Why so many adaptations?

I have always wonder why cross-format adaptation is popular with anime/manga. This seems to be a demand-side problem as much as it is a supply-side problem: Why would fans want to experience / creators want to tell more or less the same story with more or less the same characters in different formats, be it manga, TVA, OVA, feature film, CD drama, novel, live action movie or live-action TV series?

I wonder if my observation of the difference between children and grown-ups may shed some light on this issue:

• Children do not really crave for new stories - they want you to tell them their favorite stories again and again. They even want you to tell them their favorite jokes so that they can laugh at the same jokes they have laughed at many times.

• Grown-ups are the opposite. I have heard grown-ups say that they never read/watch the same novel/movie twice. Plus they don't laugh at jokes they have already heard before (though they may pretend to laugh).

I have always been of the opinion that manga/anime is a form of modern myth-making. As we know, fairytales and myths exist in many versions, each telling more or less the same story with more or less the same cast. They go through various modifications from storyteller to storyteller.

But it is hard to conclude that anime/manga is of the same essence as fairytales/myth on this phenomenon alone. On the supply-side, creators may want to recycle the same story out of commercial considerations. On the demand side, fans may be willing to spend money to experience more or less the same story. So supply is matched by demand, and what you have is simply an operating business model.

On the other hand, there may be instances of creators who are so possessed by their creations that they cannot turn off the tap and let go. I wonder if Anno Hideaki of Evangelion fame is one, and if Kurumada Masami of Saint Seiya fame is another. To be fair, there are also creators whom I call one-story creators - it seems that they were born to tell one great story and one great story alone. Even if they try to tell a different story, the story inevitably ends up being a knock-off of their one great story.

Of course things have come to such a stage recently that even different anime series seem to tell the same story. There may be some window-dressing such as different names for the characters, but essentially these series are knockoffs of each other - especially those anime adaptations of galgame or eroge...

Are there reasons why cross-format adaptation is popular that I missed out on? If so, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Comments

[Nick]

Are you saying that I'm a 28 year-old child in some respects? Well... I won't deny that... :)

I do reread/rewatch the same story after a period of time of a few reasons; the biggest reason is that often my perspectives about the story might have changed since the last time. To me, a good story will have multiple perspectives and layers that I might uncover at another view.

I also find, especially between manga -> anime adaptations (and also anime -> manga), that the same story can't be told the same way in the adaptation. Even adaptations where the manga seems to be practically a storyboard for the anime (I.E., the Monster series), the addition of cinematography and ambient sounds add an atmosphere to the story that's much more difficult to get out of the manga.

As of how many anime seem to essentially tell the same story, I find this is probably the reason why many of the anime fans I knew of drop out of the fandom after the age of 25 or so. What seems to be new and different as a teenager is now repetitive and derivative as an adult, yet those old series are held in a fondness that, to paraphrase a friend, "they contained qualities that is missing now".

I am right with you with "I have always been of the opinion that manga/anime is a form of modern myth-making." I've been of the mindset that the American comic book is the modern form of mythology in North America.

[Wabisabi]

Well, anime/manga started off as works for children, and though the genres have become more sophisticated over time, their nature seems to remain the same...

So what in your opinion is The American Myth served in American comic books? I think The Japanese Myth is one in which a Chosen One suddenly wakes to his potential kick-ass power, just because it is a pattern followed by too many manga/anime series. Are American comic books any different?