I know there are some people who have trouble picking favorite anime, but as for me, I’ve always been particular to favorites and enjoy thinking about what it is that makes me like one anime over another even if I can sincerely say I like both. Most of the anime among what I’d consider favorites have been the same for years actually. So today I’d like to discuss factors common to anime I consider favorites that distinguish them from others I like…
This is probably the most common factor for a favorite anime or any favorite media work for that matter – we have the motivation to watch it again and again because we love it so much and we love it anew each time. A lot of people in my previous post about viewing anime a second time mentioned that they love rewatching favorite series, and I can definitely agree with that =) Anime that have been among my favorites for years such as Wolf’s Rain, Fruits Basket, Noir, Evangelion, and Azumanga Daioh, I’ve watched at least six times each, and each time I love them more, or at least just as much as I did the first time ;) More recent series like Angel Beats! and Madoka I’ve watched a few times already and am still up for more, so chances are they’ll be long-time favorites too. What’s great about having long lasting favorites is that, as the years go by and you watch them again, you get something different out of them because you’re an older and different person than you were before. So yeah, a constant motivation to rewatch an anime is definitely an attribute of a favorite for me. There are lots of good anime I watch every year, but only a rare few will make me think “I really liked that. I want to watch it again…and again!”
Another thing common to anime I consider favorites is a yearning to own my own copies of them on DVD/BD, as well as other merchandise. I can’t afford to buy DVDs/BDs of every anime I watch online or even every anime I like. But you know I think highly of a series if I buy the video releases without a second thought =) I also like buying character goods such as posters, figures, artbooks, pencil boards, etc,. While I may buy this kind of merchandise for any anime I like, again, the ones I’ll spend the most on are my favorites. Whenever I’m shopping online or browsing dealer’s booths at conventions, the first titles I search for, and usually end up shelling out the most money for, are my favorites ;)
What I mean by this is that I think about series that are my favorites even long after the series have ended or long after I rewatched them. Every now and then I think about the philosophical messages in Noir and Wolf’s Rain or my favorite jokes in Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh for example. Another example is that I’ll still browse for pictures, videos, etc., for them online every now and then too. For favorites of mine that are still putting out new works (Pokemon, Haruhi, Evangelion) or have the potential to at least (Lucky Star? Angel Beats?), obviously it’s a lot easier for me to keep them in my thoughts or to find news items, fan art, blog posts, etc., about them. The more often a series finds its way into my thoughts or determines what I search for online, the more of a favorite it is =)
This last factor is a bit more complex and one most of us probably don’t think about, yet it’s one that I feel is very important. I would say it only applies to our favorite anime that are also popular franchises rather than stand-alone, came-and-went titles, but I suppose one could argue either way. Anyway, the idea is that we love these titles so much that we don’t relate to them the same way we do to other anime; we love them as a separate entity alongside anime in general. Digibro explains this concept well in a couple of his posts. He feels this way about Touhou for example in that he can’t place it among a favorites list with other anime because, as he said, “it was a thing which I could be a fan of in a manner like how I’m a fan of anime on the whole.” That’s how I feel about my current top two favorites, Haruhi and Pokemon. It’s always hard for me to rank Pokemon among lists of favorite anime because it’s the franchise as a whole that I love (mostly the games) as much as anime in general. Haruhi is similar in that it’s not just the anime I love but the light novels and the franchise in general. I relate to it as its own separate fandom, whereas a lesser fan of the series would relate to it in the same way they do to any other anime. Even for my past top favorites, Tenchi Muyo! and Inuyasha for example, I felt the same way: I loved them as much as I loved anime in general – there was them, and then there was “all other anime.” Basically an anime is a favorite, usually a big one, if we grow to love it as a franchise outside of other anime. As Digibro put it, “I think it’s a good idea to break down and define things like this, because there’s such a difference in perspective between people who like something in the way of general fandom, and people who like something in the way of a cult fandom.”
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As always, these are just a few things I thought of that determine my own personal favorites and is in no way a comprehensive list. In fact, I know there are plenty of people who have favorite anime but rarely or never rewatch them, and others who rarely or never buy merchandise for even their favorite series. Then there are those who spend lots of money on anime even ones that aren’t big favorites, or others who really like a series but rarely give it a second thought after one viewing. So if you have different factors that determine your favorite anime, feel free to share =D
Ah, I agree with each of those points. I’ve also noticed that there’s a different feel from one fandom to the next, perhaps since different anime tend to attract different types of crowds. For me my absolute favorite anime and manga is Pandora Hearts–I can never get enough of that series. Though the PH fandom is small, I think it’s a rather strong one (ie we really, *really* like it). *_*
Some other points I might add:
1) You find yourself relating to the characters, themes, etc of the anime a great deal
2) You want to share the anime with all your friends, and other people online in general
3) You are willing to look past the flaws you acknowledge the anime has (or, at least, the flaws ultimately don’t matter much to you in the end–you’re still going to watch it a hundred times)
Yeah, most anime have their own individual fandom separated from anime fandom in general and one can be in either category depending on how much they like that anime. In your case, you’d be a part of Pandora Hearts’ fandom while someone else who doesn’t like it as much would just lump it together as part of general anime fandom.
Good points. Actually your #1 doesn’t always apply to me since my favorite characters are the ones I feel are the most interesting or entertaining rather than the most easy to relate to. #2 applies to me in terms of wanting to share with other people who are already anime fans (but not anyone else). And #3 definitely applies to me (especially for Angel Beats! XD)
Yeah I can relate to the points that you listed. I definitely only re watch anime series that are my favorites (or that I just really enjoy).
I’ve bought numerous DVD/BD collections but I rarely spend a dime on merchandise in general lol. As for the DVD collections I bought most on a whim before ever watching the anime prior to that, so not every anime that I own is my favorite but a few of them are such as Darker than Black season 1 and Ryusei no Gemini, which are on my top 5 favorite anime ^ ^
My favorite anime series are no doubt in my mind often, such as quotes, certain dialogue, or even an ending that just really stuck with you. For me you can usually tell my favorite anime by the background on my computer =P since I often browse pictures of faves and use them for avatars, wallpapers, signatures, etc.
One Factor that actually sticks out to me when i’m watching an anime is the opening and closing songs. Without realizing it at first almost all of my top 5 anime have great j pop openings and endings which are very memorable and catchy. Now this doesn’t necessarily determine if i’m gonna love or hate an anime but it does make a difference on how I view the anime overall (especially a second viewing). Not sure if this is just me or if other people experience this as well.
I rarely blind-buy any anime so most of the anime in my collection that aren’t titles I really like were gifts XD
I tend to change the background on my computer for a variety of anime I like, not just favorites…my phone however always has my favorite as a background (Haruhi usually :3)
I love anime openings and endings but they usually don’t have any merit on how much I like the series they’re from. A lot of my favorite anime OPs/EDs are from series that aren’t big favorites actually.
Yeah, openings I guess are more of a deal sweetner in that they don’t determine my favorites but a good opening/ ending can bump up the score of the anime a bit =P
Oh favorites… There is just so many of them :S To me, it is strongly expressed by the times I rewatch them. I’ve some series 3-4 times, and plan to rewatch them in the future. I will also look for the light novels of an anime I like (Haruhi, SAO) to fill in additional gaps. It probably all comes down to whatever makes us feel good.
Another factor, or expression of favorites could be a surprise factor. One of those that we find so different from what we usually watch that we end up loving it. I really liked Binbougami ga! from last season and I still cannot figure out why… I had fun though, and that’s what matters :)
Yeah, wanting to get into a series beyond just the anime is a sure sign of a favorite, for me too :3 With all of my past and current favorites, I’ve delved into them beyond just the anime.
An anime that surprised me in some way could certainly have potential to be a favorite, but a series that doesn’t surprise me yet is good in all other aspects works too =)
Good points! I agree with a poster above about the fact that a favorite anime can make us look past its flaws to enjoy it as a whole. It kind of relates to your previous blog post, too. When rewatching a favorite anime, even if we notice new flaws it doesn’t actually decrease our enjoyment of the series at all, because the parts we love overpower it by far.
For me, an anime that I’d strongly consider rewatching in the future is a pretty good sign of a favorite anime for me. For instance I keep wanting to rewatch Azumanga at some point (but never have time, lol) and when my alltime favorite Gintama was said to be about to end, I began to plan to rewatch from the beginning so that I’d never have to stop watching it for long. XD Another sign is actually paying attention to news about that series or caring about sequels and spin-offs – for instance I got really excited when I saw that Kaiji had a sequel (this was a few years ago) and was even more exuberant when I saw that Gintama was to start up again after it ‘ended’ twice.
So yeah, when it comes down to it, it’s more or less how much time and energy we’re willing to invest in that series or franchise. Spending time rewatching a favorite anime is probably time better spent than watching a crappy new series, in terms of the enjoyment you reap.
Oh yeah, any news item for a favorite series of mine will always get my attention XD Being able to look past flaws, or better yet, acknowledge the flaws but understand how the good points overpower them for you, is a great factor too =)
A lot of times when I watch new anime I think “I’d rather rewatch [name of favorite series.]” But I feel it’s just as important to take the time to watch new series in order to discover new favorites and become a more knowledge anime fan…at least, that’s what I like to do XD It’s all about enjoyment after all, so if someone just wants to rewatch their old favorites all the time, more power to them =P
OOO REALLY INTERESTING! For me, I determine fav anime by these things:
How much value I got from it and how quickly I burned though it. These 2 go in together. My fav Anime, I would have watched it in a few days, marathoning episodes one after another (though I do it less now because I like to spend time writing about it after, so it can be harder for me to watch many in a row.) but for an Anime to be a top fav, it has to have some values in it, or philosophy I should say that has inspired me in some ways. Usually, those are the most memorable ones that I always think about.
This is something I’m going to go in detail later, but sometimes I find myself rewatching shows that I don’t really consider a fav, but I watch it because it makes me feel certain things. The Anime itself may be very problematic to some people, but if it gives me imagination (picturing myself in the situation) and makes me feel like I want to be in that world, I will want to rewatch it.
Perhaps I will also know that it’s my fav if I keep talking about it to people or blogging about it, or finding fan contents for it like fanarts, AMVs, etc.
I used to buy a lot more Anime in the past but I will always buy my faves, so I totally agree on that.
So yes, I think what makes me determine fav is definitely through its values and important messages in the show. Of course, it also has to be easy for me to understand as well.
It’s hard to say if there’s any common theme in my favorite anime such as “wanting to be in that world” or having things to philosophize about. A lot of my favorites do, but a lot like Lucky Star and Cardcaptor Sakura are just fun, feel-good series with nothing particularly deep about them. In the end, I guess it comes down to how much I love the characters, style, and/or story, even if it’s something cute and fluffy like Azumanga Daioh or something dark and gloomy like Noir.
I think most important thing in anything is that anime needs to make an “impact”, in just any kind of form, and needs to be original (or as original as it can be). Gintama made an insane impact with it’s over-the-top jokes and parodies, Toradora made an impact with their dramatic suspense, and Clannad made an impact with their tearjerking drama. With such impact, an anime easily comes a “favorite”, and as a result, would made us rewatch, buy merchandise from it, etc..
I would add memorable score or music. Of my favorites, only Baccano is so so on the sounds. Stuff like SamuraiChamploo or Gunslinger Girl has some of the best scores ive heard, and not just in anime.
The opening of a anime can help me decide if I want to watch it along with the anime summary. The problem with using YouTube to decide on anime is that you can end up watching spoilers like when I watched a AMV and saw some later scenes in a anime.