Certain anime series have great timing and pacing to tell a fantastic story in a decent timeframe. Medium-length anime like Attack on Titan and Re:Zero have their pacing figured out by keeping the story moving and not stalling with bloated story arcs or even fluff arcs. Other anime, though, feel like they ought to have ended a few episodes earlier, or even a season or two sooner.
Those anime series do have a great story to tell, but with too many episodes. Sometimes, an anime drags on past a good story arc when it should have quit while it was ahead. Other anime could have shortened or cut out entire arcs to protect the pacing and reach the anticipated endgame a little sooner. Anime fans will patiently wait if an anime needs to build up to something, but too much buildup will hurt an anime in the long run.
Naruto Should Have Halved the Fourth Great Shinobi War Arc
Madara Uchiha becoming the Ten-Tails’ Jinchuriki in Naruto Shippuden
Image via Pierrot Studio
Naruto is one of shonen’s “big three” and needed plenty of time to tell its sprawling story with its huge cast of characters. No one would ask Naruto to have the same pacing or length as Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen, but all the same, this anime seriously needs to trim the fat. One obvious target is all of Naruto’s filler content, which can be cut with zero loss to the anime’s quality.
As for the canon material, Naruto’s first run is fine, but Naruto Shippuden may test fans’ patience as the anime drags on. The Fourth Great Shinobi War was much too bloated, and most of the fights or events could have been reduced to background exposition. Even the final fight should have had a slimmer episode count so fans could reach the war’s endgame before fans nod off.
Fairy Tail Didn’t Even Know What it Was Doing Half the Time
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Zeref Dragneel in a field in Fairy Tail.
Image via A-1 Pictures
Fairy Tail clearly tried to compete with the big three of the day, but even if the anime had some good moments, it never went the distance. One problem is how the story seemed lost half the time, trying to figure out what its world was even about. The anime took much too long trying to develop itself, and that results in a messy, excessively long runtime, filler or no filler.
Entire story arcs could have been halved or relegated to exposition to allow Fairy Tail to focus on what mattered most. If the anime had cut 50-100 episodes, it could have treated fans to better pacing, less fluff, and a stronger focus on core elements like Mavis’ and Zeref’s backstory. The Grand Magic Games tournament, meanwhile, should have spent less time on the sideshow fights to keep the story moving at a snappy pace.
Nisekoi Needed to Wrap Up the Harem By the End of Season 2
Chitoge Kirisaki looks offscreen in Nisekoi.
Image via Studio Shaft.
The harem anime genre is one that’s conducive to dawdling, allowing an anime to savor its own premise and delay the romantic endgame. After all, harem anime are gratuitous by nature as the viewer enjoys watching the self-insert lead take his time trying to choose one girl out of several. At least The Quintessential Quintuplets reached its romantic finale after 24 episodes and a movie, but Nisekoi did not.
The original Nisekoi anime had 25 volumes, which was entirely too much material for what started off as a Romeo and Juliet story for Raku Ichijo and Chitoge Kirisaki. Arguably, Nisekoi didn’t need to go the harem route at all and could have made do with a love triangle between Chitoge, Raku, and Kosaki Onodera. That, along with some charming side romances, would have allowed Nisekoi to end after two solid seasons.
Darling in the Franxx Could Have Ended on a Different Note
Hiro looks surprised as Zero Two leans in to kiss him in Darling in the Franxx.
Image via A-1 Pictures, Trigger and CloverWorks
Darling in the Franxx bewildered and often annoyed sci-fi fans with the last few episodes. For a time, Darling in the Franxx was all about the teen heroes’ struggle against both the Klaxosaurs and the oppressive futuristic society they called home, and that alone could have carried the story. It was like a YA dystopian novel as free-minded youths rose up against the tyranny of the adults who traded freedom for security.
The arrival of the hostile VIRM is what made Darling in the Franxx go off the rails. Or at least, the execution was what bothered fans. Ideally, Darling in the Franxx would have ended its story just a few episodes sooner by making VIRM’s reveal a matter of exposition. That would help the heroes remain focused on tearing down their oppressive system and, in the process, foil VIRM without having to actually fight that foe.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Didn’t Really Need Sequel Anime Series to Be a Pop Culture Icon
Yugi Muto giving a thumbs up and winking in Yu-Gi-Oh!
Image via Gallop
Lengthy anime like Yu-Gi-Oh! should have been leaner and meaner not because they dragged out all the story arcs or because everyone lost interest, but because extreme length is such a double-edged sword. Yu-Gi-Oh!’s massive length may be a boon for some longtime fans who always want more, but it can be intimidating and tiring for almost everyone else.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a game-based anime about tournament arcs and high-stakes showdown with cards, which doesn’t call for hundreds of episodes. The original anime could have been less than half its actual length and still become the smash hit it is today, most likely. As for successor series like Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and the others, fans might wonder if the franchise even needed to take that route at all. At most, the franchise could have had a 24-episode season for Yugi Muto’s successors for the novelty, and stop there.
Bleach’s Original Anime Had a Bloated Final Arc With the Arrancars
Tōshirō Hitsugaya stabs who he thinks is Sosuke Aizen, who looks surprised, in Bleach.
Image via Studio Pierrot
The current Thousand-Year Blood War Arc in Bleach’s new anime has fantastic pacing and cuts all the nonsense, but the original Bleach anime was a whole different animal. Like its peers Naruto and One Piece, the original Bleach anime tested fans’ patience both with constant filler episodes and with overstuffed canon arcs. Bleach was clearly never meant to be short and sweet, but it still could have been shorter.
Anyone getting into Bleach now no doubt wishes the original anime’s episodes didn’t pad themselves with empty scenes or unneeded repetition. The anime could have but a few episodes that way, and the final battle against Sosuke Aizen and the Arrancars could have been a bit quicker, too. As for the Xcution Arc, fans wish it had never happened, and instead, Ichigo could have either gotten his powers back early in the new anime or never lost them at all.
My Hero Academia Could Have Trimmed a Few Arcs to Reach the Endgame Sooner
Tomura Shigaraki talks while tugging on his red cape in My Hero Academia.
image by Studio Bones
Strictly speaking, the My Hero Academia anime is ongoing, but since the original manga is done and the anime is about to launch its final season, fans can fairly assess this anime’s overall length. For the most part, My Hero Academia has strong pacing and efficiency as an anime that took some cues from the big three, but it could still afford to tighten up its episode count a little more.
Arguably, some arcs could have been shortened even more, namely the joint training exercise sequence and the My Villain Academia Arc. And of course, the final arc needed to be trimmed down to help Deku reach his final fight against Tomura Shigaraki. It’s not nearly as bloated as Naruto’s Fourth Great Shinobi War Arc, but it’s still a similar concept.
Gintama is Excellent, But is Scarily Long For Some Viewers
Gintoki Sakata speaks to the viewer.
Image via Studio Sunrise
Gintama is another example of an anime that should have cut back on its episode count not because it had terrible arcs or excessive filler, but because its length can work against it. Gintama is a well-made comedy anime that both honors and pokes fun at shonen anime like the “big three,” and for the most part, fans want more of a good thing. To wit, Gintama has an impressive runtime of 337 episodes, along with some movies.
For longtime Gintama fans, that’s nothing but good news, but the anime shouldn’t just cling to its core viewer base. Anime like this always need to draw in new fans, and today’s fans may see 300+ episodes of subversive comedy as too big an ask. Longtime fans may feel differently, but Gintama would have been best off as a much leaner anime, perhaps 100 episodes at most. It could still tell a fun story and parody the shonen anime hits with plenty of material in a timeframe like that.
Platinum End Could Have Made its Point in 12 Episodes
Metropoliman is charging up a white arrow in Platinum End.
Image by studio Signal.MD
The creators of Death Note and Bakuman no doubt disappointed many fans with the end result of Platinum End. The anime has a number of woes, including a weak combat system, tacky character designs, clumsy handling of serious topics, and a remarkably boring lead in Mirai Kakehashi. Despite that, Platinum End had a few intriguing ideas about the worth of human life and what the concept of God really means to people.
Platinum End should have told its story in a brisk 12 episodes. That would have cut a lot of unneeded battle sequences that felt uninspired and unnecessary for the anime to make its point. The whole anime may have been a battle royale, but ideally, the fights would have been short and sweet so the anime’s message isn’t diluted in overextended battles. A shorter runtime would have prevented Mirai from repeating himself so many times about his simple desire to live an ordinary, humble life.
Food Wars! Went On For One Season Too Long
Asahi Saiba cooks in Food Wars
Image via JC Staff
Anime fans might say the erotic cooking anime Food Wars! sabotaged itself by getting greedy and airing a full fifth season after most of the personal arcs were already completed. The fourth season was fantastic as Erina and Soma fought for Totsuki’s freedom against Erina’s manipulative father, Azami Nakiri, but after that, Food Wars! didn’t have much else to do with itself.
The fifth season did explore some new ground with the topic of Erina’s elusive mother Mana and the Nakiri family’s drama, but Food Wars! didn’t need a full extra season to tackle that story. At most, it should have been a 12-episode season that focused on the core characters, rather than padding everything with the silly, unnecessary “dark chefs” found in the equally unnecessary BLUE tournament.