So over the last couple of years or so I had become a bit out of touch with anime having not really followed any since finishing Bleach and dropping Naruto Shippuden about 400 something episodes as well as Fullmetal Alchemist along with a few others. I had casually watched a few animes but nothing that really compared to seriously follow them like I used to in the past. So I decided I was going to make an effort to getting back into anime by watching Cowboy Bebop considered by many one of the best if not the best Anime series and so I did. I loved it and was instantly hooked watching it to completion over a few weeks.

After that I was left thinking about what anime to watch next and One Piece came to mind. I had watched a bit of the series in the past and remember thinking it was interesting and I had heard a lot of good things about it being touted as the best of the long running anime series (having lost my interest in Bleach and Naruto). I wanted something where you're able to grow attached to the characters more and see them going on all kinds of journeys. So fast forward another week and I got into it, I started enjoying the story and the characters who all had interesting back stories and the overarching story goal was an intriguing on eas well. Then I realized something about it... Something that seemingly rings true not just for One Piece or Naruto but all of these hundred episode spanning animes and was largely the reason I dropped it in the past.

The pacing is AWFUL. Painfully slow, to the point where I was watching it and it often times feel like a drag. I could bear it if the slow pacing was fitting to the story but it really isn't. I was sitting there and noticed so many parts that are just unnecessary to include. To take One Piece as an example, starting off the episode with a fairly long intro (which in itself is fine) but then a 2 minute long flashback to the PREVIOUS episode on top of that and even after that point you notice how they're trying to drag out the run time. Everything from the bumper used to signify breaks, to having various still shots during fights when literally nothing is going on. Not to convey a message as one might think to argue but just to drag it out more and then... The flashbacks...

They get annoying. Sometimes an episode is spent on flashbacks more than it is actually progressing the story, this was a huge part of Naruto as well. Now sure these can be interesting and down right vital to some extent when revealing back story especially about important characters like the story of how Luffy got his straw hat. However in some other cases (take the fight with captain Kuro) there are flashbacks referring to events that were already revealed. Flashbacks that yes, technically do more clearly flesh out how some events happened but at least personally I would still just much rather they progress the story so I can find out what happens next.

It is frankly ridiculous to the point where it's flat out ruining a lot of the enjoyment I should be getting watching this series. I spent a lot of time
just thinking about how much more I enjoyed Cowboy Bebop because it didn't have any of this unnecessary un enjoyable filler that ruined the flow. I never paid much attention to this in the past probably due to a few different reasons. The fact that I hadn't seen too many different animes and also having no responsibilities meant I could almost spend however much time I wanted watching it. Now that free time for me is limited (which I'm not saying to try and sound important because I'm not lol) really makes me reconsider if any of these long running animes (One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail etc) are even worth watching.  I get that some compromises are unavoidable to be able to constantly produce episodes at this pace but when it's done to this extent (and even after the very first few episodes) it leaves a foul taste.

What do you think, do you agree or do you have a different take on all of this?

Zlinqx : I mean I don't blame you feeling that way. I mean my brother recommended me to watching bleach at first the plot was amazing as it went on I felt they lost the sense of where their were going with the anime, so I had stopped since it wasn't so interesting to me anymore. And because of that reason I don't always watch ongoing animes since they would for me destroy a story plot that was good from the beginning. naruto I didn't really stop I watched it on tv when it came out, so I was going to finish the anime and I did. I stick to anime that doesn't have a lot of seasons because they are much better to see honesty. :/

Well, things like this happen everywhere: games, series, movies... If it's a piggy bank, it will get exploited to death and beyond.

The Naruto anime is horrible. They only made filler arcs so they could give time for the manga to be released and not spoil the story, but the manga ended like two years ago and fillers are still being made. If you want to glue someone into anime, Naruto certainly is probably the latest choice.

I admit that anime who have few seasons are the best to watch, but still we must accept that sometimes we would have wanted more episodes or probably give characters equal treatment (I'm looking at you, Digimon). When they just keep the same roster over and over, with seemingly no time passing by, it ends up getting annoying.

That's why I keep watching Yu-Gi-Oh!, their series last for three-four years before being replaced by another storyline and character roster. The original one lasted 225 episodes, but with a single duel taking five episodes (100 minutes playing a card game, world record) or episodes full of flashbacks. Since then, we tend to have flashbacks but at least not an entire episode, unless the flashback actually explains the hidden storyline unknown to almost anyone.

So yeah, we can blame anime for making such long lasting series become annoying, but we could blame so many other institutions and/or people for equally ruining long lasting things. Welcome to the 21st century, folks.

As a One Piece fan, i feel you dude, the 2 minutes previous episode is kinda annoying and the flashback episodes, to be honest, i usually skipped them and go back to the main story. Like i get it the flashback might impact the main story but when you get that feeling where you just wanna finish an Arc quickly (like water 7 arc, punk hazard arctl, etc) you just can't handle it to watch the flashback. I mean One Piece is still interesting and im still waiting for the next episode to come AND IM WAITING FOR THE NEW NAKAMAS PLEASE MAKE IT QUICK ODA!! (Eiichiro Oda is the creator of One Piece)

I don't watch any anime that get above around 80 episodes. Anything more and I question why I would even bother.

If you want some decent shonen anime but with good pacing and an interesting plot, I suggest JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It's pretty good, part 4 just ended so you have time to catch up before they animate part 5.

I can get behind an anime with a lot of episodes...IF the pacing and story is good. And it is a universal complaint that Naruto and Bleach, and One Piece are lacking. Sometimes a little filler here and there is forgivable, but then animes like those seriously take it too far. I honestly don't know why these series have so many fans.

And then I would second Yoshi's comment on this. JoJo does shonen anime right. It has a little bit of filler, but about 90% of the show is straight to the point.

A user of this : I watched to stop watching Naruto. Its more of the reason I stopped watching the anime to certain point because of how ridiculous the filers were. I just sticked to the manga. I never bothered with one piece as I told you before I stopped watching it many years ago, and don't even get me started on Dragonball Super. >.>

If I would have to list examples here are some animes that are great and finished great.

Special A
Princess Nine
Ouran High School Hot Club
Fruits Basket
His and Her Circumstances
Escaflowne
The Wallflower
My-HiME
Akazukin Chacha


These are good examples of anime that doesn't have more than up to season 2. they are only at season 1 or season 2.

Eniitan : I have seen a few of those. And those series, or at least a few of them in that list, go on a bit longer in the manga than they do as an anime. Not by THAT much, but I kinda prefer that a good series has an ending, and not be something that drags on forever and just sorta decays over time. Or has 400 episodes of pure filler.

A user of this : Yep that's true, I forgot to mention that so thanks for doing it. Makes me to wonder why most are just over the chart with episodes....

We were having a conversation about this earlier on Discord regarding Pokemon.

They are gonna milk that series as long as its profitable, regardless of how many awful garbage bag Pokemon they have to create.


Anime does this with the fillers. I would rather wait a month+ for a new episode rather than watch another episode about baking cakes.

Vanelan : Not surprised....I figured pokemon would go bust. Good thing I only downloaded the best seasons to watch really.

This happens to be the one thing that I really dislike about anime, most of the ones that I know about go well beyond what they should to keep the viewers interested. There are quite a few shows in general where I like the fact that they keep going, because they keep entertaining, but if you have something that's already good, you need to know when to end it, what to put in and leave out, because I hate it when it drags out or keeps repeating too much. Heck, that's why I gave up on the Pokémon anime for two whole generations.

If they can tell the same story in 50 episodes and make it look sick that they can tell in 500 with random stuff added, I'd much rather stick to 50.