Forum - View topicCan anime sequels surpass the first ones?
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leatherhead333
 Posts: 1187 Location: Kansas |
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Personally it's been about even though I still find myself being more fond of the first installments on most occasions. Recently I've been running into sequels that have more or less not met the exceptions I had for them. But when it comes to sequels I think it's fair to just naturally expect for them to be better. Afterall for most shows the plot doesn't really kick in until the second part (recent example Log Horizon) . So if they are still on the same level as the first part it generally is a disappointment.
At least to me. Let me know what ya think 
[EDIT: Made your title a little less long-winded because it was messing with the alignment in my window. -TK] |
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13279 |
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It depends on how the sequel is approached. Some sequels try to mimic the success of the original by mimicing everything about the original, some toss out everything entirely and start from scratch, some will learn from the flaws of the original to create a better work, and some are natural continuations to the extent that there's no point in considering them separate works.
That first type is one people usually hate the most. It doesn't try to do anything new and forces the same stuff down the viewers' throats. That can be okay depending on the kind of show it is. It usually works for comedies or slice of life shows. Seitokai Yakuindomo* was full of the same kind of dirty humor as the first season, but you watch Seitokai Yakuindomo for the dirty jokes in the first place. But if you take a show like Zero no Tsukaima and toss out all the character development from the end of the first season so that the sequel can start off with Louise being an insufferable abusive bitch again so there can be more tsundere gags, that's not good. Also, the Infinite Stratos novels do dive into more serious plot and character development as the series goes on, yet for the anime adaptation they skipped over most of that in favour of one shot fanservice episodes like the first season had. Such a disappointment. Sequels that have little to do with the original are also hated a lot ("WAAAAH IT'S NOT THE SAME!!!") but they can just be judged on their own merits. Eureka Seven AO barely tied in with the original, but that wasn't the reason the show was a total mess. Dancouga Nova has pretty much nothing to do with the original Dancouga, but it's still awesome fun. Sequels that learn from, and improve upon the originals are definitely the prefered type. Symphogear G had a lot more budget than season 1, so they could give everything a grade up from the original. Aquarion Evol took pretty much every complaint I had about the original and fixed it. |
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4830 |
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Sometimes.
I strongly prefer the later three seasons of Sailormoon compared to the first two. I also thought Orphen's second season was better than the first. He was just a dramatic, poorly animated ball of angst, then come II, he's a wise-cracking smartass. Not hard to guess which is more preferable, right? I think Galaxy Fraulein Yuna's second OVA series was better than the first one. The first was pure...silliness but the second was a lot more serious and memorable. That's all I can think of for now. |
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Raftina
 Posts: 3282 |
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I have not observed any pattern.
There are shows where the later seasons are definitely where they found their footing. Maria Watches Over Us improves as the series progresses, as we get to know more about the characters and they develop. The last 2 seasons had much more even characterization compared to the first two. Then there are series that quite frankly missed the mark on what made the first season appealing. Cardcaptor Sakura's first season is a simple and cheerful tale of adventure. The second season is where CLAMP's trademark nonsense start to rear its ugly head, with to much focus on mystery and tension. |
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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Yeah, that is also a noteworthy influence if the follow up for looking better than the first. Similar examples would be follow up content to Index/Railgun, especially when you compare it to the first season of A Certain Scientific Index to any latter release. |
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junmaedaisjesus
Posts: 31 |
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Higurashi Kai was a huge improvement to the first season which was a little gore-centric and really started to delve deeper into the mystery and tie up loose ends from the first season (probably why they're called answer arcs). The sequels after Kai have gotten further off topic and more about gross fetishism and fanservice, other than Rei, which was okay.
Not sure if re-dos count, but Kanon 2006 was light-years better than Kanon 2002. The addition of Kyoto Animation and more-fleshed out storylines (Makoto's in particular) really made it a fantastic anime. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15894 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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In my opinion you will often see a couple different kind of extremes sequels. One just keeps doing exactly what it did before and starts to sizzle out and lose the magic and lose focus on plot (Nyaruko, Infinite Stratos, Zombie Desuka, Ika Masume, Seitoka no Ichizon, and even Monogatori has shown strain), unfortunantly it often feels like the most likely. You will also often feel like a screw you to the audience in sudden huge shifts that feel unnatural or feel like the development last time was forgotten (Shakugan no Shana S, Zero no Tsukaima).
You will get some that know exactly what to do to put it up a notch as you would expect (Spice and Wolf, Symphogear, Railgun). And then there are the best kind that seemed to have had a look at themselves and know exactly what to do to improve and be truly great (TWGOK3 and Haganai). Personally it is far too uneven for expectations, as you might end up watching a series that you used to love, or something that captures you all over again. |
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A Mystery
 Posts: 1965 Location: Netherlands |
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Like others have said, there's a wide variation. These are some of my opinions:
Better than the first season: - Natsume Yuujinchou: As the series progresses, we delve deeper in the characters and backstories and the stories get less episodic. - Birdy the Mighty Decode: Tsutomu is a nice guy, but the focus on Birdy in the second season made it more enjoyable and emotional for me. - Spice and Wolf Worse than the first season: - Even though it was still highly enjoyable, the second Chihayafuru season didn't live up to the first because of the slow pacing and too much focus on certain characters and arcs. The character writing is still top notch though. - Code Geass: Reactions to this sequel range from total trainwreck to masterpiece (I still liked it very much), but the transition between the first and second season wasn't done quite well, the story tries very hard to make sense of some almost impossible plot lines, we get even more characters and the series is as dramatic as ever. I think we got a very satisfying ending though. - Emma - A Victorian Romance: Still very good, but (major spoiler)spoiler[ no Mrs. Stownar] - Nodame Cantabile: Less time for music and the new characters aren't as fun as the supporting characters from the first season. Nodame is still Nodame and the final season is quite good, so don't be afraid to continue watching. Just as good: - Black Lagoon, even though the main focus of the movie wasn't to my liking and it didn't focus as much on the main four, I think overall the sequels of Black Lagoon matched the quality, enjoyment and also the serious undertones of the first season. - School Rumble Second Season: Delves more into the story of one of the main characters, but finds the time to have fun with the other classmates as well. Unfortunately never got a second season to compare with: - Too many. |
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Ignatz
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One thing I know for sure is that BONES always suck at making sequels.
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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A question like this one has a pretty obvious answer. Anime sequels, like sequels of practically every other medium, are almost always worse than their originals. It's just the way it is. For every anime sequel that is better than the original there are literally scores that are worse, often by a significant degree.
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I do not think that there is any inherent reason for a sequel to be better or worse than the original. It can go either way.
I do think that we tend to have higher expectations for a sequel than for some random show because the sequel is derived from something that we like. We hope that a sequel will improve on the original, and if it does not then we might not enjoy it as much as we would if it was not a sequel. Each show must be judged on its own merits. It is not going to be good or bad just because it is a sequel. Sometimes I am not sure if a show is a sequel or a second season, but it probably does not matter for this discussion. Is K-On!! a sequel to K-On! or a second season? Either way, I love both of them but I like the second better. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4830 |
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Crap, I hope not. I want more Noragami. 
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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You are absolutely correct, and yet it is beside the point; the overwhelming majority of sequels are worse than their originals.
I agree with you on this, however, unfair or misplaced expectations on the part of the audience is not the reason why sequels usually suck. |
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Gatherum
 Posts: 773 Location: Aurora CO |
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Sequels usually suck because they are not true sequels, but instead, succeeding seasons that have arbitrarily been given a new name or subtitle by the production company because the Japanese cannot just keep things simple and call it season 2, 3, 4...
It's made worse when second-season shows that don't have a subtitle are treated like a separate entity anyway. I'm looking at you, ANN! Why the hell does shit like this deserve its own page? It's the same damned show, different season. End of story. |
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leatherhead333
Posts: 1187 Location: Kansas |
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While this is true I wasn't really asking about how sequels generally fair, I was asking how they well they do based on your own experiences. I'm sure there are folks out there who have had no issues with sequels but as people have brought up it depends highly on the type of show it is. |
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