Has an anime ever come out before the manga was published?


I got into a debate with a
**[friend](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/85/hashirama-senju)** about
whether or not it's possible for an anime to come out before its manga.

He claimed that there were several instances where the anime actually preceded
the manga. Is this the case?

P.S.: I know that there are several anime _without_ a manga. I also know that
there are manga created from games. That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking
whether or not there is a series where the **anime** came before the
**manga**.




Yes, there are exceptions to the "rule" that an anime must be inspired by a
manga. There are indeed some anime that do not have a manga corresponding, and
other such things.

But **yes** , there are also anime series which inspired one or more manga.

The following list are some of the (arbitrarily selected as recognizable)
names from a more complete list featured on the [TVTropes article "Anime
First"](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimeFirst):

  * [_Code Geass_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Geass)
  * [_Cowboy Bebop_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop)
  * [_Digimon Xros Wars_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digimon_Fusion#Xros_Wars_.282010-2011.29)
  * [_Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausica%C3%A4_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind_%28film%29) (as the article says, a weird example; the manga was created _for the purpose of guiding the anime film_ )
  * [_Wolf's Rain_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf%27s_Rain)




Yes, there are exceptions to the "rule" that an anime must be inspired by a
manga. There are indeed some anime that do not have a manga corresponding, and
other such things.

But **yes** , there are also anime series which inspired one or more manga.

The following list are some of the (arbitrarily selected as recognizable)
names from a more complete list featured on the [TVTropes article "Anime
First"](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimeFirst):

  * [_Code Geass_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Geass)
  * [_Cowboy Bebop_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop)
  * [_Digimon Xros Wars_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digimon_Fusion#Xros_Wars_.282010-2011.29)
  * [_Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausica%C3%A4_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind_%28film%29) (as the article says, a weird example; the manga was created _for the purpose of guiding the anime film_ )
  * [_Wolf's Rain_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf%27s_Rain)

