Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Did So Many OVA Series End Prematurely?
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
PurpleWarrior13
 Posts: 2027 |
|
|||
Pretty sure 3x3 Eyes had an ending. It even had a sequel series. It didn't cover the whole manga of course, but I think it at least had some closure. |
||||
|
||||
Lili-Hime
 Posts: 569 |
|
|||
|
Actually I remember more OVAs wrapping up their premature endings better than TV series did. Even if there was more manga or novel to be adapted, they seemed like they mostly avoided cliffhangers. But even cliffhangers were preferable to what 90's TV series got most the time. For example Rurouni Kenshin which choked to death on filler, or Kare Kano that just sorta went 'meh' halfway through.
We still get a few new good OVAs these days. I'm still stunned (and very grateful) that Hellsing Ultimate even got made, even if it did take a long time. The 90's were great though. Lodoss War, Devil Hunter Yohko, Heroic Legend of Prince Arislan, Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, and Ruin Explorers were some of my faves. Last edited by Lili-Hime on Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:05 pm; edited 2 times in total |
||||
|
||||
Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
|
|||
In both cases the endings were of the And Their Fight Continues kind. In 3x3 Eyes, Fujī Yakumo, the male lead, is lamenting on his current situation on Pai's/Parvati IV's spoiler[apparent death following her fight with Benares, how he thinks she's still alive since he still is, and because his lifeforce/soul is affected by Pai's/Parvati IV's condition, she must be alive as well, and vows to search for her]. Credits roll, "Special Thanks & Sponsors", "Rights Reserved 1992", black screen. In the sequel OVA series, 3×3 Eyes Seima Densetsu, the ending is that "Pai" (spoiler[Benares' snake disguised as Pai, and thought it really was Pai herself]) spoiler[thinks that the whole thing was a dream], and Parvati IV spoiler[is seen on her flying, summoned creature, saying how she'll continue to search of Ningen no Zō (Statue of Humanity) in order to make Pai a human]. In my book, those are very open-ended ways to sign-off a show. It felt to me like the producers were counting on the OVAs bringing in good revenue, but when that didn't come to fruition, they pulled the plug. I don't know how the OVAs fared in Japan, but they gave me that feeling. |
||||
|
||||
|
wonderwomanhero
|
|
|||
Err.......isn't this statement a tad bit homophobic? |
||||
Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
|
|||
|
*shrugs*
Some people don't like yaoi or yuri. It's not a big deal. |
||||
|
||||
Hellsoldier
 Posts: 767 Location: Porto,Portugal,Europe,Earth,Sol |
|
|||
I don't think he meant it like that. It's probably because Yaoi is really not his thing. As for me, Yaoi has as much of a place in the anime world as Yuri, not that I'm fond of Yaoi... but I like good stories regardless, yaoi or not. However, Yaoi is often accused of generic plots... but then again it could just be Sturgeon's Law in action (90% of everything is turd). |
||||
|
||||
|
Chiibi
Posts: 4829 |
|
|||
|
No, it is true. I was friends with yaoi fangirls in college and they always had some smutty manga....I saw a lot more bad manga than good ones in that category, I can tell you
It's really because most of the authors (tragically) focus more on the smut and pandering than story or character "because sex is what sells". The funny thing is, THE ART DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE GOOD. People will still buy it!  Sturgeon's Law doesn't apply to many things in my opinion but for yaoi, ABSOLUTELY.
|
||||
|
||||
|
EyeOfPain
Posts: 312 |
|
|||
Wasn't the budget a major factor? Every episode did have a completely new song to open up with. |
||||
|
||||
|
John Thacker
Posts: 1006 |
|
|||
|
Some people find yaoi designed for a female audience (especially with common tragic tropes related to it being forbidden, etc.) vaguely dehumanizing, while others just find it amusing. It's interesting to compare it with manga or doujinshi aimed at a gay male audience, which is a different genre. Not to say that yaoi doesn't have some gay male fandom.
At least ten or twenty years ago, it was not unusual at all to find Japanese fujoshi who loved yaoi in their fiction but were incredibly creeped out by gay men in reality and not at all supportive of gay rights. My experience is that that's much less true in the US. |
||||
|
||||
|
Hellsoldier
Posts: 767 Location: Porto,Portugal,Europe,Earth,Sol |
|
|||
Well, that pretty much answers it. In other words, Yuri is in a better position than Yaoi is. Hell, some Yuri is critically acclaimed (i.g. Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers). I mean, I would be willing to check Yaoi out if there were stories of the hardships of gay/bi men in modern-day Japan (It's set in tone with my LGBT activism)... but it doesn't seem to be the case. A shame really... EDIT: Gen Urobuchi claimed same-sex couples are genuine, and that if he wanted, he could write a BL... I wonder how that would look like. EDIT nº2: When someone scavenges for a genre in particular, sometimes people don't care how good it is as long as it is of that genre... I am a Cyberpunk fan, and if I were to do that with Cyberpunk anime, I would've watched Genocyber and Angel Cop... Thank God I didn't. Last edited by Hellsoldier on Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
|
Hellsoldier
Posts: 767 Location: Porto,Portugal,Europe,Earth,Sol |
|
|||
Oh yes. Bara (the ''manly'' Yaoi, if you will) has more gay fandom. Yaoi only has some male fandom. Not the case with Yuri, with an very large female fandom. Nowadays, over 80% of Japanese between 18-30 are supportive of the acceptance of Homosexuality and Bisexuality. From 30-50, I think it's around 52% or something, not sure. More females than males, usually... I guess Anime did a good job here 
|
||||
|
||||
|
Lili-Hime
Posts: 569 |
|
|||
I don't know about better position... there is certainly a LOT more yaoi made than yuri. Yuri isn't as popular amongst straight men as yaoi is amongst straight women. I'd say yuri has the quality and yaoi has the quantity. There are plenty of yuri as you mentioned that deal with the subject respectfully without the fetish element. Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Sweet Blue Flowers, Bodacious Space Pirates, Yuri Kuma Arashi, and Sasameki Koto are a few but there are others. However due to the large yaoi fanbase I feel like yaoi's always going to be a more popular, even if there are some women (myself included) that enjoy both yuri and yaoi.
I don't know if anime can really take credit for this, esp. given that otaku of both genders are a minority of the population. Women have historically been more accepting of homosexuality when compared to men in the same age group and the same nationality. Sources here at the bottom of the page, and here towards the middle (ctrl+f search for gender) I hear the common theories on why is that feminism and gay rights go hand in hand. I think maybe it's because as we grow up we're told its totally normal to be affectionate with our same sex friends. We can hold hands, hug a lot and even sleep in the same bed and no one really cares much. Guys on the other hand seem to get discouraged from these things by their family or peers. Guys too I used to notice too often threw around homobophic slurs as an insult more often. So maybe earlier on their brains associate homosexuality as being abnormal or 'other'. Sorry for getting a bit off topic but if anyone wants a good yuri OVA there's always Fight! Iczer One! lol I suppose maybe yaoi/yuri was more confined to OAVs because it was seen as controversial back then. Now we have yuri and yaoi tv series all over the place. Last edited by Lili-Hime on Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:48 pm; edited 5 times in total |
||||
|
||||
|
Chiibi
Posts: 4829 |
|
|||
|
Lol, the first time I saw bara, I thought I'd be physically sick.
Shounen-Ai is a better genre to go with. A lot of people may not know the difference but it's not as heavy with the smut as yaoi is. It actually focuses more on the emotional part of the romance instead of the sex. Kouga Yun's Earthian is one good example. There's also FAKE....but avoid the OVA and just read the manga lol It's too bad El Gato Souji won't be animated; the manga is really beautiful. D: Yami No Matsuei is my favorite shounen-ai title....and its anime adaptation isn't too bad either. |
||||
|
||||
ParkerALx
 Posts: 194 |
|
|||
|
Many thanks for picking my question, Justin. Your response was just as informative as I expected, and I can now better understand why Mighty Space Miners ended on such a nasty cliffhanger. It's a shame OVA producers back then had to work in such a fickle market, because they created a lot of great stuff. I'd gladly call Mighty Space Miners an overlooked gem if it weren't for its incomplete story. Oh well. At least I got to enjoy some pretty snazzy space opera visuals and likable characters from the two episodes that do exist. Maybe I'll come up with my own end for the show and draw a fan comic, or something.
|
||||
|
||||
Wrial Huden
 Posts: 149 Location: McKinney, TX |
|
|||
|
I'm still bummed that 801st TTS Airbats never had a satisfying conclusion.
|
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group