I can honestly say I have never seen an anime over 100 episodes (besides pokemon, which got old after the johto region) that I truly enjoyed watching in its entirety. Sure, there are those like Gundam that have a million and one different iterations, and that's acceptable, but I just do not see the draw in watching an anime that never seems to end. Sure one could argue "why follow the traditional style of story telling? Why not make it seem like the world the characters live in never ends?" Well, there is a right way and a wrong way to do this.
The right way is to end it like the original Fullmetal Alchemist (not including the movie). Sure it left tons of unanswered questions, but does life ever really answer all of our questions? It left it open ended, and, in the words of Vic Mignogna (paraphrased, of course. I found this on the commentary for the final episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), it allowed for the viewer to believe the characters just kept on living their lives. The wrong way is to pull a Bleach and stay far past its welcome. A few anime off the top of my head guilty of this: DBZ, Bleach, Naruto and Shippudden, and D. Gray Man. Generally, after the first main story arc, the writers should find a good way to end it, and start the series up again on a separate budget. Nobody likes filler. Just finish your story arc, keep your money, put the show on temporary hiatus, and bring it back when you have good ideas. Out of good ideas for long story arcs? Use the remaining budget to make OVAs. Everyone likes the occasional one-shot story! I know it isn't that simple, I just really can't stand filler (EXCALIBURRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!)
This is, of course just my opinion. Post your ideas on how you think anime should be structured in the comments below!
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