I haven’t made an actual blog post in a while, but I thought I should. Nothing important is in here, just an analysis.
The World God Only Knows originally was adapted like most series are nowadays. They greenlit a single cour (12 episode) series, and wait to see the reaction. It was highly talked about, so they greenlit the second pretty much the day it aired. This is how a lot of series are done nowadays – Dip your feet in the water, and if it succeeds you can do another season. If it fails, you can abandon the adaptation and cut your costs.
However, TWGOK was different. It had a major major success, the manga remains super popular, and was just money waiting to happen. The studio originally greenlit some OVAs to cash in on money, but demand was higher than supply. So, they greenlit season 3.
To do season 3, they had two options. The first would be to continue adapting capture arcs. They had a lot they could have done, probably 2-3 seasons worth. However, how long would it be until people got bored of the same scenario? And worse, when they did adapt the Goddess Arc, it’d be a shock. Those who don’t know the manga would be like “WHERE ARE MY CAPTURES?”.
The second option, which they did, was cut out the captures and move straight to the plot. This move is absolutely brilliant. In doing so they:
1. Can move straight to the plot
2. Have a nice balance of prior captures and plot
3. Have huge OVA potential
I mean, think about it. How many people want to see the body swap / astronomy girl arc after these 2 episodes?
Coming in 2014 bundled with the manga – Body swap arc!
or
Blu-ray Special Feature – Body Swap arc OVA!
Personally, I like it. And if they do make the OVAs like they should, I think it’d be fun and interesting.
Anyways, episode 1 adapted manga chapters 114-116, and episode 2 adapted chapters 117 until something like 126. Originally I thought that this season would be 24 episodes due to the length of the manga, but I really don’t know anymore. I could see it being 12 and covering volumes 12-19, I could see it being 24 and covering those same volumes, or I could see it being 12 and covering 12-17. Well, we’ll take it as it comes.
No matter how many episodes it’s gonna be, this season will definitely complete the Goddess Arc. If the reception is good, they’ll do The Heart of Jupiter Arc. Either way, as a fan, I will like it all the same. But I do have to note that the OVAs are kinda a letdown in terms of quality and production values (DVD format only, the transparency of Elsie’s pink scarf). I would still rather see the different arcs done with a big budget.
Quick, Kristen, explain to me the theory of relativity.
exactly my stand on the matter, but I went in with the presumption that they would no longer bother with all the previous captures they skipped. but if ever they would animate all the skipped chapters, even SD OVAs would make me happy 😀
Of the skipped arcs, I miss Hinoki’s the most. That one was too powerful to leave as just a three-second shot while Keima rattles off past conquests.
(✿◠‿◠) ̇·٠•●♥
And still, and still I find that they should have released those arcs BEFORE this season. I haven’t seen the goddesses arc yet, but have seen all other stuff and what I make up from your post is that this actually features a big spoiler for all material inbetween the 2nd season and this one.
Meh, I’ll just read the manga some year ┐(￣ー￣)┌
Well, I’m not so sure it was a good idea to skip the captures of Akari and Tsukiyo, who’re both pretty important characters, but what I really fear is that they cram the whole Megami-arc into 12 eps. It’d be a disaster.
i hope the BD’s will correct keima’s hand in episode 1,
ifyouknowwhatimean
:3
when i think about TWGOK, the first thing that came in my mind is your group…
for this season3, you did a good job and hope that you will be around for many years later~
thanks~
Like Clannad_92 said above. If TWGOK keep continuing I would love to see your group as well. I would love to have seen this go 24 episoide although not likely.
I understand what you’re getting at in your post, but as someone who has only watched the anime it kind of just completely throws you off guard when they skip some characters that seem like they are going to be a part of this season’s plot. I end up needing to attempt to patch things up in my head an make assumptions of the characters about how they will act and such. As much as I would like to see these captures, I would much prefer them before this goddess arc rather than after as OVA’s; it helps to understand the characters better. I also believe that if the anime and manga is as popular as you say, they wouldn’t have to worry about making another capture season; I know I wouldn’t have mind it.
@Cereal
Don’t be mistaken. This is how it all happened. The 1st season came out, and the preorder sales for the 1st DVDs and Bluray volumes were good, so they green-lit the 2nd season immediately. But when the 2nd season ended, there was no plans for a third season or any OVAs, apparently due to poor retail sales of both seasons.
After a while, they made an OVA that was bundled with the manga, and then, perhaps due to fans demands, they greenlit a 3rd season. Next, they made the Tenri Arc OVAs, which came with an announcement about the coming of Season 3 and the Kanon OVA. And now Season 3 is out. It’s pretty obvious doing the same thing as the first 2 seasons (capture arcs) wouldn’t work, so it was a better idea to animate the long arcs, in hopes of keeping it fresh. And if this gamble ends with bad ratings and sales, then it’s over.
You might not mind having another season, but the studio would certainly have awful things to say when they can’t break even. So if you want to support the production for next season, remember to order the DVDs and BDs. Or at least just get the OVAs bundled manga volumes. Every single sales count. Think of it like a Kickstarter of some sorts.
Frankly, the way they compressed the story for Season 3 is better than how Rozen Maiden or DanganRonpa is doing. And the way Season 3 came back (with a complete, albeit somewhat compressed manga arc) is way better than how School Rumble, Negima, or Hayate did.
@Dusk
It was split cour to begin with, my friend. News on the second season was leaked before the first season even aired.
Sure, if you say so. There are conflicting reports after all.
Volume 6 was released on August 11, 2009 and is now available. In May 2010, Funimation released the entire first season in a complete box set; it was originally released in March, but was recalled due to a defective disk.
actually tot bout tat logic but since there’s no news its hard to see the direction manglobe wuld take have to wait n see i guess
*after reading*
okay…that’s cool but where’s my Episode 3?!
Soon, aka today.
Jokes aside, this is a pretty good analysis. I guess the skipping part would make people give more importance to the important parts then the company will portray them as OVAs………hmmm…does that mean that that Yui OVA is sure to be? XD
Well I’ll be honest, I think that the whole Tenri arc was a test of whether they could publish a single arc in a set of OVAs.
And from a marketing point of view, for the continuing viewers, what they did with S3 was brilliant. For those who have not read the manga, the arc basically serves the purpose of a classic hook. They show you these characters, but not their conquest. All they have to do now is make those characters appeal compelling to make the viewers WANT to see the original conquests.
After that, it’ll be smooth sailing by, as was pointed out, OVAs or BD extras.
And I have to admit, that though I dislike the fact that there’s a bunch of characters that are new to the viewer (me), the change in format to a less focused style opens avenues for crazy hijinks and hilarity like what we saw in episode 3.
Unless there is a big surprise, this series has been confirmed as 12 episodes based on the BD count. It is very possible there will be a season 4, probably in January or April.
Thanks! 😀
[…] at [Chihiro] already wrote a pretty good blogpost on the subject so I just drop you guys a link here instead of reiterating what she already said. Now, for the past two seasons, the TWGOK anime more […]
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