Are anime inferior to their source material? (By Anneyan~)

The otaku community is as diverse as the amount of anime and manga there are- there are people who watch anime for different reasons, like plot, or the music and animation, or simply the fanservice, there are people who read (or "watch" *cough*) manga along with anime and VNs, there are people who pirate anime (most of use come into that kind UwU), those who legally buy it and so on.

And then there are those otakus who consider that anime are always inferior to manga and the source material. I can't really say I totally disagree with this statement (fillers, incomplete seasons that are simply meant as advertisements, changing the plot etc), but I can't really say I agree either. So I thought I'd just rant about the topic a bit- Are anime really mostly inferior to the source material?

My short answer: Depends (on the anime and the person as well)

My long answer: Depends, and here's why:

Plus points of anime:

1 +The sales of the manga depend on it 

2+A GOOD chunk of the otaku community, even those who grew up to have the 'anime is inferior' way of thinking, started of by watching an anime on TV/Youtube 

3+It's animated (Quite a simple reason actually. WHy else do you think you want a second season of your favorite anime though you've read the complete manga?)

4+Good music (mostly)

Minus points of anime 

1-Is mostly meant as advertisement for the source material 

2-Fillers 

3-The character designs change a lot, so it can be annoying for the manga followers 

4-changing the plot

These are undeniable cons, but still, if wee look at the dark picture, I don't really think it makes anime adaptations as inferior as they make it out to be:

1- There are many anime that don't give a proper satisfying ending or simply leave it at a crucial point just where the plot begins. Pandora hearts is a good example of that, and I would, without a doubt say that it was a d*ck move to leave such an amazing manga unanimated >,>

But then again, a large majority of the fans actually did come here from watching the anime, and you can't really deny that the studio actually did a good job on the little bit it created (specially those soundtracks, man)

Lacie's melody is pretty much the reason to why I started loving anime music >,> Yes, anime is meant as nothing but advertisement most of the time, but I don't really think a product can survive much without ANY advertisement- and anime is a FREAKING AWESOME way of advertising to be honest. I mean, studios spend more than thousands of yen on them

2- Fillers are a more genuine problem about anime. Some are awesome, and some are annoying- but that's something that depends on the person watching it. Most otakus prefer shorter shows, but there are people who like to stick to longer ones, specially if the series gains popularity. In my opinion, I can't really beat the reasoning here- the manga is definitely superior to the person who prefers a to the point plot, but fillers can also be enjoyable to some. Also, some filler episodes are freaking awesome to be honest, like the one in Beyond the boundary, but then again there are series overpacked with fillers, like naruto and FT

But then again, as I said, it depends on the series and the person

3- Sometimes the artstyle changes for the better, and sometimes for the worse, but you can get used to it. Also, you can't really expect an anime studio to draw each and every image like a still as it is in a manga can you? You'd definitely want a new episode to be out the next week rather than the next month/year A very good example of an artstyle change that in my opinion worked for the better is higurashi (just look at the VN art, geez) and also, almost every anime made by yours truly, SHAFT

4-That's again something thats entirely decided of comparison. A lot of FMA fans and FMAB fans have a conflict about why the other version is 'shit', because the former have seen FMA first, and the latter have seen FMAB. It's nothing but preference, because usually in such cases the only reason for the other series being 'shit' is because it's different. But let me clarrify: bad and different are TWO different things. Of course you have the right to decide which one is better for yourself, and I prefer FMAB over FMA, but that doesn't mean that the other series is bad. In fact, most of the FMA/FMAB fans that are at peace together happen to acknowledge both of them as different entities, which is of course, the mature thing to do.

So here's the answer to my question: Are manga and visual novels always better than anime, plot wise? Not always, take FMAB, CLANNAD, and Monogatari for an instance: I personally think they did a good job with the anime, and the fact that they are animated and did a friggin amazing job with the music just makes them even better.

So yes, the statement that manga is always superior to anime is bullsh*t in my opinion, and personally I don't think that changing the plot of the manga and adding fillers always turns into a trainwreck, I personally think of fillers as just some OVA's that shouldn't really hurt to check out. Don't hit me, but I think FMA and Tokyo ghoul s2 did a great job if we don't start yelling "THEY CHANGED THE PLOT AHIUGFGFRGRG" before acknowledging that they are pretty good as a standalone. 

Do you agree with my rant?

Are you more of an anime fan, or a manga reader?

Do you play otome games? ;p

If yes, which is your favorite one?