Forum - View topicAnime that had potential but didn't live up to it
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IchigoK90
 Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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As the title suggests i'm wondering what anime in your minds you felt had a lot of potential to become great. This idea to mind after finishing up Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny.
As I watched the series progress it dragged down to the point where it lost its edge to me. This series had a lot going for it. Another great soundtrack filled with enjoyable J-Pop songs and a new cast of characters. The themes brought up in this series caught my attention and thats what kept me going. However the themes couldn't always keep me going and I ended up forcing myself to finish the series and soon the new cast became dull to watch. The new main character Shinn was just unbearable to watch and listen to, though he did have his moments though it was only when Stellar was with him. However when spoiler[she died] he just turned back into the character that I loathed. Of the new cast of characters the only one I found interesting to watch would be Lunamaria. She was the only character I found myself rooting for merely because the rest were all mediocre to me. It got even worse with the return of the old cast. As Athrun pointed out in an episode they only caused confusion on the battlefield yet in my case it caused confusion in which I didn't know which cast the anime was trying to focus on. Add even more useless story elements and the story got bogged down even more. Thats just the story and characters. The animation though good as it may be still followed the same road SEED did. Re-used animation not only from the previous episodes but also re-used animation from the previous series just with minor changes plagued this series even further. I mean we saw enough of Murrue's tits bouncing after the archangel was hit but we don't need to see that again in the sequel series. Well thats enough out of me as any more of it would just be trolling and hating on the series. I still gave this series a good rating merely for the fact that it had potential to be great but too many things that were done in the previous series weren't corrected which resulted in this anime being mediocre at best. "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 Last edited by IchigoK90 on Mon May 22, 2006 7:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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I would have to vote for E's otherwise, it's about a guy, Kai Kodou, with psysic powers and all he really wants is to protect and have his little sister get healthy. He joins up with a group called Ashrum who develop his powers. As the story goes on, Kai discovers that all is not right in the world, ends up leaving Ashrum after the death of a friend and a huge, deadly fight with another of Ashrum's psysics who hates Kai's guts.
The story goes great, character development of Kai and the people who help him out after he leaves Ashrum is great but the last episode, it sort of...dribbles off and leaves things unanswered and me unsatisfied. Not like Witch Hunter Robin ending vague (I was satisfied with that one). But in E's Otherwise you don't know who lives, dies, what has happened to ANYBODY! This had potential, but the ending just killed it. |
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Nirvana
Posts: 261 |
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Well, the Hellsing TV looked promising, but ended really horribly. But then there's the OVA so...
Mai Hime's ending just killed the series for me. But I guess it was the very end, but still, due to the ending, I am not really a fan of it. |
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adonais
Posts: 302 |
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Texhnolyze. To me it seemed that it had all the right elements for a potentially great anime, but somehow they didn't combine to produce that effect. Many characters were flat stereotypes, and the story, once you started understanding it in full, depressing to the point of tedium. I guess I don't completely write it down as a "bad" anime, but I felt disappointed that it could have been so much better, given the ingredients that went into it.
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Noggy
 Posts: 88 |
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This may not be a popular opinion, but for my expectations, I have to go with Azumanga Diaoh. I had just watched Great Teacher Onizuka for the first time, loved it, and was excited for another school based comedy and I had heard a lot of good things about that show.
Sakaki (she was the one always being bit by the cat, right?) pretty much killed the series for me. Her cat obsession was funny at first, but after that it annoyed me. I didn't really care for Chiyo-chan for that matter either. I remember laughing at her just once, the Yukari-mobile scene, and that's it. Maybe it's just because I didn't like those two, but it seemed like the show focused on those two characters more than anyone else. I liked the rest of the cast, really wanted to like the show, but I found myself grinding through it after the first handful of episodes. The ending was sweet, though. It's weird. I like to think I have an odd sense of humor. I have loved series like Cromartie High School. I don't think it was because I just watched GTO because I watched School Rumble right after Azumanga and really enjoyed that series. So it wasn't genre burnout. I guess sometimes a series doesn't click with you. I know a lot of people like the show, and I thought I would love it based on summaries, general word of mouth and it's genre. But I couldn't get into it and that was very disappointing to me. |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Bakuretsu Tenshi.
This could have been great. You have fluid animation, a clueless kid surrounded by attractive girls, er, attractive girls, beautiful mecha fights, and a conspiracy-ridden first episode that had potential to blossom into something great... Then, nothing happens. NOTHING happens. The clueless kid is forgotten. One of the girls is always the damsel in distress, with another always to the rescue. Plot after plot, repetitive and annoying. And it refuses to keep a consistent plotline, dropping one plot for another (did I mention they were all like the same thing?). They managed to string together a half-assed excuse of a "plot" in the end to close the series, but...it was lame. Speed Grapher. You have a beautiful futuristic setting complemented with solid animation, an intriguing main character (who isn't a angsty teenager), a mysterious heroine, a Duran Duran hit as an opening theme (ooh...), wickedly cool villains (Suitengu, anyone?), and a promising and mysterious plotline... ...Until the "Freak of the Week" starts. For the longest time, it just stuck to the same formula. Introduce new baddie in opening theme, main characters on the run, evil minions chase after them and unleash the super baddie of the week, super baddie of the week chases main characters, main baddie has a strange obsession with something (whether it be diamonds or...teeth), main characters fight baddie, main characters win, end episode. Then, when they finally got tired of this, they bring out some angst-filled arc to conclude the series. Jeez, it coulda been great... Last Exile. Oh, man. If done right, this could probably beat out Haruhi, Spirited Away, and Tsukiohen for the #1 spot on the ANN top 10 list. A VERY promising sci-fi storyline, gorgeous animation, a stunning soundtrack, a beautiful world; I could go on and on. ...And it should have ended at Episode 12. Better to have a cliffhanger than the mess they pulled off after that. A complete train wreck after that. I don't even want to get into it. Funny thing how all of them are Gonzo titles... |
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Nirvana
Posts: 261 |
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Oh yeah, I have to agree with frentymon on Speed Grapher. It really did have good potential, but in the end, it just slowed and sorta died for me as well.
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Deltakiral
 Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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Completely agree with you there, after the first few episode of monster of week format I had some high hope that there would be a great storyline dealing with nature of euphoria. But there were some moments that were amazing, moving, and damn cool to watch. Also I personally think that Last Exile should be in the Top ten, it is with my ranking at least. Even with the bizzare ending I was happy, sad, and overwhelmed with everything that happened with this series. Anyways back to the question at hand: For me one title sticks out in my mind. The place promised in our earlier days. I loved voices of a distant star felt that it was a great story and had some great themes. One thing I will give to Place is the music is awesome. But as far as story and everything else, it just felt so meh.........and then I fell asleep. Sorry but Places had so much hype and hopeful potential, after Voices I was expecting so much more. Till next time, Delta Kiral |
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Anthony P
Posts: 227 Location: Phoenix, Arizona, US |
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I very much agree. Place Promised is one of the few titles that I have difficulty nit-picking the specific points that I felt needed improvement; Shinkai's writing just seemed a bit bland overall. It goes without saying, though, that Shinkai is definitely one of the top people to follow in the coming years. |
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Evil_dave83
 Posts: 25 Location: Oxford, England |
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Cowboy Bebop is my choice. I know it's popular, but I coudn't stand Vicious
 and as a result the story arc was completely undermined. Much as I enjoyed the character episodes they weren't enough to save the series for me. There was just something about his entry, spoiler["Behold, I am a mysterious rival from your dark past. Oh no, I am in a love-triangle with you!"], that was a colossal turn-off. It's a shame, as all the other elements were there but I felt they fluffed the crucial role of villain. Maybe being somewhat drunk when I watched the first Vicious episode didn't help (he has now been reincarnated in my circle of friends as a Norwegian black-metaller who announces himself with the cry, "No-one's more metal the Vicious!" (add ummlauts where appropriate for true Norsk voice)). Given the quality of fan musings I'll eventually revisit the series, but I didn't find it as enjoyable as the movie or Samurai Champloo 
Oh, and on Azumanga Daioh I really liked the manga and thought the series did a good job in portraying it, but I'm not certain it did live up to its full potential, although not to the same extent as Noggy. The characters have been further exaggerated and that takes something away from the tenderness of the early episodes particularly - Sakaki particularly seems to me to be just too weird. Not that it isn't cute and fun, just that it isn't quite as well balanced as the source material. I still love it, mind 
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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The Freak of the Week thing didn't last that long. It stopped after about episode 10 or so. The latter half of the series only had three or four new 'freaks.' And I thought the end was done pretty well. One of the better Gonzo endings, IMO. Not quite everything was resolved, but Saiga and Suitengu's stories where wrapped up even if the spoiler[virus thing] wasn't really explained. I didn't find the end particularly angsty either. |
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eely225
 Posts: 96 Location: West Lafayette, IN |
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I know I'm not the first to say it, but the first series that comes to mind is Last Exile. After watching the first DVD i was thoroughly convinced that this was going to be on my top 3 ever. The setting was amazing and it was just brilliantly done. After the second DVD I bought both OSTs, which may be the ebst thing about the series. It got dragged down by a confusing and uninteresting plot wheras the best moments were its early simplicity.
Also, Cromartie High School. I admit I was drawn in by the trailer and the first few episodes were amazing. But hen it kept going. Even in 13 episodes (or 26 half episodes) it managed to get boring, falling into the same pattern as Bo-Bo-Bo (although not as painful by any means). Grave of the Fireflies. I know, I'm sorry it's legendary, but I was completely miserable the entire time. I was so depressed. I just couldn't enjoy something that made my heart sink that deep. |
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crow-kun
 Posts: 155 |
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Fullmetal Alchemist, some people just shouldn't have a creative thought. Anno had a excuse he was suffering from depression and he made gold but this director was clearly sane, for the most part anyway.
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Mistress9
Exempt from Grammar Rules
 Posts: 226 |
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Well for me it would have been Blueseed Beyond, the seqeal for Blue seed. Well for one thing it wasn't nearly long enough, instead of jamming all that stuff into like two eppy's they should have stretched out a bit and well gone into the story like they did with Blueseed. Not to mention the last eppy is nothing but well fanservie, though it was pretty funny. But worse of all the main romance question that was left unanswered in Blueseed, wasn't really resolved by the sequeal. Over all it was just so dissapointing.
PS. what the heck did they do to Kusangi? (Sorry bout the spelling of his name!) |
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HitokiriShadow
Posts: 6251 |
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That's exactly how you are supposed to feel and how most of us felt. It isn't legendary for its enteratainment and re-watchability. Heck, I doubt very many people watch it more than once. I saw it once, and that was enough. I have no intention of rewatching it. And yet, I think it is one of the best anime ever made (even if it is 'biased'). |
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