Ask John: Why Do Only Certain Franchises Get Multiple Continuities?

Question:
What separates a show like Pretty Cure or Mobile Suit Gundam, which constantly creates new worlds and characters based on a unifying theme, from something like One Piece or Naruto, which is a single continuous story told for many, many years? What factors do you think go into deciding the approximate length of a series?

Answer:
The difference between singular ongoing titles and multi-continuity franchises is simply determined by ownership. While the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise was created and initially directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the Sunrise animation studio took over ownership and creative control of the franchise early in its lifetime. St. Seiya was created by Masami Kurumada, but later manga installments have been created by other artists, thus opening the door for Toei to create new iterations of the franchise with new characters. Similarly, franchises like Digimon and Pretty Cure are owned by the Toei Animation company rather than owned by any singular artist. The long-running anime titles that develop a single continuity, such as Naruto, Sazae-san, or One Piece, are adaptations of successful manga penned by a single creator or creative team. When the creative control over a title lies in the hands of a studio, the studio has the flexibility to disseminate and exploit that title to any extent, which includes creating multiple spin-offs, new continuities, and reboots featuring new characters. When creative control is still owned by the original creator, the animation studio can’t arbitrarily reboot the franchise or introduce new spin-off series without the creator/franchise owner’s blessing.

Furthermore, television anime is frequently produced as a marketing tool to encourage manga and game sales. When a successful anime television series like Naruto or One Piece is based on a singular manga, the executive producers that fund anime production will encourage the animation studios to focus attention on the core title in order to boost sales of the original manga. When an anime title lacks a singular original manga or the source material is a game with multiple iterations, the backers of the anime adaptation may want the anime to reflect the diversity of the original source material, to encourage viewers to seek out multiple iterations of the title in other media.

The length of particular anime adaptations is typically based on a traditional comparative formula. Anime targeted at hardcore otaku are typically planned for one season, roughly 12-13 weeks. Especially promising “otaku” anime, or “otaku” anime with unusually substantial narratives sometimes get planned for two seasons, or roughly 26 weekly episodes. Children’s anime, typical shounen action/adventure anime, and typical shoujo anime targeted at preadolescent or young teen girl viewers are usually designed to air for a full year, roughly 52 episodes, with an option to continue indefinitely should the title prove popular. Typical shoujo anime targeted at older teen female viewers, however, shows like Fruits Basket & Love Com, rarely last more than 26 weekly episodes. Children’s anime don’t need complex ongoing narrative threads, thus they can continue indefinitely. Typical shounen and shoujo franchises develop through lengthy story arcs, repeating a similar narrative cycle over and over again, thus explaining their extended length. Shows for older viewers and die-hard otaku, however, typically involve concise conflicts and stories with a clear beginning, middle, and climax, leading to shorter shows that definitively end in order to make way for new programs to prove themselves.