I use the term “original” in the sense of an anime having no prior source material and not in reference to originality in story, plot, and characters. The latter point is more of an indirect consequence of relying on source material. Anyway, a good chunk of anime that have aired throughout 2007 are adaptations from existing works. Examples of such are anime that have their original roots in mediums like manga, games, visual novels, and light novels. I suppose sequels and spin-offs can be added to the point total too since they’re riding on the coattails of previous successes.
I can understand why animation studios stick to safe bets that are already popular in other mediums. The big cash cow is just too irresistible so we end up getting a bevy of h-games, manga, and novel adaptations translated into anime form. It is difficult to come up with original story concepts for a fresh anime with no ties to another medium. Why pay writers to come up with original stories and scripts when a profitable series is already on the table? Maybe all the truly original ideas have already been sapped up in years past. Who’s to say?
maosama on 
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