Reasons why shorter manga series can be better...
I was thinking about how GGO is relatively short, when I realised that it’s not *always* a bad thing. I mean, sure, there’s less stuff to enjoy in general, and I would have loved to see what Kaori-sensei would have done with more volumes to flesh out the characters. But in some ways the shortness of the series hasn’t limited our appreciation at all. So I thought I’d share my thoughts...
Every panel is packed with so many tiny details. When I think about how quickly I gloss over some series because there isn’t much to focus on in each panel, you actually realise that some series like GGO manage to cram a lot into each page. I’ve been reading through my old volumes of several series lately, and the difference is pretty apparent . In GGO, most panels convey little details that are interesting or relevant.
You pretty much get to ship anything, if you enjoy shipping, because the writer didn’t spend 40 volumes foreshadowing that their OTP got together. Unfortunately it does mean less canon moments, but then that’s where your creativity of interpretation can come in handy.
On a related note, shorter series encourage you to look deeper than the text, because there’s not much text there to begin with. It doesn’t stop your mind coming up with a million theories or headcanons, though, and the fact that there’s less canon material means that you have more freedom to fill in the gaps as you’d like.
You can also re-read them more easily; I could re-read GGO in several hours if I wanted, which means that I sometimes actually do.But I’d probably have to take time off if I ever wanted to re-read Bleach again XD. I don’t know if I’d ever have the patience to read Bleach again.
Each individual volume is actually more enjoyable to read, because they work better as self-contained units. With the big, stretched out series, I find that one volume might be taken up by one fight, or it might not progress the plot much, because those series tend to be more drawn out with how they reveal their plot or build up their characters. You can really feel that they are just one very small part of a bigger story. But volumes from a short story feel much more complete? Like a lot more happens? I own volumes from long series too, but I rarely peruse them as standalone volumes, because I find they give me less enjoyment on a volume by volume basis.
There is a smaller cast of characters, so you really get more invested into each one because there are fewer characters to divide your attention among. I used to inwardly groan whenever a new bunch of characters were introduced in some series because the characters I’d already spent 20-40 volumes getting to know became sidelined and you could go like 10 volumes without so much as a panel of your personal faves. My interest in series is usually quite character-driven, so I used to be surprised at how little development and thought characters sometimes get even in a long series. meanwhile even in a short series like GGO, you can see each character grow and achieve some semblance of peace or moving on.
The plot doesn’t lose its steam and there’s less filler. I spent more than 20 volumes waiting for Naruto to just end already, even though I was really invested in that series just because it felt like the plot was running out of steam. With a short series, the plot is kept from becoming too overblown; they don’t try to continue it by adding an entirely new arc of bigger baddies because the first lot of baddies got defeated.
There’s less to keep a track of. Whenever I step away from a long series for more than a month, it’s really hard to remember the vast cast and the ins-and-outs of the plot. Who was that guy again? What is that artefact they all keep talking about? What is going on!?! With a shorter series liek this, even if I forget something, it’s easier to find out what I missed. With a long series, if you start to lose track, suddenly the entire plot no longer makes sense.
