Biggest Letdown in Anime

[Soviet Heavy]

As the title says. For me, it would have to be Code Geass R2. R1 was one of the very few modern cartoons from Japan that actually appealed to me. And it ended on one hell of a cliffhanger.

Only for everything to be undone the minute the second season started. I mean, goddammit, within less time than the first fucking episode, it had managed to undo and completely trash all the tension and suspense that had been building up in R1, to be rolled back to square one. It then played out like a version of R1 where everyone was not only a jackass, but an idiot, and just fell off the scale for me.

What let you down the most?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

It's creation.

You're gonna have to explain that. I've only watched a few series, and that quote doesn't ring a bell.

 

[JoJo]

The fact that Aishiteruze Baby was cancelled after the first season, one of the few anime's I've ever been able to get into, made even worse by them having every plot line but one tied up and it's obvious they didn't finish that one in an attempt to fish for a second season. Either that or the fact that no-one has ever heard of that anime in the first place.

 

[RJ 17]

I'm very picky about the anime's that I get/watch. As such I know I won't be disappointed when I finally make a selection. For instance: a friend of mine has been urging me to watch High School of the Dead, I wasn't all too interested, then someone on these boards pointed out that the entire show starts up alright but then falls down the abyss of "We need EXCESSIVE amounts of fanservice in order to keep this show compelling!" Little bits of fanservice are fine, but when your entire series is carried by gratuitous amounts of fanservice, it becomes quite obvious that you're just covering up for what would otherwise be a crappy show.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I'm very picky about the anime's that I get/watch. As such I know I won't be disappointed when I finally make a selection. For instance: a friend of mine has been urging me to watch High School of the Dead, I wasn't all too interested, then someone on these boards pointed out that the entire show starts up alright but then falls down the abyss of "We need EXCESSIVE amounts of fanservice in order to keep this show compelling!" Little bits of fanservice are fine, but when your entire series is carried by gratuitous amounts of fanservice, it becomes quite obvious that you're just covering up for what would otherwise be a crappy show.

I felt that too. I liked the first few episodes, but the moment they left the school with the pedophile teacher on the bus, I lost interest. And there were some genuinely good pieces in those early episodes. The gun otaku was the best character in the whole damn thing.

 

[DoPo]

Code Geass itself. I am to blame here, as I expected something different when I watched it, instead of starting with an open mind. I picked up Code Geass after Death Note because there were the promises of it being basically Death Note, and I loved the plot of DN. Only I imagined CG would be more... complex, perhaps.

I believe I felt slightly cheated because it was targeted at a slightly different audience and then there were the mecha running around[footnote]I've always found those things to stretch believability at the very least and shatter the suspension of disbelief at a lot of times. Personal thing, though, I don't mean to discredit the genre.[/footnote]. Also, I thought Lelouch can use his Geass way more subtly, he used it, well, not really as blunt weapon, but probably as a knife for stabbing as opposed to the fine scalpel I had in mind.

And then R2 rolled around. The beginning was frustrating after the cliffhanger at the end of R1, it was really anticlimactic. Even though I started to get into it in a while and, I must say, I did enjoy R2, the bit near the end when Zero was abandoned - that was probably the lowest point of the entire series. I wasn't sad as much as really frustrated.

But yeah, probably if I had been more open minded from the beginning, I would have enjoyed it more.

 

[smearyllama]

Snip

Snip

I watched the entire first season, and it gets better after that. Once things really get rolling, it's pretty solid. I'd say give it another shot. I honestly stopped noticing the fanservice unless it got really excessive (Matrix Boobs springs to mind).

OT: A lot of the first Fullmetal Alchemist series, after finishing it and watching some of Brotherhood. Looking back, the first show had a lot of boring filler that really didn't fit the flow of the show. It spent too many episodes on nonsense that served no purpose. It did handle

Spoiler

Maes Hughes'

death a little better, though, I thought. Might have just been seeing it for the first time, though. The first show also gave little in terms of personality to Mustang's officers.

 

[RJ 17]

Snip

Actually I was trying to say that I hadn't seen High School of the Dead, just going by what I've heard about it...though yes, the person on these boards that told me about how ridiculous the fanservice gets posted a gif of a girl dodging a bullet with her breasts, I'd imagine that's the "Matrix Boobs" you're talking about.

 

[Diablo2000]

Yu Yu Hakusho ending... That's it? I mean... Yusuke last match in the tournament was rather cool, but the ending it was rushed as shit.

And where was Yosuke's mom? She was my favorite character and she never show up again after the first arc...

 

[smearyllama]

Snip

Actually I was trying to say that I hadn't seen High School of the Dead, just going by what I've heard about it...though yes, the person on these boards that told me about how ridiculous the fanservice gets posted a gif of a girl dodging a bullet with her breasts, I'd imagine that's the "Matrix Boobs" you're talking about.

It was sort of directed to the both of you, really. Sorry for the confusion. Yeah. The show gets ridiculous, but it's actually pretty decently written. It's aware of how stupid it can get, though, so it's bearable. There's a lot of mood whiplash.

 

[RJ 17]

If you wanna watch a series that NEVER disappoints, I'd suggest Bobobo-bobo-Bobobo. Could possibly be my favorite anime of all time. The manga is better (as is normally the case), and the Japanese voice acting is better (again, as is normally the case), but the English isn't that bad.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Bleach having a satisfying conclusion.

Towards the end of the final battle with the main antagonist, Aizen, the main protagonist, Ichigo, overpowers him with his final, forbidden technique and essentially defeats him. After using the technique, Ichigo collapses and wakes up a month later, discovering that he is losing his powers. As his powers begin to completely disappear, he bids farewell to his comrades and friends that he cannot communicate without the aid of his powers.

And that is how the series should have ended.

Instead, they chose to skip forward 17 months, where Ichigo and his friends are attending school and living normal lives. He is then confronted by a shady organization that wants to help him regain the powers that he lost and fight off an new enemy. He regains his powers, betrayal ensues, and his former comrades return to aid him in the fight, only to take down the threat who is no match for them.

The story is still on going and I'm glad that there will be more Bleach, but it really missed one of those rare opportunities to end a series well.

 

[Axolotl]

Either, the ending of Berserk, becuase it doesn't have one, or the dub of Hellsing Ultimate which made me want to cut of my own ears, I mean it was just painful to listen to.

 

[mParadox]

Darker than Black. [http://goo.gl/cFih7]

It had a really good thing going for it. And yet, it stumbles with every step it tries to take. So many good things could've come about, but noooooo.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Yeah I didn't like how Code Geass R2 had turned out near the end and the same goes to Bleach. The only other anime I can think off to add into the list is the Martian Successor movie. That film will only burst your bubble for your love of the mai characters.

EDIT- Oh I just remember the ending to Soul Eater was a huge let down. Why didn't they just start airing it several more months after the manga so at least they could of maintain is as a on going series?

 

[Casual Shinji]

Steamboy

A movie from the creator of Akira, as well as other extremely high quality animations. And all I get is a boring story about steam with no clear villain or goal, and an animated production with badly integrated CGI.

 

[Trivun]

I'm still hoping they continue the Hellsing Ultimate series...

I think they are, it's just been a while since the last episode, but it's being continued in Japan and it's only a matter of time before those new ones get dubbed and brought to the West again.

For me, since I've enjoyed every anime I've seen so far, my biggest letdown has to be the fact that there is still no news on an Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru anime. That is, the second season of Umineko. With it's predecessor, Higurashi, the first series ended on much the same note - plenty of tangled plot threads, no clue what's going on, and half the important stuff missed out because it was in the game but cut from the anime. So the solution there was an original plot arc giving all the missing info from the games before the remaining game arcs were adapted for the second anime season. What's stopping the studio from doing that with Umineko? Nothing. So why haven't they announced for definite, either yes or no, a second season? It just pisses me off when we're left hanging for ages like that, not just anime studios but other media too...

 

[lapan]

I'm still hoping they continue the Hellsing Ultimate series...

They do continue it, they just take their time. A change of animation studios further slowed down the production for a while.