Dropping Anime
Asking the question: why do good people watch bad anime?
It’s that time of the month again – editorial time! That’s right, by some miracle or black magic I have not run out of ideas yet. Which is good, because it means I can still post things to Metanorn despite having no shows to actually blog about right now. This month, I’m going to rant about the importance of consistent pacing/quality in anime, and how you should choose to invest your anime-watching time wisely. The reason I decided to talk about pacing this month was to address the issue of anime where you have to “grind” through episodes to get to the good stuff as well as shows that start off wonderfully only to burn out in the final stretch. Hopefully by the end of this you’ll realize that dropping an anime series isn’t such a horrible thing.
Starting off slow
After watching Steins;Gate, I questioned the point of having to slog through boring episodes to get to the good ones. Is it really worth it in the end? As a form of entertainment media that’s sole purpose is to keep the viewer amused, watching poorly made episodes because “it gets better!” just isn’t acceptable. When people say a series starts off badly due to pacing, story, animation or any other factor, I lose all motivation to watch it. Yeah, it may get good later on, but I’d rather watch a series that keeps up the quality from start to finish. As a university student, I’m busy, and I want to MAXIMIZE the amount of fun I have in whatever way I can. GO GO ANIME SNOBBERY!
I’m not the type to be completely black and white about things, and I’m not going to just leave it at “if it starts off bad, it’s not worth it.” It’s a shame that you might have to start justifying whether an anime is worth watching by comparing the good halves and bad halves but sometimes it’s actually worth it to hang in there for the greatness you get in the end. Steins;Gate plods through 12 episodes of long dialogues and slowly setting up concepts and character connections as if it had all the time in the bloody world. However, the second half is an incredibly riveting depiction of time travel and the rifts it causes in the lead characters life. That was worth it because the first half may have been ¼ the speed of the second half, but it wasn’t outright bad. It’s generally only worth it if the number of bad episodes is small, the sketchy episodes in question aren’t dreadful, and if the prize at the end is really worth it. The problem is, judging whether something you haven’t see yet will be worth the wait is hard. You can only tell from what others say, and anime is a subjective medium.
There really is no solution to this, I’m just making your life miserable by pointing out all the time you waste watching bad anime episodes. Consistent pacing is hard to achieve, and sometimes the beginning starting off slow just cannot be avoided. Sometimes the best answer is to just skip it. Reborn! dedicates its first 7 chapters to gags before it finally becomes a decent shounen, battle manga and season 2 of Haruhi is plagued with the infamous Endless eight arc. Do yourself a favour and skip it.
The funny thing is, some people refuse to skip anything and treat watching anime like more of a mission than a fun hobby. People comment with things like “Oh, I really should watch the latest episode now” or “I’m so behind, oh noes!” as if it was their civic duty to sit and wait for Mawaru Penguindrum to get subbed. It’s that mindset of having to finish a series just because you started it that confuses me. While not everyone is like that, I don’t understand people who don’t mind punishing themselves with bad anime, offering no other reason for their actions other than how good it feels to complete a series. I think otaku should be critical of what they watch, and carefully draw a line between what is worth watching and what should be discarded.
A Weak Finish
No, I’m not done bitching yet! Let’s not forget anime that start off strong then go out with a whimper. Weak ending case #1 is when you can tell the author just wanted to end the series ages ago, but was forced to drag it on. The plot becomes shallow, the characters stop developing, and things have a tendency to dissolve into a panty shot parade. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko should have really ended at episode 4 or 5, once Erio took off her futon and decided to integrate into society. Instead, it stretches out into 12 episodes of haremettes prancing around. I dropped it with 3 episodes to spare until the end. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? has a similar feel, where the charm simply wears off over time and the story becomes dumb.
There’s also case #2 where the ending is a cliffhanger due to the manga still running and the desire for a season 2. This happens a lot, but usually only affects the last episode, which isn’t too bad. The problem arises when the cliffhanger is just the end result of rushing. Deadman Wonderland decided that it had a certain spot it wanted season 1 to end at, and just said “fuck this” to everything else and crammed a frightening amount of chapters into a mere 20 or so odd minutes. It was a mess, but you could argue that most of the series was kind of awry.
Case #3 is just when an anime has to scramble to wrap up the story in the final few episodes. Fractale is guilty of wasting away precious episodes on doing laundry and having the characters screech “ecchi!” at each other before it remembers it actually has a story to tell in the last episode. So although it started off with a nice, promising pace, it had two horrible dips: one where it slowed down to a snail’s pace and another where it went bonkers.
In my opinion, anime that start off well and slowly degrade are harder to drop. A show that begins with an unpromising premise is likely to be dropped on impulse by most people, while it’s a bit harder to give up on something that was previously reliable. This is essentially the sunk cost fallacy – where when you spend a resource that cannot be recovered you will follow through anyways, assuming you’re past the point of no return. Furthermore, you will trick yourself into thinking it was better than it actually was. People then assume because they’ve invested so much time, that it’s worth it to trudge through the last few episodes. Well, no, it isn’t. I’m willing to drop a show with one or two episodes to spare to the end, because I have come to firmly believe that it won’t get any better. If anything, I want to stop as soon as possible to avoid wasting MORE time on something I don’t really enjoy. If I’m dying to know about the ending, there are always summaries to read (on blogs like Metanorn! Hint hint!). Being picky is my style, and it means I have more time to watch anime I love and have fewer regrets about pouring my resources into junk.
Your Turn!
Time to strike back!
I’m especially curious to hear from those of you loyal otaku who will follow an anime to the end, like a lemming who will jump off a cliff after its comrades. Is it really worth it to plow through an anime that starts off bad or has a bad ending? How do you feel about dropping series and how often do you drop them? Have you ever regretted watching an anime all the way through? Comment away! (Or just poke into the bonus mini art spam at the end and slip away into the night)
Bonus Art Spam:
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
Usually my drop point in the number of episodes. My attention span for a plot line that is static caps at 50. However the exceptions over the years have been Gundam Seed, Fairy Tail, FMA Brotherhood and well pokemon because its a classic!!! I actually forsee myself dropping SKET Dance or possibly slowing down the pace I watch it.
Interesting you brought up Stein;Gate I actually dropped that one after 5 episode. My issue was with the science it felt like so much chatter and not enough anime flashiness.
But the big reason for droppage is filler episodes. This was my problem with D. Gray-man and Beach. I loved those show, watched 24 eps of them but those filler episodes drove me insane!!! Sadly I’m not one of those people that can skip the filler episodes and continue. I unfortunately have to watch every episode even the recaps (curse you Nurarihyon),
I regret watching Sacred Seven, Kure-nai, and Higurashi S2 (worse thing ever) all the way through. Its most unsatisfying when you spend 3 months watching a show only for it to turn into a let down -_-; I start to think of all those other shows I could have wasted my time on.
Thank you for the heads up on Fractale, I was debating on watching it and now I just might leave it. I really need to catch up with K-On S2…..
Have you watched the Disgaea anime?
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 322 comments
Watch K-ON season 2!!!!
I promise you, it will not bore you! In fact, its a tragedy that it is ending!! ToT
After the movie it will be OVVVEEEER!! NOOOO!!! ‘OTL…
sigh….me and my dramatic spaz attacks…POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I find it hard to even start to watch incredibly long series…I just go right for the manga since it’s faster XD There are some good long ones though that don’t have filler. Filler is such a depressing invention. A few filler episodes are good for fun every now and then, but entire arcs of filler can be really depressing. :/
I hate when the second season of a show is bad, because you keep watching it, expecting it to regain the charm of season 1. But then it doesn’t and you feel cheated. I’m so glad I dropped Sacred Seven when I did XD Fractale I couldn’t drop because I was blogging it…
As Yvoon says, WATCH K-ON!! S2. I know it’s condemned as a cheap moeblob animu, but I really liked it XD
Nope, never seen the Disgaea anime. It looks kind of..meh…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
Alright apparently I need to DL K-ON S2 ON IT!!!
Yay filler episodes are a drag, however Fairy tail can throw as much filler at me as they want and I still love it, I think its because the characters act silly at the best of time so I hardly notice when I ridiculous filler episode shows up. Naruto was REALLY bad for painful fillers.
JooJoo – Agreed on the One Piece actually for me I never picked up that series because of the art. But 500+ episode come on people.
Fairy Tail is my Prince of Tennis almost at 100 eps and I don’t plan on stopping ^_^
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I have a hard time watching long series. They just *sprawl*. When there is a solid plot line, then that is great, and there have been some good long series, but many are utterly pointless, full of nothing but rambling. I would say One Piece is a good example of this, only because I watched about 100 episodes before calling it quits. Other long series I have dropped much sooner (usually about the 50 episode mark you mention), Naruto, Bleach, I even dropped Legend of the Galactic Heroes at episode 45. In the case of LotGH, I really enjoyed it at first, but started to question whether it was going anywhere. In the case of Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece, I was sure it was not going anywhere.
One long series I am still working my way through is Prince of Tennis (I watched episode 42 last night). It has very little filler, but I haven’t hit that 50 episode mark yet, so I guess there is still time for me to drop it well before the end.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 88 comments
Why is Eyeshield in this………. it’s because it’s an example of a great anime right? Right? haha
I agree with pretty much everything, although in Reborn’s case, I actually liked the gag chapters better XD
As for dropping anime, I don’t usually feel anything. Most of the time I just forget to continue it, or stop watching because I prefer to watch something else (which leads me to forget about it). I have dropped a lot of series though… I’m the sort of person who never finishes anything haha
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I sometimes kinda forget, also. Sacred Seven from this season being a good example: I watched episode 6, thought it was cool, but just had no interest in getting the next episode, during what was a big moment when a character was kidnapped.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ahaha yeah I am with you there Jrow on Sacred Seven, you know it has a great idea for a storyline! But halfway through like OC said they just give up and throw together a horrible ending…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It’s just there because THEY’RE WATCHING ANIME? GET IT? But really, I love Eyeshield so I just stick it everywhere I can.
I think most people drop things when they get bored, so this post is kind of lost on most people lol. I was mostly writing about my amazement for people with the fortitude to just sit through an anime to the end just because they’ve arbitrarily decided that all anime they start must be watched to the end. It’s really an incredible skill, and I would never be able to do it since like you…I tend to drop things if there are 3 bad episodes in a row. XD
Sacred Seven I watched for about 4 or 5 episodes before I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted it to be my weekly dose of action, but nope, it just didn’t pick up. :/ If you forget about a series for a while, it’s pretty much worth dropping lol.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
For some reason my comments don’t like to post -_-; MARK MY WORDS!!! I wrote a good one!!
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I saved it for ya Kitty 🙂
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
I see that!!! Thank you ^_^
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I really do want to find somebody else that really accepted/appreciated what S;G did in the early stages. My first impression of episode 1 was that it could be interesting, or it could bomb, but I can’t let one episode be the only sample I take. Then eventually, I took interest in people joining the Lab and even the smaller things and getting the IBN, so on so forth. It’s all about laying the groundwork.
Perhaps the main issue is that episodes didn’t really end a high note, more like they just decided to do as much story in 20 minutes and then end it during a certain scene that didn’t aim to heighten the drama; it doesn’t leave most viewers salivating for more S;G, also considering they weren’t showing episode previews. But all in all, I think if there’s something worth anticipating, I’ll take the slow pacing in hopes of a big reward, as I’m sure most would say about S;G eps. 12-24.
I know Xcom (of Anivision) is a guy that really doesn’t drop series. Even with his life situation, he watches a bunch more than I do and he’ll stick thru to the end (he’s a little less forgiving of a crap show these days, but still he plows through a lot). He’s just been wired that way for a long time. I’d have to ask what his motivation is on that, but I think it’s just a genuine love of watching anime.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The first 2 episodes were great and I’m all for slowly setting thing up to build up a bigger climax, but it could have been shorter. Scenes could have been cut out while still retaining all the meticulous groundwork that was placed. Shiki (which I will probably mention in every editorial ever) does this, starting off without any real vampire action for quite a long time before things break out into chaos. I think if Steins;Gate just condensed the first half a bit more, it would have been more effective.
This post is aimed at people like him! HOW DOES HE DO IT? WHAT IS HIS MOTIVATION? Please ask him, I’m curious.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I liked Steins;Gate right from the beginning. It didn’t bother me one bit that they were methodically experimenting with the microwave, I thought that was a very interesting angle. There were a couple of things I questioned (most notably Show ▼
), but that was minor, and I never considered dropping it.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
hahaha, that admittedly was pretty dumb. They took what was basically one of those old wives’ tales or w/e and made it an absolute truth.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 20 comments
Oh I loved Steins;Gate from the get go. It was mostly the otaku culture references that got me…and Mayushi. Everyone thought it was some deep psychological hard to understand anime at first so I ignored it, but after watching it for myself I realised it was a pretty neat comedy and didn’t stop there.
I liked Steins;Gate from start to finish.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Nice post!
For me I haven’t really dropped any series before even while blogging something I tend to fight through all the lame ass stuff to keep going. I can recall raging over Yumekui Merry, Sacred Seven, and even Denpa Onna! Because those shows looked really awesome! But they fell apart so damn fast. I wont drop any spoilers but it seemed like those three shows just ran out of steam or the producers had no idea what else to really do.
I did survive the whole endless eight thing, but I have no idea why! I kept telling myself oh it will be over soon but that just made me more angry! Just to waste our time like that? In the end it was a poor excuse for the animators to put the girls in different swimsuits every “endless” episode.
Anyway I usually find it hard to drop something, I always go back to re-watch after seeing peoples reactions to them the biggest turn around for me probably Tiger and Bunny. Because I remember dropping it after the first episode, but after seeing all the love I picked it up and found it to be so fun.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
How do you sit through something you know is bad? If you’re blogging it, I know you have no choice (Deadman Wonderland and Fractale were…well…I did it somehow too!) I guess you were watching Endless Eight weekly so you thought each week it would be over, but it wasn’t. If you could go back in time, would you have skipped it? XD
If someone gives me a recommendation and I trust their taste (or just like that person) I will go back and re-evaluate a series. Sometimes it works, sometimes I still don’t like it though. Geez, I’m so picky.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Lol. It’s true Deadman Wonderland did have its flaws but I was able to sit through and finish it without much of a problem. Not everything about it was a complete waste of time. I still somewhat enjoyed that series, certainly for Shiro, Minatsuki, Crow and that psychopath Mockingbird.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 339 comments
I generally will drop a series if it’s terrible over all. Pacing can throw off a series, but if it manages to still be full of amazing ideas, I’ll stick to it. Case and point; HanaIro.
Episodes were rushed, as were some conflicts, and many parts were overly dragged out. But in the end, HanaIro contained many interesting ideas of growing up and family connections, that I didn’t mind the pacing at all.
For me, series like Steins;Gate are the type were the ending episodes greatly justify the slow start. A mystery shouldn’t have to rely on fast paced action to keep interest. The best hing to do when watching a slower anime is to look into why things are going that way, a lot more is revealed.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
HanaIro is a good example. It doesn’t have bad chunks, it just has scenes or episodes here and there that are….off. I’m still watching it, but have been so tempted to drop it. Seeing as it has a few glimpses of greatness, I’ll probably take this one slow and see it through to the end.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I will say this now, I actually sat through every single episode of endless eight. I regret it immensely though.
Anime like S;G with a slow start are why I prefer to marathon. Thing tend to seem less boring and the pacing seems less bad if I can just watch episodes in rapid succession. Plus I’m impatient and hate cliffhangers XD.
Overall, I try not to drop anything completely unless it’s REALLY BAD (ex: Queen’s Gate). I may lose interest and put off watching it, but I always try to go back and finish. There’s normally one or two slightly redeeming episodes even in the worst series. Though these days if it’s that bad, I watch it at 2 or 3 x’s the normal speed. That way I feel like I’ve wasted less of my life watching something terrible.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I can’t marathon slow shows. The only slow show I could marathon was Oofuri, because although it was “slow” (1 game lasts about 10 episodes) it felt fast-paced. I prefer to watch one episode at a time for slow shows, because the pacing seems even SLOWER for me if I do it all at once. :B Weird.
That’s probably a good strategy, to fast-forward bad anime. I dunno about there being a redeeming scene in most bad anime though lol
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 322 comments
i must admit that there has been many series which i have dropped after a slow and boring and pointless start (e.g. steins gate, angel beats) only to be told that it gets better later on. Sometimes, it’s worth it when i pick it up again, sometimes not.
i do have a tendency to complete a series even if its gets boring just to give it a complete finish. Guess i can be a bit OCD about imcompleting something. 😛
Well, as for me, i have yet to go back to Steins Gate as it bored the hell out of me for the first 10 episodes or so. Usually, by around 5-6 or so episodes, if it doesn’t hold my attention anymore, then its off my list. Maybe in a hundred years, I’ll go back and see what the last episode was. :3
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
As a personal opinion you should pick Angel Beats back up, the ending was out of this world. I was bored with it as first but that ending…. then again I’m just a sucker for the Girl Dead Monster band XD
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
If by “out of this world” you mean, “makes no sense”. If I were to point to a show that I question why I bothered to continue watching it would be Angel Beats.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The ending really does make no sense since there are plotholes big enough to drive a monster truck though. Yet the last episode still made e want to cry. It has an odd charm, and even though a lot of the drama falls flat, I enjoyed it. But if you don’t like the first few episodes, you probably won’t want to finish it (it doesn’t really get any better).
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
“plotholes big enough to drive a monster truck though”
I have to admit, though that, by the time I watched it, I was glad it made no sense. I laughed through the whole computer room scene, thinking, “this is the perfect way to end this show to end — making NO sense whatsoever”.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 58 comments
I didn’t know I needed an anime specific dropping technique. LOL I drop an anime or any other TV show when the episode I watch is not good enough that I care about the next episode. And if I’m really curious about the ending, I only watch the finale. No I don’t have to be critical as an otaku, I only need to enjoy the episode for whatever reason.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I didn’t mean to sound domineering. I know everyone has their own method of deciding when to drop series that they’re comfortable with, I’m just curious about those who will always watch a series through to the end. What you’re doing by dropping things when it doesn’t satisfy you is what I meant by being critical and drawing a line somewhere. So that means you’re not the type to just sit through bad anime, which is pretty good!
POWUH: iLurker with 18 comments
Think you’re too fixated on an anime having to have ONE genre. Stein;s Gate is not purely sci-fi or drama. It has romance, comedy as part of it as well as pieces of slice of life (as can be seen in the first half).
If any of its component genres irk you then you should drop it. However complaining that its not solely on the genre you like is kind of silly
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I wasn’t really focused on describing the genre of Steins;Gate here since it wasn’t the main issue at hand, but I am aware that it’s a mix of various genres. The first isn’t a different genre from the second half – that’s not why I preferred one part over the other. Both halves have drama, time travel, romance, sci-fi and probably other sub-genres as well, roughly in the same proportion. I like all of these genres (except romance. and the second half has MORE romance) It’s the speed and the route the plot took that made things better in the second half.
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
Interesting thesis. However for me, i can slog through rather tedious anime purely for the sake of character design, or generic appeal. For example, Gosick, was perhaps the most cliche’d and engrish anime i’ve ever seen, and yet i slogged my way all the way uup to a semidecent ending. Or sometimes its that, oh crap, i’ve watched this much and i want to finish it. much like hidan no aria, which had so much potential and just turned stupid. And then there’s boobs. Take Saeko or Lala from Highschool of the dead or Motto to love ru (although the latter had appeal in the comedy too…for some other people i guess)
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’m pretty sure I went through Lucky Star just because of Konata and Misao. That one saving grace can be enough for bad anime sometimes, but more often than not I just give up XD I dropped Gosick and Hidan no Aria pretty quickly.
Can’t comment so much on the boobs aspect…lol
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 131 comments
Sometimes, I do regret not starting anime because I found the first episode boring (like Steins;Gate) and then finding out that it’s actually awesomer 10+ episodes in – and by then I’m too lazy to get a start on it. Especially when I found gems like Lucky Star just by being patient enough to get to the good episodes. (The first episode dedicated to chocolate cornets was almost enough to make me drop it.) It’s good I got Metanorn to fill me in on everything I’m missing – watching anime blogs is pretty useful.
In any case, I’ve been guilty of trying to watch anime as if they were collector’s items that I just HAD to have. It’s the mindset of a lot of otaku, after all – they’ll take any crap a series has just to show off their ‘loyalty’ to it. (I mean, buying the DVDs for the Endless Eight episodes just to complete a Haruhi collection? Come on, Nippon.) Anyway, I stopped with the mindset around the time I realized that as much as I loved Naruto, episodes with 15 minutes accumulated worth of slow zoom-ins and zoom-outs, plus recycled frames just isn’t worth the bandwidth I’m nicking from my neighbor’s WiFi.
However, this anime snobbery is probably the reason why I watch so little anime these days and just stick to manga. It’s a bit sad, really, to have standards that are much, much too high. I can’t have mindless fun anymore. ^^;;;
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Unless the first episode is dreadful, I give it the 3 episode test. If it’s still bad – instant drop. But I know what you mean about that first episode of Lucky Star. It was preetttyyy discouraging.
You’re right, I forgot about people who physically collect DVDs. I used to collect DVDs and I’d still buy arcs that I knew were bad just for completion’s sake. You REALLY realize how big of a waste it is when you’re spending both time AND money. Plus, Naruto has so much filler, it’s just not worth it sometimes @_@
Oh no, you’re a snob like me! I try to avoid this by trying a bit of everything, so that if I try 20 I’ll at least have 3 or 5 I like XD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Interesting post. And these situations do tend to happen. There were some anime that had a sluggish pacing, tempting you to drop because nothing seemed interesting at the time. I first felt that way about Shiki in the first few episodes until I saw Megumi as a sadistic, vampiric murderer come out of hiding from Toru’s bed. From then, I was glued to the show.
But that’s not always the case. There were anime with strong pacing that started from beginning to end and didn’t slow down a bit. Like Highschool of the Dead for example. I never had a dull moment. It was both zombie induced action and fanservice. So I had a goood time.
The one show I haven’t finished and seriously beginning to consider droping is Gosick. It was really slow and if it wasn’t for Victorique’s vicious, near demonic personality and charm, I wouldn’t have reached so far as episode 10. And I’m still there. I guess I was just into it for Victorique’s VA, Aoi Yuuki who also played Mina Tepes and Sunako Kirishiki.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Shiki was slow, but I was convinced it was slow in a good way. Once everything was in place, it was absolutely insane every week with cliffhangers left and right. Definitely worth the wait.
HOTD was definitely very consistent in pacing. Redline is another good example of constant action without even so uch as a dip in quality. No surprises there, just watch and grin.
Gosick I dropped a while ago. I like Aoi Yuuki and Victorique is cute and all….but the mysteries just didn’t catch my interest. A lot of people seem to be on the fence about finishing this one, from what I see in the comments XD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The decision to drop an anime depends on the story, pacing, characters, genre, loyalty to continue watching and whether or not you feel it deserves a second season.
Like Deadman Wonderland, the story and genre were good. It was true on the blood, violence and insanity without holding back. Its flaws, what it was lacking in were the pacing and character development. Certainly when it came to the main character in the show. Ganta was the main person of the story so naturally all the viewers’ expectations would be on him. He didn’t perform well in it, though I was temporarily impressed with his small amount of madness but overall, he didn’t do a good job.
And the pacing, they should have waited a little longer and do at least a 24 episode series. I’m positive they cut it short because the manga was still going and didn’t have enough time and episodes to cover it.
On the other hand, there’s No. 6. I was skeptical in the first few episodes because the two main male characters were “too close to each other”. But after episode 7, I was itching to drop it and thought I didn’t drop it soon enough. But I was compelled to continue watching because I was already past the halfway mark and wanted the finish the story. But I began to loathe it as it continued, grinding my teeth at the later episodes. And when it finally ended, I was thinking “Thank God, it’s finally over”. It’s pure curiosity that keeps you watching a show you feel is utterly bad and when it does turn out bad, you regret ever watching it in the first place. I detested it with a passion.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Deadman Wonderland is one of those shows I wanted to drop…yet didn’t because of the promise of blood and suffering. Also, I was blogging it, so I can’t drop it unless it’s so horrendous I can’t even crack jokes at it. Ganta was a wimpy main character, and my tolerance for him went down really fast…
I didn’t know you hated No.6 so much. It’s a shame you saw it through to the end without getting much in return. Well, at least now you’re desensitized to boy’s love a little bit, I guess!
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 25 comments
My drop policy is pretty fluid; it really depends on the situation. For example, I have been watching the original Hunter x Hunter (I have five episodes to go). The first 13 or so episodes bored the hell out of me, and usually that amount of time would be more than enough for me to drop a series. However, because of the show’s solid reputation among people whose opinions I trust, I kept going, and I’m glad I did. The series really is excellent — it just takes a while for it to actually DO the things for which it is well known.
But for currently airing series, I think the three-episode taste test is usually accurate, especially when it comes to 11-13 episode series. That’s usually enough time to sense the flow of a series and gauge whether you’ll dig it.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I find I’m a lot more lenient if someone with similar tastes has personally told me to watch the series too. Hunter x Hunter does start off pretty slow, but it’s absolutely worth the wait.
3 episode test is like the universal rule of thumb and it has served me well. Even for longer series, you can just wait and see what other people say about the second half and try a few more if they say it improves.
POWUH: iLurker with 12 comments
I watch bad anime to distract myself from things. I prefer good anime, of course, but sometimes you just don’t have the mental capacity or will to get sucked into a good story or pay attention to things. It’s just easier to watch a bad show with friends, or enjoy the “so bad it’s good” effect while drinking a bit, or just give a show a proper chance while you’re not in your right frame of mind anyway.
I’ll certainly watch an anime if it “gets better”. There are so few consistently engaging anime that I don’t mind skipping episodes or half-heartedly watching the mediocre ones to get the good bits. Heck, Gosick turned out as good as HanaIro in my books (having just finished both).
Life may be too short to watch crap, but because it takes so much effort to find the obscure awesome stuff, sometimes you just settle for stuff that only has bits of awesome. Watching something I’m not enjoying at all, though, that’s very rare. It’s a beer-bet kind of thing.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Ahh very true. Bad anime becomes enjoyable when you watch it with friends, it’s quite amazing. But as soon as I try to watch the same series alone…I can’t do it (that’s what happened with Rio Rainbow Gate for me). Poking fun at a series and laughing at everything with a group just makes things so much better.
Finding good anime is definitely time consuming in of itself…if there’s nothing good, I generally just turn to my other hobbies until something awesome shows up. :/
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 58 comments
I drop anime series so frequently… and yet I watch some really terrible ones all the way through >_>
When I drop a series there are 3.5 reasons why…
It could be at the first episode(s) where I just decide its too terrible or i just don’t have time to watch it
It could be mid-way through the show (6-20 episodes in) where I generally forget to keep up with it and I’m far too behind to muster up the determination to catch-up (i do sometimes revisit these)
Or it could be at the very end of the show (i.e. 1-2 episodes left). This is mostly because I’m too anxious to see how terrible the ending is or I’m too anxious to see a good show end (I eventually return to these ones). This reason has caused me to have accumulated approximately 20 shows where I have watched everything but the ending >_> These also include the absolutely terrible shows I’ve watched (and kept up with for so many episodes), only to drop it at the end…
I suppose keeping up with terrible shows makes you appreciate all the really awesome ones that much more? Then there are shows like the endless 8 in the 2nd season of Haruhi was one that, no matter how terrible it was, I watched the ENTIRE episode week after week rather than just seeing it was a repetition and skipping to the end =/
Why I watch shows with no apparent thought about the quality of the show is still a mystery to me -_-
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Wow, you don’t even know yourself why you watch bad anime. It must just be like a habit now, engrained into your mind. It does make you appreciate the good shoes more, but I’d only need to sit through one episode of endless eight to feel good about an entirely different series XD
Sometimes I feel like I can’t catch up, or I just end up leaving a series to rot after a long period of time. Coming back to revisit series (if they’re good) can be fun though. Kind of nostalgic even~
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 207 comments
Ususally I like a bad opening more than a bad ending. It’s the same mindset I have when watching movies, or even TV shows sometimes. For me, I usually expect at least at a decent episode 1,2, or even 3. Like I just expect it to slowly and gradully get better. There are exceptions (Just for my case people XP), like Sket Dance. I really liked the feel of that anime. It might have not had an AMAZING episode every week, but it was consistent for me though, since I still laughed every week.
Anywho, I do my best, I really try to watch a series to the very end even if I think its bullshit. Cause I do believe some animes will get better. Sometimes I even go back and rewatch animes I missed most of the episodes of like Durarara!! I had gotten a bit bored with one episode, and I stopped watching, and after I stop watching a series thats still running, I have no intention of retrning to it. But after the series was done, I had heard how good it was, and went back and rewatched it, and I think its really good!
But since we’re on the topic of animes like this, I’d like to rant about some.
Weak Endings:
Fractale – As you mentioned already, Fractale is one of those series that just wasted my time watching. Some episodes were Hit or Miss for me. I remember there was this one eppisode near the beginning that really had my attention, and had me raving about Fractale. But then after that every episode was just so dissapointing to me, since that one episode was just so good. (I think it was episode 3, not sure). But the only reason I watched that series to the end was just Nessa. Her character was adorably, and Kana Hanazawa just voiced her perfectly. Her character was the only saving grace of that show.
Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi – Did anyone remember this show? CASUE I FREAKKING DO D:<. I thought this anime's "Life goes on ending" was just stupid as crap. The last episode had just felt like it could have been any other episode, and they just continued it next week. The show wasn't all that bad, its just that ending HNNNNNNN.
Other than that, dropping any anime for my case would mean I'm just bored watching that series entirely.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’ll only attempt to watch a show i think is bad to the end if someone assures me it gets better. Then I’ll try again. If it’s still bad, then I drop the series and go and hit that person later on.
I was so convinced that Fractale was going to be a great anime from the beginning too, but then it just got…bad. It did better as a fluffy slice of life with Nessa being cute, because it sure as hell didn’t know how to tell a complicated story. Blarg. I also really regret watching okami-san to the end. I was waiting for action, but never really got the amount of action I needed. Ugh.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I was on the same boat, especially after Yamamoto Yutaka staked his reputation for the show…
I kept thinking, ok, next episode, it’s gonna be awesome. After three episodes I realized it was all hype… kinda like the Sox this year.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 25 comments
for me it depends, as you stated xD I was one of the people who skipped the first chapters of Reborn, since nothing serious happened and I still think I am a damn fan of Reborn
I dropped Fractale… and also Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko… XD and coincidently Steins Gate as well… *cough* Interesting that you stated the ones I dropped…
If I want to know how a story went on I ask other people and then think about it, whether I should have continued or not, or whether I should watch the series at all
I don’t like stories dragging on tooooooooo much and toooooo long, so I tend to skip or stop and ask other people who still read/watch them
last season I only watched like 5 anime… but this season it was 15, it just depends, the same with manga. I would never touch a Shojo Manga where there are two boys and only one girl,for example
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Totally don’t blame you or skipping those. All you miss out on is gags based on the new character of the week. Like you said, you can just ask people about what you missed without the suffering. As long as you get a good summary, you won’t get lost in future episodes.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
First I have no problem dropping shows, so I am not one of those who feel they must watch a show as a chore. Amongst recent shows I dropped Denpa Onna after one episode, and dropped HanaSaku Iroha, only to pick it up at the final few episodes. In my case, as you stated, I read a lot of blogs, and I rather like reading what people have to say about shows I am not watching, just in case they seem to be loving a series that I dismissed.
You specifically mentioned Kore wa Zombie, and I agree with you 1000%. It had a very funny beginning, with some interesting ideas that I had never anticipated, but it was like an SNL sketch that goes on too long. In the end it was rather disappointing, and I would recommend people watch the beginning and not bother with the 2nd half.
There are a lot of shows that I feel that way about: Great beginnings that fell apart. Worth watching one or a few episodes, but also no point in continuing with past some point. A major one for me is FLCL, which I think everyone should watch (for the first two episodes). After that, I just don’t think it is worth the effort.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Even if I think a show is bad, the power of other bloggers is often enough for me to try it again. I wasn’t even planning on TOUCHING Usagi Drop, but I quickly changed my mind after reading reviews. Oh boy, that was a good decision.
Korezombie wears thin very fast, doesn’t it? It really does feel like a comedy sketch that should have ended ages ago. The transformations just aren’t funny after the 5th time <_< I have to disagree about FLCL though - I watched that to the end and loved it. It's pure, nonsensical chaos, but it's a blast.
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
Droping… how I love & at the same time hate this process.
The msot often I drop anime after more than 1 ep, I try not to judge whole serie after single 20-25 minutes, so I give it a try to few eps, but when it still goes bad and I’m not satisfied with a plot I drop it immediatly. Close to 3- 5 eps.
But everythign depend of length of serie, if it has only 10-13 eps and already 3 eps were horrible, I just don’t bother myself to watch it further. If it is longer serie I try watch a bit more eps..
However when I’ll watch more than half sometiems I don’t drop it even if I’m not really content about plot, chacters, because I think ” I watched half of it, waste my time, what a different.. 5 more eps, right?”
I have this situation with Blood C I really couldn’t find a potential in this anime, but after 4 or 5 eps I felt that it must has a potential maybe at the end, so I’ve just kept watching to the end and last eps a bit make this show more worth ( but still it lost its potential during watching previous eps xD)…
So back to main topic..
Dropping anime is the est process of NO WATE YOUR TIME ON SHIT, but at the same time HEARTBROKEN PROCESS OF WASTED TIME XDDD <3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The 3 episode test is a good rule to follow, especially for shorter series. Longer series, it depends how much you’re willing to wait/commit.
The “well, I invested this much time, might as well finish” is the sunk cost fallacy right there. Sometimes the last few episodes make it worth it, but being halfway through doesn’t necessarily mean you should finish it if you won’t enjoy it.
To drop or not to drop…THAT IS THE QUESTION.