This Week in Anime

The Long, Dark Night of Long-Running Series

Coop
If that's the case, it sounds like this January will be a great time to get into the Super Sentai serie—

When it rains, it pours, Chris. Unsubstantiated rumors and leaks from children's magazines aside, it seems we're finally nearing the end of some long-established Japanese media traditions. In the case of anime, it's the yearlong, 50-episode runs of yore!

It's even crazier to think that 26-episode runs are becoming rarer and rarer these days as well. Most of the time, production teams opt for two separate seasons of 13 episodes rather than running the entire series at once. The recent return of Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray is a great example of just that!

I can't argue with the buff b-ball honse.

Speaking of Ranma 1/2, the currently airing series has even gone down the "12-episode season" route...as did another reimagining of a beloved Rumiko Takahashi work! David Production's spin on Urusei Yatsura topped out at 46 episodes, but that took a few years in comparison to the original 1981 television series. A yearlong shotgun blast, this remake wasn't.

Since I'm intimately familiar with the original Urusei Yatsura series to the point of requiring a disclaimer at the top of this column, there's an interesting shift in adaptational approaches to be noted between the two anime interpretations. I'd personally describe the original series as a project that started as a straightforward enough adaptation of the manga before fully turning into freeform animator jazz—think The Simpsons but even further out there. Meanwhile, the new series is a "greatest hits" celebration of what makes the manga so beloved. Of course, there's plenty of love for the OG sprinkled in, but the new series is its own tiger-striped beast.

Akin to my conversation with Lucas on Chainsaw Man, I see so many delicious cakes to take a bite out of with Urusei Yatsura.

Personally, I find filler to be a lot like the bread you use to make a sandwich. Sometimes the bread-to-meat ratio is too heavily weighted in favor of bread, which might be a chore to chomp through. Other times, the bread is so good that it enhances the meal. Then there are times when there isn't enough bread to hold the whole thing together. For example, even though it doesn't really add to the overall narrative, there's a reason people love this: And we're talking about a series that became infamous for padding out its many battles. However, when the topic of shows that use "filler" to their benefit comes to mind, I can't help but think of a certain wacky guitar man...

Macross 7 is my personal favorite for its effective use of slower moments to build a greater world. This series isn't an adaptation, but it uses its opening season's worth of episodes to ensure that the viewer is intimately familiar with its cast. From small things like the crazy straws Basara keeps in his fridge, the friction between the four members of Fire Bomber, or the constant confusion folks have over a guy flying into battle with only a six-string on his back. 7 is infamous for the slice-of-life pacing that kicks it off, but it feels all the more impactful once viewers hit the full thrust of the plot at play. Also, shout-outs to the flower girl.

Absolutely. There are cases where the filler strengthens the core material, making that killer all the sweeter. However, there are others (like your Bleach example) that have me asking, "Is it worth the trouble for everyone involved on the production side?" It's no secret that working conditions for animators have been notoriously poor for years, long before we had to sit down for a chat anytime MAPPA is brought up. There's a nonzero possibility that the end of nonstop productions like One Piece will get us a little closer to this...

However, the situation is significantly more complicated and institutional than that, varying from studio to studio.

Going back to the earlier mention of Super Sentai, this trend is also seen in tokusatsu. Although the initial reasons for the shift allegedly differ, the Ultraman series has mostly run in 26-episode seasons since 2013's Ultraman Ginga, which was 12 episodes long. From the outside looking in, Tsuburaya's general strategy appears to be producing a new show that airs for half a year while securing their time slot with a digest series in the off-seasons. Smart plan in my book, even if broadcast television isn't exactly relevant these days.

If the studio suits are looking to squeeze "so much more" out of their properties, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw TV recuts of both Reze Arc and the to-be-concluded Demon Slayer finale trilogy in the future. Although not films, the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin OVAs received the recut treatment in the 2010s. With those two examples in mind, something like Demon Slayer's movie seasons seems like a new spin on an old trick.

I'm still thinking about the version of Tiger & Bunny 2 that never left the page...

That's certainly a lot of One Piece cakes all at once.

You know... That's a great point I didn't stop to consider when making that jokey observation.

The only other long-running series I can think of that's kept pace with Conan is Crayon Shin Chan. But these two massive kids' series seem to be exceptions to the rule—especially considering that Pokémon of all shows has shifted to shorter, bespoke seasons in recent years. When a juggernaut makes such a foundational switch-up, that's saying something.

No, siree, there's a whole universe of heroes (and rapidly shifting market conditions) that any long-running series has to contend with. Well, at least we can hope they go out on a WINNING note if and when the time comes.

True, that's an audience regularly overlooked in favor of shonen titles that seem like a "safe bet" to the suits. Which is funny considering the many, many, many times I've been around femme and AFAB fans who've set their wallets completely on fire because they're going to buy any shojo merch they can get their hands on. Whether it's manga, Blu-rays, figures, or fan products, they will shell out.

Too much cake, too much cake...