Mini Vs. Maxi series

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 6:24 pm

Anime is much like books. I enjoy scifi, short stories pack so much into a few words, but I couldn't imagine the Dune series being any shorter, there are so many plots involved.

Anime can give so much in a short time, such as in Voices of a Distant Star, such a wonderful story in just 30 minutes. Then, I think Fushugi Yugi is the longest anime that I have watched the whole series, it would be unfair to shorten some stories by cutting any of the plot lines out. Some anime is dragged on forever because the fans, most likely young fans, love it and will tune in to it again and again. Dragonball series, Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, the Gundams and others are like this. The fans don't mind the repetetive and drawn out plots ( Goku screaming for three episodes while powering up), they just want to see their favorite characters.

KingSchwill · Post by **KingSchwill** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:04 pm

Point oldwrench but the dune series was written over how many years? The thing is anime is done in (good stuff, years: bad stuff decades)instalments and shared immediatly with fans for their view. Literature is done deliberatly over years with the full effects of a persons criticizm weighing in over the long haul, so the writer isn't pandering but can gauge everyones reaction and sit on it till their own view is established

EmilLang1000 · Post by **EmilLang1000** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:10 pm

I'd have to say I agree with the "anime is as long as it need be."

Compare Paranoia Agent and Rurouni Kenshin. Paranoia Agent works as well as it does in only 13 episodes (it actually would have been better with less, in my opinion). Kenshin, on the other hand, needed to be as long as it did, at least up until the Kyoto Arc; after that arc, the following last season was terrible; Kenshin probably should have only been 75 episodes.

Then again, you have things like Ranma 1/2 that don't have any specific, continuous plot per say, but are more like sitcoms. Those can go on for years without becoming bad (Ranma did, up until season 7...)

I'd say the determining factor is the concept of the show; if the show is meant to resolve a very specific, fairly singular conflict, then the show as a whole will be small - anywhere between 6 and 13 shows long, or a quarter to half-season show, FLCL for example; if it's meant to have a fairly complex plot or multiple conflicts, as is the case with Outlaw Star and Trigun, it's the typical one-season-long show; if it's a show with multiple protagonists and a very complex story, especially those involving political affairs like the Gundam shows and Fullmetal Alchemist, they'll probably last for about 50 episodes, or two seasons; and if you have a show with multiple major characters, plot points, arcs, or even no specific linear plot but many characters, then it will probably be an indefinite number of episodes, like Naruto, Detective Conan, Dragonball Z, Urusei Yatsura, and of course, Doraemon.

Adventures are more prone to being long (Yu Yu Hakusho, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragonball Z, Naruto, and One Piece)

Mysteries (FLCL - when you really think about it, it is - Paranoia Agent, etc.) tend to be very short and concise.

Lyricals, or those of greater dramatic or artistic merit, are as concise, if not moreso, than mysteries, and are usually OVAs (Samurai X, Blue Submarine No. 6)

Personal Dramas are religiously 26 episodes (Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion)

Millitary Dramas are normally longer than Personal Dramas, from about 36 to 52 episodes long (Robotech: The Macross Saga, Gundam Seed, Fullmetal Alchemist)

Situationals - those shows that are very episodic and tend to rely on the situation presented in the context of a single or a handful of episodes - can be incredibly long (Detective Conan, Ranma 1/2, Doraemon)

Malificus · Post by **Malificus** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:14 pm

What about the OAVs like the upcoming Helsing which promises to be upwards of 25 episodes?

KingSchwill · Post by **KingSchwill** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:24 pm

EmilLang1000 wrote:I'd have to say I agree with the "anime is as long as it need be."

Compare Paranoia Agent and Rurouni Kenshin. Paranoia Agent works as well as it does in only 13 episodes (it actually would have been better with less, in my opinion). Kenshin, on the other hand, needed to be as long as it did, at least up until the Kyoto Arc; after that arc, the following last season was terrible; Kenshin probably should have only been 75 episodes.

Then again, you have things like Ranma 1/2 that don't have any specific, continuous plot per say, but are more like sitcoms. Those can go on for years without becoming bad (Ranma did, up until season 7...)

I'd say the determining factor is the concept of the show; if the show is meant to resolve a very specific, fairly singular conflict, then the show as a whole will be small - anywhere between 6 and 13 shows long, or a quarter to half-season show, FLCL for example; if it's meant to have a fairly complex plot or multiple conflicts, as is the case with Outlaw Star and Trigun, it's the typical one-season-long show; if it's a show with multiple protagonists and a very complex story, especially those involving political affairs like the Gundam shows and Fullmetal Alchemist, they'll probably last for about 50 episodes, or two seasons; and if you have a show with multiple major characters, plot points, arcs, or even no specific linear plot but many characters, then it will probably be an indefinite number of episodes, like Naruto, Detective Conan, Dragonball Z, Urusei Yatsura, and of course, Doraemon.

Adventures are more prone to being long (Yu Yu Hakusho, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragonball Z, Naruto, and One Piece)

Mysteries (FLCL - when you really think about it, it is - Paranoia Agent, etc.) tend to be very short and concise.

Lyricals, or those of greater dramatic or artistic merit, are as concise, if not moreso, than mysteries, and are usually OVAs (Samurai X, Blue Submarine No. 6)

Personal Dramas are religiously 26 episodes (Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion)

Millitary Dramas are normally longer than Personal Dramas, from about 36 to 52 episodes long (Robotech: The Macross Saga, Gundam Seed, Fullmetal Alchemist)

Situationals - those shows that are very episodic and tend to rely on the situation presented in the context of a single or a handful of episodes - can be incredibly long (Detective Conan, Ranma 1/2, Doraemon)

Inresponse to EmilLang1000 I'ld like to say I've never seen Ranma but i'ld think it is what a rail agianst in both my private and public life. If you think that a few episods of a thoughtful incisive unique story like Paranoia agent , are in any way comprable to god knows how many episode of drooling emotional drivel like Inuyasha (Im assuming thatr Ranma could be substituded here). Then you are just another reason I hate people!

EmilLang1000 · Post by **EmilLang1000** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:31 pm

Inu-Yasha is an Adventure; Paranoia Agent is Mystery. I'm not comparing the two, and in my mind Inu-Yasha should only be about 100 episodes long.

This list is based on only those series that are quintessential to these motifs; that is, based on what has worked, this is my theory as to length per motif. However, this isn't the case all the time. Kenshin, if considered and Adventure, is fairly terse, being less than 100 episodes long; however, if considered a Personal Drama, it's incredibly long, at least twice to thrice as long as the standard.

EmilLang1000 · Post by **EmilLang1000** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:38 pm

Malificus wrote:What about the OAVs like the upcoming Helsing which promises to be upwards of 25 episodes?

Lyricals are usually OVAs; OVAs, though, need not necessarily be a Lyrical; I'd probably go with an Adventure motif; though, then again, this is an expception to the rule, not the rule itself. Some action shows do very well as shorter. However, it's also in how it's presented - it may be a Personal Drama, following the point of view of Seras. We won't be able to tell until it comes out.

KingSchwill · Post by **KingSchwill** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:41 pm

I'm not talking about style I'm talking in general true some anime should be longer, some should be shorter. Paranoia could have stopped at eps. 07 MHz, but the producers had better ideas so they wasted a couple but came back with a definative cap. I'm not saying that one series could make more money and be more famous just one has more artistic merit

riverstar · Post by **riverstar** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:56 pm

Honestly, it would be hard to make a decision that rates a longer anime over a shorter, or vice versa. Animes are made as long, or short, as they need to be. I could name my favs in either category, so there is no way I could say one is better than the other. Ultimately, the difference is in whether the writer/producer is smart enough to know when that end should come (that makes the difference between a great, well-developed show and a horrible, drawn-out, or far too short show). Unfortunately, so many people begin to despise the thought of a longer anime series bc a few don't know when to quit. *cough* inuyasha *cough* The longer ones sometimes just end up being another cash cow.

Malificus · Post by **Malificus** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:59 pm

So you just want the genera sweet spot of anime length?

It doesn't exist. It's like comparing Fooly Cooly and DBZ. Fooly Cooly could probably handle getting longer well, and DBZ could handle getting shorter, but they couldn't be the same length and still be good.