>introduce a fuckton of characters>do nothing with 90% of themWhy is this so common in anime and manga? A lot of them advertise themselves on having lots of characters, but that usually ends up being a lie as only a handful actually meaningfully contribute to the story and its themes. So you end up with all these characters that could easily be cut without losing anything eating up screentime with pointless padding and being plastered all over the marketing and merchandise like they're important.
>>286643579Their editors literally pressure them into introducing new characters from time to time, especially if they are long-runners like the Big 3.
>>286643579they're released too early
>>286643579fanficCHADs can make AUs with them creativelets wouldn't understand
>>286643579because manga has almost no planning as you dont know when you will be axed so you draw shit and see what sticks