One thing I love about anime is that it’s a big tent, with hundreds of smaller genres inside it. Do you love anime with mecha, singing idols, or ecchi jokes? You can find something to watch. Are you into an obscure sport and want to watch an anime about that? Anime has your back. For shounen genre fans, there are many great shows to choose from…although more often than not you’ll have to work through hundreds of episodes. I asked J-List customers how they felt about long anime, and got some great replies!
Why Do Never-Ending Anime Exist?
First of all, the trend of anime fitting nicely into four cours (seasons) of 12 or 24 episodes is relatively recent. Back in the old days, anime series used to have many more episodes. For example, all the classic Gundam series would start running in April and end the following March around episode 50, to match the Japanese school year. These days anime series like this are rare, outside of a few legendary shows that are in a category all by themselves.
The cour system — splitting a year into four seasons, and having anime generally fit into 12- or 13-episode blocks — was introduced in the 1980s when Japanese dramas were becoming popular. It was hard for studios to hire popular actors because of filming schedule conflicts, so shows were broken into smaller chunks which made scheduling easier. As the bursting of the anime licensing bubble in 2006 forced studios to get smarter about how to market anime, it became the standard. Outside of certain shows that are very popular, this standard will likely never change.
Do You Like Long Anime Series? Why or Why Not?
It depends on why it’s long. If the length is due to large amounts of filler (Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, Dragonball Z), then I’ll skip it. If its length is due to the length of the story (Dragonball Z: Kai), then I’m fine.
If you can’t tell a good story in 25 episodes, you’re either a trash writer or you’re milking an audience. Either way, your show is getting skipped.
This question is iffy. FMA Brotherhood was 76 episodes, and I believe and needed all of them to tell a good story. Condensing a long-running manga or light novel to 25 episodes is cutting way more than it should.
Sailor Moon remains the only non-draggy super-long anime series that is pretty much consistently good IMO, so I think quality should be the justification for an anime to have more than 100 episodes, rather than just popularity. (I’m looking at you, Toei & Pierrot).
People can’t handle long animes cause they’re too used to instant gratification.
I will never watch One Piece no matter what anyone tells me to.
It varies. Most stories benefit greatly from a concise run. However, once a show reaches several hundred episodes, it’s no longer a story, but a setting within which to tell numerous stories with a cast of already familiar characters. This can also unfortunately lead to stagnation.
The longest anime I’ve watched in the past decade or so has been Non Non Biyori, which got 36 TV episodes spread out over three seasons, 3 OVAs, and one movie. Most other anime I watch these days don’t get more than 12 episodes and maybe an OVA. I’m lucky Jahy even got 20 eps.
It depends. I’m definitely a fan of a certain magical franchise.
I bailed on Bleach after Orihime got captured but they delayed her rescue to tell a side story. I noped out at that point.
I always tell myself, “The show must be good if they haven’t canceled it yet”. But I’m also biased because I watch One Piece.
No creative work that goes on without end stays good forever. It will eventually go into a formulaic holding pattern and become bland white noise. And it’s OK to like that. It’s kind of nice to have a “comfort zone anime” to tune in to every week. But I prefer a satisfying ending.
I’m currently working through the 200s of Detective Conan.
What does Peter think about extremely long anime? I’m generally on record as someone who doesn’t like Shounen genre anime, perhaps because I love the variety and complexity that shin’ya (late-night) anime offers so much more. With each new season, a new Made in Abyss or Scum’s Wish or Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song might be waiting for us, offering a totally fresh story to tickle our imaginations. How could I give that up to watch 1,000 episodes of Luffy trying to become the Pirate King?
Thanks for reading this blog post about long anime, and how different fans feel about them. What about you? Tell us whether you enjoy long anime running for 300-1000 episodes, in the comments below!
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