With an interesting premise and an animation house
like David
Production behind it, the anime adaptation of “ Undead Unluck ”
was shaping up to become one of the dominant series of the Fall-2023
season (October-December) . However, in the opinion of quite a few fans
on social media, the series remains with a disappointing reception even
though the quality is completely what was expected.
With Yuuki Yase ( Fire Force,
Monogatari Series, Mekakucity Actors ) directing, Gakuto
Haishima ( Fire Force ) as screenwriter, and Hideyuki
Morioka ( Fire Force, Monogatari Series ) as
character designer, “Undead Unluck” seemed to have the perfect formula for
stand out in its debut season. However, different situations came
together against this project, preventing it from completely taking off and
remaining “just another regular series.”
But what caused this sensation? Fans began to
debate about it on a popular comment forum, and the arguments are more than
interesting:
- « Obviously,
I can't definitively say that the anime is a success based on this or that
metric, but I do have a fun observation that I can share. I recently
returned from a several-week vacation to Japan, and while I was there, I
couldn't help but notice the variety of anime products I encountered and,
in some ways, perhaps even the lack of variety. Of all the seasonal anime
currently airing, I watched a lot of Undead Unluck and Tokyo Revengers
merchandise, but very little to no anything else, including Sousou no
Frieren. While I'm sure Frieren will sell more volumes of manga than
Undead Unluck if online purchases are included, I found it interesting
that, from my point of view as a consumer, Undead Unluck was currently
more marketable in terms of physical merchandise. If an anime is meant to
boost manga and merchandise sales, then I was definitely pretty excited to
see that. I have been following this manga since the first chapter, so I
would love for it to have more traction here in the West .
- « It
seemed to have very little publicity or building hype before its debut,
not to mention the Disney Plus exclusivity that ended up killing it. I
love this series and I've been trying to get all my friends to watch it,
but for some reason they just aren't interested. I hope people are
encouraged because I would be devastated if there is no second season .
- « If
the main objective of an anime adaptation is to increase manga sales or
have good merchandising sales and it does neither, then yes, it is a
failure. We love Undead Unluck and most of us have been fans for years, so
it's a bitch to admit that the anime - despite its incredible quality - is
so unpopular right now, but it's the honest truth .
- « It
is not damning to say that so far the anime has not boosted the popularity
of the series at all. Yes, it is saying that the manga will be canceled
because of this or that it is guaranteed that there will never be a second
season. That's definitely doomposting. But pointing out that the anime has
not worked as well as we expected is not to be catastrophic .
- « I
don't think it's a failure yet, I still say that maybe when the English
dub comes out, people will give it more hype. And who knows, it could be a
niche anime with a large underground audience. For now we do not have all
the episodes. Unfortunately, not every series becomes a success overnight .
- « I
hate that mediocrity is now considered a failure, how is it that being
average is a failure? You meet the standards of quality and popularity,
you just don't surpass them, that doesn't mean you've failed, it's like
reprimanding someone for crossing the finish line but not running 15 more
meters or something like that .
- « I
knew I wasn't going to be at the level of the big ones, not even close,
but I hope I do well enough. I really like this series, especially the
second story arc and I have been reading it from the beginning .
- « No
idea, since I haven't been able to see it because Hulu has the
exclusivity. What a stupid idea they had .
- « I
usually pirate my animes (I'm a minor with no income and my parents hate
anime), just by watching them on pirate sites, and the good thing about
this is that you can see which animes are new and which are popular.
Undead Unluck has reached at least 6 on the leaderboard, and I discovered
it for the first time there because I like to try all new anime and this
one seems really good to me, probably the most unique and special anime of
the season .
- " The
reason it's probably not as popular elsewhere is because when an overrated
streaming service has the rights to a NEW anime, I'm not sure many people
are going to watch it ."
- « Mass
appeal is a strange thing that no one knows how to capture. It doesn't
matter if something is good if it is launched in a market that has little
desire for it. The series simply only has a niche appeal .
- « Many
things start out strong and struggle to maintain their strength at all
times, Undead Unluck is the complete opposite, it starts out weak but gets
stronger and better over time, until we get about halfway to where we are
now and it peaked and basically never stopped. If Undead Unluck has more
seasons and goes further, it could attract a lot more people in the later
arcs .
- « Also
from personal experience, the original “hook” of the series in its
description throughout (“unlucky girl helps a guy who can't die find a way
to die”) did not attract me to watch it. It seems like a strange black
comedy. I didn't know that bad luck was a real power that is used in
creative and interesting ways, for example; I was only expecting things
like “ha ha, our protagonist is clumsy .”
- « The
only thing that worries me about new anime is if mangakas start receiving
too many hate messages, like the author of Attack on Titan. At least an
anime means the manga can last as long as intended, rather than being
canceled or rushed. It's best to ignore how other fans act if it bothers
you, since you can't control them. Look for users you like who post
content for Undead Unluck, and continue to focus on them as it gains
popularity . »
- « It
hasn't received a big boost in sales as would be typical for a series like
this. That being said, a second season may not be completely out of the
question, especially considering that David Production loves the series
and that they have a tendency to work for 2 seasons of 24 episodes for all
the series they release. And we have already confirmed big news for the
series dropping just after the anime ends which could very well be an
announcement of a second season or possibly movie .
- « No,
he's doing his job. Undead Unluck is not the type of manga that has
traction like Jujutsu Kaisen or Chainsaw Man, and there are still many
people who start anime with dub or manga. For its scale and despite the problems,
it is doing very well .
- « Honestly,
the anime would go up one or possibly two whole numbers for me if it just
didn't have all those flashbacks, especially to the events that literally
just happened two minutes ago. I'm also not a big fan of freezing frames
every time you use special abilities .'
Source: Reddit
