Forum - View topicWhy are manga series often so long? Will they ever end?
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OnePieceFANatic
 Posts: 104 Location: The Grand Line! |
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Some manga series go on and on and on. Examples: Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, One Piece, and Hunter X Hunter. I really like HXH, OP, and Naruto, but I'm worried that they'll go on forever. I want to see Luffy find One Piece dude, and Naruto become Hokage. But these manga just keep going. Is it because the Manga-ka is trying to keep them going on forever because of the money they're making, and will end them when they stop being so profitable? I mean, what if they don't finish in our life times?!
It's kinda worrying really, I like them long, but I hope the manga-ka remember to finish them up. They have to care about the great stories, not just the money that they are making, if that really is the reason for prolonging them so... |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9903 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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It's not the manga-ka who has full control over the continuation and/or the storyline of a manga title. The publisher, especially the managing editor(s) of a specific title, often has the authority to make the final decision. They want to milk the cow as long as possible. This is more evident in Kodansha titles, where editors ofter have more power than manga-ka. On the other hand, manga-ka working for Shueisha and Shogakukan usually have more freedom. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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It also depends a lot on the story itself, because there are some stories that really wouldn't work beyond a few volumes, while others can go on and on and on.
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coolerimmortal
Posts: 522 |
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Well, there are some cases like Berserk where it really makes sense why the manga is continuing...Others, like One Piece, are just continuing eternally for no real reason.
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Urd
 Posts: 317 Location: Paris, France |
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As long as there are customers, there are news chapters.
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milcor1
 Posts: 337 |
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?!?! One Piece has GOOD reason to keep on continuing. Not only is it the most popular manga in Japan, but its content is deserving enough that it should continue on. Oda has already stated that One Piece is a bit further than halfway done at the moment and there are tons of loose threads and characters that still need to be resolved. Its continuing on just for the same reason as Berserk... |
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OnePieceFANatic
Posts: 104 Location: The Grand Line! |
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^Hey that's pretty interesting. I didn't know that it was a bit further than half way. Well then that sounds good to me
I think OP is good at 800-900 chapters, I just didn't want it to go on forever. |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Many manga tend to run too long because of the way their told: VERY deconstructed storytelling and dialouge-heavy fights drag many titles out far, FAR too long. Still, there were many long titles even before this type of storytelling became popular, so it definitally isn't the only factor. Popularity is a big one: obviously the publisher isn't going to want their biggest earner to end when the public will glady eat up another recycled story arc. It can't all be the publishers though: I'm sure some manga-ka treat their creation like a means of earning money rather than a work of art.
As for One Piece: like Apocalypse Now Redux, it could use some triming. I agree that it certainly has every reason to continue, and I doubt it would remain this fresh and energetic if Oda was being forced to continue it or simply doing it for the cash. But some chapters/content just didn't need to be there, and could have been told in a more time-efficient manner. I'll still stick by it even if he is only half done. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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What are you talking about? I agree with milcor, OP has every right to continue. We are getting to the really great part about OP and there's still a LOT of things left unexplained. Now something like Inuyasha or Conan I can understand, you can only go far with something like those ones. |
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Also, I think perhaps an established manga-ka might be allowed shorter series, because companies know that whatever they are working on will sell based on name value alone. At least this seems to happen with Yuu Watase, who after doing Fushigi Yuugi (18 volumes) and Ceres (14 volumes) hasn't done anything past nine that I know of (though I expect that Genbu Kaiden might be around Ceres in length, though hopefully not as long as the original FY).
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OnePieceFANatic
Posts: 104 Location: The Grand Line! |
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One Piece has every right to continue, true, but still, the fights are just way too long. They don't need to be stretched out that much, and when I read another manga with shorter fights after some One Piece, it really feels refreshing.
I mean, I really love every aspect of OP, except for the fights being dragged on for too long. That's really my only complaint for OP. What I love about it isn't the action (it needs some, but moderation is the key here), it's the exploration/adventure, and the way Oda drags the fights out, you really gotta wait for those great adventurous parts (which imo he does very very well). I'm not as far into Naruto as I am in OP (I'm buying the manga, not DLing, for the sake of reading it from a book), but I hope that it doesn't drag on unnecessarily like OP is :/ |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6274 Location: Houston, TX |
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has no one taken into consideration that they're comics? this is like asking why hasn't Batman, Superman, etc ended.
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I don't think you can really accurately compare them, simple because there is far less of a continuing story in Batman and Superman than is in most manga. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Yeah, when you actually think about it, the Alabasta Arc took about 11 volumes, and the Skypeia arc took about 8, and God knows how long the CP9 arc is going to take, so the fights are kinda stretched out. |
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alice20th
Posts: 74 |
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Did you notice that all of the series you mentioned were Shonen Jump manga. Popular manga being stretched out seems to be a feature of Shonen Jump. That isn't to say that there aren't other editorial departments that encourage long manga, but if you start looking for manga that were originally published in other magazines (especially seinen and josei manga), you're more likely to find manga in the 10-volumes-or-less range. The reason why series run long is pretty simple, when popular series end, some readers stop buying the magazine. They say that Shonen Jump's circulation dropped by almost half when the Dragon Ball manga ended. I'm sure the same will happen to Shonen Sunday when Inu Yasha comes to an end. When I read the chat sections of Fushigi Yuugi, I got the feeling that "Part 2" (13-18) was forced on her by the publisher, although her ending was very, very good. After a while on long series, I stopped waiting for the ending and just enjoyed the ride. Most of the best bits for each series aren't found in the ending anyway -- they're sequences in the middle. |
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