Ask John: Why Aren’t More Anime Shows Episodic?

Question:
Why are anime not episodic like American TV shows? Wouldn’t standalone episodes create a more inclusive viewing environment and encourage these newcomers to keep watching?

Answer:

I think that there are two explanations for why the majority of lengthy anime series have ongoing, developing narratives. One of the reasons is rather obvious; the other, probably equally obvious, but not as often recognized. The first reason why many anime series have a developing narrative is the fact that many anime series are based on comics, games, or novels that have a pre-determined story. The second reason is that the series which do frequently have an ongoing, developing story are shows which are targeted toward audiences of devoted followers.

Most TV anime productions are based on pre-existing material, often manga created by one primary artist. While there are certainly episodic manga, many manga develop a running, developing story because the cartoonist has a singular story he wants to tell. Similarly, video games typically have an identifiable beginning, middle, and end because the requirements of producing and distributing video games on commercial media necessitates that they be relatively self-contained. Novels, as well, may be released in series, but each book is typically a single complete story, so anime based on a novel or series of novels have a predetermined beginning and end.

Furthermore, many anime series aren’t successful enough to continue indefinitely, and probably wouldn’t be successful enough to continue indefinitely even if their audience was marginally larger than it is. So creating an anime with a pre-defined beginning and ending may be the most efficient use of a limited amount of animation to create an affecting and popular work.

It’s necessary to recognize that many of Japan’s most successful and long running anime series are episodic. Shows including Crayon Shin-chan, Keroro Gunso, Detective Conan, Sazae-san, Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, Gintama, and Doraemon may have developing themes and recurring characters but don’t have a progressive, linear narrative. New viewers can settle into these ongoing series on virtually any episode with minimal confusion. On the other hand, it’s primarily anime series targeted at a core audience of faithful weekly viewers that build upon a continuing narrative. While hit mainstream shows like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, and Pretty Cure maintain a balance between being accessible to new viewers and developing an ongoing narrative for repeat viewers, anime TV shows for small, core audiences of hardcore fans have very tightly constructed linear plots. Shows like RD Sennou Chosashitsu, Kaiji, and Bus Gamer that are single stories broken up into weekly chapters are primarily targeted at small, loyal followings of repeat viewers. So they don’t need to be accessible to new viewers.

It’s an amusing irony that I recently watched Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei episode 10, which specifically satirizes the anime industry’s tendency to create television programs that become so self-referential and so tightly woven that they alienate new viewers. Despite the fact that Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is an episodic show, it’s gags are so frequently self-referential that the series does make late entry difficult for new viewers, despite the series consisting of entirely self-contained episodes. Shows like Zetsubou Sensei provide example that developing storytelling is simply an innate characteristic of Japanese animation. While there are anime that consciously strive to be episodic and accessible, many of the programs that don’t consciously try to develop narrative threads end up doing so anyway, possibly because animators and screenwriters intuitively strive for literary and artistic completion in the form of narrative cohesion.

This may, in fact, be another bit of evidence of anime’s natural status as art. While the typical motivation for creating an easily accessible, episodic television program is to allow a show to continue indefinitely and attract new viewers, most anime, either by intent, or seemingly unconsciously, leans toward narrative unity and completion. While there are anime that exist as a commercial product to entertain audiences indefinitely, anime seems to naturally gravitate toward the artistic convention of telling focused stories with specific endings.