I'm totally not talking about you
You soon realize that what you watched was nothing more than a glorified trailer for the manga.
There are tons of anime out there that stop short, and not in a good Frank Costanza way either. Anime that either gives you a false ending, or an anime that just picks a good stopping point in hopes that someone will finish it in the future. One of the biggest perpetrators of this crime against humanity is the anime Berserk, or as I like to call it, the trailer for the Berserk manga.
Not talking about you either
This is the crossing point where business and art clash. If an anime does not do well in ratings and in DVD sales, of course it would be stupid of them to create more. The only thing a viewer can do in this situation is to return to the source material to get a conclusion to the story, which too isn’t guaranteed at all. Worst part is, sometimes the anime isn’t based off anything, so when the anime stops short, its dead for good.
Sad thing is, there really isn’t a fix for this problem either. Animators will still continue to make anime that is based off of manga that are still ongoing, and the business side will not let an anime continue if there is no chance for profit in the future. I suppose I should just stop and smell the roses for what they are, to not expect a full story but a brief look into a world that may or may not be fully animated.
Berserk was killer, though. It really stops in the middle of a story line. Hell, it stops in the middle of an ongoing battle. It's all "die die die rape OMG YOU ASSHOLE IMMA KILL YOU *end flashback* WTF just happened why is it over."
It's a real shame, because it's an excellent anime. But how do you honestly recommend a show that is so obviously incomplete to someone?
*very disbelieving voice" Name one.
However, at the time the anime was licensed for a US release the manga hadn't been licensed, and considering the prior history of more violent, gritty manga not doing well in the US (such as Fist of the North Star*), there was the serious possibility that the manga would never be licensed. Consequently, the conclusion rubbed a lot of Western anime fans the wrong way. I suspect that the ending of the manga might play better now, since the manga has been licensed and has gone past the point where the anime ends. Now, there are still 13 more volumes in the manga after the conclusion of the series. However, there isn't as much ground readers need to cover to catch up
*Crying Freeman being something of an exception.
Anime that's not worth recommending isn't excellent imo.
@Killajade said:
Any anime that's an original ip.
i meant name one original ip anime that has been cutted short when it still had some story left to tell, cause unless the studio went bankrupt or we are talking about some VERY old anime then i dont believe there are any like that.
This can be said about 99% of anime. The other part of this issue is when the manga isn't far enough for the anime series. Thus the creators of the anime come up with some alternate ending that is quite different than when the manga reaches that point. A great example is Claymore. The last couple eps were made up because the manga was behind. This a real shame because from where the series ended up to now in the manga is really cool. A lot more is revealed about the story (def not what you would think based off the anime) and there is a lot more action. Of course, there is like a 7 year time jump I think.
I hope they do finish the Berserk anime in the near future. I just hope they start from scratch .
I hate when they do that has well.
To be fair it really only bothers me when they end at a story arc that doesn't tie up loose ends. Claymore is the example I use for that. A lot more to occur, but no more eps.
I would just point out the minor exception of OAV's. They're not series but they tend to just be big ads for either the Anime or the Manga or both. Not that it's a bad thing since OAV's were basically how I got into Anime. (Thank you Riding Bean, Gunsmith Cats, and Dirty Pair Flash. :) )
Though the two you mentioned I haven't seen before, so I won't go into those.
I believe anime series should last longer, not necessarily as long as Bleach or Naruto but at least as long the original source material (manga in this case).
I wrote about a few series I thought could've and should've lasted longer over at my blog here if you're interested: http://ajvsblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/anime-series-that-couldve-and-shouldve.html
@sotyfan16: That sounds very similar to what happened to Fullmetal Alchemist when the first anime came out. Thankfully FMA got a second chance (anime).
If there is some kind of sensible conclusion that I can live with such as Soul Eater's end, then I am okay but if I feel that major plot points are still running that haven't been addressed then I have trouble recommending the show. Zero no Tsukaima (The Familiar of Zero) better have a 4th season eventually because that's another that could make my list of good titles that feel unfinished.
There is another trait to some anime that I'm not sure how to feel about. Sometimes an anime series will end and the show sets up a follow up season that never materializes. Maburaho has that after the end credits roll as does Toaru Majutsu no Index, but luckily that one got a call-back for this fall's season.