Forum - View topicSequel series that fall short and/or surpass its predecessor
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IchigoK90
 Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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As the title suggests I'm wondering what sequel series in your minds fell short of expectations of what it's predecessor did for you. In simpler terms which sequel series was worse than its predecessor.
NOTE: think I spelt predecessor wrong so sorry if I did. 
On the main topic at hand the series I felt fell short of what it's predecessor did was Mai-Otome. Now its not that this series was bad but more along the lines that it wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be as Mai-HiME. Now here are my reasons for why it fell short: 1. The story takes a while to pick up before it begins to detract from the normal school life thing, 2. The first half of the series had too much fanservice to my liking. 3. Nina was quite annoying through the first half (luckily I stayed with the series to find out she's more than what she seems to be, hooray for character development.) 4. Though the use of the previous cast is entertaining it turned out just watching more of the same. 5. The character designs just didn't seem as appealing as the ones of the previous cast, and last of all 6. That Tomoe girl is pretty freaky (referring to the spoiler[whole baby fetish thing she did with Shizuru...........]  do you not all agree?)
However not to say it was all that bad, the 2nd half of the series did prove to be on par with its predecessor. The series on whole though just didn't live up to Mai-HiME in my mind. I know there'll be people who disagree with me on the series and that people will say that Mai-Otome isn't really a "true" sequel to Mai-HiME but thats how I feel about it considering that I think of it as a sequel series. So now for you're thoughts on the topic at hand. <EDIT> Since some people have thought of series that they thought did better than its predecessor I decided to include anime sequels that surpass its predecessor under this topic. "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 Last edited by IchigoK90 on Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:01 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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areaseven
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 1486 Location: Makati, Philippines |
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There are so many titles to name that fall into this category. One that comes in mind is Steel Angel Kurumi 2. Not only is it a cheap derivative of the first series, it's a ripoff of Project A-Ko.
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Not exactly a "sequel," but the first that comes to my mind is Kimi ga Nozomu Eien Gaiden (also known as Akane Maniax). While some may violently disagree with me, I thought Kimi ga Nozomu Eien was absolutely stunning. The characters and plot were both amazing, and made me eagerly await each following episode. While Haruka spoiler[sleeping for three whole years after the accident before waking up] may not be entirely believable, I thought the rest of the story was amazingly realistic, as were the characters' responses and coping to the situation. Very sad, very moving, and believable characters that you were able to greatly sympathize with made it an amazing series.
So then, what happened to Akane Maniax? How could a wonderful, moving series such as KimiNozo spawn something like this? Akane Maniax features the distressed younger sister of Haruka, and her daily life while living with the situation. You can't help but feel sorry for her that she has to carry this burden, but out pops...a complete idiot coming to intrude her life. The main character, Gouda Jouji, is rediculously stupid. He doesn't understand squat about what's going on with poor Akane, and only thinks about how to satisfy himself by getting her attention. Even worse, Akane spoiler[actually falls for him], which pretty much discredits her whole character. The whole series revolves around stupid gags with Jouji at the center, and it has a lame plot as well. The whole thing is pretty much equivalent to spawning a stupid ecchi gag OVA mini-series from something like Saikano.
Nope, it is spelt correctly. Good job  (Not sarcasm).
[EDIT] 100th post! |
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morsmaestro
 Posts: 172 Location: Sacramento |
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I haven't seen many sequels, but I do have an opposite. R.O.D.
I thought the sequel did much better than the original OVA, which is unusual, I know. IMO, more drama and emotion was presented by the sequel. I think a lot of what drives the production of sequels is money, just feeding off of the last title's popularity to make some buck. I have a real beef about people who attempt art for money, but that's another argument. I think this motivation is what makes sequels worse than their predecessor, the fact that it isn't motivated purely by continuation of the story. |
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IchigoK90
Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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To your first statement. The OVA has only 3 OVAS to work with while its sequel series was a TV series, more to work with (though the OVA was still highly enjoyable, I loved the music). Plus the herione wasn't your atypical protagnist. To your second point I highly agree with you and that is why I never see hollywood sequel films (not including the recent Star Wars films as they were prequels.). "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 |
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morsmaestro
Posts: 172 Location: Sacramento |
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True, I thought about it, and should have mentioned that, that the OVA was shorter.
Wasn't the Star Wars movies were based off the books? That would mean that they still kept their integrity if they're sequels or prequels, not just driven by money. I think anime (or movies) are better off if they're based off something, to keep their own drive, not the drive of their creators. |
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suna_suna
 Posts: 550 Location: Ohio |
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Yes, almost all sequels happen just to make money of of the last ones popularity, and very rarely (at least in movies and video games) are there true efforts to correct the mistakes of the first one.
as for anime, as i have not seen many sequels to anime (Tv or otherwise) i do not have a solid statment on one the is worse the the predecessor. however, the Ranma 1/2 OAV series, i felt, was a little bit better than the Tv series. this is so because the OAVs almost came entirely from the original manga, exept for the Christmas Special and the first of the two two-part OAVs. the Tv seiries, to me, is filled with too many fillers for my liking. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6900 Location: Kazune City |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Surpass their predecessors? That's simple. Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! and Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (Yes both of them).
The original series, Full Metal Panic! was enjoyable, but there was nothing too special about it. I refer to it as "confused," constantly switching between comedy and serious action without knowing what it wants to be. I found myself liking a certain "serious" arc in the series, and I thought that the series could actually do a half decent job with being "serious." Unfortunately, it switched back to comedy mode, which was disappointing, and as I finally was able to adjust back to the comedy side of FMP! it pulls out the action serious stuff again. In the end, nothing really changed either. All the characters were still the same as they were before, and it felt as if some of the events in the middle had never happened. Then, with Fumoffu! the series chooses the light, comedical side of the series. Never became too serious or took itself too seriously, and was a laugh-riot the whole way through. I didn't anxiously ancipate and dread when the comedy portions would end, because they never did. It really brought the full potential of the comedical side of FMP! to life. I was convinced that the series was at its finest with comedy, and couldn't imagine how the series could do well any differently. The serious part of the original FMP! really didn't appeal to me, and it was kind of unimaginative and dull. However, then came The Second Raid. It was pretty hyped up when it came out, but I couldn't imagine how the serious side of Full Metal Panic could be any good. Well, I was wrong. It started out a lot like the original in the early episodes, and wasn't anything too exciting, but somewhere in the middle, I found that I couldn't stop watching anymore. As I said in another thread, it soon evolved into something "edge-of-your-chair KimoNozo" exciting, and I found myself eagerly anticipating each next episode. The characters were very well done, and had much better character development than in Full Metal Panic! You could really start to feel sympathy for the characters, and the series was brought to life in a wonderful and magical way. And the most noteworthy thing, no comedic interruptions. Kind of like how in chess when you focus on one strategical plan or another and utilize it to its fullest potential, it has a great chance of success, but when you try to incorporate and combine the two strategies together you become distracted by both and neither works out. |
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herzog
 Posts: 25 |
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Record of Lodoss war was good. Legends of Crystania...not so good.
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opaquescum
Posts: 235 |
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I got a good one Dragonball okay but nothing terribly brilliant a story about a little alien boy who transforms into a giant monkey by the light of the full moon. He and his counterparts spend the series hunting for these magical balls called dragonballs. While in search of these balls him, and his friends get in alot of zany adventures.
Then you get Dragonball Z the little boy has grown up, and though he still has a penchant for hunting down dragonballs he now gets sucked into alot of hardcore fighting with super villians. Everything is better the storyline went up a notch. The fightscenes went up a notch, and the visuals were greatly improved. Better then the original dragonball in my humble oppinion. Then you got Dragonball GT. Somehow the cool alien adult reverts into a moronic kid that in no way seems cool. The long drawn out battles from Z are gone, and now your back to corny little adventures. In my humble oppinion worse then the previous two. One still has to wonder what would have happened if Dragonball GT has improved upon Dragonball Z the way Z had improved upon Dragonball. I know its a moot point with some since they have long since matured past that kind of fair but its still relevant. Maybe if they had Dragonball might not be a bad word today. I had to bring this up not, because I am dragonball booster. I brought it up, because it is a classic example. A example of a series getting better then going right to the toilet. |
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goins007
Posts: 291 |
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DB:GT should NEVER have happened. I think the guy who was running the whole DB show actually walk away after Z ended. And Z should have ended with Freeza, maybe the androids but no farther than that. I'd have to say Gundam Seed Destiny (kinda surprised no one has said it yet, unless I just missed it). It started off really good, then just got more and more "huh?" And the ending didn't really finish anything up, and one person threw their life away for no good reason and left some one behind who probably needed them more....just very dumb. |
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IchigoK90
Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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I would have said that title as well if not that I had already mentioned how I was disappointed by it in my "Anime that had Potential but didn't live up to it" thread. Also it's predecessor Mobile Suit Gundam SEED wasn't much better. There is also a third SEED series in the works if i'm not mistaken, hopefully they learn from the mistakes of the previous series. If not then basically this is what I expect: Great Music, Good Animation, Pretty Gundams and thats it for the good. For the bad this is what I expect: 1. Even more ripped off mobile suits (who wants to be that Leos might make an appearance?), 2. A 3rd cast to be mixed in with the previous 2 casts, 3. another ship like the Archangel and Minerva, 4. Mobile suits being stolen....again, 5. tensions between naturals and coordinators to rise again, 6. Another Blue Cosmos leader springs out from the ground, 7. Bigger weapons (probably another genesis), 8. another Kira look-alike and so on. "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 |
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coolerimmortal
Posts: 522 |
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The Star Wars books were novelizations. The films were not based on books. As to my answer...the Fullmetal Alchemist movie was disappointing. |
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SharinganEyes92
 Posts: 816 |
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Are you kidding me?! SEED was so much better than Destiny. SEED actually had a storyline where Destiny completely stole the beginning of the SEED storyline (colony breaking, escaping enemies) and from there expounded onto a pile of crap with the war on Logos (whatever the hell that was). Shin turned an idiot after he showed so much promise in the beginning og the series, and they were constantly shifting back and forth between the Archangel and the Minerva. SEED actually picked main characters. So how can you say that SEED wasn't much better? |
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