This question applies to all mediums, however I’m putting this here because the subject is far more prevalent with Manga and Anime.
Let’s say, hypothetically, I was to make a series that I would write and draw for like 50 years. How do I keep things fresh, interesting and the audience engaged and not bored out of their fucking mind? Plenty of long running media HAVE this problem including The Simpsons, SpongeBob and (staying on topic with anime and manga) Bleach and Naruto.
I’ve noticed Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and One Piece do NOT have this problem (there are plenty of other series that have run just as long including Doraemon, but I have no read Doraemon, so…). However, just because I am a fan of JoJo or One Piece doesn’t mean I can get into the author’s head and understand what makes the story tick.
Sounds a bit like what made Cerebus interesting before Sim said some controversial things
>inb4 some tard reminds me what board this is later down the fucking line, I know this is not Any Forums. However, user’s response made me IMMEDIATELY think this and this image sums it up perfectly.
Cerebus is a great example, it was running for some 30 odd years and remained consistently great for most of its run. Also Sim gave us some of the best typography in medium.
You just have to keep the story going, no weird boat trips, no kyoto arcs, no great ninja wars that last for multiple volumes and don't move the plot onward whatsoever. Simpson's problem is that it's episodic and there's only so much you can come up with for the ungodly number of episodes they're currently at without changing things up.
Asher Barnes
Glad someone acknowledges how good Cerebus is.
…however, I’m a bit confused by that first statement in the second paragraph: “no weird boat trips, no kyoto arcs, no great ninja wars that last for multiple volumes”? What are THOSE referring to? The Ninja Wars thing is obviously referring to Naruto (I think) but what about the others?
Ian Gutierrez
Boat for Berserk and Kyoto for Blue Exorcist
Tyler Robinson
Yep. Haven’t read those (backlog’s the size of the goddamn library of congress). Thanks for clarifying.
Robert Russell
Planning and writing are the most important things. >Naruto Kishimoto seemed to plan out at least roughly what was gonna happen. Then the War Arc happened and shit went crazy and the quality of the writing took a hit. And the writing was usually pretty ok to until the War Arc. And the problems with the War Arc are made worse when you remember how long the arc was.
Xavier Clark
I need to keep this in mind when I read Naruto (haven’t gotten to it yet; again, backlog).
What about Bleach? Everyone said the story should’ve ended when Aizen was defeated. Is this true?
Benjamin Nelson
I don't think you can just plan for it. You need talent (obviously). But also to make consistent product for 5 years, let alone 50, you need to stay passionate for the product for 5 years. In that amount of time your project will either make money and become the annoying thing you do for a paycheck or not make money and you'll hate it and all the work you done. It takes special kind of crazy to be interested in the work you do for long periods of time.
Jose Ross
plan out the general end and big reveals and backstory beforehand and then do the narrative compression Oda does
Elijah Reed
Some examples of a consistent product? I mean, aside from the ones I mentioned before?
Asher Ramirez
Now when you say “narrative compression”, what do you mean by that?
Bentley Allen
You should watch Naruto. A lot of cool moments are anime only and the fights and music are top tier too. >Bleach I've never read/watched Bleach so idk. All I know is that it was apparently pretty good until a certain arc permanently tanked the popularity of the series. Which led to the anime being cancelled although I've heard the anime or something is coming back.
Julian Reyes
You gotta be a bit deranged. If the underlying logic behind all your thoughts is abnormal then everything you make will be weird and novel, even if what you think you're making is quite generic. You also gotta make the setting and core cast be diverse enough that you can use it to tell any kind of story, then you can just write arcs about whatever you're into lately
Lincoln Martin
Make it episodic.
Zachary Jenkins
I think that would get stale pretty quickly according to another user.
Ethan Turner
Thousand Year Blood War arc was getting good, the problem is Kubo had bad health and his editors rushed him. If not for that it would have been even better than the Aizen saga
>>great ninja wars that last long Ninja Wars sounds cool. But yea it should be super long. And the writing has to be good for it. Also lots of characters need to permanently die since a war is the highest of stakes.
Jordan Campbell
*shouldn't
Josiah Miller
Is that still going on? I thought it ended! How many issues are there?
Connor White
Simpsons and Spongebob are supposed to be episodic adventures. Nothing interesting ultimately happens. Also Simpsons was a commentary on popular culture.
Bleach and Naruto didn't fundamentally have this problem, it was a matter of planning and editors screwing with things. Basically all you have to do is have an interesting setting, an interesting larger story arc, and interesting smaller story arcs at any given time.
