Line #27 AudienceAlienatingEra/AnimeAndManga


1	'''A Administrivia/{{No Recent Examples\|Please}} rule applies to this trope'''. Examples shouldn't be added until '''five years''' after the era begins. Please also try to avoid Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike.
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3	* ''Manga/AstroBoy'' might be a classic, but even it is not immune to audience-alienating eras. In the sixties, Tezuka had Astro Boy go through a FaceHeelTurn, and wrote a story where a construction error turned Astro Boy evil. Instead of being a champion of justice who never wanted to hurt a human being, the evil Astro didn't care a bit about human lives anymore. Though Tezuka was fully aware that violent anti-heroes were the latest trend in manga, he didn't feel that it was the way to go for Astro Boy, but his [[ExecutiveMeddling editor insisted that an Astro Boy who killed people and destroyed buildings would be more interesting.]] Tezuka himself was convinced that the readers preferred Astro to be a good-hearted robot, and was proven right when the readers turned out to have zero interest in reading about an evil Astro Boy. Tezuka [[HeelFaceTurn changed him back,]] but it took a lot of time and effort to get the series' popularity back.
4	* Once Reiko Yoshida left the ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' project, Mia Ikumi tried to write a sequel incorporating the {{retcon}}s made in the TV show and replacing Ichigo with a new character named Berii. Ichigo herself [[BroughtDownToNormal lost her powers]] except as a living accessory to the new heroine, her origins and family life were completely ignored in favor of [[PutOnABus sending her to Europe]], and she became a washed-up hero. It's no surprise ''Tokyo Mew Mew a la mode'' has a high degree of FanonDiscontinuity amongst fans who also [[TheScrappy really dislike Berii]]. Berii herself has been MisBlamed, though; the real blame lies in the publishers, who, among other things, restricted the series to just two volumes when commissioning the sequel.
5	* ''Franchise/DragonBall'' has gone through a few of these:
6	** The Buu arc is often criticized for its MoodWhiplash, TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter antics that goes on for an extremely long time. This is partially because Toriyama got a new editor who had less creative needs, in addition to Toriyama being well past the point of creative exhaustion by the time he started the arc.
7	** Many, '''many''' fans see ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' as this. After the end of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Creator/ToeiAnimation decided to bank off of ''Z''[='=]s success by creating an original sequel series. The anime attempted to [[LighterAndSofter return]] the franchise to the comedic roots of the original ''Manga/DragonBall'', but suddenly went back to ''Z''[='=]s action-packed DarkerAndEdgier tone after that didn't work. Many of ''GT''[='=]s detractors state that both the comedy and drama of the show was shoehorned in compared to the more natural flow of the original manga, and the [[CerebusRollercoaster sudden shifts in tone]] taken by ''GT'' certainly didn't help matters.
8	** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', a similar sequel series from the early 2010s, got off to a rough start due to the first two arcs simply being adaptations of ''Battle of Gods'' and ''Resurrection 'F''', as well as notoriously terrible animation [[EnhancedOnDVD on TV airings]]. Once it started to branch off into original stories, it became far more favorably received as a better follow-up than ''GT'' (and appearing to ignore it entirely). That still depends on who exactly you ask, however, as the writing, art style and creative decisions can be contentious (such as the Super Saiyan recolours, to name but one).
9	* For some portion of the fanbase, ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaFORCE'' has become this for the main continuity of the franchise. The series became DarkerAndEdgier, but the method of doing so was introducing an AntiMagic virus into a magical setting. This led the new villains to become a gang that beat beloved favorites almost insultingly easily while being insufferable, {{hypocrit\|e}}ical {{jerkass}}es, the heroes have to combat them with FlawedPrototype weapons that barely even work and the new main character is, [[HoYay unus]][[ImprobablyFemaleCast ually]], a heterosexual male that has so far not done anything beneficial for the heroes. Even worse, it has undergone a massive ScheduleSlip, releasing only 30 chapters in the four years of its publishing. Perhaps due to all of these reasons, it is currently on (a most likely permanent) hiatus.
10	* While ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' is still very popular in Japan and considerably well-loved in the west, each region has their own candidates for the comic's low point. Interestingly enough, each of the below parts that is loathed in one region is highly enjoyed in the other:
11	** In Japan, ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'' is seen as a rather inferior PostScriptSeason compared to the first three parts. Reasons for this include the {{retcon}}s of the bow & arrow and the protagonist Josuke being the illegitimate son of Joseph, the incredibly formulaic MonsterOfTheWeek plotline (which had already been established as a formula in ''Stardust Crusaders''), and the lack of a real end goal until Reimi Sugimoto and Yoshikage Kira show up. [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Overseas, however, ''Diamond is Unbreakable'' is considered a good follow-up season.]]
12	** Overseas fans of the series tend to look down on ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'' due to the perception of main protagonist Giorno Giovanna as bland and uninteresting (though translations may be to blame for this), the extremely formulaic MonsterOfTheWeek nature that exacerbated the flaws of the previous two parts' plot styles, the [[WTHCostumingDepartment ridiculously designed]] and overly generic villain Diavolo, and the ending, which reeks of DeusExMachina even by ''[=JoJo=]'' standards. Detractors take particular ire towards Giorno because he's the illegitimate son of the earlier villain Dio (even reappropriating his battle cry of "MUDA MUDA MUDA"). However, after 2017 saw the release of improved scanlations followed by the 2018 AnimatedAdaptation and its [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing excellent dub]], much of this animosity has disappeared and ''Golden Wind'' [[VindicatedByHistory has become better-regarded.]]
13	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
14	** A sizeable portion of the fanbase felt that the series went into an A.A.E. with the Fullbringer Arc. The arc focused on new characters with totally new powers instead of the established characters and featured a plot that seemed almost completely unrelated to any part of the MythArc. To be fair, with [[spoiler:Ichigo depowered and Aizen alive but imprisoned]], there weren't many plot threads that could be carried over directly from the previous arc ''and at least nothing involved Aizen''.
15	** There are also fans who consider the four year long Arrancar Arc an Audience-Alienating Era. In general, the writing became a lot more divisive after the Soul Society arc, and the series' sales and ratings dropped to the point where the anime was cancelled as soon as the Fullbringer Arc wrapped up.
16	* ''Franchise/LupinIII'' has also suffered through this:
17	** The most widely agreed upon audience-alienating era happened with ''Anime/LupinIIIPartIII'', which consists of the third anime series and the ''Anime/LegendOfTheGoldOfBabylon'' film. Both the series and the movie had Lupin wearing a [[RealMenWearPink pink jacket]], most of the adult themes downplayed and the slapstick exaggerated (as well as [[OffModel a bizarre design for Fujiko]]). Although nowadays it is [[CanonDiscontinuity widely ignored]] by both the anime producers at Creator/TMSEntertainment and most fans in general in favor of ''Anime/LupinIIIPartII'' and the yearly specials it inspired, it did get a homage episode in ''Anime/LupinIIIPart5''.
18	** The franchise hit another slump during TheNineties, when it was carried largely by [[Anime/LupinIIIYearlySpecials a series of annual TV specials]]. Said specials are often considered to be of hit-and-miss quality, due in part to the fact that Creator/TMSEntertainment did not directly animate the specials in-house, which often resulted in low-budget animation and inconsistent art styles and character designs. The early English dubs of these specials are also marred with the poor-quality voice acting of the era, and come off as off-putting to recent fans who are more familiar with the iconic Creator/{{Geneon}} dub cast.
19	* Creator/StudioGainax, a once renowned studio, is widely agreed as having fallen into irreversible decline in the 2010's. While the studio weathered the departure of Creator/HideakiAnno to found Creator/StudioKhara in 2006, the mass exodus of staff members, including Creator/HiroyukiImaishi of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' and ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' fame, to found Creator/StudioTrigger in 2011 dealt a crippling blow to Gainax. Soon after, Gainax would also lose the rights to their CashCowFranchise ''Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' to Anno and Khara, cutting off lucrative merchandise sales of the series. With much of its talent gone, Gainax decayed from producing acclaimed original series to mediocre adaptations of {{Shonen}} manga such as ''Manga/MedakaBox''. As the decade went on, many of Gainax's properties were either sold off or shifted to their sister company Gainax Fukushima, which was later spun-off into a legally separate entity called Creator/{{Gaina}}. The last nail in the coffin was when a top executive at Gainax was arrested in 2019 for sex crimes, prompting Anno to not only publicly denounce his former studio but also reveal years of financial mismanagement, shady actions, and failure to repay loans from Khara. With Gainax's name tarnished and very few productions in the pipeline, many fans doubt that Gainax will ever emerge from their Audience-Alienating Era.
20	* The retirement of Creator/HayaoMiyazaki in 2013 sent Creator/StudioGhibli into an existential crisis. But, even before Miyazaki gave up film-making, the studio is considered by its hardcore fans to have entered an Audience-Alienating Era starting around 2004 when Miyazaki released ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'', which did well on both sides of the Pacific but got mixed reviews. This was followed by his son Goro's ''Anime/TalesFromEarthsea'', which was critically-panned ([[CreatorBacklash especially by Ursula K. LeGuin]]) and thrown into NoExportForYou limbo in North America for several years due to rights issues. After that came Miyazaki's ''Anime/{{Ponyo\|On The Cliff By The Sea}}'', which was a return to the whimsical tone of his late-80s-era movies but still disappointed hardcore fans despite doing quite well at the box office. By 2010, longtime producer Toshio Suzuki openly speculated about closing the studio, although a shutdown was at least delayed by the modest success of ''Anime/{{Arrietty}}''. In 2017 Miyazaki returned from retirement once again to direct a new film based on ''Literature/HowDoYouLive'' and the studio announced the creation of a theme park based on Ghibli's works. Whether this can truly revive the studio remains to be seen.
21	* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' had an audience-alienating era in the middle of the 2000s that destroyed the international popularity of the franchise and shook the foundations of it over in Japan. After the runaway success that was ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Wing]]'', nothing really stuck with the American audiences: [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam the original]] simply had terrible ratings thanks to its outdated animation, ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G]]'' never really became anything more than a CultClassic, and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED SEED]]'' was such a bust that it got kicked into the small hours graveyard slot about halfway through the series. Speaking of ''SEED'', its [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny sequel]] managed to kill any traction the original had acquired, even in Japan, and for a while it seemed that the alternate universes were doomed. While ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 00]]'' did get pretty positive reviews, it was the last truly dedicated effort Creator/{{Sunrise}} had at making a profitable alternate universe [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury for over a decade]]. The 2010s only continued the decline in no small thanks to the ''Build'' subseries taking up a majority of the TV slots along with the resumed focus on the Universal Century in [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn OVA's]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin and]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamNarrative films]] with [[Anime/GundamReconguistaInG only]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans three]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury brand]] new series following the traditional formula made after the first Build series debuted in 2013.
22	** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'' is widely accepted as the franchise's lowest point. The art style drew aspersions before it even aired, but deeper problems came. Common complaints are that [[RecycledScript it rips off everything the previous Gundams had]], [[TooBleakStoppedCaring the deaths are only for shock value]], the plot is dumb and inconsistent, and its treatment of women is worse than in shows from decades before. The second arc is generally considered better, but the third arc pushes the series into rock bottom. This explains why the OVA for that series, ''Memory of Eden'', decided to focus more on the second arc, to the point that it [[DemotedToExtra demotes Kio to a background character]] by the time the third arc comes along.
23	* ''[[Anime/NGKnightLamune40 VS Knight Lamune & 40 Fresh]]'', a sequel to ''VS Knight Lamune & 40 Fire'', breaks the concept of the original series of light hearted and comedic SuperRobot fantasy adventure genre into a [[DarkerAndEdgier dark military story]] with [[HotterAndSexier girls showing off their]] [[{{Eroge}} breasts]]. It didn't go well, considering every previous show before it [[{{Shonen}} was made for children.]]
24	* Among [[PeripheryDemographic certain fans]], the ''Anime/PrettyCure'' franchise has been in one since the end of ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'' (which admittedly was a DarkerAndEdgier ToughActToFollow and is almost universally considered the franchise's highpoint).
25	** ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' is considered one of the weaker seasons. [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents The 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku didn't help either]], as it made what was going to be a dark series aggressively LighterAndSofter. ''Suite'' is also disliked for its characterization, as many feel that Hibiki and Kanade come across as flat copies of [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure Nagisa and Honoka]] with a rather forced VitriolicBestBuds angle that gets dropped so quickly you wonder why they added it in the first place.
26	** Some fans also consider ''Anime/SmilePrecure'' this (though it is slightly better regarded) due to its episodic, goofy nature (to the point that it feels more like a spoof of the genre), childish writing (with both the MythArc and character growth being non-existent), and what many see as blatant pandering to the {{Moe}} crowd. On the other hand it was allegedly very financially successful... though mostly only with otaku. It says something when its first Toys/SHFiguarts figure is the EnsembleDarkhorse otaku character (Yayoi/Cure Peace) and not the leader.
27	** ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'' is itself better regarded than ''Smile'', but it is also considered this due to its overly-complicated plot and the poor reception to some of its twists. For example, the SixthRanger Aguri/Cure Ace was not a previously established character (like the {{Sixth Ranger}}s of every Pretty Cure season before) but an entirely new one. [[ReplacementScrappy She also replaced Regina]], [[RedHerring when the show seemed to be building up to Regina becoming a Cure herself]]. (In the end [[PutOnABus Regina vanishes for most of the second half]].) Basically, they tried to do the opposite of ''Smile'' where ''every'' episode tied into the MythArc... and despite some initial promise, they couldn't pull it off. It currently has ''the'' lowest Website/MyAnimeList rating in the franchise, and allegedly got some of the worst TV ratings as well.
28	** ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' looked like it would escape the Audience-Alienating Era... in its first half. The second half was struck by a RomanticPlotTumor while other plot threads from the first half were either [[AbortedArc dropped]] or [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot poorly resolved]]. It's telling that original series creator Washio Takashi returned to be the series planner for the next season, ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure''. It is also telling that this was the first series to bring in ''less'' than 10 billion yen to Bandai since ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar''.
29	* ''Magazine/MangaTimeKirara'' became known as the face of {{Moe}} anime and manga throughout the 2000s and 2010s, but towards the late 2010s, things slowly began to decline for them, attributed to the increased fatigue of their brand and less financial return that saw more flops then successes, resulting in less Kirara anime being produced. 2018 saw the anime adaptation of ''Manga/LaidBackCamp'', which became its newest CashCowFranchise, but the other 2018 releases became some of its biggest commercial and critical failures to date, including ''Manga/AnimaYell'', ''Manga/HarukanaReceive'', ''Manga/SlowStart'' and ''Manga/ComicGirls''. While 2019's ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'' became a success and got a sequel, things quickly hit the absolute nadir for the company at the start of the new decade in 2020 with the anime of ''Manga/{{Tamayomi}}'', which became known as Kirara's worst received title, alongside the lukewarm ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'' and ''Manga/DropoutIdolFruitTart'', and none fared well financially either. While 2021's solo Kirara installment of the second season of ''Laid-Back Camp'' proved to be another success, the commercial failures of both ''Manga/SlowLoop'' and ''Manga/RPGRealEstate'' (the latter becoming the worst selling anime in Kirara's entire history) kept a tumultuous era going in 2022, kept afloat by the aforementioned two successes they had at the end of the previous decade. Despite this, ''Manga/BocchiTheRock'', released the same year, became Kirara's biggest hit since ''Manga/KOn'' and was one of the most popular anime of that year, becoming the solo new anime success Kirara had in the early 2020s. Unfortunately, 2023's Kirara entry, ''Manga/StardustTelepath'', while well-received, did not get the same popularity or praise as its predecessor, and was yet another commercial flop, only outperforming the aforementioned ''RPG Real Estate''. Even the immense popularity of ''Bocchi'' doesn't help the accusations of Kirara being stuck in an AAE, as the series is a CringeComedy [[CreatorsOddball with little to do with other Kirara properties' usual M.O.]]
30	* The {{Mecha}} genre, specifically HumongousMecha, once a staple of the anime industry with many acclaimed classics, has been in steady decline since the 2010s. Very few new properties of note are being produced, most of them being mediocre RealRobot series, and [[Anime/AldnoahZero those]] [[Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx seeking]] to breathe new life into the genre seeing their initial popularity quickly collapse due to SeasonalRot, and most of [[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion the]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury properties]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn that]] do receive success and acclaim have [[GrandfatherClause the advantage of being part of long-established franchises]]. Many think the genre [[ToughActToFollow already reached its peak]] with the {{Deconstruction}} of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and {{Reconstruction}} of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', and most depictions of Mecha nowadays either not the focus of the show (i.e [[Manga/OnePiece General Franky]] and [[Anime/GodzillaSingularPoint Jet Jaguar]]) and/or only qualify as part of the genre in the technical sense (i.e [[spoiler:The piloted Titans]] from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' or the {{Spider Tank}}s from ''Literature/EightySixEightySix'').
31	* The shoujo magazine ''Magazine/{{Nakayoshi}}'' is considered to be going through one, as most of their series in the last 5 or so years are either otaku-bait or a cheap attempt to be HotterAndSexier.
32	* Shoujo manga itself is considered to be in an AAE, with drastically-declining readership and anime adaptation numbers as female {{Otaku}} turn their attention toward {{Otome Game}}s, {{Light Novel}}s, and [[PeripheryDemographic manga meant for male audiences]]. In the year 2021, only one shoujo manga received an anime adaptation--''Manga/FruitsBasket'', one of the most famous shoujo of all time[[note]]For comparison, this is like the only shonen anime in a year being a remake of ''Manga/DragonBall''[[/note]]. Because of declining readership, manga with heavy YouGoGirl themes that would have been shoo-ins for shoujo magazines in TheNineties are now much more likely to be published in shonen or seinen magazines in an attempt to court the large female PeripheryDemographic (for examples, see ''Manga/WitchHatAtelier'' and ''Manga/AkaneBanashi'', mangas that otherwise could have been a shoujo being published as a seinen and a shounen respectively). This has also extended even to the demographic's prime breadwinner: romance. The romance genre has been gobbled up by the other demographics of manga, even the ones that are female-centric, and found great success with these (hit romance mangas ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' and ''Manga/{{Horimiya}}'' are respectively considered a Seinen and a Shounen manga). What remains in shoujo magazines are a few {{Long Runner}}s interspersed with StrictlyFormula romances. 2023 and 2024 saw more anime adaptations of shoujo manga that weren't legacy series, but with only one or two series a season being made at most, the genre is still nowhere near its nineties prominence.
33	%%* Not even ''Manga/OnePiece'' has remained unscratched. After Marineford, which is the climax of the first part of One Piece came Fishman Island and then Punk Hazard. Fishman Island was poorly received by fans, who cite the very slow pacing and weak villains as the reasons for disliking the season. Punk Hazard was better received, but not by much. Punk Hazard's problem, according to most, is that most of it was running.
34	* Happened to ''Anime/YuGiOh''.
35	** Arcs tended to give Kaiba's backstory or company more prominence, and each arc had its own kind of sin for the fans: the Virtual World interrupted Battle City, and was incredibly weird and nonsensical to many people. Waking the Dragons/Doma screwed with the history of the Shadow Games, and the KC Tournament arc was perceived as just a long breather episode that did little even to expand on Kaiba's character, who the Big Bad of that arc was targeting. And that isn't even mentioning the oddness that is Capsule Monsters.
36	** ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''[='=]s first two seasons. The original series ending and the considerably lower quality of ''GX''[='=]s dub did it no favors in the popularity department, but even fans of the series acknowledge that the series's lack of focus, slow pace, and excessive goofiness did a lot to ingrain the "[[FirstInstallmentWins spinoffs are always awful]]" mindset. Thankfully, it GrowingTheBeard with the Yubel arc, rescued the franchise from its A.A.E. in time for the first season of ''5D's.''
37	** You also won't find many fans of the first two arcs of the second season of ''[[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds 5D's]]'', which is sometimes considered the weakest point of the franchise. Criticisms include either dropping plot threads from the first season or resolving them in anticlimactic ways, [[DemotedToExtra demoting prominent characters (especially Carly) to extras]], an absurd amount of ProductPlacement, and a gargantuan block of irrelevant {{filler}} episodes at the beginning of the season. Notably, this was the point in the series where the anime writers completely exhausted the initial concepts Takahashi had come up with, and the lack of direction showed.
38	** The ''5D's'' A.A.E. extended into its successor series, ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'', which took the filler and RecycledScript of the other series and magnified them. Thankfully, it pulled itself together by the introduction of the [[KnightOfCerebus Arclights]] and [[GrowingTheBeard jumped heavily in quality]] with ''ZEXAL II'', but the back-to-back combo of ''5Ds'' second half and ''ZEXAL'' first half was quite the blow to the show's older fanbase.
39	** While the first season and a half of ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' was very well received, the rest of the series from the Synchro arc onward fell into this. Instead of addressing many of the problems the previous series suffered from, ''ARC-V'' caught itself up in them too, with the rest of the arcs having terrible pacing and a massive amount of wasted potential on account of the series' TroubledProduction. And that's not even getting into the returning {{Legacy Character}}s, many of whom were said characters InNameOnly, and the ending, which managed to sour the whole series for many fans. It got so bad that at one point, the bottom 10 anime episodes of all time on the Japanese rating website Nico Nico Douga were ''ALL'' ARC-V episodes until they were overtaken by season 2 of ''Anime/KemonoFriends'', and has permanently tarnished the name of director Katsumi Ono ([[MisBlamed despite much of it not being his fault]]).
40	** ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'' continues the trend of divisive series. Following off the heels of the already-disliked ARC-V, VRAINS had a lot to prove from the get-go. Unfortunately, the series was seen as SoOkayItsAverage by many fans of the franchise ([[AmericansHateTingle especially in the west]]). Most of the problems revolving around both the new "Link Summoning" mechanic, which {{nerf}}ed other Extra Deck summons both in and [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh out of universe]], as well as the protagonist Yusaku Fujiki AKA: Playmaker, who some saw as having all the problems with [[Characters/YuGiOh5Ds Yusei Fudo]] taken to the nth degree with few of the positives, being a boring InvincibleHero with [[HighTierScrappy a broken deck]] [[FlatCharacter who never really develops]] until the last few episodes of the series. Season 2 did not help matters with characters like [[IdolSinger Aoi Zaizen]] or [[ProfessionalWrestling Go Onizuka]] [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter being given the shaft]], the introduction of [[SpotlightStealingSquad Takeru Homura AKA: Soulburner]] and the villain Bohman, a FlatCharacter as bad as Yusaku who never seemed to be able to settle on a consistent backstory and clearly hadn't been planned ahead of time. While the series rebounded in its third season with a fan-favourite villain and ended up better received than its predecessor, it wasn't enough. After it ended early due to middling ratings, Nihon Ad Systems and Creator/{{Konami}} took the series away from Creator/StudioGallop and gave it to Creator/{{Bridge}} for the SoftReboot that is ''Anime/YuGiOhSEVENS''.
41	* The second season of the ''Manga/BlackButler'' anime is seen as this by nearly all of the fandom. The [[LoliconAndShotacon shotacon]] fanservice was cranked up to intolerably {{squick}}y levels, the new characters were poorly written and completely unlikable (and the returning ones were derailed or {{flanderiz\|ation}}ed), and the plot was a near-complete mess that had nothing to do with the manga and had a GainaxEnding. It took ''years'' for another season to be made, and it unsurprisingly ignores everything that happened in this.
42	* The Anime/UnicronTrilogy as a whole is considered an Audience-Alienating Era for ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'', even among the franchise's notoriously split fanbase.
43	** ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' was ''very'' rushed, with many bouts of OffModel on par with those seen in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Generation 1]]'', an English dub with clunky dialogue, incorrect names and [[FillingTheSilence originally silent moments filled with inane chatter and stock phrases]], and a slow beginning with many repetitive episodic adventures [[GrowingTheBeard before the plot really kicks off]]. But the reason why ''Armada'' isn't considered the worst ''Transformers'' series ever is because ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'' took that spot with little competition. All the problems with ''Armada'' were amplified, with the plot starting off good, before repeating itself halfway in and the final few episodes being entirely unrelated, character arcs largely being quietly dropped or else ended in a way that doesn't actually resolve them, the setting not giving the cast any real ''need'' to transform, and the CG models [[DullSurprise lacking emotion]] (to the point where sometimes they're hand-drawn ''just because it looks more impressive''). The dub is even worse - unfinished animation is used, mistranslations are plentiful, and an important episode that develops two characters is dropped and replaced with a non-canon Japanese special. [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Energon_%28cartoon%29 Just read what]] Website/TFWikiDotNet has to say about it.
44	** ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' is, however, agreed to be a ''massive'' improvement over its predecessors (with the dub and animation being far less shoddy than them), though it still has its flaws (such as an abundance of StockFootage used to pad episodes, and a drawn-out first half with a comparatively truncated second half).
45	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': You'll get a lot of answers for what counts as the show's Audience-Alienating Era (and if it has ever left it). Two examples crop up more often than others: Johto and Unova.
46	** Johto is a common citation as it contains the start of the fall of Team Rocket, Brock and Misty being reduced to moving background, {{flanderization}} of the main cast, and the "Filler Hell" in general. While it started within Season 3 (with the GS Ball becoming an AbortedArc and such), it is Season 4 where the reputation for Johto comes from: very little of significance takes place (no captures, only several evolutions and three ''very'' spaced-out badges), and the {{filler}} was less memorable overall - the slower pacing led to much of the old vanguard becoming disillusioned with the show. That said, the succeeding "Master Quest" season is largely considered a return to form: more development of the show's MythArc, more {{Story Arc}}s to spice up the plot, stronger standalone episodes, and wrapping up the Original Series with a solid TournamentArc (the Silver Conference being a ToughActToFollow judging from the overall response to later League arcs) makes people more forgiving of it compared to what Johto previously gave them.
47	** Unova is brought up due to how the ResetButton was pressed for Ash, his new traveling companions, the initial story arc with Team Plasma being [[AbortedArc unceremoniously dropped]] and later refitted into a short mini-arc, the unsatisfactory ending at the Unova League in which Ash's traditional elimination comes at the hands of an incredibly stupid trainer who only wins because of an extreme stroke of luck, [[EndingFatigue and ending on a lackluster arc comprised mostly of filler]].
48	** ''Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened'' is agreed to have been the start of an Audience-Alienating Era for the movies (though as with the main series, whether or not it's merely a continuation of one is up for debate). Coming after the [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel positively-received]] ''Anime/PokemonKyuremVSTheSwordOfJustice'', ''Genesect'' quickly became a divisive movie thanks to a slew of questionable story decisions, most prominently [[ReplacementScrappy the introduction of]] a brand new (yet {{suspiciously similar\|Substitute}}) Mewtwo over the fan-favorite original from ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie''. The [[Anime/PokemonDiancieAndTheCocoonOfDestruction next]] [[Anime/PokemonHoopaAndTheClashOfAges three]] [[Anime/PokemonVolcanionAndTheMechanicalMarvel movies]], based on the main animé's concurrent ''XY'' series, received [[SoOkayItsAverage lukewarm]] (at best) reception with fans (being regarded as fairly shallow and hollow, especially ''Hoopa and the Clash of Ages''), and even in their native Japan they performed poorly in comparison to the other movies in the series. The poor reception of the ''XY'' movies may explain the movies going under a soft reboot starting with 2017's ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'' and likely why ''Sun & Moon'' didn't get its own tie-in movies.
49	** In general, when the anime goes through an A.A.E., it gets a lot of fan backlash (which sometimes extends to Ash and Pikachu themselves) due to its ubiquity and effect on other parts of the franchise. It also should be noted that said fans are the PeripheryDemographic, since the target audience appear to have had much fewer problems with Johto and Unova.[[note]]particularly the latter, which was most stable in the ratings throughout its run, whereas there was a noteworthy drop-off in Johto due to the ''Pokemon'' fad in general dying down in popularity.[[/note]]
50	* Many fans believed that Creator/{{CLAMP}} entered the Audience-Alienating Era when their first original anime, ''Anime/BloodC'', took off which earned a mixed reaction from viewers and poor BD sales for having a FailureHeroine, which invokes a lot of GenreBlindness, a ridiculous plot and [[TooBleakStoppedCaring the needless gore and violence]]. Though many argued that the audience-alienating era started when the last chapters of ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' enter into MindScrew territory and the NoEnding of ''Manga/XxxHolic''. CLAMP is now trying to WinBackTheCrowd by continuing ''Tsubasa'' and ''[=×××HOLiC=]'' in order to fix the problem, the sales went down on its second week which indicates that CLAMP really needs to step up from their game to pass the audience-alienating era. In 2016, they finally did when they released the sequel of ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'', ''Manga/CardCaptorSakuraClearCard'' whose anime adaptation aired in 2018.
51	* ''Manga/WaveListenToMe'' had the School of Wave Wisdom arc, an arc-long BizarroEpisode that completely threw any semblance of realism out the window as the protagonists end up getting caught in the midst of a cult that plans to use radio as a sonic weapon. It ditched the topic of radio broadcasting to feature such ridiculousness as a breeding program, a LargeHam cult leader, and revealing the cult to worship [[ChekhovsGunman a character who had previously only been mentioned as an aside]]. It certainly didn't help that it was longer than any other arc in the manga at that point--and the finale included AttemptedRape and Koumoto, Nakahara, and Shinji mowing down scores of {{Mook}}s with previously-unseen fighting powers. After this arc, the manga pretended like it never happened.
52	* ''Anime/TenchiInTokyo'' is this to the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' franchise as a whole. It's seen as having an interesting concept where Tenchi leaves the girls behind to live his own life seemingly without an UnwantedHarem but the execution itself led to a very cold reception, particularly with the lower quality animation, a really divisive new love interest in Sakuya, DenserAndWackier humor that may not appeal to everyone and feels borderline childish most of the time, and the perception that the writers really failed to distinguish Tenchi from his usual HaremAnime hero mold and give the character a more refreshing, unique spin towards the end of the show.
53	* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
54	** The fourth season of the ''Anime/SailorMoon'' 90s anime run, ''[=SuperS=]'' is considered this to the fandom. Coming off of the DarkerAndEdgier ''S'' season (which was considered a little ''too'' dark to some parents), Toei decided to not follow the manga's ''Dream'' counterpart in favor of its own storyline using the characters from the storyline. This effectively turned the entire season into a FillerArc as the Dead Moon Circus' desire to find Pegasus really meant nothing as the audience ''already knew'' Pegasus was with Chibi-Usa, thus it wasn't a matter of ''if'' they found him but ''when''... and that doesn't happen until the final seven episodes. As well, because of Chibi-Usa's greater importance to the story, she effectively became a SpotlightStealingSquad that was made worse because Chibi-Usa's character development that happened in the manga never really happened in the anime. [[FranchiseKiller This season killed off Sailor Moon in the west]] due to lower tolerance of Chibi-Usa to begin with because of her poor dub voice, resulting in the final season ''Stars'' not being dubbed until decades later.

Context AudienceAlienatingEra / AnimeAndManga