Best Manga Spin-Offs That Outshine The Original Series

Summary

• Some spin-offs manage to overshadow their parent series.
• Ghost In The Shell emerged as a standout, distinguishing itself from its parent series Appleseed.
• Great Teacher Onizuka transitioned from a fun biker strip into a beloved series spawning a popular anime and live-action drama.

Spin-offs are often seen as a weak side-story to their main-story counterparts because that’s often how they turn out. Even if they prove to be pretty good, they rarely outdo their parent series. But there are a few that have managed to stand out strong on their own merits, and arguably overshadow what they spun off from.

Viewers today might know Frasier Crane better from Frasier than Cheers. While Shin Megami Tensei has been going on for decades, only to see most fans be keener on its spin-off series Persona. It happens to manga too, as for one reason or another, these spin-off strips managed to outshine their original series.

7

Outlaw Star

Underrated Space Western Is a Distant Sequel to a Lesser-Known Space Manga

• Parent Story: Future-Retro Hero Story.
• Creator: Takehiko Itou.
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.14.
• 3 Volumes, 17 Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

Outlaw Star is a bit of an oddity, as most people probably thought it began as an anime series like its eternal rival Cowboy Bebop. Not only did it begin life as a manga, but it was a sequel too. Kind of. Future-Retro Hero Story tells its own story, where Juji Thomas Godoh lives up to his famous grandfather’s legacy by stopping the evil Star King Brass.

It never got adapted into an anime, so it mostly stands as Outlaw Star’s unlikely prequel, set in a time before humanity figured out faster-than-light travel in OS‘ “Towards Stars” era. The anime even hinted that Gene Starwind may be Juji’s descendant, as they have the same red hair and use a caster gun to defend themselves. Still, readers (and viewers) could check out OS without knowing it spun off from an older story.

6

Brutal: Criminals The Law Can’t Judge Deserve The Finest Death

Sadistic Homicide Investigator Offered Bloodier Stories Than Forensic Specialist

• Parent Story: Trace: The Man from Forensics Solves the Truth!
• Creators: Kei Koga (story), Ryo Izawa (art).
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.75.
• 5 Volumes, 19 Chapters.
• Available in English via Coamix and Comikey.

Ever wondered what Dexter would be like if it turned out to be connected to the CSI series or Quincy? If so, that’s a very specific thought to have, but that’s essentially the path Kei Koga took when he followed up Trace: The Man from Forensics Solves the Truth with Brutal: Criminals the Law Can’t Judge Deserve the Finest Death.

The titles sum up their stories well and perhaps reveal why Brutal stood out over Trace. There are plenty of series about good guys using forensics and science to solve crimes. Brutal has a psychological edge, as its protagonist is clearly messed up, but he only subjects the worst kinds of criminals to his worst impulses. It has an additional touch of complexity compared to the more straightforward Trace.

5

Ghost In The Shell

Prequel to Cult Classic Mech Series Becomes Iconic Cyberpunk Manga

• Parent Story: Appleseed.
• Creator: Masamune Shirow.
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.96.
• 1 Volume, 11 Chapters.
• Available in English via Dark Horse Comics and Kodansha Comics USA.

Appleseed isn’t exactly an obscure series, as it became famous in its own right. Its mech designs, particularly for lead cyborg Briareos, have become iconic, with movies like Chappie paying homage to them. Famous enough for creator Masamune Shirow to offer his later strip, Ghost in the Shell, as a distant prequel to the series.

Its connecting threads are loose, given GITS takes place in the 2020s, well over a century before Appleseed. Yet GITS was the one that got adapted into a groundbreaking animated movie, which inspired a whole generation of latter-day cyberpunks. That’s not to mention its host of popular follow-up series like Stand-Alone Complex. As great as Appleseed is, it’s a smaller franchise by comparison.

4

Akagi

Prequel to Mahjong Manga Outlasts its Parent Story

• Parent Story: Ten: The Blessed Way of the Nice Guy.
• Creator: Nobuyuki Fukumoto.
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.17.
• 36 Volumes, 306 Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

Akagi is a tricky one as, chronologically, it’s a prequel to its root tale Ten: The Blessed Way of the Nice Guy. Yet Ten came first, telling the story of how Ten Takashi became the first mahjong player to rival the legendary Shigeru Akagi. His skills get put to the test when he challenges the yakuza to a few games until they bring out the old legend as their superweapon.

Ten ran from 1989 to 2002, with Akagi debuting two years later in 1991 to show how the master of mahjong built his reputation. But the prequel ended up being so popular that it lasted years after Ten, only concluding its epic series of chapters in 2018. Today, Ten feels more like the follow-up to Akagi rather than the other way around.

3

Sailor Moon

Sailor Venus’ Backstory Predates Sailor Moon’s Debut

• Parent Story: Codename: Sailor V.
• Creator: Naoko Takeuchi.
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.20
• 18 Volumes, 61 Chapters.
• Available in English via Kodansha Comics USA.

This list doesn’t count one-shot strips like Dragon Boy or The Taro Kagami Story, since they’re not strictly connected to Dragon Ball or Death Note as readers know them today. They’re more like prototype runs for the real deal. Likewise, Romance Dawn was basically a One Piece story without the other Straw Hats.

But Codename: Sailor V was another matter, as its tale lasted multiple chapters, and is considered canon to its sequel, Sailor Moon. It revealed how Makoto Aino became Sailor Venus and began her search for the other Sailor Guardians and the Moon Princess. Since its sequel followed said Moon Princess directly, and showed how all the Sailor Guardians got together, including Venus, it’s no wonder it made a bigger splash.

2

Paradise Kiss

Fashion Manga Spin-Off Reaches International Audiences Before Its Parent Story

• Parent Story: Neighborhood Story.
• Creator: Ai Yazawa.
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.29.
• 5 Volumes, 48 Chapters.
• Available in English via Vertical Inc.

Readers might be more familiar with Ai Yazawa’s magnum opus Nana than Paradise Kiss. Yet those with a passion for fashion will prefer PK’s tale of a high school girl becoming the unlikely model for her school’s fashion club. If the lead’s burgeoning love for the glitz and glamor of the fashion world didn’t get them, Yazawa’s gorgeous artwork would.

In the West, it became the premier fashion manga. But in Japan, it’s on par with its predecessor, Neighborhood Story, where a fashion designer-in-training balances her complicated feelings for her childhood friend with her work. Both stories stand well on their own and are both engaging romance tales. PK just happened to reach international readers first.

1

Great Teacher Onizuka

Onizuka’s Biker Days Become a Side Story to His Teaching Career

• Parent Story: Shonan Jun’ai Gumi.
• Creator: Toru Fujisawa.
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.87.
• 25 Volumes, 208 Chapters.
• Available in English via Kodansha Comics USA.

Shonan Jun’ai Gumi is a fun if unremarkable strip about a pair of bikers who try to mend their hell-raising ways enough to be more approachable to girls. At first, it was just so they could lose their V-cards. But eventually, it became their way to learn more about the world and grow up along the way. Particularly for one half of the duo: Eikichi Onizuka.

If that name sounds familiar, that’s because he’d go on to be Japan’s best tutor in Great Teacher Onizuka. The sequel strip became famous enough to be adapted into both a popular anime series and an equally well-received live-action drama. Eventually, its iconic status led to SJG getting republished as GTO: The Early Years, where it now feels more like a prequel than GTO’s parent story.