It seems all good series come to an end in the 20-26 range, anything beyond that never stops. The series has about 5 episodes to start and "get used to itself," then continues until reaching a climax at the halfway mark (sometimes ep 12-14), and often reaches a second climax at 18-20 that leads to a final resolution. Until the movie comes out.
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Anonymous2005-04-01 20:40
26 episodes = half a year's worth, showing one episode a week. 13 episode series are also becoming more common too - a quarter of a year. Most US TV shows tend to be around the 20-26 episode per season mark for precisely the same reason.
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Anonymous2005-04-02 0:45
What about samurai champloo? What happened to that? :) anime gurus?
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Anonymous2005-04-02 3:14
Let's not forget how on Cartoon Network a series' unofficial cancellation happens with episode 52...
The only thing worse than a good show getting the chop is when they screw up a good thing by having a completely different crew come in and work on the show (poor dexter's lab ;_;)