Literature Have You Ever Had to Watch a Series Fall Flat?

[Melpomene]

So... This is something that happened to me recently.

You began reading a book series and it looked like it was going to be pretty good, something you could get behind. Something you could invest time in. But then it ended up falling on its face. Maybe it did not start out amazing but it at least started out decent/good. Enough so that you thought it had a lot of potential, enough so that you picked up the next book in the series.

But at some point, it just ceased being even decent. It started being straight up bad. It was not just a slight drop in quality. It actually got to the point that it was no longer enjoyable and perhaps felt like a chore that you had to get through because you started it, so damn it, you were gonna finish it.

That has happened to me with the Demon Cycle Series. Oh this series... I am debating whether to start book 3, but I am already falling off of it after book 2.

Why?

Because it felt like.the characters were becoming worse and worse, with one of the main female leads being the worse offender, turning from a decent character with decent obstacles to overcome, into a Strong Independent Woman™. Meaning that she was made too perfect to be an actual character.

So I have come to ask if this has ever happened to you? What series was it? Why did you fall off of it? I want to know!

Comment below if you have anything to share

 

[PhoenixMire]

This happens to me a lot - not even because I think something is turning into garbage, but mostly because if there’s even a slight drop in quality, my small attention span drifts elsewhere and I tend to drop that series.

This happened to me with Psycho Pass. I enjoyed the first season, but for some reason I stopped caring about the second season and ended up dropping it. Dunno why. I just got bored.
I’ve also been trying to read the Promised Neverland manga, but even though I loved the first arc, I felt like things lost a lot of tension after that, so I’ve kinda dropped it.

I think the series I have the biggest problem with at the moment is Star vs. the Forces of Evil. The crappy love triangle/romantic drama is honestly making me lose my patience. I love the actual plotline and the characters (when they aren’t being overdramatic idiots), so I haven’t quite dropped it yet... but I might. I’m definitely losing interest. I haven’t even checked to see when or if a new season is coming out.

 

[Cold Ramen Noodles]

Voltron. I don't think I have to say anything more.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Voltron. I don't think I have to say anything more.

I’ve never seen Voltron but my friend really wants me to watch it. But since I’ve heard bad things about how it ended, now I’m really unsure lol

 

[Cold Ramen Noodles]

I’ve never seen Voltron but my friend really wants me to watch it. But since I’ve heard bad things about how it ended, now I’m really unsure lol

First 2-3 seasons are amazing. After that it all falls apart. I refuse to even finish the last season.

 

[Matreats]

Personally, I really liked the last season. It may just be me being sentimental, but I thought it was absolutely beautiful. Haven't cried like that since the ending of AtLA

 

[Saccharine Cyanide]

Probably a pretty notorious example, but: the His Dark Materials trilogy. The last book was batshit and made no kind of sense. The actual resolution to the whole series was, IIRC, spoiler I guess, Lyra's parents grabbed God and just sorta held him as they all tumbled down a bottomless hole forever.

Still love the series, though.

 

[Abendrot]

Supernatural. I still watch it now and again and it still has some decent episodes but it REALLY should have ended a long, long time ago.

The ridiculous amount of pointless filler episodes have really taken its toll, and the actual story arcs are just getting stretched really thin.

 

[Idea]

There were a couple of anime and manga for which this happened for me (and a LOT of tv series) , though I can't remember many of the former and the latter might have to do with the fact I mostly stopped watching TV in general...

Book-wise I do have a case though, and this it the Percy Jackson series. I think the concepts, especially the mist, were pretty interesting at first, and the books weren't half-bad (though i wouldn't call them anything extraordinary either). The tone was overall pretty sweet and funny, the wording flowed etc... and then the guy began approaching the end and milking repeated story beats. Extending the series as much as possible just because. Shitting on both sources and his own world building. It just wasn't worth picking up anymore by the time the romans showed up

 

[Scatterbrain]

Spoiler: Limitless

I loved the television show and it was an absolute shame it only got the one series.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

I can remember 2 series. The first is an anime called Samurai Flamenco. The early part is about normal human who want to be superhero. So he ended up wandering the street at night solving petty crimes like people who throw trash on the street or people who left their umbrella behind and all that, it's pretty sweet. But then the show turned drastically into a real super sentai, with giant robots. So I dropped it.

Another one I remember is Tunnel series, this one a novel. I always love underground story. The first three books is about the MC traveling the mysterious world below our earth. It's dangerous and fascinating at the same time. But when the 4th book come, the authors decided to throw neo-nazi, evil-Jews-in-disguise and something about earth is a spaceship into the story.