Do you read VN first or do you watch anime first? Why?

[Okami]

When there are both Anime and VN versions of same title wath do you go for first? And wath are your reason for doing so?

 

In my case I always watch Anime first becouse VN version is usuly a lot longer and has more story, events then anime version, it also has alternative/multiple routes so after I watch anime I still have new things to get from reading VN. But if I ware to read VN first I wouldn't have mutch to look foward to in Anime exept the way they adepted it, and I would usuly be disapointed becouse I would know how mutch they have left out and becouse of it it would feel more like I am watching summary of story I allredy know then a whole story.

[Darkshine]

I would take to reading the VN first because it will definitely have more focus on the story and the characters, watching the anime first in my opinion would just spoil the whole story plus the anime would try to cram everything together in such a short time.

[O. Van Bruce]

Though watching the anime can spark your interest in a VN, like Amagami or Mashiro, rreading the VN comes first if you are already interested

[fun2novel]

It depends. Usually I'll choose just one and stick with it. Especially if the adaptation is very close to the original. I also think that it's too boring when you already know the story and you have to watch/read it again. Another reason is to avoid spoilers, if you watch the anime it will have all the major twists in it and there won't be any reason to play the vn.

 

For example I didn't want to watch the Steins;Gate anime because I wanted to read the vn. After finishing the vn I wasn't interested in the anime, it was boring because I already knew what's going on.

 

On the other hand if I don't have the time to read something and the anime is a good alternative I will watch the anime. Kanon 2006 is very close the it's source material and reading it will take a long time so I would prefer to watch the anime instead. Something Little Busters I would prefer to read than watch.

 

So it just depends on personal preference I guess.

[Katatsumuri]

I always read the VN first...

 

The main reason is that since anime usually leave out small things to save time, change the plot a little to better fit the medium, and/or if it is a romance that originally had multiple routes, animes will usually compress it into a single ending.

 

The second thing is that VNs usually has much more in the way of information...

[Zhiroo]

Prefer reading the VN first although I've watched Clannad, Kanon and Air way before I was interested in VNs. Amagami as well I think. The reason is simple, I feel watching the anime first spoils a lot of things, watching the anime after finishing the VN could be seen as a recap or something.

 

Edit: Forgot that I also watched Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head before getting into VNs as well. (S;G is my favorite anime as well)

[Guest]

I only read/watch the original work.

It's always better than the adaptation (most of the time)

[Izuru]

50:50 Haha

[Shaward]

i usually read the novel first, but not always, so 50-50 for me

[Kaguya]

I normally only play the VN- I never watch the anime because it would spoil me of all the big plot twists, and I want to have the full VN experience.

[Nosebleed]

Probably the VN first if i have the chance.

I might have accidently watched the anime before the VN sometime though without knowing it was a VN (Steins;Gate for example)

But if i have a choice i always go with the VN.

[Baconpancake]

Of course it depends, Generally id say watch the anime first just because it probably has less story in it than the VN so there will still be new experiences when you play it. However for stories like Little Busters I'm glad I played the VN first

[Tom]

if i had to choose between seeing a gore (without sexual content) anime or VN id go with anime.

if i had to choose between sexual content anime or VN id go with VN

if it has both gore and sexual content id like to see both anime and VN equally

[Clephas]

Mmm... it is pretty rare for me not to have already seen the anime when I get to the VN, and I usually can't bring myself to watch the anime for moege I play.  I'm more likely to see the anime first (by chance) simply because I won't even see the anime at all if I play the VN first in most cases.

[Guest hairybumslapper]

It depends on which one I happen to stumble upon first: which could be either the VN or it's anime adaptation, so 50/50 for me i guess.

[ServeTheServant]

Related question: are there any prominent series that have both a VN and anime where the anime is widely considered to be superior? Or is the rule generally that the VN will be more fleshed out and just take longer to get through?

[Beato]

VN first, always (though in many cases I have watched the anime first because the VN wasn't translated yet)  Watching the anime first takes out the element of surprise for the VN, and a lot of VNs are very long windy and badly paced which makes it extremely important that there is some element of surprise. For the anime there will always be an element of surprise. Because seeing your favorite scenes animated is always enjoyable, even if the adaption itself is bad.

[BookwormOtaku]

If I have a choice I usually go with the game first as I want to avoid being spoiled on the story. The case where I end up seeing the anime first are if it's a hentai OVA and something about said OVA interests me. Thanks to that I ended up discovering my favorite nukige series of all time, Kyonyuu Fantasy

[Okami]

Related question: are there any prominent series that have both a VN and anime where the anime is widely considered to be superior? Or is the rule generally that the VN will be more fleshed out and just take longer to get through?

 

There are maybe a few exceptions, but they are very rare, in 99% case is that VN is longer and has more story to offer than Anime as VNs are in general a lot longer than the Anime. Now that is a fact, however, to discuss what is superior VN or Anime we would need one more topic and I believe there would be quite a few disagreements there as to discuss this there are a lot of points to be taken in consideration and while some of them are facts some are more matter of subjectivity.

[OriginalRen]

Reading the VN first is comparable to reading a book before seeing a movie. I would expect a lot of people, for example, would read the Harry Potter series before seeing the films, but that's just me. The same is true for a VN. While it is nice to watch the characters come to life in an anime, I like to make comparisons. The visual novel has everything in it, whereas the anime will shorten scenes or remove things they don't find necessary, sometimes removing the best parts of the VN. Take the example in the Little Busters! when they don't play kick the can. I would have loved to see that scene come alive.

[zoom909]

I watch the anime 1st, basically for the same reasons Okami gave at the top.  But I'll state for the record that I'm really an anime fan, so anime _always_ has top priority:  don't be misled by my only having a VNDB entry, my anime list is already so large that I can't bring myself to put it on MAL, which has no way to import from a spreadsheet.

[Slowpoke]

I watch the anime 1st, basically for the same reasons Okami gave at the top.  But I'll state for the record that I'm really an anime fan, so anime _always_ has top priority:  don't be misled by my only having a VNDB entry, my anime list is already so large that I can't bring myself to put it on MAL, which has no way to import from a spreadsheet.

 

I'm sure you can make do with transferring it to MAL as my friend has over 900 entries on his list lol.

 

I read the book first and foremost before a movie so I would do the same for anime. 

Though, I don't think I've seen any anime that was a VN first, except Air which hasn't been translated fully yet so yeah.

 

I think they're making Grisaia an anime since I saw it on MAL but until they do, that VN is on hold.

[Okami]

Reading the VN first is comparable to reading a book before seeing a movie. I would expect a lot of people, for example, would read the Harry Potter series before seeing the films, but that's just me. The same is true for a VN. While it is nice to watch the characters come to life in an anime, I like to make comparisons. The visual novel has everything in it, whereas the anime will shorten scenes or remove things they don't find necessary, sometimes removing the best parts of the VN. Take the example in the Little Busters when they don't play kick the can. I would have loved to see that scene come alive.

 

Yup, it is the same, actually exact book that you mentioned was the reason I decided to always watch Movie before reading a book, as I have watched HP movies 1-4 before reading a book, I liked them so I have read a book that I liked even more. But then I have read HP books 5-6 before watching a movie and because of it I totally disliked movies. Same was with LOTR movies and books. And after that I decided to always watch movies before reading a book as I can still enjoy reading a book after watching a movie, but I can't enjoy a movie after I read a book. And now it is the same with VNs and Anime.

[Dizzyworld2]

I prefer vn first, especially if the anime adaptation was a good adaptation. I've been holding off watching Steins;Gate and Da Capo I and II for those reasons.

 

But I guess it's more like a 50/50 for me since I like to watch the anime if I have time constraints (ef) or it's not translated yet (White Album 2).

[Pabloc]

I always read the VN first, and I almost always ignore the anime adaptation (except for a few animes I have seen before I discovered VNs). Such adaptations are awful most of the time, and even if they are actually watchable, the are always weaker then the original (almost no exceptions), so watching them is simply a waste of time for me. And when I skimmed through Ef - a Tale of Melodies after reading the VN, I decided not to touch anime adaptations ever again, so I kinda automatically blacklist them now (even in case of most H-animes).

Well, I prefer VNs as a medium to begin with.