Rewatching anime is something that some fans do all the time and others hardly ever do. Some rewatch only the anime they especially love, while others may go so far as to rewatch an anime they didn’t like the first time in order to give it another chance. Like most things in the fandom, rewatching anime is an activity that varies among fans. In my case, rewatching began as something I did all the time and ended up being something I rarely do. However, I still find it an important asset of being a fan…
Back in the early 2000s before I had cable TV and high-speed Internet, my only access to anime was borrowing videos from friends or buying them myself. With such a limited number of titles available to me at any one time, I naturally rewatched the anime I managed to get a hold of many times. My old DVDs of Trigun, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Evangelion have been rewatched countless times. During high school, my friends would come over often and we’d rewatch our same favorite episodes over and over again. I’ve rewatched certain episodes of Slayers Next and Tenchi Muyo! so many times I couldn’t even count. I used to spend way more time rewatching episodes of Inuyasha and Pokemon than watching a new anime (again because I didn’t have easy access to anime). Back then, I didn’t even think of it as “rewatching” – it just seemed normal to me to watch something I like many times.
During my first college year in 2005 to early 2006, life got more expensive and I rarely had money to buy new anime anymore. Having finally gotten cable and good Internet however, I was slowly starting to catch up on anime I had missed out on. I continued to rely on borrowing DVDs from friends, and when I did, it would be such a treat to have a new anime so I would often rewatch the DVDs at least twice (once dubbed, once subbed) before returning them. The ones I especially liked, such as Noir, Wolf’s Rain, and Azumanga Daioh, I eventually bought myself and rewatched some more. At this point, I had stopped rewatching my old favorites like Slayers and Tenchi, and my rewatching habits in general started to decrease. But usually I would rewatch new series at least once or pop in an episode of Inuyasha or Fruits Basket while I was eating lunch or something.
Starting in late 2006 however, my rewatching habits greatly changed before practically disappearing by early 2008. After returning from my first trip to Japan in the summer of ’06, I wasn’t working or going to school those months so I marathoned a ton of new anime. This was also around when I began following anime seasonally since I got a computer that could download torrents of the latest shows. In addition, I got a part-time job and returned to college that fall and became busier than I had ever been. With anime suddenly becoming so easily accessible to me, together with the fact that my free time wasn’t what it used to be, I pretty much stopped rewatching shows in favor of catching up with ones I had missed or following the currently airing ones.
The summer before I transferred to a university in late ’07, I got a sudden urge to rewatch all of Wolf’s Rain, Noir, AzuDai, Fruits Basket, and Eva, as if I knew it would be a while before I had time for them again. During my two years at uni, I had practically no free time and used what little I had to watch the currently airing shows and that’s it. In fact, besides the aforementioned five that I speed rewatched in just a few months, from 2007 to 2009 the only anime I rewatched fully were Air and Haruhi. And now, since graduation, my rewatching habits have failed to return as I’m mostly spending my time watching weekly airing shows.
For the past few years and continuing today, since my free time isn’t what it used to be, first with university and now with my current job, I’ll only take the time to rewatch an entire series if I really liked it the first time. Toradora!, Kannagi, Death Note, Lucky Star, and Angel Beats! have been among the few newer anime I liked enough to watch a second time. Also, I’m not the type who can rewatch something right away – I like to wait at least a few months so my memory starts to fade and the rewatch will almost be like watching it anew. While I took rewatching for granted back in the day because I had more free time and limited access to new anime, nowadays rewatching anime has become something special. My first watching of a series is just to know it – what happens, who the characters are, etc., – and, if I like it enough, when I rewatch it I’ll “study” it. Since I already know what happens, I’ll scrutinize the setting, characters, and story. It’s like I watch the “first layer” of the show during my first watch, then I dig deeper and look into the “second layer” when I rewatch it. I can’t say I truly know any anime, movie, book, game, etc., if I’ve only watched/read/played it one time.
On average, I spend about an hour a day watching anime, and that usually comprises only episodes of currently airing shows. But I made a New Year’s resolution for 2011 to always be actively rewatching at least one series in addition to the current ones. Within the past six months I’ve rewatched my beloved Wolf’s Rain again as well as Toradora!, Angel Beats!, Cowboy Bebop, and Canaan. I hope to stick to my resolution and rewatch Code Geass, Eden of the East, and many others I liked enough to want to experience a second time. Even though I’ve become a mass consumer of anime, which unfortunately means focus on the new stuff and no time to rewatch anything, I don’t subscribe to that fully as I still want to give my free time to the series that I feel deserve it a second time. It’s tricky squeezing in the current shows with the completed ones you want to start, as well as rewatch the old ones you liked. But if you can budget your time, it’s not impossible ;)
I haven’t rewatched many Anime recently (with the exception of Haibane Renmei since someone in the blogosphere wants to watch it together). The reason being is that I have hardly any time because of college since I have two years of college left (probably extended if I change my major.) Generally, the shows I rewatch are the ones I enjoy a lot and have high rewatch value.
Out of the few, I rewatched Clannad with the English when I brought the DVDs back in June of last year and it was pretty good. I’m planning to rewatch some more once other series get onto DVD.
Your rewatching habits sound similar to mine – only rewatching the ones you really like due to limited free time.
I’ve only watched Clannad once but I wouldn’t mind watching it again dubbed this time. It just seems like one of those anime that couldn’t work well dubbed but maybe not.
I like rewatching anime. Usually I watch episodes I like rather than the entire series itself, but I guess that’s not too uncommon.
shows that I’ve rewatched: Utena, Pokemon, Cowboy Bebop, Yuyu Hakusho, Outlaw Star, Madoka Magica, Cardcaptor Sakura…and there are probably others that I”m forgetting. I think I also rewatched a couple of Lucky Star, Haruhi, and Macross episodes too. The shows I’ve rewatched the most are Bebop (because I have the DVDs) and Pokemon (seasons/movies 1-5)
Yeah, back in high school I rewatched lots of individual episodes rather than marathon whole series. My friends and I were content with watching the same episodes over and over if we liked them enough XD
Nowadays, I don’t know why I never have the urge to rewatch individual episodes and will only rewatch whole series in order. Sometimes I’ll watch just an episode or two without the intention of fully rewatching, like I’ve done with Haruhi and Cardcaptor Sakura, but usually I don’t.
I love that you wrote this post since I’m an avid re-watcher, of both anime and of regular movies. Similar to you, I re-watched anime a lot more when I was first introduced to it, especially watching my favorite episodes of Azumanga Daioh and Fruits Basket repeatedly. Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Castle in the Sky became my daily bedtime routine, where I’d fall asleep to the wonderful soundtracks of Joe Hisaishi.
Now, I spend most of my time following currently airing anime each season. The biggest reason these days for me to re-watch something is in large part due to my boyfriend, who doesn’t have as much time or access to anime as I do. I’ll find something I know he’ll really like and mark it as something we’ll have to re-watch together. That, or I put myself through the torture of not watching an airing anime just to wait until we can watch it together for the first time >.<
Yup, I used to rewatch stuff all the time, almost as a routine, but nowadays I mostly watch the weekly stuff. I think it’s just a result of how the fandom has changed over the years and not necessarily me.
Like you and your boyfriend, I’ve rewatched certain anime by means of watching it together with my mom. I’ve done that with Death Note, Mushishi, Itazurana Kiss, and a few others. Being able to share the experience with someone who’s watching the anime for the first time is certainly an incentive to rewatch it with them =D
I used to rewatch anime all the time but over the years that habit of mine died completely. I hardly have time to watch new anime so I don’t have the luxury to rewatch an anime anymore. Such is life when you get older >_>
I agree. I’ve only been working part-time work hours but I shudder to think how much more limited my free time will be when I get a full-time job 0_0
I keep re-watching anime, it’s just something that I cannot stop. Some of them I’ve watched up to 4 times. Full metal panic is one I’ve watched 4 times. I’ve seen Clannad 3 times, and it still amazes and even makes me shed a tear or two. Kanon twice, Claymore twice, gundam 00 twice, gundam 00 movie 3 times. And then there are special episodes or just intros that I have to watch again and again. I still have the Railgun OVA on my computer just for the intro, and I must have seen it more times that I can count. It’s just so much fun!
I do have the luxury of a strange schedule. I work a LOT 3-4 days a week, and the rest of the days I’m pretty much free, even when others are working. So luckily I have plenty of time to do all the stuff I have to do and watch anime. So hopefully I’ll keep watching and re-watching anime until my yonder years. So, what should I re-watch next? I think Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the next to re-watch :)
That’s great that you have the time to rewatch your favorites so often. I would be able to do it too if I wanted to sacrifice a handful of the weekly series I’m watching, as well as other free-time activities. But alas, rewatching isn’t quite as important to me. Perhaps later in my life it will be though =)
Since I have my rule that I have to watch 80% of something to review it, I tend to re-watch shows a lot. This has been the year of Clannad thus far. I do try not to re-watch something if I know a release will be coming shortly, like the Toradora! BD-box, thus it’ll be fresh in my mind. But if there’s not anything being released, I have no qualms about randomly watching it.
I enjoy going back and re-watching a show to pick out something new. It’s how I changed from a Kyon/Nagato fan into a Koizumi fan. I realize so much when I re-watch something and how things led into a future plotline. It’s like re-discovering a new show within the show. That’s partially why I like Haruhi so much. It also helps to re-watch shows with someone who hasn’t seen them before, like with my marathons with Scorp.
I can’t say which shows I’d decide to re-watch; it seems to be random when I decide to view something. I never know until when I decide to watch a show again or for the first time.
I still can’t believe how many times you’ve watched Clannad in just a few months. I would get sick of anything but my most favorite shows/movies with that many rewatches so close together. I think the only thing I’ve watch at such an interval were my favorite Disney movies and Pokemon episodes.
I always find something new and interesting when I rewatch an anime I liked the first time. Sometimes it’s not as interesting the second time but usually I love it even more upon rewatching because I notice and focus on things I glanced over originally. For my older favorites like Evangelion, rewatching it many times over the course of several years makes it a different experience each time because I’ve changed as a person during those years.
Scintillating topic, once again! :)
I was never a rewatcher of anime, possibly because by the time I’d gotten into it (which was about 5 yrs ago), anime was already easily accessed online. My attention span is also not the greatest lol, so if an anime has nothing new to offer me then I tend to get bored very quickly. For instance, my friend wanted to rewatch Code Geass last summer and I joined them, but by the time we’d rewatched 2 episodes I was already ready to quit – though that may just be because of the nature of Code Geass (if you already know the plot twists then there’s substantially less to look forward to).
Like you, these days university sucks up a lot of my time so I’m lucky if I can get through 2-3 series a month without giving up too much study time. That, combined with my huge backlog of anime that I want to watch, means that it’s unlikely that I will rewatch any anime anytime soon, regardless of how much I loved it. I don’t mind, though, since the main reason why I’m persisting with watching anime is that I’m always looking forward to new characters, stories and premises. It’s rather exciting starting an anime that you’ve never watched before. ;)
I’m actually planning to attempt a rewatch of Code Geass soon – hopefully I won’t feel the same way you do about it ;) I recall that season 1 didn’t seriously grab my attention until the twists at the end while I enjoyed R2 much more.
Yes, one who has limited free time must decide what’s more important to them personally – rewatching a serious they liked or starting a new series on their backlog. If you enjoy doing both, you’ll have to balance out your time for each based on how important each one is to you. Who knew something so simple as rewatching anime could be such a tricky business? =/
Heh, did I divinely inspire you to write on this topic? ;) Probably not but I think it is interesting that you rewatched anime THAT many times in your early days. Strangely enough, I do not recall the last time I rewatched an anime besides Samurai Champloo and maybe some episodes of a few other shows like DBZ. You must have a lot more nostalgia than I do for all the times that you have rewatched a show, especially back when you had more freedom and time to watch it…
I still remember the times I first began watching Bleach, Naruto, DBZ, etc which was when I began watching anime seriously (without always missing out on episodes from the TV) and the entire concept was completely new and overwhelming. I was still young and I didn’t have to concern myself with the worries of adulthood. Anime from that age brings back memories of the innocent freedom and trance-like excitement that you got from the shows… I’m glad you have had some good cherishing moments, thanks for sharing how you rewatch anime :)
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the post~
Yeah, I didn’t start watching anime “seriously” (in chronological order) until around 2001 when I started high school and got a hold of actual anime box sets rather than just catching episodes on TV.
I don’t think nostalgia was a factor for all my rewatches of Slayers, Tenchi, etc., back then because those shows were still new to me. If I wanted to rewatch them all these years later, that would be nostalgia ;D And as I talk more about them I get more of an urge to watch them – there’s just not enough hours in the day to do all you want =P
I used to rewatch anime all the time, but in recent years, I’ve focused on consuming as much as possible instead of revising old favorites. I thought that this was because of the accessibility of new anime these days. But I wonder if that’s the case…I used to be able to watch Tenchi Muyo over and over again and find wonderment in it each time, but almost without fail these days, when I try to rewatch anime (and I try), like Tenchi, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, or Genshiken, I often only get through a couple of episodes. The only exception is Toradora!, which I rewatched immediately after I first saw it, and then again a couple of months later, and again when I bought the DVDs.
I think that maybe my tastes have changed…or I’ve become addicted to seeing something new, knowing that there’s so much “new” out there.
Thanks for the post – I really enjoyed reading it and thinking about my own rewatching habits!
Thanks for reading!
It does sound like a combination of anime fandom changing and your tastes changing. I feel the same way about my own rewatching habits. Some anime I’ll always love while others I might grow out of over the years. But I’m trying not to reach the extreme level where I’ll only be interested in new shows and never care to rewatch old ones. Most good anime need to be watched at least twice – one to just know what happens and two to examine and study what happens, and compare those thoughts to how you yourself have changed since you first watched the show.
Heh, I barely have time to watch new anime, let alone rewatch things I like. But I often pop a movie into the DVD player while I work, just to have something moving on the TV screen, and sometimes I pause and watch the good bits. I’ve done this with the Ghost in the Shell movies and the Miyazaki movies, and since I’ve watched them several times I can let them play in the background and stop to watch the exciting stuff.
The only time I’ll watch anime casually like that is when I’m eating. I could never have anime on while I work, such as studying or doing blog posts. It would just be too distracting XD I can’t even have music on when I’m writing or reading – I don’t know how other people do it. Anime is something I enjoy being engrossed in, and if I’m tied down to another activity while an anime is playing, it just doesn’t seem right XD
Oh, definitely if it’s a new series I’ll want to give it my undivided attention. But I’ve seen the GiTS and a few of the Miyazaki movies so many times I have a feeling they’re part of my unconscious now, so having them playing in the background on low volume actually helps me when I’m working. =)
I don’t think I’ve ever rewatched a full series of anything O.o
I started watching in ’07 and already had good internet and stuff by then so I think it was less than a year until I was watching episodes seasonally. I often think about rewatching old series I love but the most I’ve done is watching half a series I think, usually I just go with one episode and sometimes even just a fav scene/s from the series. I think the reason I rewatch so little is both because I have a hard time keeping up with the seasonal stuff already and because I only started watching anime in ’07 then if I watch series besides the seasonal ones I’m watching some old titles that I haven’t seen yet.
I always feel like I spend kind of too little time on that, for example I still haven’t gotten around to watching cowboy bebop or card captor sakura, both something I really want to watch since I hear all the time about how amazing they are.
I like your resolution thing though, maybe I should try to make an easter resolution to always be watching one old series too >w<
Sounds like you’re still in the stage of exploring the possibilities of anime and seeing just how much it can offer. You haven’t yet had a chance for anime to become nostalgia to you, or it hasn’t been long enough since you watched any one series to want to watch it again. But I think as the years go by you’ll get an urge to fully rewatch a series that you really loved the first time. Let me know when it happens =)
That’s quite possibly the case ^^ I’ll do my best to remember to let you know =)
I rewatch Eureka Seven and Cowboy Bebop just about every other year to every year. I can’t get enough of E7 for some reason. Other series I tend to rewatch less frequently. I don’t have much time to sit down and watch new anime, let alone rewatch anything sadly enough.
Rewatching anime is like reading a good book, it is best done in the dark winter months with a cup of tea or hot choco.
I hardly rewatch anime anymore because of time issues. I do rewatch sometimes though if it’s to drag my sister or brother to watch something. It’s fun, especially if I pick up on something new. ^ ^
I sometimes rewatch anime, usually the ones that I watched as a young kid like Gundam Wing and Digimon.
I have had a great desire to rewatch Toradora! and Kannagi these past few months, though.
Rewatching anime, esp nostalgic ones is one of life’s greatest pleasures! Sometimes, it’s the greatest feeling just to be on the computer, having one of the anime you loved as a kid in the background while surfing the net. I’m a huge rewatcher myself, also have a horrible memory as after a few years, i completely forget what the anime is even about (even if i seen it before) so rewatching it really is fun :D