User blog comment:ILuvAnime/Fairy Tail continue after episode 175/@comment-62.140.137.102-20131127095509/@comment-4829046-20131128135849

Yes, it would have been better time-wise but it would've been bad if we had to go to a whole new part while waiting to see whether the cast was dead or not, seeing how powerful Naruto would be when he returned and being shell-shocked by the apparent death of the FT cast are two different things. And actually the same could be said about One Piece. You wouldn't believe how much I prayed that the goddamn anime would split into a different series when it reached the 2 year time-skip and make me like the series more, but do they do it? Noooooo, they just have to continue the anime for as long as the manga goes. -_-

And sadly with the FT anime team not everything is ship-shape upstairs so I doubt they even thought of that possibility. If they did, then we wouldn't have had that filler called Key of the Starry Sky.

IMO a series should only split when the first part has a decent closing chapter that left us in suspense but at a medium level like with Naruto. That way one can take his time and watch the separate parts. In some other anime that were in separate seasons, they ended the first season/part decently with foreshadowing but nothing immediate that we have to worry about and so we don't really need to watch the next part except if we want some revelation to the overall plot. This is one example okay, Part 1 - One of the strongest enemies is defeated and the country is saved and a war is averted. Then starts Part 2- whole new progression and villain appears and new war begins. Ends with villain retreating and his army without a leader. Part 3- Villain reappears but story has new progression, characters and revelations. Something like that. So that it feels refreshing when you start part two.

Pretty much Bleach and Naruto anime ended at good points. Fairy Tail not so much. A big fat "To be Continued" during the middle of an arc is stupid. I haven't watched HSDK or Reborn anime so I can't give any analysis on those. But I do know that in HSDK some important characters were introduced in the OVAs rather than in the actual TV airing which I find to be a problem since those characters are important to the plot later on and confining their introductions to OVAs is iffy.