The Day It All Hit Me
So I was just sitting there, chatting with my friend. We got into this conversation about One Piece. And you know what? That show has been on air for like 25, possibly 26 years now. More than 1100 episodes, and it's still going. But then I thought… Wait a minute. One Piece ain't the only legend out there.
There were two additional shows years ago that were standing alongside it like giants—Naruto and Bleach. All three together were called the Big Three. Naruto was from 2002 to 2017 and had more than 700 episodes. Bleach was from 2004 to 2012, with approximately 300–350 episodes. And hahaha, years ago we would always consider 300 episodes to be "not much." Sounds ridiculous now, right?
When Anime Was a Weekly Ritual
There was a point, particularly between 2004 and 2012, where you literally could watch new episodes of all three Big Three shows every week. Every week! No waiting, no breaks, no "come back next year" nonsense.
And the response to "why don't we see this anymore?"—well, it's not like there's a lack of manga content. There's plenty. The actual issue lies elsewhere.
The Change to Seasonal Anime
Anime no longer appears weekly. It appears in "seasons"—12 or 24 episodes, and then you wait. Possibly 6 months, possibly 2 years. Just observe how JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, My Hero Academia, and Haikyuu are formatted. They're seasonal.
Even Bleach, when it came back for its last arc, didn't revert to weekly. It stuck to this new seasonal format. That's where everyone's going now.
But Why? What Changed?
It all comes down to one thing—money. Sure, yeah, anime is art, yadda yadda. But ultimately, it's business. In the early 2000s, anime companies earned their cash through TV. So the more ep you had, the more airtime you had. And the more people watched, the more commercials you could sell, the more toys and merch you could shovel.
Back then, 26, 39, or even 52 episodes per year was standard. Today, that kind of commitment feels like jumping off a cliff.
Attention Span Crisis
Nowadays, attention spans are super short. You’re lucky if someone sticks around for more than one season. Miss out for a few months and boom—they’ve moved on to the next trending thing.
And honestly? That's why creators don't want to take the risk. Think about creating a lengthy show right now and people drop it at Episode 3. That's a lot of money wasted.
Filling Time with Fillers
Ancient anime also had an answer for when they got ahead of the manga—filler episodes. Same characters, same animation, but. completely unrelated side story that had nothing to do with the plot. Recall how Naruto would be having this insane battle one week and then chasing after a cat the next? Exactly.
It was a evil needed to be done, but audiences resented it. So today, rather than fillers, they simply pause between seasons.
The Global Game Has Changed
Anime has gone global. That's good and bad. Now they must keep international audiences happy as well. There's more demand than ever, yet not enough animators to accommodate. Studios are farming out the work to foreign nations, and that's altered what "anime" even means.
It's no longer an exclusively Japanese product. It's a global production now.
Playing It Safe
Instead of betting everything on one long series, studios now go for the portfolio approach. Make 8 different shows, and hope that one or two of them explode in popularity. It’s like diversifying your stocks—less risky, more chances of hitting big.
And yeah, that means shorter series, higher animation quality, and better pacing. but no more 700-episode sagas.
What We’ve Lost (And Gained)
Yes, seasonal anime provides us with refined stories and quality. But there's something special about those long-running series. The type of emotional connection you develop with the characters over years? That's not easily replicable.
Nowadays, a show needs to capture your heart by Episode 1—or it's gone. You don't have 70 episodes to "get into it" like you did with One Piece. Those are gone.
So, What Do You Prefer?
Miss the old-fashioned format, having your favorite anime each week like a ritual? Or enjoying the short, seasonal format we now have? Something's for sure—the world of anime ain't what it once was. And perhaps that's alright.
#hive #anime #animeblog #naruto #onepiece #sololevelling #bleach
The image used in this blog is Ai generated.