Hello all! Welcome to Jessica's curiosity corner! Where I'll post questions for you as fanS asking for your opinion on certain subjects in the otaku, or general fandom, culture. This info may be used for future Suede vids, but is mostly for us to get to know you guys and your tastes better! Enjoy!
Long running anime: Overwhelming, or exciting?
There are thousands of anime out there, and not to mention the streams of manga that are the origin, or continuation for said entertainment, as well as video games, light novels, movies, etc. Basically, there is an abundance of the otaku culture to delve into. It is overwhelming for anyone, sometimes even the most desiccated Otaku, to decide which series to look into, follow, or really dedicate themselves. One of the most daunting is the long-running anime.
Example: There are many popular anime still going today that have been running for years. Such as Naruto, Bleach, Gintama, Pokemon, etc. There are many more that just have a ton of episodes that, even if they have ended; still has a huge comet’s tale of seasons behind it, such as the Gundam Franchise, Lupin III, Dragonball (Z), etc.
So bids my question to you all today, and I want to invite you guys to discuss in the comments bellow. Is it daunting for you to delve into a long-time running show/manga series? Is it hard for you to start if you’re late coming into it, and the rest of the otaku consider it ‘old news’? Or do you find it exciting to enjoy something that has aged a bit; therefor you don’t have to wait anxiously for the next episode or the release of the next volume?
Let us know in the comments bellow!
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8 comments:
I'm not a big fan of long running animes. I have a new rule and its "All good animes are under 55 episodes." Sometimes it gets so long and it feels like it will NEVER end. I don't like that in my anime. I want to get that ending of the journey that is that story. I am a fan of Naruto and Bleach, but eventually it just got too long and I couldn't handle it anymore. There are a few exceptions. If its a long running series that technically has different stories and characters (like Gundam or //.hack) I don't dislike because you still get an ending to a short story. The franchise just has elements that will be in common with each release, but in the end it is a different story each time.
It depends for me. I don't mind having to play catch up if it's a series I like. But for a property that doesn't really grab me right away the idea of having to watch or read hundreds of episodes and chapters before it starts getting "worth it" just seems exhausting to me (Which is why I haven't bothered trying to get passed episode thirteen of Bleach). Ultimately I'm perfectly fine with the idea of long runners as long as they eventually have an ending, otherwise it seems sort of pointless.
With the sole exception of a few long-running Manga, I've never really enjoyed long-runners. This isn't counting stuff like Gundam, Macross, .hack, et cetera - those are less long-running series, and more a franchise of many parts, and from which you do not need all to enjoy a part of it.
For example, I could watch, and thoroughly enjoy G Gundam, call it my favourite anime, and not know anything about Gundam 00, Seed, or anything from the Universal Century, because no other series adds to Gundam 00. More to it, I don't need anything from the original to enjoy Gundam Unicorn.
It's like Lord of the Rings. Reading The Hobbit first helps, but it's not absolutely necessary.
The only long running anime I've stuck with all my life is Pokemon. Dropped Naruto long ago. I don't like it when anime run for too long.
Also, don't forget Legend of the Galactic Heroes. That anime is BEAST.
Well, I'm pretty new to Anime, but my sister has recommended a few to me, and when I saw the huge episode lists, I was daunted to say the least. It's not so much that I don't want to wade through all those episodes, because I know from experience with Psych that going back and watching a ton of episodes at once can be fun. My main problem is time. I'm a science major and I can't invest more than a couple of hours a week to this sort of thing. So I usually try to knock out a few series with my sister during school breaks if I'm not to busy with other family stuff.
I like long running anime if they can keep the quality high. I just wish that all long running anime have endings eventually. For example, I remember being extremely disappointed after watching all of Hajime No Ippo only to find out it didn't even cover half of the manga!
My favorite long running anime is One Piece by the way. It's fairly reliable at filling my weekly shounen craving.
I used to watch Bleach, Naruto, DBZ and Inuyasha, but each one would just continue the same arc: new villain, beat-up the good-guys, train, then show off a new power at the finale. It was just tiring after a while. If I had to point out the biggest offender, it would have to be Bleach.
On the other hand, I still watch One-Piece because of my enjoyment of the characters and the development of the world around them.
Final Thoughts: Long-running anime are only good as long as you get new plots and have something for the characters to do.
It highly dependant on two factors, one if you like the premise of the show so much that your willing to make the time to watch it and two whether the series can keep your interest.
Now to be honest I watched tons of animes like Bleach, Naruto, Dragonball through Z's Saga. And for one reason or another I slowly lost interest in them for one reason or another which I won't go too in depth here. One Piece though I really enjoy its humor and characters, I just tend not to watch it due to time and too many other animes/games/working on video reviews and other things to get into it, especially with how long it has gotten.
So all in all, I think a long running series works if it keeps ones interest in the story and premise but also if the audience are interested enough to get straight into it and they can make the time.
Currently I am hoping new series Medaka Box can become another one of those long running series as I find Medaka Box a lot more awesome and great series more then any other Shounen manga to ever come out and would love to see that get a long running anime series. =D
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