Ask John: Are Hundred Plus Episode Series Becoming Less Common?

Question:
Is going on to more than 100 episodes for an anime tv series a rare thing nowadays? Series such as Dragonball, Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, and Yu Yu Hakusho all had more than 100 episodes. Thing is, they are older titles. Lately I noticed most anime series end around 55, 26, even 13 episodes. There are some rare ones such as Inu Yasha, One Piece,and Naruto still continuing. But most don’t seem to have many episodes. Why is that?

Answer:
Anime television series with over 100 episodes have always been somewhat extraordinary. It’s easy for American fans to name long anime TV series such as Dragonball, Sailor Moon, Ranma, Urusei Yatsura, St. Seiya, Yu Yu Hakusho, City Hunter, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Detective Conan because all of these series are still current in America. What American fans often forget is that these series represent only a handful of the anime TV series that have been broadcast in Japan during the past 20 years. While Dragonball still seems new to Americans because new episodes of Dragonball Z and Dragonball GT are still being released on domestic DVD, Dragonball is an 18 year old series. Even Dragonball GT ended in Japan 7 years ago. Likewise, Yu Yu Hakusho seems new to Americans, but it’s a 12 year old show that ended in Japan 9 years ago.

In order for an anime TV series to be within 10 episodes of 100, above or below, the show had to have premiered in 2002. Out of the roughly 100 different anime TV series that premiered in Japan in 2002, three of them are still airing new episodes today: Naruto, Mirumo de Pon, and Atashinchi. In 1992 there were also three anime TV series that debuted which eventually aired more than a hundred episodes: Yu Yu Hakusho, Sailor Moon, and Crayon Shin-chan. 1982 did not spawn any TV series that lasted over a hundred episodes, although the long running Dr. Slump and Urusei Yatsura TV series premiered in 1981, and Captain Tsubasa and Kinnikuman both premiered in 1983.

Today, there are numerous anime TV series that have more than a hundred episodes. Some have 200 or 300 episodes. Sazae-san has nearly 1800 episodes! A few examples include Chibi Maruko-chan, Kochikame, Prince of Tennis, Saiyuki, Soreike! Anpanman, Tottoko Hamutaro, Ojamajo Doremi, and Doraemon. The series that last for years are shows that appeal to mainstream Japanese viewers: particularly children and families. In most cases, these types of shows aren’t attractive to typical American anime fans, so they don’t get imported to America, and don’t get fansubbed because, after all, what turns up fansubbed reflects only what fansubbers find interesting.

Simply put, there continue to be as many long running anime TV series today as there always have been, and long running anime TV series were no more frequent or common 10 or 20 years ago than they are now. What is different is that American fans are more aware of vintage long TV series, and not familiar with as many contemporary and continuing long shows, which makes it seem as though long shows were more common years ago. Since it takes at least two years for an anime series to reach 100 episodes, it’s still too early to tell which, if any of today’s anime series will be successful enough to continue for more than a hundred episodes. I can’t predict the future, and I’m certainly liable to be wrong, but based on their current popularity, any one or even all of Mujin Wakusei Survive, Galaxy Angel, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Rockman.exe, Konjiki no Gash Bell, and Pretty Cure seem to be shows that could possibly break the hundred episode mark.