If you look at anime releases in the US over the years, you’ll notice that as time went on, and more dramatically so in the last few years, the majority of the shows out there are now 12/13 episode seasons and sometimes they’ll get a second season a few months down the line or a year later if it’s a big budget production show. The shift from the 24/26 episode runs to the half length ones is definitely interesting since it offers up more variety per season about what can be on the air, as a block isn’t dedicated to the same show for all that time, or even for a year like a number of 52 episode series have done, but it also has its drawbacks as well. One of the main reasons for the shift is that a good number of shows are adaptations of currently running manga works. And many of those works are only a few volumes in and the studios and publishers (synergized!) want to cash in on it or give it the wider audience that they think it deserves. So with only so much material to work with, they can either create new original additional material for the series or they can just cut it short with a little fluff and filler in between to stretch it out.
And unfortunately, once a show gets a 12 and done run, it really is done as it’s very rare to see a show come back again a few years down the line when more of the manga is available. There’s such a much more limited window of opportunity in Japan because of the mindset that’s been cultivated where new is better and that’s that. Whereas you often see Western fans very into shows years after they’ve finished, they’re often out of sight and out of mind for the Japanese fan who just wants to consumer the latest and greatest. And we are seeing a bit more of that with North American fans now that they have such easy access to a good majority of new shows each season. The backlogs of purchased DVDs are on the rise and there’s a stronger impetus to watch the show as it streams because the studio behind it may pull it not long after it’s done.
There’s a lot of good and bad to be said about each style and we’ve seen a whole lot of anime in our lives to know that both can work exceptionally well. After all, we grew up on Macross, Starblazers and other long running shows from the 70’s and 80’s. When we got into anime “formally” by paying for it, the show that kept me firmly in the anime fan camp was the nearly 200 episodes of Urusei Yatsura. But I have to admit that as I watch more and more of the simulcasts, I’m glad that there are more and more shows that are only hitting twelve or thirteen episodes and a big fanservice OVA at the end. While the shows are fun, few are really designed to be long term vehicles of enjoyment. They can work in manga form this way, chapter by chapter (or the four panel pieces which are continuing to grow in adaptations), but they’re not in any way set to tell a real, strong narrative over any length of period.
A lot of this will come down to the types of shows you enjoy and what can sustain a particular type of storyline, setting or cast of characters. What we want to know is what you prefer. Does the market as it stands now appeal to you with mostly short form storytelling? Or are you craving something with more time to grow and a bit more meat to it that’s not quite as rushed and can develop? Or are you like most anime fans and you have a whole other opinion you’re ready to share?
Drop in to our forum for the subject and let us know. No registration is required for that particular section, though you can certainly register and you can connect via Facebook as well to post.
Questioning Fandom appears every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with different topics where we want to know where the fans stand on various topics. Check the forum for past topics and join in the conversation. You can also suggest topics in there as well!
