Yeah, in general... anime-adaptations are bad, but OVA-remakes of animated series are the worst offenders I've seen yet.
An exception to this is Kekkaishi's anime, and it's made me wonder if this might've occurred in other manga-to-anime adaptations where the manga is unfinished (or means to continue past the anime's conclusion). In the manga, Tokine gets the usual "no, it's not safe, you stay here and, uhm, hold up a light so we can find our way back!" which made me just want to throw things. In the anime, though, since this was the final battle, it meant all of the foreshadowing for Tokine would've gone completely to waste -- so the anime version actually has her kicking ass and taking names and being at least involved in the final resolution, even if she's not the lynchpin of it.
I found the anime's conclusion ultimately rather satisfying. Not perfect, mind you, but generally satisfying in light of what could have been done to her (or more like, that they could've opted to do nothing at all just like a bazillion other shonen anime). Then I read what the original mangaka had done for that big battle and wanted to scream.
It's also possible that whomever worked on the anime also argued well enough for the story -- independent of the sex/gender of characters -- in terms of what the story required for a solid resolution, and that the result was that Tokine had to be involved, based on her involvement in the rest of the story leading up to that. And given a few subtle but noticeable shifts that began in the manga, concerning Tokine, in the volumes after where the anime stops, I can't help but wonder if the mangaka might've learned a few lessons as to the fact that one does not always have to cleave so closely to shonen-genre conventions (the boys go off to fight, the girls stay home).
Sure, he still sticks to shonen-conventions relatively closely, but he's flexing a bit more in terms of what roles it's possible for girl/s to play within the general storyline, or at least how he presents their roles.
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Date: 26 Sep 2010 11:47 pm (UTC)An exception to this is Kekkaishi's anime, and it's made me wonder if this might've occurred in other manga-to-anime adaptations where the manga is unfinished (or means to continue past the anime's conclusion). In the manga, Tokine gets the usual "no, it's not safe, you stay here and, uhm, hold up a light so we can find our way back!" which made me just want to throw things. In the anime, though, since this was the final battle, it meant all of the foreshadowing for Tokine would've gone completely to waste -- so the anime version actually has her kicking ass and taking names and being at least involved in the final resolution, even if she's not the lynchpin of it.
I found the anime's conclusion ultimately rather satisfying. Not perfect, mind you, but generally satisfying in light of what could have been done to her (or more like, that they could've opted to do nothing at all just like a bazillion other shonen anime). Then I read what the original mangaka had done for that big battle and wanted to scream.
It's also possible that whomever worked on the anime also argued well enough for the story -- independent of the sex/gender of characters -- in terms of what the story required for a solid resolution, and that the result was that Tokine had to be involved, based on her involvement in the rest of the story leading up to that. And given a few subtle but noticeable shifts that began in the manga, concerning Tokine, in the volumes after where the anime stops, I can't help but wonder if the mangaka might've learned a few lessons as to the fact that one does not always have to cleave so closely to shonen-genre conventions (the boys go off to fight, the girls stay home).
Sure, he still sticks to shonen-conventions relatively closely, but he's flexing a bit more in terms of what roles it's possible for girl/s to play within the general storyline, or at least how he presents their roles.