It’s not uncommon to for TV shows to change their original premise, and the same is true of anime. Sometimes, a series starts as one thing and turns into another. This can be the natural progression of the narrative, but it’s often a conscious creative choice intended to switch things up. Depending how it’s handled, it can reinvent a series for the better or lead to criticism from fans. In some cases, it will split viewers’ opinions right down the middle.
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From a tale of revenge that turns into a quest for redemption to an anime that goes in a wholly different direction than we were expecting, these series are prime examples of changing up an original concept. Some do it more dramatically than others, but all of them are unafraid to change things up.
5) Vinland Saga
Vinland Saga is just two seasons in, but the anime switches its premise significantly in its second outing. While it’s still a Viking tale that tackles themes of war and violence, the story is no longer centered on Thorfinn’s desperate quest for revenge. Instead, it becomes a journey towards redemption. After he’s sold as a slave and brought to Ketil’s farm, Thorfinn changes his values. And while people jest that the series turns into a farm simulation in Season 2, they’re not totally off. It’s a far cry from the Viking adventure we’re taken on in Season 1, even if we still get glimpses of that via characters like Canute and Thorkell.
4) Death Note
For much of the anime’s run, Death Note functions as a cat-and-mouse game between Light and L. As Light uses the titular object to take lives, L chases down the mysterious killer known as “Kira.” It makes for a thrilling back-and-forth, with the characters’ dynamic becoming the main appeal of the series. It’s no wonder, then, that a certain twist in Episode 25 tends to alter people’s opinions of the show. It’s at that point the anime shifts from a chess game between two clever minds to something else. While Light continues his work and faces new obstacles, none of them ever quite compare. The series takes on a new tone and approach, and it’s one that doesn’t always work for viewers.
3) Fire Force
Fire Force is initially focused on Special Fire Force Company 8’s efforts to figure out why people are spontaneously bursting into flames. The series expands its scope, though, becoming about a much larger threat. Grappling with the smaller problem of the Infernals leads directly into the characters facing another Great Cataclysm. However, this shift is big enough that it alters the anime’s pacing, tone, and stakes dramatically. It’s a concept change that builds on what comes before and makes it even better. Fire Force is great from Episode 1, but its new direction allows it to get into the meat of its world and story.
2) Digimon
Digimon is a master at reinventing itself, with the majority of its series completely changing their casts of characters and how their worlds work. And even within each separate series, Digimon tends to shift its concept as time goes on. For example, in Digimon Adventure, the DigiDestined are initially determined to find their way home from the Digital World. It’s the hook the entire story rests on. Once they get home, however, their focus becomes finding the eighth DigiDestined instead. And despite once being desperate to escape it, they later return to the Digital World to face new threats. These things lead into each other naturally, so it never feels like a complete overhaul. But Digimon does abandon its original idea to pursue fresher storylines, and it’s a series that does it effectively over and over.
1) Attack on Titan
Starting Attack on Titan, you’ll think you have some idea of where the anime is going — but chances are, you don’t. It begins as a story about three kids joining the Scouts Regiment and fighting man-eating Titans that keep their people walled in. However, thanks to a well-placed twist about the nature of the Titans, it becomes a war between two factions of humans instead. It also transforms what seems like it will be a heroes journey for Eren into a villain origin of sorts. The final season has a totally different setup and vibe from the rest of the show, and impressively, it takes it to even darker places.
What longer anime do you think successfully changes its original concept? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Image Courtesy of MAPPA
