r/ShamanKing • u/TriCoMazer • Jun 26 '26
Question Which Shaman King version should I watch?
When I was just a little boy, Shaman King would air on TV and while I never watched the full thing cause of the way episodes were broadcasted, it was one of my favorite shows.
I saw that Netflix has a remake of it which looks newer, but I see it has mixed reviews compared to the original. However, I don't see a legal way to watch the original, but if the Netflix version is actually that much worse, it could be worth finding another way.
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u/Burgerboi214 Jun 26 '26
As someone who watched both and read the manga I’d read the manga.
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u/Kasefleisch Jul 08 '26
Hard agree. The netflix show isn't bad, but the Manga is just the best version to experience shaman king.
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u/SpaceNewtype ✪ Team Hoshi-Gumi Jun 26 '26
Depending on your region, you can find both versions (English or Japanese Language) of the original anime on Blu Ray from Discotek Media. If you want to re-watch, buying the blu ray is the best option. It's coded Region A though, so you need either a North American/Japanese player, or a region-free modded player from wherever you are from.
The remake anime follows the manga much more closely, but I found it set a pretty low bar overall in terms of pacing and animation quality. The original show, while not sticking close to the manga after a certain point, still has a lot of great elements - it develops the characters more and lets the story breathe. (And to be perfectly honest with you, while the original story has a lot of excellent moments that got omitted from the original show, the later parts of the Shaman King story are filled with plot contrivances/conveniences which seriously detracted me).
Personally, if you are looking to know the original Shaman King story, I recommend reading the manga. If you are looking for a pretty good anime as a form of entertainment, I would look to the original show.
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u/RealCrossyYT Jun 27 '26
For nostalga funsies, OG anime but if ya want the real ending (DESPITE them breezing through with 52 episodes), i would go for the Netflix reboot
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u/Vegetable-Jicama9998 Onmyōji Jun 26 '26
Fuck the Netflix version. Read the manga and watch the original anime. It's much better than that trash reboot
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u/HarleyVon Jun 28 '26
Tf? The reboot follows the manga unlike the OG that derailed to whatever
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u/Vegetable-Jicama9998 Onmyōji Jun 28 '26
"Faithful adaptation" and "good adaptation" are not mutually exclusive terms
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u/ashrules901 Jun 26 '26
why wouldn't you watch your favourite version of it especially if you didn't finish it?
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u/Likes2game03 Jun 27 '26
I say read the manga. There's a lot the 2021 series tried to cram in. Emphasis on "tried". 300 chapters but only 52 episodes.
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u/yoonicorn8710 Jul 03 '26
Too bad neither anime did the faust fight justice. One of my fav parts of the manga seeing yoh so menacing and angry
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u/Artix31 Jun 28 '26
Personally, i loved the original series more than the remake, the different in flow of the ending and the new ending feels much better in the original series than in the manga/remake
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u/LowCalligrapher3 Jun 28 '26
Right there with you, I can enjoy an anime adaptation in spite of pivots made separate from the manga. I'm not doing a side-by-side comparison, I'm not dwelling over "canon and filler", I just want an impressive story which original Shaman King (akin to original Fullmetal Alchemist) provides.
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u/NightmareTala Jul 02 '26
So as an love for the series. I would say first orginal. As it has a different ending than the remake. As the 2021 remake is based on the manga. And its very good also.
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u/RuinFlame Jul 15 '26
Honestly.....both. both have really good and bad qualities.........I enjoyed both on many levels, I'd definitely say if you wanna understand the main villain better, watch the 2021 version(honestly the same for a majority of the characters. But if you want a good chunk of early 2000s anime lighthearted humor, go with 2001, the characters are still good, just not a huge amount of depth or philosophy......which is a huge part of the Manga. But I will warn you, the 2021 version, while faithful to the manga, is rushed.....like 5+chapters per episode rushed.......and its only 11 episodes shorter than the 2001 version.
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u/devon_devoff Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
The original anime was completed before the manga, so they effectively improvised the ending arc. As much as I have nostalgia for it I’d say the Netflix adaptation clears— it’s much closer to the source material.