Do you prefer short cartoons or cartoons that go on a long time?

[CyberCubed]

I've noticed that with the exception of TMNT, I prefer almost all my cartoons to be short. 52-65 episodes is the magic number for a series for me. Most of the DC and Marvel cartoons hover around that point except for B:TAS and Justice League.

I feel any show that goes on for a long time loses its luster. I am very bias to TMNT so I exclude that from this standard (TMNT cartoons can go on for 500 episodes as far as I am concerned), but everything else I like short.

Avatar was only 62 episodes and it was fine. I prefer short and to the point shows.

[snake]

A little bit of both. I like atleast 3 or 4 seasons.

[Jester]

As long as the story is concluded, how many episodes they need is fine with me.

[Wildcat]

Long as possible if it remains good.

[turtlefanforever]

all depends on quality. If it stays good as long as possible if it starts to leer cut it off. Not Cartoons but I wish the following stopped at the first season. I think Friday the 13th the series stopped at the right spot but I still want more. So yeah, keep the quality and the store keeps going

[AT-Man]

I would probably enjoy watching new SpongeBob (and Simpsons) episodes until I die if they'll make them for that long. For a show like Avatar though, 3 seasons was just the right amount.

[Wesley]

I think three seasons is enough for cartoons. After that, they start to get boring for me. I thought tmnt 2003 and the Marvel 90s shows ended at the right time. Satam ended on a cliffhanger after two seasons, but I wasn't bothered about it anyway.

[snake]

Originally Posted by Jester

As long as the story is concluded, how many episodes they need is fine with me.

This. I watch to the end.

[BubblyShell22]

As long as the show is good and stays consistent, I don't care how long it lasts.

[ssjup81]

I think it just depends on the series itself, and not only with animated programs but live-action ones as well.

There are some animated programs I wish would've gone on longer, but maybe ended at that 65 ep mark and others that have been a long time. I guess in general, it doesn't matter, just as long as said series receives a concluding episode to wrap everything up.

Some shows that I felt have/had gone on too long that come to mind are Naruto and Detective Conan. Detective Conan has been airing since 1996. I'm not sure what ep they're on now, but I stopped watching at around ep 600. Just grew bored of watching it, but with the type of series it is, it can always continue. I prefer reading this series (which started in 1994) anyway and haven't grown bored of that yet. I like crime and mystery stuff, and you can always come up with a new murder case for Conan to solve, despite the fact that everything started because of Shinichi being nosy and trying to find and take down the BO who forced him to take the drug turning him into Conan to begin with.

Gunsmith Cats I wish would've been a full series.

I wish Disney's Adventure of the Gummi Bears would've gotten a proper conclusion or just stayed on longer.

[Davetello]

It doesn't really matter as long as the quality is consistently high.

I guess I have a slight preference for cartoons of fewer than 100 episodes. Those really long animes look like too much of a time investment e.g. One Piece. I'd like to see that but there's no way I'm going through hundreds of episodes.

It's all about continuity and quality, over quantity.

[CyberCubed]

True, sometimes I get discouraged from watching a new show if I find out it literally has hundreds of episodes. I'm like....what. Especially with anime, no idea how the Japanese keep pumping out so many episodes every week.

The only exception I'll make is TMNT. I really like it that the first two cartoons have close to 200 episodes, and I hope the Nick cartoon lasts as long as that as well.

[Davetello]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

True, sometimes I get discouraged from watching a new show if I find out it literally has hundreds of episodes. I'm like....what. Especially with anime, no idea how the Japanese keep pumping out so many episodes every week.

The only exception I'll make is TMNT. I really like it that the first two cartoons have close to 200 episodes, and I hope the Nick cartoon lasts as long as that as well.

Yeah, I mean there are so many things competing for our time and enjoyment in this age (I was reading your 'glorious time' thread again last week as it's a genuinely interesting topic) that 600 20-25 min eps is way too much to devote to a single anime. I mean there's so much varied and quality programming, comics, books etc we could consume in that time. It's the same sort of thing which has stopped me going back and watching the likes of Smallville, 24 and the X-Files thus far. I'm interested in them all but 200 40 min eps is so much, and I don't like to skip filler. I could watch one a day for 7-8 months, but I'm not great with that sort of routine.

TMNT is our fandom, it's our main thing entertainment-wise, so it's always an exception. Like you, I'd love to see hundreds of Nick eps, even if it dips in quality. And I always wish we got even more of the 87 and 03 shows.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Davetello

Yeah, I mean there are so many things competing for our time and enjoyment in this age (I was reading your 'glorious time' thread again last week as it's a genuinely interesting topic) that 600 20-25 min eps is way too much to devote to a single anime. I mean there's so much varied and quality programming, comics, books etc we could consume in that time. It's the same sort of thing which has stopped me going back and watching the likes of Smallville, 24 and the X-Files thus far. I'm interested in them all but 200 40 min eps is so much, and I don't like to skip filler. I could watch one a day for 7-8 months, but I'm not great with that sort of routine.

It surprises me how different anime is produced than cartoons in the U.S. In Japan they literally pump out a new episode every week with no rerun breaks for almost as long as the series runs. That's why there's so much filler because they rarely take breaks and just have to get something out. Of course this is not always the case as a lot of anime is only 26 eps tops over there but I'm talking about the long running stuff.

I also hear in Japan DVDs are very expensive over there so I have no clue how they rewatch shows over there. Then again its a different country with different standards so who knows.

[Davetello]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It surprises me how different anime is produced than cartoons in the U.S. In Japan they literally pump out a new episode every week with no rerun breaks for almost as long as the series runs. That's why there's so much filler because they rarely take breaks and just have to get something out. Of course this is not always the case as a lot of anime is only 26 eps tops over there but I'm talking about the long running stuff.

I also hear in Japan DVDs are very expensive over there so I have no clue how they rewatch shows over there. Then again its a different country with different standards so who knows.

I think that's why the quality of those longer shows dips - it's impossible to keep putting out that quantity of content whilst maintaining high standards. Most of the shorter animes that I have seen (Monster, Death Note) seemed to have a tight, coherent structure and a specific beginning, middle and end. That for me is a big part of why they're so great. Think of essay word counts - the shorter counts are in place to get you to write in a very focused way and really limit tangential or off-topic material. Likewise, a lot of these extremely long cartoons must contain lots of filler. I'm sure people who don't love the turtles like we do might complain that some of the Nano, Garbageman, Justice Force etc eps in the 2k3 show were unnecessary and it might have been more tightly structured to exclude them. But then, some of these guys come back in season 5 to fight the Tengu Shredder so who knows. The point is that when they were introduced early on the writers probably didn't know they would still be around four seasons later.

Not sure, you'd have to look into it I guess. I suppose in the age of streaming and with Japan being at the forefront of technology and the internet perhaps lots of their shows are on streaming subscription sites.

[Netkeeper]

It depends on the size of the cast. Usually 50-60 episodes is fine with me, but if the show has a large cast, I want more episodes so the minor characters [that I inevitably end up loving] get some focus.

[ssjup81]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It surprises me how different anime is produced than cartoons in the U.S. In Japan they literally pump out a new episode every week with no rerun breaks for almost as long as the series runs. That's why there's so much filler because they rarely take breaks and just have to get something out. Of course this is not always the case as a lot of anime is only 26 eps tops over there but I'm talking about the long running stuff.

I also hear in Japan DVDs are very expensive over there so I have no clue how they rewatch shows over there. Then again its a different country with different standards so who knows.

They do have breaks, just considerably less than the US. Detective Conan gets older eps rerun occasionally. Usually an older ep that's remastered.

The reason these series run so long is the same reason why live-action shows like NCIS and Law & Order are still around. People really like them and the series is popular. Also, the long-running series generally has a manga source that's yet to finish.

The longest running anime series here is Sazae-san. It has over 7,000 eps so far! Started in 1969. It's still popular with fans.

As for DVDs, I heard that they're expensive here. Might explain the heavy use of video rental stores and the abundance of them. Physically.

Edit: Forgot to say, there are stations like Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Kids Station, and Animax which shows reruns of old series and currently running series that's been around for a while. For instance, no matter what, Dragon Ball/Z/GT will always be rerun. Once GT finishes, it goes back to the beginning (Dragon Ball). Other than DB, Naruto, Chibi Maruko-chan, Detective Conan, etc., Pokemon is rerun a lot. There are probably more, but those are some I've come across when flipping through channels.

[CyberCubed]

I was wondering about Pokemon. I heard they are re-airing the Hoenn episodes recently because of the new games coming out. The Pokemon anime has 850 episodes now, that's a lot to rerun, lol.

[ssjup81]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I was wondering about Pokemon. I heard they are re-airing the Hoenn episodes recently because of the new games coming out. The Pokemon anime has 850 episodes now, that's a lot to rerun, lol.

That's the thing, the series is always rerun, maybe at different times. For example, maybe there's a time slot where they rerun the original series, the another slot may rerun Pokemon Advanced Generation, another may rerun Diamond & Pearl, another Best Wish, and the current one is...XY, right? I wouldn't be surprised if they re-aired new eps later on Kids Station because I recall this happening during Best Wish whenever I'd come across it. Also, not sure if they still do it, but on Sundays I notice that Kids Station tend to air the Pokemon films. So yeah, TV Tokyo (probably) and Kids Station air a lot of Pokemon stuff everyday.

Same goes for Detective Conan. When I stopped watching the series, I was on ep 600 (maybe 603 or something like that) and that was maybe about a couple of years ago. Not sure what ep it's on now, but this show still gets shown in reruns and when it's movie time (it gets a theatrical release every year), they show even more DC related stuff. Same with Pokemon in the summer (as Pokemon always comes out in summer, just like DC always comes out in spring near Golden Week).

[Leofan26]

As long as it's still good sure. I was so disapointed when Kim Possible got canceled , I felt they could have done so much more still

They didn't use Zorpox ( Ron's evil side ) To his full extent. I would have loved the final to be about Kim V.S Zorpox instead. It would have added better drama, given us more emotional moments between Ron and Kim due to that. I could have seen Zorpox V.S all of Kim's enimes and friends and win, almost destroying the world. Course I could have seen two endings for this..

A) Kim gets through to Ron ( Showing tons of moments between him and Kim )

B) Ron fights himself on the inside realizing the harm he's doing.

While I loved Danny Phantom, I could tell it was loosing it's quality in season three and looking at how things are turning out with FOP I'd say it's for the better that it ended when it did

Than we bring up The Simpsons bum bum bum, I think that show should have ended along time ago, man what a shame. Same goes for Family Guy, some times having shows go on too long can destroy things you loved so much about them

Than we have shows that had ended too soon but had high hopes on,mLegend of Korra for example. That could have been far better had it been given more episodes. It's previous series did it right.