Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-122.55.28.69-20140919023815/@comment-24494906-20150108112841

Ah, I should have mentioned this: I'm quite certain that it was decided to adapt this alternate route from the beginning, because Ishida would need the time to draft the story.

And as for the ending: The Anteiku arc has the property that it almost doesn't matter what happens in the arc before, so I think it wouldn't be too much trouble to transition from the Cochlea arc back into the Anteiku arc.

Furthermore, I just can't believe how Ishida could have produced a drawn draft that covers the whole season. From what little I have seen, his draft looks like his manga and it also seems to be paced like that. If he really drafted a full season, then he should have drafted the equivalent of about 4 volumes - roughly 800 pages of drawings. Honestly, I can't see how he could do that. This was only a sidejob, working on the manga was still his main task. (On the other hand, I've underestimated Ishida a few times in the past...)