Whenever I recommend a series to a friend, they always seem to ask "how many episodes/chapters is it?"

I can understand not wanting to read through 400 chapters of long-winded story + filler for some mangas like Bleach, etc. but I don't think that should influence your decision to read new series as well :\ there's been series like Eyeshield 21where 333 chapters was absolutely necessary for the story and it's been pulled off well.

I just don't understand the logic between people being so judgmental of series length.

opinions? do you have a preference for series length? what's the shortest/longest anime or manga you've been willing to pick up?

for the record, the longest running manga (I think) is hajime no ippo which has 900 someodd chapters and is still running in JUMP

Tough to say. There are only a few long running series that I enjoy reading (such as Hajime no Ippo or Negima), but generally, the stories are strained and too long winded - and of course, possibly cashed-in on.

Short series just seem to get to the point, and give you some sort of finale. The irony is, depending on how well it draws you in, sometimes you wish there would be more.

Preference; short. In and around 14 Volumes of manga should be the longest run for most manga - that way there's a bit of breathing room to draw the story out, but at the same time, just enough leeway to give it a proper conclusion.

Longest ive started watching was One Piece.. but also Bleach and Naruto were long.

Long DOES steer me away, but I will always give the pilot a shot - same goes for tv shows.

Definately prefer short series over long ones. Longest manga I started was One piece (started this summer) and shortest might have been Death Note

Some of my favourite animes were short animes (Death Note, Code Geass Samurai Champloo). Short series don't usually have those boring arcs/fillers that the long series have(*cough* Naruto *cough* Bleach) and they usually leave people wanting more wishing they wouldn't end. Long series usually have people either switching to the manga(stopped watching bleach during the vampire arc, almost stopped watching/reading the entire series because of a filler) or wishing that the series would end as they seem to just make things up as they go.

For me to pick up on another long series I think it would be on the level of a short story in terms of excitement and story progression.

I agree with you all. I like short series than long ones. The long ones you don't know when it's going to end or what is going to happen at the end.

The longest I'm on right now is Detective Conan. I've watched all of the episodes and it is STILL ongoing. The short series at least gets to the point and you know what's going to happen at the end.