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Saturday, June 1, 2013

What Future Anime Seasons will Really Look Like:

It's always nice to dream of what series I'd like to see animated in the future, but there isn't much chance any of those dreams will come true.  So for a change of pace, I'll include a post where all my dreams do come true.  Every single one of these franchises are bound to have an anime adaption in the dim future -- because the Japanese companies have actually promised us that this is so.  Yes, this is all the series I can find that have been announced for an anime adaption, but not yet scheduled for any definite release date.  In other words, we're looking mainly at series that will be coming out in 2014 or later.  In other words, this is the power of prophecy, that can pierce the veil of the deep, deep future.

The importance of this list isn't exactly the positive findings.  The importance of this list is for people to realize that anime series must wait in line.  If a series hasn't even been announced yet, you can assume it will at least have to wait until studios get rid of their backlogged announcement titles before there's even a chance of a new, genuinely awaited title to come true.  So instead of hoping for a new season of Full Metal Panic to appear this fall, realistically, we can only hope for one in say, 2015, even if a new season were announced today.

This is actually a tale of despair and woe, because not only do these series have to arrive first, but it also means every single one of these series were picked ahead and above the actually good series we would have wished to have seen an anime adaption of.  Instead of any of the 21 series I mentioned getting a new anime, we instead are getting these series, for years to come this is about all we can look forward to receiving:

Noragami
Future Card Buddyfight
Sakura Trick
Be Blues! ~Ao ni Nare~
Juuzaengi ~Engetsu Sangokuden~
No, Thank You!
Wake Up Girls!
Love Stage!!
Date A Live Season 2
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders
Little Busters: Refrain
Aoki-Hagane no Arpeggio
Chuunibyou Season 2
Kyoukai no Kanata
Nisekoi
Sidonia to Kishi
Tokyo ESP
Hunter x Hunter movie 2
Naruto movie 10
Outbreak Company ~ Moeru Shinyakusha ~
Gingitsune
Tonari no Seki-kun
No-Rin
Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Come wo Zenryoku de Jyama Shiteru
Riddle Story of Devil
Strike the Blood
Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai
Grisaia no Kajitsu
Non Non Biyori
Yusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shushoku wo Ketsui Shimashita
Higurashi no Naku Kori ni Kaku/Itadaki
Saikin, Imouto no Yousaga Chotto Okashiindaga
Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha
Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraetara
Dog Days 3
Witch Craft Works
Tokyo Ravens
Magical Suite Prism Nana
Sailor Moon
Ichigeki Sacchu!!  Hoi-Hoi-san
Sora no Otoshimono 3
Girls' Work
Shokora no Mahou
Kizumonogatari  (announced July 27th 2010, so almost three years ago.)
Wish Angel
Chinka
Despera

And the mother of all old, unfulfilled announcements:

Valkyrie Complex (April 24th, 2009, over four years ago and counting.  By my beloved Circus of all companies.)

48 series announcements that have never been fulfilled, stretching back to over four years ago.  I'm sure there were other announcements I've missed as well.  As such, we can pretty well guess what the anime of 2014 and 2015 will look like.  It will all come from this list, instead of our dream lists, because this list is actually listed by companies who have made promises to customers.  Of these announcements, a few are from visual novels, many are from manga, and the seeming vast majority are from light novels.  It appears light novels are now the preferred medium for anime to get their sources from.  It used to be almost all manga, so it's a pretty interesting change.  Having not read any of these visual novels, light novels, or manga series, most of the 48 titles are completely uninteresting to me.  Obviously the Sailor Moon remake, Kizumonogatari, Higurashi Daybreak, Little Busters and Sora no Otoshimono 3 are things to look forward to (if they're ever actually made, it's already been three years and still no sign of progress. . .), but that means virtually everything else is going to suck.  The future of anime, going by these titles, is going to suck.  Instead of sequels to actually good series people actually like, it's a bunch of anime adaptions to obscure nonsense no one cares about in order to advertise their existence and increase book sales.  What a crock.  If animation studios just made good anime people would buy enough to support the series without any tie-in to any other merchandise.  But instead they intentionally make unwanted, unpopular anime because other companies will subsidize them, so you don't have to bet on your fans to make a profit.

I hate this business model, but it's been this way since time immemorial and it doesn't seem like it's going to change any time soon, so that's just how it is.  Anime's biggest flaw is that it's an advertisement, not a real work of art, so it begins dozens of totally trivial series every few months, but doesn't end a single one, not even its very best series, forcing the customers to always buy tie-in merchandise if they want to know more.  It's such an evil trap.  You get customers interested in a series, then pull the rug out from under them, and then laugh all the way to the bank.  Ugh.

However, if anyone's a fan of these series and always wanted an anime adaption of them, congratulations.  Your voice has been heard, and your wish will be granted.  Look forward to 2014 or 2015 when these studios finally get around to completing your dreams!

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