From Great to Terrible

[Wickett]

Anime discussion has been a bit slow as of late so I thought I'd chuck a random topic out there and hope it hasn't been done recently already.

List an anime or two that you've watched that started off great and by the time you were close to the end you were only finishing it to say you had, and preferably why as well, if you can remember specifics.

For me it would first be Aldnoah Zero, interesting characters and overall plotline but every development I hoped I would see didn't happen and by the end I felt like the direction and whole point of the story had been completely missed plus a serious lack of character development. Cannot recommend at all and it's a real shame.

The second one I have, however, is way worse. I finished 86 later last year and I have to say I don't think I've watched many anime more overrated in my opinion. It starts sad and meaningful, takes a weird turn in the beginning of the second season, gets hopeful, gets weird again, and then I won't say much else for spoilers. Just tragic, again in my opinion. Somehow it has very positive ratings.

What about everyone else?

Edited February 13 by Wickett

[FidelityBoss]

Oh man, I feel this! Aldnoah.Zero had so much potential but totally fumbled the ending, it’s like they forgot what made it interesting in the first place. And 86? Yeah, I get where you’re coming from. It starts strong but kinda loses its way with all the tonal shifts. Overrated? Maybe, but I think some people just vibe with the emotional beats more. 

For me, Sword Art Online comes to mind. Started with such a cool concept, but by the end, I was just watching out of obligation. The pacing and weird plot choices really dragged it down. Anyone else have a “started great, ended meh” anime?

[Wickett]

SAO's first season was one overused trope after another but at least it was done well. After that it progressively became more and more weird with the isekai feel where every single girl wanted to have his child but he's with Asuna. Quickly became not my thing.

 

[efaardvark]

This happens to me all the time.  In fact, I don't usually start watching a series if I know it extends more than a season or two.  Later seasons are almost always inferior to earlier ones.　By the third season it feels like a slog through filler and recaps and I've typically lost all interest.

The other thing is the longer ones tend to leave the story open at the end of the last season instead of having a satisfactory ending.  Even if there's no interest / funding / contract for another season they don't provide a good end to the story.  They just leave the viewer hanging with dangling plot threads and / or unsatisfactory plot twists that veer off in a completely different direction, just in case.  *IF* there's another season they can sometimes recover, but most of the time they just end, leaving the viewer in an unsatisfied "WTF" state.  Give me a good story with 12 or 24 episodes and a great ending and move on to the next story.  Don't waste my time with hundreds of episodes (half of which are basically reruns and pointless filler) and no climax or ending.

I won't point fingers but tell me if this sounds familiar...  The first movie / season is a blockbuster.  The second not so much.  The third made a bit of money for the studio, but mostly just because the die-hard fans of the first 2 releases felt they were too invested to skip it.  By the 4th or 5th the franchise has gotten so bad that even the fans lose interest and / or give bad reviews so the release loses money.  The producers left the ending dangling so they could try again, but the suits kill it because of the negative return and that's the end of it, leaving just the shitty, unsatisfying ending and ruining the originally awesome story.   I wish they'd just keep it to 2 or three great movies / seasons at most, with the last one having a satisfyingly solid end that doesn't lend itself to any sort of continuation.  Make your point and move on.

This isn't just an anime thing either.  Regular TV and even movies are full of examples where the story was extended far beyond anything reasonable and the whole franchise sinks into the swamp.  Hollyweird  seems especially good at this. 

Edited February 14 by efaardvark

[Animedragon]

Two anime series come immediately to mind. Last Exile and Evangellion both start off really well and sort of go to pieces at the end. Last Exile was doing well until about three quarters of the way through when a crazy madman seemed to take over most of the episodes, the ending was a bit confusing and didn't seem to make much sense.  Likewise Eva started well, but they put so many layers of conspiracies within conspiracies and plots within plots that I think they couldn't think of a way to tie it all up at the end. The total bodge job of the final two episodes didn't help.

[Magus]

Based on discussion elsewhere (and disclaimer: I have NOT seen this one myself), it feels like Wonder Egg Priority is a perfect match.

 

Starts with girls who have emotional trauma and trying to get through it... and by the end, I understand it's a clusterfuck of a story that basically invalidates everything it did in the first half of the show.

[Wickett]

On 2/13/2025 at 9:49 PM, efaardvark said:

I won't point fingers but tell me if this sounds familiar...  The first movie / season is a blockbuster.  The second not so much.  The third made a bit of money for the studio, but mostly just because the die-hard fans of the first 2 releases felt they were too invested to skip it.  By the 4th or 5th the franchise has gotten so bad that even the fans lose interest and / or give bad reviews so the release loses money.  The producers left the ending dangling so they could try again, but the suits kill it because of the negative return and that's the end of it, leaving just the shitty, unsatisfying ending and ruining the originally awesome story.  

I agreed with basically everything you said but I'll admit I don't know what series you're referencing here and am curious to know. I'm okay with longer shows that can span 3 or 4 seasons, but it's far better if the mangaka already knows what the ending will be, and everything you're watching is just build up to a well thought out conclusion. As you say, this is far easier to do with one or two season shows.

On 2/15/2025 at 3:26 PM, Animedragon said:

Two anime series come immediately to mind. Last Exile and Evangellion both start off really well and sort of go to pieces at the end. Last Exile was doing well until about three quarters of the way through when a crazy madman seemed to take over most of the episodes, the ending was a bit confusing and didn't seem to make much sense.  Likewise Eva started well, but they put so many layers of conspiracies within conspiracies and plots within plots that I think they couldn't think of a way to tie it all up at the end. The total bodge job of the final two episodes didn't help.

Was Evangellion even good at all? Aside from Cruel Angel's Thesis there was no pleasure derived from that show at all. 

[Animedragon]

10 hours ago, Wickett said:

I agreed with basically everything you said but I'll admit I don't know what series you're referencing here and am curious to know. I'm okay with longer shows that can span 3 or 4 seasons, but it's far better if the mangaka already knows what the ending will be, and everything you're watching is just build up to a well thought out conclusion. As you say, this is far easier to do with one or two season shows.

I'm also fine with long series that run for 3 or 4 seasons, but I agree with you that series where the mangaka has decided on an ending to the story are much better because you see the story progress to a conclusion. Series that just run on and on through several seasons with no ending in sight and often repeating the same plot lines but using different characters, like TV soap operas do, can get very boring very quickly.

10 hours ago, Wickett said:

Was Evangellion even good at all? Aside from Cruel Angel's Thesis there was no pleasure derived from that show at all. 

I think Evangalion was good when it first came out because it was a very different take on the Giant Mech theme. Visually it was excellent with the whole Tokyo 3 lowering into the ground for defence, although that's not entirely a new concept  Gerry Anderson did it back in the 60s. The battles with the Eva units and the Angels were good as was the background story but what spoilt it was that there were, as I said earlier, there were too many layers of conspiracies and to the point where they couldn't tie it all up before the end of the show. Overall I think it would have been far better to have gone for a second season rather than bodge the last two episodes and then release (almost) endless movies to try and find a conclusion to the story.

[holywhippet]

I'd suggest the main Tenchi Muyo series for this. It was good to start with. Later series though? It seemed to spend too much time on things like domestic duties like cooking etc. It didn't help that they started introducing characters from extra media like light novels making it hard to work out what was going on any more.

[Animedragon]

Another series that has come to my mind is Ranma 1/2.  It was fun at first, but as the series progressed it just became a one-trick-pony and the stories just become boring and repetitive.

[Wickett]

On 2/19/2025 at 2:31 AM, Animedragon said:

I'm also fine with long series that run for 3 or 4 seasons, but I agree with you that series where the mangaka has decided on an ending to the story are much better because you see the story progress to a conclusion. Series that just run on and on through several seasons with no ending in sight and often repeating the same plot lines but using different characters, like TV soap operas do, can get very boring very quickly.

Right, look at what happened with Death Note. The ending was originally going to be around episode 26 or 27 as I understand it, and they were pushed go further until finally they dug their heels in and backed out.

 

4 hours ago, Animedragon said:

Another series that has come to my mind is Ranma 1/2.  It was fun at first, but as the series progressed it just became a one-trick-pony and the stories just become boring and repetitive.

Another agreement from me. If you're going to make the entire story the same concept on repeat then at the very least the ending needs to be super strong, and I simply found it underwhelming.

I'd personally also add Dr. Stone to the list of disappointments. The overall idea and execution was interesting in the first season, but dear goodness the entirety of the second season was a gauntlet to get through.

[Moxie]

I think it is Pupa.