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Broken Base / Anime & Manga

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Examples of Broken Base among anime and manga fandom.

A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope and examples shouldn't be added for 6 months. This is measured from release or when the issue becomes divisive, whichever comes later.


Shows with their own pages


  • One of the biggest debates among all fans of anime that's continuously broken the base: Subbing Versus Dubbing. Is it better to watch an anime subbed (in its original language with translation subtitles on-screen), or dubbed (having the voices replaced by actors speaking in the listener's native language)? Some say sub-only, some say dub-only, and some are on a case-by-case basis. The one constant is that there's very little overlap, and very high potential for a flame war any time the subject comes up. "Subs vs. Dubs" is a very hotly contested topic in the anime community, and one that doesn't appear to be going away any time soon.
    • The "Subs" crowd believes that the original actors often do a better job in their performances. Puns/jokes/metaphors/etc. that can only be understood by being familiar with the original culture/language may possibly be Lost in Translation, hence why many subs offer a "footnote" explaining them. Lost in Translation can also extend elsewhere—because dubs need to match the timing of the animation despite the change in language, translations may have to be modified, shortened, or replaced. Depending on the work, the context of a scene can change drastically when translated from the original language. As for the necessity of reading subtitles the whole time, the Subs crowd argues that it isn't a problem, and simply taking a second to look at the subtitles doesn't affect the quality of a work.
    • The "Dubs" crowd believes that the quality of performances varies from work to work, and in some cases may be better than the original—some English dubs, such as Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist and Deadman Wonderland, for example, have received near-unanimous praise for their performances, including from the creators of the original works. Similarly, the issue of Lost in Translation varies from work to work. Though it is possible for context to change dramatically (and in the worst-case scenario, with an agenda), it is not a given. Many dubs do a perfectly fine job retaining context while changing the dialogue, and the majority of anime distributors who produce dubs try to be as accurate as possible. Reading-wise, the Dubs crowd argues that reading can be an inconvenience, as looking away from the screen for just a moment could mean missing something important.
  • The Season 3 finale of the Netflix adaptation of Aggretsuko cracked the fanbase in half in regards to how Haida went about helping Retsuko. He (as well as Washimi and Gori) force Retsuko out of hiding in her parents' house and take her to the karaoke club, where Haida tries to get her to talk to him first by showing that a dating app has declared the two of them "soulmates," then by using her signature death metal singing style to call her a chicken for hiding. One half of the fanbase believes that Haida was entirely unsympathetic here, he (and the others) forcing Retsuko out of her comfort zone when she was still recovering from trauma, pushing his feelings onto her at the worst time possible, then kicking her while she was already down by calling her a chicken. Haida lost a good number a fans for this, but those in the other half believe otherwise. This half holds that Retsuko was only hurting her mental health more by hiding in her parents' house, and that Haida's tough love did work, snapping Retsuko out of it. This half also believes that Haida was not trying to force his feelings onto her so much as trying to tell her that she can trust in him, even just as a platonic friend.
  • Assassination Classroom:
    • The ending the Space Station arc split fans, with some being okay with a temporary Snap Back, while others were unhappy with how rushed this trip was, especially considering that this would have ended up being completely pointless if the discovery about Koro-sensei's new probability to explode (which was reduced to 1%) wasn't brought up later. There was even confusion on whether the series was cancelled in chapter 153, after this statement was brought into the class' discussion.
    • Those who have read the manga are really frustrated with the anime adaptation for its Adaptation Distillation that completely skipped several A Day in the Limelight chapters for the other students that gave them Character Development, rushing through the arcs, and leaving out several important information that leads to several plot holes in the anime.
  • Slightly off as one side can't really be called "fans", since they've mostly declared the entire story to be trash that they want nothing to do with, but there is a big division concerning the manga Chisa X Pon concerning the events at the end of volume 2 and beginning of volume 3. Chisa, having problems at home and frustrations with her relationship with boyfriend Ponta, chooses to go on a platonic date with a coworker Ponta's jealous of. Said coworker lures her to his house, drugs her, sends pictures to Ponta, ties her up and begins to molest her. After drowning her in unwanted pleasure and thoroughly humiliating her, he unties her and she doesn't resist as he takes her virginity. One former side of the fanbase declared "This is NTR! Sure he molested her, but then he released her and she chose to have sex with him!". The other side insists "It's not NTR, it's rape. He mentally tortured her until she was too mentally exhausted to do anything but Lie Back and Think of England."
    • It bears noting that the manga following that point clearly advocates the latter mindset. At the time, she describes how after the humiliation reaches a climax with him forcing her to let him see her pee, she just stopped caring about anything and just wanted to get it all over with. Chisa's behavior following the event are classic to rape trauma, and while she feels incredibly ashamed for having been in the situation, having felt good at the hand of someone besides Ponta, and especially at having failed to resist, her friends and Ponta (once he fully understands the situation) insist otherwise and force her to recognize that she'd been put into a state where she couldn't resist.
  • Discussed in-universe for I'm In Love With the Villainess, where Rei notes that the romance targets for RevoLily were divisive.
  • Rebuild of Evangelion: Are the films good remakes of the original series, or do take away what made the original series so iconic?
    • 3.33 seems to have caused a divide as well with some people viewing it as a cop out from the ending of 2.22 and some changes made to several characters actions being unexplained.
    • The ending of 3.0 + 1.0 as well. Is it a satisfying and well-deserved happy ending that finally gives Shinji and his friends the life they deserve, while also letting him enter a stable relationship with Mari? Or is it a lazy Reset Button Ending that completely misses the message of the original series and inexplicably hooks Shinji up with a character he barely had any screen time with instead of characters like Asuka or Rei who he has more developed relationships with?
  • Sailor Moon: The original English dubs of the anime. Are they worth watching or are they dated, horrible Macekres only worth watching for nostalgia (and even that is arguable)? Most fans have a negative view on the dub and mock it however others honestly enjoy it and think it's a good dub (especially for its time period). Then there are those who enjoy them for how hilarious the dubbing, censorship, and voices can be instead of the quality of the dubbed version itself.
  • Space☆Dandy:
    • The whole Sub vs. Dub debate is more pronounced than usual here, since the show is being aired in Japan AFTER America.
    • Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star fans who were expecting another serious sci-fi anime (with occasional comedy) in the same vein as those two were at least somewhat disappointed to learn that Space Dandy is more of an out and out comedy. Granted the show can have occasional serious moments (like the Pops scene in Episode 2) and some nice action scenes, but the overall tone is still outright comedic. Those who are fans of the series accept that it isn't Cowboy Bebop 2.0 and tend to appreciate how experimental the show is with having a different art direction nearly every episode and the wide variety of plots ranging from comedic to mostly serious.
      • The above now seems to be slightly less broken as of post-Episode 5, with the show doing more of a balancing act between comedy and seriousness (see Growing the Beard below).
    • "Does Space Dandy have continuity or not?? If it does, they're not writing it clearly enough, and if it doesn't, that's not what anime should be like!" Fortunately, it turns out it does, and the writers intended to fool us all along. Not that there would necessarily be anything wrong with it if there wasn't.
  • The stereotypical portrayal of the Gundam fandom is older fans shouting "It's Popular, Now It Sucks!", while the fans who got into the franchise through newer shows like Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED mock them for their True Art Is Angsty attitude. This attitude was very prevalent in the early 2000s when Mobile Suit Gundam Wing became many people's Gateway Series into both anime in general and Gundam specifically. As Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans aired and Anime News Network released critically slamming reviews of beloved entries, the fandom broke into so many pieces it warranted its own fandom rivalry page due to all the chronic in fighting.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: With the fifth series, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, there was a split between its fans and the fans of ZEXAL; while the fandom as whole has always discussed which series is "better" to various levels of seriousness, you'll seldom find any consensus reached in between these two fanbases, let alone people who like both series. The reasons vary according to who you ask, but mostly it seems like ARC-V fans think of ZEXAL as the Audience-Alienating Era of the franchise, while the ZEXAL fans look down on ARC-V for considering it too ambitious or convoluted for their tastes.
    • If that wasn't enough, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS came onto the scene and caused even more division, especially with the aforementioned ARC-V fans. VRAINS fans will constantly trash on ARC-V's Audience-Alienating Ending and the Game-Breaker that were Pendulums in the real-life OCG & TCG, while ARC-V fans view VRAINS as a boring slog with an unlikeable Invincible Hero protagonist serving to promote the Link Era: one of the most divisive eras in the game's history.
    • To make matters even more heated, Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS and Yu-Gi-Oh! GO RUSH!! came out and completely threw out the old game to replace it with "Rush Duels", which serve as a newbie-friendly Soft Reboot of the game. While the old "Master Rules" game is still supported to this day, a good chunk of the fandom feels as though the older fans are being neglected in favour of a new, younger demographic (not helping matters is a healthy dose of No Export for You outside of Japan for the actual game outside a single Nintendo Switch-exclusive video game).
  • The Endless Eight arc of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime has sharply divided the once-strong fanbase. The main problem wasn't that it was adapted, it's that a short "Groundhog Day" Loop story was adapted into 8 full episodes with little variance between them, and that those episodes took up half the season's episode count. You either believe that it was all meaningless Filler that wasted half a season on what was a single, brief story in the novels or a clever Mind Screw that forced the viewer to share Yuki's pain in being the sole person fully aware of each loop for almost 595 years and being unable to do anything about it. Which side you're on also may depend how you first experienced it. Were you a fan that was watching the episodes each week as it was coming out or a fan who came in after the fact and could watch the episodes at their own pace. Unique in that it managed to not only split the fan base, but the entire cast and directing crew as well—the 8 episodes were extremely similar, but different enough (camera angles, characters' outfits, etc.) that they practically had to remake the whole thing seven times. Some people got in serious trouble over Endless Eight and the fan reaction.
  • Fairy Tail fandom is extremely divided on the subject of Jellal Fernandez. A major player in Erza's backstory, he made his appearance in the Tower of Paradise arc, which concluded with the manga's hundredth chapter, although technically, he'd been around since the second page of the first chapter. He has appeared in every single arc since then, in some form or another, and opinions are very mixed on if this is a good thing or not. One large segment of the fandom thinks that the unfolding drama is interesting, another thinks that he's worn out his welcome and needs to go away for good.
  • While there are those who hold Ufotable’s Adaptation of Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] as being the best adaptation of the UBW route and the Whole of Fate/stay night in general, there are many who have come to dislike the series, for its inability to tie in with the prequel series as well as side-lining Perfectly Good Characters both form Zero and within stay night. As well as, failing to provide a soundtrack with music on par with Fate/Zero.
    • The series has also gotten a bad rep for focusing on adding in more and more original scenes at the expense of downplaying a lot of other elements from the VN, in particular the internal monologues and explanations of some of the verse's more complex subjects, as well as being a series more suited for those who are already fans, especially those who are Rin Tohsaka fans, Archer fans or fans of Shirou and Rin's relationship.
    • There are also those have come to dislike the second Anime, mainly for repeating many of the same mistakes as the First anime. This includes, repeating to put in self-contradicting and completely paradoxical, not just once, but three times; choosing to use the Bleached Underpants version of the mana transfer scene from Realta Nua (complete with Narmy CG dolphins) rather than even hint at Shirou and Rin having sex shying away from some of the more mature material.
  • Fans of Fullmetal Alchemist are generally VERY vocal about whether Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) or the Truer to the Manga Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is better. Mention your preference over either can, and will provoke very passionate responses asserting the contrary. Downplayed, however, as most fans agree that both series are still quite good and very few wouldn't recommend watching both.
  • Naruto: Uchiha Itachi's true backstory. At least in the American fanbase, this plot twist split the franchise itself right down the middle to absolutely polarizing extremes. Those who loved the plot twist venerate Itachi as some kind of tragic hero, while those who hate the plot twist continuously paint him in a bad light or make him as Wangst-y and obsessive as possible. The split created some of the strongest sections of the Naruto Hatedom, some of which last to this day.
  • Slayers: The third anime season, Slayers TRY: in the late 90's/2000's when it came out, it deviated in formula and story from the first two seasons (darker plot, downplayed humor, and one villain to chase as opposed to a multitude), and the main characters become peripheral to Guest-Star Party Member Filia and antagonist Valgaav. Because of this, it's either the most well-loved season or regarded as a piece of crap - it's even referred to as such by some professional reviewers.
  • Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: Science Ninja Team Gatchaman vs. its multiple English adaptations. While Battle of the Planets is lambasted for turning the franchise into a joke and being one of the early examples of Macekre, there are just as many fans that will defend the flaws present (or love it in spite of such) and insist that it is the superior dubbed adaptation by the fact it came first, had a high budget, and was a source of much '70s childhood nostalgia.
  • One-Punch Man:
    • The fandom is pretty split between preferring ONE's original work and Murata's redrawn version, to say the least.
    • The English dub is polarizing. Some people think Saitama's English voice does his perpetual boredom justice, while others think it's missing a certain charm that the original Japanese voice had. In particular, Genos' dub voice has garnered a lot of split opinions among viewers. Some think it's a perfect match with Kaito Ishikawa and fits his serious militaristic personality while others find that his voice is incredibly forced and doesn't sound natural at all.
    • Whether Tatsumaki wears underwear or not. No, really. Many fans think that she wears very thin thongs, while others, as seen from many scenes which show her buttcheeks and buttcrack, insist that she wears nothing down there.
    • Season 2's production values have sparked similar debates, in particular, whether or not J.C. Staff's animation is either not as good as Madhouse or just flat out incompetent even for their standards. Likewise, the sound design by Yoshikazu Iwanami — does it capture the feel of the manga enough? Or is it just too much like his work on previous efforts such as Berserk (2016) or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
  • Maria no Danzai: Of course, there's a fairly large slice of readers convinced that by divorcing her husband and leaving him a broken man with no one to turn to, Maria has in her own way gone much too far. She could have course corrected by showing Taiichiro (a police inspector) Kiritaka's accumulated evidence that she had discovered during her mourning period and see to it the gang of bullies be put to justice that way. On the other hand, there's the side of the reader base who are all too familiar with Japanese true crime stories, like the 40 day torture and death of Junko Furuta, to trust that Kiritaka's bullies wouldn't game the legal system by knowing they'll be tried as minors, or in Okaya's case, use his connections and reputation he's taylored to weasel his way out of justice's reach.

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