40154


Since I liked _Revolutionary Girl Utena_ and _Mawaru Penguindrum_ , I'd like
to watch the _Yuri Kuma Arashi_ anime, particularly since it's spawned some
interesting questions on this site.

Now, [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurikuma_Arashi) tells me that
there is a manga, an anime series, and a light novel, which MyAnimeList give
nearly identical summaries for
([1](http://myanimelist.net/anime/26165/Yuri_Kuma_Arashi),
[2](http://myanimelist.net/manga/66879/Yuri_Kuma_Arashi),
[3](http://myanimelist.net/manga/86367/Yuri_Kuma_Arashi)). The Wikipedia
description suggests that the announcement was first for an anime series, but
the manga is ongoing and started first, whereas the anime is already done
with. Moreover, the Wikipedia character lists suggests that the manga
occasionally differs from anime characterization.

How do the various adaptations of _Yurikuma Arashi_ relate?

  1. Can I just assume that the "original" medium was the anime?

  2. Is the manga simply an adaptation, or is it the "original" work?

  3. The light novel and manga are listed as "alternative versions" on MAL. Are there any major content differences? (Is there anything comparable the differences between the two _Fullmetal Alchemist_ continuities, or maybe even just the differences I've heard of between the various adaptations of the basic content of _Revolutionary Girl Utena_?)


CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-23T20:32:38.343
22707
2017-05-02T16:31:55.797
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question
yuri-kuma-arashi
How do the various Yurikuma Arashi adaptations relate to each other?


The "original" author of these anime is a group rather than a single person.

When _Kunihiko Ikuhara_ created _Revolutionary Girl Utena_ , he created the
group named _Be-Papas_ and discussed the main story with the group. The other
group members are _Chiho Saito_ who is a manga writer and _Youji Enokido_ who
is a story writer. Ikuhara created the anime version of Utena, and at the same
time Saito wrote the manga version of Utena. They discussed the main story of
Utena, but they created the different works independently and the details of
each story were different.

Both anime and manga were original works; neither is an adaptation of
something.

Ikuhara did same thing for _Mawaru Penguindrum_ and _Yuri Kuma Arashi_. The
group members are different, but they created main story as a group and
created the manga and anime versions separately.

By creating as a group, they can create a better story. They can also release
anime, manga and novel versions at same time; this will lead to better sales
by a synergy effect.

Ikuhara is not only person who use group system. An old robot anime _Patlabor_
was created by the group _Head Gear_. For newer example, _Madoka Magica_ was
created by the group _Magica Quartet_.


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2015-08-25T06:37:29.237
24339
2017-05-02T16:31:55.797
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answer


This is a bit complicated. [kumagoro's
answer](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/24339/2516) explained the background
of this confusion about "independent writing".

> Can I just assume that the "original" medium was the anime?

Yes, both English & Japanese Wikipedia introduced the article as "TV anime".

On 23 March 2013, during a closed-talk event about _Revolutionary Girl Utena_
, Kunihiko Ikuhara shown a short PV for the new _anime project_ , which would
be revealed as _Yuri Kuma Arashi_
([ANN](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-02-16/utena/penguindrum-
ikuhara-to-debut-new-anime-promo-video), [excite News
(Japanese)](http://www.excite.co.jp/News/reviewmov/20140825/E1408913965509.html)).
It's before the first chapter of the manga was published on 28 February 2014
([ANN](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-01-30/yuri-kuma-arashi-
project-by-utena/penguindrum-ikuhara-gets-manga)).

> Is the manga simply an adaptation, or is it the "original" work?

It's an "original" work.

Akiko Morishima, who was in charge in character design and artist for the
manga, was also entrusted by Ikuhara in writing the story. This is because
Ikuhara's scenario was too difficult to be realized. Because of that, the
setting and story progression for the anime are different from the manga, but
some of the manga's content were used as inspiration for the anime. ([Akiko's
blog (Japanese)](http://akicocotte.blog45.fc2.com/blog-entry-284.html),
[Gigazine (Japanese)](http://gigazine.net/news/20141012-yurikuma-
machiasobi-13/))

> The light novel and manga are listed as "alternative versions" on MAL. Are
> there any major content differences?

The light novel is an adaptation of the anime, thus it has same storyline. The
manga, as stated before, is original.

Since the story diverges, the character's backgrounds and some of the settings
were also modified (example: in anime, Arashigaoka Academy is girls' school,
while in manga it's co-ed).

* * *

Some of the references were taken from [Japanese
Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A6%E3%83%AA%E7%86%8A%E5%B5%90)


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2017-05-02T11:43:17.513
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answer