@DylanBuun
here my thought
regardless the plot is going nowhere or somewhere, there is plenty of people liking it just at it is, i.e for romance manga,they like seeing the character they like acting lovey dovey all time just slight different action/theme ( new year,valentine,white day,christmas,etc)
same with action, they just enjoy the fight scene whether its going somewhere or not ( remember plenty of story where mc fight strong enemy, got beaten, training, revenge, win, rinse and repeat ? )
i guess cooking also same, people just want see how the character reaction eating good food.
and for this one, i'd say i enjoyed rank battle very much and character interaction i dont mind if they delayed the mission.
as for manga has been gone for a long time and people forget..
isn't it only happened to story people really not concerned in the first place?
there is plenty of case where manga/anime/game got sequel or remake and people got hyped up right?