2017 web novel The Beginning After The End announced an update on its upcoming anime adaptation. Crunchyroll will be broadcasting the show’s first episode in April 2025. IGN FanFest 2025 recently sat down with the series’ author, Brandon Lee (TurtleMe). He shares what led his career journey to supervise the anime’s production.
TBATE is A Tapas Original
TurtleMe began writing The Beginning After The End as a hobby. He tells IGN Interviewer Kim Horcher that he was inspired by Eragorn’s fantasy epic and Mushoku Tensei’s reincarnation. When he began, writing the story was his outlet after finishing shifts at his financial job. TurtleMe later adapted a writing schedule as his story progression attracted readers. That’s when online web novel publisher, Tapas contacted him for a chance to self-published his chapters. The Beginning After The End became one of the site’s original and most-read stories during its prime in 2017.
It was not long before TurtleMe’s story was adapted into an English manhwa in 2018. Then-manga illustrator Fuyuki23 and Kisai Entertainment were in charge until June 22nd, 2023. The Beginning After The End’s web novel has 1,511 chapters with the manga reaching five seasons. On Sept. 21st, 2024, TurtleMe on his X (then Twitter) announced partnering with a new art studio, MGK-Story for the sixth season.
Developing TBATE’s Anime
When Horcher asked about The Beginning After The End’s anime, TurtleMe happily shared about the process behind the scenes. “There were a lot of advocates who tried to adapt [the manga] into an anime,” he responded, “Crunchyroll, Tapas, and I had this discussion for a really long time. As soon as everything was moving in the right direction and the parts were coming together, Studio A-Cat was the one who volunteered.”
In an exclusive Crunchyroll interview on Feb. 12th, TurtleMe explained how he entrusted anime director Keitaro Motonaga with his story. “[Motonaga] knew of my story before it was pitched to him. He and I had a small conversation online wondering what drew him to The Beginning After The End. I could tell that [Motonaga] had read my manhwa and also dove into the novel as well. A-Cat has reassured me that I can be more involved and work together towards a strong, story-driven anime.”
The Begining After The End Concerns
Spectators and fans shared mixed opinions about The Beginning After The End’s anime adaptation. Under the IGN interview, the top comment reads, “Holy cope. How does everyone in the comments all agree it doesn’t look that bad? For a top novel on Tapas, this is literally a disappointment. I have 0 expectations for any good action animation.” This is probably from TurtleMe’s response when he said the anime is mostly faithful to the original work. However, he wants to respect a few things that Motonaga wants to either add or change.
Some have expected the anime to take a turn for the worse but later grew optimistic after seeing A-Cat’s Episode 1 Preview. Most of them said, “It doesn’t look bad” and “It looks better than I expected!” For an English author to get his story recognized by a broader audience, TurtleMe shows confidence and determination in the project.
