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Why are anime producers scared to make long running anime ?

I don't know much about the anime industry, so I can't say for certain why more producers don't make longer-running shows, but I think it's mostly about money and popularity and if the creators can keep up enough creativity to have hundreds or thousands of new episodes.

Most anime are adaptations of visual novels or manga. They become anime because the source shows popularity. Depending on the type of source they're adapting, the length of the anime will vary. There's also the difference between episodic shows and story shows. Episodic shows being like simpsons, family guy, or pretty much any western cartoon. None of them have an over-arching story to which the protagonists are trying to achieve a goal, it's simply a series of skits done in one universe with a set cast. Story shows, however, are much more characteristic of Japanese cartoons, such as Tengen Toppa Guren Lagan, Code Geass, and Sword Art Online, just to list a few. Depending on the creator's vision, these can be more or less difficult to extend than episodic shows because you have to worry about continuity and multiple characters' backstories, and the eventual "goal" that the protagonists achieve which would end the series. Story shows are susceptible to "filler" episodes for various reasons like, they're waiting on the manga, they can't think of a way to move the story forward, or something else. Episodic shows, however, are technically 100% filler because there's no story, so they can just throw whatever they want at it and it'll work. In that sense it might be easier to extend episodic shows over story shows.

Also, I wanted to leave this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anime_series_by_episode_count

I don't have any final point to make, but these are my thoughts on the subject.
 
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Log Horizon's first season has just ended, clocking in at 25 episodes. Great anime. Was announced to get a second season in Fall. Log is adapted from light novels, and the first season covered the first five, omitting barely anything and adding some side story material in its place. Judging by the sixth light novel, things are only going to get better in Season 2 - and, seeing how the author is aiming to write 15 light novel books in total, a third season seems not unlikely. Very likely, if the second season is as popular as the first was, apparently.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood also had like 64 episodes and I dare any of you to call it bad.


I claim that as long as the source material's plot is solidly planned and the author knows what they're writing and there's no stretching the plot in the anime because the source can't keep up, there's no problem with long runners at all.
 
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EA575 said:
Does NO ONE watch the Hunter x Hunter 2011 remake? That's a great example of a long-running anime whose quality hasn't dropped at all. So the rule that the longer the anime, the worse it gets doesn't necessarily apply to every series.
ok hunter x hunter has the story to continue but what about anime that doesnt should they create a villain out of their ass to get a more episodes going
 
5th of dismember said:
ok hunter x hunter has the story to continue but what about anime that doesnt should they create a villain out of their ass to get a more episodes going
Considering the author's situation, Hunter x Hunter is virtually finished. Yeah it's still on hiatus, but I doubt Togashi will come back and make enough chapters in time for the anime to continue the series (it's already too late since they're almost caught up).
Do you mean an anime adaptation where the main story is finished and yet the anime still continues? Can you give an example because it's usually the other way around.
 
EA575 said:
Considering the author's situation, Hunter x Hunter is virtually finished. Yeah it's still on hiatus, but I doubt Togashi will come back and make enough chapters in time for the anime to continue the series (it's already too late since they're almost caught up).
Do you mean an anime adaptation where the main story is finished and yet the anime still continues? Can you give an example because it's usually the other way around.
no i mean just any story anime and manga alike if there is no story to make dont pull something out of your ass if it makes sense and fits in the story then by all means
 
Isn't Hunter x Hunter the series that goes on absurdly long breaks so the author can play Idolmaster for months straight?
 
no that's berserk
Hunter Hunter is the series that gets by with the mangaka submitting scribbles and going on long hiatuses because he's married to the creator of Sailor Moon and they're rich as fuck and he's sick all the time
 
VIVIT_rv00 said:
Log Horizon's first season has just ended, clocking in at 25 episodes. Great anime.

So I read the synopsis and isn't it the same thing as Sword Art Online?
 
XthAtGAm3RGuYX said:
Isn't Hunter x Hunter the series that goes on absurdly long breaks so the author can play Idolmaster for months straight?
He plays Dragon Quest. But Ruin is also right
Guymelef said:
So I read the synopsis and isn't it the same thing as Sword Art Online?
From what I heard, Log Horizon is pretty much what SAO should have been :p
 
Honestly, if you're making an anime, just make it as long as you need it to be. If you got a quick story that you can tell real quick and stick a shit ton of rad shit in there for good measure, great, go make FLCL. If you have a very long involved drama that needs time to grow it's suspense and characters, go make Legend of the Galactic Heroes. After that, it's more of a matter of the audiences personal taste.

The issue of length comes up if hurts the story more than it helps it If you're milking shit for cash to the detriment of the work itself, then you should probably end it and stop being a scumbag.

Ruin said:
no that's berserk
Hunter Hunter is the series that gets by with the mangaka submitting scribbles and going on long hiatuses because he's married to the creator of Sailor Moon and they're rich as fuck and he's sick all the time
He's also sitting on Yu Yu Hakusho money, so that helps.
 
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The reason why there are long running anime in the first place is because they're built on established manga or novels in the first place, so they practically have most of the material to pull off long seasons in the first place.
And that comes with its own problems, such as the anime very rapidly catching up to source material, which means the studio has to pad episode length (Attack on Titan, One Piece), be cut short (Bleach, and again Attack on Titan) or be forced to make an offshoot ending that isn't true to the source material (Fullmetal Alchemist, Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro)

When it comes to anime that doesn't have an established source material in the first place, they tend to be short because not only does the studio have a rough idea of how the story will go, but they have no need to slow down their pace if it brushes against any source material, because the anime is the source material.

The last two things I can't go into too much detail are TV space and money. I'm pretty sure we're aware of money being practically the driving force behind a lot of things and how budgeting is a thing, but studios are also at the mercy of broadcasting stations because timeslots have to be booked in advance, so original anime also have to be planned around that in advance as well.
 
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Why would you want long running anime? Some people just want a story that tells what it wants to tell. There's a good reason why a lot of people think the big 3 are shit.

The only exceptions are if it's separate stories like JJBA or Gintama.
 
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XthAtGAm3RGuYX said:
The only somewhat long runners I can think of that werent begging for death near the end of their run were DragonBall, and Ghost In The Shell. Pokemon was fine too.
GitS wasn't even long and it had quite a few Standalone episodes that were just short stories with no relation to the main plot.
 
Guymelef said:
So I read the synopsis and isn't it the same thing as Sword Art Online?

I haven't watched SAO. From what I know, it's a classic shounen hero story in the guise of an MMORPG.
That's basically not what Log Horizon is - Log deals with politics, building a society from scratch and exploration of a known yet unknown world, investigating its own setting thoroughly and dealing with the questions that arise.
The strength of the main character lies in his intelligence, his ability to strategize, support allies and coordinate raids or parties, as his class is terrible at solo combat - he needs his allies, but he's also quite socially awkward, so that makes for an interesting lead.
 
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ashxu said:
GitS wasn't even long and it had quite a few Standalone episodes that were just short stories with no relation to the main plot.

That's why it worked. And I'd say the whole series was fairly long.

Ghost In The Shell Movie(82 Minutes)
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence(100 minutes)
Stand Alone Complex(26 episodes)
2nd Gig(26 episodes)
Solid State Society(110 minutes)
Arise(Still in production, 3 episodes finished currently)

So in total 52 episodes with more in the pipeline, and 292 Minutes of film which is just short of 5 hours. If you want the whole GITS experience, there is a lot of content to catch up on and I would certainly call it a long series.
 
I rarely watch long-running anime because like others said the quality tends to stagnate after a few seasons. However Gintama is one of the few exceptions where it actually gets better as more episodes are made.

About why there aren't many long running shows that is pretty self-explanatory. They require a significant time investment compared to shorter works and have to be popular for an anime adaption to be considered renewed for several more seasons.
 
EA575 said:
He plays Dragon Quest. But Ruin is also right
From what I heard, Log Horizon is pretty much what SAO should have been :p

I'd have to agree and this is coming from an SAO fan. My biggest problem with SAO was that it felt too rushed like it was a cliff's notes of a bigger and broader story. (That and I wanted more of Alfheim) I think SAO is an example of why some anime SHOULDN'T be 25 episodes long. BTW, could we please find another whipping boy other than SAO to use in these discussions? (I get it. People don't like it. It's not like it's the only bad anime you can use for an example)

Speaking of which, SAO is due for a Season 2. (Although I wish it wouldn't adapt Gun Gale. I don't want Metal Gear Solid MMO w/ "She-rito")
 
I honestly don't believe it's at all possible to make a really long running anime with an actual central goal. It has to be either a journey sort of thing, where the running goal is super loose so 90% of it is adventures on the way to the goal, or have no real centralized goal at all (like american cartoons.) If you try to actually tell one big story instead of 1000 small stories, you end up with a big problem somewhere along the way where it just seems silly that the characters haven't achieved whatever they were trying to achieve. And then you look down and realize you've been beating a large pile of bonemeal that used to be a dead horse.
It's all about the expanded universe- don't just tell one story, tell a whole bunch of them and weave a massive web of canon. I think that's the biggest reason One Piece is doing so much better than Naruto and Bleach right now.

LordTerminal said:
BTW, could we please find another whipping boy other than SAO to use in these discussions?
No.
I'm going to write a 1000 page essay on all the reasons Asuna is the worst character in anime history.

Sanger Zonvolt said:
Remember when Pokemon used to be a decent watch? My childhood does.
Pokemon was never a good show.
You just didn't use to care about whether or not the show was good. You cared about having an adorable pet that could shoot fire out of its mouth when you wanted it to.
 
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Horseman said:
No.
I'm going to write a 1000 page essay on all the reasons Asuna is the worst character in anime history.

Except that's technically Oberon's fault for that. That's who deserves the damn 1000 page essay: Oberon.
 
LordTerminal said:
Except that's technically Oberon's fault for that. That's who deserves the damn 1000 page essay: Oberon.
I would say Rolo Halberton is the most deserving.
 
LordTerminal said:
Except that's technically Oberon's fault for that. That's who deserves the damn 1000 page essay: Oberon.
Oh, she was terrible long before oberon. Not that oberon is a good villain or anything, but the problem with him is that he never had a personality. He's just pure evil and that's it, there's nothing interesting about him past that. Like a Disney movie villain with none of the flavor and awkward sexual stuff thrown in.
I think the main thing that annoys me about Asuna is that in the first episode she's great, but when she comes back they're just like "fuck it let's make her a tsundere!"
By the time she gets married to Kirito she has about as much personality as the old man that teaches you how to use pokeballs. I believe I described her character as kind of like Algernon from Flowers for Algernon, except instead of losing her intelligence she's losing everything that made her interesting.
Going with this trend, I expect Asuna to be replaced by an anime body pillow in the next season.
 
yo spoilers? Can we use spoiler tags please.
 
Horseman said:
I honestly don't believe it's at all possible to make a really long running anime can go with an actual strong running goal. It has to be either a journey sort of thing, where the running goal is super loose so 90% of it is adventures on the way to the goal, or have no real centralized goal at all (like american cartoons.) If you try to actually tell one big story instead of 1000 small stories, you end up with a big problem somewhere along the way where it just seems silly that the characters haven't achieved whatever they were trying to achieve. And then you look down and realize you've been beating a large pile of bonemeal that used to be a dead horse.
It's all about the expanded universe- don't just tell one story, tell a whole bunch of them and weave a massive web of canon. I think that's the biggest reason One Piece is doing so much better than Naruto and Bleach right now.
And this is why One Piece is the most popular series in Japan
 
EA575 said:
And this is why One Piece is the most popular series in Japan
I have a bad history with people who bring this up. =w="
 
Sanoblaze said:
I have a bad history with people who bring this up. =w="
Popularity =/= the best. And I'm talking about the manga, not the anime (the anime is pretty terrible). But in terms of volume sales, merchandise, etc. it's hard to deny it isn't the most popular
 
Guymelef said:
yo spoilers? Can we use spoiler tags please.
I would have tagged it, but I honestly don't think I spoiled anything significant unless you're really bad at picking up on generic anime sexual tension.
 
EA575 said:
Popularity =/= the best. And I'm talking about the manga, not the anime (the anime is pretty terrible). But in terms of volume sales, merchandise, etc. it's hard to deny it isn't the most popular
well, yeah. XD as long as you don't say popularity =/= quality, I am good with that.

but I would say Kamen Rider though is a strong contender for (if not, actually is) Japan's most popular.
 
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Most animes, especially long running ones are primarily designed to push sales of manga, light novels and/or toys. At lot of the revenue they generate comes from one or more of those three things. Especially pushing the sales of the source material is a big reason.

If certain shows that precede a source material (manga or light novel) and are 13~26 or less then it's often a matter of money or it's what the show is contracted for. Likewise, if a manga or light novel sees moderate success, then studios may contract a limited run to increase popularity and sell the mangas/light novels.

There has been a shift as of late with long running anime series now to give them a hiatus if they catch up to the source material but remain profitable for TV and Manga. Fairy Tail is a good examples of this I believe.
 
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Yeah, I think most people have said what needs to be said about it, but most anime is basically just a giant advertisement for the manga and/or merchandise. Hence why so many anime series jump the gun in their adaptations and start making the show long before the manga is even close to finished (Fullmetal Alchemist original series, Attack on Titan, Soul Eater, the list goes on and on).

And why so many adaptations tend to be really faithful until about halfway through when the writers have to start making shit up in order to make the story reach a premature conclusion. It's a stupid way of making adaptations, but time and again anime producers insist on it.

Long runners tend to be exactly the same, except that instead of pulling an ending out of their ass, the writers just pad out the series with insane amounts of filler to allow the manga/whatever it's adapted from time to catch up to the pace of broadcasting. Either way, it's not a smart way to approach storytelling, but this really isn't the execs' goal anyways.

It's my opinion that short-format original anime series are best, for this reason. There's no manga to catch up with or pull ahead of, there's no worries about the show being a merchandising ploy for something else, it's just a fun ride and if it garners enough interest, it might just get a sequel.
 
XthAtGAm3RGuYX said:
That's why it worked. And I'd say the whole series was fairly long.

Ghost In The Shell Movie(82 Minutes)
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence(100 minutes)
Stand Alone Complex(26 episodes)
2nd Gig(26 episodes)
Solid State Society(110 minutes)
Arise(Still in production, 3 episodes finished currently)

So in total 52 episodes with more in the pipeline, and 292 Minutes of film which is just short of 5 hours. If you want the whole GITS experience, there is a lot of content to catch up on and I would certainly call it a long series.
Those are 3 different things though, they only share the same characters but aren't related so it doesn't count. You can watch Arise without watching anything else and you won't be missing out on anything.
 
That is not a fair assessment. Arise is a prologue. Therefore it happens before anything else in the series.

All of them are related. They are in the same universe, same characters, and occur in a set time period relative to other canon events in the series including the minimal character growth. For example, the reason why SAC spoiler
Motoko doesnt straight up die at the end of stand alone complex, is a result of her old self merging with the autonomous AI at the end of the original movie.

If I remember correctly that is but im pretty sure I do. That part of the movie also has relevance to Solid State Society.

But if you hold true to what you said, you must also state that ALL of the sagas in DragonBallZ are not related in any way whatsoever just because Buu Saga happens like 9 years after Cell Saga.
 
can we all just agree that gundam is awesome and be done with it
aside from seed
seed is trash
 
Ruin said:
can we all just agree that gundam is awesome and be done with it
aside from seed
seed is trash
well of course. everyone knows SEED is garbage and anyone who likes it deserves to be burned at the stake.
 
XthAtGAm3RGuYX said:
That is not a fair assessment. Arise is a prologue. Therefore it happens before anything else in the series.

All of them are related. They are in the same universe, same characters, and occur in a set time period relative to other canon events in the series including the minimal character growth. For example, the reason why SAC spoiler
Motoko doesnt straight up die at the end of stand alone complex, is a result of her old self merging with the autonomous AI at the end of the original movie.

If I remember correctly that is but im pretty sure I do. That part of the movie also has relevance to Solid State Society.

But if you hold true to what you said, you must also state that ALL of the sagas in DragonBallZ are not related in any way whatsoever just because Buu Saga happens like 9 years after Cell Saga.
No they're not, the original movies, the anime series + movie and Arise aren't related. They're not prequels or sequels to each other.
 
Dude are you fucking serious right now? Who put you up to this? Ya cant be srs
 
XthAtGAm3RGuYX said:
Dude are you fucking serious right now? Who put you up to this? Ya cant be srs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell#Animated_Films

"Ghost in the Shell: Arise is another animated iteration that takes place in yet another alternate setting"
"In 2002, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex premiered on Animax, presenting a new telling of Ghost in the Shell independent from the original manga"
 
How did Sailor Moon survive like 200 episodes...
 
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