Michael is Low on Hit Points

Getting over a missed opportunity and continuing on with a series

• Posted  December 11th, 2008 at 8:20 PM ET
• Subjects  Claymore
• Tags  short editorial
• Image sources
  1- Claymore [unknown]
  
• Video searches
  none

While watching an anime, we all develop expectations on what will happen next. Sometimes we are pleasantly surprised with an unexpected turn of events. Other times, we are let down when we feel a series missed a great opportunity. The latter is the subject of this post.

I should maybe start out by saying that the inspiration behind this post lies within Claymore. No spoilers unmarked, I promise. Unfamiliar with the manga, a sword clash at the beginning of the OP led me to believe that Clare and Teresa would come to be enemies. Not so much. Instead we got something all too typical: a revenge quest.

Moving beyond this example, the main point is that I saw a potentially good conflict that never came to be. What I saw as the key emotional element to push the story forward was replaced (not really, just simply in my expectations) by a weaker plot point. One could argue which plot direction would be better in my above example: the one taken or my own.

Though that's not the point of this post. Claymore ended up quite fine on its own, just different and -- I feel -- not as good as it could have been. Even though disappointed, I kept watching, finished the series, and am now reading through the manga. And while it may have hindered some of my enjoyment of the series for a bit, I got over it and moved on.

But what of that idea I had? Surely it has its own direction, it's own story to tell. Is this where fan-fiction comes in? I doubt I have that in me, as I hardly have the drive to write out my own stories that I've come up with over the years. Personally, I'd rather put effort into my own works. If I could ever get past being a slacker, that is.

What about you? What do you do when an anime or manga or anything really, takes a different turn for what you believe to be the worse? Do you give up on it, or do you keep on watching? Do you write out your own version of the story, or do you blog about it and stop there?