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Ruined Forever / Anime & Manga

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  • In general, parts of the online anime fandom tend to say that any anime that gets dubbed into English (no matter how faithfully) is "ruined" just because it's in English, despite the fact that no one's ever going to force them to actually listen to the English audio.
    • As an example: Even though the modern Studio Ghibli dubs are pretty well-respected, there remain some so-called "true fans" who insist on hating them simply because Disney produces them, and they object to any change to the dialogue (or music) that may have been done to these films, stating that these movies have therefore been destroyed – an argument which is totally fatuous considering that Ghibli themselves (and sometimes Miyazaki) give their approval to these dubs at every stage. If they don't think their works are ruined, who are such "fans" to say otherwise?
      • Made even more ironic considering Miyazaki himself stated that for quite a few of his characters he was forced into a form of "Accent Adaptation" due to the lack of any dialect he felt fit the characters within the Japanese language. A prime example he named is the Witch of the Waste in Howl's Moving Castle.
      • Speaking of that one… Disney let the younger siblings of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers voice-act Ponyo and Sousuke (respectively) in the English dub of Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea? Cue building nerdrage, months before the dub ever saw the light of day.
    • There's a flip-side to this, post-industry-crash. With the North American node of the anime industry scrambling to salvage itself and return to profitability while still trying to license a diverse blend of series, several "niche" shows are being released without any dub at all. You know… the kinds of shows that put popular studios like Geneon, ADV Films, and Bandai out of business because the licensing fees and dubbing cost so much that there was no way most shows could turn a profit. To a small but loud group, anime is now ruined FOREVER because the industry is "discriminating" against dub fans. Strangely, nobody thinks the industry is ruined FOREVER because of the ongoing recession.
    • Said dub-hate applies to Japanese video games too. One of the earliest confirmations that BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle would receive English voices was the ruckus some fans had from grumbling that they'd have to some of the opposing characters speaking English.note 
  • According to older Western fans, anime in general has been ruined thanks to Lolicons demanding more Moe and/or Yaoi Fangirls demanding more Bishonen...Which causes some Unfortunate Implications being that femininity automatically ruins a series.
  • Fans of the original Haruhi Suzumiya light novels cried foul when the Anachronic Order of the books was different from that of the show; never mind that it was still out of order, the climax was still at the end and it still worked from a storytelling point of view. Then again, they were also in shock that their beloved obscure light novel series was now a Cash-Cow Franchise loved by millions. To be fair, the novels, while out of order, finished a story before moving to a different one, while the anime was all over the place.
    • Later on, American fans cried this when they learned Haruhi's DVD release would have the episodes in chronological order.
    • That said, if that didn't FOREVER ruin Haruhi, Endless Eight sure did.
  • This caused the Broken Base of Neon Genesis Evangelion: When it moved into the second half, many of the more traditional shounen fans claimed it was Ruined FOREVER because of being… Neon Genesis Evangelion. The base broke even further due to "End of Evangelion" later, which some saw as an example of a Trolling Creator.
    • Fundamentally, End of Evangelion forms an alternate ending for the series, along with the updated "video & LD versions" of episodes 21 through 24. Fans do exist who would have preferred that NGE ended with its television broadcast of the original ending, some considering the updated ending to be unnecessary retcon that soils interpretation of the show.
    • …and further ruining things is the game Neon Genesis Evangelions for PlayStation 2 and PSP. This was released in two iterations during the Aughts and marketed as containing the answers to the show's most niggling secrets. Much of this material has been translated over the years, and there have been no shortage of appreciative fans – but with that comes a vocal minority crying foul that the game reveals too much and ruins the mystery. (Never mind that with every secret spoiled, many more mysteries have been created.)
  • At what point was Armored Trooper VOTOMS Ruined Forever for people looking for a hard sci-fi mecha series? Was it Roots of Ambition where Chirico survived a shot in his heart due to Perfect Survivor status? Was it The Shining Heresy where Chirico was Born Lucky enough to do a crazy ricochet fluke shot into the Order Buckler's cockpit and destroying Teitania's Auxillary Brain, Was it the newer OVAs such as Pailsen Files and Phantom Arc for Sunrise copping out on dodgy computer-generated ATs and it basically amounting to needless padding on Chirico's backstory, Some even claim that VOTOMS wasn't very realistic to begin with when the Quent arc rolled around and The Reveal happened. for bonus points, mention the phrase "Child of God." as that aspect of Chirico's character is a sore spot with many fans.
    • Oh hey, Armored Trooper VOTOMS has a new OVA called CASE IRIVINE. Hey the AT's are actually animated this time and there's no Chirico! Wait... Wait! Hold the phone! Why is there a guy with a mask and a red AT? Why are the characters drawn as prettyboys and not gruff military guys believable in the role of soldier? Why does the combat move as fast as Code Geass? Why does one of the characters sound like Lelouche? VOTOMS is impossible to be taken seriously anymore!"
    • Fyana's sidelining and death in Shining Heresy is another sore point with some fans, along with the fact that the plot apparently had to be cut down and rushed from the original OVA outline.
    • Ypsilon's backstory in The Last Red Shoulder is debated, with some feeling it ruined his character in portraying him as a naive child-like man who only became driven to kill Chirico due to Killy and the twins' insistence, rather than him being born that way from the start.
  • Digimon Frontier: What the?! The Digidestined in this series transform into the Digimon?! And there's no real partner dynamic?!
  • Naruto: Most commonly Sasuke being the focus of an entire arc (especially the part about Itachi being a good guy). Additionally, there's also a segment of the fandom that has said the Time Skip was when they stopped liking it, even if most of what they're complaining about didn't happen until quite a while after or had been happening for a while before the time skip itself and they more or less seem to just be trying to focus their scorn on something important.
    • The instant revival of everyone who died during the Invasion of Pain Arc pissed off many fans. Of course, the fans were also pissed when everyone died so now they're thought of as unpleasable.
    • The announcement that Naruto Shippuden would air on Disney XD has obviously not been taken well in certain parts of its fandom. Despite the fact that Viz Media will still be releasing uncut DVDs, so even if it does turn out to be a Macekre there won't be that much reason to complain. As can be seen with Marvel, just being associated with Disney is prone to bring in the ruins.
    • Tobi is really Obito Uchiha? WELL I DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING! The final battle really lost its impact at that moment.
    • Wait, Kishi is zig-zagging between Naruto/Hinata and Naruto/Sakura? And now Sasuke wants to become HOKAGE?
    • Hold on. Kishimoto ended the series with pairing off Naruto with Hinata and Sakura with Sasuke? Ships officially sunk. RAAAAAAGE!
  • Pokémon: The Series got this with Misty being Put on a Bus and fan backlash against May solely for filling the obligatory girl role Misty had. There are still some militant fans claiming this long after Dawn took over the girl spot, even though it's been years.
    • Any of Ash's female companions seem to spark these responses in general. Dawn gets hate for not only being another Misty replacement, but for replacing May as well. And then there's Iris, who in turn is hated for replacing Dawn and used as yet another example of the show being ruined.
    • The dubbing of the show also got this claim after it went in-house to cut costs, mainly due to the resulting voice actor switch, with the jarring changes made to the voices of characters that fans had become adjusted to. The shabby way the original 4Kids cast was treated didn't help either, as they didn't learn they were being replaced until after the fact. That said, it still fits this trope to a "T". But most of the fans really don't even give a damn anymore outside of some bitter holdouts, since the new voice actors improved over time after (for the most part).
    • And now for something not related to the voice actors: OMG they changed the "TO BE CONTINUED" text! And the title of the episode was written in English instead of Japanese with English subtitles! So were the credits! The anime is ruined FOREVER!
    • Some Team Rocket fans claimed the trio was ruined FOREVER!! when Jessie and James were given black uniforms and a serious promotion, along with a new serious-business attitude, though the change didn't last for the whole arc.
    • In fact, the tiniest change to the Pokémon anime will result in fans complaining that it's Ruined Forever. Ash got dumber? RUINED FOREVER!!! Brock has left the show even though him flirting with girls was only funny the first three times? RUINED FOREVER!!!
    • Several members of the fandom cried 'RUINED FOREVER" after the One Shot character Tobias defeated Ash with a Latios and a Darkrai. In fact, just the very idea of certain Pokémon being used in the Anime has caused fandom uproar.note 
    • On the other end of the scale, Ash being defeated by Cameron, who's an even bigger Idiot than Ash, is a sore spot in the fandom. The fact that that left the actual champion as The Unfought didn't help.
    • Having the replacement arc for Team Plasma follow the Tournament Arc? Stuffing all your Filler in the last 5 months of the generation? I'm not too sure about this...
    • Many people complain over the Viz re-releases of Pokémon Adventures for various reasons, the most legitimate complaint being that there seemed to be no plans to release the third gen story arcs until/unless the Ruby/Sapphire remakes come out, leaving out about 15 volumes worth of material out that will inevitably cause massive plot holes and spoilers in the Diamond/Pearl arc that they were publishing at the time. (Viz eventually did start publishing Ruby/Sapphire at the same time that they were doing Diamond/Pearl, and ultimately did catch up to the Japanese releases.)
    • Once it became apparent that the Mewtwo in Pokémon: Genesect and the Legend Awakened was in fact a new character rather than the original Mewtwo, the fandom declared not only that the movie was ruined, but that everything involving the original Mewtwo was somehow retroactively ruined as well. It's also being touted as the point that the (current) writing staff gave the Periphery Demographicnote  an Eyelid Pull Taunt using the middle finger.
    • And in 2014, when the policy on Ash is that he's Not Allowed to Grow Up, we get Serena who, in addition to being the replacement female, is somehow connected to his past. Tread lightly writers, tread lightly.
    • Ash losing yet again in Kalos. That is all it took to drive the fans into a rage.
    • Art style change? School setting? Ash finally cracking open a book to research z-moves?! What kind of witchcraft is this?
    • The above two effectively "came to nothing" as the "Sun & Moon" series endsnote  with the Inevitable Tournament Arc, again. So much for this series being "different"...although it still was as Ash actually won this time.
    • Pokemon Journeys changed things up drastically, having Ash travel around the world with a new co-protagonist but it soon led to repeated whining about “Goh is annoying” “Ash didn’t get a single starter!” And “how is Goh catching legendaries” among other things.
  • The Pretty Cure fandom is apparently the Distaff Counterpart of the Transformers fandom or something, judging by the reaction that occurs every time the premise of the next series is revealed without fail, complete with one subset that everything needs to go back to the way it was in 2004. When your fandom complains about Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash★Star for being an Alternate Continuity, then complains about Yes! Pretty Cure 5GoGo! for not being an Alternate Continuity. And then you have Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage, due to the fact that the movie focuses more on the original character introduced in the movie and the current and previous teams than the whole seven teams combined. Sheesh...
    • And now we have confirmation that Saban Brands owns the distribution rights to the series...
  • It appears to be very common in mainstream mecha anime. Fans have found something to complain about in every single episode for Code Geass, Macross Frontier, and Mobile Suit Gundam 00, with the amount of ruin escalating the higher the episode count is. Code Geass R2 in particular has the series FOREVER at least once per episode, according to some Fan Dumbs.
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Yes, even this! Kamina's death is proclaimed this by some. This sentiment usually disappears after they see the rest of the series, and some have since even considered it the point after which the show got better.
  • Many Fruits Basket fans cried this when it was revealed that Akito is female, which sunk ships everywhere and created a generally hilarious explosion because we all know that Het Is Ew and they totally ruined the character for ever and ever.
  • "What's this, the upcoming Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha sequel manga will have a male protagonist? OUR LESBIAN DREAMS!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Note that the new protagonist has his own love interests, so he can't interfere with the main characters from the previous series anyway...
  • Fans have different opinions on where this happened in Bleach.
    1. When Hitsugaya (presumably) beat Halibel there was a sudden influx of "Bleach is ta lose!!11one!" When it was revealed that he hadn't even scratched her, very few of those who declared the series ruined came forward to retract their previous assessment. Particularly sad considering the lack of genre savviness of these viewers; when has trapping an opponent in ice ever worked? (except in Fairy Tail)
    2. Since the end of the Soul Society arc, and into the filler Bount Arc that seemed to go on forever.
    3. Since the START of the Soul Society arc.
    4. Almost any point after the start of Ichigo vs. Ulquiorra.
    • Special mention should probably also go to Yammy's Reveal as the 0 Espada, which tended to be viewed by many fans as a) wall-bangingly stupid, b) hilarious, c) awesome, or d) some combination of the above.
    • Many readers following the chapter releases online actually embraced the whole thing and started to enjoy the many inventive ways the author can come up with to "ruin" his manga. The most ridiculous the development, the better! Kubo himself stated that he really loves designing characters and admits to creating new ones as a way to get himself out of writer's block.
    • This has not been stressed enough. Every time something happens in Bleach, it's ruined forever. Starrk didn't kill a billion Captains? He was pointless. Ulquiorra is popular? He's being milked. People expected more of the Vasto Lordes? Kubo overhyped them. The Fake Karakura Town Arc? Too much fighting, not enough character development. The beginning of the Lost Agent Arc? This is so slow it's worse than filler! Kyoraku didn't reveal his Bankai & that's terrible, but the series should have ended anyway. The point here is that the fanbase is unpleasable.
    • There was also a case of this during the Deicide in which the "fans" had a problem with, wait for it… the name; complaining endlessly that Tite is an idiot who couldn't spell the word decide right. Said "fans" tended to ignore the possibility that Deicide could possibly be a word itself and didn't even bother to do a simple Google search to do the research. Like the above example very few retracted their statements. It pains this troper how little common sense and basic dignity is left in the Bleach Fandom nowadays, though granted, of course, that these are only the vocal minority.
    • This has perhaps become even more pronounced in the last arc due to such revelations as Masaki Kurosaki being a Quincy, Retsu Unohana being revealed as an unrepentant bloodthirsty psychopath who dies just for the sake of making Kenpachi Zaraki stronger, and the true nature of Zangetsu. Because these developments fundamentally alter perception of the characters, some of the fans who dislike them say that their enjoyment of the earlier parts of the series has been irrevocably tainted. And that's not getting into the ever present debates on whether these developments make sense, could have used a better build up or are just straight up ass-pulls.
  • Some people say that L's death did this to Death Note, and that Light's death at the end of the series ruined it even more.
  • Some sections of the Umineko: When They Cry fanbase tend to think every new and irritating bit in The Anime of the Game (which there is admittedly quite a lot of) has Ruined the series FOREVER. Particularly cutting out all the real-world parts of EP4 after George and Jessica kill each other to give more time to the Meta-World sequences and backstory for a somewhat Creator's Pet-ified Ange.
  • Most Arab otakus will tell you that Venus Company's dubs (especially that of Case Closed) became RUINED FOREVER once they began making them "kiddy" and taking censorship to the extreme.
  • A second season for the anime Black Butler was announced… featuring an original new protagonist and Butler not from the previous season or manga, and not Ciel and Sebastian. Cue the wailing of thousands of yaoi fangirls around the internet. Which, as it later turned out, was A-1 Pictures just trolling the fandom.
  • Fairy Tail: The first timeskip, up until the Tartaros arc. While the Grand Magic Games was fairly well-received for the first three-and-a-half days (mostly because Fairy Tail wasn't absolutely dominating everyone yet), the fourth day soured reception as Natsu defeated Sting and Rogue through The Power of Friendship. After this point, Fairy Tail would be portrayed as completely invincible to the point where many stopped seeing any potential for conflict, ending with Sting's infamous surrender. The Dragon War was more positively received, but many felt that it ended too suddenly when the Eclipse Gate's destruction prevented all the events that caused the War from ever happening. The Sun Village arc received criticism for spiking the Fanservice to unprecedented heights, ending on a Hot Springs Episode that Hiro actually apologized for just when the story was getting into Tartaros (and then there were those who just couldn't care about what was largely a Breather Episode).
  • One Piece is getting an English dub? Woohoo! Wait, it's by 4Kids Entertainment? AND IT'S CENSORED AND EDITED TO HELL AND BACK JUST SO AMERICAN KIDS CAN WATCH IT?!? GRRRRRR... I DECLARE WAR ON 4KIDS FOR RUINING MY FAVORITE ANIMES AND OTHER GOOD ANIMES!!!!1
    • The original material also started getting these accusations once Portgas D. Ace bit the dust, breaking the tradition of not killing named characters, except in flashbacks, that was maintained for 13 years of publication.
      • Named characters had died before that in the present; there had just been too many Disney Deaths.
      • And then, after there was confirmation of a Time Skip happening, it started rising again.
      • Some people complained about Hancock falling in love with Luffy because it would ruin the series being strictly No Hugging, No Kissing. Thankfully, this was averted.
  • Oh cool, FINALLY there will be a LatAm dub for Dragon Ball Z Kai. Oh wait… there were economic issues? Half of the original VAs refused to dub? THEY WERE REPLACED BY COMPLETE STRANGERS?! INCLUDING THE SINGER?!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
  • Parodied in Darker than Black with Kiko and her otaku friend. After months of giddy anticipation over the next release of their favorite anime, they storm out in anger over how it's Ruined FOREVER, and Kiko will not let the director get away with this!
  • Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ was such a shift in demeanor from the much darker Zeta Gundam that much of the fandom would prefer not to think it happened.
  • Wait, Steve Blum isn't reprising his role as the title character in Marvel Anime: Wolverine. Booooooo Marvel and G4!! RUINED FOREVER!
    • Although we got Peter Petrelli voicing Wolverine instead.
    • Heck, the entire idea of Marvel Anime (having popular Marvel superheroes in anime style made by Madhouse) may be seen as RUINED FOREVER by many anime and Marvel fans alike, mainly because having popular American superheroes in Japanese anime style is seen not to fit well with each other. Of course, the reception of the Marvel anime idea received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike.
  • Woohoo! Bandai Entertainment licensed Tales of the Abyss anime for U.S. release, wait… sub-only. WHAT! THE! HELL! BANDAI! Why did you make it a sub-only release when the video game has a dub?
  • After seeing just ONE episode of Higurashi: When They Cry Kira (the newest OVA), many of the fans are saying this. The episode in question was about 90% sexual fanservice and isn't even canon.
  • It doesn't matter how many years have passed, several fans of Dragon Ball feel the series lost it with the switch to Dragon Ball Z and the more sci-fi and less comedic emphasis, even though in the latter's case the humor was already being toned down a little by the time Piccolo first showed up.
    • Don't even mention Dragon Ball GT fans. They will instantly bring up the idea that GT was not canon since Akira Toriyama did not involve in the development. Their reasons being Goku became a One-Man Army, and other major characters in the previous series existed to be kidnapped, brainwashed, turned into punching bags, or even killed off.
    • The Buu Saga is this for many fans with its overall change in tone from dark storylines to focus more on humor and, to the hardcore Gohan fans, its treatment of him from the main character to supporting role.
  • Don't ask Medabots fans what they think of Spirits (The second series), there's better ways of committing Suicide by Cop
  • Apparently Season 2 of The Mysterious Cities of Gold is ruined forever because they used CGI to animate it, instead of using the classic style. Never mind the fact that they managed to find the majority of the original voice actors from the original, that they are able to do a "season 2" with the original premise, instead of doing a complete reboot like many The '80s cartoons have got (you know, like Thunder Cats, Voltron, She-Ra, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), they were able to keep the same musical atmosphere of the show, except for updating the instruments and cleaning up the background, and that everyone looks almost virtually like they did in 1982.
  • Quite a few fans called this when Sword Art Online moved onto the ALFheim arc. First off, it killed off what would've been a great (and emotional) conclusion to the series. Then, Asuna became a Damsel in Distress and Adaptation Distillation removed any evidence that Liz, Silica, Agil and Klein were also in the game. They're instead pushed aside for Sugu and her feelings for her "brother" Kazuto/Kirito. When Episode 21 hit, the arrival of Tentacle Rope had the fanbase screaming and Episode 24's Attempted Rape of Asuna in front of Kirito sent most who had stuck with the show until that point nuclear.
  • FUNimation's dub of Hetalia: Axis Powers quickly got this reception. Was it the Rated M for Money changes (which the creative staff said were absolutely intentional)? Was it the fact that the characters were cast with ridiculous accents? Or that Frontier Works mandated that the English translators use "Britain" for the England/UK character? These were a few reasons given, among others, in the huge uproar.
    • The film of the anime, "Paint it White", earned very negative reactions due to Studio Deen stuffing up the run-time with random clips from the anime inserted in between actual plot moments. The Japanese DVD cut these clips out (and the movie is rather short without them)… Funimaton's DVD did not.
  • Many members of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica fanbase expressed dismay when the third film was released, due to a certain character's actions, regarding them as out-of-character moment which causes every established moral and theme in the main series to be destroyed. Whether or not these criticisms are justified is up to the viewer. One thing that has managed to lessen the rage is a popular theory that said actions are the start of a Zero-Approval Gambit. Whether that plan was well thought out or not is a different story entirely.
  • The English dub for Attack on Titan uses "OMNI-DIRECTIONAL MANEUVERING GEAR" instead of "3-D MANEUVER GEAR"? RUINED FOREVER!!!1
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, many fans assumed for a long time that Big Bad Z-One was actually Yusei, from the future. What happened when his true identity as an imposter was revealed? Pure rage, at least from American fans. "Sacrilege! Ruined forever!" (Of course, the thing is, no character on the show or any of the show's writers had ever actually made the claim even once up to then that he was Yusei. Fans had just assumed, like the case with Bruno, that it was a badly-kept secret that was intentionally badly-kept.) What the Fan Dumb fans might as well have said was, "We don't care how often writers do it, how dare you lead us on with a red herring and then give us an ending that surprised us?" and "Why should the series have a happy ending where the status quo is preserved and the hero remains heroic?" and "How could you think of making the canon source conflict with our fanfics?" And so on. These fans never assumed that the creators were going for the ending they didn't expect.
    • Before Z-ONE, however, there was the extreme tone shift starting in episode 65. Yliaster is not a cult, but a set of time travellers?! The opponents are a set of robots? THEY DEMOTED AKI?!?!?!? Ruined FOREVER!!!
  • Some viewers judged Blood+ to be Ruined FOREVER with the rape/murder of Riku. On the other hand, other viewers thought the series got better after that episode.
  • What's this? A male character in a Love Live! world? MY IDEALISTIC PERSONAL HEADCANON OF THEIR WORLD AS AN ULTIMATELY FEMALE-DOMINANT PLANET IS OFFICIALLY RUINED!!!111
    • Huh, it looks like the English dub of School Idol Project has actress who are also talented singers, hopefully they will-THEY NEVER DUBBED THE SONGS BECAUSE THE PRODUCTION TEAM DIDN'T WANTED THEM TO?! WHAT A WASTED POTENTIAL!!!
  • The reissue of the English dub of Kiki's Delivery Service removed most of Phil Hartman's ad-libbing for Jiji to be true to the original? THAT'S SO DISRESPECTFUL DISNEY!
  • As if sacking the original director of Kemono Friends (and having the voice actresses apologize over it instead) wasn't bad enough: the second season's drop in quality and attention to detail, the replacement protagonist becoming The Scrappy, and the treatment of certain characters in that show, have all contributed to most of the fans declaring the series RUINED FOREVER.

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