Sugar² Rune anime vs manga
To begin with, I should probably say that I usually enjoy manga more than anime.. Well, maybe I don't enjoy it more, but I seem to find good manga more often than I find good anime. I guess there are often more commercial considerations to be made when making anime? The problems that often arise when manga is made into anime concern the storyline, since the anime version is often finished long before the manga is. And there has to be a new episode of the anime each week, although the manga usually only gets one new chapter per month. Thus the anime often evades from the original storyline, has a lot of filler episodes, and it's often a little simplified and has a more childish feel to it. (Examples: Pita Ten, Full Moon o Sagashite, Fruits Basket..) I don't mind if the anime doesn't follow the manga exactly, but what often happens is that the original storyline is traded for one that is much simpler and doesn't seem very well thought through at all. The SSR anime ended at 51 episodes so unless there are going to be more seasons (??) it's clear that they've ended the story before the manga is finished. So obviously they must have rewritten the plot somewhat. But I haven't seen all the episodes yet so I can't really make any final statements. I can only hope that the anime version won't stray too far from the manga or if it does, that it doesn't leave too many lose ends and unanswered questions.
That being said, I do enjoy the SSR anime so far. It's colorful and cute, the voice actors are great, the animation is nice with lots of beautiful backgrounds and scenery. At times it's really funny. (The anime version of Duke is awesome and sure to make me smile ^o^) The scenery and atmosphere is all together even more magical than in many other magical girl series, since it's set in a world that's not the "average" Japan that we often see as the background in magical girl series. I also think the anime creators did a fairly good job of converting Anno's artwork into animation; her style is shining through, although the anime style is naturally not as gorgeously detailed as the manga. I'd put SSR on the same shelf as maybe Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, or Tokyo Mew Mew.. it's not exactly brilliant and up there with my favorites (such as Trigun, Escaflowne or Scrapped Princess), but it's entertaining and easy to watch. My main complaint so far are the large amount of "fluffy", pointless episodes that neither add anything to the progress of the plot nor let us learn something about the characters (many of these episodes aren't even funny :P). Another minus is the repetitive transformation scenes. Vanilla and Chocola transform each time they're about to do some magic or pick up a heart, and it takes up too much time and gets boring in the long run.
All in all, I'd say (as I usually say..) that the manga is the best, but the anime is a nice supplement. The manga has the most gorgeous artwork, the most depth and most progressive storyline, while the anime gives us a chance to see the characters come to life, and enjoy colorful animation and nice music. I'd recommend it if you need a fix of fluffy happy shoujo anime ^^;
