As a true lover of graphic novels, I fell in love with the art form in Coraline: The Graphic Novel. The way the images jumped from the page despite their 2D effect made me believe that the terrifying creatures who hid behind the small door of Coraline’s house could truly crawl from the page into my room! A whole new understanding and experience came when watching the claymation version of the story made in 2009. The world I was familiar with shattered into a new realm, a new set of players — a new story almost.
Adaptations, when done well, can do just that: take a beloved story and make it both recognizable and unrecognizable. 2024 has brought a variety of book adaptations to the big screen. From It Ends With Us to Lady in the Lake, adaptations have been spilling ink onto screen for the last few months. In this mix has been an amazing selection of illustrated works brought to the animated screen via graphic novels, manga, and manhwa. With not as much attention but so much beautiful work, here are the best animated adaptations from this year!
WondLa
The Search for WondLa was originally published by Simon & Schuster in 2010. Written by New York Times–bestselling author Tony DiTerlizzi, the novel is set in a dystopian-like city underground. When a sanctuary is left destroyed, a young girl — Eva Nine — must leave all she knows of the underground to explore the surface. Not sure where to find civilization, Eva seeks out a family in a drawing. Eva has held onto a scrap of cardboard while living in the undercity — proof that humans still exist somewhere above the earth. The cardboard has a drawing of a woman, a child, and a robot on it. With the destruction of her home fueling her search, Eva sets out on her hope to find humans.
Brought into the animated world by Apple TV+, The Search for WondLa has met the silver screen as the series WondLa. The series has a cast of familiar actors and voice actors, including Alan Tudyk, Brad Garrett, Jeanine Mason, and Teri Hatcher. The series follows a different path of the story. Taking an approach of the young girl with a robot companion, WondLa traverses the surface on an adventure to find meaning and purpose in the world as a young girl.
Look Back
Created by Tatsuki Fujimoto, the mind behind Chainsaw Man, Look Back tells the story of two girls living wildly different lives. One is an overly confident young girl, and the other is completely isolated. Despite their difference in their approach to the world, the two girls find common ground: manga. Both of the young girls love the art in manga and illustrate themselves. A coming-of-age story about coming out of your shell and embracing your passion, Look Back is a heartwarming and inspiring story.
The manga was brought to screen in 2024 by Studio Durian. With some of the most fascinating and stunning animation, Look Back has proven to be a story that can span the two storytelling forms with ease. The film was directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, whom audiences may be familiar with from his work on The Boy and the Heron, Devilman: Crybaby, and Chainsaw Man! Part of the reason I believe this story did so well making this transition from page to screen is because of the director’s relation to Fujimoto’s previous work.
Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle
The Haikyu!! manga series first came out in 2012. The series was created by Haruichi Furudate and follows a high school volleyball team as they navigate teamwork, their sport, and their lives. The manga was developed into an anime in 2014 and lasted four seasons. With heartfelt moments, incredible thrills from the sport, and beats of deep-rooted friendship, Haikyu!! has been a highly admired and loved story from Furudate. It is a true talent to be able to write such a level of physicality onto the page and still bring audiences to the edge of their seats, but that is just a day in the life of Furudate and his work.
This year, Haikyu!! was brought to the big screen. This is not the first time the series has been developed into a movie, but instead, this is the fourth film in the series’ development. Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle brings a combination of incredible storytelling to well-crafted animation. With some of the smoothest and most well-developed art, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle showcases the stunning ability of anime artists.
Watchmen Chapter 1
The deeply cynical and darkly twisted Watchmen, written by Alan Moore, was first published in 1986. The story navigates an alternate timeline of Earth, one where superheroes exist and have quickly been outlawed. The consequences of these two events build great tension, nail-biting drama, and horrible violence. The wildly different take on superheroes from the current mainstream exposure to them provides an interesting reflection of society and the United States.
Watchmen Chapter 1 was produced by Paramount Pictures and animated by Studio Mir. Set in 1985, the film follows a murder and subsequent investigation as outlawed superheroes are questioned about their ties to the case. The film is an adaptation, as the title reveals, of the first chapter of the graphic novel. Directed by Brandon Vietti, the movie brings together a cast of familiar voices, including Troy Baker, Jeffery Combs, and John Marshall Jones.
Ultraman: Rising
While Ultraman originally started as a TV series in the 1960s, it was eventually adapted into manga. The manga developed the concept of Ultraman and made it eternal. Unlike the original series, the manga made Ultraman a title passed on from superhero to superhero, much like that of Green Lantern, Spiderman, or Robin. Those with super abilities held the title of Ultraman.
In the film, the title of Ultraman is given to a baseball player. Learning to accommodate for expectations of himself and taking care of a baby monster, Ken Sato struggles to uphold his responsibilities as a hero alongside his day job. The film is beautifully animated and brings a beloved character to the big screen in a big way.
Here
Richard McGuire is a writer and illustrator. His work has been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Le Monde. A truly talented artist of our time, McGuire published his graphic novel Here in 2014. The novel started as a six-panel comic that the writer/illustrator transformed into an over 300-page graphic novel in 2014, following the same position in location across a myriad of time points.
The graphic novel has been brought to life by Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis. Starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright and embracing McGuire’s concept of stationary viewfinders, the movie unfolds all while the camera remains in the same place. Splintering the story through a series of glimpses in time, Zemeckis takes all that is known about the movement of the frame and pauses it in space. A truly unique and original approach to storytelling — both for a graphic novel and a film — Here poses the consistencies of life against the ever-reliant change of the world.
With dramatic use of computer effects, artist intervention on the screen, and de-aging, this film blurs the line between live-action and animation.
That’s a wrap on the best animated adaptations of 2024. With all the incredible work that’s been made this year, 2025 certainly has some big shoes to fill!
For all you animators out there, read Bookstr’s 5 Helpful Books About Animation for Animators.
Are you a manga and graphic novel fan? We have the perfect list for you! Check out Bookstr’s list of illustrated comics, mangas, and graphic novels on Bookshop!
