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Long Anime - Shorter Versions Worth Watching?

I couldn't think of a good title so I apologize for the crap.

There are many popular anime that people here seem to dislike. Quite a few of them are the ones that drag on forever. My question is if these anime were shorter do you think you'd like them? I'm referring to ones like Naruto, Inuyasha, Yu-Gi-Oh, and even Pokemon.

I actually like many of the ones that seem to go on forever but I agree with those that think they should be shorter.
 

Gatsby42

Member
Nobody minds anime length just because it's long. The problem is that these animes are structurally made without any regard to their mangas and often willingly run into filler territory because they know the majority of fans won't care.

Animes like Naruto and Inuyasha were artificially extended just for the sake of delaying them long enough for the real story to be developed. And no matter what way you look at it, that's a recipe for shitty writing.

Inuyasha in general was an anime that's just a gigantic fanservice circle jerk that took a DBZ esque turn and took the same event, and repeated it for 300 episodes.

I was able to stop watching Naruto right after the Third Hokage died and literally skipped every single episode leading to Shippuden and resumed watching, and I was able to completely understand everything.

Naruto and Inuyasha are by no means bad anime, if anything, at times they can be technical wonders and are entertaining, however they cannot touch complex with a 400 foot pole,and people get ****** off when these series are so blown out of proportion just becayse legions of 11 year olds give their left nuts for it.
 

Hakajin

Obsessive Shipper
It's not the fact that they're long that turn people off to them. If an anime were 300 episodes long, and every episode developed the plot and characterizations, people would still like it. However, most anime that get that long are weighed down by fillers. Those are boring because they don't go anywhere.
 
Sorry, I knew what I wanted to ask but wasn't quite sure how to word it to get my entire point across hence the confusion. ^_^;

See that's what I mean. If they shortened them they'd be taking out the fillers. I was asking if people would be interested in those shows if that happened.
 
Sorry, I knew what I wanted to ask but wasn't quite sure how to word it to get my entire point across hence the confusion. ^_^;

See that's what I mean. If they shortened them they'd be taking out the fillers. I was asking if people would be interested in those shows if that happened.
 

Gatsby42

Member
Probably not, because in the end, on top of being filler consumed these animes are just badly written. After a while I was less enthralled with all the battles in Naruto, less enthralled with Inuyahsa's never ending quest to slay Naroku. These animes don't have the story power for any real longevity. Naruto had more potential then any of them, and it decided to go the DBZ route instead of being something great. So now I mourn it and just try to forget that there were any episodes after the Third Hokage died.
 

Chii

First Time Cosplayer
I personally like the shorter animes because they dont try to stretch the storyline too much and it doesnt drag on like Pokemon. Although it has no story it drags on forever and i find its almost about time they stop airing it. Unlike animes Like Fruits Basket and such, they have very little episode but yet, so much story. And thats what i like in it cus you dont have to wait so long to know a certain thing or you eventually get bored of a show thats too long.

~Chii~
 

Satoshi

リーリエの為に戦ってるトレーナー
Probably not, because in the end, on top of being filler consumed these animes are just badly written.
I disagree if you included Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in that. The manga, despite (in my opinion) losing some of the charm it previously had when Takahashi started focusing on the card game, had a decently flowing story despite its length. The anime, on the other hand, totally destroyed that by skipping the first seven volumes and cramming the events that happened there into the first saga of the anime (not counting Toei's horrible mutilation of a series). Heck, if they did the opposite, they probably would've avoided beating around the bush with one or two filler arcs (they probably wouldn't even have needed filler arcs at all).

Long or short, it doesn't really matter to me as long as they get to the point and don't spend episodes upon episodes focusing on pointless crap. For longer anime, this is much more possible for original productions more or so than adaptations. Unfortunately, most of the time it's the latter, so I end up liking more average-sized productions compared to the lengthy ones.
 
No, there is no matter of length when it comes to whether the said piece of anime/manga is good or not. I guess Yu-Gi-Oh would be more enjoyable if it stopped around volume 7 and not went into the card game aspect that much, so maybe that's an exception in a sense. But if you're saying that Naruto being compiled into a 26 episode anime would make it better? The problem with Naruto isn't it's length, it's many other things, and no matter how short it is nothing will help it unless it was somehow revamped into something completely new or just thrown away in favor of a better project.
 

Kakashi-Sharingan Warrior

Well-Known Member
I don't feel the actual length of the anime is a problem, it's if they have a story to FILL those episodes. I am a big fan of Naruto, but I've stopped watching the anime because of the amount of fillers, and Shippuuden was just so slow-paced (I stopped after the Rescue Gaara arc, but I still read the manga). I do also find that shorter anime tend to have better music and animation, as the budget isn't stretched throughout the many episodes.


I can't imagine Naruto being squashed into 26 episodes, but maybe Part I could have been 51 episodes instead of 135 (I think you could fit it into that size)
 

Kiori

♥Tea for Two♥
I agree with the people above who said that length isn't the problem.

My biggest problem with anime with a huge amount of episodes when the manga is currently running is that those animators/directors will decide to go to fillers, or in the case of Naruto Shippuden, it feels like what I'm seeing is:

*recaps the previous epi for 10+ minutes*
*5 minutes filler of characters just running around o_o*
*5 minutes of introduction to new character/plot*
*Next week's episode preview*

I mean, wtf. >> I'm sorry, but should I waste my time seeing Sai as a "new" character for 3+ episodes and waste 20+ minutes x # of episodes when I can watch something else? They shouldn't drag it for the sake of it. Can't they do something like Prince of Tennis? Make OVAs and stuff so some of us wouldn't be killed by the dragged-on story.

But for some reason, I don't really mind the fillers of Prince of Tennis. =P It's quite funny and entertaining. But this is provided that I didn't really follow the manga so closely as Naruto and Bleach.

As much as I have complaints with the long versions, the short version is also a problem. :/ For example, they completely rushed Itazura na Kiss, imo. I think it deserves more than 26 episodes total. o_O 40's a good number. Why not use that? ;_;

So for watching shorter versions of these popular shows are really a matter of how the storyline is affected. If I feel that it's rushed, I guess it's better for the longer version. That, or I'll just stick to my manga. =_=; And if I feel like it's a drag, I'd rather have them create OVAs like what happened with Prince of Tennis.
 

Yamato-san

I own the 5th gen
I'm surprised no one mentioned Bleach. Its filler is actually pretty good. I mean, the one near the end of the Arrancar arc was pretty iffy (minus the episode with Ikkaku in a kendo club), but otherwise... maybe it helps that Bleach's writers usually manage to come up with entire sagas rather than waste individual episodes dawdling around some crappy one-shot subject for 20 minutes.

I agree with the people above who said that length isn't the problem.

My biggest problem with anime with a huge amount of episodes when the manga is currently running is that those animators/directors will decide to go to fillers, or in the case of Naruto Shippuden, it feels like what I'm seeing is:

*recaps the previous epi for 10+ minutes*
*5 minutes filler of characters just running around o_o*
*5 minutes of introduction to new character/plot*
*Next week's episode preview*

come to think of it, Bleach's Hueco Mundo arc was suffering from this as well until they finally switched to filler mode. I'm serious, I saw my player clock in at over 5 minutes before the recap finally stopped one time.

As much as I have complaints with the long versions, the short version is also a problem. :/ For example, they completely rushed Itazura na Kiss, imo. I think it deserves more than 26 episodes total. o_O 40's a good number. Why not use that? ;_;

that's because one Japanese season (or "cours") is around 12-13 episodes. Notice that a LOT of anime end around some kind of multiple of that number, with the highest usually being around 50 episodes. Very rarely do series extend beyond that number and seemingly break out of the boundaries of cours entirely (but when it does happen, it often occurs with long-running Shounen Jump series).

I will agree with you, though, that making an adaption, with a pre-set number of episodes, while the manga's still running has a tendency to end in some crappy made-up ending with a heavily rushed feeling.
 

Kiori

♥Tea for Two♥
I'm surprised no one mentioned Bleach. Its filler is actually pretty good. I mean, the one near the end of the Arrancar arc was pretty iffy (minus the episode with Ikkaku in a kendo club), but otherwise... maybe it helps that Bleach's writers usually manage to come up with entire sagas rather than waste individual episodes dawdling around some crappy one-shot subject for 20 minutes.



come to think of it, Bleach's Hueco Mundo arc was suffering from this as well until they finally switched to filler mode. I'm serious, I saw my player clock in at over 5 minutes before the recap finally stopped one time.

For some unknown reason, I just stopped with Bleach. Dunno why, but after the Rukia arc, I tried to watch the first couple of episodes; didn't work, and after I just found out that I completed dropped watching it. o_o As I said, I don't have anything against it, just a natural thing that happened to me. But reading what you said, I'll give Bleach another try once I have the time and the willpower to watch it again.

that's because one Japanese season (or "cours") is around 12-13 episodes. Notice that a LOT of anime end around some kind of multiple of that number, with the highest usually being around 50 episodes. Very rarely do series extend beyond that number and seemingly break out of the boundaries of cours entirely (but when it does happen, it often occurs with long-running Shounen Jump series).

But that's the sad part isn't it? It'll take some kind of miracle work for the "rule" to be bent or something. :/ Coz for SA, I don't mind. Gakuen Alice, probably not as much. But for InK it's really a series where I feel that they should bent those "rules" as one of the few exceptions.
 

Kakashi-Sharingan Warrior

Well-Known Member
I agree with the people above who said that length isn't the problem.

My biggest problem with anime with a huge amount of episodes when the manga is currently running is that those animators/directors will decide to go to fillers, or in the case of Naruto Shippuden, it feels like what I'm seeing is:

*recaps the previous epi for 10+ minutes*
*5 minutes filler of characters just running around o_o*
*5 minutes of introduction to new character/plot*
*Next week's episode preview*

I mean, wtf. >> I'm sorry, but should I waste my time seeing Sai as a "new" character for 3+ episodes and waste 20+ minutes x # of episodes when I can watch something else? They shouldn't drag it for the sake of it. Can't they do something like Prince of Tennis? Make OVAs and stuff so some of us wouldn't be killed by the dragged-on story.

But for some reason, I don't really mind the fillers of Prince of Tennis. =P It's quite funny and entertaining. But this is provided that I didn't really follow the manga so closely as Naruto and Bleach.

As much as I have complaints with the long versions, the short version is also a problem. :/ For example, they completely rushed Itazura na Kiss, imo. I think it deserves more than 26 episodes total. o_O 40's a good number. Why not use that? ;_;

So for watching shorter versions of these popular shows are really a matter of how the storyline is affected. If I feel that it's rushed, I guess it's better for the longer version. That, or I'll just stick to my manga. =_=; And if I feel like it's a drag, I'd rather have them create OVAs like what happened with Prince of Tennis.

For once in an anime, I think Itazura na Kiss is one they should have dragged out xD

Also, what's up with To Love Ru? There is loads of the manga that hasn't been in the anime which is only going to be 26 episodes long, but half way through episode 17 they went to FILLERS....
 

Freya

Noam Chompsky
My Personal Opinion:

I dont mind how long an anime is, some just have either shitty plots, shitty scripts, or they try to top their previous Arc with something so outrageous that its just stupid. Those are some problems I have with certain animes, my other points include lack of bewbs and guns larger than the carier but thats for another time.
 

jigglypoof

oldskool pokeshipper
While I personally prefer shorter anime because they're less likely to use a plethora of fillers (and are cheaper to collect ;)), longer anime can be just fine as long as they keep it developed and good (and they don't drag out battles and "arcs" for too long). However, being shorter doesn't make it better. It all depends on the show, I suppose.
 

Satoshi

リーリエの為に戦ってるトレーナー
Also, what's up with To Love Ru? There is loads of the manga that hasn't been in the anime which is only going to be 26 episodes long, but half way through episode 17 they went to FILLERS....
Anime companies are weird like that, but there have been stupider things.

Just look at the first Yu-Gi-Oh! series (the Toei version with the green-haired Kaiba, not the one with the real-looking cards :p). It was twenty seven episodes and a lot of it was composed of original crap, despite having enough material to work with from the manga.

It's quite interesting to imagine what would've happened if they adapted the rest of the manga. Of course, the DM series had retarded changes too, but they weren't as retarded as the first series.
 
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Dude Wheres My Milotic

Milotic Trainer
It depends on the anime really.

Pokemon, in my opinion, had its peak at the beginning, up to the end of the Johto Saga. After that, it kind of just felt the same every episode. It is still a pretty good series, but you can sort of call what is going to happen now.

Animes such as Lucky Star are about 25 episodes long. The series is fun to watch, and since you've only recently started it, you don't really know what is going to happen in each episode, but nothing is really repeated in the end.

All in all, Shorter Versions AND Long Versions are both great, in my opinion.
 
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