kevo’ over on Desu ex Machina recently wrote a post about an upcoming anime he can’t help but highly anticipate, while simultaneously realizing that it doesn’t always pay for us to set our expectations for an unknown anime too high. As someone who rarely hypes up an anime I haven’t yet seen, it got me thinking about how our expectations can make or break our opinion about an anime…
For a medium like anime, one thing that can greatly influence our expectations is the source material. Like I discussed in a past post on the subject, having prior knowledge of the manga, light novel, game, or visual novel the anime is based on gives us expectations about the anime we wouldn’t have if we didn’t have that prior knowledge. Usually we expect the anime to follow the source material closely and become irked and critical if it doesn’t. But if we’re not familiar with the source material, we wouldn’t know what was and wasn’t changed and would in all likelihood enjoy the anime more without those expectations. A lot of people cling to the idea that the “original is always better,” which I agree is usually the case, but not always. Because of that, it seems like prior knowledge of an anime’s source material is more likely to hinder our enjoyment of it than not. But on the other hand, when the anime adaptation is just as good as the original source, or even better, that could become a much more rewarding experience to us precisely because of our prior knowledge.
In cases where we’re not familiar with the source material, or the series is an anime-only creation, our expectations tend to hail from other things, most commonly the company producing the series and the staff involved, which includes everyone from directors to seiyuu to music composers. The first thing we’ll probably notice is that the anime is being produced by a studio we really respect…Production I.G. for example. Next we see a whole list of seiyuu that we like, and perhaps a scriptwriter or two who have done work for past anime that we loved. Next we’ll watch the trailer, notice how compelling the animation is and we may even fall in love with the opening song that’s playing in the trailer…and before you know it, we’re completely in love with this anime that we’ve never even seen a single episode of. kevo spells it out well in his post, saying that “when you set the bar so high, you stack the odds against yourself. It’s illogical to hold something you’ve never seen to such an impossible ideal; statistically speaking, shows on average tend to not be good.”
Even if we ourselves aren’t familiar with the anime’s source material or anything about the pedigree of its staff, how our fellow fans react to it can have an affect on our expectations whether we want it to or not. If a lot of people in our social circle are totally hyped about the anime, it’s natural for that hype to rub off on us, especially if we prefer to watch the latest anime people are talking about. But it could work in a negative way too; what’s really popular always attracts a good amount of hate, and hype could inadvertently drive us away from a series we may have liked if it were more humbly received and everyone around us wasn’t raving about it. Like many things in the fandom, setting expectations for an unknown series has its advantages and disadvantages. If we do end up loving a series we were hyped about, that could make it an even more rewarding experience than if we weren’t excited about it from the get-go. But on the other hand, the higher we set our expectations, the harder they’re going to fall if the show doesn’t deliver what we’re hoping, which – and I agree with kevo – is the more likely outcome (especially for an anime with a source material).
Unlike a lot of other fans, I don’t research anything about a new anime I plan to watch besides the basic things like a brief story synopsis, animation studio, and maybe a few seiyuu. I rarely watch trailers for upcoming anime, almost never look into the source material beforehand, and I don’t pay attention to anime staff names besides some really prominent ones in the industry. So for the most part, I’m very neutral with every new seasonal anime I start watching. I might have slightly higher expectations for a KyoAni series or a series with music by Yoko Kanno, and slightly lower expectations for a series by J.C. Staff that sounds like it might be fraught with fan service…but for the most part, I like to give every anime series the benefit of the doubt. The only time I’ll get really hyped is if the anime is a sequel, movie, or other addition to a series I loved. But those are few and usually the anime I watch are new series with no prior season or source material I’m familiar with. Thus if the anim ends up totally surpassing my expectations, that’s great! And if it ends up being a letdown, that’s always a bummer but at least I didn’t waste time and emotion getting hyped for nothing. My approach to anime expectations could have to do with my personality; I’m a “go with the flow,” “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” kind of person, so that probably reflects in my neutral stance I take for unknown anime ;)
So how do you set your bar for anime expectations? Do you often get totally hyped for new series before you’ve even seen one episode? Or are you like me and prefer to take the safe, neutral stance so as not to be disappointed?
I only get very hyped for a new IP when multiple positive factors meet, such as a great original writer, a great studio, AND some curious premise.
On the other hand, I get very easily hyped for things that I’ve already read, even if I’m not a particularly big fan.
Even if I have only read a manga afer the anime was announced, to check out whether it will be good, I instantly become this rabid fanboy who knows so much more about the subject than all these plebeian “anime-only fans”, and I can’t wait to FINALLY see the anime version, as if I have been waiting for an adaptation for over a decade.
I also get kinda hyped for things I’ve already read/played/whatever…it’s fun when you’re “in the know” before most everyone else, even if the thing in question isn’t something you’re totally in love with =P Having this extra knowledge spices up your hype.
I get hyped up if it’s a second season for something that I really loved the first time around, or if there’s some names behind a series that I have a lot of respect for (e.g. I was super-hyped months before it was time for Sakamichi no Apollon to air). Otherwise, my expectations are usually based on the synopsis and the trailer – the trailer not because I put a lot of faith into the fact that the trailer will necessarily tell me anything more about the storyline or characters, but because it can at least probably indicate whether or not I’ll dig the art style.
I definitely get hyped for second seasons or other additions to anime I really like. But for ones where I only thought the first season was average, I don’t get that hyped. Big names can get me excited too, which they did somewhat for Sakamichi no Apollon, but again, never too intensely.
Trailers are a great way to judge things like animation, character designs, tone, and perhaps music. But it’s not particularly helpful for things like story and characters. That’s where episodic blogs can come in handy I guess =P
I was so fucking hyped for Litchi Light Club and then it went and decided to be a fucking flash anime. Nothing on any site had any mention of is being a flash. I was a bit distraught.
I don’t do extensive research when it comes to staff members, but I’ll pay attention to the directors and a few writers. (Urobuchi Gen, Oonogi Hiroshi, Okada Mari whom I detest.) I’ll look up the writers if I’m on the fence about anything.
and then there’s always the times when you read blogs and they praise a show and then you get really excited to watch it and then it’s not as great as you were expecting it to be.
That’s too bad about Litchi Light Club since it sounds like a show you would like; I can’t imagine a flash animated series being anything that impressive to look at.
I’ve heard of some prominent anime directors but I don’t follow everything they’ve made or flock to a series just because they’re working on it. But it could still be an influence for me at times, like it was for Sakamichi no Apollon for example.
Heh, maybe that’s one reason I read very few episodic or “first impressions” blog posts XD
Although I’m not heavily involved in the anime community, this aspect is still a problem for me because I don’t watch the latest stuff. The more I put off a hyped-up series, the more I see/hear/know about it simply by osmosis through the internet, and that means that I end up going into it with a preconceived notion of what it’s going to be like. It’s great when an anime meets or exceeds these expectations, but now and again a series that everyone gushes praise for (e.g. Kimi ni Todoke) just falls flat for me and I get doubly annoyed because of how everyone made it out to seem so great. (Or maybe I should just learn my lesson and avoid shoujo altogether.)
And I agree with you that the only thing that really gets me hyped up about a new series would probably be a sequel of a series I loved before. This isn’t a foolproof method either (I recently watched the sequel to Darker than Black and was quite disappointed) but it’s pretty safe to say that if you loved the prequel, there’s a much higher chance of you loving the sequel than, say, a totally new series. Though of course, sometimes it’s also nice to venture into the unknown and be rewarded with a new favorite.
Yeah, I can see how not watching the latest shows but still partaking in anime fandom through the Internet can lead to hype and preconceptions you don’t necessarily want (not to mention spoilers). I guess the only options are to stay away from places like blogs, forums, Twitter, etc., (which a couple of my friends do) where that kind of stuff abounds, or just not care about getting spoiled or hyped =P
There are some sequels that have surpassed the originals in my opinion, and some that were letdowns. But it’s still fun to know that a series you at least like a little is getting additional animation =)
Since I only watch a certain amount of Anime, the description for the show pretty much sets my expectations unless I’m already familiar with the source material (such as being familiar with it or a sequel). For the most part, I don’t set expectations really high so that I got disappointed, but studios does play a role… Of course anything from Kyoto Animation will have high expectations compared to JC Staff… but the good thing about having low expectations is that one can easily be impressed if its good. For instance, Little Busters adaptation didn’t look too bad as most people feared since it’s not Kyoto Animation and I do give them the benefit of the doubt. If JC Staff pulls it off, that is good for them.
Aside from that, I do read/play some source material if I really enjoyed it and I can go out and buy the game… Of course, that means translating raw Japanese to enjoy the story, but it’s worth it.
Setting your expectations low definitely means you’re more likely to enjoy the new anime you watch and less likely to be relentlessly critical and impatient. You can’t help but be upset if things like studio pedigree or staff names end up not meaning much for an anime’s quality, but I always try to find something worthwhile in everything I watch, and that helps me like more anime I watch than not.
I think anticipation contributes to your expectations for an anime as well. For example, I’ve been waiting and waiting for Haruhi season 3 for quite a while now, and if it comes out, I expect it to be AMAZING. Same with Little Busters!, I’ve been anticipating KyoAni to animate it, but it went to JC Staff instead, however, because of anticipation and my love of Key, I didn’t want to lower the bar and pretty much call it “dead on arrival” – I wanted something worth the wait (and thankfully, they did a pretty good job with the first episode). I think it applies to everything, not just anime, really. Even in opposite cases, like how Duke Nukem were waiting for Duke Nuken Forever for YEARS and got a very disappointing product – the long await probably added to the “horribleness” of an already mediocre game. In those cases, I think overhype can’t helped but be uncontrolled.
I would be totally hyped for another season of Haruhi not just because I loved the first anime series and movie, but because I’ve read the novels and know what’s going to happen. So I’m doubly psyched in this case =D
Because everyone was expecting KyoAni to get Little Busters, I actually kept my expectations intact because I’m hoping J.C. Staff will do their total best with the series precisely because of all the hype – to show fans that they can do just as well as KyoAni can. It’s hard for me to judge the series yet but I’m willing to give them a chance =)
When it comes to yet-to-air anime, I almost never buy into hype; even for shows that I ended up thoroughly liking like Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero, it is hard for me to get excited. I usually bookmark the official entry for the show on MyAnimeLIst to look into the show at a later time. This no-expectation approach has seemingly worked (very) well over the past couple of years I’ve tried it and has probably had a hand in helping me become a fan of several shows such as Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, and more recently Dusk Maiden of Amnesia and Tari Tari.
Thankfully, most of the shows I had expectations for due to knowledge about the source material have been good, in my opinion; the Valkyria Chronicles anime, The Idolmaster, and Persona 4 The Animation are some examples.
Also, I often end up looking into the source material only after an anime has begun airing or has ended altogether; this has been the case throughout my fandom.
Like I said in the post, I try not to give into hype either, and with that, I never know when I’m going to discover a true gem, like Madoka for example. If I was hyped about the series to begin with, I still would have been enthralled by how good it was, but it’s more exciting when you’re not expecting it to be groundbreaking and it is =)
I also only look up the source material for an anime after watching it, but only if I really, really liked it and couldn’t get enough of the story and characters through the anime version.
The only thing I research about up coming anime, is the title :S I just watch everything as it comes, and decide what to keep watching from there. But for sequels/movies, etc, then yes, there is a certain bar that we expect that anime to surpass, and that may, or may not happen. As you mentioned, we may set it so high, that regardless of how good the anime is, it will never surpass it.
I have no problem with light novel adaptations, as long as they are consistent with the original material. What I mean with that, is not that it follows it exactly, but that the characters and settings are consistent with how they were introduced in the source material. Haruhi is a perfect example. They were very faithful to the original light novel work, and the few things they changed, are still consistent with how we know the characters to act, that it fits right in. SAO is a recent example. They cut out so much from the first light novels, but what they portrayed is very consistent to how the characters react in the light novels, they pay attention to detail, that in the end, is simply nice to watch.
So I’ve been trying to hard to lower my expectations, because I know that it can really make a decent anime, something of a negative experience. But it is really hard… Expectations are just something we automatically construct in our heads, whether we like it or not :(
If you only research the title and nothing else (I assume you’ll at least see a picture from the anime too) then you’re definitely in for surprises, good or bad =P
Since I’m usually not familiar with source material, I end up judging the anime solely on its own and not whether it followed the original story as closely as possible. But for the few times when I am familiar with the source, like Haruhi for example, then of course I’ll scrutinize but I’ll still do my best to judge the anime on its own. But it gets harder the more passionate you are about the original source ^^,,,
It’s really interesting because I really do think expectations can either make us love it or be disappointed. I think what makes expectation high is when I see previews, the story synopsis and both looks really good, I start thinking of how good it can be.
Another influence, say if it’s already aired and people have watched it is when someone tell you how good it is or how bad. If people say to me it’s the greatest thing in the world, I automatically have higher expectations. Usually, that can lead to a bit of disappointment, because everyone’s different in what they love and think is the best. Also, if someone keeps saying how bad something is, I may really lower expectations and find it’s better than I thought.
Company production is definitely important. If a company is known to produce amazing work, then I will “believe it’s great” before I even watch it.
Expectations for a series that’s already finished airing is slightly different since people can tell you how it was. With series that are currently airing, everyone is on the same page and can’t tell you how it will turn out…unless of course they’re familiar with the source material. But even so, often the anime version offers things the original doesn’t, for better or worse.
I guess to know more, means to expect more, especially if you like what you really found out. An anime could be an adaption from a visual novel for example, and you know that the visual novel is made from a company you really like (Key for example), and then, when the anime was announced, you found out it will be done by one of the anime studio you really like, and that sets your expectations even higher. Then when problems ensues in the series, one will easily gets disappointed :D It’s a sad but inevitable thing in such an “information-healthy” world :D
Yes, it’s inevitable to expect a lot when all the factors that you mentioned are involved. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting hyped like that – it can be a lot of fun =D Just be prepared to be disappointed too.
Is there any series that made you disappointed?
Recent examples for me are Litchi Hikari Club (take a crazy manga, do a lame chibi flash animation that isn’t funny) and Sword Art Online (not taking advantage of its concept, shallow everything).
A lot of series have disappointed me…can’t think of any currently airing examples, but over the years, such series would be H20, the second season of Nogizaka Haruka, Persona 4, Medaka Box, and I’d even say Penguindrum (which I liked but not as much as others). Again, because I don’t go into most anime with high expectations, I don’t get disappointed that often.
Sword Art Online has been one series with the most polarizing fan opinions I’ve come across in recent years; one minute I hear about how much one fan loves it and and is so excited about it, and the next minute another fan is totally deriding it. I look forward to posting my opinions about it once it finishes airing XD
If there’s a director involved that I like (Keiichiro Kawaguchi, for example), I’ll give it a shot, but most of what I look for is visuals. I can tell from a series’ character design and color palette if it will click for me, and most of the time it does. If a premise hits for me, I’ll watch that too, but one quick look at the series’ home page is usually all I need to get myself interested. Now as for what my tastes are… they’re probably not what the rest of the blogosphere tends to be interested in, but I don’t use my blog for that purpose anyway.
As for what I look for in a series itself, the answer is easy. Comedy. I want something eccentric, something that makes realism a foundation, but then proceeds to build an MC Escher style of architecture on top of it. This means that the only series that’s really hitting all the right buttons for me this season is Teekyuu! (Last season was the still woefully incomplete Joshiraku), but it doesn’t have to be a perfect match.
My expectations are neither high nor low. They’re simply “I’m looking forward to watching this.” But I am selective about what I watch.
I’m at this standpoint that orginal will always be better, especially when the studio don’t give an effort and the anime just look like a promoting show for manga/novel. But when I see someone complains at every moment that ‘it’s not like in manga, it’s shit’, it make me really angry sometimes. I mean I can relate to Ao no Exorcist fans for example for putting a very bad filler episodes because they were really bad but whining at every moment could be tiring.
While chosing a show for new season I always look at pv. A season preview at randomc blog it enough for me.
A great example of overhyped series is Guilty Crown. When MAL grades at the beginning were nealy 9 and now are 7,7. I mean everyone got overhyped about it and when it didn’t reach their high expectaions they called it ‘shit’. For me it was just avange, maybe not good but avange, not the worst. Another example this season is K. “Look at this gorgeus graphics it will be a hit” after two episodes “Homo bishes and a girl who’s floating naked for half episode. I’m not watching this show”. If the graphics weren’t so good no one would get so emotional about it. So yes, high expectations are very dangerous.
Generally the more over-hyped an anime is or i hear multiple people telling me “i have to watch this” i usually don’t expect much. Most of the time the most popular anime aren’t always what appeals to me to the most, whereas some off the wall series people hardly talk about anymore completely peaks my interest and draws me in.
But yeah i usually go into anime with low expectations, although i am rarely disappointed (unless they are absolutely dreadful) which there have been a few >.>