Originally Posted by Oracle

The reason why I say new MC is because the MC can't reasonably change past a certain point without it feeling forced, or the problems he faces start appearing trivial. After Kirito survives SAO, what further development can he reasonably attain, or what further problems can he reasonably be confronted with, that live up to trapped in VR and playing to live? The stakes are maximized, and he's already fleshed out as a character by the end of SAO. He can't reliably grow except through other characters, which reeks of the Poochy problem, and all problems after that are trivial because they're reduced stakes.

It also lends to the problem of "MC is the savior of everyone", which is a terrible trope in itself. I can reliably believe that Kirito may be good at an RPG, but to say he's good at every game he plays to the point of becoming known in any he plays is ridiculous, considering his first game he becomes "known" in is because he had several hundred hours of play time heads start as an alpha participant in SAO.

There's nothing that can be done in the SAO storyline that can be anywhere near creative without ditching the baggage that a finished character brings. A new character doesn't have to be tied down except by the rules of the creative universe in which they reside, while an established character is tied down by the rules and their backstory. The longer the backstory, the more rules of their character that need to be followed, and thus less room for development.

Originally Posted by WeooWeoo

Watching Ano Natsu de Matteru.
Cute show, it looks like the company who made Anohana made this as well. But that's just my assumption with the art style.

Originally Posted by NANI

Looked at this thread right when I finished Ano Natsu de Matteru. Was pleasantly surprised to see this post. I enjoyed it very much, and although I wish there was more

Originally Posted by Furry

Budget issues most of the time. Animes are expensive and usually made on an already low budget. They have to fit whatever amount of content into a limited amount of episodes.