Some of the best anime are also the most long-winded, with major anime franchises running for years and even decades on end. This allows them to have fans from multiple generations, especially around the world. While this makes many viewers nostalgic for these anime, their lengths mean that many of them simply went on for far too long.
Even the best anime from throughout the decades needed to wrap things up sooner, especially those of the shonen variety. These were largely victims of their own success, with the manga source material also going beyond the intended sell date. Worst of these situations were the unnecessary sequels that ended up making what came before look much worse because of their own lack of quality.
10
One Piece Is Just Way Too Long
Streaming on Netflix
One Piece is one of, if not the biggest, anime franchises in the world, and it’s been this way for a few years now. Starting in the late 1990s, it got bigger in Japan and the West in the mid-2000s before becoming an even bigger juggernaut in the 2010s. This popularity has kept the manga and the anime going strong, with the latter having over 1100 episodes.
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Nami’s 25 Best Outfits In One Piece, Ranked
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One Piece has arguably gone on for too long, but fans also feel that the pacing of the Eiichiro Oda manga and its anime are perfect. The Netflix live-action remake successfully moves through the material much faster, showing that the story could have ended years ago. There’s not really a firm place where this would have worked, however, which shows just how grandiose the adventure has been.
One Piece
- Release Date
-
October 20, 1999
- Network
-
Fuji TV
9
Naruto Wore Out Its Welcome In Shippuden
Streaming on Netflix
Just like with One Piece and Bleach, Naruto was one of the premiere shonen anime in the 2000s and was at one point even more popular than One Piece. The second half of the Masashi Kishimoto manga was adapted into Naruto Shippuden, which followed the now older main cast of charaters. By the end of that series and its manga source material, many felt that the quality had more than dropped, especially since there was a more organic ending beforehand.
Naruto Shippuden really should have ended with the “Pain” story arc, with most fans feeling that this was both a natural conclusion and the zenith of the anime. This would have required certain things being switched around, but would have been a much better ending than what the story had. By the end, Naruto‘s story involved chakra goddesses and many inane concepts that felt too at odds with what had come before.
Naruto
- Release Date
-
2002 – 2006
- Showrunner
-
Masashi Kishimoto
8
Dragon Ball Z Reached Its Peak With Frieza
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Dragon Ball Z is a landmark anime and definitive for shonen battle anime. From the battles to the power-ups, Dragon Ball Z is what many associate with the very concept of anime. This is also the case with inorganic extensions to stories and even filler episodes, so even this venerable franchise arguably went on for far too long compared to when it should have ended.
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Dragon Ball Z reached its natural end on Namek when Goku fought Frieza, with the Super Saiyan transformation being something that felt like it could never be topped. Of course, that wasn’t the case, with the franchise adding several forms afterward (including the now canon Super Saiyan 4 form). Akira Toriyama had actually hoped to end the Dragon Ball manga with the Frieza arc, but this wasn’t meant to be. Thus, everything afterward (in both the manga and the anime) could be seen as an artificial extension.
7
The FLCL Sequels Didn’t Need to Be Made
Streaming on Hulu
FLCL is one of the most iconic anime to ever be aired on Adult Swim, and it’s known for its weird and surreal sense of storytelling. Essentially combining multiple genres into one, the anime was a coming-of-age story that was as stylized and strange as possible. This initial season ran for only a few seasons but is still regarded as perfect as it was, making the sequels particularly unnecessary.
The initial FLCL sequel seasons were received somewhat decently enough, but not anywhere on the level like the first season. FLCL‘s legacy was further tarnished by its final season, making all of its follow-ups feel like bad follow-ups. The first season was simply lightning in a bottle and could never be replicated, let alone through seasons that were just trying to capitalize on the success of what had come before.
6
The Bleach Anime and Manga Was Up and Down With When It Should End
Streaming on Hulu
Bleach was another major anime from the 2000s, and it was a bit darker than some of the other prominent anime works from that era. Ironically, the Bleach anime didn’t adapt the entirety of the manga, with this conclusion only now coming about through the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime. Ironically, this beleaguered conclusion probably should have happened sooner in either medium.
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Most Bleach fans feel that the natural conclusion was somewhat after the Aizen or Arrancar arcs, with many of the arcs afterward feeling as if the story was being stretched. Of course, there was still development for characters such as Ichigo, but these elements felt almost minute compared to how chaffed other parts of the story were. If nothing else, ending things around these points would have kept the Bleach anime from only now reaching its true ending in 2025.
5
Eureka Seven Had a Great Run – and That Should Have Been It
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Receiving critical acclaim from many, Eureka Seven was one of the few new mecha hits in the 2000s. Combining coming-of-age romance and drama with sci-fi mecha action, the 50-episode anime was a great watch that went beyond its accusations of being a mere clone of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Unfortunately, the overall franchise continued beyond the first anime with sequels and movies, none of which measured up.
The Eureka Seven entries beyond the initial anime are best left ignored, especially since the movies are merely alternate paths for the anime’s story. Since the first anime wrapped up so well, it never needed a true continuation and ended up in retrospect for having one. If it had to have a sequel and be made into a franchise, this next anime should have come years later and been far removed from the original season’s story.
Eureka Seven
- Release Date
-
2005 – 2012
- Directors
-
Tomoki Kyoda
- Writers
-
Dai Sato
- Franchise(s)
-
Eureka Seven
4
Gundam Seed Destiny Was a Bad Sequel to an Overrated Anime
Streaming on Netflix
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED successfully began the Cosmic Era timeline, which is second only to the classic Universal Century timeline in popularity among the franchise’s fans. There were definitely some issues with the anime, however, and these only became worse with its sequel. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny is largely despised among Gundam fans, despite how successful it may have been in terms of viewership and Gunpla plastic model kit sales.
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SEED Destiny took away from the character development seen in the previous anime, in doing so making the cast even worse than they were before. Part of this was because of some of the behind-the-scenes drama with the anime, but the finished product was just too bad to ignore. It doesn’t help that even the first Gundam SEED went on for too long, but thankfully, the movie Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom somewhat redeemed the Cosmic Era.
3
Death Note Was a Classic That Arguably Went On for Too Long
Streaming on Netflix
Death Note is one of the most notable anime of the last few decades, and it’s many times a gateway drug for those who otherwise aren’t into the medium. Featuring thrilling cat and mouse games between Kira/Light and L, the anime’s ending was mostly well-received by fans. Many felt that it went on for a bit too long, namely by continuing after a certain point.
Some believed that Death Note needed to end after L died, even if this wouldn’t have made for a clean conclusion. Many felt that the story with Near simply wasn’t as interesting, and given that there were changes from the manga, the anime ending on a different note had precedent. As a result, the anime ended well, but it could have been much better.
Death Note
- Release Date
-
October 4, 2006
Cast
2
Inuyasha Went On for Too Long
Streaming on Netflix
Inuyasha is one of many older anime that were very long-winded, with the anime being over 100 episodes long. This resulted in several adventures between Inuyasha, Kagome and the rest of the anime’s beloved cast. Of course, with an anime that long, there was bound to be repetition, especially since Inuyasha: The Final Act was essentially another full-length season/series of its own.
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Inuyasha got too monotonous as it went on, and while there’s no particular point where the ending would have made organic sense, the story simply spun its wheels after a while. To be fair, the manga had 56 volumes that actually ended years after the anime, but this speaks to how the story kept going on without doing or saying anything truly different. While it’s better than a lot of modern “isekai” anime and manga, Inuyasha could have probably cut out half the episodes of the anime’s run.
Inuyasha
- Release Date
-
October 16, 2000
- Network
-
ANIMAX, Nippon TV, YTV
1
Tokyo Ghoul Went from Disappointing to an Embarrassment
Streaming on Hulu
Tokyo Ghoul was a very popular supernatural manga that paved the way for hits such as Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen, creating a lot of hype for its anime adaptation. The first season of the Tokyo Ghoul anime was rather rushed, but fans felt it was a decent enough adaptation and that there would be improvements with subsequent episodes. Sadly, that wasn’t the case, and it’s clear that the anime should have stopped while it was ahead.
The second season of Tokyo Ghoul was reviled by many for its changes to the source material and for being downright bad. It mainly went on because of the popularity of the manga, and it really shouldn’t have continued given the changes the first season had already made. Most fans of Demon Slayer suggest purely sticking with the manga, as watching enough of the anime will only lead to disappointment.
Tokyo Ghoul
- Release Date
-
2014 – 2018
- Network
-
Tokyo MX
