This week's poll's idea was suggested by HouseOfBlack. However, as he only gave the initial idea, I had to come up with the actual poll choices (which was quite hard to do). The poll deals with original media vs. adaptations. How much of a "copy" does the adaptation need to be?

You can discuss this poll on our forums here:
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=25849

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related):
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Do you read the credits/insert pages in scanlations?
Choices:
All the time - votes: 1280 (9.9%)
Most of the time - votes: 4217 (32.7%)
Seldom - votes: 4070 (31.6%)
Never - votes: 1273 (9.9%)
Only the translation notes - votes: 1228 (9.5%)
Only the special occasion ones - votes: 816 (6.3%)
There were 12884 total votes.
The poll ended: April 23rd 2011

Pretty even in terms of read vs. don't read.

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

'Must follow' or 'Tiny bit,' but that's because the source series is the bloody reason most of us are watching the anime in the first place. We liked it, so we want to see it in motion. If they wanted to make a different plot, they should just make an original series. That said, I choose the above mainly because they almost never make changes that are improvements to the series.

I will never understand how the producers/directors stay hired when they screw a series by cutting out chunks that were part of what made it good (usually both screwing the plot and it's chances of a second season that would hit the good content). And then they turn around and suddenly decide to not change a thing when the original is crap writing/pacing and worse (looking at you, freezing). Hrk.

I'd say either "Must follow the same, exact story" or "must create a completely different story, with nothing but characters(and their relationships) from the original" - like Excel Saga.

"Must Follow" or "Tiny bit"
well i agree that we watch anime adaptation because the manga IS popular, and i agree with Nothing in the second paragraph too. are the producer just looking at those part(sarcasm?) so the anime sell?
compared to 2000's anime, after a decade 2011's anime is showing more and of female's part. very different from what we had at 19th century....

As long as the animation is done well, I don't care if it follows or diverges.

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The 19th century? I'm pretty sure anime didn't exist then. ._.

Pffffffffft hahahahahahahaha!

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Ever see the movie Princess Bride? Ever read the book. I've done both and I'll be the first to tell you that there are significant changes between the two. However, the author whom also adapted the book to the movie script realized that retaining the tone was more important than the details. Also, the way that Buttercup realizes that Wesley is in love with her as done in the book works well for the book but would work horribly for a movie. There are things done in manga that don't work well on film and vice versa. If the adaptation is done well and the changes make sense, then I don't care.
P.S. If you watched the movie but haven't read the book, go read it. Worth the time and the laughter.

i remember evangelion had a different story line from the manga. and it was different enough to be looked at as if it were just another version of the story.
which was good. the didnt change the real story by trying to adapt it, they didnt try to adapt it in the first place, they made their own.

but what i don't like is when the producers actually try to make the same story but change it along the road like gantz, claymore and many others.
this really sucks.
if a producer wants to make a REAL adaption of a manga, then he/she shoould change as little as possbile. the rest just sucks.

I agree completely. It should be loyal like Dragon Ball (but without the fillers) or completely different like the Escaflone series.

Black Cat is a good example of doing it wrong.

A little bit of original content is okay as long as it doesn't seem out of place, and sometimes the story needs fleshed out more because the manga rushed or is confusing in places.

I don't really see the point in making the adaptation exactly the same as the original source. I don't want to see the same thing twice; besides, the original tends to be better in those cases anyway. I'd rather see some (good) original stories sprinkled in with the adapted portions to keep things fresh.

This.

I don't really care about source material, all I ask is for that particular work, whether anime or manga, to be interesting and/or entertaining.

I mean anime between 1900 to 2000, sorry though