Anime Pacing

[Evilsj]

Hey AP, I don't normally post here, but ya know what, I feel it's about time I started up SOME sort of discussion. Anyways, I've been caught up with both the anime and manga for quite some time now (watching and reading weekly), and about a month ago I decided to watch the series for a second time; catch things I didn't before, piece things together better, etc. However, this time, I'm also reading the manga as well (I'll probably go into a coma due to an OP overdose soon), as my original experience with One Piece had been strictly through the anime.

Anyways, I must say, I'm quite surprised at how different the pacing between the two medias is. I just got to the Arabasta Arc, and I wasn't expecting as many changes to the story as there are. Not to say it's bad, as I like how the anime fleshes out Ace's character a bit more, but it's definitely a surprise.

[Kitsune Inferno]

The anime's pacing is great for the first season, and it's pretty good throughout Alabasta. It stars going to shit in Skypiea, but gets really bad in NES Lobby.

[Evilsj]

Yeah, I've heard that EL has horrible pacing. Didn't really notice it on the first round through, and I'm a bit scared to read and rewatch it, since EL was my single favorite arc. I'm afraid finding out first hand about the pacing is gonna ruin the anime version of it for me.

[Calchexas]

Pacing up until the screw got to Sky Island was awesome. From there, it remained stagnant, and only when Oda began to cram more into each chapter did the amount covered per episode justify things.

For example, Marineford is well justified to cover only one chapter (plus action filler) per episode.

[skeletonbrook]

its a weekly anime based of a weekly manga and as all weekly anime based weekly manga the anime caught up so they had slow the pace and add more filler so it wouldn't overtake the manga because if it overtook the manga there would be nothing to animate its unavoidable when adapting a long running manga into a long running anime

[RPGJay]

@skeletonbrook:

its a weekly anime based of a weekly manga and as all weekly anime based weekly manga the anime caught up so they had slow the pace and add more filler so it wouldn't overtake the manga because if it overtook the manga there would be nothing to animate its unavoidable when adapting a long running manga into a long running anime

Pretty much. You hit it right on the nail.

It's inevitable that the pacing will have to slow down when it starts to catch up to the anime. And since Japan doesn't use the idea of a season for a show, we have to deal with slower pacing and/or filler.

It's not fun, but it's nowhere near as bad as the original Dragon Ball Z.

[GumGumBattleAxe]

Yeah I get what you mean. The number one thing I love about One Piece is the storyline and how it progresses, and the anime really loves to draw things out whereas the manga's pace is always (well…almost always) fast and you move along quicker.

[RPGJay]

@GumGumBattleAxe:

Yeah I get what you mean. The number one thing I love about One Piece is the storyline and how it progresses, and the anime really loves to draw things out whereas the manga's pace is always (well…almost always) fast and you move along quicker.

Well sometimes it's better to take things slower.

The Little Garden arc had a bit of filler within it (if I remember right) and did drag things out a little. But to this day it stands as my favorite animated arc of One Piece.

Besides, One Piece's pacing is usually pretty quick (exceptions exist of course), but it's not as brisk as Toriko (which is also awesome).

[Mortea]

@GumGumBattleAxe:

Yeah I get what you mean. The number one thing I love about One Piece is the storyline and how it progresses, and the anime really loves to draw things out whereas the manga's pace is always (well…almost always) fast and you move along quicker.

Too bad that usually they add retarded jokes that only japanese can laugh about and gomu gomu no prolongings. Instead of adding some interesting tidbits or action that doesn't jump out of the events. They even go as far as adding still frames instead of action. With lazy moaning on the background. Like cheap porno. Because you know- Ca$h. Even if animators are said to be one of the lowest wages they still cheap out on paying them for some more frames that bring "real big money".
Sorry about that-just talking my mind out.

[Sano]

I really don't mind the anime pacing that much.

[sanji499]

I really mind if it kill an epic scene.

WB pirates entrance was a total let down. The cliffhanger ends with the Boat coming. It was supposed to be WB with an epic music. Who cares about the boat arriving in a silly way, it is just a boat.

[Demon Rin]

One thing I've noticed.

Enies Lobby usually gets a really bad rep for this, but if you go back and rewatch it, but skip the long-as-hell recaps for every episode, it actually flows much quicker than you probably remember.

[sanji499]

@Demon:

One thing I've noticed.

Enies Lobby usually gets a really bad rep for this, but if you go back and rewatch it, but skip the long-as-hell recaps for every episode, it actually flows much quicker than you probably remember.

It is true that there were a lot of fillers. However, the quality of the animation was top notch. luffy vs Lucci was epic. The death of Going merry was done perfectly.

I skipped the long recaps and fillers as well. I did not find myself extremely annoyed by the pacing.

[fedcom]

The anime's pacing is downright intolerable.
All the episodes are padded to hell and back… a 1:1 episode to chapter ratio simply does not work.
I haven't watched the Bleach anime....I can only imagine how bad that is.

Does anyone here remember the episode where Kuma fights Zoro?
Yeah...I stopped watching from that moment on.

[belial]

yeah i would say taht pacing sux since El, El just had long recaps witch you can skip, but after that it just goes slow as hell

[Ionelmejor]

for me the worst pacing in the whole OP is right now, with the Whitebeards vs th marines….. it took like 5 chapters too settle out the battlefield ( and always having the same image of luffy with jimbei in the marines ship going to the HQ)

[RPGJay]

Again, I'd like to point out that padding is essentially necessary to make sure the anime doesn't catch up with the manga too much.

Really the only time the anime really pisses me off is if they pad out a scene for more the a couple minutes (like anything involving Hancock in the war) or they just screw up and make horrible animation (like BlackBeard's first appearance in Impel Down).

@fedcom:

The anime's pacing is downright intolerable.
All the episodes are padded to hell and back… a 1:1 episode to chapter ratio simply does not work.
I haven't watched the Bleach anime....I can only imagine how bad that is.

Suprisingly, the anime almost makes Bleach worth watching.

Almost being the key word.

Besides, you really can't have pacing any worse than the Bleach manga.

[MetaMario]

@RPGJay:

Besides, you really can't have pacing any worse than the Bleach manga.

Any worse and you'd move backwards.

Anyways, many people said it well. The anime's pace isn't too bad, sans Enies Lobby and other moments. I'd rather have an average pace than moving too fast and having random filler crap thrown in the middle of arcs, or moving too slow and be infested with recaps.

[ShunketsuXZ]

Toei Animation is going to milk the franchise for all it's worth anyways, so there is a good chance of a "One Piece Kai" eventually, with a much faster pace.

The only question (if it does happen), is if it'll be any good, because personally, Dragon Ball Kai isn't very good.

[SympathyX]

@Demon:

One thing I've noticed.

Enies Lobby usually gets a really bad rep for this, but if you go back and rewatch it, but skip the long-as-hell recaps for every episode, it actually flows much quicker than you probably remember.

The total screen time for the Luffy and Lucci fight is about an hour.

and thats really not a bad thing.

As for the Skypiea buisness that everyones going on about, I thought that Skypiea was a pretty much 1:1 adaptation. Better paced than the manga was for it anyway.

[m00n]

@ShunketsuXZ:

Toei Animation is going to milk the franchise for all it's worth anyways, so there is a good chance of a "One Piece Kai" eventually, with a much faster pace.

The only question (if it does happen), is if it'll be any good, because personally, Dragon Ball Kai isn't very good.

By Dragonball Z standards Kai is really good. Don't forget that Kai is the ok summery of a really bad anime. If there’s is a One Piece summery like that someday and they manage to improve as this show as much as they improved Dragonball Z, it will be really good.

[RPGJay]

@ShunketsuXZ:

because personally, Dragon Ball Kai isn't very good.

To this day, Shunketsu's body was never found.

[Shunketsu]

@RPGJay:

To this day, Shunketsu's body was never found.

16 characters of hrmm??

[fedcom]

@RPGJay:

Suprisingly, the anime almost makes Bleach worth watching.

Eh? what

Besides, you really can't have pacing any worse than the Bleach manga.

I can imagine that a 30 second chapter stretched out over 30 minutes would do the trick. >_>
So, what, do the directors use 5 or 6 chapters each episode?

[Sakonosolo]

@ShunketsuXZ:

Dragon Ball Kai isn't very good.

I really don't see how that's possible if you liked the original anime. It's pretty much identical except with no filler.

[RPGJay]

@fedcom:

Eh? what

As I said. Almost.

@fedcom:

I can imagine that a 30 second chapter stretched out over 30 minutes would do the trick. >_>
So, what, do the directors use 5 or 6 chapters each episode?

Usually.

Even when they don't and it is only over a chapter of length, the animators handle it far better than the manga.

Seriously I hate Bleach, but the anime honestly makes it half-way decent.

[goty]

@m00n:

Don't forget that Kai is the ok summery of a really bad anime.

Don't forget that your opinion sucks

@Sakonosolo:

I really don't see how that's possible if you liked the original anime. It's pretty much identical except with no filler.

And with inferior soundtrack and voice acting.
Not to mention the censorship..

Honestly, it's far from being the ultimate version that i was hoping for when Kai was announced, so i can understand the disappointment. I see it as a better series for newcomers only.

[RPGJay]

@goty:

Not to mention the censorship..

Yeah because it's not Dragon Ball Z unless we see 5 year old penis.

[goty]

@RPGJay:

Yeah because it's not Dragon Ball Z unless we see 5 year old penis.

Zelowhid3D0

More like lame edits like this.

[RPGJay]

@goty:

Zelowhid3D0

More like lame edits like this.

You're just nitpicking. It's not a big deal.

[kuoh]

@goty:

Zelowhid3D0

More like lame edits like this.

DBK lacks of strawberry marmalade?

A lot of people realise how bad Dragon ball Z was with the new serie and then blame kai for it, nostalgia can really mess your perception.

[klet]

@RPGJay:

Even when they don't and it is only over a chapter of length, the animators handle it far better than the manga.

Seriously I hate Bleach, but the anime honestly makes it half-way decent.

Agreed. I tried to read Bleach's manga once. Gave up after two chapters. It was just that ridiculously slow-paced. The anime handles pacing a lot better, but that's why it has needed several filler seasons. Though at this point I can't even watch the anime from week to week–gotta wait a little bit for some episodes to build up. Makes it a bit better.

One thing you've got to realize with One Piece anime is that the pacing doesn't really bother you unless you've read the manga first. I didn't find EL to be that poorly done, though I did skip over the long recaps at the beginning of each episode, and was rather annoyed after I downloaded those flashback episodes only to discover what they were.

I'd prefer tighter pacing and more Edo-type episodes, honestly. Those are fun, because they're not expected to affect or be affected by the main plot, and you can skip them if you'd like.

[goty]

@kuoh:

A lot of people realise how bad Dragon ball Z was with the new serie and then blame kai for it, nostalgia can really mess your perception.

No, not really. Most of the major scenes in Kai suffer when compared to the original, save for a few exceptions. If anything, Kai makes me like Z more.
In fact, the vast majority of Kai fans are newcomers to the series or biased people who never liked the original.

[Zarnikon]

The pacing sucks right now.
It's a freaking war, a war has a lot of action and should you give you a feeling that everything goes fast.
But instead, they show 5 minutes the reactions of how whitebeard got stabbed, 10min's conversations and in total perhaps 50 frames.

[Aldrato]

Kai is bad, like REALLY bad.I heard the japanese Dragon Box had extras making fun of overseas tv stations censoring Goku and Gohan's little wangs, then Kai goes and cut it off too! Hahaha.

[fedcom]

@klet:

One thing you've got to realize with One Piece anime is that the pacing doesn't really bother you unless you've read the manga

"I worked for 40 cents an hour in India, but it didn't really bother me until I found out the minimum wage in Canada is $10/hour"

….this might not be the best analogy but you should get my point.

[RPGJay]

@goty:

No, not really. Most of the major scenes in Kai suffer when compared to the original, save for a few exceptions.

That's only your opinion. I watched Dragon Ball and DBZ as a kid and I currently watch Dragon Ball Kai.
And I cannot recall a single time during Kai where I thought "You know what this scene needs? 10 minutes of people grunting over an attack that kicked up some dust!"

@goty:

If anything, Kai makes me like Z more.

You're entitled to that, but I would like to ask when you last watched DBZ? Cause nostalgia can be a bit of a bitch.

@goty:

In fact, the vast majority of Kai fans are newcomers to the series or biased people who never liked the original.

Dragon Ball Z is awesome and I'm not trying to say it isn't. But you have to admit that a series with legendarily long padding and filler can exclude a lot of people.

DBKai makes opens up a brand new audience because the series is literally making sure it's not wasting your time.

@Aldrato:

Kai is bad, like REALLY bad.I heard the japanese Dragon Box had extras making fun of overseas tv stations censoring Goku and Gohan's little wangs, then Kai goes and cut it off too! Hahaha.

Proof or it didn't happen.

Also if any mods are reading this, can you guys move this thread into the general discussion section, given that we're talking about anime pacing in general?

[Buggy Shenshou]

since i dont half to wait for episodes like i did while watching dbz as i child, i can just lay on my couch put a dbz disk in and watch for hours making the power up scenes more enjoyable to watch (especially when your high and the audio is in japanese, once you watch the sub version of dbz you'll realize that the dub is super americanized and you'll have a hard time going back)
and the reason i dont like kai is because shit happens to quick and the original dbz just took its time and i like that quality

[1000sunny]

@Zarnikon:

The pacing sucks right now.
It's a freaking war, a war has a lot of action and should you give you a feeling that everything goes fast.
But instead, they show 5 minutes the reactions of how whitebeard got stabbed, 10min's conversations and in total perhaps 50 frames.

Once again if you hadn't read the Manga first you would have had no problem. Instead of concentrating on whats actually happens in the episode (cause you already know) your over-analyzing everything else..

I know, I had the same problem and complained to a buddy of mine that is an Anime only-fan (why, I'll never know) about the recent pacing, and he said that he didn't know what I was talking about and that the pace was fine…he cared more about the fact WB got stabbed and what was gonna happen next...

[Joe]

I also feel that the touched up if you can call it that coloring, the impact of attacks with blood censoring and the soundtrack for kai are terrible compared to DBZ. Like how they fucked up every SSJ transformation so far with terrible music in Kai. I still like Kai a lot because of its pacing but compared to the original it feels like i'm watching DB lite.

[RPGJay]

I can agree with everything you're saying. But this:

@Joe:

Like how they fucked up every SSJ transformation so far with terrible music in Kai.

You don't like Super Dragon Soul?

[Shakidna_]

I don't get why this shit's so popular in Japan. Maybe if they raised their standards Toei would ave more incentive to value quality over quantity.

Don't say the pacing is inevitable, because producing 1 episode per week for 10 years straight is not necessary. Give me a good amount of content per episode and the ability to finish a story arc without taking a week off from work, then when you catch up take a break. Reruns? If those played on Japanese TV I bet kids would watch them. Then you could release 13-26 episode seasons once every year or 2 like good shows do. And they'd be higher budget because your profits per episode would multiply. Then you start making a genuinely good cartoon that blows all the others out of the water and Japan realizes that anime sucks, their ratings go down, and kids buy more chopper toys. And I don't have to sit through 600 episodes of bullshit.

oh yeah, I don't do that anyway.

[RPGJay]

@Shakidna_:

I don't get why this shit's so popular in Japan. Maybe if they raised their standards Toei would ave more incentive to value quality over quantity.

Wanna know how much money an average episode of One Piece costs to make? I've heard before it's somewhere in the ballpark of $30,000. That's pretty high quality.

Besides, aside from the occasional pacing problem (or the offchance Toei just plain fucks up), an average episode of One Piece is still pretty good. As someone else pointed out (forgot your name sorry), if you don't read the manga, you probably won't even notice most of the pacing issues.

@Shakidna_:

Don't say the pacing is inevitable, because producing 1 episode per week for 10 years straight is not necessary. Give me a good amount of content per episode and the ability to finish a story arc without taking a week off from work, then when you catch up take a break.

Sorry to break your bubble pal, but the concept of seasons is entirely foreign to most animation companies. The animation team only really takes a few weeks of break time a year. This is because it's actually more profitable for them to always keep the show running.

Especially when you have a Weekly Jump series like One Piece.

@Shakidna_:

Then you start making a genuinely good cartoon that blows all the others out of the water and Japan realizes that anime sucks, their ratings go down, and kids buy more chopper toys. And I don't have to sit through 600 episodes of bullshit.

oh yeah, I don't do that anyway.

Again, this seems to imply that the current One Piece anime is bad. The pacing, compared to a lot of other anime, is still pretty brisk. Besides, it's eons ahead of the original Dragon Ball Z.

[1000sunny]

The pacing is fine. Its going a chapter an episode, what more can you ask for? Do you want it to be like Bleach, going 3 chapters an episode but having to sacrifice with year long filler arcs? No the reason the pacing feels slow is because this isnt the Manga and never will be. I will be the first to say when the pacing gets really bad, like parts of Impel Down were we had less than a chapter per episode. But right now, the Anime is doing pretty damn well for having to cover such short chapters. To those people who refuse to accept that, oh well you always have the Manga…personally I gotta say this is shaping up to be one of the better animated arcs in OP

[LimeOrange]

Except the flashbacks, the pacing is really okay.

I like how the anime covers part that Oda wasn't able to show in the manga. And the filler isn't too bad, the only reason I feel impatient is coz I read the manga and know what's coming. But the pacing is really good :D
Like crocodile getting his outfit from newkama land… lol! I don't get how buggy got his though ... @_@! but I figured from all the characters in that war, it's hard to show who's who... without their original design... XD

When I've forgotten the manga's pacing, it becomes more fun than usual to watch the anime :D Also, the fillers are much appreciated after tolerating some other series's share of fillers... I'm really thankful the fillers are kept at a reasonable level.

I find One Piece's pacing really good. Though the slow motion can get tiring ... well when you are waiting for some really exciting parts that is. xD

[Crossword]

@RPGJay:

Wanna know how much money an average episode of One Piece costs to make? I've heard before it's somewhere in the ballpark of $30,000. That's pretty high quality.

It's actually around $100,000.

The general problem is that people go into it expecting the animation to be an exact moving talking version of what they read. That's not how it works. They're two different mediums; what works in one cannot work in the other. You want an example of this, go watch the Episode 0 OVA. It follows the manga chapter panel by panel, and sure it looks pretty, but starts to feel disjointed when it keeps jumping around with little to no transition.

If more people came to this realization and accepted it, they'd enjoy the content a lot more.

[Markku]

@Crossword:

It's actually around $100,000.

The general problem is that people go into it expecting the animation to be an exact moving talking version of what they read. That's not how it works. They're two different mediums; what works in one cannot work in the other. You want an example of this, go watch the Episode 0 OVA. It follows the manga chapter panel by panel, and sure it looks pretty, but starts to feel disjointed when it keeps jumping around with little to no transition.

If more people came to this realization and accepted it, they'd enjoy the content a lot more.

I get what you're trying to say, but when you look around and see good, well-paced and well-animated anime adaptations like Gintama, Soul Eater and FMA:Brotherhood (the canon bits), Hajime no Ippo and Hunter x Hunter (and dare I say even some canon parts of Naruto and Bleach), it's hard NOT to be disappointed with the One Piece anime.

It's not just a matter of doing it scene-by-scene, what bothers me is Toei completely dismissing the opportunity to add something to what is the manga, while keeping a reasonable quality standard on high.

I know OP is a weekly anime and all (and I don't like this either, but let's save that for another day), but with all the money a huge company like Toei makes from One Piece, you'd think they'd be willing to animate, direct and pace properly one of their flagship series.

In short, I dearly love the manga, but the anime is always a disappointment. QUALITY nonstop, and this Marineford war often looks slower, smaller and less crowded than the Skypeia survival game. Damn you, Toei.

[goty]

Heh, Soul Eater.
If Bones had done OP we would get 30 episodes of canon followed by 20 nonsensical filler developments ending up with Luffy jumping straight to Raftel and pwning the Admirals with his fist of love. The end, now go out and buy the manga.

..no, you can't compare shorter series to a long-running, nonstop juggernaut where the budget has to be carefully invested and pacing is an endless burden.
And go to your given Naruto forum and ask them if they're happy with Pierrot and the anime adaption. Hahaha. You'll find way more whining and cursing than here.

[1000sunny]

@Markku:

I get what you're trying to say, but when you look around and see good, well-paced and well-animated anime adaptations like Gintama, Soul Eater and FMA:Brotherhood (the canon bits), Hajime no Ippo and Hunter x Hunter (and dare I say even some canon parts of Naruto and Bleach), it's hard NOT to be disappointed with the One Piece anime.

It's not just a matter of doing it scene-by-scene, what bothers me is Toei completely dismissing the opportunity to add something to what is the manga, while keeping a reasonable quality standard on high.

I know OP is a weekly anime and all (and I don't like this either, but let's save that for another day), but with all the money a huge company like Toei makes from One Piece, you'd think they'd be willing to animate, direct and pace properly one of their flagship series.

In short, I dearly love the manga, but the anime is always a disappointment. QUALITY nonstop, and this Marineford war often looks slower, smaller and less crowded than the Skypeia survival game. Damn you, Toei.

You cannot compare OP to Brotherhood or Soul Eater, they are COMPLETELY different cases. Like you said OP is a weekly anime based on a weekly Manga, brotherhood and Soul Eater had no Manga to follow weekly/monthly they already had an endgame

I wish you people will just realize that just because the Anime pads out out the Manga, doesnt mean the pacing is slow. As I have stated before, already knowing what happens in the Manga is the only reason you are questioning the pace. If you didn't know that some of the episode was filler you would be perfectly fine with it. Now I realize that some filler, like alot of the ones in Impel Down, is bad but the filler so far on Marineford has been top notch.

People need to stop deluding themselves, the Anime will never go as fast as the Manga and it shouldn't go that fast anyway. The Anime is a separate entity from the Manga and while it follows the storyline, it has to put its own spin on things.

Friends of mine that are Anime only fans have told me many times that this has been on of the best arcs in OP. Why? Because to them, and most of the people who watch the Anime, are experiencing all the greatness from that arc for the first time, instead of griping over small issues that truly don't matter. As an Anime and Manga fan I have learned to accept that they are different from each other and found that I can still enjoy both of them..

[-neko-]

I agree.. sometimes they have to slow things so the anime wont catch up with the manga..

but God.. WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING WITH WAR AT MARINEFORD ARC!? they are shitting all over it…. its really sad..

. i prefer a whole arc of fillers between arcs than this 1 chapter per episode pacing.. its really annoying..