They Changed It Now It Sucks / Anime & Manga

Note: This article lists examples which take place within fandoms; not TV Tropes' opinion as to whether a change is for the worse. TV Tropes doesn't have opinions. The focus is on over-reaction about minor changes.

As a general rule, any time the translated version of an anime or manga makes any deviation from the original dialogue, it is likely to draw this reaction from some portion of the fandom. While there are often very legitimate reasons for fans to be less than pleased with a translation, many within the fandom will still be upset even when the changes are relatively minor or more effective than a literal translation.

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Examples:

• Don't ask fans of Sands of Destruction if they like the game or anime better. The two are basically Broad Strokes adaptations to the point that they're Alternate Continuity; it helps nothing that production of the game began first, but the anime was released first, giving each a legitimate claim to being the "original" that the other changed.^note It also helps nothing that there's a few hints in the game that characterizations may have originally been closer to the anime but were later changed: notice, for example, that Morte is extremely quiet and serious in the opening movie, whereas in the game proper she's a Genki Girl, and Rhi'a is seen walking around with Naja but is never alone with him in the game's plot; the opening 3D movie would have likely been rendered early in production, and while changing a few sprites around is easy (the animations on the sprite sheet all exist no matter when or where you want to use them), it would be more trouble to reanimate a 3D scene, leaving the opening movie a relic of the game's "original" state that the anime was based on. The girls, in particular, have a problem with their personalities changing: in the anime, Morte is serious and driven and Rhi'a is Trigger-Happy, whereas in the game, Morte is a gleeful Mad Bomber (even after she changes her mind about ending the world, she's still really upbeat) and Rhi'a is calm and mysterious. The manga gets less flak, perhaps simply for being less well-known and never receiving any official release. Morte's insanity is dialed up a few notches from the game, but Rhi'a is the one who really changes, becoming a complete Cloudcuckoolander whose only real purpose is to be the Plucky Comic Relief; her fans were less than amused. There's also the issue of voices; many fans of the game play it on a ROM simply because it offers the option to patch the voices back to the original Japanese, and of course anime fans continue the great Subbing Versus Dubbing debate.
• Some people HATE what Netflix did in adapting Aggretsuko, especially their removing Retsuko's drive to be successful at work in favor of wanting to get married and quit her job.
• Attack on Titan suffers from this in the anime adaptation, especially in the second half. While some changes were welcomed because they provided more screentime or characterization without changing the overall story, the changes to the Female Titan arc have caused considerable debate among manga fans. This especially concerns the omitting of a key scene between Eren and Annie, as well as major changes to the last three episodes. However, the second compilation film entitled "Wings of Freedom" will focus more on Eren and Annie's interactions.
• Many fans of the 2009 and 2012 Black★Rock Shooter dislike Black★★Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall for not continuing the anime's story and instead having a plot similar to the game, as well as for changing Black Rock Shooter, Dead Master, and Strength's designs. And fans of the game dislike it for changing the antagonist from aliens to a human-created AI.
• The English dub for Bleach gets this a lot. From "shinigami" to "soul reaper", Ulquiorra's softer, more deadpan voice or how some of the English voice actors sound a little different from their Japanese counterparts. It might just be a tie between which gets more fan backlash: the difference in Hollow-Ichigo's roar or any changes in voice actors that occur over the course of the show.
• Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 was a Broad Strokes adaptation/Continuity Reboot of the original OVA series. Sources of controversy include Sylia becoming an Alcoholic Depraved Bisexual instead of The Captain and Team Mom she was before; changes in character designs, including several that were inexplicable Expies of El-Hazard: The Magnificent World characters; most of Priss's songs being discordant synth punk instead of '80s-style pop rock; Boomers looking like generic robots that transform into generic fanged monsters; and inappropriate use of comedic sight gags.
• Many Detective Conan fans were outraged about the name changes and the title change to Case Closed in the English release.
• The English dub of Code Geass fell into receiving complaining. Lelouch/Zero's voice, in particular, was a point of contention, due in large part to his English VA not sounding enough like his Japanese one. However, there are at least some Japanese fans who seem to prefer Johnny Yong Bosch's over the top and hammy performance over Jun Fukuyama's performance, which they consider to be monotone.
• Death Note:
  • Death Note fandom splits less than equally into fans who think the scene on the roof is the best thing ever, and those who don't know what the anime producers were thinking. The anime ending has also been the subject of some debate, with some fans finding it ridiculous and others beautiful.
  • The TV drama has gotten this reaction from many fans, due to numerous changes. These include Light grabbing the Idiot Ball with surprising frequency, L being a Jerkass looking like he stepped out of a pop video, Mello being a Split Personality of Near manifested in a Demonic Dummy, and Ryuk being played by Jun Fukuyama instead of his original Japanese VA, Shido Nakamura.
  • The anime's adaptation of the Near/Mello arc has gotten this reaction from a sizable portion of the fanbase, as many major character scenes and moments were cut out of the anime, with Near and Mello themselves suffering the worst of it. According to analyses by manga readers, the anime removed roughly 10 chapters worth of content from Near and Mello, partly resulting in their Base-Breaking Character status for anime watchers.
• Digimon gets this almost every season. A new cast? No partner digimon? No digivolving?^note This is even worse considering that digivolution actually was introduced into the series later on. NO GOGGLES?! Judging by how many times it's been ruined, you would think the series had died years ago.
• The first two seasons of Dragon Ball Z were dubbed into English by The Ocean Group while being licensed by FUNimation, and the English dub handled and controlled by Saban Entertainment; however, the show suffered from poor time slot placement and didn't get a lot of mainstream exposure until it began airing on the Cartoon Network, and then its popularity exploded. To meet the high demand for more episodes, FUNi made plans to dub the rest of the series, but broke off their connection with Saban, and realized it would be more economical to produce an in-house dub at their own facilities in Texas rather than outsource the work to Ocean in Canada, which they could no longer afford without Saban's funding. As a result, all the character voices in the third season sounded radically different from those in the previous two (before they were redubbed that is), creating a fiery backlash among viewers who had been fans of Ocean's work. To be fair, Funi's voice work at this time was admittedly pretty lousy, although they have since gotten better (see: Full Metal Alchemist 2003); rumor has it that they were recruiting people off the street with no prior VA experience during auditions, Frieza was voiced by a woman, and Puar and Chiaotzu were voiced by a librarian. However, while many of the voice actors had no prior experience in voice acting, most were to some extent. Sonny Strait (Krillin) had even voiced the original TOM on Toonami before his stint in DBZ.
  • Dragon Ball Z Kai had some slight backlash of its own with Frieza, Bulma, Gohan, and Android 18 receiving new voice actors. Most of the hate seems to come for Gohan's voice actor, Colleen Clinkenbeard, since he now sounds younger which rubbed some fans the wrong way who are more used to his more gruff initial Funimation voice.
• The Flowers of Evil: Very much the most vocal complaint of the anime. Some fans claimed the use of rotoscoping was ugly and ruined their enjoyment. In addition, claims of changing the mood of the show to a quieter tone and redesigning the characters were also detrimental. The manga's creator has since vocally supported the changes and states he oversaw many of them.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:
  • Readers of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga sometimes had this reaction towards Fullmetal Alchemist (2003).
  • Fans often complain due to slight changes in manga and anime version of Brotherhood, especially in pacing (early episodes tended to be cut down significantly so the show could get to the stuff that wasn't a retread faster). Also fans of both the manga and original anime often have this about the art style of Brotherhood.
  • Some fans of the 2003 anime had a reaction to "Brotherhood" very similar to the reaction manga fans had to the 2003 anime. It doesn't help that a number of them believed "Brotherhood" was going to be a sequel picking up where the 2003 anime left off rather than a manga-faithful reboot, and a lot of them ended up feeling very disappointed.
• Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters and its two sequels get this treatment from a large portion of the Godzilla fanbase for replacing most of the monster-fighting action universal to the franchise for human-focused (and Human Alien) pseudo-philosophical conflicts. Adding to this were the backstory novels which many people found much more interesting than the films they supplemented for sticking closer to the tone of the other films. Some people even view the anime trilogy as among the worst films in the entire series, which is really saying a lot.
  • On a related note, the designs of Mechagodzilla and King Ghidorah get a lot of criticism due to the vastly different appearances. Although Mechagodzilla is introduced more-or-less roughly resembling how it usually is (a robotic version of Godzilla), by the second movie its entire body had melted into an immobile city construct that doesn't even vaguely resemble Godzilla anymore. And in the end, it never even fights Godzilla directly before being destroyed. Ghidorah's full body is never shown in the film, rendering him three worm-like strands whose fight with Godzilla is mostly static biting.
• Studio GONZO's anime adaptation of Rosario + Vampire was coldly received by fans of the manga for omitting much of the plot and turning it into a fanservice-filled series, with breast and panty shots galore, and no Character Development. Many fans to this day demand a reboot that's more faithful to the manga.
• Gundam franchise:
  • ∀ Gundam initially received a poor reception among the Gundam fandom, due to having little in common with the "classic" Gundam style used by the rest of the franchise. While it has gradually received a much more positive reception over time, some fans still complain about the overall aesthetics.
  • Nearly every important SEED character had at least 3 (Athrun and Lacus had at least 4-6 apiece) different romanizations of their names, some of these are still in use over the official English transliterations.
  • When Gundam 00 came around, the fans were against the idea that the new installment would include aliens (which, up to that point, had been a non-entity in the Gundam franchise), and that the Gundams lacked "signature features" of Gundam designs, like mouth vents.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, in addition to the complaint about the inclusion of aliens that aren't actually aliens but regular human colonizers abandoned by Earth on Mars that happen to have weird Mobile Suits, generated discontent for being more child-oriented than other Gundam series. Nowadays the criticism seems to stem more towards the awfully rushed story and less to a generic "They Ruined Gundam FOREVER!!!!11!1!" reaction.
  • The 25th anniversary release of the original three Gundam movies notably changes the futuristic gun sounds with louder contemporary gun "dakka" noises. The background music is removed from many scenes in favor of louder battle explosion sound effects. In the second and third films, the ending credits music is replaced. The "Soldiers of Sorrow" song is moved from the Jaburo battle to the end credits, replacing the eerie choral music of the original. The third movie also does the same thing by removing "Lalah's Theme" from the end credits and replacing it with "Yes, My Sweet", itself moved from its original place in the Battle of A Baoa Qu and Amuro's escape. These changes undermine the mood of these scenes, using energetic action music for closing credits. Thankfully, they left the ending song in the first movie alone. There's always the original VHS releases if you can find them.
• The Studio DEEN anime adaptation of Hetalia: Axis Powers didn't go over well due to the Off-Model and stiff animation, stories being cut and pasted in random order throughout five minute episodes, censorship of nudity, and inexplicable changes to characters' hair and eye colors (as well as whitewashing darker characters). FUNimation's dub of the series deviated heavily from the script at points to justify their "TV-MA" rating, including jokes about the Holocaust and Nazis that ruined things for many fans. Although they later toned down the script in later dubbed episodes, there's still plenty of added jokes that don't go over well. For some other fans, it wasn't so much the scripting changes that ruined Hetalia, but the dub actors' voices not matching up to the ones they were already used to (along with the usage of heavy accents).
  • Studio DEEN's adaptation of "Buon San Valentino" of Hetalia: Axis Powers, while providing enjoyment for some fans, was controversial in cutting out Prussia's part (explaining why Germany received a dating guide that only served to embarrass him), as well as any screentime for England and America. It also removed the final strip, in which a flashback draws a connection between Germany and Holy Roman Empire both giving Italy flowers.
• Hunter × Hunter:
  • The Truer to the Text 2011 version of the Hunter × Hunter anime got this reaction from fans of the original anime version.
  • The original 1990s anime gets flak by some for being too derivative of the manga.
• People who got into Jewelpet for situating itself in the Magical Girl genre were very disappointed with the third season's shift into a high school Gag Series.
• The fandom of Key/Visual Arts tends to be very negative about the Little Busters! anime, which was done by J.C. Staff. This differs from the adaptations for CLANNAD, Kanon, and AIR which were all done by Kyoto Animation. It got to the point where when JC Staff was announced to make the anime, people treated Little Busters! as Ruined FOREVER before the first episode even aired.
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha:
  • Surprisingly, not many complaints were made about Nanoha's barrier jacket having its red ribbon replaced with some brooch for The Movie adaptation of the 1st season.
  • You'll get a lot more complaints from fans of characters who were written out of the movie, however.
• Basically, any story inside the Mazinger Z multiverse which goes three inches beyond the original concept. This include the anime version of UFO Robo Grendizer (No Mazingers and Koji Kabuto as a sidekick), Shin Mazinger, Mazinkaiser SKL, and any other alternate universe to Go Nagai´s manga version. Exceptions are the two original stories (Mazinger Z itself and Great Mazinger) (but some fans also didn´t like the Tetsuya/Koji switch... subverted in the Great Mazinger Grand Finale and the story of Mazinkaiser), Mazinkaiser (but some fans complained about the mecha "invulnerability"), general appearances in the many storylines of Super Robot Wars, and Shin Mazinger Zero. But most fans just don´t want heavy variants to the original idea.
• The English dub of Monster by Viz took some heat for changing the music (regardless of how it's still all the original show's music, just that some of it has been moved), and translating a name as Lunge, when it's generally agreed that Runge is the accurate version due to being a real German name. The major argument against this is that we're lucky the series even got a dub with its huge number of characters and episodes. Later when it was pointed out that all foreign adaptations feature these music changes, fans still blamed Viz for not trying hard enough to get the original track.
• This is basically the Naruto fan base in a nutshell, with many former fans claiming that the Shippuden era, or anything following the first Final Valley battle between Naruto and Sasuke contains poor characterization and lackluster writing compared to 'part 1'. Many fans also complained that the story focused too much on the main characters and not giving enough time to its side characters despite that it was basically the point of their roles.
  • Fans got even more upset with The Fourth Great Ninja War when it turns out every bad thing that ever happened in the Naruto universe was because Obito lost his crush and Black Zetsu retcons the entire series by claiming it was all his plan to revive Kaguya.
• When Netflix acquired the rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion, Khara refused to use the old and fairly problematic ADV dub and subs, instead making their own English translation and choosing an entire new cast themselves, to the resentment of many long-time fans of the series. Because Netflix refused to pay for the rights to the ending theme "Fly Me to the Moon" however, the credits used instead another song from the OST in non-Japanese audio tracks, and Kaworu's "love" line was changed to "like" (which makes the most sense out of all the changes as the Japanese version used "ai", the word for "friendly love" which is translated as "like", but tell that to the shippers) . Problem is, this was *already changed* more than once, and in fact the original VHS subtitles used "like" too. Some of these changes weren't even changes at all, in fact, and were only present on even older *fansubs*. However, there were no reports of the new voice actors receiving any harassment from angry fans.
• One Piece received complaints regarding the English voices from 4Kids' dub of the series not fitting with the Japanese voices (the alterations to dialogue and plot would be a different trope entirely). Later, when the license changed hands from 4Kids to Funimation, a different section of the fanbase criticized the Funimation voices for not matching the ones 4Kids used.
• Having one of the biggest fanbases in the world, Pokémon has naturally gathered quite a few examples over the years.
  • One of the most common complaints about Pokémon: The Series is its tendency to deviate from the rules of the games (both intentionally and unintentionally), to the point where feats that are impossible in the games are arguably one of the show's trademarks. One of the longest running debates about the anime is whether these changes are justified within the show's world, or are just cheap Ass Pulls.
  • The show also runs into this with many of its attempts at Breaking Old Trends. Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire received quite a bit of hate in its heyday for leaving behind Misty and Ash's original Pokémon team, as did Pokémon the Series: Black & White for trying to overhaul Team Rocket into a trio of serious villains. Notably, the latter actually was largely reverted back to how it was before due to fan complaints.
  • An infamous point for the anime's dub occurred when the voice actors were replaced. This crossed a line with fans who had grown attached to the iconic 4kids voices, with plenty of them swearing off the dub from Battle Frontier onward.
    • Speaking of the dub, it's received increased backlash over the years for its habit of replacing the Japanese soundtrack, with the dub's replacement music usually seen as highly inferior to the original. The complaint is most intense with Pokémon the Series: XY and Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon for dub soundtracks that are considered exceptionally bland and unfitting, with many fans deeming these particular seasons of the dub to be all but unwatchable.
  • Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon got a lot of backlash when it was first revealed, due to the change to a more cartoony art style and given a comedic school-based setting, which many fans felt was a cheap attempt to compete with Yo Kai Watch. It also received backlash for changing up the plot and characterization from the much-praised Sun and Moon games, most notably removing Lusamine's emotional abuse of Lillie and Gladion (which changes the characters' entire arcs).
  • Pokémon Horizons: The Series immediately got hit with backlash from a subset of fans simply because it wouldn't be starring Ash, who would end up retired as a character after Journeys. New protagonists Liko and Roy were subsequently hit with criticisms for simply not being Ash.
  • Pokémon Adventures also receives backlash for not being enough like the games. It has a reputation for changing personalities and roles, such as making Ruby's dad Norman abusive, turning several of the Kanto cast into villains, and giving Shauna's personality a 180 by making her pessimistic.
• It's not uncommon to see Pretty Cure fans tear each new season due to character designs, plot, and even how the logo looks, all before the season has even aired, with one subset of fans constantly insisting that the series needs to go back to how it was in 2004 before the changes in newer seasons "ruined" everything. This also extends to the Pretty Cure All Stars movie series - people were not happy when they learned that New Stage was reducing 11 of the 28 featured Cures to The Voiceless and The Cameo, when they had speaking parts of the original. This is also compounded with how DX3 was pretty much so action packed and rather fair in speaking roles despite the tons of Cures featured it becomes such a Tough Act to Follow.
  • Smile Pretty Cure! vs. its Saban Brands dub Glitter Force. Many Pretty Cure fans have already declared this trope just by the title change alone before the show even aired, with many just cringing because of the 4Kids stigma.
  • KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode got a lot of flack when Executive Meddling forced the season to lack the traditional hand-to-hand combat and violence that Pretty Cure is usually known for. A similar reaction was observed years earlier when Splash Star had to tone down the violence from the first two seasons.
• The Promised Neverland had a devisive ending to say the least, which led into the anime's second season making some massive changes that the fanbase has not responded well to. The worst being the complete removal of the well-recieved Goldy Pondy arc and expediting the reveal that Norman was alive much sooner than in the manga's story.
• Rebuild of Evangelion:
  • Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0, in contrast with its predecessor, 1.0. Specific examples include the change of Asuka's surname from Sohryu to Shikinami, alterations to Asuka's personality and role, alterations to make Rei more emotionally open than she was in the series, the introduction of a new character (Mari), and the appearance of Kaworu much earlier than he appeared in the original series.
  • 3.0. received an even stronger case of this from fans, due to taking the Lighter and Softer feel from the last two movies and throwing it straight into Darker and Edgier territory, taking the plot in a way virtually no one anticipated... Long story short, it drastically turned everything into a direction that Evangelion has never experienced before.
• Sailor Moon:
  • There's a vocal subset of fans who hate the 90s anime for changing stuff from the original manga. Common criticisms tend to be the amount of Filler episodes and Padding added to keep the show from Overtaking the manga.
  • The DiC dub has a multitude of hatesites dedicated to it, by people who claimed to get up early to watch it when they were little, for any change made by the dubbers. After the license switched from DiC to Cloverway (though with the same studio, Optimum, still handling production), there are fans that still cry foul over the new translation team opting to keep the Japanese BGM in episodes, as they had been used to the DiC music and felt it was more appropriate. The inconsistent translations and dub terminology also didn't help matters, nor did the recasting of a few characters (Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Venus in particular).
  • This went full circle with the announcement of the new Viz dub of the classic series consisting of all 200 episodes (including the unreleased Stars arc) and new series Sailor Moon Crystal. A Vocal Minority called for the old dub names, and sometimes actors, to return for the new dubs.
    • Of course, in Canada and the United Kingdom, it's more a case of "they changed it, now it's gone". The show cannot legally be obtained in this form up north.
• Sailor Moon Crystal:
  • Some fans would have preferred to see as many of the classic cast return as possible, given Kotono Mitsuishi's Role Reprise.
  • Some people are complaining that the OP isn't "Moonlight Densetsu". This may partly stem from the initial assumption (mistakenly spread by some fansites) that Momoiro Clover Z's popular Cover Version, which ended up being the Theme Song for the Takarazuka Revival of the musicals, was to be used for Crystal.
  • Some people are complaining how Crystal is different from the anime in the '90s; this is strangely enough also the opposite trope because Crystal is basically an animated retelling of the manga chapters.
  • The complaint of Zoisite and Kunzite no longer having an official relationship, which was simply an invention of the '90s anime (in no small part thanks to Kunihiko Ikuhara), and some translations turning Zoisite into a woman has been this for some Yaoi Fangirls and LGBT fans.
    • Similarly, the complaint that the Shitennou and Inner Senshi were now officially in love with each other in their past lives, stating that this goes against Naoko Takeuchi's original intent with them. ^note She drew an image of the Shitennou and Inner Senshi pair up, but aside from a hint of Venus liking Kunzite, she never worked the idea into any official material
  • And let's not get started on how some feel about Toei's liberal use of CGI animation for the show.
  • The Usagi/Haruka Ship Teasing struck a cord beyond simple Ship-to-Ship Combat from those so used to the 1990s anime depicting Haruka and Michiru as so close. The kisses, which screamed of infidelity, is what set fans off. This all, however, is true to the original manga.
  • Latin American fans weren't happy with the Latin Spanish dub not using the localized names, Belinda Martínez not reprising her roles due to not working at Dubbing House (the dubbing studio), and Adriana Olmedo (a complete unknown who's only other notable role is Sam from The Loud House) voicing Sailor Jupiter instead of Mariana Ortiz (the daughter of the original Latin Spanish voice of Sailor Jupiter, Araceli de León) as everyone wanted.
• Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac:
  • When it was announced that the CGI-animated Saint Seiya adaptation by Netflix would change Andromeda Shun's gender from male to female, the fandom was NOT pleased, with complaints about misandry and queerphobia/genderphobia being thrown around.
  • This became worse with the fandom in the Latin American dub, one of the most controversial changes was Dario Yazbel as Seiya, who has an uninspired and plain voice compared to the late (and highly energetic) Jesús Barrero. The choice was questioned and widely criticized by fans, considering Seiya could get a better choice in Irwin Daayán, who made his voice for the TV version of Saint Seiya: The Hades Saga.
• Saint Seiya Omega. The style changes in the characters design, the "future" storyline, the stepdown in the mythos concepts, the cloths changed from physical existence to gems projections...in fact, this whole leaded to a Broken Base war between "classic version" followers and the supporters of the Omega version
• Dub fans of Saiyuki reacted this way when Reload and Gunlock was acquired by a dubbing team in California rather than ADV Films in Texas, resulting in an entirely new voice cast; many disliked the different tones the new voices gave the characters, such as Sanzo's voice becoming extremely deep, Goku's voice losing the young-yet-mature tone, Hakkai losing the suaveness, and Gojyo losing his sexy accent.
• The anime of School-Live! was met more coldly by manga fans than first-time viewers thanks to this. Changes to Miki's character and the introduction of Team Pet Taromaru are the main points of contention. The final episode was also disliked for removing Rii's Freak Out, removing the helicopter crash that caused said freak-out, removing Yuki's scene where she finally killed a zombie (with her, instead, trying and failing to hit one), and making the zombies leave the school on their own.
• Due to its age and multiple adaptations, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman has had cases of its own vocal fan complaints and criticism over time:
  • The animation style and music in Gatchaman II and Fighter are considered inferior to the original series, as the sequels used a brighter color palette that fans felt looked too gaudy and the background music was felt to be too overpowering. The design of the New God Phoenix also received criticism, due to it looking more overdone and childish.
  • The 3-episode OVA remake in 1994 isn't looked upon too highly due to it utterly redesigning all the characters, including giving Dr. Nambu a ridiculous pompadour and pink suit.
  • Gatchaman Crowds is considered part of the franchise, but the complete re-imagining of the concept and lack of any of the recognizable cast (save for a redesigned Berg Katze, and a heroic version of Leader X who is an AI) left fans feeling it was an In Name Only off-shoot made as a cheap cash-in. The changes most controversial include the complete elimination of the bird motif from the team's uniforms, the warriors gaining their powers from spiritual beings instead of being well-trained and having some vague futuristic technology, the true leader of the team being an alien panda mascot, and the terminology changes ("Science Ninja Team" to "G-Crew"). And then there's the complete overhaul of Katze's origin, in which he's an alien and a former Gatchaman who went rogue, which some fans decried as ruining the show.
• Sgt. Frog: Purists tend to be incredibly vocal about Funimation's dub of the anime here, although in the minority, but even in its original form the anime attracts a lot of scorn from fans of the manga. Common complaints are that the show was sanitized for younger viewers, reworked into a marketing gimmick, and the changing of Dororo from a Technical Pacifist who routinely stood up to his friends when they tried doing something wrong into a whiny Butt-Monkey who barely even interacts with them.
  • Manga Keroro even breaks the fourth wall to lampshade this, telling everyone to clean up their act because they're going to be an anime.
    • Tropers on the Wild Mass Guessing page have gone even further, suggesting that the anime is a cheap money-making scheme orchestrated by the Keronians.
• Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie elicited this reaction from some fans when Knuckles was referred to as a mole. It Makes Sense in Context to devoted fans, though. The person calling him a mole probably has no idea what species he is (and let's be honest, he sure doesn't look like an echidna).
• Much of the scorn for Sonic X essentially comes from splitting up Earth and Sonic's World. The lack of Funny Animals on Earth makes Sonic and his friends into oddball aliens, resulting in human characters acting differently towards them than they do in the games. This change opened up the opportunity to introduce the Lonely Rich Kid Chris, the series' human self-insert character, who becomes close to Sonic after saving him from drowning.
  • Taken up to eleven with the ending of the Metarex saga and what it originally was meant to be depicted as in the Japanese version. Tails in the 4Kids dub acts sad because he is being asked to fire at his close friend Cosmo to stop the Metarex destroying life, but once encouraged he does so quite quickly despite a lot of his character development being getting close with her only to off her amazingly fast. The original? Tails slams his head down on the console unable to do it and spends a LOT of time unable to push the trigger, even putting the safety over it as he falls apart with the gravity of his cruel task. Once Cosmo tells him here to do it, he screams that he loves her as he finally fires, before curling up in sheer shock as Cosmo admits he loves him too before she disappears. The following episode's screaming at Sonic for being unable to do anything to save her is also massively toned down from the original. Fans felt that the toning down of these important scenes were criminal.
• The anime adaptation of Sweet Blue Flowers is not off the hook either, though. Where killing most of the sub-plots does help to streamline the narrative, it also demolishes a lot of background about the relationship between Akira and Fumi, both in the present time as in their past. This leaves quite a few viewers not acquainted with the manga wondering just what the hell cheery Akira sees in Fumi, who gets across as a whiny, spineless brat without much characterization.
• Futari wa Milky Holmes, the third season of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, is much more serious in tone than previous seasons and focuses on two new protagonists. This results in fans pretending it never exists and over 70% drop in blue-ray disc sales.
• Tenchi Muyo! has problems due to multiple alternate universes, revivals, and retconning. Major flak comes for the Ryo-Ohki 3 OVA which was made 8 years after Ryo-Ohki 1 and 2 ended. It has so many retcons to characters' fates that it can be summed with the song "Everything You Know is Wrong". Tenchi Muyo GXP and War on Geminar also are belong to the Ryo-Ohki universe, despite not having the series' title character Tenchi or any other main characters actually in them more than cameos.
  • To fully explain why Tenchi in Tokyo hasn't gone over well with fans would take quite some time. Aside from the changed art (which many have called downright ugly) and the somewhat unresolved ending, you have new characters that are base-breaking at best. Also, there is now a plot line of the title character being a student and the mundane interactions (and people) seen there and we're introduced to the one hotly debated character in Sakuya/Yuugi, whose true colors turned off viewers and whose presence adds yet another person to Tenchi's already bursting at the seams harem. And finally, instead of following up on the clear sequel hook left open at the end of Tenchi Universe, the show was yet another AU, asking the audience to become re-invested in new versions of the same characters all over again, instead of continuing the story of the previous show.
• There are many Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann fans that had this reaction towards translations of show terminology that didn't match up with what was currently in use among the already-existing fandom at the time. There was also some discontent about the switch from Brett Weaver to Kyle Hebert as the voice actor for Kamina when the license for the show changed hands from ADV to Bandai.
• Admittedly, some of the fanbase's grievances with Studio DEEN's adaptation of Umineko: When They Cry are legitimate. But when you have people complaining that they used the wrong music in a scene, you know this trope has struck with a vengeance. Umineko's original visual novel received a PS3 port, fans of the original novel were upset to see the original artwork being replaced by more professional and detailed images. Fans of both series dislike the slight change in art style from Higurashi to Umineko.
• UQ Holder! is basically a sequel series to Negima! Magister Negi Magi, with a supporting character, Evangeline, from Negima becoming a secondary protagonist in UQ Holder! All well and good. Popular, even. Then there's the fact that Evangeline's adult form underwent a minor redesign (she has a different hairstyle and slightly different facial structure), and her personality is notably more mellowed out, and she goes by the alias "Yukihime". This kicked off a bit of a Broken Base between fans of Negima who think this trope is in play and that "Yukihime" is so differentiated from Evangeline that she might as well be a different character, and fans of Negima who attribute the changes to Art Evolution and the fact that UQ Holder! takes place 80 years after Negima ended.
• The anime adaptation of the game Valkyria Chronicles received a lot of flak from fans of the game for some admittedly justifiable reasons: Character Exaggeration, key characters (Leon and Kreis) being omitted, Mood Whiplash, changes to key events (Lupus and Batomys), changes to some characters, an unwanted Love Triangle shoe-horned in. Some reasons weren't so justifiable: having the squads at 10 men each rather than 20, getting the armor wrong, not including certain recruitables in squad 7, putting some characters in the wrong classes they were listed as in the game.
• This is why the OVA to The Vision of Escaflowne was very badly-received by fans. The movie is a Retool of the series. For example, Hitomi was originally an ordinary, rather jovial high school girl, but became an Emo Teen in the movie, and that upset a lot of people. If you find yourself in the company of Escaflowne fans, it's best not to discuss the movie.
• The Wandering Son anime gets a lot of this from fans of the manga. At first it just came from the art style. Compared to other adaptations, especially Sweet Blue Flowers by the same author, the anime simplifies the style for ease of animation, with some fans disliking the changes. Character designs were also changed and many characters received different eye colors in the anime, going from realistic colors to a wide range of fantastic ones. As a story, the series suffers from being very different from the manga. Chronological order is changed, the series begins In Medias Res which doesn't work for a manga driven by continuity and Kudzu Plot, Out-of-Character Moment scenes are added, scenes are changed, and the ending of the anime is dramatically different from its equivalent of the manga. It drives more of a "can't change your sex, and you'll just grow out of this" moral, which is in stark contrast to the manga, and to how many transgender people feel in real life. Nitori's reaction at the end of the manga is vastly different in the anime. In the anime she takes a girl's comment about her voice breaking with a stride and a true smile, while in the manga her reaction is dull and in shock; no smile either.
• Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon was hit with this when it was announced that the Latin American dub would be done, not in Mexico, but in Argentina. The backlash from the Latin American fandom of Inuyasha was immediate, and Laura Torres (Shippo's VA) expressed disgust at the fact that none of the cast from the original series was even called to reprise their roles, calling it an insult to her fellow voice actors and the fans.
• Yo-kai Watch:
  • Yokai Watch changed all of its English dub cast between seasons due to money issues. This was met with much anger and disappointment by fans. These changes likely lead to the dub's cancellation (among Level-5 failing to make the series catch on in general in America).
  • Yo-kai Watch: Shadowside has been met with mixed reactions by adult fans because of this. It changes the formula to be darker and more action-based. This makes it more like the original games, yet at the same time many scorn it for "ruining" what made the anime different from other mon series like Pokémon.

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