Preferred Series Length

Animos

What sort of length do you prefer for an anime series? Do you like something with 200+ episodes or less than 20? Personally I tend to prefer shorter anime series, stuff without a ton of filler that tell a concise story are perfect. With longer shows I either don't want to commit to watching so many episodes or I lose interest and don't stay caught up. Probably somewhere between 20-40 episodes is a good length for me though some of my favorites are outside this range.

[deleted]

I honestly dont care how long the series is, as long as they dont put too much useless stuff in there.

lordrenly

Yeah, I never paid attention to the length as well. What I don't like is if they try to shorten long series (like Death Note) by cutting a lot of important parts and just skipping to the conclusion or as Aiba said, if they try to extend the series by putting extra scenes and fillers.

I think though, lighter animes are better with longer length but more serious single plot animes are better with shorter length.

Yoko

Whenever I watch an anime, I really only look for long series first. I love the ones that are 50 episodes or more, mainly because once I get into a good anime I never want it to end. And I feel like longer anime are more enjoyable because it's a longer ride and there's more time to get attached to the characters, and I just love anime that have a long adventure.

rosebride

I think the episode length depends on the kind of world we are supposed to immerse ourselves in, as well as how many mysteries there are to the story. Nothing is more frustrating than a complicated and interesting story that doesn't answer all your questions and leave you feeling unsatisfied. I didn't read the Angel Beats manga, but the anime felt way too short and I was really disappointed that I didn't learn about every character's backstory. However, there is such thing as too many episodes, a prime example being Pokemon. It has such a ridiculous amount of episodes, and no character development. If a series is going to be very long, I don't accept the idea of it being lower quality with extra filler episodes

GeekySweetie

I greatly prefer short series - but not TOO short, 13 episodes leaves me wanting more and/or the series feeling rushed and too many questions left. 25-60 episodes = JUST RIGHT.

One or Two Seasons = Perfect for me.

I wouldn't say I HATE long anime.... but.... well... there are probably only 3 or 4 Long Anime that I genuinely love: Sailor Moon, Maison Ikkoku -- uhm that's all I can think of off hand.

Where as the anime in the 1-3 season length range that I love, I could name easily over 50 series.

In my opinion, short series are more well written, because the editors and creators have to consider where the story is going and how to get there from the start. They don't have filler. Nearly EVERY episode moves the plot and increases character development and interaction.

Of course, there are exceptions, where a short series falls apart and you can tell that it was either a quick buck for merchandising or had poor planning or a poor budget etc all along. - And there are exceptions where a long series manages to stay on focus without rehashing the same plot devices or using too much filler.

I'm just saying generally, the short ones are a bit better.

I also am a COMPLETE odd-ball in this hobby - I have never ever once felt sadness when a series ends (Unless it ends without being finished such as Skip Beat or Nana or Fruits Basket) But Let's say an ending is conclusive and ties up everything neatly, I never feel sadness for more episodes. I simply move on to watch something else 🙂 So that also I think helps to shape my preference for shorter anime.