History VindicatedByHistory / AnimeAndManga

* The Vehicle ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' didn't enjoy half the popularity of the Lion Force Voltron. But that's only because it followed the Lion episodes in most markets (in some, it was shown in bits and pieces between several Lion episodes). The Vehicle series wasn't "bad" by any stretch. It simply had the unfortunate tendency to be compared to the "cooler", but more formulaic, Lion series. Kids of that time latched on to the Lion series probably because it had elements that they already identified with: Fairytales (magic, castles, princesses, evil rulers) and superheroes (the SuperRobot and the FiveManBand). Vehicle Voltron was adapted from the more MilitaryScienceFiction show ''Anime/DairuggerXV'', presenting a more mature hard science fiction ''Franchise/StarTrek'' like format. It also had a lot of characters to keep track of on both sides as well as presenting a lot of shades of grey instead of good vs. evil. Kids just weren't yet ready for a cartoon that had a lot of character relationships, politics, and subplots. It was the early 80s after all. Kids like their formulas. They just wanted to see "action". But then ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' would come along and then they'd be ready. Now Vehichle Voltron is looked at as wrongfully underappreciated. One will also now notice that ''Dairugger'' was far less Bowlderized than ''Golion''which even in its original form was formulaic MonsterOfTheWeek.

** Despite the toy sales being higher the series it was a sequel to, ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5GoGo'' suffered the fate of not only having mixed reception, but airing opposite the 2007 adaptation of ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro'', which got higher ratings. [[note]] This particular incarnation of ''Kitaro'' was known for being the first to promote the sole main female character, Neko Musume, to main character status, causing it to appeal to more girls, which took away a majority of ''Pretty Cure'' viewers as a consequence.[[/note]] Years after it ended, fans began to see the series in a more positive light, causing it to rank as the third most popular series in an 2019 NHK poll about the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise. [[note]] The only series to do better were ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' and ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'', which took first and second respectively.[[/note]]

** Despite the toy sales being higher the series it was a sequel to, ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5GoGo'' suffered the fate of not only having mixed reception, but airing opposite the 2007 adaptation of ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro'', which got higher ratings. [[note]] This particular incarnation of ''Kitaro'' was known for being the first to promote the sole main female character, Neko Musume, to main character status, causing it to appeal to more girls, which took away a majority of ''Pretty Cure'' viewers as a consequence.[[/note]] Years after it ended, fans began to see the series in a more positive light, causing it to rank as the third most popular series in an 2019 NHK poll about the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise. [[note]] The only series to do better were ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' and ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure''.[[/note]]

** This trope also slowly works for ''AGE'' as time flies. Many still hate its art style and childish concepts, being one of the many reason refusing to watch it, but for some who ''actually'' watched it can be surprised by how dark the story can be, being moved by its emotional scenes, or at least can sympathize with Flit's ascendance to DarkMessiah along with his internal conflicts; his expanded life in the game and novel, as well as the series' debut in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsBX'' also helped. After the controversial BittersweetEnding of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Iron-Blooded Orphans]]'' which damaged the series' reputation by a landslide, fans can at least agree that ''AGE'' was SoOkayItsAverage for being consistent.

'' This trope slowly works for ''AGE'' as time flies. Many still hate its art style and childish concepts, being one of the many reason refusing to watch it, but for some who ''actually'' watched it can be surprised by how dark the story can be, being moved by its emotional scenes, or at least can sympathize with Flit's ascendance to DarkMessiah along with his internal conflicts; his expanded life in the game and novel, as well as the series' debut in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsBX'' also helped. After the controversial BittersweetEnding of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Iron-Blooded Orphans]]'' which damaged the series' reputation by a landslide, fans can at least agree that ''AGE'' was SoOkayItsAverage for being consistent.

* The ''Manga/SoulEater'' anime's ending was originally not regarded well, due to Maka defeating Asura with a single punch [[note]]Meant to symbolize her confidence in herself and her friends[[/note]] being considered very [[{{Narm}} narmy]]. It also has issues with the pacing, where many found the story quickly went through plot points set up before it OvertookTheManga, and didn't execute them to what fans wanted. However, with the end of the manga, many people found this ending a lot more satisfying by comparison due to the execution being more cathartic in some ways, such as Medusa in the anime getting defeated by the heroes, compared to the manga where she is killed by Crona in a MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning gambit that made her a KarmaHoudini, and Asura actually being defeated whereas in the manga Asura simply rage quits the fight and is sealed on the moon. It helps that the finale of the anime does set up this moment, whereas the manga was criticized for not doing a good job of actually setting up some of the stuff from the finale, such as Crona choosing to stay behind rather than be redeemed.

* The Vehicle ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' didn't enjoy half the popularity of the Lion Force Voltron. But that's only because it followed the Lion episodes in most markets (in some, it was shown in bits and pieces between several Lion episodes). The Vehicle series wasn't "bad" by any stretch. It simply had the unfortunate tendency to be compared to the "cooler", but more formulaic, Lion series. Kids of that time latched on to the Lion series probably because it had elements that they already identified with: Fairytales (magic, castles, princesses, evil rulers) and superheroes (the SuperRobot and the FiveManBand). Vehicle Voltron was adapted from the more MilitaryScienceFiction show ''Anime/DairuggerXV'', presenting a more mature HardScienceFiction ''Franchise/StarTrek'' like format. It also had a lot of characters to keep track of on both sides as well as presenting a lot of shades of grey instead of good vs. evil. Kids just weren't yet ready for a cartoon that had a lot of character relationships, politics, and subplots. It was the early 80s after all. Kids like their formulas. They just wanted to see "action". But then ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' would come along and then they'd be ready. Now Vehichle Voltron is looked at as wrongfully underappreciated. One will also now notice that ''Dairugger'' was far less Bowlderized than ''Golion''which even in its original form was formulaic MonsterOfTheWeek.

** Dian had a human form back in the first season. Nowadays, fans have warmed up more to the other pets' visually distinctive and appropriately cute human forms, especially Luea's already universally loved one, and admitted that ''Magical Change'' got more hate than it deserved.

** Oddly enough, the above dub of ''Anime/LupinIIIPartII'' has since become this to an extent. Mainly thanks to its clever use of aefrmentioned Woolseyisms, as well as praise for its voice acting and excellent grasp of the cast's characterizations. To the point that some fans long for the day where all the remaining episodes will be dubbed by the Creator/RichardEpcar and his crew.

** For an individual season basis there is the fifth part of [=JoJos=] [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo Vento Aureo]]. For the longest time many Western [=JoJo=] fans considered Part Five to be the weakest part of the series and the "bad one" due to a very poor translation job (which unlike the infamous [[SoBadItsGood Duwang subs]] was so basic that it barely showed any individual personality), a supposedly bland protagonist, and the at times admittedly confusing power sets that could make fights incomprehensible. It didn't help that the series was so isolated from the events of the previous four parts that it felt almost like a FillerArc. However in the late New Tens this perception changed thanks in part to various [=JoJo=] Youtubers who praised the series as an underappreciated gem and a ''far'' superior translation that did a better job of establishing the characterization of its cast especially Giorno and showing of his AntiHero cred much more effectively. Finally the release of the anime made some of the more confusing fight scenes far more comprehensible, especially the infamous King Crimson battles, and now many fans of [=JoJo's=] have turned around and now consider Vento Aureo a very enjoyable part in its own right if not one of the series best.

** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'', which also got flack for turning the (non-human) main characters into humans, would gradually provide far more things for viewers to complain about than ''Magical Change'' did. Most notably, Equestrians would lose their magic in the human world while Jewelpets would remain at full strength in all worlds, and while Equestrians become weaker in human form, Jewelpets get boosts instead.
** The final season of ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'', especially the series finale [[spoiler:in which Twilight becomes Equestria's new ruler]], proved polarizing enough to make ''Magical Change'' look much better in comparison. Plus come time for ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyANewGeneration'', Equestria regresses to a far worse state than before Twilight came along[[note]](its magic disappears and all pony races become segregated and paranoid)[[/note]]. [[spoiler:Luea, meanwhile, becomes Jewel Land's queen and saves it without making things worse for it or Earth.]]

** Speaking of ''My Little Pony'', the final season of ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'', especially the series finale [[spoiler:in which Twilight becomes Equestria's new ruler]], proved polarizing enough to make ''Magical Change'' look much better in comparison. Plus come time for ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyANewGeneration'', Equestria regresses to a far worse state than before Twilight came along[[note]](its magic disappears and all pony races become segregated and paranoid)[[/note]]. [[spoiler:Luea, meanwhile, becomes Jewel Land's queen and saves it without making things worse for it or Earth.]]

** Speaking of ''My Little Pony'', the final season of ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'', especially the series finale [[spoiler:in which Twilight becomes Equestria's new ruler]], proved polarizing enough to make ''Magical Change'' look much better in comparison. [[spoiler:Luea, meanwhile, becomes Jewel Land's queen and saves it without making things worse for it or Earth.]]

* In the realm of ''Franchise/PrettyCure'':

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''

* When it was initially released, the second season of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' was not well received due to the many odd choices, dropped plot points from the first season, and odd pacing. The series final boss, Z-One, was received about as well as any Yugioh final boss character (that is, not well at all). However with the advent of just how much TroubledProduction was at play, up to and including ''cast members being connected to cults'', fans have become a lot more forgiving for it and praise the parts of the second series that were done well more. Z-One has also gotten a better reception over time, in part because his deck, the Timelords, becoming popular as the members of the archetype were released in real life, and partially because his FinalBoss duel was looked at more fondly in comparison to the disliked Don Thousand and controversial Zarc duels of later series and the duel against Darkness in the previous GX series (mostly because Z-One's cards, while being powerful, were no where near as ludicrous, designed to be 'you cannot play the game' in effect, and having a visually interesting theme as the above three).

* The Black and White arc of Manga/PokemonAdventures was initially highly critizied by fans for the portrayal of Black, White, and N, but the American fanbase now sees it as one of the best arc of Pokespecial/Pokemon Adventures.

** ''Sunshine'' started to become more hated than ''Magical Change'' though [[Main/GrowingTheBeard it managed to grew its beard]] and attracted fans because of its use of pop culture references and their interesting character designs. Most notably, Kanon is now the single most hated human in the entire Jewelpet franchise, while ''Sunshine'' provided other things to complain about, most notably boring episodes, dumb jokes, its controversial plot point involving incest and zoophilia and flanderizing Ruby and Tour.

** ''Sunshine'' started to become more hated than ''Magical Change''. Most notably, Kanon is now the single most hated human in the entire Jewelpet franchise, while ''Sunshine'' provided other things to complain about, most notably boring episodes, dumb jokes, and flanderizing Ruby and Tour.

** The particular character of [[CanonImmigrant Ryo]] was ''hated'' in the English speaking world - owing mostly to the fact that the character was basically a checklist of every single [[CommonMarySueTraits self-insert Digimon OC]] at the time. However, as it turns out, he ''did'' have a backstory, but it was [[LostInTranslation detailed pretty much entirely in Japan-exclusive content]] along with him being a CanonImmigrant. These days, the western fandom is more friendly towards the character, though in many ways the damage was done.

* ''Anime/JewelpetMagicalChange'' eventually started to be seen in a better light for multiple reasons:

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': The [[Anime/TransformersArmada first]] and [[Anime/TransformersCybertron last]] entries of the Anime/UnicronTrilogy both went through this, though ''Cybertron'' gets it more. ''Armada'' released to very tepid responses thanks to its GottaCatchEmAll premise and TroubledProduction, but wound up GrowingTheBeard in its second half and came to be regarded more [[SoOkayItsAverage neutrally]]. ''Cybertron'' was dragged down by its [[DullSurprise limited animation]] and [[GuiltByAssociation loose connection to the previous entries]], but eventually won over a lot of fans with its [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel surprisingly]] strong writing, ArtEvolution, and SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing. Both initially suffered the stigma of being a [[ContinuityReboot Continuity Reboot]], until such reboots became a common feature for the franchise, which helped them shake the bad rap they got. This pointedly did ''not'' happen with [[Anime/TransformersEnergon the middle entry]], which is still widely hated and generally considered the worst ''Transformers'' series ever.

** When it first hit Japanese airwaves in 1971, ''Anime/LupinIIIGreenJacket'' was met with quite some controversy – the content was more adult-oriented than what was usually allowed on the air – and eventually succumbed to low ratings, being cancelled after just 23 episodes. Reruns then led to a ''considerable'' increase in popularity and it is now considered a groundbreaking classic, spawning a diverse multimedia franchise with two sequel series, a handful of movies, and dozens of TV specials. ''Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine'' actually gets away with much of the adult-content it has because of the fond memories Japan now has for the original anime series.
** In the English-speaking world, licensors have been trying to market ''Lupin'' since the early 90's, but always fell short of achieving the popularity they wanted. ''Anime/LupinIIIRedJacket'' got an airing on Creator/AdultSwim, but due to a two-front backlash by modern anime fans against the dated animation and by longtime ''Lupin'' fans who hated [[{{Woolseyism}} the dub]], the show's ratings were low and it was cancelled after airing just 30 of its 155 episodes. Its video release was halted not long after. Even so, that short run was enough to finally earn ''Lupin'' a large enough fanbase to justify a small licensing company, Creator/DiscotekMedia, releasing every ''Lupin'' anime it can get its hands on.
** Oddly enough, the above dub of ''Anime/LupinIIIRedJacket'' has since become this to an extent. Mainly thanks to its clever use of aefrmentioned Woolseyisms, as well as praise for its voice acting and excellent grasp of the cast's characterizations. To the point that some fans long for the day where all the remaining episodes will be dubbed by the Creator/RichardEpcar and his crew.

** Dian had a human form back in the first season. Nowadays, fans have warmed up more to the other pets' visually distinctive human forms and admit that ''Magical Change'' got more hate than it deserved.