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This Week in Anime - Are the Changes in The Promised Neverland Working?


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Beansprout Midget



Joined: 17 Apr 2016
Posts: 145
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:32 pm Reply with quote
As someone who also believes FMA 03 is superior, I'm feeling pretty mediocre about the changes so far. Some of the dialogue feels a little rushed and infodump-y, but considering what they're trying to squeeze in I can over look it. I really wanted to see spoiler[Yuugo and Lucas] animated, but hey, if the adaption sticks the landing, that's fine by me.

spoiler[I wonder how they're gonna reintroduce Norman though? Are they going straight towards that whole part of the story next, since they mentioned the new location? Or is the anime actually going to keep him dead? Besides how they use Isabella, that's the one remaining thing I'm curious to see them cover.]
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7777ale7777



Joined: 13 Nov 2017
Posts: 105
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 5:51 pm Reply with quote
They can make all the changes they want. All I want is spoiler[to hear the characters say "that" name and to see how they handle the subtitles for it.]
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R.Obliv



Joined: 20 Mar 2015
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:06 pm Reply with quote
So as a genuine question: Do people actually dislike anime such as Brotherhood that are just the manga adapted pretty literally? Like, I understand that FMA '03 is considered better by the more artistically or critically minded (i.e. those that have a better taste than me), but I never really could get into it and much preferred the manga, so was really excited to see those scenes adapted in a more direct fashion in Brotherhood.

I respect the point raised by Nick r.e. the potential to get two good versions of the same overall narrative between the manga and an anime adaptation with an original story... but wouldn't the counter point be that fans of a story want to see that specific story adapted? If something got popular enough to get an anime, that story must have resonated with at least some people, and wouldn't they want to re-experience those moments? If you come in expecting to see something that's not there, can the novelty of the unknown really be said to be better than the disappointment of not getting what you were looking forwards to?

People like different things, and they react differently to familiarity, for some it breeds contempt, for others it provides comfort. Speaking personally, I am one of the latter.
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NeverConvex
Subscriber



Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2269
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:53 pm Reply with quote
I'm also in the camp that preferred FMA '03 to Brotherhood. I'm not a manga reader (well, not yet, anyway), though; I just thought FMA '03 told a more coherent and compelling story. (It has been long enough since I watched either that under no circumstances could I adduce details to defend or explain that feeling, though, heh.)

So far, I'm skeptical of Promised Neverland's season 2. Meeting Sonju and Mujika, and all of the forest scenes, worked for me in a way I was worried they wouldn't; I didn't think they'd pull off the transition from Grace House to whatever was to come after. I was pretty shocked they seemed to do exactly that -- but, I haven't felt that way since we got to the underground bunker. It existing at all in demon-land seems weird, and our immediately being treated to an incompetent firefight in it kind've came out of nowhere. Little things also felt off -- like, why didn't we have any significant focus on the messages scrawled on the walls? There seemed to be a lot more to this place that I'd expect any kids randomly trying to call it home to feel compelled to explore, but instead we got the bugfish scene (which was endearing in its own way, admittedly).
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1529
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:16 pm Reply with quote
R.Obliv wrote:
So as a genuine question: Do people actually dislike anime such as Brotherhood that are just the manga adapted pretty literally? Like, I understand that FMA '03 is considered better by the more artistically or critically minded (i.e. those that have a better taste than me), but I never really could get into it and much preferred the manga, so was really excited to see those scenes adapted in a more direct fashion in Brotherhood.

There's this comedy anime that I watched like a decade ago but that still has to date my favourite introduction cut, simply because of its pure and concise message


Personally, while in the past I clamored for 1:1 adaptations and I've found out since that retreading the same story exactly... is just not that much fun.
But on top of that there are several other problems with straight adaptations. Afterall, 23 minutes of colored animation are very different to 12~50 pages of static black and white panels. What works in a format might not work in the other. What is impressive and captivating in one might be boring in the other. A thrilling action sequence might become too fast, or too slow. Long dialogues and descriptions don't work that well in anime. There are scenes and even entire arcs that might have existed solely to pad out the story and land a key scene with the proper timing, which would destroy the impact of that same scene if adapted faithfully.

Of course, most adaptations know to cut and add as needed and reframe entire scenes to make them more interesting to the chagrin of purists.
But further than that into "anime original" territory, there might be good reasons to twist events in new ways. Not just letting manga viewers get the same thrill they did the first time, but also using the unique qualities of animation to evoke the same themes and emotions in a more impactful way by completely altering the timeline.
At least personally, I appreciate when directors understand all that and go the extra mile to tell the best story they can. A faithful adaptation can be serviceable, but to achieve greatness it need to go beyond.

On the other hand, that can and does go terribly wrong, with nonsensical messes, stories devoid of any impact, productions only caring about making a quick buck and writers missing the whole point of what they're adapting.
In the end it's a gamble, but it's a low-stakes one that is worth the risk since worst case scenario you get one good story, best case scenario you get two.
It sucks when the scene you were looking forward the most gets botched but that can happen with either approach.

P.S.: it's not here nor there, but while writting all that I was thinking of several series
-Gakkou Gurashi, while not being a bad adaptation by any means, had a double-edged sword in the form of anime-original Taroumaru which fit neatly during most of the story but in the final stretch, which was already squashing two arcs into one, made things more convoluted and hectic, robbing other key scenes of the time they needed to breathe. Sometimes trying to spice things up doesn't quite work.
-AssClass and HeroAca are two of those adaptations that are too faithful. The former felt pretty dull, like just colored panels of the manga, and the latter tends to drag on too much.
-Blood+ was a curious case where the manga was an adaptation of the anime, but it still counts because it told a very different story with the same premise and major plot points.


Last edited by Yuvelir on Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:25 pm; edited 1 time in total
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kotomikun



Joined: 06 May 2013
Posts: 1205
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:25 pm Reply with quote
R.Obliv wrote:
So as a genuine question: Do people actually dislike anime such as Brotherhood that are just the manga adapted pretty literally?

In general, probably not. But FMA was an odd case because there were two entire adaptations, and the one less faithful to the manga came first, allowing it to establish itself as the Real Story for anyone who hadn't read the manga already. When the second attempt came along, it would ironically seem like they changed the plot. So that's probably why some people hate Brotherhood.

Personally, I don't know if I have a strong preference, but I only got about halfway through the first adaptation and actually finished Brotherhood, which probably shows which I liked more. And I saw Brotherhood second. So... you never know, I guess.
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gedata



Joined: 04 May 2013
Posts: 615
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:20 pm Reply with quote
The fact that we won't be getting to see spoiler[the Goldy Pond arc, and likely not the beautifully rugged bastard that was supposed to be in the shelter at all in this adaptation is a super bummer. I would've preferred that they stuck with the manga for this 2nd season before pulling a mulligan on the manga's plot for a 3rd season since the manga's 3rd arc is the one that put off a ton of fans.]

R.Obliv wrote:
So as a genuine question: Do people actually dislike anime such as Brotherhood that are just the manga adapted pretty literally? Like, I understand that FMA '03 is considered better by the more artistically or critically minded (i.e. those that have a better taste than me), but I never really could get into it and much preferred the manga, so was really excited to see those scenes adapted in a more direct fashion in Brotherhood.

For me I'd rank them as FMA (03)>manga>FMAB, with the manga trading places with the 03 version on occasion depending on my mood. I personally don't like how FMAB begins with this sort of assumed familiarity with 2003 anime and rushed the first 7 volumes to get to the content never touched by the previous adaptation. That aside, I think FMAB is still fantastic over all, even though I still consider it to be a slightly worse version of the manga,
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Márcio Voltz Jardim



Joined: 19 Dec 2018
Posts: 32
PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 3:30 pm Reply with quote
I abandoned it, I found the changes very bad.
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meruru



Joined: 16 Jun 2009
Posts: 470
PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:12 pm Reply with quote
I've read the whole manga, and while I really like Promised Neverland, I feel like it has a lot of potential to be even better somehow. But at the same time, I'm so kind of skeptical of this change in the anime. So far it seems like they're just cutting things. I'm not sure what kind of changes would make to improve on Promised Neverland, but definitely I think it could have used more instead of less.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:48 pm Reply with quote
I was surprised to see this topic explored this early—there’s only been one episode to solidify that the anime will be radically different from the manga. I love The Promised Neverland, but I wouldn’t opine on whether the changes will work yet—it’s too early to tell.

(I prefer FMA 2003 but it’s definitely a unique case. It’s rare that fans prefer the changed adaptation from the original.)
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Animeking1108



Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:18 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Oh god there's gonna be people petitioning for a Neverland: Brotherhood any day now. Thanks for making me think of that.


You say that like that's a bad thing.

I feel the 2003 series gets a lot of lenience because of nostalgia. It was at times dark for the sake of being dark, almost every villain was a mustache-twirling psycho who got defeated because of their own stupidity, the Homunculi took less strategy to beat because the characters always knew which grave to dig up, the twist with the Gate was stupid, and Conqueror of Shamballa has its own list of complaints.

Back to the subject at hand, CloverWorks is really screwing the pooch here. The Goldy Pond arc introduces a lot of important characters and plot points. This is turning into Tokyo Ghoul all over again. Well, with the American remake coming out on Amazon, maybe this will be the day where America adapted a manga better than the anime did.
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gedata



Joined: 04 May 2013
Posts: 615
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 12:21 am Reply with quote
[quote="Animeking1108"]
Quote:

I feel the 2003 series gets a lot of lenience because of nostalgia. It was at times dark for the sake of being dark, almost every villain was a mustache-twirling psycho who got defeated because of their own stupidity, the Homunculi took less strategy to beat because the characters always knew which grave to dig up, the twist with the Gate was stupid, and Conqueror of Shamballa has its own list of complaints.

You say that as if Brotherhood isn't also old enough by now to be remembered as a nostalgic gateway series as well.
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pikabot



Joined: 19 Nov 2014
Posts: 168
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:52 am Reply with quote
What a truly baffling set of changes.
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Valjean Lafitte



Joined: 19 May 2015
Posts: 62
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 3:34 am Reply with quote
When I see people write about how wonderful it is to have two versions of a thing they like, I can't but wonder: have you guys never had friends who don't read manga who you wanted to be able to experience the story you fell in love with? For me, half the pleasure of getting an anime adaptation is not in experiencing the same story I read in manga form already, but being able to see friends and family who do not read manga get to experience it for themselves in a medium that they are more familiar with.

I mean, if everyone read the manga, there would be no point in anime adaptations, would there? So the frustration is not that they aren't adapting the story in a way I will enjoy, but that they're changing it completely, and someone who I got to watch the show (who would never take the time to read a manga) is being deprived of a story that I really wanted to see them enjoy. It is, emotionally speaking, an utter letdown of the highest order, a betrayal of expectations built up over the previous season. Surely others can relate?
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Horsefellow



Joined: 01 Jan 2020
Posts: 262
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:46 am Reply with quote
Valjean Lafitte wrote:
When I see people write about how wonderful it is to have two versions of a thing they like, I can't but wonder: have you guys never had friends who don't read manga who you wanted to be able to experience the story you fell in love with? For me, half the pleasure of getting an anime adaptation is not in experiencing the same story I read in manga form already, but being able to see friends and family who do not read manga get to experience it for themselves in a medium that they are more familiar with.

I mean, if everyone read the manga, there would be no point in anime adaptations, would there? So the frustration is not that they aren't adapting the story in a way I will enjoy, but that they're changing it completely, and someone who I got to watch the show (who would never take the time to read a manga) is being deprived of a story that I really wanted to see them enjoy. It is, emotionally speaking, an utter letdown of the highest order, a betrayal of expectations built up over the previous season. Surely others can relate?


I can confirm I've never read TPN's manga. My first exposure was the anime and hearing this season is going to go full original on us is a bit weird. I'll still watch it and check out the manga afterward like I did with FMA, Soul Eater, and all the other anime-original ending series, but I ended up losing a lot of interest in those adaptions after reading the manga so maybe I should just switch over now and save myself the time.
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