Standing the Test of Time: The case for long running Anime/Manga

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soccerluva

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Been thinking about this far the past few weeks: what makes a long running anime or manga appealing after so long?

We have the big three Shonen: One piece being the longest at over 500 chapters/400 episodes, Naruto close to 500 chapters/over 300 episodes and Bleach at almost 400 chapters/over 200 episodes. You can debate on plot points and characters and whatnot, but even after all these years, us and the otaku in Japan still watch/read. Then we have shows like Shin-chan, Detective Conan and Pok
 
What set One Piece and Naruto apart is the fact that the writers have a way of continuing to build on the story and doing a good job of tying what is happening to what has happened both in the past and in the present elsewhere.

Take One Piece. The story isn't just the Straw Hats going from part A to part B to part C and getting stronger. Instead their journey is put into the context of much bigger things, and Oda keeps thinking up new and interesting things to either show or tell. You think you know the story of Gold Roger from Loguetown way back, but then all of the sudden we're given a healthy serving of new information. There's also a huge big-picture plot going with the escalating war between the World Government and the Pirates, what Whitebeard is doing, the nature of the "true history" that Robin is looking for, and whether there actually is a One Piece treasure at all. Naruto, meanwhile, makes a big deal out of its history and uses that to attach meaning to the characters and events of the present.

What keeps my interest? Well, I care about the characters for one. And also, enough of the plot is hidden that curiosity compels my attention.

Will they ever stop...hmm. I don't know about Pokemon. As long as it's making plenty of money, the end probably isn't in sight. Naruto will, Bleach will...Naruto has terms established for an eventual ending and Bleach, one hopes, can't be stretched out indefinitely. For One Piece, who knows. Oda's imagination is chugging right along. It's maybe the one manga I could see literally going on for a lifetime without getting stale. That said it is already 10 years old, and Oda is only in his thirties. It may take another ten or even twenty years for all anybody knows, but I think he will finally give it a proper ending and eventually let his characters accomplish their dreams. But he's clearly in no hurry, and as near as I can tell nobody's asking him to be.

Long series can be great. Done right they can achieve an impressive sense of scale, and create a world with a lot of depth and character for their protagonists to exist in. The downside, of course, is that they can be a real pain to collect. I try not to think about how long One Piece will be by the time it's finally over. But if it's really damn good, it's worth it.
 
Not being all that far into One Piece yet, I'd have to say that I greatly enjoy its format. Many people say that the series has been dragging on too long and should be much shorter. I strongly disagree and believe that they are completely missing the point. One of the greatest strengths of the series is world building. The world the characters live in is very rich and vast, only growing more so with every new place they visit.

While not every arc appears to have great significance with the many subplots yet, they all serve as a separate adventure in one of the many locales in the world the characters inhabit. They almost act as distinct sub-series that that build on the larger picture of just how big these seas are. Also, characters and items from earlier on that seem throw-away at the are often brought up again unexpectedly. It's quite obvious how well Oda has things organized.
 
Hajime no Ippo is currently at 850 chapters and the end isnt in sight at all. It'll probably go another 500 chapters at least. It will end up being one of the longest running manga ever if not the longest. I love how they show Ippo going from this nobody to the japanese champ and then hopefully in the future World champ but thats a ways away

Oda has said a few months ago One Piece is about half over. Whiether he was serious or half joking no one knows but I'd say its a good estimate and I am sure I'll love the next 500 even more then the 1st 500 the rate hes been going. He seems to top himself every time and I havent been disappointed yet.
 
I love long running series, simply because the guarantee il have something to read and geek out about for years to come, and of course lots and lots of characters that yiou can see grow throughout these long ass stories (thats always fun), and i like big stories, things seem to build up into something epic most times (and then keep going and doing it again), most manga i read are like that (berserk, One Piece, Naruto, Eden, Gantz, Eyeshield 21, Kenichi, etc...).
 
I have to say Dragonball. Even though it went off track (A little) after when Goku became a Super Saiyan, I still love the series.
Same goes with Lupin III.
 
Well, I would have to go with Pokemon Yu-Gi-Oh!, if that counts, and One Piece. I've always enjoyed Pokemon and while its story and characters aren't as deep as say characters from One Piece, I still enjoy seeing Ash developing new teams and traveling into new regions. I also have to say that adding in Contests was an excellent choice since it does allow someone in the main group other than Ash to have all of the spotlight. I obviously don't see any end in sight considering the series is close to its 600th episode and Pokemon is making more than enough money, in both the video games and the series, for them to even think about stopping it.

While I have enjoyed watching One Piece, I haven't seen as much as others here have. I started watching the series only when the FUNimation episodes started. From what I've seen in the Skypedia episodes and the first season sets, the characters do have really unique personalities and different goals that allow the series to have a lasting kind of quality.

I have heard about how Oda has made further improvements to the storyline and the history later on in the series so that will be interesting to see. From what I've heard, most fans of One Piece all agree that the saga could last another ten or twenty years at this rate, which would be fine with me since I'm sure that we would get some really great storylines throughout the series.

I would count Yu-Gi-Oh! as well since it did have a nice long run and some of my favorite anime characters come from the DM series. Though, I really did prefer the filler arcs over most of the cannon material in the series for some reason. It also has had two spin-off series that I have enjoyed as well, even though I think 5RAB has a much better start than GX did.
 
Like Magus, I am also tempted to say Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin, but neither of those series even feel that long compared to The Big 3, as well as plenty of other long-running manga/anime series.

Instead I'll have to say that, as far as Shounen Jump manga go, my favorite long-running series is actually Hunter X Hunter. Once again its still on its annoying hiatus, but its pretty close to going past 300 chapters, and in all honestly, unless Togashi decides to rush the ending of this series like he did with YYH (lets pray that he doesn't), I could easily see this series at least going on past 400 chapters. But, what has always kept it interesting for me for so long is how Togashi always manages to make the series stay fresh whenever he adRAB in new material, and overall, the manga just really stanRAB out from any other Shounen Jump series that I have read, am reading, or have tried to read.

I would say that, just like how people are praising Oda for what he's been doing with One Piece in the past few arcs, Togashi has a way of always shocking me with what he does in HXH in each and every story arc since the York Shin City arc. The series has brilliant writing, in that it manages to stay unpredictable, yet whenever something shocking happens, it feels like Togashi really outdid himself planning out for such an event to occur.

However, opposite of what's happening in One Piece, Hunter X Hunter, up until its most recent hiatus (which isn't even so recent anymore after how many months its been, to my annoyance), has been getting more intense as the situation for the good guys keeps getting more grim and seemingly hopeless. However, it still keeps me on the edge of my seat hoping that Gon, Killua, and the rest of the team will find a way in which they can overcome their current bind.
 
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