(AfroGamers.com) You know, Crunchy Roll is great for watching, binging, and discovering anime. It’s even great for rediscovering stuff. It’s amazing how often Ronin Warriors/Samurai Warriors pop up on streaming platforms. In the 1990s, it was a kind of one those throwaway series for syndication despite being a fun, action-packed series.
However, there are some woes to watching Crunchy Roll and the main one isn’t even the platform’s fault. I mean, for the most part they’re not producing the series. No, this woe is purely on the studios and perhaps even the publishers of the source material.
Crunchy Roll and Unfinished Series
A series has to do well in sales to warrant any kind of significant investment whether it’s merch or adaptations. Then it has to continue doing well. That’s mainly on the mangaka and the publisher and it’s not unusual to hear of series that just stopped without finishing out the story. Then there’s getting to the point of an anime adaptation. When it’s simply a feature, it’s often a standalone—probably noncanonical—adventure.
Of course, if a manga or light novel gets a following and strong reception, you might just end up with an anime. Some series have pacing issues where the seasons run in a way that certain arcs are stretched out. The broadcasters who air these shows in Japan tend to assign a number of episodes for a season and diehards of the manga all have a favorite arc they want to see animated.
There’s an understanding that we’re starting from the beginning and we know what arcs we’ll have to go through but then there’s that point where it seems unlikely. When you see there’s only 12 episodes and one season for a series, that’s a bit of an “Oof…”
Unannounced Doesn’t Mean Unfinished
The big “oof…” comes when you see a release year before 2020 or 2021. It could be a year or two years between seasons and seeing that just doesn’t welcome confidence. Even two seasons with the last dropping in 2020 isn’t particularly good unless it’s a series that tied everything up in just those two seasons.
I don’t know, a nice 24-25-episode season is a little safer to me. I’m more likely to invest time in watching something if I’m in for the long haul. A five-hour jaunt? Ehh.
There are series that I’m glad to have checked out even with skimpy seasons like Mashle, Yasuke, and Onimusha but I’d like more of all three—and others. For most series, that’s why the manga exists. Again, if the series has hype behind it, it’s either completed or actively getting new chapters. That’s a publisher and studio with overwhelming confidence in the mangaka and their team.
The manga is the failsafe for the entire project. If the broadcaster says “That’s that on that” you still have the publisher putting out the project unless everyone agreed to wrap up the story and move on to a new project.
Also, unfinished is just that: the project’s been canceled but there’s still more store. Unannounced is different as fans are pretty much left in the dark until the publisher, creator, or studio announces that there will be a new season. Depending on the studio’s approach, they could wait until a certain amount of the anime project is done before announcing anything.
It’s an approach that game developers should run with. A good 75% or 80% development done on a new project? Go ahead and drop the trailer or announce it. You’re close to finished. “We have the license to make games for this property”? Keep that to yourself, show your work first.
That’s just me but which concerns you more: a series where you finished or follow the manga but made time for the anime—only for it not to complete the story—or a series where there’s just no updates (only speculation) on a new season?
What series are you waiting for updates on? Let us know in the comments!
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.