Hi EXP
the current sql table layout would make this a pretty expensive query.
maybe i'll add some more caching someday, that would allow me to display such data (eps/files added).
Caching would be an ideal option for this type of query....
The new anime series results are unlikely to change that often, so why even bother to do a lookup on the tables every time for the non-lame series?
Auto-building the query at regular intervals and then delivering a cached version of it rather than having to do a lookup every time would get round the hit on the tables. By always defaulting the display to the non-lame cached query you do get benefits, and if people want the latest information they'll check the latest files section anyhow, so any slight difference is unlikely to be that important.
Updating one query against several tables may be a bit of a hit if done regularly by many visitors, but if all you're doing is dumping pre-generated information the hit on performance could be done at a quiet time.
Another option might just be adding an extra flag field against the table - set it as follows:
0 - No episodes added
1 - Episodes / Files present
2 - Complete series
That would give the added benefit of giving the potential of an extra option on the main anime list display - Show Complete - which would then toggle display filtering in the same way that hide synonyms does.
The initial setup could be done by running a one-off compare against the tables, and then update the 'add episode' code to run a verify each time and toggle the flag as each episode is added.
Just a couple of thoughts on this, at the end of the day you're the expert here and it's up to you whether this gets implemented. I'm just trying to argue why this is a good idea that's worth your time.
Remember - have fun, and if you can't have fun then annoy someone else - it works for me

Spanky