Why are sequels not as good as the opening story?

Since I was a kid I was always fascinated by stories whether it be novels, movies, tv-series or anime. The way they wrote the stories, fired one’s imagination into some parallel world but as I grew up I started to notice that usually, the sequels of the stories were not as good as the ones written earlier with only a few exceptions to it, I mean I can give you a whole list of movies, series, novels, and anime for it be it:

• Mirzapur
• Sacred games
• Pyar ka panchnama
• Now you see me
• Hangover
• Creed
• Transformers
• Game of thrones
• Big bang theory
• 13 Reasons why
• Attack on titans
• One punch man

And the list can go on forever. You can also add some movies to it which you think I missed.

Today we will try to dig deeper into this problem and try to find the various reasons for it.

Well, there can be a certain number of reasons for it, but we will be discussing the ones which have a major impact on the story and cast.

1. The Time-limit: when the first season or the first book is written the writer has ample time in his hand and has no pressure regarding the time limit but as soon as the first season hits the screens and if it’s a hit, the production company starts to build pressure on the writer to give the production house the sequel of the story which usually leads to poor scriptwriting because all the production team wants is to make money and it can only be done by a sequel so we even get to see sequels of some novels and web series which don’t even deserve a second season.
2. Expectations: Usually when the first season is released the expectations are pretty low on it to be a good story. It is just in human nature, you never expect from a stranger you expect from a relative or a luminary and the new actors or the novels do not check any of those boxes but due to the gripping story. The audience falls in love with it and now expects more out of the sequel.
3. Always want better: We tend to always expect better but what we don’t realize is that the first story or the script might be one of his best works as he gave all his time and dedication to it without expecting something in return.
4. Money crunch: As the series progresses towards fame the actors charge a hefty amount for a single episode and the producer might not be willing to put in extra bucks. So what happens is that they have to cut short the budget for the set and the quality of the set decreases many folds.

This trend can not only be seen in web series, novels, and anime but also in the music industry, and many of the singers and songwriters have spoken on it openly about how it’s decreasing the quality of the songs in Bollywood and other music industries.

How can we change this?

There must be a question coming to your mind like how can we change this and is it an endless loop where all the stories will have the same fate? Well, the answer is yes we can change it and no all the stories are not going to share the same fate. Let’s talk about some stories which got better and better with each sequel like:

1. Breaking bad

2. Friends

3. Naruto

4. Batman

5. The Demon cycle

6. One-piece

The thing they all share in common is not just about they got better and better but also that they knew both the sides of the story i.e the beginning and the end of the story and after that, all they had to do next is to fill in the story without any plot holes in which the directors and the authors are good at.

The rest of the industry can get a good picture from it and maybe one day we all can watch a sequel with the same excitement as the first part.