Why not an animated TV show with a continuous story?

[Kazuki]

(This is about Batman)

I mean, instead of individual episodes who always follow the same boring and predictable structure, why not a tv animated series with a continuous and more serious story? Think of Sopranos, Walking Dead, etc. They all have a story who is told episode by episode. Different things happen in each episode and you´re always curious to see what´s coming in the next episode.

With the Batman animated series that rarely happens. It´s the same structure every god damn time: A new villain in town, Batman investigates the villain just a little bit, because the episode is very short, and at the end we have a big fight. And that´s it. Wouldn´t it be cool to have something a little different? Wouldn´t it be cool if a Batman animated tv show was more like Anime, where we have these great stories that are unraveled through the show, instead through individual episodes? I think it would be awesome.

 

[Lord]

The Avatar shows do that, anime do that, but then again in Japan people take cartoons more seriously.

 

[Kazuki]

The Avatar shows do that, anime do that, but then again in Japan people take cartoons more seriously.

It´s better than mindless action, i think. Too bad they do american cartoons thinking about 8 year old kids. As an adult, i´d like to have a more serious Batman cartoon. And i doubt it wouldn´t have success.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I like the idea of long-form animated serials (Robotech/Macross being a good example) but it is important to remember that a long story arc does not by itself equal good writing and good storytelling.

In comic books themselves, the ability to tell a story with a beginning, middle and end in a single issue is a lost art, and a lot of submission editors wish more writers knew how to do it.

Batman is one of those characters where I enjoy the compact story arcs. The long arcs can be saved for when he has to work with those primadonnas in the Justice League.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

so far it seems that Beware The Batman is a continuous story

same with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles save for a few episodes that were more stand alone straying away from the central storyline

 

[Lord]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Spawn also had continuous storylines, i see what you're saying but what i trully wished they cared more about is quality in the storytelling. Few shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Star Wars the clone wars, Avatar: The Last Airbender and Spectacular Spider-Man have an excelente animation with a great writting, but those shows should be the rule, not the exception.

They're excuse when people complain is "well, it's for kids", but hey, as a kid i allways liked my show to be serious and not dumb, even Yu-Gi-oh can be consider for kids yet it was basically Saw with collectible cards and soul sucking psycopaths, ok, that was probably not the best example

Would like to see another adult american cartoon (like Spawn was for example) that isn't a comedy or satire, but a full blown action or drama one.

 

[Teelie]

The Venture Bros more or less do this. They're not a serious/drama type of cartoon but they have a definite continuity and storyline that would make watching episodes out of order disorienting.

 

[Kazuki]

so far it seems that Beware The Batman is a continuous story

same with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles save for a few episodes that were more stand alone straying away from the central storyline

I have only seen one Beware the Batman episode. But doesn´t each episode have a new different villain? Or almost every episode. I think the same happens with the turtles. I´m not sure though.

"The Batman" also had a continuous story, but all the episodes were basically the same, and you could easily see them as stand alone episodes.

So, that´s not what i´m referring to. I´m referring to a format more like anime. In anime, episodes don´t consist in one new villain being defeated in every episode. There is more character and story development. That´s what i like

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

I have only seen one Beware the Batman episode. But doesn´t each episode have a new different villain? Or almost every episode. I think the same happens with the turtles. I´m not sure though.

"The Batman" also had a continuous story, but all the episodes were basically the same, and you could easily see them as stand alone episodes.

So, that´s not what i´m referring to. I´m referring to a format more like anime. In anime, episodes don´t consist in one new villain being defeated in every episode. There is more character and story development. That´s what i like

outside of the villains in Beware The Batman, the story arcs between Bruce, Alfred, Katana, and Gordon are all continuous

 

[The Question]

Justice League Unlimited had two continuous story arcs, the Cadmus conspiracy and Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom. Batman was in that show a lot.