystical mecha. The fourth manga is even more bizarre. Lelouch leads the Shinsengumi and the "Black Revolutionaries" in the midst of the Bakamatsu and Geass is the power to ''summon'' ''[[HumongousMecha Knightmare Frames]]''.

* ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' start as prequel to ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', but became non-canon due to many irreconcilable contradictions with ''[[Manga/SaintSeiyaNextDimension Next Dimension]]''. Howewer, it has some canon plot references/hints about the original manga.

* ''Franchise/PrettyCure'' has over 17 series with 15 distinct continuities, and there's the occasional BatFamilyCrossover (the ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars'' films, ''Anime/HugttoPrettyCure''[='s=] crossover event). Each one follows the same basic plot, but changes up a few elements (besides using different characters and settings) each time. Most apparently, the exact nature of being a [[MagicalGirlWarrior Pretty Cure]] varies subtly between seasons, with some relying on WonderTwinPowers (such as ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' and ''Anime/MahoGirlsPrecure'') and others having a larger ensemble team. Either way, ThePowerOfFriendship remains a universal constant.