Think if this has ever happened to you. You and someone else are talking about some form of media; for this example, let’s say a television show. The conversation eventually leads to you recommending your favorite show to them. You hype the show up and explain what makes it so great. It seems like they are completely on board, until you tell them that there are 16 seasons. They give you a shocked look and tell you that it’s too long.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit oddly specific. However, I’m sure a somewhat similar event has happened to you.
Whenever we look for a new show or movie to watch, we usually tend to avoid lengthy series. The same goes for most forms of media such as books, games and comics. We don’t even notice ourselves doing it most of the time; it’s just a subconscious reaction.
There’s a number of reasons why we do this, such as time. No matter if it’s because of work or school, we often find ourselves pressed for time. Not everyone has the time to sit down and read a 1000-page book or a 20-season show, which is perfectly understandable. Not everyone wants to use what little downtime they have on a seemingly never ending endeavor.
Another reason is that we tend to have a completionist mindset. We want to watch something we can easily finish. We want to be able to get through something as quickly as possible, so we can move on to the next series. Once again, there isn’t really anything wrong with this. There’s so much great content out there, and no one wants to be hung up on a single series.
There’s also a financial aspect to it. Let’s use “Dune” as an example. There are a total of 23 books in the series. While many of them are spinoffs, there are still six canon books in the main series. Unless you’re a super fan, I highly doubt that anyone wants to buy that many books just to get the maximum amount of enjoyment out of a franchise.
Longer series are honestly a hassle to get through most of the time, and I don’t really blame anyone for avoiding them. However, if you’re willing to power through the length, you’ll experience some truly fantastic storytelling. In this article, I’ll be highlighting one series that’s known for its intense length and how it uses it to its advantage: “One Piece.”
The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew the Straw Hats Pirates as they travel the “Grand Line” in search of the mythical treasure known as the “One Piece.”
The series has been serialized “Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine” since July 1997, with its individual chapters compiled in 108 volumes as of April 2024. The series also has an anime adaptation which currently stands at 1100 episodes. Around 90 or so of those episodes are filler and can be skipped, however that still leaves you over a 1000 episodes worth of content.
I grew up watching “One Piece,” so I never had to go through the challenge of binge watching it. However, my friends who have binged the series have told me all about how much of a struggle it was.
I, for one, believe that the length does more to help the series than it does to harm it.
The story of “One Piece” takes place over the course of many years. While the main story of “The Straw Hats” takes place over the span of just a couple of months, the series is full of flashbacks that take the viewers back to earlier times.
This is done for the sake of world building. It’s through these flashbacks that we get to really learn the true story of “One Piece.” We get to see how the wicked actions of the “World Government” have affected the lives of many of the characters and how they’ve manipulated history to fit into their unjust narrative.
The show also has a rather large and diverse cast. The “Grand Line” is full of people from vastly different backgrounds. Pirates, marines, fish men, warlords, giants and more occupy the seas. The series is able to give a decent amount of screen time to many of its important characters.
It also provides ample time for those characters to develop. Let’s take a look at how the main character Monkey D. Luffy has changed since the start of the series.
Luffy begins his journey to become “King of the Pirates” with absolutely nothing: no crew, no ship and no idea of even what to do. He knew that he wanted to be a pirate; however, he didn’t really know what being a pirate was all about. Luffy spends much of the series growing not only as a pirate but as a person.
Over the course of his journey, he finds individuals to join his crew and help him achieve his dream, gaining not only a crew but also a family. He also earns quite a bit of fame. He starts out as a rookie with no experience and eventually becomes an “Emperors of the Sea,” a group of four pirates considered to be the most notorious and powerful captains in the world.
As you can imagine, it took quite a while for Luffy to reach the level he’s currently at. The series’ long length is used to explore these fanatical concepts and complex developments in a smooth and natural way. If it wasn’t for the series length, many ideas would seem rushed and wouldn’t flow smoothly in the story.
Even after saying all of that, I do still believe that the series could realistically be a tad bit shorter, mainly the anime adaptation. Many of “One Piece” story arcs are so long that they can practically be considered their own series. However, if you’re willing to go through with it, you’ll be greeted with a great series, and hopefully, it will inspire you to check out many other long series.