Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ Trouble
If I had never read the novels I could probably give the series a high overall rating, but after seeing how much was cut, I just can't help but think the anime doesn't do the series justice. Before reading through the novels I would have probably given it a 9.5 or 10, and I think for people that haven't read the novel and never will the series will have that kind of feeling to it. Having been spoiled by the novels, however, I think the series is more on the level or a 7 just because of all the events and character development that get cut. It would have been great if this could have been spread out over two or even three seasons.
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In the end, this is one of the tough things if you're trying to rate an anime. The producers knew that the light novel series was coming to an end, and made a strategic decision to time the release of the anime so that it would end around the same time as the novels (and actually that the novel would end just weeks before the anime, thus greatly promoting novel sales -- remember, they're in this to make money, and especially off of books and CDs). They probably felt that momentum would be lost if they spread it to a second season that would arrive long after the novels had finished (and thus the ending was already fairly well known). Obviously not all shows take that direction, but that was sort of the producer's call. The director and story planner then inherited the task of adapting the entire novel series, including the ending, into the two-cour constraint.
So, if you're judging this, you almost have to consider both aspects. There's the decision the producers made and the impact that had on the story. And then there's the director's/writer's ability to work within the constraints they were given. I think the fact that you can say that you'd rate it so highly as a
standalone speaks well of the work the anime team did, even though the story itself might have benefited from different production decisions. I think it's sort of one of those "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade" situations.
(What's interesting is that the same director is now working on a project that has the opposite "problem": taking a short story and
stretching it out for a two-cour anime. And it's funny how there's varying degrees of acceptance for and complaints about that as well. But in the new project's case, the source material is manga, which tends to be faster-paced by its very nature, rather than novels which tend to be very rich in detail. So I sort of feel for the guy -- he just can't land projects that give him the right time for the source material.
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