The three-episode rule is intended to gauge whether a specific anime series will be to a viewer's liking within the span of three episodes, I mentioned previously that I've been known to drop series after less time and these days, the first episode has to grab you otherwise the internet will soon let you know if the series is bad or not by word of mouth, but how effective is it next to much longer form series?
I picked ten anime known to be longer than 50 episodes and popular enough to have an audience and applied the 3 episode formula to each one, I will not be including Dragonballz as it's a sequel series and well over half it's world viewers were already aware of this fact.
So let's begin.
Inuyasha
In three episodes, the basic plot is established but there's enough going on to warrant a closer look, not so much from Kagome but certainly from Inuyasha considering what he already displayed in a short time.
Passed.
Digimon
In three episodes, the Digi-destined are summoned, they meet their partners and we meet Greymon and Garurumon, you already want to see how everyone else turns out and the enemies are creative enough to keep your attention.
Passed.
Sailor Moon
In three episodes, Usagi gets her powers and it's already looking formulaic and Usagi has shown her entire hand by the third episode, luckily it's saved by the Luna pen giving an extra layer of intrigue in how far Usagi's powers will go.
Passed.
Pokemon
In three episodes, Ash has an eventful opening getting just to Viridian City meeting Misty and Team Rocket along the way, on the actual third episode he catches two Pokemon and evolves one, Ash has achieved enough to see how far he can go on his journey.
Passed.
Fairy Tail
In three episodes, we've met Lucy, Natsu, Happy and enough of the Guild to see how crazy it can get.
Passed.
Yu-Gi-Oh
In three episodes, Yugi has battled two major players and is on his way to a tournament to meet more crazy duelists, being honest I was already sold on episode one.
Passed.
Card Captor Sakura
In three episodes, Sakura has setup the quest, got her friend to join her and dress her up and Sakura has acquired some pretty good cards, the battle costumes alone made you stay.
Passed.
Bleach
In three episodes, Ichigo has his powers and is already taking down his first major hollow in Orihime's brother, the increased violence would've been enough to begin with.
Passed.
One Piece
In three episodes, Luffy has taken out two villains and Zoro has joined his crew, we even have Zoro's back story and Nami in the background doing her own thing and being pleased that Koby won't be joining them, there's enough there to see where it goes.
Passed.
Naruto
In three episodes, Naruto graduates to the Ninja Academy by defeating a villain, he then babysits Konohamaru for episode two and then team 7 is formed with Sasuke and Sakura, the problem here is that it makes the series look like a school anime and there's so little ninja content, you're lucky to stay invested after episode 2 let alone episode 3.
Failed.
Conclusion
I'm fascinated at how well all these series held up in regards to the three episode rule with only Naruto failing, so there is some merit in what you can learn in only 70ish minutes of content as to whether these shows will be for you.
Most fans of Naruto didn't really get into the series until either halfway through the Zabusa arc or when the Chuunin Exam was at it's best, I'll go as far as saying Naruto is the poorest starting anime of all time and it's popularity was by luck that enough people watched it to give it a chance, if aired today, it would fail after one season.
