Three years ago I wrote a post discussing how, over the years as I’ve watched more and more anime at a given time than I used to in my early years as a fan, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to remember every single one. Recently czai over on the Blacksheep Project wrote a post dealing with a similar topic about how she remembers some of the 200 anime she’s watched more than others and why that is. So today I was inspired to revisit this topic of how well we’re able to remember all the anime we’ve ever watched…
To recap a bit, before the days of streaming videos and torrents, watching a full anime series in its original Japanese form with subtitles, was pretty difficult. You would have to track down VHS copies of the few anime that were available subtitled at the time, usually long after they aired in Japan. Even when anime DVDs started becoming easily available here in the US in the early 2000s, that was still pretty much the only way of watching anime outside of dubs on TV. So within any given year in those days, I would never get to watch more than 10 new anime, most of which were old series that had already had their day in Japan. But because there were fewer anime to watch, I was able to focus much more of my time and passion on each one. I had time to rewatch them and indulge in their individual fandoms because I didn’t have access to any other new anime.
Fast forward to nowadays, where we have instant access to roughly every single anime, whether it aired decades ago or is currently airing, the average fan now has the choice of watching as much or as little anime as they want. Most fans I know, myself included, choose to watch as much as they can fit into their lifestyle, which is still much more than was available before. Instead of only watching 5-10 new anime per year, I’m now watching that many new anime per season, and just as I’m done with those, new ones are ready to go for the next season. So, unless I really have the motivation, there’s no break to rewatch those anime and pick up old ones or else I’ll fall behind with the current shows. I used the term “mass anime consumption” in my other post to describe this way of watching anime. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, since it’s fun to be able to keep up with what’s popular in Japan, and because most anime fans are now watching the same new anime, we can all discuss it together and are better able to build up the fandoms for these shows. And without the ability to watch anime seasonally, the anime blogging community may have never developed, or at least not as it has today. But mass consuming anime does come at cost, which is the individual time, and memory, we can allot for each.
Which brings us to the main topic of the post. It’s natural that the more different things we’re exposed to (different anime in this case) the harder it is to remember every single one. According to MAL, I’ve watched about 400 anime titles (counting anime I’ve completed, dropped, am currently watching, or are on hold). And how well do I remember each of those 400 titles? As a whole…not that well. I’ve noticed that two main things determine how well I’ll remember an anime: how many times I’ve rewatched it, and if I strongly liked or disliked it. So the anime I remember the best are my favorites because I obviously really liked them, and because of that, I’ve taken the time to rewatch them. My big favorites like Haruhi, Wolf’s Rain, and Azumanga Daioh, I’ve rewatched 6-7 times each! So I remember mostly everything about them and they won’t be leaving my memory anytime soon. Likewise, for anime I really had issues with, like the second season of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, and Moretsu Pirates, I remember details about them only because they frustrated me. I don’t remember as much about them as my favorites, like what happened in certain episodes, because I haven’t rewatched them, but I remember more about them than the average anime.
For some people, other factors besides the two I mentioned determine how well they’ll remember an anime, like how recently they watched it, the circumstances of how they watched it (if something major was going on in their life), or whether they watched it all at once in a marathon or watched it weekly. For me, length of time passed ultimately isn’t a big factor since it doesn’t take more than a month for anime to start to fade from my memory. If I haven’t rewatched it, emotional impact is still the biggest factor. So I remember more about Sola, an anime I watched 5 years ago, than I do about Tari Tari, an anime I watched just last year, because things in Sola were more memorable to me. Marathon viewing makes it easier for me to remember what happened in each episode while I’m watching them, since I sometimes forget what happened in the previous week’s episode when watching weekly, but once I’m done with the series it still won’t stay in my memory any differently. And I can’t recall any anime that stuck in my memory better because of the circumstances under which I watched them…watching certain anime at my universities anime club was fun, but still didn’t make details of the anime itself stick in my memory any better.
But for the 300 or so anime I only watched once and didn’t find extremely good or extremely bad, I only have vague memories. I do remember at least some things about every anime I’ve seen, for example, I’ll always remember having watched them and a few things like what they’re about, what some of the characters are like, and my general feelings about them. But beyond that, I don’t remember individual episodes or scenes unless they really had an emotional impact on me, like they were really sad or really funny. Likewise, if there’s a large cast of characters, I doubt I’ll remember all of their names or much about them, again unless something about them really stood out to me. Even for currently airing anime I sometimes have trouble recalling names or what happened in the newest episode. It’s become a habit of mine in recent years, when I’m sitting down to watch the new episode of an airing anime, to look up the anime’s episode list on Wikipedia and read the synopsis of the previous week’s episode to refresh my memory. I don’t really need to do this as I typically start remembering what happened before as I watch the new episode, but it helps. I only do it for some anime though, like the ones with a lot of characters or complicated plots, like Attack on Titan. Also, if I’m planning to watch the sequel of an anime that aired a while ago and I can’t remember it well, I’ll read through the episode summaries of all the prequels on Wiki. I did this before I watched Shakugan no Shana III and just recently before I started the sequels of Railgun, Monogatari, and The World God Only Knows.
So…does the fact that I can only thoroughly remember a small percentage of the anime I’ve seen mean my memory sucks? I don’t think it sucks in general, but in this case it kinda does I guess XD I can totally understand the handful of fans who don’t watch anime the mass consuming way – they’ll pick just one or a few series to watch at their own pace, whether a new series or old one, and really take the time to focus on each one, maybe even rewatch it a few times, before moving on to a new one. But for the majority of us who like to keep up with the current anime, all the new titles coming in leaves little time to rewatch or fully indulge in the old ones, so series are constantly coming and going into our memories. Maybe some people who watch a lot of anime all the time are able to remember them all well, which is great, but I’m sure most of us who have been watching seasonal anime for several years now can’t vividly remember each one. I suppose it just comes down to how you want to enjoy anime. For me, keeping up with what’s recent in Japan and being able to discuss them with my friends and blogging acquaintances is worth it to me even if I can’t give each series I watch the individual attention I used to give in my early years as a fan. Even if I don’t have detailed memories of 300/400 of the anime I’ve seen, I know I enjoyed most of them when I watched them, and they all contributed in some way to my own personal relationship with and passion for anime, and that’s what counts ;)
i have a MAL account though I don’t see the point of listing drops. but i only list completion, watching, and plan. i dont remember my list since i made one last week but its the majority of it.
Well, for some series I dropped I watched at least half of their episodes, so I feel like that’s good enough to count as a “watched” anime…just not “completed.” At a certain point I wouldn’t be able to remember every anime I’ve seen off the top of my head without a MAL list XD
I think forgetting the details about anime is a bonus, because then you can go back and rewatch old series and get a lot of enjoyment. For me there are three classes of anime: 1) the anime I love so much that I rewatch many times and forget nothing; 2) good anime that I will want to rewatch… but rewatching is better when I’ve forgotten the details; and 3) so-so anime that I’ll never watch again and don’t care if I forget everything.
There is a lot of anime in that middle group – a lot of pretty good series that I am certain to watch again. Those series often end up in my library (I’m pretty old school and don’t count on the ability to stream old series on demand), and I guarantee I’ll revisit those shows in the future.
Remembering everything is not a plus. Forget everything so that you can experience delight on subsequent visits!
You’re right that forgetting details can actually make your rewatch of an anime more worthwhile. That’s why I always like to go back and rewatch anime I especially loved the first time, because I do indeed forget many details and I can relive their greatness a second time. And the ones that are true favorites are the ones I can keep on watching and enjoying again and again ;)
I’d like to imagine most of the anime I watch are in your #2 group, but in reality most of them are in #3, even if they’re good rather than so-so, just because I have little time, and often motivation, to rewatch anything but ones I really loved. Maybe that’s a project I can undertake in my retirement – rewatch every anime I’ve been meaning to all these years but never got to XD
I have a pretty good memory, but if I do not follow a series for a while I kind of forget the details. I think writing down your own thoughts about episodes will help you remember things better, which I believe we discussed in a post you wrote a while back.
Yeah, writing the many blog posts I have about the anime I’ve seen has certainly helped me remember things about them. Not everything of course, but I can always go back and read what I wrote about an old series and then remember things I felt about it at the time.
I can usually remember enough to describe the anime and the opinion I had on it while watching. For example, I can still recall the basic story, setup and characters of probably the most forgettable anime I watched last year, Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan, as well as my opinion on it (boring as fuck and really quite bad).
I don’t like to drop shows unless they have a lot of episodes (my MAL lists only one with fewer than twenty-one episodes I haven’t seen) and so will often marathon crappy one-cour shows just to get them out of the way. That’s when things start to blur. What the hell happened in Akane-iro between them meeting and him kissing her and the end of the show (whatever that was)? I dunno, you’d have to ask someone who cared enough to pay attention. Weekly shows or shows I liked enough to sustain my interest fully through the three-four episode blocks I find are my favourite, however, I can generally recall much more clearly.
Shows I’ve watched multiple times I can obviously recall much more detail from. Also, shows I’ve experienced in another medium (possibly better than a re-viewing because of the different perspective it offers). What’s fun is when one version of the story supersedes the other in my memory. I watched the Azumanga Daioh anime first and have seen it once but I’ve read the manga three times now and the only part of the anime I remember more clearly is some of the last episode’s graduation scenes, which were fantastic in the anime (the final page of the manga is still how I picture the very last scene, though). Norio Wakamoto’s scene as Chiyo’s dad in Osaka’s dream doesn’t count, because I’ve seen it about fifty times now.
I can remember my general opinion and a little bit about the story/characters of every anime I’ve seen, in varying degrees depending on how invested I was in them. And that’s impressive that you’re able to marathon anime you deem crappy and more as a chore to “get out of the way” than because you enjoy them. When an anime becomes more of a drudgery to watch than fun is when I decide to drop it XD
I can also recall anime better when I’ve experienced their other forms, but I usually only look into their other forms if I already loved (and most likely rewatched) their anime version. In other words, they’re already a favorite of mine =P
I have a really good memory for details. Plus, my mom does not watch anime, but she loves the storyline of many of them, so I have to relate an anime to her on many occasions. Also, if something comes up in conversation with my family, or a friend, then I may remember a something in an anime, and bring it back to memory (had an interesting discussion about ‘entropy’, and the information in Madoka was very useful). So I will remember anime that I have watched long ago with quite a number of details. As you mentioned, not every single one, but the ones that attracted my attention, or had something interesting on it. It’s weird, I have actually learned a lot from anime, so I tend to make an extra effort to remember many of the details that happen in them… I think it is a good thing… But that memory is not only for anime. Computer games, or books, I tend to remember things very well, even to the point where I can help other people easily and quickly.
So I’m happy exercising my memory like that, and keep relating or learning from anime I guess :P
Yeah, certain things in life come up and remind me of certain anime, perhaps a theme, a character, a word, or something like that. Online discussions about series I’ve seen spark memories too, but again, I rarely remember specific scenes from episodes unless they stood out to me for some reason. And as far as remembering things like books, games, and movies, like anime, I’ll usually remember at least something about them, more so if I really liked them.
I actually remember them all very well indeed, even though they now number over 400 complete series! There are a few I only have a dim memory of, and they bother me – especially Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai and Soukyuu no Fafner, which I don’t remember nearly so well as I think I should (nine years down the road!). There’s also Doujin Work, where I really only remember the bits about Justice because we marathoned the whole thing.
I’m pretty bad with names, but otherwise I think that if I engaged with the story at all, I’ll be able to remember it and talk about it with anyone else who’s seen it!
I know that you not only watch a lot of anime, but watch and have watched a ton of other animated works, from TV shows and movies to games and comics. If you remember all of those too, you must have a good memory ;) Even a dim memory of some mediocre anime from nine years ago is pretty good. I feel like my memory might just become filled to the brim one day with anime info and I’ll start forgetting stuff, though it is amazing how much information the human brain can hold at once.
I relate to this :) I watch a lot of anime but I forget the details of most of them, especially the obscure ones. At least with popular anime someone will bring it up every once in a while and I’ll remember a few things, but beyond that the only thing that remains is a few vague impressions. It doesn’t bother me that much, though, as long as I can still have something to say about it or if it helped contribute to my status as an anime fan to this day.
Some, but not all popular series tend to be ones I really like and have watched at least a second time – Madoka, Angel Beats!, Haruhi, Evangelion, Lucky Star, Code Geass, and Death Note being examples. But even for ones I only watched once, the reason they’re popular is because there are a lot of memorable things in them, so they’re less likely to be forgotten. But it’s not always the case though, as K-ON! is very popular and I only watched it once (since I didn’t think it was that great), and although I remember the characters and general story, I can’t recall any particular scene from it. The second season however, I liked a lot more and thus remember many more of the jokes and things that happened. And as you said, people are always bringing up popular anime, so I’m often forced to jog my memory about them in discussions and reference them in my posts. As much as I would like to remember the details of every anime I’ve seen, I know it’s not possible unless I’m constantly rewatching all of them, which isn’t gonna happen. So like you, I’m content to just remember what I can about them and have them contribute to my status as a fan in whatever way they can.
I’m kinda on a similar boat as Frog. I remember some shows more than others. It depends on either how much of an impression they left on me overall or how memorable some moments on the shows were. I still remember the Kenshi vs Shishio fight from Samurai X, along with Mei Ling and Shaoran’s fight against the Kung Fu Twins Clow Cards or Osaka wanting to wake up the teacher after a dream she had, only to pick up a knife instead of a frying pan and a wooden spoon. However, ask me about shows like Yumekuri Merry or Occult Academy and I wouldn’t be able to quote a single line. I do remember disliking Merry’s super cheesy ending.
I hope you got what I tried to convey.
Usually, I usually remember the shows I really enjoy watching, especially if they are my favorites as I tend to rewatch them once in the blue moon. Even so, throughout time, I tend to forget most of the story, especially if I completed them several years ago. Still, I just vaguely remember the shows I complete, although the ones I hate I forget rather quickly.
I can think of a few series I loved and have wanted to rewatch but just haven’t gotten around to it (Kemono no Souja Erin being one, mostly because it’s 50 episodes long >_<) But most of my favorites I've rewatched one or more times. I think after 5-7 watches, an anime will stick in my head even years later. For example, I've watched Fruits Basket at least 5 times, and even though I haven't watched it in years, if you mention any scene from it I'll probably remember it even now.
Yes, I’d say I also remember best the animes I loved the most – which usually are also the ones that had an emotional impact on me.
There are, however, odd exceptions – like Hanasakeru Seishonen, probably the only shojo anime series I’ve ever seen and that seemed different for that genre in that the teenage girl seemed more adult and focused than the usual shojo heroine and it was also reverse harem with three suitors – but they were adults, not teenage boys. (So maybe I’m wrong in calling it shojo and it actually was another genre – ?) Another one that I recall for its absolutely bizarre and unique art is Mononoke. I can’t say I super-loved either Hanasakeru Seishonen or Mononoke, but both are easily and definitely memorable for me for the reasons stated.
As to just being able to recall all the anime I’ve watched… MyAnimeList is definitely my friend. XD
I’ll remember all the anime that had an emotional impact on me too, though unless I’ve rewatched them or watched them recently, I might not remember much else besides the things in them that were emotionally memorable XD
Series that have a lot of “bizarre” things, Nisemonogatari and Mawaru Penguindrum for examples off the top of my head, usually aren’t favorites of mine, but I’ll remember things that weirded me out in them even if it wasn’t positive. I remember them because of the uncomfortable or puzzling feeling they gave me. So I guess memorable qualities could be negative too XD
Yeah, this can be a problem. I’ve watched almost 300 series since the days of yore and right now if you asked me, I probably could barely name a dozen off the top of my head because I never really think back on them without some sort of prompt or reminder. However, if you give me the name of an anime series that I’ve seen, chances are I will still be able to recall the basic plot and what the characters look like, even if it was an obscure title I watched when I was 14. Details will of course be forgotten, especially as I almost never rewatch series – but as someone else mentioned, forgetting makes the rewatching experience so much better. Depending on how thoroughly you’ve forgotten it, it might even be like watching it for the firs time again!
I actually think I could put together a pretty comprehensive list of the anime I’ve seen off the top of my head – if I sat down for 20 minutes or so I’m sure I could list at least 100 – but certainly not all of them unless something prompts my memory. Like you said, there are many series I only watched once so long ago, that if I were to watch them again now it would almost be like watching them anew. As long as I remember that I liked that series, I want to rewatch them all someday XD As I said to Amy above, perhaps it’s something I can spend my old age doing, LOL.
I didn’t start following anime seasons until last year, believe it or not. There’s a great deal of anime I have never watched at all.
I do think there’s so many titles out now and available online to compete for our attention. For me, I think it’s important to filter out what you don’t necessarily need to see. I have mostly stuck to manga-to-anime adaptations, since I read manga more than watch anime.
Though a few anime series have stuck out to me, like Gintama (which I think is possibly one of the best manga-to-anime adaptations ever).
I’m sure the same can be said for manga – if you’ve read 300+ series, chances are you don’t clearly remember every one…unless you have a really good memory ;) But if you view a series in two different formats, like read its manga and then watch its anime, that probably helps keep it in your memory.
Hi, I’m new in this blog and I find this post and this site really good. For me, I’ve always updated my MAL account [check here http://myanimelist.net/animelist/necckko%5D and I’ve been watching a lot of animes for 5 years or more.. For me, I treated it as a part of my everyday and rather than watching shows in the television I tend to watch animes all the time (I have my stock of downloaded animes :D).. Seriously, I just use my television when I’m eating dinner and watching news, other than that, free time, going to work and when I have more free time, I just watch more animes.. I watch in a weekly basis and at the same time I also finish animes that were already completed, and that cycle resulted to me completing more than a thousand animes presently.
So how do I remember them, I can’t say that I can remember them all, but the same as your experience, I can remember a lot regarding those I’ve rewatched (such as Code Geass, Deathnote and Cardfight! Vanguard) and those that I’ve considered a masterpiece (Angel Beats and Clannad). But if you’ll ask me, I can say that even I can’t remember everything, I’m sure that I can remember at least a “piece” of information from all the animes that I’ve watched.. Such as the two funky immortals from Baccano, the outstanding Ali Project theme of Shigofumi, the 45 minute sleep of Hinako in Sleeping with Hinako, the outstanding yukatas of the characters in Otome Youkai Zakuro, the talking mustached club in MAR Heaven and many more..
For me, it’s not really how well you remember all the scenes, characters and animations of all you’ve watched but how well you retain even at least a single information from everything you’ve watched.. :))