Great Anime Ideas that are executed terribly (spoilers)

[Jan-Poo]

To name every single anime that was poorly executed the list would be too long, but if I had to mention one anime that started with great premises and with a very interesting plot and that then failed to exploit their full potential, well certainly: Higashi no Eden. It could be a masterpiece and yet it ended like a lighthearted story which I couldn't really take seriously.

Also I always thought that Hack Sign and the various Hack anime in general never fully exploited the potential of a story set on a MMORPG. There could be so many interesting things that could be shown based on this idea, and yet the whole thing fell on the background and the authors didn't realy seem to understand what a MMORPG actually is.

I dunno about the games though, I never played them.

[Asuras]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

To name every single anime that was poorly executed the list would be too long, but if I had to mention one anime that started with great premises and with a very interesting plot and that then failed to exploit their full potential, well certainly: Higashi no Eden. It could be a masterpiece and yet it ended like a lighthearted story which I couldn't really take seriously.

Also I always thought that Hack Sign and the various Hack anime in general never fully exploited the potential of a story set on a MMORPG. There could be so many interesting things that could be shown based on this idea, and yet the whole thing fell on the background and the authors didn't realy seem to understand what a MMORPG actually is.

I dunno about the games though, I never played them.

I felt that the .hack anime series was horrible; it's utter lack of any real action disappointed me. I fully went in expecting something like... Oh. I dunno. Video game-ish?

Nope.

Just another "deep-meaning" hunk of melancholy-filled whatevers.

[Archon_Wing]

Oh yes, .hack sign. How could I forget that-- a anime that could explore the world of futuristic gaming. Could have been godly like Lain, especially with the Kajura soundtrack. However, what I got was 26 episodes of nothing, some emo, but at least the ending did something. And the music is great. >.>

[Kotohono]

Originally Posted by TurkeyPotPie

A lot of series have already been mentioned that I agree with, but here's a few more:

Amagami SS - the 4 episodes per girl then a reset killed this one. When I first heard of the format I thought it was a good idea given how previous VN adaptations had turned out (where some girl always gets short shrift), but 4 episodes is just not enough time to properly develop the girls.

Eh except for Rihoko[and maybe Sae] I'd say it was enough time for each the girls to be developed really, especially Tsukasa's story and character development showed it could work just fine . [My only complained is that Risa should have gotten an arc instead of Rihoko ]

Originally Posted by Asuras

I felt that the .hack anime series was horrible; it's utter lack of any real action disappointed me. I fully went in expecting something like... Oh. I dunno. Video game-ish?

Nope.

Just another "deep-meaning" hunk of melancholy-filled whatevers.

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Oh yes, .hack sign. How could I forget that-- a anime that could explore the world of futuristic gaming. Could have been godly like Lain, especially with the Kajura soundtrack. However, what I got was 26 episodes of nothing, some emo, but at least the ending did something. And the music is great. >.>

Eh I'll admit that the //signs wasn't as good as it should of it be in regards to that, but then it's[and //roots] purpose was to be a prequel to some extend for the story of the actual games you know, which did have more and better storyline to them in my opinion .

Only one I can mention that had "terrible execution":
Mayoi Neko Overrun! - a good characters for a fairly normal harem, plus a different well known director for each episode you'd would give them a chance to make something slightly more creative, interesting, and/or funny with each episode of the series, yet only a few worked, too many ended up being a failure. And this is coming from someone who liked the most of the characters in the series .

[Random32]

Angel Beats! and Fractale come to mind as recent examples of this. Index II was a disappointment, so was Railgun.

I actually sorta liked DotHack//SIGN though... I liked it specifically because it wasn't actiony. It has good characters with interesting interactions. Yes its a deep meaning hunk of melancholy filled whatevers, but that is specifically what makes it awesome imho.

[Taufiq91]

Originally Posted by Random32

Fractale come to mind as recent examples of this. .

Why oh why did Yamakan made Fractale? He could have a Black Rock Shooter series instead.

To make something like Fractale, you need to have a 24 episode series and have it not on the noitamina schedule.

And If he wanted to make an anti-Moe anime, he should have just done a Fist of the North Star remake instead, or atleast something that is based on sports like Slam Dunk or Capt. Tsubasa, not a fantasy series with Kana Hanazawa.

[RandySyler]

Originally Posted by Random32

Angel Beats! and Fractale come to mind as recent examples of this. Index II was a disappointment, so was Railgun.

I actually sorta liked DotHack//SIGN though... I liked it specifically because it wasn't actiony. It has good characters with interesting interactions. Yes its a deep meaning hunk of melancholy filled whatevers, but that is specifically what makes it awesome imho.

Hey I kinda liked Angel Beats. It wasn't executed nearly as good as it could have been but it certaintly wasn't terrible.

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

See my sig. Angel Beats! was a cool concept, but it just sort of...fell apart as the show went on. You were never sure what exactly they were trying to do with it. "Okay, is everyone going to get a backstory for why they're here? No? Okay, is there going to be some sweet boss battle with Tenshi or her minions or something? No? Hmm, maybe it's about BASEBALL because there are two freaking episodes devoted to it. Eh, maybe the guild is going to be important. No, maybe it's not. Maybe music and the GirlDeMo band are going to be important...nope, not really. Maybe it's a just a comedy and I shouldn't take it too seriously. Oh shoot, no, they pretty obviously want me to take it seriously. Huh."

It's cool to watch, but disappointing and unsatisfying to finish.

Originally Posted by Haak

I definitely second Angel Beats. It tried to achieve too much in too short a time frame. Had it been 2 cours instead of one then I think it would've been a lot better.

Originally Posted by Ichuki

Angel Beats because it was rushed and too many plot holes

Originally Posted by Random32

Angel Beats! and Fractale come to mind as recent examples of this.

Fourth, Angel Beats, and Gamer_2k4 said everything i want to say...

One of a few time when i was totally excited watching the 1st episode. And then it just crash down as fast as it possibly can from there, the director surely deserve that Raspberry Dango award

[ahelo]

Fractale - Damn that series was horrid. So much potential wasted.

Munto TV - It looks so good on paper but all I heard in the series was a bunch of people talking too much. I mean 20 minutes felt like 1 hour.

[KyriaL]

How about Zero No Tsukaima? Did rather decently in the first season but second onwards, it just 'destroys' itself. And it had such a promising concept too.

And I Fifth Angel Beats! for its ending, Its like it came out of nowhere.

[Random32]

Though Angel Beats! was far from terrible, it had so much more potential.

[Kameruka]

Ore no Imouto for me not because it sucks in general but it can be better.

[ArrowSmith]

Any show like Love Hina.

[Gamer_2k4]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

The Endless Eight is one of those weird things that it depends entirely on how you look at it. From one point of view, it is ridiculous to show pretty much the same exact plot eight times in a row. From another point of view, it is actually rather specatular that they were able to make every single episode different. I don't think they copied a single scene from one episode to the next. The angles, colors, style even to some extent, were different in each episode.

Let's say you eat oatmeal all day on Sunday. Then, to change it up, you put blue food coloring in the oatmeal and eat it all day on Monday. On Tuesday, you make it yellow oatmeal and eat it all day. Wednesday has you eating it off a plate instead of a bowl. On Thursday, you decide to eat outside instead of in the kitchen. Another color change is in store for Friday, and you find yourself drinking green oatmeal out of a glass. Saturday is when you really change it up, and you have a race with your friends to see who can eat the oatmeal the fastest. Finally, you reach a conclusion the following Sunday, having eating the last of it and reaching the end of your eight day oatmeal-fest.

Regardless of the presentation, location, or situation, at the end of the cycle, all you've eaten is bland, pasty, tasteless oatmeal. Not only that, but you've done it eight times in a row. Sure, you could go on about how different it looked each time, how every day brought a fresh color, how every oatmeal experience was unique and wonderful, but come on. It's oatmeal. You can dress things up however you want, but it all boils down to eating oatmeal, oatmeal, oatmeal, and more oatmeal.


As far as how "spectacular" it is that they could use different angles and colors, well, just think about it. Even if a particular location is EXACTLY the same throughout four episodes, you can look at it from the north, south, east, and west and get a completely different scene each time. Now add new clothes for the characters, new times of day to show the events, and new time slices of the events in question (showing them a third of the way into swimming rather than halfway into swimming) and you've completely changed how the episode appears without too much creative effort.

Or, to put it yet another way, let's say you have a huge pile of garbage. Each week, you shape it into a new sculpture. Every Sunday brings with it a new interpretation of that garbage. This goes on for eight weeks, and each time people say, "Sure, it's garbage, but think of the EFFORT it took to sculpt that!" Problem is, all the effort in the world doesn't transform the garbage into something else. "Effort" as a measure for quality is utterly meaningless.


I thought Endless Eight was awful and is utterly irredeemable. Does it show?

[ArrowSmith]

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

I thought Endless Eight was awful and is utterly irredeemable. Does it show?

Agreed, I watched it to the end out of the HOPE that it would lead to some unbelievable plot development, but alas just more games by the writers.

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

I thought Endless Eight was awful and is utterly irredeemable. Does it show?

Nah, I would have never noticed that, except for the paragraph about garbage.

Also, Yuki disapproves of Endless Eight and claims that "developing her character" was a trash excuse.

[Akito Kinomoto]

Originally Posted by KyriaL

And I Fifth Angel Beats! for its ending, Its like it came out of nowhere.

Angel Beats! ending actually makes a lot of sense within the context of the show's setting, but if we're including sloppy final scenes alone, then I would say Kanon 2006.

Spoiler for Clannad: After Story and Kanon 2006:

While Clannad: After Story gets a lot of flake for its ending, it actually makes sense considering it's all just a dream and one could say that the stress Tomoya was having could have caused a hallucination of sorts. Meanwhile, Kanon 2006 has no justifications or anything that could make its final scenes plausible--merely a few words before everything became magically fine out of nowhere.

[FateAnomaly]

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

Let's say you eat oatmeal all day on Sunday. Then, to change it up, you put blue food coloring in the oatmeal and eat it all day on Monday. On Tuesday, you make it yellow oatmeal and eat it all day. Wednesday has you eating it off a plate instead of a bowl. On Thursday, you decide to eat outside instead of in the kitchen. Another color change is in store for Friday, and you find yourself drinking green oatmeal out of a glass. Saturday is when you really change it up, and you have a race with your friends to see who can eat the oatmeal the fastest. Finally, you reach a conclusion the following Sunday, having eating the last of it and reaching the end of your eight day oatmeal-fest.

Regardless of the presentation, location, or situation, at the end of the cycle, all you've eaten is bland, pasty, tasteless oatmeal. Not only that, but you've done it eight times in a row. Sure, you could go on about how different it looked each time, how every day brought a fresh color, how every oatmeal experience was unique and wonderful, but come on. It's oatmeal. You can dress things up however you want, but it all boils down to eating oatmeal, oatmeal, oatmeal, and more oatmeal.


As far as how "spectacular" it is that they could use different angles and colors, well, just think about it. Even if a particular location is EXACTLY the same throughout four episodes, you can look at it from the north, south, east, and west and get a completely different scene each time. Now add new clothes for the characters, new times of day to show the events, and new time slices of the events in question (showing them a third of the way into swimming rather than halfway into swimming) and you've completely changed how the episode appears without too much creative effort.

Or, to put it yet another way, let's say you have a huge pile of garbage. Each week, you shape it into a new sculpture. Every Sunday brings with it a new interpretation of that garbage. This goes on for eight weeks, and each time people say, "Sure, it's garbage, but think of the EFFORT it took to sculpt that!" Problem is, all the effort in the world doesn't transform the garbage into something else. "Effort" as a measure for quality is utterly meaningless.


I thought Endless Eight was awful and is utterly irredeemable. Does it show?

Couldn't have said it better. I loved the first season. Even bought the limited edition box set but eightless 8 is so trollish that i couldn't even finish season 2 and pretty much swore me off this series.

[Soliloquy]

I don't try to waste time with any anime that I dislike. Most of them I disliked have already bored me in the pilot episode but I thought Basilisk had a lot of potential with the characters made of clan of ninjas with superpowers. There were certainly a lot of action but the story could've been paced much better. The biggest fault with the anime for me was killing off the characters that have been introduced in the last 3 episodes. Despite all the interesting characters, there was hardly any development. It dragged way too long without going anywhere.

Another one I thought that could've been good was Best Student Council. The premise was promising for me as the main character was a girl with ventroquilism. There were plenty of character interaction but hardly any plot instead just a slice of life in a dormitory school. It certainly tried to be funny but rather than laughing, I was amused all the way through.

[mecharobot]

Genshi Shounen Ryuu. A chance to finally see an exiting primeval themed anime, but there is just too much fail here. There is only like one recurring dinosaur and a trio of hunters who show up every episode and the hero runs away. It just continues tobe like that until added annoyances like a loud kid and a mascot animal. Sad, since this is a setting completely overlooked in moderan anime. (At least until Magic Tree House comes up.)

One other would be Juuousei. Really, you have this awesome planet filled with possibly sentient killer plants and have a neat looking survival scenario coming up (tip: not going to happen), what happened.