Is popularity worth it? Balancing quality and quantity.

Missaliensan said:
I guess the more popular you are,the more you are going to attract people that are into you just because of your fame.At some point it’s going to spiral out of control and you’re probably going to find yourself entangled in a multitude of relationships that you simply do not care about.Well at least that’s my interpretation of it,I’ve never been a popular person myself in anything,so take it with a grain of salt.

midascruzer said:
Popularity is bad when the author doesn't have the willpower to pursue his vision. When he submits to the fans.

If you don't particularly care about money or pleasing everybody then gaining popularity should be fine.
Well, at least without bringing toxic fans into the equation.

Shicchi said:
Yes it is. The more popular a series is, the more content I'll get. It's important.

AnimeSuckABit said:
Most of the time, when an anime is popular, it has more freedom to explore and create things.


On the other hand, an anime not popular gets cancelled.


Yes for sure sometimes an anime can get bad because of popularity but everything has a cost I guess

Camus482 said:


True that. But I also feel like the more popular a series, the more the creator is influenced by external factors. This might lead to the creator to produce content below their usual standards.

e.g. bad spin-offs and adaptations, rushed content, etc etc.

InkSpider said:
I won't say that popularity necessarily harms the creative process in itself, but there are two major ways it can screw over art.

When popularity leads to external financial investment and control, the artistic merit of a work will, almost without exception, get screwed. It's the reason so many film adaptations (and Hollywood productions in general, really) are drab and awful; a producer or some other higher-up with no real artistic talent or vision puts so much money into a film, they decide it's up to them, not the artists, what the end result should be. And what the end result usually ends up as is fucking garbage. It's why I don't watch movies, at least not often.

The other potential problem with popularity is that it feeds the artist's ego. An artist who believes they are already great will not improve.

Shicchi said:

That possibility is unfortunate yeah, however I prefer that over not getting any content ever again. I believe, popular series should have just milk their popularity and keep making content for fans.
As long as the characters are not ruined/act out of character, I'm good.
I can live off fanwork, but canon will always much better.
Boruto is a mistake though. They should have just make movies or spin-offs of Naruto doing Hokage work, etc. Or a spin-off about the Village of Sand (sorry I forgot the name of Gaara's village).
Prince of Tennis is one that I think doing it right. The main series is finished, but the author decided to continue the story. There are plenty of room for spin-off as well as continuation. The team already made spin-offs and movies and stage plays, even character songs. It's huge. And that's the way I like it best ;D

rommelcedric said:
Gotta respect creators who, in spite of demand and popularity, stick it their vision. I respect creators who know when to end a story without giving in to the temptation of milking the property. I personally prefer shorter series because of this.

Then again, there have been series that have mostly maintained a level quality even after years worth of episodes and arcs. I have no problem with that personally. But that’s rare, I think. And even the best long-running anime series have had some less than stellar episodes and arcs.

Nurguburu said:
Popularity is good when there is quality. No series becomes popular without quality. It is literally impossible for a show to lack quality unless you have a toxic fanbase.

Xstasy said:
Obviously it is, if something is popular that means that a lot people have enjoyed it.
Quality is subjective anyways one persons trash is anothers treasure.