How Do You Feel About Getting Incomplete / Cancelled Series?
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While we haven't gotten a truly incomplete novel, it seems like it could happen shortly. We don't really know the status of Clockwork Planet I think, and it seems like it's been on hiatus a while. I can't imagine it wraps up conclusively in volume 4, but I guess we'll see. No Game No Life by the same author is still getting releases, so he's still active as a writer afaik.
There's a few books I requested that I'm concerned don't finish. Particularly, I'm concerned about Death Need Round. It's got 3 volumes, but I don't think it concludes. Its last volume was out in 2014. I just don't want to invest in an incomplete story.
Now sometimes I regret that thought, like with the Zero Escape video game series where the setup from the 2nd game led me to a much more interesting volume 3 in my mind than what we got, with promised character inclusion and plot points seemingly dropped / altered.
Another example would be Bluesteel Blasphemer. It's ending was admittedly rushed as the Afterward explained. There were plans to keep going, but instead we got something kind of unsatisfying.
I know the latest series we're getting is supposedly episodic, but that means different things to different people. Like, some would see romantic teasing as just a trope and window dressing for the main plot, while shippers will see that stuff not being paid off (in out and out rejection or confession) as unfinished.
Unfinished business just generally doesn't sit good with me (watched Inari Kon Kon last week and the ending was terrible, focused on the characters that weren't my fav, and basically throwing the relationship building to the curb).
So what are your thoughts? There's some interesting directions you can take this discussion in. Would you rather get a forever unfinished series that told the tale the way the author planned, or a rushed conclusion? Would you take a highly polished, mainstream, unfinished tale over a short yet completed tale from a smaller pub / author? Are there any anime you watched that didn't conclude, but who have a light novel / manga you're still waiting for to arrive stateside?
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@terrence We got a rushed conclusion to Bluesteel Blasphemer. The endings to both NeeChu and PtW were complete, but kind of open ended. I have heard that the author of Clockwork Planet has health issues, so that title may be the first "unfinished" one that I encounter.
How do I feel about it? A little disappointed. I really will have to wait until I've read volume 4 to be sure. Anyways, of the three that are finished, here's my order of satisfaction:
- PtW
- BSB
- NeeChu
FWIW, Outbreak Company is finished, but we still have a long way to go with that title.
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I mentioned it in another topic too. Basically I don't like picking up novels that are unfinished (or even rushed to an ending).
And usually I don't even start reading new ones that haven't had a release in quite a while, there are tons of novels marked as ONGOING since years ago that I never know if they are actually finished (each volume is it's own "finish"), on hiatus, dropped and so on.If at all possible I prefer a novel that is already finished, for example I am interested in Outbreak Company but I probably won't be picking it up for a while until a good chunk of it is already translated.
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I remember Sam commenting about Clockwork Planet. Something about Kamiya and Himana-sensei having to match up their schedules to work on it as one of the factors for the delay. Also, it seems Himana-sensei is working on another series: https://myanimelist.net/manga/106414/Amaterasu_wa_Kakukatariki
As for the main topic... I don't really feel this way or that. If I was really into a series, I'd be bummed out if it was incomplete/cancelled, sure. But ultimately, I'd just go all "That's life I guess.", say my thanks to the creators for what they did give us and move on to something else.
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@doublemangekyo said in How Do You Feel About Getting Incomplete / Cancelled Series?:
But ultimately, I'd just go all "That's life I guess."
Metaphor for life really. Our stories are all going to be an unfinished Light Novel since we won't get to do everything while alive. =P
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@doublemangekyo said in How Do You Feel About Getting Incomplete / Cancelled Series?:
I remember Sam commenting about Clockwork Planet. Something about Kamiya and Himana-sensei having to match up their schedules to work on it as one of the factors for the delay. Also, it seems Himana-sensei is working on another series: https://myanimelist.net/manga/106414/Amaterasu_wa_Kakukatariki.
Thanks for the info. =]
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I think it is a love/hate thing about LNs in general. The concept of a story arc with a beginning / plot development/ conflict resolution/ closure doesn’t seem to be ubiquitous amongst light novels (at least not in the same way that western novels are). Most of my experience is with reading western literature where stories are “complete “ in 100,000 to 250,000 words (think a single long-ish novel or a trilogy of more modest length works). There are some outliers but I think most would agree with me that there is a certain satisfaction from finding out whodunnit or will they or won’t they or if the hero is victorious or whatever. I find that I have to remind myself that LNs are from a culture different than my own, and that the storytelling doesn’t necessarily follow the patterns I am accustomed to. LNs are not novels. LNs are parts of a serial, just as the works of Dickens and Doyle were in the late 19th century. There are exceptions, Faraway Paladin could’ve ended after 3 volumes. But it seems that the norm is for volumes to intentionally leave hanging threads and unresolved questions.
viva la difference? -
If you talk about unfinished series, I always get reminded of Space Runaway ideon and Gundam X, two different mecha anime that got axed mid-production.
Both settled for rushed endings (although the former ended up getting a brand new epilogue movie). Yet for some reason, there's still something satisfying about both of them. With that said, I don't mind rushed endings. I prefer things to end rather than being left hanging.
I liked BSB's premise, but I wasn't a fan of its execution. I felt it was best that the author ended it and moved on to other series.
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I really like Clockwork Planet so I hope it is just a back-burner side project the authors will eventually get to rather than abandoned.
The rushed patch up ending vs no ending is a bit of an it depends situation.
Taking BSB, it was setup there for a hell of a series and then we got that... The afterword kind of made it okay for me, or at least understandable that the author tried to make the best of a shitty situation. It kind of was only just starting to get going as a series so cutting it off there was disappointing, but I'd be way more disappointed if it got three more volumes into a ten volume story arc then got a rush job end.
I guess in general, the longer the story, or more volumes, the less I'd accept a rushed ending. I'd rather there be a phantom final volume that never happened than some half arsed rush job for something over say ten volumes.
It's not like I have the power to choose how these things work out though, so yeah "that's life" does sum it up.
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I thought My Little Sister Can Read Kanji might have been stalled/cancelled as it's been a LONG while the last time it was updated here, so I was surprised when I checked and saw it's apparently complete at 5 volumes in Japan.
Anyone know what's up with that?
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@korppi said in How Do You Feel About Getting Incomplete / Cancelled Series?:
Anyone know what's up with that?
Head honcho Sam works on that one. He has just been too busy to finish it. It's his New Year's Resolution to get to it.
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Damn. All of a sudden I now remember Quantum Leap's ending.
I think I take back what I said. Sometimes, it's best left open. -
@shrike_al said in How Do You Feel About Getting Incomplete / Cancelled Series?:
Damn. All of a sudden I now remember Quantum Leap's ending.
I think I take back what I said. Sometimes, it's best left open.Did you see this?
Did A Fan Just Find Proof Of Quantum Leap's Secret Lost Ending? | Gizmodo Australia (via @GizmodoAU) https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/02/did-a-fan-just-find-proof-of-quantum-leaps-secret-lost-ending/
(I haven't watched through that series).
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@shrike_al You would bring up that atrocity. You're right. Some stories are better left unfinished. Enterprise is another stellar example.
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It's always a bummer when a series I like gets cancelled before it can reach a conclusion. Sometimes an open ended ending works, sometimes it doesn't. I'd consider reading something unfinished, because the journey is the entertaining part, although it definitely helps if it's something more episodic rather than serial. I do definitely prefer something that has an end though.
I really liked Bluesteel Blasphemer's premise (although maybe not it's characters so much) and while the last book tried to wrap things up, it really didn't and felt rushed and awkward.
Sometimes things go on a little too long too though. I can't think of an LN offhand but a TV series that comes to mind if Babylon 5.
~ flarecde
Reality is nothing; Perception is everything. -
@flarecde Babylon 5 was both too rushed and went on too long. They thought the five season series was going to have to be wrapped up in four when one channel dropped it and did a horribly rushed ending to all ongoing storylines, then TNT picked it up for a fifth season and we got a season that had never really been planned and was, IMO really bad (I stopped watching halfway through).
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If anything, Babylon 5 would have benefited greatly had they known that another network would pick them up for another season.
Season 4 was heavily rushed because they thought it was going to get cancelled and needed to end the story.
Its why Season 5 was more of an epilogue season than an actual season.
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I mean, that's just the nature of book series. Not just light novels, but serialized novels in general.
If we only ever waited for a series to be completely finished before we started reading it, it could mean a very very long wait.
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Me personly I just do not understand "The Ending is Paramount." I also do not get the 3-ep rule but that is a discussion for some other time. A good story will be a good story. I hear ppl complain about the ending of the Soul Eater anime but I could not even finish it so regardless if it was finished, had a good ending or bad one it did not matter to me. I did not like Soul Eater. If the story is good then does it really matter if it is incomplete? Since like Volume 6 of Danmachi we had an end-game for the series
In the case of Danmachi, it is the Journey that is important (or at least to me) not the Destination (since we know the destination). As long as Chekhov's gun is followed I do not think we need to worry about ending or a series being incomplete. I would rather a series be incomplete than it be cancelled.
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@drone205 It's less of a logical reason and more of an emotional one as far as people wanting a good ending to a story they really like.
Some extreme examples, the manga Mx0 got canceled, so a lot of foreshadowing and unexplained plot points got lost with the abruptness, and fans were disappointed that they would have to just live with not knowing what happens next or how certain things would be explained.
A super extreme worst-case is the anime Eureka Seven: Astral Ocean. I was enjoying the show week by week, but the ending absolutely destroyed any good will I had for it and I now retroactively hate the show. Ending spoilers away~
As far as incomplete vs. canceled, for me I'd prefer canceled since we at least get some notion of closure. Not every series has a clear ending for the reader to predict, so being able to at least say "well, this is how the story ends" is nice, compared to the story stopping at a cliffhanger or heavy foreshadowing and just... nothing happens after that.
Whoever said nothing's impossible never tried slamming a revolving door.
