The present study combined cognitive perspectives and intermediality
theory to investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying viewers’
reception of Japanese manga adaptations to other media. The results from a
case study regarding the adaptation of Kotaro Lives Alone provide the
following findings. First, viewers’ assessment of fidelity heavily depends on
their perception of the adapted medium’s specificity or similarity to the
source material. Second, personal preferences reduce the applicability of
cognitive schemas to the understanding of the reception of such adaptations.
Third, memories of unsuccessful adaptations may cause viewers to form
rigid heuristic frameworks. Fourth, viewers assess live-action adaptations
on the basis of how well these adaptations stay true to the source material.
Finally, viewers’ intermedial and intertextual anchoring strategies may
change after they view a manga adaptation.