Quote:
Originally Posted by chinaboat
I wonder if sticking to the manga is more of a budgetary consideration than anything else; I would imagine writers who simply edit the manga are less expensive than one's who can come up with solid, original scripts based on the manga.
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Well, I doubt it's to hire cheaper writers -- even adapting an existing script for animation is a lot of work. My guess is that it's to play it a little bit safer in terms of reaching their target audience and making their sales goals. The first season was airing in early-morning TV, and funded by major sponsors (P&G, McDonalds, etc.). The second season is airing in late-night without major advertising support, and so is depending mostly on things like DVD/Blu-Ray sales to pay for the production. Writing original content brings with it a risk that your core target audience won't appreciate the changes. With this season, they appear to be sticking more closely to many manga readers' favourite characters and stories. That sort of "playing it safe" is likely to be rewarded with solid sales.
Basically, when times get tough, double-down on your safer bets to weather the storm. That's basically the overall strategy of the industry these days.