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Help - What is a short series?! (Patreon)

Published:
2026-05-02 09:21:11
Imported:
2026-09

Content

Just so I can further evaluate on what to include in polls going forward.

What are we classifying as short?

Anything under 100 episodes or Chainsaw Man short?

As someone still relatively new to the anime community I don't actually know what people classify as short. Other than the fact that some shows have 200+ episodes. Especially when Chainsaw Man is currently 12 episodes and a movie but something like AOT is 94 episodes.

It's a tad confusing.

Comments

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Not a lot of shows out there at that length though haha! Or at least none of the shows that interest me are around that length bar Violet Evergarden. Are we talking 12 to 24 per season or just altogether?!

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Yeah that's not gonna work as there's barely any shows that interest me that only run for 12 to 24 episodes.

Tony Tony Chopper

i've seen like 36 anime and i still haven't figured it out, they range from 6 episodes to 50, that's my personal opinion

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Yeah that's what confuses me is everyone has a different perception of what's short :')

Carlo Marasigan

Anything that is just one season is short. So One Piece! 😆 jk Personally i would say that 24-50 episodes would be short. Something like Steins Gate or Promised Neverland length.

Mariusz Ostrowski

it is related to how anime airing on Japaneese TV - kind of Official rules there's four seasons anime every year - so 12 episodes is basically one slot in the season.

hman70

Definitely subjective I think. Personally I think if someone told me to watch a short series and I checked and it was over 20 episodes I would at least crack a joke about their description. But like you said by One Piece or Naruto standards AoT is a short series at only like 80 episodes compared to their like 800-1200 episodes lol. So you can never be sure what anyone means by ‘short anime’ unless you know them personally and their standards. Like I said personally I’d only call something about <20 episodes short

Karina

20 years ago I would have considered 24-26 episodes a relatively short series. Nowadays I think 13 episodes are considered short or even standard/the norm, anything with multiple seasons and/or more than 20 eps are not short.

100gec

Witch hat atelier is releasing

100gec

Only 12 ep

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Yeah see the request for shorter series for polled content isn't really working because there's not a lot of shorter series that I immediately want to watch :') I would have classed short as anything under 100!

carlos Alejandro

To be honest, I feel like you should watch what you want bc ur reaction and understanding of what you watch is the best part, and eventually you will watch their request my opinion🫠

Carlo Marasigan

I would definitely count Spy x Family as short.

jasper🦎

i’m not sure how it is for other people, but i typically go by seasons when i scale a long/short anime😅 i’d say like anything equal to or less than 4 seasons (so i think basically 100 eps if the seasons are 24 eps(?))

DrSophieDarlingReacts

I honestly thought short for anime would be anything 100 episodes or less but I am massively off haha!!

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Yeah that's what I was wondering! Is it 24 per season or is it like 24 or LESS in total?! Because I'd have based it on season so anything less than 100 would be a short series!

Lustful~Mirage

Now I don't watch alot of anime nowadays, but going from what I've watched something like Cowboy Bebop which is 26 episodes (+ movie) or Nadia: Secret of Blue Water which is 39 episodes are medium/perfect length Something like Fist of the North Star is 152 episodes and City Hunter which is something like 140 episodes is long for me And anything that is 700+ is EastEnders levels of "that's too long for me, not watching" 😆 shortest anime shows I've watched have been between 13-20 episodes which is what I would consider short (not counting OVAs)

Dillon leeming

Short is apparently in the eye of the beholder. Like jojo has 40 plus episode seasons and i think that's long but I've heard different from others . One piece over a thousand so that is long. definitely long. 12 episode seems, to me at least I haven't been into this for that long either, to be a fairly new thing I've watched older series and 24 was around what they were often longer

carlos Alejandro

Not really usually lol the only animes I will still call short and having more episodes are around 30 to 50

Lex Garrett

Opinions will probably vary a fair bit, but personally I'd say 2 standard length cours of 12 or 13 episodes (so 24-26 episodes total) qualifies as "short" and one cour or less qualifies as "very short". Ongoing series are kind of hard to classify, since they might be short now but end up being long.

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Yeah I'd say like 24-28 episodes per season would be short but then it adds up when there's multiple seasons. So mentally I'm like "okay anything under 100 is technically a short show" especially when you've like One Piece and Naruto and Bleach!

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Yeah I think that's why I do the math of "100 episodes or less is short" when you're factoring in multiple series! :')

Dillon leeming

Season 1 of frieren was 28 i think, then season 2 got ten. But I get that the mangas on hiatus (again!) So they had to slow down

Van

I'd say everything you watched so far is short, except Apothecary Diaries, that one's gonna be long in the future when they've fully animated it. In numbers I'd say everything that reaches it's end close to 100 episodes is still short, if the episodes are around the usual 20 to 25 minutes each. But very subjective topic

Mei

A short series for me is one that spans for a season (12-13 eps) or two cours (24-26 eps). Those around 30s to 200s is medium length. And more than that is long. ^^;

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Okay so mentally we're on the same spot of 100 and less is short! Cause I'm looking at it as like 24 to 28 per season! Yeah Apothecary Diaries is going to be running for years at this rate!! I'm excited but god by the time it wraps up I'm probably gonna be an old grandma!

InTheHouseLikeCarpet

A short anime, to me, is 12-30 episodes. Medium length is 30-60 episodes, and a long anime is 60+ episodes. Less popular series usually only get 1-2 cours' worth of episodes and as an anime watcher of almost 20 years I've watched a ton of 12-episode series. It's hard for me to see anything beyond 24 episodes as "short" because of that 😅 But honestly, if someone else wants to define a "short" series differently, I really don't mind. My perspective is just one among many.

smem

a "short" anime is really subjective. you can have an anime over 90 episodes and still feel short or a 80 episode anime and feel long. i think it depends on the amount of content/arcs/seasons within an anime. But usually people consider 1 or 2 season(12-24 episodes) animes short, 25-100 episodes mid range, and anything over 100+ long.

Van

Probably my personal categories are short is around 100, medium is the 100+ to 300 range and 300+ is long.

Rexus

Most people classify a short series as having twelve to twenty-four episodes, with a maximum of around thirty-six episodes, typically spanning one to three seasons. Off the top of my head, I can think of several romcoms, drama, and action that fall into this category.

Goldie

Short anime? A Sign of Affection 🥲 they only made one 12 ep season 😭

James

A 12 episode season with 1-2 seasons in total is considered short and is starting to become the norm. Having watched anime since the 90s, I’ve noticed that studios are now sticking with the 12 episode format even if it means condensing the original source material which often leads to a poor adaptation; 24-28 episode seasons are starting to become less common.

Logan G

A very short, VERY good anime that you'd probably enjoy is Cyberpunk Edgerunners, it is like 10 episodes in the first season, and a second was recently announced.

Jim Nasium

12-24 is considered the average short. Anything under 100 is medium length(like Monster) and then there those lengthy animes with multiple seasons that go above 100 sre considered long series. There are really good short series and movies out there. Just give them a chance if you chose the right ones.

domi

That's such a hard question. Tbh, since a) I've been watching anime for a long time, I've seen a ton of 12 episode ones, but also b) in my mind sometimes I think things like Haikyuu, Hero Academia or even AoT are short, but that's only bc I have been here since they began, so I tend to forget that there are quite a lot of episodes now. As a general rule tho, I think anything =/<26 is short, then 27-100 medium and beyond is long (of course you have especially long ones like One Piece)

Seryu Ubiquitous

less then 2 seasons or 25 episodes is short/ less then +/- 100 episodes medium and 100+ is long at least in my opinion. a few shorter anime i would recommend if you wanna have a contrast to the darker shows that dominate atm are: bocchi the rock, Horimiya, Blue Box and "You and I Are Polar Opposites" If you wanna stay on the "darker" side: how about solo leveling, Hellsing Ultimate, Devilman Crybaby or goblin slayer?

HAL

I'd say under 50 episodes with a lot of series being around 24-25 but it not really a purely objective cutoff often times how short somethign feels is also subejctive erception or rather the ratio of lenght ot perception if something is repetitive/has a lot of filler a shroter runtime can feel longer htan something longer with a lot of forward progression and a clear story arc and the nof course there'S ongoing shows with undefined length

Mickael Landry

That's a great question and a common point of confusion! There's no official definition for "short" anime, as it's very subjective. My personal cutoff is generally under 50 episodes, so I'd consider for instance The Apothecary Diaries (for now) and Death Note to be short series. I would characterize Fullmetal Alchemist and Monster as lengthy anime series, in my opinion. On the other hand, Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach are examples of extremely long anime.

Peach

Yep, pretty much this! 24 ep seasons are on the rarer side compared to 12 ep seasons, and lots of things these days especially don't get more than 1-2 seasons

Claudius White

Not sure what the majority consensus is, but I've always considered shows with a complete story that are 12-24 episodes as short. Shows like Monster and Attack on Titan are on the longer end for me. Shows that are 100+ episodes long I normally wouldn't even consider watching unless it was something I watched as it came out and it eventually became that long. Some good/decent shorter shows I've seen include Madoka Magica (12 episodes plus 2 movies which I'm assuming will close out the story), Takopi's Original Sin (6 episodes), Welcome to the NHK (24 episodes), Katanagatari (12 double-length episodes), Erased (12 episodes), Angel Beats! (13 episodes), A Place Further Than The Universe (13 episodes), etc.

Jobbe Smit

I feel ~36 episodes or less is short. Though perhaps 48 for two 24 episode seasons? Two to three seasons depending on length I guess.

Peach

This pretty much makes sense to me too. 2 seasons at 48 eps or 3 seasons at 36 eps are still on the shorterrrr side, because a lot of shows these days don't get more than 12-24

Peach

Katanagatari would be a great shorter one!

Aki Himura

The vast majority of anime are only 12 episodes (1 cour), sometimes 24 (2 cours). Shows with more than 100 are actually pretty rare, mostly adaptations of weekly serializing shounens, which I would say it's something like 5% of all anime. But it might *feel* like that's a lot more than that because most of the big famous shows are shounen, so they're the first ones that people remember when they think "anime". 80-90% of all anime are 12 episode shows that most people haven't heard of (unless you're a seasoned anime watcher).

lasher840

I've always thought personally 12 - 24 eps is short. Anything else is long or longer.

mangacho

Ranking of Kings is one that I'm sure you will love.

DrSophieDarlingReacts

Yeah that's what I'm realising haha! I considered AOT short because it's under 100. Whereas anything over 100 I'm like "that's a long series!"

Atakan Bk

Well if you ask the One piece fans they will tell you One piece too short but that might just be us.

WondrousMay

Hmm, in my opinion, less than 50-60 episodes is short. I also consider shows that have 12-24 per season to be short too but that’s because these shows usually have more than one season so it seemed short when I watched it in real time haha. It honestly depends!

Krul

I was gonna say exactly this, so I guess I would just like this comment

Mariusz Ostrowski

I don’t know is Naruto and Bleach should be considered long. That’s just an oldschool way of Anime separate category

Lane Kyser

You would enjoy Odd Taxi a ton I think

Karina

Just finished Odd Taxi, such a good show. Was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, the storytelling and the characters are incredible.

Pedro D. G.

It was "short" when released because we got anywhere from 12-24/25 episodes each season and sometimes having a split cour, I'd always understand that's the "short series" format and you could also just split your watching between Seasons so you are not overwhelmed by the amount of content from 1 series alone.

Mina E.D

Less than 24-26 eps and only 1 season is short in my opinion

Hezer

Funny how different the opinions are on this. For me a short series is basically 1 season. (so 12-24 episodes). Anything longer than that is already medium sized anime. And then anything over 100 is long, or anything over 300 goes to crazy long category. 😂

Drift3r

"Takopi's Original Sin" is only 6 episodes long and of course the last episode has a post credit scene.

Buxton

I would say 12 ep or less

mattmallow

Nothing to add when it comes to episodes counts but I did want to add some context to them. Hope this helps. Seasonal anime is divided into four seasons each one sees between 30 to 45 anime. Most of which will not receive a follow up season unless it finds an audience but usually the manga and/or LNs are still on-going for those who want to continue forward. Expounding on that last part, most anime are based on Manga or LNs with only 2-3 original anime making to air each season. This is because anime studios want to ensure there is a guaranteed audience for their anime, originals are a huge gamble for them. There are also usually about 6-12 returning shows each season. As noted most shows don’t get a second season and even fewer get beyond that. However it used to be a bit more common for shows to go on for 50+ episodes continuously. This really doesn’t happen anymore with the way production schedules, costs, and the contemporary audiences viewing habits. There are some seasons that are a bit longer having two cours that are either run continuously or have a gap between.

mattmallow

The time frame is a bit random but here is the list of shows to start and get to season 3 since 2019 (out of probably 600-700 anime to come out during that time period): -The Rising of the Shield Hero -Demon Slayer -Fruits Basket -Dr. Stone -Fire Force -Arifureta -Ascendance of a Bookworm -Beastars -Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-Kun -Rent-A-Girlfriend -Jujutsu Kaisen -To Your Eternity -The Duke of Death and his Maid -World Trigger -SpyXFamily -Oshi No Ko -Tokyo Revengers -Reborn as a Vending Machine I Now Wander the Dungeon -Mushoku Tensei (airing Summer 2026) -Apothecary Diaries (airing Fall 2026) -The 100 Girlfriends who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (airing Summer 2026) -As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use my Appraisal Skill to Rise up in the World (airing Fall 2026) -DanDaDan (announced 2027) -Mashle (announced 2027) -Frieren (announced 2027)

Anna Kyruin

I would classify "short" as <26 episodes. Very short as <13, and long as anything over 75 episodes. Anything else is just "an anime" Everyone has their own standards though.

mattmallow

I kinda went on my own side quest here and counted the number of anime to get a second season: approximately 115. That means that out of about 700 hundred anime between 2019-2026 only 115 received a season 2 and out of that only 25 received a season 3 and out of that only 6 have received a 4th. These are only approximations of course, but still! It’s kind of blowing my mind! Even considering all anime ever made 4+ seasons are incredibly rare. ALL THAT SAID the number of seasons does not necessarily guarantee quality.

Unholy

Barakamon! 12 episodes that is it. A great slice of life I would recommend to anyone

Jiro Dechi

Most of the newer anime being released are 1 cour (usually ranging between 10-13 eps) those are what would usually be considered short anime as they are either a source material advertisement, an anime original story (aka no source material), and sometimes an OVA/ONA series (which are a lot of times passion projects). Chainsawman would be categorized as a long running series, same with JJK/AOT/Demon Slayer as while they are released in batches of 10-13 eps, they have multiple seasons/movies. Basically, anime without any upcoming or intended sequels would be the ones in the true short anime category. Medium length ones are the ones where the series is concluded in about 25-50 eps, and the Long anime series would be ones going up to a hundred and over. For recommendations for each kind, here's some: Short: Katanagatari, Heike Monogatari, Kakushigoto Medium: ~86~ Eighty Six, Mob Psycho 100, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Long: Monster, LOGH, any long running shows with 3 and higher seasons

Maristella

One short series I’d recommend that’s perfect for your content is an anime called Erased it only has 12 episodes and one season but is very interesting. The story itself is about a 27 year old man that goes back in time to middle school when children were disappearing. And just before he went back in time his mother was murdered. You could include that in your polls but it is a perfect shorter series.

Maristella

Another 12 episode series that is pretty interesting is Death Parade. The story is about people being judged through ‘games’ on whether or not they will go to ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’ also interesting and relatively short. And another one is ‘Love of Kill’ only has 12 episodes as well right now. That anime is about an assassin and bounty hunter, the assassin confesses his love for the bounty hunter and basically follows her around it seems kinda cute at first but the plot is pretty intense.