On dropping anime

Deciding when and for what reasons to drop a series varies among fans. Some fans drop anime almost immediately if they don’t like the first episode, while others stick with it for the entire series even if they’re not thrilled with it. Since I rarely drop anime, I decided to reflect on exactly why…

I consider an anime “dropped” if I started watching it, stopped, and have no intention of picking it up again (I don’t count series that I watched a few episodes of at an anime club or con as dropped because I didn’t actively choose to watch those shows myself). If I started watching it but never finished it, and I think that I may want to pick it up again, I consider it “on-hold.” Out of the roughly 180+ anime TV series and OVAs I ever started watching, I dropped less than 10.

I’ve come up with a few reasons for why I personally don’t drop anime very often. First of all, I think the most important reason is that I’m not very picky at all when it comes to anime. I’m interested in all genres – from light kid shows to dark adult shows, from violence and horror to cute and sweet, from artistically and intellectually stimulating to obvious fan pandering – anything goes for me. The only thing I actively avoid in anime is too much ecchi fan service. But as long as the fan service isn’t the main focus of the series and isn’t shoved down my throat, I can sometimes put up with it. Since I’m a big animation fan in general (and it’s practically all I watch), I don’t have to watch only exceptional anime – I’ll gladly watch semi-good anime over good live-action shows most of the time. That’s one of the reasons I consider myself such a major anime fan – I’ll watch the good anime and the not so good anime; they don’t all need to be unique and satisfying, I just have to like them at least a little.

Another reason is that one of my pet peeves is finishing what I start, anime and other things. When a new season of anime comes out, I’m not one of those people who “samples” the first episode or two of all the new shows and stops there with all but the great ones. I decide which shows to watch based on what they’re about, what people say about them, and other things like animation studio. Then, once I watch episode 1 of a new series, unless I really dislike it, I’ll stick to it. It takes a lot for me to drop an anime I start watching. The shorter the series, the less I have to like it in order to keep watching it. Therefore, despite all the fan service in the two Nogizaka Haruka series, especially my dislike for season 2, I stuck with them because they were only 12 episodes each and I managed to scrounge out a few things I liked about the series. I’m still watching Bleach even though it’s my least favorite of the long-running shonen anime I’ve seen. At 200+ episodes, I still don’t like it all that much. So why do I keep watching it? As long as there are some reasons I like it (which there are), I’ll keep it up. If I drop it now after having watched it all these years, it’ll feel like a waste.

And my last reason is that, from my experience with the 180+ anime series I’ve completed, I usually end up liking them better the more I watch them. Once I complete a series, I realize that my opinion of it is very different (and usually better) than when I saw the first few episodes. We all know that most anime series tell a story with a distinct beginning, middle, and end, and the episodes are small pieces of a narrative meant to be viewed holistically (there are plenty of exceptions of course, like most slice-of-life comedies for example). Because of this, I don’t feel right judging an anime as worthy of being dropped after one or two episodes. Sometimes it is blatantly obvious in the first few episodes that I won’t grow to like the series any better, but rarely.

I don’t think I’ve ever dropped a non-airing series I’ve watched. As for currently airing series, the only time I’ll drop the ones I don’t truly dislike is if they haven’t done anything for me in a number of episodes (like, more than 10 for a 22+ episode series) AND I happen to fall behind on the episodes and have no motivation to catch up with them. (this has only happened a few times).

So, what’s your take on dropping anime?

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. LostGamer says:

    I’m like you in that I don’t drop anime unless I just cannot find the motivation to continue. I’ve only dropped two since I really started getting into anime and I ended up picking up one and finishing it off. I still consider myself to be new to the otaku realm (can I say that at 90 completed?) but I have yet to find any anime that I totally dislike so much that I want to drop it.

    What can I say, I’m easily entertained. Give me a good story and I’m hooked. Give me a mediocre story but some great music, and I’m hooked (I must stop visiting Yokatta so frequently for those hard to find soundtracks :P ). I’ll even stick through ecchi as long as it doesn’t get too carried away (Girls Bravo comes to mind, had to push myself through a few episodes before I was able to finish).

    The only show that I have dropped is Macross, some say it is a classic but I got through three episodes and was bored to tears. After watching some “modern” shows going back to that animation style…just wasn’t my style. Or maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind. People say it is good and that it is epic but so far I haven’t had the will to go back and try again.

    To the point, dropping an anime is just something I refuse to do, heck I’ll probably pick up Macross again…someday. The hardest show I’ve ever decided to watch has been “School Days.” Talk about a train wreck, it is hard to watch with one’s eyes rolled back over how demented it is…don’t get me wrong, the animation is great and the opening theme is good (though I don’t know what they are singing about it does sound nice) but the characters just rub me the wrong way. Two months and I’ve only been able to watch five episodes…maybe I’ll get to one this month…maybe…

    Enough rambling, dropping should only be done as an absolute last resort and even then always reserve the right to be a better otaku and finish it off. :P

    BTW, love your gravatar! It inspired me to place my kitten’s pic as my own gravatar :)

  2. Jan Suzukawa says:

    I almost never drop anime series, and rarely even put them on hold either. Once I start them, that’s it – another reason why I really try to make sure before I start watching a series.

    The only recent series I dropped was Letter Bee. Lag cried too much and was a complete marshmallow (wasn’t Letter Bee supposed to be a SHONEN story – ?). I didn’t see it getting much better, so I did the drastic and dropped it.

    Ironically, there are more series now on my currently watching list than ever before – I’m even planning on adding a few more. O_O I’ll be watching anime 24/7 at this rate…

  3. Yumeka says:

    @ LostGamer

    Sounds like our dropping habits are pretty similar =) I too am easily entertained when it comes to anime.

    You made me think of another reason why I like to avoid dropping – the more anime you complete, even if it’s not your favorite, the more knowledge you gain about the fandom in general. I don’t think you can learn as much about anime if you only complete a few new series a year. I know many fans that drop a series continue keeping up with it through episodic blogs. But those blogs are basically someone else’s opinion about the show – you get the full experience if you watch the whole show and all its details yourself and interpret it your own way.

    Unfortunately this WordPress theme doesn’t show gravatars but it does show them in my blog dashboard. Your kitty is very cute ^^

    @ Jan

    It’s the same for me, once I watch episode 1, that’s it, I’m sticking to it unless I really don’t like it and it shows no sign of getting better in future episodes.

    I had the same issue with Lag. But besides a slightly annoying protagonist and a few other flaws, I enjoyed the other things about Letter Bee. Like other series, it did grow on me more as the episodes went on.

  4. kluxorious says:

    I usually try hard to finish anything that I watch but as of late, work and lfie are raping me hard in the ass so I have less time to do so, thus my on-hold list keeps getting longer.

    I usually dropped anime that has too much fanservice. Tried that. Pissed me off.

    I dunno about anyone else but the reason why I want to finish all those anime is because the sense of belonging. I feel like by doing that I am confirming my true self. Weird as it may sound, it brings in satisfaction that no other things can.

  5. Yokihana says:

    I try to stay with a series I start and continue watching it. Some series do start off slow and get better. I avoid series with fanservice and content of the like too though. I recently started watching one of the new series released for the spring about a man whose life is saved and promises to be a girls boyfriend (she lives under a bridge). I only got through episode one before I called it quits, but it wasn’t because it was so terrible. It wasn’t the greatest, but the theme and main ‘hero’ didn’t appeal to me.

    I do have series that I’ve put on hold though such as Samurai Champloo and Licensed by Royality. I only saw a few episodes of each, but I just couldn’t get into them. I might pick them up again…but I’m not sure. Then some series like Naruto I started, but they’re so long I don’t know if I’ll ever finish them.

  6. Logopolis says:

    I see watching anime as a bit of a trade. You’re trading 25 minutes of your time for whatever enjoyment, insights etc. that you get from it. So if I’ve watched 4 episodes of a show, and my opinion of it has dropped to the level where I doubt the last 9 will be worth four hours of my time, I stop. Or equivalently, if it’s only very mildly entertaining, I’ll always have things which I could be doing which are more entertaining or otherwise worthwhile.

    I don’t really feel that “I’ve watched the first episode of this show” should be much of a factor in deciding whether to watch episode 2 of it instead of episode 1 of something else or doing something entirely different, beyond the fact that you now know more about that show and can probably make a better judgement.

  7. Yumeka says:

    @ kluxorious

    Yeah, fan service is really the only thing I avoid in anime. I don’t mind if there’s a little bit as long as it’s not every minute. The amount of fan service in shows like Nyan Koi! and Sumomomo Momomo is fine, Nogizaka Haruka is pushing it, and I won’t even attempt stuff like Queen’s Blade or Chu Bra!. Luckily, when new shows come out, I just have to read a few opinions about the first episode to see if there’s excess fan service or not. Sometimes just the character designs and synopsis point to fan service by themselves.

    @ Yokihana

    The series you’re referring to is Arakawa Under the Bridge. I heard it’s funny but only if you like that kind of humor.

    I’ve managed to keep up with Naruto and Bleach despite how long they are (skipping filler episodes helps). I’m still about 100 episodes behind on One Piece though. Out of the three, it had the most episodes when I started watching it so that’s probably why. Perhaps I’ll catch up one day.

    @ Logopolis

    That’s an interesting way of looking at it. I sometimes think that spending time watching a mediocre anime could better be spent elsewhere. But there aren’t many things I enjoy more than watching anime, even mediocre ones. So usually I don’t feel I wasted my time watching a series even if I didn’t like it. It also has the added value of making me that much more knowledgeable as a fan for having completed yet another series.

  8. Piper says:

    Out of the nearly 120 anime/manga I’ve watched/read, I think I’ve only dropped about three… I have a couple ‘on-hold’, just because for example, it’s a really dark anime and I needed a lighter mood anime for a while ( Usually happens depending on what is going on in my life ).

    I’ve always loved stories and I’ll tolerate a lot more than people around me, so getting through an anime with only one or two points i like isnot that hard for me. If I really enjoy an anime, I will re-watch it multiple times. Ouran Host Club, Wolf’s Rain and D.N.Angel I’ve watched (/read ) almost ten times each…

  9. Yumeka says:

    @ Piper

    Yeah, as long as I like a few things about a series, and the bad things about it aren’t too bad, I can stay with it. The more anime I watch, the good and the bad, the more I learn about anime.

    I’ve watched some of my favorites many times, too. I’ve watched Wolf’s Rain, Noir, Haruhi, Evangelion, and Azumanga Daioh about 4-5 times each. Some older ones like Slayers Next, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tenchi Muyo!, and certain episodes of Pokemon I’ve watched more than that. But in the past few years I’ve been watching more current series and haven’t had the time to rewatch old ones. There are still many exceptional shows I’ve watched once and want to watch again, so maybe one day I’ll set aside some time just for rewatching.

  10. Canne says:

    Getting through two seasons of Nokizaga is actually something to be proud of. It wasn’t easy. I did that too and I literally burn the second season mercilessly in my review o_o

    I don’t easily drop anime as well. There are many times that the best part of the show lies far back near the end of its run.

  11. Janette says:

    I’m curious, what shows have you dropped?

    I didn’t use to drop series as much as I do know. If I find myself immensely disliking a series, I will, but I usually want to know how it ends. The only time I really dropped a whole chunk was when I had mono, when I finally recovered, I couldn’t even remember what was really going on, and had to move on to the next season.

    Sometimes, I’ll read a manga, find it much better then the anime, and then have no desire to finish. Sometimes I dislike the story and the characters so intensely, that I can’t bring myself to watch more.

    The longer I watch anime, the more quickly I’ll drop things. I guess I’m losing patience to slog through something just to be disappointed at the end.

  12. Yumeka says:

    @ Canne

    My review totally bashed season 2 as well. Now I’m much more wary of picking up anime with too much fan service.

    My experience has also taught me that many anime, especially the shorter ones that tell a story with a distinct beginning, middle, and end, shine in their final episodes. So that’s what I try to look forward to when getting through a series I’m not too happy with.

    @ Janette

    For some reason I just don’t enjoying reading manga, especially online, as much as watching anime. Even if I hear that the manga is better, unless I really LOVE the series, I’ll just stick with the anime. The few times I tried to pick up a manga for anything but my favorites, I never finished.

    I believe I’ve only dropped about 5 series:

    Fairy Tail – got through 11 episodes without liking it that much, didn’t want to be committed to another long-running shonen series that wasn’t offering me anything more than the big trio (Bleach, One Piece, Naruto). If it was only 20-some episodes I would have stuck with it.

    Heroic Age – got about halfway through by watching it in anime club but it bored me and I had no motivation to search for the rest of the series on my own.

    Pandora Hearts – got about halfway through without liking it that much, fell about 3-4 episodes behind due to my Japan trip, had no motivation to catch up (if I hadn’t fallen behind I probably would have continued).

    D.N. Angel – a friend let me borrow the first 10 episodes on CD, didn’t like it enough to get the rest of the series on my own.

    Naruto – not because I disliked it, I just dropped it when the fillers went on continuously and picked up the series again with Shippuuden.

  13. Myna says:

    I don’t drop anime that often, either.
    And I completely agree about the ecchi, fan service thing. It irritates me to an extent that I can’t even describe.

    Yeah, I didn’t find Fairy Tail completely and utterly amazing, either. I watched the first two episodes and read about fourteen chapters, but I wasn’t particularly attached to any of the characters at that point. And mainly because Lucy annoyed the crap out of me.

    I’ve dropped Nijuu Mensou no Musume, Rideback, White Album, To Aru Majutsu no Index and Special A. Oh, dropped RomeoxJuliet halfway through, too. Three of them were lack of motivation to continue, and the rest were because I didn’t like the plot an/or characters enough to keep trekking through.

    I don’t really pay attention to Animation studios as much as I probably should, so it isn’t a big factor when I choose. If a plot summary doesn’t intrigue me, then I usually don’t bother checking it out, unless I hear good things about it.

    Usually if I don’t like the first episode, I’ll most likely drop it, which is kind of unfair since so many first episodes serve as boring introductory episodes these days. If things don’t pick up by the third episode that’s when I usually let it go.

  14. Yi says:

    I’ve ever only put series on hiatus (with a few exceptions). In the back of my mind, I always kind of expect to someday pick up a “dropped” series again. I’m a very slow watcher, so I tend to only watch anime I really have strong intentions of finishing though.

    Not finishing a series is also a petpeeve of mine.

  15. Yumeka says:

    @ Yi

    Ah, so you’re one of those people who never permanently drops an anime. I just can’t imagine myself picking up a series I didn’t like in the first place when I could use that time to watch series I like better. But if you watch fewer anime at a time than me, it’s probably easier to pick up dropped ones. I barely have time to watch my current ones and the ones on my “Plan to Watch” list, let alone worry about restarting dropped ones.

  16. Andrei says:

    I drop 90% of the anime series I watch. One motive or another. I was watching Gundam Seed, Full Metal Panic season 2 and Armored Trooper Votoms kinda at the same time. Impossible not to find one that I would like right? There were all ok, more than ok, but none had that special something (for me at least) that would make me go on. I have no regrets dumping anime if I’m not 100% into them. Missing that great anime season that had Claymore and Heroic Age. Now, that was something! This spring season was the first that I didn’t even bothered to check out. Usually I’m taking some first episodes and watch them. I ended up bad. Maybe I am saturated but I think I am one of those old anime fans (I’m 32) that is hard to please. I find it harder and hardr to watch long anime. Pfft!! Hmmm, there is something called Gurren Lagann on my computer. Shall I try? Im in desperate need for some mecha action.

  17. Yumeka says:

    @ Andrei

    Wow, you’re almost the opposite of me when it comes to dropping. But I guess it’s inevitable if your taste in anime is really specific.

    I’m sure you’ll like Gurren Lagann if you’re looking for mecha action. It’s one of the most popular series to come out in recent years.

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