Which anime should have had the fewest episodes?

A recent debate on a Reddit forum has captured the attention of the anime fan community, focusing on an interesting question: "Which anime would have benefited from having fewer episodes?" The discussion has generated a large number of responses and opinions, highlighting one of the most common concerns among fans of Japanese animation.

Many users argued that the excessive length of some series can negatively affect the overall quality of the narrative. This opinion is based on the idea that certain anime, by extending longer than necessary, tend to introduce filler episodes or stretch the main plot, which can result in a loss of focus and a decrease in dramatic tension. The repetition of situations, the appearance of irrelevant subplots or the inclusion of episodes that do not contribute to the development of the story are some of the problems that usually arise in these circumstances.

Another point highlighted in the discussion is that, in some cases, the unnecessary length of a series can dilute the emotional impact that is sought to be transmitted. Fans commented that when a story goes on too long, the emotional connections that are established with the characters can lose intensity, and moments that should be meaningful end up feeling forced or lacking the emotional power they would have had in a more condensed version.

In addition, many participants pointed out that the overextension of a series can lead to a loss of audience interest. When an anime goes on past its sweet spot, it is common for viewers to gradually lose interest, which can result in a decrease in the popularity of the series as it progresses. Not only does this phenomenon affect the fan experience, but it can also influence the critical and commercial reception of the series.

In contrast, some forum users mentioned that while certain anime might have benefited from a lower number of episodes, the appropriate length depends on the type of story being told. Not all anime are created equal, and while some can thrive on a shorter, more concise narrative, others require more extensive development to properly construct their worlds, characters, and conflicts.

"Darling in the Franxx".
"Naruto – They could remove a lot of the fillers."
"There's no way One Piece needs 1115 episodes."
"World Trigger Season 1. A remake in the style of seasons 2/3 would be great."
"Probably Stardust Crusaders, I still love it, but a lot of the episodes could easily be deleted or turned into optional OVAs or something similar. I can understand the argument against it, which says that the number of adventures together increases the bond of the group in the end, but I also think Golden Wind showed me that you don't need so many episodes to achieve it."
"The Promised Neverland, 11 episodes less and ending in the first season".
"Dragonball Z. The multi-episode fight scenes are terribly boring."
"Undead Unluck, I didn't realize it initially because I was binge-watching, but it had tons of flashbacks in every episode, in one episode there were even flashbacks of the same episode. I can understand it in One Piece or any long-running series because they require filler, but why this series, and also being a seasonal anime? Although the show was pretty good, it definitely would have benefited from having fewer episodes."
"Fairy Tail (Much of the story just repeats itself to send the same message)."
"FLCL Progressive and Grunge could have been made with 6 fewer episodes."
"Revolutionary Girl Utena. There was no need for so much repetition."
"Honestly, in my opinion, One Piece is loved for good reason, but 1000+ episodes is too intimidating to start."
"Surprised that the obvious one hasn't come up yet. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya would have improved tremendously if it had 5 or 6 fewer episodes."
"Maybe . Hack//Sign? I remember that I liked the series, but sometimes it goes on a long time."
"Code Geass. Too many side stories that lead nowhere. Many secondary characters can be eliminated (particularly from their kind) that serve no purpose other than to fill time. Geass can easily be trimmed from 50 to 36 episodes. I would have a much better rhythm and fewer moments that seem arbitrary and out of place."
"Apparently (?) Blue Archive. I can't blame the creators because I know I'm not even capable of drawing an episode, but it really feels like the anime itself is focused on other things rather than the original story."
"Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. There was an entire episode where the characters were just singing about what had happened while the animation just played scenes we'd already seen. Also, a lot of episodes are filler and the animation was constantly dropping over and over again throughout the show."
"Blasphemy, I know... But, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I'm not a fan of the show because of the constant flashbacks to the war, which gets very repetitive to the point that it feels like "we need to make the episode 2-3 minutes longer, just make some of them stop and think about the war again." The show seems very slow for the most part, I think I'd like it more if it had 1/2-2/3 of the length."
"Monster could be finished much, much sooner."
"The original Macross Just delete the last 9 episodes."
"Macross. Episode 27 (if I remember correctly) ended everything and should have ended there."
"I hate to say this about my favorite anime, but... One Piece has too much damn filler and unnecessarily long fights. I almost didn't survive the Whole Cake Island arc, Jesus was bad! I still love anime and hope it will be less painful in the future."
"Time for a slightly controversial opinion: Horimiya falls off pretty quickly and shows why so many anime end in confession or drag it out so long. The first 4-7 episodes are great, but does anyone really remember anything from the second half of the show (not counting the missing parts)?"
"Death Note. The premise went on so long that it diluted the intelligence of the two predominant forces in the game of cat and mouse."
"I'm not sure if this counts exactly, but I'd be interested to see Katanagatari presented in a 'typical' way. I couldn't tell you exactly which one, but some episodes just didn't need to be 50 minutes long. I'm not entirely sure about that, though."
"As much as I love the show, Bleach really needs a remake with far fewer episodes. One of the biggest complaints I see, at least among anime-only watchers, is that Bleach, like the other Big 3, takes too long to hook, mostly due to having a lot of filler."
"Ao no Exorcist Season 1. Discard the entire ending only from the anime."
"Cautious Hero for me. I think the first few episodes are really funny and the last ones are good, but in between the joke got really old for me and got longer. If that show was a 2-hour movie instead, I think I'd love it."
"Definitely One Piece, so I hope the new anime fixes that. The show could have half the episodes if they weren't so inflated."
"Black Clover. We understand that Asta is trying to be the Wise King, but good cow, how does the accumulation get so long for world events?"
"Demon Slayer 😅 I know it's an unpopular opinion, but to me, they could have forgotten about the blacksmiths' village and gone straight from Hamlet to training. Too many episodes, in my opinion, kills the emotion even if it's a good thing, a necessary thing. For example, I had the same feeling with SNK, it took too long to finish, it killed the emotion. However, the last episode was amazing, even if everyone guessed what was going to happen a year earlier."
"The first 6 episodes of Gamers! are legitimately absurdly funny. After that, it's still pretty good, but there's an obvious drop."
"I would say Naruto. It's a masterpiece and a pinnacle of anime, but I remember watching an episode on AdultSwim and it was just people saying how much they love Naruto. Without exaggeration, 22 minutes of people paraphrasing "I hated Naruto, but then he helped me, so I don't hate him anymore", some episodes could be deleted without affecting the story. And most of the stuffing happened at the end, which made it awful to pass. Except for the original (before Shippuden), I think that should remain intact."
"Tokyo Revengers. Every time I thought the story would move forward, I took a step back."
"Gurren Lagann. I saw this show for the first time a few weeks ago. Overall, I enjoyed it, but, in my opinion, the final act of the show felt both rushed and elongated at the same time. The main problem I had was that I felt like the final fight didn't really need to last four episodes. I feel like the final fight could have been closed in one or two episodes, and it really wouldn't have changed the story much."
"Tokyo Revengers, the creator of the story seems to have run out of ideas halfway through and simply had the main character do the exact same thing in every season/arc. I was genuinely interested and tremendously excited at the end of Season 1, but it's become very repetitive. The anime isn't over yet, but I read the manga to the end and there was a clear point where I wish it had ended sooner, but I just kept repeating that over and over again. Really a shame because a lot of the characters are ICONIC and I don't find the MC so upset to watch."
"The Reincarnation of the Strongest Onmyouji in Another World and Unnamed Memories would be much better without their last episode."
"Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon has too many boring fillers."
"Machine Robo, I don't know why they added the last 3 episodes, they're basically a recap. Also, the fourth ova is just weird, there are no mechas in a mecha show, they just used the female lead of the show and a random detective to deal with a monster on a plane."
"Reincarnated as a Slime could definitely eliminate some of the useless meetings that do nothing more than lengthen the number of episodes. It could also remove the last episodes of season 1, which serve no purpose other than linking to the film."
"I'm sorry, but Haikyuu felt quite elongated in my opinion, and it was part of the reason why I couldn't get into the show."
"Bleach and One Piece could do it without all the damn padding."
"My answer for all of this is One Piece, it's 100% unnecessary for it to last that long."