Long vs Short Anime Series

There are generally two kinds of anime series these days: those that run for 12 weeks — a single anime “season” — and series that are double this length, running for 24-26 episodes or so. One observation I’ve made, both as a fan and as an anime retailer, is that shorter series tend to have much less impact on fandom than longer shows, and it’s all too common that an excellent 12-episode series which got lots of attention from fans while it was airing will be forgotten the minute the last episode arrives. When’s the last time you thought about Ben-To (an anime about finding half-priced bento at supermarkets), Kannagi (Shinto spirits become real girls who do moe things), Mayo-chiki! (a “reverse trap butler” anime with great character design), NakaImo (a mystery anime in which one of the girls in a harem is secretly the main character’s younger sister), or Chu-Bra! (a show about, er, cute girls and their bras). Individual fans might carry the torch for these shows for years, but as a group fandom seems to forget about them all too quickly, which means fewer figures and other products that allow the animation studios to recover their costs. The series that stay in our hearts for years tend to be longer, like Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, Clannad and Toradora. Of course there are exceptions to the 12-episode-series-are-forgotten-quickly rule, including AnoHana, Angel Beats and Madoka Magica…so maybe the key to making a memorable shorter anime series is to make fans cry? I had found the Kyoto Animation series Chuunibyo Demo Koi ga Shitai to be one of the best-executed shorter anime series ever, with a tight story that entertained on every level, so I was certainly happy to see another season show up!

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