Interest

Enough Already: Survey Chooses Long-Running Anime That Need to End

We may all love anime, but we can also admit that there are some long-running shows that outlast their welcome and need to just end already? We can disagree on what these are, but everyone must have an experience of flipping through channels, seeing a show from your childhood, and wondering, "Why is this still on?" The Japanese website Cyzo Woman surveyed 100 people to find out which long-running anime they want to see put to rest.

Sazae-san, despite frequently topping the weekly anime ratings charts, also topped this list as well with 23 votes. Produced since 1969, longer than any other animated program, and most respondents felt that it is showing its age and the lifestyle it depicts is no longer relevant in modern Japan. One singled out the chabudai (low, round table) the Isono family uses as an example of this. Others mentioned the increasing age of its voice actors as further reason for the anime to come to a conclusion.

The second-most cited relic was Case Closed, which garnered 21 votes against it. Opinions about the iconic detective series were generally more positive, with respondents citing their impatience to see the conclusion as a reason to put an end to it. Some of those surveyed also complained that the episodes were falling into a familiar pattern and that the writers were running out of ideas after two decades.

Crayon Shin-chan came in third, with 16 votes. The controversial series about a mischievous young boy was mostly chosen for termination on the grounds that the respondents now had children whom they didn't want to show the anime to, fearing that it would be a bad influence on them.

The other anime listed are Doraemon (11 votes), which some considered unsettling due to its change of cast; Nintama Rantaro, with 8 votes ("I don't understand what its target audience is supposed to be"); Chibi Maruko-chan, with 7 votes ("I don't like the heroine anymore, so I don't want to show it to children"); and Anpanman, with 2 votes ("It's for kids, and I like watching with kids so it's not the most entertaining for me"). Among the 12 anime in the "Other" category were One Piece and Precure.

[Via Cyzo Woman; Images from Sazae-san official website, Marble, and Crayon Shin-chan official site]