| Yes, its another Cihan rants about something thread. [Here] is a thread about whether you prefer episodic or plot based shows, but this thread isn’t about preference. Its about the negative perception of episodic shows. I hope it won’t be locked or merged, because anyone searching for a thread solely about the episodic format wouldnt be satisfied with a episodic V plot thread and would just start their own. I'll leave it to the mods judgement though. :) (if you feel it redundant, I'd prefer merge over lock, lol) So: I am tired of criticisms of shows that are 'episodic'. As soon as someone sees this word their mind is already set on it. It's as if the lack of a serialised structure harms the show or is deserving of contempt. Episodic means: Days in the lives of... Cowboy Bebop. Classic example. Number 1 criticism: "It’s too episodic, there's no plot." The plot is: here are the days of the lives of the Bebop crew. Follow us as we navigate their daily trials and tribulations, observe as their relationships form, mature and change. Key word: Relationships. Episodic = focus on relationships. Serialised = focus on plot. Both can be interchangeable obviously, but I think this represents the two styles the best. The majority of serialised shows have a plot driving the characters, and majority of episodic shows have characters driving the plot. People shouldnt dismiss episodic shows. A lot of us have been raised on certain storytelling conventions and structures, but stories can be any style they want, as long as they're compelling and coherent, and heck they can even lose the coherent part as long as they make you feel something, as long as they genuinely try to elicit a response out of you. So repeating what I mentioned in a Bebop thread somewhere, the show is not a grand epic story, but a brief time in their lives. Episodic shows can be even more compelling to us as our lives mirror the characters more than if they're involved in some mammoth struggle in a serialised show. You can dislike an episodic show, but just don’t dislike it for its structure alone, unless you think the story could have genuinely been told better in a serialised fashion. Make sure you understand the point of the show though, because changing Cowboy Bebop, for example, to a serialised show about Spike and Vicious would have changed the entire dynamic of the show, it wouldn’t be what the director intended it to be at all. Hell, even the DVDs are designed like vinyl, and episodes are track names, cant be more obvious can it? So: do you think episodic shows get too much flak? Am I ranting for no good reason? Do you really think episodic format is less worthy than serialised? Do most episodic shows suffer from the same flaw? How long is a piece of string? |
"I'm starting to think mal is run by Xinil generating electricity on a bicycle." - idklol |
| I agree with you (for once!). But then, I dislike people instantly dismissing anything just because of its genre or content labels. There are always good and bad shows regardless of their genre or content (content including the story structure). I do think episodic shows, as a fairly broad structural style, get too much flak. It saddens me because there are so many brilliant ones out there. Mushishi would be my most favourite, Bebop is a highly notable mention. xxxHolic is basically episodic (though there kind of is a greater underlying plot/theme... that goes for most shows really.) and that's just two off the top of my head (cuz I rate both 10 >.>) It's even worse when people who bag these shows are fans of Bleach, OP, Naruto and other stuff... which have entire seasons of nonsense that is basically episodic in overall nature, with absolutely nothing to do with the actual 'story' of the show. Just the characters doing stupid shit, which is basically the very nature of episodic story writing; just showing the characters doing their thing. Whether it has a point or not. |
| I am not a fan of episodic shows. What realy bothered me about bebop was that they tried too hard to make it episodic with an overall story, but it didn't seem to really work too well. Regardless, I don't dismiss a show just because it's episodic. I think Mushishi was the best episodic anime I've seen so far. Minami-ke was also a really good episodic anime. But when it comes down to it, with an episodic series I never get extremely attached to the characters and that is something i look for when I watch shows in general, unless it's a comedy. I also tend to like marathoning anime, which is hard with episodic series. It's all just personal preference. Some people do take it too far with the "episodic=bad" beause they're not all bad. Comedy shows work best in episodic format I think. Though I'm probably really influenced from TV shows, where comedies are usually stand alone episodes, and other shows focus on the storyline and drama aspect. |
| I think episodic, serialized, or episodic with underlying plot is all fine by me. Key point being: is it done well? I'm actually pretty hard pressed to think of purely episodic shows that aren't comedies. Mushishi is one, and Mononoke perhaps as well? Bebop and Champloo are definitely episodic with underlying plot. And then you have stuff like GITS - SAC, with the "stand-alone" and "complex" episodes which are both great in their own way, and I just might give the stand alone episodes a slight edge. |
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kasumisama said: I think episodic, serialized, or episodic with underlying plot is all fine by me. Key point being: is it done well? I'm actually pretty hard pressed to think of purely episodic shows that aren't comedies. Mushishi is one, and Mononoke perhaps as well? Bebop and Champloo are definitely episodic with underlying plot. And then you have stuff like GITS - SAC, with the "stand-alone" and "complex" episodes which are both great in their own way, and I just might give the stand alone episodes a slight edge. [2] |
| LDK. Repetitive? Did...did you read any of my post? (oO) Maybe in a show, possibly aimed at kids, with a status quo thats constantly maintained throughout the entire series, it could be called repetitive. If nothing changes with the characters or the world they inhabit, then yeah its repetitive. Episodic does not mean repetitive though... I dont know how else to defend against this 'repetitive sucky anime' accusation without repeating my original post really. EDIT: Just to point out though, I would also hate anything that was repetitive. I've heard Dragonball is a lot like that so that's why its so far down on my To Watch list. Although I dont know if thats episodic or not. |
BeatnikJun 7, 2008 10:53 AM
"I'm starting to think mal is run by Xinil generating electricity on a bicycle." - idklol |
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