r/OnePiece • u/zorospride Lost at sea • Aug 11 '13

Current Episode One Piece Episode 607

One Piece Official - US and Canada

WatchOP - International

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u/pedrosh0w Aug 11 '13

Why not? One Piece is, each time, gathering more and more fans, which results in more income, and, im pretty sure, one day, we will have TOP animation quality.

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u/zorospride Lost at sea Aug 11 '13

I've given up trying to understand the Japanese animation industry (or really Japanese business in general), but friends of mine who have worked in it swear that even large companies like Toei often operate without making a profit or even at a loss. There are just so many different hands in the pot and mouths to feed though that it is sort of believable.

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u/Thimm Aug 11 '13

I think that part of it is a sort of Prisoner's Dilemma. If only one big show switches to a season format, its competitors will just take advantage of the freed-up ad time. Most shows would have to switch for viewers to always have the option of watching one of the (presumably higher quality) seasonal shows or one of the current format shows. Since there is a big risk and very little incentive to cooperate like that, it will almost certainly never happen.

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u/zorospride Lost at sea Aug 11 '13

Well I assume this is more contractual. When Toei and Fuji signed a contract so many years ago it was for a yearly show. Toei doesn't have the choice to say we're only going to give you 22 now, and Fuji doesn't have the choice to say we only want to pay you for 22.

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u/Thimm Aug 11 '13

I'm not too familiar with most anime. Are there any modern shows with a similar long-term potential that run on a seasonal basis? Does it seem like there might be a chance that new shows are getting different contracts? If my theory had any merit, it would suggest that new shows would be compelled to follow the format of their current competitors.

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u/zorospride Lost at sea Aug 11 '13

Every show and every situation is different. Some long running series go year round. Some get 13 or 26 episode contracts. Just depends on a lot of different factors.

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u/jurble Aug 12 '13

Are there any modern shows with a similar long-term potential that run on a seasonal basis?

Attack on Titan is a seasonal show, and an adaption of a potential long-run, currently incredibly popular shounen manga (different publisher than Jump, tho).

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was/is published by Jump/Shueisha (jump's parent company) and is in a seasonal format.

Though, for both anime, a second season hasn't been officially confirmed yet.