Second chance animes/mangas...

[Pokemaster Ash]

Has anyone else ever had a series that they gave up on for whatever reason only to come back and love the series (or at least enjoy it more than they thought they would)? I had that happen recently with Gundam Seed Destiny.

What turned me off to begin with was how little things had changed after the ending of Seed. The Earth Alliance was still overrun with Blue Cosmos bastards (who thought the people of the colonies/ZAFT should be exterminated for no real reason other than genetics) who very easily resorted to trying to use nukes (aren't there better WMDs called Gundams running around?). On top of that, the main pilot of the Impulse Gundam had an almost unhealthy obsession with his family's death, in particular his little sister (whose cell phone he carries around with him the entire series). About the only good part early on in the series is Kira reactivating Freedom Gundam and kicking butt with it.

After a short time without my computer recently, I decided to go back and at least watch the rest of the series (and try to stomach it as best I could), and then I'd be a little more readily able to move onto Gundam 00 and the upcoming Gundam Unicorn. To my surprise, I actually wound up enjoying pretty much everyting after where I left off. The battles were cool, there are a LOT of references to Universal Century as a whole (most of them courtesy of the ZAKU, GOUF, DOM, Impulse Gundam, Destiny Gundam, and the massive Destroy Gundam), and a lot of the idiots who gave me headaches to start the series get what's coming to them.

So has anyone else had similar series they originally didn't like but then liked?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I used to hate Full Metal Alchemist. I thought the opening song Melissa sucked and the series seemed overrated to me. But then I learned the lyrics and began to like the song. I'm also going to buy the manga from a friend of mine if possible. Maybe then I can dig deeper into the plot and understand it better.

Now the opposite of this has been Dragonball. It was the first manga in Finnish language for a long time, after Akira. I liked it very much, but then grew tired of the manga and I still simply can't watch and stand the TV series. I collect the manga again, though.

[classy_cat18]

I used to hate Full Metal Alchemist. I thought the opening song Melissa sucked and the series seemed overrated to me. But then I learned the lyrics and began to like the song. I'm also going to buy the manga from a friend of mine if possible. Maybe then I can dig deeper into the plot and understand it better.

Then I think it's fair to warn you that after a certain point, the manga and the anime go off in different direction. While the anime has finished and released a movie as a definite ending, the manga is still going in Japan. In fact, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood follows the manga storyline more closely. I'd still recommend the original FMA anime, and the movie. The fourth opening is awesome. So read the manga, watch the anime, then wait for FMA: Brotherhood to come in Finnish.

EDIT: Oh, my second chance anime. I'd have to say One Piece for me. I think the dub almost ruined it, but then I started reading the manga and looking for subs. It's actually better than Naruto in my opinion.