DNA Angel (and Black Cat)

I'm watching DNAngel at the moment, and it's reminding me of Black Cat.  Not because they're that much alike, but because the anime are alike in their vague relationship to the manga source material.  Occasionally, things will happen, and I'll think, "Oh, I remember that!  It actually happened in the manga!"   This happens very, very rarely.

DNAngel is not irritating me nearly as much as Black Cat did probably because it's been a longer time since I read DNAngel, which has had a spotty and stretched out release schedule.  (It's related to how I refuse to read a book any time near when the movie is going to come out.  I don't want to know all the great stuff they're leaving out.  I just remember the source material in a hazy way, so I can enjoy the pared-down movie.)

Another reason it may not be bothering me as much is because it didn't mess with the established chronology as severely.  DNAngel kind of made its own way, not adhering too much to what actually happened because they knew from the beginning that they needed to craft a show that had an ending at episode 26.  As a result, DNAngel was more of a school comedy/romance than anything resembling the manga.

Black Cat took the same characters and a few similar plot lines and did its own thing, removing a lot of the things that made the manga work for me (such as the long time it took Train to adjust to his new life, develop his new philosophy, and become Sven's partner).  I think I was so irritated from the start that I just didn't watch it as its own show.  Or maybe I was just so disappointed that so much of my favorite stuff (like 80% of it) didn't make it into the anime because of the changes that I didn't give it a chance on its own.

Anyway, if I think of the DNAngel anime as a separate entity from the manga, it was pretty fun.  It was a tad repetitive, and I gained some authorial insight into why episodic material doesn't work in novels (we don't need the same scene repeated ad nauseum to reveal the same character trait). 

By the end, Kevin Corn's freak-out noise was starting to sound much more natural.  Also, Vic 's performance as Dark was way more enjoyable for me than the Japanese voice actor's.  (Then again, I tend to say that about whatever language I watch it in first.) 

Overall, I think I prefer Hunter X Hunter.  :)


Your thoughts on DNAngel, Black Cat, anime adaptations of manga that didn't/don't work?