Why do anime movies always feel an act too long?

After seeing Akira this past Tuesday, I finally began to notice a patter in Anime features. I've seen (and loved) Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke before, and always thought the same thing: why does it feel like these movies have four acts? Now, after seeing Akira, and sitting through the unnecessary second climax, I'm beginning to think most popular anime films are like this. Each of the movie's I've listed all feel like they continue for about 20 minutes longer than they should have. Princess Mononoke, for example, feels like it should've ended in the forest; perhaps when the leader of Iron Town kills the forest spirit. Instead, the forest spirit turns into a giant death liquid that begins swallowing the world. In Akira, the film feels like it should've ended during Tetsuo and Kaneda's fight on the landfill, but instead it extends into another fight at the Olympic stadium. It's this weird mix between episodic and arc structure that leaves these movies feeling just a touch too long and bloated in my opinion.

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 4, 2018 at 3:19 PM

    It was wayyyyyyyyyyyy to long!!! After the first 20 minute fight in the baby room I was ready for it to end. They also had this weird drop in between the two where everything is calm. This movie was like going though a hurricane, you know what's coming and the tension rises, the storm hits and it's huge and then theres a break in the eye and then more storm! Still way too long, would've loved to see more visuals at the end instead of hearing the babies talk to us. Still a great use of animation and a great example of the limitless capabilities it brings as an art form.

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