ArtistThere is no such thing as dropping an anime forever. When I use the term ‘dropped’ that does not mean that’s the last I’ll see of that anime in my life. Dropping a show means that I don’t have the enthusiasm to watch this show currently and at a later date I’ll return to that anime. This later date may be the time when I’ve had to barricade myself inside a room because of a zombie invasion with nothing other than a dvd player and a ‘Lucky Star’ boxset, but I will one day return and give the anime another shot. With this in mind, combined with the fact that I’ve passed the 100 anime mark on my MAL account for anime I’ve dropped, I’ve decided that I’m going to take a look back at all those series I’ve dropped, recognise why I dropped them and evaluate when I should give them another go.
Ryoko’s Case Files
Dropped after: 2 episodes
Why I dropped it: Now here’s a series that didn’t so much drop off the radar of anime fandom as never exist on it in the first place. MAL tells me that a grand total of 1,893 people actually finished the series. That wouldn’t be too bad a stat if it was an old series, but this aired in 2008. My memory of it is a bit fuzzy but I remember it not actually being that bad. A sexy detective lady and her partner who engaged in constant flirting with each other. It’s kinda like Demon Detective Nuero in the way that the relationship between the main characters is far more interesting than the actual crime cases. Why I dropped it? I guess it’s because I didn’t see any promise in the series. Very little in the way of ambition.
Rebirth Chances: Above average. Looking back, I probably should have given it a longer opportunity to prove itself, especially when it never did anything obviously poorly. However a total lack of hype behind the series isn’t a ringing endorsement. However maybe my readers are in the know and can inform me that it is, in fact, the hidden gem of 2008. I don’t think Kaiba counts as a gem anymore.
Scrapped Princess
Dropped after: 6 episodes
Why I dropped it: I’m sure I watched more than 6 episodes…anywho, this appears to be another series I dropped without it doing that much wrong. Unlike Ryoko’s Case Files though, this had plenty of ambition. Bones don’t make anime without putting their heart and soul into it. So what went wrong? Well, like most of these dropped series, my memory is a bit vague, but it felt uninspired. The characters were a bit bland, the dialogue was stunted and the whole thing felt off from the very start.
Rebirth Chances: High. Something clicked when I started writing this. I got the urge to give this series another chance. I know Bones series often don’t live up their billing, but the idea that Bones would make an uninspired series isn’t sitting well in my mind. Something’s not right here. If anything, I’m missing the reason why I dropped this series. Or maybe it’s just because I listened to the opening again. I like this opening a lot. It’s corny yet drags you in.
Sacred Blacksmith
Dropped after: 4 episodes
Why I dropped it: Because it didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. Much like Scrapped Princess, it felt uninspired, except this time I’m sure of it. There was something really lacking in the way of imagination with this series. The girls were hot. Very hot, but that’s all it seemed to have. Again, it wasn’t particularly bad, but bland and uninspired.
Rebirth Chances: Below Average. Again, it was far from being a bad series. However Scrapped Princess stands over it in the rankings for two reasons. One is that it’s longer. Sacred Blacksmith never looked like it was going anywhere, where as at least Scrapped Princess looked like it had an aim. The other is fans reactions. Scrapped Princess has its fans. The most excited anyone got about Sacred Blacksmith was when Cecily Cambell yelled ‘I AM A STUPID BITCH’. In fact, it’s more often than not described as the moment Manglobe sold out and made crap. Not a ringing endorsement by any means.
Seirei no Moribito
Dropped after: 4 episodes
Why I dropped it: Oh look, another fantasy series this week! It didn’t take long into Moribito to get 12 Kingdoms flashbacks, a series I really did not enjoy, so I guess I panicked. However I clearly didn’t panic enough because 4 episodes is far longer than I would typically watch a show I instantly had bad feelings about. What scared me off was the pacing and tone of the series. This was serious business anime, but instead of coming off as serious it just came off as extremely dull. The episodes weren’t exciting nor that interesting. Sure it looked pretty, but that was the only appeal I saw.
Rebirth Chances: High, and you know why? Kenji Kamiyama; the director. Now that I’ve seen Ghost in the Shell and Eden of the East, the idea that I would then go and drop the third series in his repertoire is unthinkable. At the very least I want to check out if there’s any overlapping themes and ways in which he approaches directing. Plus if he’s hit twice with me, surely he’ll be able to hit again. What was my younger self thinking when he dropped this series anyway?
Seitokai no Ichizon
Dropped after: 1 episode
Why I dropped it: I saw references without humour. I saw what looked like an IRC chatlog instead of actual dialogue. I saw blatant otaku-pandering of the highest order. I saw a main character aiming for a harem ending…actually that was funny. But the rest made me panic. I could already foresee myself in a few episodes time, tearing my head out in sheer frustration. I foresaw that this would be a show as far from my personal preferences as possible. Hence I dropped it before it even had a chance.
Rebirth Chances: Below Average. I normally don’t put up 1 episode dropped shows because I don’t have an awful lot to say, but I stuck this one up because I have a sneaking suspicion I might be missing something I could have enjoyed otherwise. Admittedly none of the reviews I’ve read have convinced me otherwise, even especially the reviews praising the show, but I dunno. Something is niggling at me in the back on my mind.
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48 Comments
Scrapped Princess definitely deserves a second chance. It goes through roughly three phases. The first one that you’re in is a bit bland, but the second and third are great. Without giving out any spoilers, the second part involves some intrigue within the factions of the world as well as increasing the cool action scenes. Part three really ramps it up to epic levels of badass with some mystery thrown in.
For your tastes I’d say that it would probably be a waste of your time to watch Seitokai no Ichizon. Like Lucky Star it’s still mostly focused around the references and some slapstick, and while it does do something a bit differently and with some serious as an undercurrent that gets brought out near the finale, I still don’t see you liking it. (I loved it myself, though it’s no Lucky Star.)
Well since this post should ultimately come down to a battle of the epic fantasty tales, I better start up a score card
Ringing endorsement of Scrapped Princess: 1
Ringing endorsement of Serei no Moribito: 0
Haven’t watched any of these. What a surprise. xD
I voted for Seirei no Moribito. I’ve heard that it’s really good, and you like the director’s other works. Though it looks like Scrapped Princess has the early lead.
I’ll be surprised if someone votes for Sacred Blacksmith. Unless they’re trolling.
Well Miracle Train had a load of votes when it featured so people are certainly not beyond trolling
There’s a 2 minute segment of Ichizon where they parody every major drama trope in existence. Outside of that, if you didn’t like the first episode, you’re not liable to like the rest of the series. Even though there are plot segments, they’re really not enough to justify watching it.
If anything, the promise of plot might do more to turn me off the series
“12 Kingdoms, series I really did not enjoy”
We lost him. Time of death : 19:54.
Implying I hadn’t been lost to the demon of bad taste already
Hmm, I’ll have to check out Ryoko sometime, because I dropped it for much the same reasons you did and forgot about it.
I’d say watch Seirei no Moribito or Scrapped Princess. Ichizon isn’t likely to impress you if the first ep wasn’t your thing.. I struggled through it but it didn’t impress me any more than the first episode. Blacksmith was just mediocre at best.
Scrapped Princess is a tad generic at times, but not that bad if you just want to watch a decent fantasy show. Hell of a lot better than Blacksmith, just nothing overly fantastic when all’s said and done. It has this feeling of having interesting ideas, but faltering a tad in the execution (not nearly as badly as most fantasy anime, though).
Moribito has great production values and has strong characterization, though it takes a bit of time to get used to it’s pace. I felt the storytelling was much better than in most anime, but it did have a “slow” feeling, so if you’re not in the mood for that sort of thing then try Scrapped instead (but do eventually watch Moribito).
Again, it comes down to a battle between Scrapped Princess and Moribito. The vote count so far is telling me Moribito. However while writing this reply I’m also listening to that opening song again and it calls to me.
Tad generic isn’t the most worrying thing. Remember this blog is named after Code Geass. Being a bit generic is entirely worrying so long as it’s done with ambition and skill. Although I’ll save that discussion for when the Macross Frontier post goes up
A great deal of the appeal to the fantasy genre is the world building (and some would argue the depth of the setting is proportional to how great or weak the work is), but you seem averse to that by guaging your reaction to 12 Kingdoms. So, the classical reasons to recommend a Scrapped Princess or Moribito might not apply to you.
But I don’t dislike world building when it comes to other genres. It’s just fantasy anime I seem to take a dislike to when it comes to that. I couldn’t say why either.
(kinda unrelated, but you’ve managed to bring up something that’s always lurking in my mind as I write these posts. I’m a reviewer. I should be the person telling you guys what to watch, not the other way around. It’s like a breaking some unspoken rule with these posts, yet people still seem to really enjoy these posts)
I didn’t make it through 12 kingdoms either and its on my list to get back to since many people I know say it is worth the watch.
As for Seirei no Moribito I believe it was worth the watch once I finished it up. It is a little slow at times, but the story develops nicely (what kept me going was the quality of the animation).
Scrapped Princess belongs to the first set of anime I watched (which include Vandread, Scryed and Last Exile) and I really enjoyed myself while watching it. Pacifica does get a little annoying at time, but the supporting characters make up for it.
12 Kingdoms showed up in an earlier post but it didn’t even come close to topping the poll. Come to think of it, I never did pick up any of the anime in that post. Hayate won the poll but the comments put me off it more than made me want to watch it again.
Scrapped Princess does strike me as one of those anime you’d enjoy most as a budding anime fan. It’s so inherantly anime, where as Moribito feels more controlled and original.
I dropped Ryoko’s Casefile after a handful of eps for the same reasons you did. I think the subs started to falter too and I was never that interested to start with so never bothered picking it up again.
Haven’t seen Scrapped Princess yet, and I dropped Sacred Blacksmith after 5eps since it bored me.
Voted for Seirei no Moribito — its excellent. Takes its time building the world and fully fleshing out the characters; its not really an action packed series but rather a character study. I loved it.
Seitokai no Ichizon I enjoyed — its not good by any stretch of the imagination, but Sugisaki was fun to watch and the parodies amused me; but you’re not missing anything if you skip it.
I…think I’m convincing myself to watch Scrapped Princess at this point. There doesn’t seem to be a canon opinion of the series where as everything else here does.
I’m probably going to have to take a look at both Scrapped Princess and Moribito. It looks like the latter is going to win the poll anyway
Obviously you panic waaay too much. :p
There’s a lot of good to be had in that list and both Scrapped Princess and Seirei have a strong cast that can make up for some of the odd plot decisions that come later on down the line.
Hey, these posts wouldn’t exist without my amazing panicking capabilities
It’s true, and obviously it’s caused me to miss out on series I might otherwise have enjoyed. However from doing these posts I’ve learned that many of the series I panicked and dropped ended up being anime I wouldn’t have enjoyed even if I did keep up with them. So far I only have a 1/5 rating for anime I picked up again that I enjoyed, and that’s even after canvacing for opinion on what I should pick up again.
…unfortunately I’ve gone and spoiled the last episode for all these posts but eh~
I watched Scrapped Princess and Sacred Blacksmith. I would have to say both aren’t really good.
The Scrapped Princess was okay, but I was getting lost within the series a few times.
The Sacred Blacksmith was a real disappointment. The plot was near the end and it suck. I expected a really awesome anime with the neat character but i guess not.
Weren’t we all…
I remember writing the season preview for Sacred Blacksmith. I had such conflicting opinions on how it would end out. One half was screaming ‘Madhouse and hawt chicks!’ while the other was pointing out how generic and lifeless it looked. Needless to say the second half of me is feeling rather smug right about now
The only series i’ve seen is Scrapped Princess which was fun, if not essential viewing. It reminded me a bit of fma 2003 in places with it’s strong family themes. I remember enjoying it but can barely remember the plot now so it hardly set my world alight or anything.
That shouldn’t be too surprising. Both are Bones and made around the same time. In fact, I think they were made in the same year. Imma gonna go check that now..
Yup, Scrapped Princess started spring 2003 and ended in the autumn, followed instantly by FMA
I didn’t watched Seirei no Moribito and the first anime. Maybe it’s good. Expecially since Neuro is one of my favourite mangas. (And MANGA, not anime.)
Scapped Princess was in my opinion okay, but I dropped it too, so I’m looking foward to you saying us if it’s any good after the five episodes I dropped it.
But… just stay the hell away from Sacred Blacksmith and Seitokai Ichizon. Really, I’m just warning you. I hate the former, and Seitokai Ichizon reminded me (not in a good way) of Lucky Star. That is, it bored me to near death.
Lucky Star bored me so much it caused me physical pain. It went beyond the layer of regular boredom into the painful, dredging up old memories of boredom and combining them into one ball of pure boredom.
Yeah, I didn’t like Lucky Star
Exactly the same happened to me!
I still don’t get why Lucky Star is so popular. I mean, a bunch of pontless characters talk about pointless things. And the art style is… well… it is cute… but i can’t take it seriously.
You punk! You dropped Moribito AND Scrapped? Way to make my job harder…
To put in my own two cents, what threw a lot of people off with Moribito was that they didn’t quite expect that the show eventually became a slice of life series that emphasized the characterization of the Prince Chagum towards the beginning and middle and focused on bodyguard Balsa more towards the end. It was only punctuated by occasional (but BRILLIANT) action scenes that served the added purpose of progressing the plot and adding context to the medieval court intrigue. It also makes for a wonderfully cathartic and emotionally satisfying ending in my opinion.
The issue with Scrapped Princess, and I’ll try to tread lightly here for spoiler reasons, is that the Sci-Fi themes that manifest, while not exactly unforeshadowed, still make for a jarring experience for some viewers. Funny that you should think that Scrapped would be the type to appeal to more novice anime fans, because I happen to find that your initial instincts about Scrapped being an ambitious anime are actually entirely correct and may prove to be difficult for novice fans to digest in full. And it’s been a good while since I’ve seen this show, but I do seem to recall that it was particularly effective with the tearjerkers later on precisely because of the light-hearted first part effectively allowing you to empathize with the characters.
So in short, fuck, I don’t know man, I love them both.
Hatin’ your favourite anime is what I do best~
I remember the sci-fi change it made. I didn’t find that particularly jarring myself. It reminded me of the Heroes of Might and Magic games, which I love (don’t judge me, I’m the least experienced gamer around). So that certainly wasn’t the problem.
All I remember about Moribito’s fight scenes were lots of peope running with their arms behind their back.
No judgments here, Heroes of Might and Magic II was one of my favorite computer games of all time. Nothing like the thrill of having my Bone Dragons completely tear apart a legion of Peasants. Seeing them collapse to the floor always brought a smile to my face.
If you want some modern takes of that particular style of game, look into Age of Wonders and and even more modern still: King’s Bounty the Legend and Armored Princess.
I hear Armored Princess can be found around UK brick and mortar stores if you poke around hard enough.
You homosexual European, go watch Moribito!*angeranger* :I
I have been called many things in my life, but…
I actually loved Seitokai. I thought it was hilarious, but I guess it’s not for everyone? The plot segments in Seitokai aren’t that big and add some depth to the characters in the story, especially near the end. Also, you have to love a protagonist who knows exactly what goal he’s fighting for — the true harem end!
You has strange tastes my friend
Seitokai no Ichizon is a show where you just watch to relax but not to really like or follow. I suppose the manga is a bit better but the humor in the anime is practically non-existant.
Sacred Blacksmith is a typical 12-episode action anime. Bad guys come, girl save city with help of guy, and girl confesses to guy. It’s a toss-up whether or not you want to watch it.
The charm (I guess you can call it that) of Yakushiji Ryoko is the relationship between the two lead characters. She’s bold, eccentric, strong-headed and loves getting things her own way while he’s much more down-to-earth but knows exactly how to handle her in most situations. It reminds me of the relationship between the two leads of Suzumiya Haruhi. The plot… yeah, it’s kinda secondary. Not very impressive. Unlike Suzumiya Haruhi, Yakushiji Ryoko is a distinctly un-otaku anime. That’s despite the fact that she’s somewhat tsundere-ish and the show has maids and a token loli in the last arc.
Seirei no Moribito is a fantasy gem from one of anime’s best directors which is excellent all the way up to a slightly disappointing ending. You don’t like fantasy? I don’t know what your problem is…
Scrapped Princess was decent, but nothing more than that. There’s this really crappy amnesia arc which staggers the momentum of the whole thing, and the big huge plot twist in the middle felt like it was trying to evoke a certain popular Hollywood movie of the time.
Seitokai no Ichizon has a pretty crappy start, but it somehow grows on you. And it’s not because of the humour, IMO, it’s more because of the characters, and the genuineness of their relationships… which I found both ironic and refreshing given this is a harem comedy, a genre not known for genuine-feeling relationships.
I dunno why I don’t like anime fantasy. It’s all the more baffling when you consider the Lord of the Rings trilogy are my favourite movies, like, ever. I should like fantasy. I like the tropes that are attached to them. But every instance of anime fantasy I’ve watched hasn’t ended well.
Which I suppose is what this post should set about changing. Hopefully
Blacksmith is crap. I’m only going to watch it for the shipping (also for Luke and Okamoto Nobuhiko). They went for a continuation-type ending instead of anime original, which would be desired elsewhere. »; (I’m still wondering how the hell it got licensed.)
Apparently, the novels are much better (according to TV Tropes which I read a long time ago). I’m waiting for Baka-Tsuki to pick it up or something.
I have the BDs for
qualitynipples though. Ehh wasn’t much.I watched it because the girls were hot. The main two were really, really hot. But of course the loli would be the most popular in doujins now, wouldn’t she. Bloody pedos
Hello sir, pedo here.
curse you. You’re the reason Mayoi is the most popular girl in Bakemonogatari
Thanks a bunch for putting the search bar back.
ya know there’s a drop-down bar for any anime I’ve written about. It’s a far more effective search than typing the title of an anime into the search bar
Of those, I definitely choose either Seirei no Moribito or Scrapped Princess.
Scrapped Princess is more high fantasy, and more exaggerated, and so forth. It takes full advantage of how far you can go with fantasy and get away with it (and for some it leaps over those bounds by a little bit…)
Contrasting, Moribito is much more low fantasy, and almost slice-of-life at times. There’s not near the same amount of action as in Scrapped Princess, but it is much more controlled and deliberate in its story-telling style. And by god, it looks so pretty.
Though, I don’t think you can go wrong with either of them
Leaping over the boundries? Yeah awesome! Remember this blog is named after Code Geass.
But yah, I’ll probably be giving them both a shot anyway
Sacred Blacksmith dropped and with good reason; it’s a terrible, terrible show. You felt like it was going no where? I felt the same way — up to the very last episode.
Scrapped Princess, on the other hand, I really loved. I can’t exactly say why I loved it because there are parts I certainly can’t remember. It was one of the first animes I’d watched so maybe it’s just sentimental value for me. Oh: But I really, really like the characters. There’s this glasses place on my street that puts kids in a dinosaur costume and makes them hold signs for advertising; every time I see the green one I call it “Soupie”.
Heh, again we see Scrapped Princess as an early anime for people. I did mention that in one of the earlier comments that it felt like an anime for beginners.
like sorrow said, you don’t watch Ryoko’s case files for the plot. I know Moribito or Scrapped Princess or even Seitokai will win but I thought I’d throw in my 2 cents for Ryoko. The plot never really goes anywhere and there never really is a challenge Ryoko can’t get out of and not still like fabulous but it’s good, light, escapist fun. Also a very adult show. None of the characters are stupid. They all have their quirks but they are enjoyable. The show is also pretty creative and the music sounds very french inspired. It’s light and easily digested but nothing that makes waves.
I’ve dropped almost as much anime. But I’ve becoming more open-minded in the past couple years. Wow, I’m so glad you dropped Seitokai no Ichizon. I completed it (unfortunately), but I’ve gotten tired of how many people I’ve heard saying what a great anime it is.
Sacred Blacksmith was pretty terrible. I don’t think there is any reason for you to revisit it. Scrapped Princess, on the other hand, was pretty enjoyable. Granted it has been years since I’ve seen it but I remember the action and characters being above average.