What would have been a promising adaptation is now being held down by subpar animation, and fans are not happy.
The Beginning After the End, or more colloquially known as TBATE, is a popular web novel series that has gained a dedicated following. First published on the website Tapas in 2018, the series, which was written by Tae Ha Lee (TurtleMe) and illustrated by Fuyuki23, received an anime adaptation that began airing this 2 April. Currently, the anime has two episodes out, and it’s safe to say that fans are not happy with how it’s going so far.
Potential anime of the year turned PowerPoint presentation
The TBATE anime is being done by Studio A-Cat, and considering the reputation of the studio, with their highest rated title on MyAnimeList gaining only 6.75 stars from over 224,000 reviews, fans were cautious and reserved about the quality of the show, but were somewhat hopeful considering that the teaser visuals were breathtaking to look at.
Tae Ha Lee himself revealed in an interview that he chose Studio A-Cat from a list of potential studios provided by Crunchyroll for the original anime adaptation. He also cited the director, Keitaro Motonaga’s knowledge about his series being a key factor to his decision.
For all intents and purposes, there was an attempt to make the beloved web novel come to life in a way that could satisfy longtime fans and introduce potential audiences to TBATE’s superb story.
However, the caution was well-deserved. The first episode of the TBATE anime left a number of fans speechless about the animation, which they describe as PowerPoint-like in quality, and even going so far as to reference the disastrous second season of BLUE LOCK–remembered for its disappointing animation that mainly consisted of crudely moving stills and CapCut-like transitions, including the infamous page flip transition in one of its episodes.
But the disappointment all came to a head with the release of Episode 2.
A particular sequence from Episode 2, which featured what would have been a high-energy fight scene, gained much of the ire from fans. The sequence featured effects to mimic movement, while implementing comic-book-like transitions that… well, let’s just say it plainly: it looks bad. Really bad. Like, embarrassingly bad.
It looked like the sequence only had five frames, and the studio tried to make up for it with a smorgasbord of visual effects and jumpy transitions. You can literally see that the characters are just PNGs being manipulated by a mouse to glide from one end of the screen to the next.
In spite of the disastrous sequence and episodes, there have been praises for TBATE’s scoring, direction, and voice cast.
How did it all go so wrong? Well, until anyone from Studio A-Cat speaks up, we’ll never know. The TBATE anime currently has a 6.06 score in MyAnimeList, aggregated from over 10,000 ratings, and with the current direction the animation is taking, we can only expect it to get lower, unless the later upcoming episodes make a marked improvement for the season.
It’s incredibly disappointing, considering that the voice cast for TBATE boasts some well-known seiyuus, including Kana Ichinose, who voiced Fern in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. The director isn’t someone to overlook either. Keitaro Motonaga is an established director with work even going as far back as the ‘90s, and has a number of well-known titles under his belt: Date A Live, Higurashi: When They Cry, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Jormungand, to name just a few.
Fans start petition to cancel and redo TBATE anime
So, how far will you go for your favourite series? For fans of the TBATE web series, it’s making a Change.org petition to call for the cancellation and remake of the anime.
The petition, which was started by a person who calls themself Nachoo TM, gave the reason for the petition in a statement attached, stating:
As an ardent fan of the TBATE (The Beginning After The End) light novel and comic series, I am utterly disappointed and disheartened by the poor quality of the recent anime adaptation. The current representation of this beloved series is not only terrible but downright disrespectful to the original material and its fanbase. It is a degradation of the epic power fantasy that originals portray and a smear on the reputation of peerless fiction.
Nachoo TM further explains that the “appalling lack of movement and animation” in the anime takes away from TBATE’s potential as an “enthralling visual saga” that it deserves to be.
The petition is a “plea to protect the essence of TBATE and uphold its deserved high standards”, as well as an avenue to open a consideration in potential solutions to the animation problem–such as seeking a better studio, or initiating a fan fundraiser for a superior studio to take charge.
Overall, the petition is a demonstration of the fanbase, showcasing their commitment to “saving this novel and comic series from further mistreatment.”
The petition now has 29,633 verified signatures as of writing, and is still gaining a steady stream of signatures. Crunchyroll and Studio A-Cat have yet to respond to this situation.
