The Price of Magika (Book v. Anime)

I am a longtime writer on this chamber, and come here for feedback. I have posted a bit about a project I am currently working on named *The Price of Magika* and have been thinking about also turning this into an anime one day. <br><br>*The Price of Magika* takes place in a fantasy world with elemental magic. It follows 11 year old Zoe as she attends magika school, which is a great honour for the people of her town since this is her first time that a student from there has been accepted. The problem is that no one from the town has ever finished magika school, and thus everyone is very excited to follow her way. After a very bad start - she fails her first five classes - other students begin to help her and she slowly makes a few friends. In between classes, she notices that one of the teachers is acting weird, and starts to investigate. <br><br>This is the main difference to the anime, but before I come to that, I would like to explain the following:<br><br>My project is written for children, which I define to be readers aged 6-12. I have written 250.000 words so far, and the story is probably not yet half finished. I work on it in my free time, so unfortunately, this goes slow. I hired an editor (native English speaker) to give me feedback, and also let my children read it with their friends. I take all the criticism I receive to heart and use it to improve the story. <br><br>Now to the anime. I have written a short script of what I imagine this anime to be, and unfortunately, my editor hated it. She said it was totally not like the book and also boring as hell, and that I need to go and watch more anime to improve it. I have currently not watched a single anime in my life, which may be the problem. But I am also not sure whether it is a good idea to just change a book for the sake of turning it into an anime. <br><br>The main criticism was that "nothing happens" in my anime, which I don't think is true. I will go through my ideas here and then come to the anime at the end. <br><br>So what will happen in the book? There will be a lot of world building, so the reader knows what is happening and how magika works. The world I created is similar to Harry Potter, but a bit more logical. For example, not all students sleep in the school, but live with their families in a nearby city. There is a good reason for this which I will not mention here. In the book, Zoe will go through a lot of character development. She will experience her first love (as will some other characters) and also a few betrayals. A few characters will die or be hurt badly, and she will go through a lot of shit. She will constantly be struggling and improve. The story is centered around her magika, which is hinted at to be very special. There will be a big plot twist towards the end, turning her world upside down and leading to a big fight. <br><br>But now to the anime. I would not go for 13 episodes, but 26 episodes for two seasons. I think I would be able to do the story justice with this format. But I would make a few changes. The main character of the anime would not be Zoe anymore, but her older brother Lucas. He is currently the main antagonist of the book, a teacher at the school and very powerful in magika. But there is a reason why he is doing what he is doing, and the anime would be centered around this. <br><br>The story of the anime would start years before Zoe is born. Lucas is a young boy, and very kind and gentle. He also has very powerful magika and is one day invited to a magika school, just as Zoe later will be. He starts there, and at first, all goes well. But slowly, he starts to struggle and doubts himself. He cannot concentrate, constantly makes mistakes, and has no friends. After a few years, he has a mental breakdown and flees the school. <br><br>He ends up with an organisation of magikans who are living outside of society. They call him their messiah, and teach him more about himself. He learns that he has been chosen by Fate, and is very important for upcoming events. He decides to help them, and trains hard to master his magika. In the end, he will have to fight against his own sister. The big plot twist mentioned about will happen at the end of season one, and the first episodes of season two will be centered around his reaction to it. <br><br>So what does this have to do with the book and Zoe? Well, through his journey, Lucas will learn everything about the world Zoe lives in. The school she attends is actually a testing facility, built by a secret organisation that wants to control all the magikans. They want to make them stronger, and are breeding them like animals. Zoe is part of their experiments, and has no chance to ever become strong. But since she is important for Fate, Lucas will try to help her, by infiltrating the school as a teacher. <br><br>This would be the main story of the anime, while the book is centered around the school and its students. So the anime would be more about the world and the magikans outside the school, while the book also deals with the world inside the school. But both stories would happen at the same time, with some characters appearing in both. I would also include a few scenes from the book in the anime, but from Lucas' point of view. <br><br>The reason for the criticism from my editor is probably that the story of the anime is a lot slower than the story of the book. While the book is already nearing its end after 250.000 words, the anime would end after a few years have passed. Also, since Lucas is an adult, he is already strong in magika and doesn't need to struggle. He will constantly improve, but also have to deal with a few setbacks. But he will never fail like Zoe does. He is a lot more patient than her, and more willing to sacrifice himself for others. But he also has a lot more power than her, and is thus able to make very different decisions. <br><br>So do you think this would be a good idea, or am I completely off? Is it okay to write a completely different story for an anime adaptation, or should I stay true to the book?