History ExecutiveMeddling / Anime

** When the fourth film was released to DVD, it carried with it a message from Kubo explaining that crediting him with the film was inaccurate. The filmmakers rewrote the script he'd provided at the last minute, with the end product being almost nothing like the original.

** Kubo's plan for the manga's Final Arc called for it to run at least as long as the 26-volume Arrancar Arc. However, Shueisha decided to cancel the whole series when Kubo was 19 volumes into the Final Arc -- and gave him only 6 weeks' notice, less than 1/10th of the time he'd planned on to wrap the story up. This lead to an extremely rushed finale and epilogue that [[LeftHanging left most plot threads hanging]].

** Kubo admitted that he had never planned for the Arrancar Arc to go on as long as it did. The Arrancars unexpectedly became popular with the fans, so the editors wanted more time devoted to them. Due to each character having to be given ADayInTheLimelight, the arc stretched on for ''years''.
** When the fourth film was released to DVD, it carried with it a message from Kubo explaining that crediting him with the film was inaccurate. His original script was heavily changed at the last minute by the film-makers, with the end product being almost nothing like the original.
** Kubo's plan for the Final Arc called for it to run at least as long as the 26-volume Arrancar Arc. However, Shueisha decided to cut the series short after 19 volumes, with only six weeks' notice. This lead to an extremely rushed finale and epilogue that [[LeftHanging left most plot threads hanging]].

** Kubo's plan for the Final Arc called for it to run at least as long as the 26-volume Arrancar Arc. However, declining sales lead Shueisha to [[CutShort cut the series short]] after only 19 volumes -- and with a scant 6 weeks' notice of the cancellation. This lead to an extremely rushed finale and epilogue that [[LeftHanging left many if not most plot threads hanging]].

** Jeff Nimoy stated that ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie'' was supposed to just feature the first two movies, but higher ups demanded he add the third movie in, which he wanted to be shown as a TV special.

*** For the dub, the iconic salute "Sieg Zeon" was changed to the more generic "Hail Zeon". All other references to the Nazis or Hitler were also covered with references to fascism instead. Averted with ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'', particularly episode 4, which used the former anyway.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': The reason the Cell arc in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' kept constantly changing villains was because Creator/AkiraToriyama's then current and previous editors kept telling him that the villains he chose weren't good enough. This caused Toriyama to either shoehorn new villains in the arc or create new designs for the existing villains.

* ''Manga/AstroBoy'': The entirety of the "Blue Knight" saga and the subsequent story arc were added due to editor mandate. Apparently, Astro's willingness to work with the police and try to change the social order from within made him unpopular with the new generation of student radicals in the late '60s who believed that modern society was corrupt beyond all redemption, and called Astro Boy a hopelessly idealistic anachronism. Creator/OsamuTezuka's editors at Shonen magazine noticed this and ordered him to make the series DarkerAndEdgier and have him fight against the forces of law and order.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': The reason the Cell arc in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' kept constantly changing villains was because Creator/AkiraToriyama's then current and his previous editor kept telling him that the villains he chose weren't good enough. This caused Toriyama to either shoehorn new villains in the arc or create new designs for the existing villains.

** It has been rumored for years that Kubo has always had problems with his editors - and that he might have had scuffles with ''the chief editor of the Weekly Shonen Jump'' as well. The problems not only weren't solved, but ultimately led to Bleach ads being pulled from WSJ, to changed storylines, and ultimately to [[CutShort the sudden cancellation of the manga as a whole]], with Kubo being given only ''five'' chapters to finish the story itself.

** In the series itself, he and Bob were instructed by Fox Kids to make the series "funnier" which annoyed a lot of fans, eventually Jeff and Bob left, Fox Kids must of backed off because the final 8 episodes of the season were noticably less GagDub.

** ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure Digimon: The Movie]]'' was created by combining three movies into one. Jeff Nimoy personally didn't care for the idea and would've preferred to only use the first two movies, however the runtime wasn't long enough.

** Creator/TakeshiShudo's original intention for the series was one that could be [[DoingItForTheArt enjoyed by both children and adults]]. However, CreativeDifferences with the show's staff saw him forced to include to implement the StrictlyFormula elements which have largely characterized the show. Shudo's blogs reveal the direction he originally had in mind for the series, namely that Ash would ultimately defeat Gary, and the finale would involve a conflict between humans and Pokémon - but that meddling from the staff meant the show ended up going on far longer than he'd intended.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Lisanna returned from the (not quite) dead when Mashima's editor insisted he find a way to bring her back.

* ''Manga/{{Gunnm}}'' / ''[[Manga/{{Gunnm}} Battle Angel Alita]]'': The author was working on a special celebration chapter -- chapter 100 -- which would be the headliner for the phonebook sized ''Ultra Jump'' magazine in Japan. It was around this time that his publisher's legal department approached him with censorship demands for the reprints, [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-06-28/battle-angel-alita/last-order-manga-put-on-hiatus demanding he change a line]] using the word "crazy" as it "may offend people with incurable mental disorders." The suggested changes were "mad" or "angry" instead. He caved in because they also cited a part of his contract stating that if he missed the deadline on chapter 100, they would prohibit all future reprints of ''Gunnm'', effectively ending his career. He later regretted it, especially when he discovered they had made similar changes without his knowledge. He approached them with an ultimatum -- either the legal team apologize to him for overstepping their bounds and [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-08-18/battle-angel-alita/gunnm/lo-manga-return-planned recall the edited versions]], or he'd switch to a different publisher. They didn't, so [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-02-08/battle-angel-alita/gunnm/lo-manga-to-resume-in-march he did.]]

* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': The manga was supposed to end with the climactic Chapter Black arc, but one last arc was created due to editorial request, and later ended prematurely by the author himself.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'': Writer Creator/GenUrobuchi wanted to make the ending conclusive, but he was told make it open-ended to allow the show to be continued.

** Creator/KenAkamatsu wanted to try something new and do a {{Shounen}} series, but the executives wanted to capitalize on the success of ''Manga/LoveHina'' with another UnwantedHarem series. As a result, ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' starts out like an UnwantedHarem, but starts adding {{Shounen}} elements around volume 3, which [[GenreShift increase in frequency]] until it becomes a {{Shounen}} series with some UnwantedHarem and FanService elements still hanging around.

* Parodied in-universe in the second episode of ''Mangirl!'' Hana proposes lots of ridiculous and cliched modifications to the author's manga...but only after the author asks if she wants to change the story. The others draw the line at Hana's suggestion to name the heroine after her.

*** For the dub, the iconic salute "Sieg Zeon" was changed to the more generic "Hail Zeon". All other references to the Nazis or Hitler were also covered with references to fascism instead. Averted with ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' (Particularly episode 4), which used the former anyway.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Sasuke was created because Masashi's editor told him that Naruto needed a [[TheRival rival]].

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Sasuke was created because Masashi's editor told him that Naruto needed a [[TheRival rival]].

* ''Manga/DoubleArts'': The manga was ended by ''Magazine/ShonenJump'' because it was hated by younger readers. A retool was attempted to make it into a more fighting-based series, but it didn't pan out.
* ''Manga/DragonBall'': The reason the Cell arc in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' kept constantly changing villains was because Creator/AkiraToriyama's then current and his previous editor kept telling him that the villains he chose weren't good enough. This caused Toriyama to either shoehorn new villains in the arc or create new designs for the existing villains.

* ''Anime/GalileiDonna'': The anime was supposed to run for two-cours with the storyline already planned out, but was then asked by Aniplex to [[http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=4952213&postcount=574 cut down to 11 episodes]].

*** The {{Dub Name Change}}s were mandated by the bigwigs at Sunrise and had nothing to do with Bandai America. This has carried on for years, as any time Domon appears in a video game like ''DynastyWarriorsGundam'', it'll be called "Burning Gundam" instead of "God Gundam".

* ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'': InUniverse. The show ''[[ShowWithinAShow Are We Live?]]'' is canceled despite good ratings to free the timeslot for other shows.

** Creator/{{Sunrise}} initially had little to no faith in the show because of director Goro Taniguchi[[note]]Reports variously blaming his being relatively new and untested or his perfectionism[[/note]], giving him 25 episodes rather than the originally requested 50 and severely limiting the staff's resources, forcing them to piggy-back off of other Sunrise shows being made at the same time. After it became a runaway success, Sunrise gave the staff more leeway, but still interfered in other ways.

** ''Codename: Sailor V'' was meant to be a 1 shot comic that became popular and was continued. When Toei got wind of it and wanted to make it into an OVA, Takeuchi was asked to expand it into a team format. Sailor Moon was soon created and V was made into a member of her team under the name Sailor Venus. Due to Moon's quick popularity, the OVA starring Sailor V was never made and her series was wrapped up after Sailor Moon's despite being much shorter.

* ''Manga/SkipBeat'': The author wanted a minor character to be a middle-aged man, since the character was a successful director and therefore logically should be of a respectable age. The editor said no, and the character ended up about 30.

** In the later prints of the manga, Takeuchi added some {{Yonkoma}} at the end of every volume, explaining how she came with some of the ideas that made it into the final version, some of them are about how [[WhatCouldHaveBeen she originally intended things to be drastically different]] until her editor, Osa-P, told her to do some changes. For example, the manga was going to be even DarkerAndEdgier than it is, compared to the [[LighterAndSofter Anime adaptation]], as she planed to [[KillEmAll get the Sailor Senshi killed]] [[KilledOffForReal permanently]] at the end of the first act, including an early and graphic death for Sailor Mercury. Also, Sailor Mercury was going to be an android or a cyborg, something that was later used for Hotaru/Sailor Saturn.

** [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam The original series]] got it on both sides of the Pacific. In Japan, it got poor ratings in its first run and the sponsors tried to cut it down from 49 episodes to 39, but Tomino and the staff begged for an extension to wrap things up, giving it the highly unusual 42-episode run it ended up with.
** On top of that, Tomino's intent of creating a serious war drama was repeatedly hampered by the demands of the toy company Clover, which acted as the show's sponsor. While Tomino was pretty good at gaming the system to get what he wanted, there are at least two lasting marks of Clover's influence on the franchise:

*** The second big change was the addition of more {{Toyetic}} mecha, including the [[CombiningMecha G-Fighter]] and many Zeon MonsterOfTheWeek designs like the goofy Zakrello and knightly Gyan. When Tomino got the opportunity to turn ''Gundam'' into a movie trilogy, he excised almost all of these, even going back and replacing the G-Fighter with the Core Booster, a more realistic fighter plane. And most of those MonsterOfTheWeek designs have their own fan-following, particularly the UglyCute Acguy.
** Tomino's original plan for ''[[Film/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'' involved protagonist Amuro Ray being married to Beltorchika Irma (his LoveInterest in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'') and expecting their first child. Bandai reportedly didn't like the idea of the franchise's main hero being married or a father, which resulted in Beltorchika being replaced by Chein Agi, a GirlOfTheWeek character who ends up getting killed late in the film.
** Creator/YoshiyukiTomino wanted ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'' to start off slow and with CharacterDevelopment, not even introducing the titular Gundam until episode 4. Sunrise refused, and forced him to make the show action-packed from the start. As a result, the first four episodes are in AnachronicOrder; the first aired is Tomino's intended Episode 4, after which the original 1-3 are aired as a "flashback" to explain HowWeGotHere.
** When asked to make the Japanese guy the hero of ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' (against original planning), they gave it to them - Domon Kasshu, colossal JerkAss for half of the series.
*** ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' is a rather famous example overall, because at times director Yasuhiro Imagawa was practically in [[WriterRevolt open war]] with Sunrise over the series. Sunrise wanted a TournamentArc, so Imagawa introduced it and then quickly shoved it to the side to focus on the Devil Gundam plotline.
**** The {{Dub Name Change}}s were mandated by the bigwigs at Sunrise and had nothing to do with Bandai America. This has carried on for years, as any time Domon appears in a video game like ''DynastyWarriorsGundam'', it'll be called "Burning Gundam" instead of "God Gundam".

** Like the original series, ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]'' was chopped down to 39 episodes, due to the series being tossed around the schedule.
** For the dub, the iconic salute "Sieg Zeon" was changed to the more generic and boring sounding "Hail Zeon". All other references to the Nazis or Hitler were also covered with references to fascism instead. Averted with ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' (Particularly episode 4), which used the former anyway.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' had a few problems with this as well. When the sales of the GAT-X103 Buster Gundam models were lagging behind the others, Bandai asked Sunrise to make Dearka pull off a HeelFaceTurn.

* ''Manga/ShamanKing'':
** Apparently, due to a decline in popularity, Hiroyuki Takei was ordered to HURRY IT UP. So he ended up rushing through the later chapters, resulting in a convoluted mass of plot points and character deaths (which is meaningless as the characters in question usually [[DeathIsCheap come back to life shortly thereafter]] or immediately come back as a ghost), and culminating in a [[LeftHanging cliffhanger ending]]. Fortunately, due to fan outcry, Takei eventually finished up the series properly and fixed the rushed chapters.
** The ending we got, in a way, we got due to a case of meddling that got fans involved. Rather than just release it in volume form, the executives decided to first hold a survey for fans to request the final volume. This final volume was made, and was just the chapters they hadn't collected. The executives then told fans that they had to rebuy the series in new volumes to get the ending, and that if the sales even began to fall they'd be canceled. [[BerserkButton Let's just say fans were not amused....]]
* The author of ''Manga/SkipBeat'' wanted a minor character to be a middle-aged man, since the character was a successful director and therefore logically should be of a respectable age. The editor said no, "This is a [[ShoujoDemographic shoujo manga]], dammit!", and the character ended up about 30.