On next episode...nothing?

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A bit of a light topic today, but still one I've taken note of.

Remember when previews used to tell you something about next episode? When the characters used to discuss what would happen next time? I do.

Cardcaptor Sakura was an example of this 'old' style of episode previews. Sakura would talk on and on and ask all sorts of entertaining rhetorical questions about what Clow Card hijinks she would get into the next time around. It was nice and informative.

Azumanga Daioh was on the good side as well. It's preview corner was a bit random at times, but frequently correlated, if not only in a vague manner, to some form of event in the next episode. It often was a discussion between a group of characters as well, which I admit added to the amusement.

But somewhere, things began to change. Frequently the preview section became less of a story about next time and more of an omake corner for the characters.

Lucky Star's previews are an example of this trend. While the scenes in the background vaguely correlate to next episode, the voice-overs are anything but, as Konata and crew rant about, among other things, dreadnoughts, ingrown fingernails, and the 1up trick in Super Mario Brothers. Unsuprisingly, none of these actually show up in the show.

Perhaps Lucky Star is a bad example, however, given that it is a highly random 4-koma show.

But the famed (or perhaps infamed?) Haruhi isn't much better in that regards. The episode previews are on the short and sweet side, as while the scenes scroll by in the background, Haruhi and Kyon simply argue about what episode number it is. On the DVD versions, there's no talking at all! Just a bunch of sitting around and watching, before Yuki announces the next episode title.

Tokimeki Memorial, to go to a different production studio, is quite off the wall as well. While it features relevant scenes, the discussions within are...random, in that I can't draw any correlation from them to the actual content of the episodes.

Kanon, a recent production, is a bit better in that it features no voice-over at all, but rather a bunch of normally-voiced clips from the next episode. But of course, these are sometimes mixed up to confuse the viewer (the classic false cliffhanger, although Kanon has plenty), not to mention a bit on the ADHD side.

Da Capo's a reverse in this regard, as it features solely a real-life shot of a sakura tree (a seeming theme of the series, if anything else), while the characters discuss, vaguely, next episode.

But all these previews pale in comparison to the king of episode previews, at least in what I've watched so far, sola.

As in Da Capo, it features no real footage whatsoever, instead subbing in a shot of the sky. But unlike Da Capo, the characters treat this as a corner to discuss random things. One time they do tongue twisters. Another they play shiritori. Sometimes they just talk on about history. But in any case, the only vaguely relevant thing to next episode is the mysterious-sounding title.

Where did it go wrong?

Or did it? It's really uncertain how many people would bother to watch episode previews for the previews themself, so maybe the switch to more lighthearted content is a way to lighten up a serious series (as sola seems to be headed toward). It's not a great loss anyway, especially for people like me that watch old series that they can download and watch at any time.

But still, I feel like it's a bit of a loss, to not have a bit of a spark to generate interest and possible theories towards next episode, even if those theories are widely off the mark.

-CCY