I’m going to be honest here, I don’t think there should be a single show that doesn’t end. I know that there are a lot of long running series like One Piece and Detective Conan out there, but at some point, they need to end. I don’t have grudges against long running series just because they are long, but because what happens to the series lasts forever.
A lot of long running shonen series lose their focus and become more contrived as they keep moving on. Bleach lost its focus and its flair of originality from the Hueco Mundo arc forward because Tite Kubo was repeating story beats that he has already gone through. I am not saying that every single episode is bad. The one episode where Orihime said goodbye to Ichigo was brilliant, but the save the girl from the evil society plot was already done better the first time. When a creator runs out of ideas, there is a major problem.
Another point I can bring up are author hiatuses. The two easiest examples to use are Hunter X Hunter and Berserk. How long was Guts on a boat? YEARS. There were fans that waited for an extremely long time just to see if those characters will ever step off the boat. Hunter X Hunter also has the nick name of Hiatus x Hiatus for a reason. Togashi regularly takes breaks because of health problems or Dragon Quest or something. Nana doesn’t have an ending yet and it’s been years. How long do you plan on sticking around? Also, we are seeing similar kinds of things happen to Attack on Titans season 2. The hype is lessening every season it hasn’t appeared. These things just leave readers frustrated. I know that it can be worth it a work is good enough, but how often are they?
Lastly, the ending. With if after all that time the ending is not worth it? You spent all this time reading a manga or watch an anime and the ending just doesn’t feel right. What then? Is it the journey that matters more than the destination? I know that this is a hell of a way to end a 30 day anime challenge, but this matters and needs to be said. Thank you for following me along this journey and reading all the things I have to say. It means so much to me.
Mechanical Anime Reviews 
Congratulations on finishing the challenge. I agree that stories need an ending though whether that ending comes quickly or takes a long time to arrive doesn’t really matter as long as the story remains interesting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts throughout this challenge.
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Thank you for following along.
And yeah. As long as the series continues to have new and fresh ideas as it goes along, I don’t mind it being long. But if it rehashes so many things, it’s not worth it.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you; this post echoes my frustration. I am tired of investing my time and money on an extremely long running anime series that goes 250+ episodes deep only to become unwatchable, such as Bleach and Detective Conan. At what point will Kudo resolve his issues? The Detective Conan manga series has been going on for 22 years with no resolution.
I also feel as if the writers start to get frustrated and and lose focus, thus giving readers and viewers lackluster storylines, and buying anime isn’t cheap. I just saw a 12 episode Blu Ray release of Hunter x Hunter in Best Buy for over $40. That means purchasing the Viz releases of Hunter x Hunter may cost over $500. No thanks.
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Your are welcome, welcome, welcome. I’m kind of amazed that Detective Conan is still going on because isn’t it an episodic show? How do people have those ideas? Maybe some are rehashes, but I wouldn’t know that because I just watch the movies.
And yeah, seriously. When I saw the size and prize of the set, I said no way to HunterxHunter also. Maybe if it was 40 episodes for $40 I would consider it.
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Dragon Quest be damned! Finish the story already! 🙂
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And the wait continues forever.
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Here, here. All good things must come to an end. I agree though I won’t discourage the existence of epics and grand stories. Some authors lose their way when they’ve been at it too long and others sacrifice what their stories originally meant in order to appeal to a wider audience or keep their franchise alive but there are artists out there like Togashi and Miura as you mention that I think have truly made use of the grand scale of their narratives. There’s nothing like a lengthy story to really take you on a journey. Congrats on finishing out the 30 days and thanks for sharing.
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Thank you and thanks for following.
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Indeed, you are correct, sir! 🙂 But, that said, I picked an anime that I thought ended far too soon: Baccano!
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