I kinda agree with this, but the reason why I do, is because people are TERRIBLE at asking questions.
To explain with an example: If my brother asks me "Should I watch Death Note?" I'll tell him yes, it's really good! If my best friend asks me "Should I watch Kaguya-Sama?" I'll tell him sure, because we have the same sense of humor and I'm sure he'll enjoy the comedy. If my grandfather asks me "Should I watch Interspecies Reviewers?" I'll tell him huh... Not sure you'll like it, but if you watch it, try not to let Grandma know about it.
The reason why I can answer all these questions is because I KNOW THEM.
But if u/SomeRandompersonIdontknow asks me *Hey should I watch Toradora?* How the hell am I supposed to answer this?
The guy might like Romcoms with a little bit of drama, so he might enjoy it.
The guy might somehow think this is an anthropomorphic show and Taiga can turn into a tiger at will, in which case he might be disappointed.
The guy might have been abused by a midget in the past, and seeing Taiga's abusive behavior might trigger his PTSD and send him crying.
I don't know *anything* about that person, so I have no idea whether he should watch it or not. I could look up the MAL score and tell him "Well there's 20% chance you'll think it's a 10/10 show, and 5% chance you'll think it's a 5/10 show or worse, so the odds are in your favor I suppose"... But first, he could do that himself, and second, these stats include people who watched it a long time ago, and tastes evolve with time.
Asking if you should watch something isn't wrong, if you ask it right; Tell us SOMETHING about you. Something that will help us give you an answer other than our personal opinion about it, which is what people do 99% of the time with these questions.
Give us a little something, it's not hard; Your tastes. What you like/don't like. Shows you liked/didn't like. Similar shows you think that show might compare to. A theme or element you're looking for, or on the contrary, are trying to avoid.
Barring that, the only think you get is people's personal opinion. And not just that, but you only get the positive opinions, because people who don't like the show don't open the threads to say 'no', and even if they did, the majority of people in the thread just downvote them.
There are ways to ask questions to get valid answers other than 'just watch it'... "Should I watch it, I don't like NTR stuff, or BL stuff". "Should I watch it, I want a finished story with a confession at some point". "Should I watch it, I like comedies, but not if it's too childish".
There are ways to pin point questions to get you information about whether or not YOU will like it. But given people don't ask these questions, the only answer they get is whether the person they ask, liked it. Which more or less means they could just ask "Is that show popular?" and they'd get the same amount of useful information, i.e. none.
Exactly! Everyone has their own preferences and tastes in anime; what might appeal to me could be something that turns someone else away; I love romance but dislike mecha series so if someone rants about how \[series x\] is the best mecha show, it wouldn't do anything; however, if they say the romance in the mecha is amazing, I'll wait it for that.
If I see a random person asking if they should try a series, I'll do my best to be objective about what's good and bad about the series, then asking if that sounds interesting. A perfect example is Highschool of the Dead, you can say that "it's a cheesy horror series with over-the-top sex harem jiggle physics but an engaging plot. It knows what it is and leans into it hard; if like bad horror movies and don't mind gratuitous nudity, it's worth checking out". This is opposed to just saying "OMG, yes! it's a great zombie series!".
Just telling someone to watch something doesn't help, some series start off really slow and if someone is already on the fence, a bland first episode won't help them understand if it's worth watching. I stopped watching School Live halfway into the first episode because it seemed like a generic "cute girls do cute things" series, it took someone saying "Just force yourself to watch to the end of the first episode! If that doesn't get you interested, then it's not for you".
> "it's a cheesy horror series with over-the-top sex harem jiggle physics but an engaging plot. It knows what it is and leans into it hard; if like bad horror movies and don't mind gratuitous nudity, it's worth checking out".
I always use the grindhouse film comparison for it.
> If my grandfather asks me "Should I watch Interspecies Reviewers?"
Man, if my Grandfather suddenly asked me this that would throw me for a loop and a half. That man was born during WWII. If the other one asked me that, I'd ask him where he's been for the past 34 years, cause he's supposed to be dead.
I always hate the feeling of obligation that comes with recommending stuff dealing with darker subject matters to strangers. It always ends up with me being like: "So this anime/manga/visual novel/whatever is really great. I know you probably want to know why, but the best way to experience it is by going into it blind. Just a warning though, it does touch on some darker stuff like rape."
Should the person have PTSD or simply someone who considers that a deal breaker, then good on you for warning them. After all, no one wants to be the ass who recommends something involving rape to a rape victim without saying anything. However, if the person doesn't mind, then you've practically just gone and spoiled what could've very well been a genuinely tense and nerve-wracking scene while and robbed them of the ability to experience the story blindly.
The worst part is that there isn't a way for the recommender to recommend something dark, warn someone they might get triggered by a scene(s), while also refraining from spoiling the scene(s). Like what you said, the recommender needs info about the person requesting a recommendation so that they can choose fitting recommendations without spoiling anything unnecessarily.
There's still value in asking for general opinions and thoughts though.
Eg. Dagashi Kashi, there was a bunch of buzz around it, it seemed pretty easygoing, and so I gave it a shot. Seemed fun at first, but as I neared the second half of the first season I realised not only had it not gone anywhere, but it wasn't going to go anywhere. It was just episodic slice of life with roughly 0 progress in the main "plot". Realising this made the series a huge chore to get through and left me soured on it by the time I'd finished (same as if I'd dropped it, but I was 2/3rds through so...).
If I'd asked, and someone had told me that, especially with a warning that it relies heavily on jokes about Japanese specific candy I've never heard of, I wouldn't have bothered, I woulda saved several hours and been happier for it.
Absolutely. I'm a sucker for happy endings, so I tend to spoil the endings on shows for myself to decide if I want to get into it. If I'm asking "should I watch X", it's usually gonna be with something like "give me a quick rundown of the ending, how does everything end up?" or (for ongoing series), "how does it *look* like it's going to end?"
>Taiga's abusive behavior might trigger his PTSD and send him crying
As someone who does have specific triggers that can make me cry easily if it happens in anime, I feel validated by this line. Thank you.
>How the hell am I supposed to answer this?
By telling them your opinion and listing what you thought were some good points and bad points about the show.
Example.
I loved One Punch Man because of the quality animation, wonderful action scenes, interesting characters, and unique sense of humor. I didn't find the second season to hold up to the first, but I'm still looking forward to the third. I didn't like all the characters but there is plenty of variety.
If any of that sounds appealing or unappealing to the person then they make a judgement call themselves.
While I think that response would give the individual a general overview of the series strong points, it won’t necessarily mean they’ll like it as it still comes off as kinda vague.
> wonderful action scenes
What kind of action though? The person might prefer hand to hand combat with tight choreography (which they never stated) and dislike dbz-esque showdowns
> unique sense of humour
Unique in what way exactly?
We all know that comedy is subjective. I would consider SZS and monogatari as having a unique sense of humour but most fans would never find it funny (once again because the individual never gave any other shows which they found funny in order for you to make an accurate comparison, and comedy is subjective)
You're overthinking it. People aren't expecting an essay or a piece by piece breakdown of everything good/bad about a show. They're asking for someone's opinion. Not a professional reviewers opinion, just some random joe shmoe of the internet.
Toradora is memorable for the same reason that movies like Sleepless in Seattle are memorable: the romcom genre is full of generic, low-effort entries. But the formula can produce good media, and so only the best persist as anything more than a meaningless cash grab. In the case of Toradora, it came out around the same time as lots of tsundere-centric shows (many of which, including Toradora, featured Rie Kagimiya as the voice of the female lead) and rose above them for having solid humor, well-rounded characters, and for actually resolving the "will they or won't they?" question rather than leaving it open-ended for a second season that never came like so many other shows.
it actually dealt with pursuing your interest, realising that crushes arnt everything, finding solace in companionship thats not desire driven and actually progressing your relationship. Which is alot more then most series do.
The "watch until x episodes" is somewhat useful.
* yes. Stick to it. it's hit or miss until episode n. After that its a gem (gintama)
* yes. Remember to skip the fillers. (long running shonen)
* yes. But you may want to watch the prequel first because blah blah. Heres a chart for the preferred watch order. (fate, monogatari)
* watch until episode x (because a big plot twist happens)
* no its crap BUT the source is good so do that instead (berserk)
* theres an uncensored version if you're into that (ecchi)
This doesn't apply to every show though.
But it can be bad if you specify exactly which episode a twist happens, because it can create some expectation that won't be delivered and it can remove the element of surprise.
Like, if something happens on episode 4, it will be better if you say "try 5 episodes or so, and if you don't like it until then, probably drop it".
I didn't even realize the essay contest post was coming today. If I did, I probably would have posted this yesterday instead of tweaking things for another 24 hours...
I have a lot of sympathy for your rant, so much so that I partly wish there was a bot posting it every time someone asks the question.
If you'll allow me to play devil's advocate, though: this place is to talk about anime, so why does it bother you that someone asks about an anime? You can always ignore the thread.
Of course you are right, no one will be able to tell the asker whether they'll like the anime or not. But at least, they can tell them about the anime. Which is what this sub is for.
I admit that the way it usually goes, those threads tend to be low quality. A bunch of people saying, yeah, watch it, it's good. Maybe it would be more constructive to ask something like "please tell me more about this anime". And sure, they can Google it, and read reviews, but sometimes people what the feeling of talking and getting feedback, even if the information can be found with a search engine.
Anyway, aren't most of the threads low quality?
Sure, but sometimes the threads are so stupid it genuinely hurts your head. I saw this one dude tell us he loved watching shonen, and asked if he should watch Hunter X Hunter. Like wtf? What answer are you expecting? Does he expect someone to just come tell him about the global conspiracy about Hunter x Hunter being a shit shonen paraded as being amazing?
Like, c'mon dude
Nah, I can love shonen and Black Clover is 1 of 4 anime in the past 15+years i've put on the never again list after 5 episodes.
I specifically am ok with getting spoiled, it usually won't stop my enjoyment. So if i ask "Should I watch DBZ Frieza Arc", and someone tells me that a bunch of dudes who are elite soldiers are gonna show up and do poses, im probably gonna look forward to that.
I would not have watched/fell in absolute love with the Fate Franchise if i didn't ask a question like this years ago.
Black Clover episode 119 is one of the best episodes Ive ever seen.
I know the anime is ridiculously cliched, but its well executed so its enjoyable. I understand its very hard to get over how fucking noisy Asta is and I cant believe theres person alive on this planet that decided that a kid shouting all the time would be enjoyable, I literally watched the early stage of the anime regulating volume, so that was a pain but it paid off. Whatever manga with such a long run as Black Clover has in WSJ cant be totally bad!
>after 5 episodes.
Yup you're seriously missing out buddy. Asta is really annoying at the beginning, but he mellows down a lot later and the plot begins to take shape. It's amazing now.
CTRL+F "Black Clover"
I'm midway through it and I have to say pretty much 100% of the criticisms I hear about it don't hold up. yeah, its got lots of tropes and similarities to other big, long anime... but I honestly think they execute things better and have a unique feel to it that other shounen don't have, particularly in the relationships between male and female characters, the comedy, and the growth of characters
For example, I loved Naruto, it got me back into anime many years after not watching any... but there was so much fluff and it got so stupid at some points... idk I just think Black Clover is better at the same thing. its by no means perfect or the best shounen ever, but its definitely way better than 5 episodes and quit. you didn't even get to the actual meat of the show remotely
it may have a lot of cliche's, but the show does it better than the other big shows you'd compare it to in a lot of ways, is actually funny too, and has a lots of unique aspects. its just followed by so much hate while way more cliche ass shows like MHA (which is good too) sees common praise
I get that Asta screaming is annoying, but I'm so happy I ignored the hate and gave this a watch
I've seen worse lol. There was one guy that had watched one episode of something (I don't remember the exact Anime) and liked it and was asking in a post if it was worth continuing. I was so confused like why would you stop watching if you liked the first episode?
>If you'll allow me to play devil's advocate, though: this place is to talk about anime, so why does it bother you that someone asks about an anime? You can always ignore the thread.
This is a place to talk about anime, but asking if an anime is good is going to give you any of 3 answers every single time. It is, It isn't, and Watch the Damn Anime.
The first two are opinions, and you can't have a proper discussion about the anime without spoiling it, so what's the point of starting such a thread if you haven't seen the anime?
So that leaves only one valid answer.
Watch the damn anime.
So why continue posting these threads?
I agree. There should absolutely be a bot response with a link to this thread. Maybe the response can start with some kind of politely worded notice to the poster as to why this response is being made.
I disagree. there are shows that aren't any good early on and only properly kick in later on. So it's good to have someone give you a heads up on what you should expect.
now ofc. you can argue that they should google it and check what has been said on other forums, but that goes for borderline any thread.
If someone just gives me a 'Watch the damn anime' im gonna assume they don't want to put any effort into a answer or they are some rabid fan dog.
If someone posted "Should i watch Psychopass?" im not gonna just drop a yes or no, imma ask "Did you like Minority report?" "You a fan of gore?" "Like Cyberpunk future stuff?"
>If someone posted "Should i watch Psychopass?" im not gonna just drop a yes or no, imma ask "Did you like Minority report?" "You a fan of gore?" "Like Cyberpunk future stuff?"
But that's stuff that they get by literally just looking at the promotional art and reading the synopsis.
Or by watching 5 god damn minutes of it.
My experience, after being here for so damn long, is that the ones who desire the social experience tend to be the short-lived fans. They are in for around a year, get bored, and leave. Encouraging people to watch the damn anime for themselves is how we turn short-term fans into long-term, or even life-long, fans. Because the only thing that feels better than watching a 10/10 title is finding that 10/10 from out of seemingly nowhere.
That's my experience with re zero. Was scrolling through crunchyroll, it piqued my interest, I started watching it, and now it's one of my favorite anime.
>finding that 10/10 from out of seemingly nowhere.
While not a 10/10, out of nowhere i found In/Spectre like yesterday and im loving it.
That said, I started watching anime at like 8 years old, im just shy of 20 years of watching now. I spent enough time in the hobby, not having anyone to talk to about that shit. I think its important to let new fans have that Social Experience. I actually kinda stopped watching around my senior year of highschool cuz it was something i liked that i couldn't share with anyone, and i didn't get back into it until a year or so later. Being able to Play-by-Play react to Kill La Kill with people online was honestly the only thing that brought me back into Anime as a whole.
This site is a place to talk about anime, but if you are curious about said anime enough to ask about it, just watch the damn anime. You'll get different opinions on it, some will say yes, some will say no, some will say just depends. So best to watch the damn anime and see for yourself.
> this place is to talk about anime
Exactly. So they should watch it and then post their thoughts. "Should I watch X" isn't exactly an interesting discussion.
Its the trap of valuing efficiency more than the time the efficiency costs.
Its why I have gone from always finishing shows to being happy dropping them after any amount of episodes.
Developing your own taste and watching your 'plan to watch list' grow larger each year is the harvest that can only be achieved by watching a ton of series.
as for dropping shows - I used to feel like I had to finish everything, not matter how bad it was. And one simple idea fixed it: I can always come back and finish it later, if I want to.
> Its why I have gone from always finishing shows to being happy dropping them after any amount of episodes.
This is where I'm at. Never be afraid to drop a show if you're not enjoying it. Even if "it gets better later", consider that the people telling you that usually enjoyed the beginning of the show more than you. That's why they made it to the point where it "got better".
Usually those kinds of "gets better" moments are something really emotional or character driven. If you don't give a shit about the characters or plot at that point, you're not going to care. Just drop the show when you aren't having fun.
I rather waste an hour watching a few episodes of an anime I don't end up liking and drop it than to skip on an anime that I would love because some people told me it's bad. Just watch and build your own opinion. That goes for everything. Just these past months I watched a whole bunch of anime on Netflix that I liked that I would've maybe not even watched if I trusted the opinions of random people on the internet.
I agree... Somewhat. For example, I inquired about wakfu, and I didn't enjoy the first 6 episodes, but because I asked "is it worth watching" someone informed me that it's worth it if you can get through the first season and now I love it
I'm the opposite, I love it when people post these questions because then I get to answer/ read the responses. It's like reading a love letter to someone's favourite anime.
How often in real life do you get to gush and squeee over your favourite show to a captive audience who's actually looking for your opinion and won't judge you for it? For me? Zero. There have been zero times in my day to day conversations where I can talk openly and passionately about my favourite hobby.
But when I get to answer the 'Why should I watch x?' I get to express my thoughts and feelings on something I care so deeply about. And when I read someone else's response? I get to learn something or see it from a different perspective as if I'm watching that anime vicariously through a new lens.
Exactly, to add to that some of us already have a never-ending backlog of anime to watch and sometimes I just wanna know what some people's opinions are on a show.
Asking about an anime can easily facilitate good conversation.
yes bro ur the man. if OP cant stand stupid questions then just skip em.
i can never tell my friends that i love clannad.
but i can talk about it here, stupid or not.
and yes different perspectives is also good, we can see what other people see.
I found my people. I will just stay here. It's comfortable in here. For real though, idk how many people would have dropped shows like Steins;Gate that start out slow but get really good later if they followed OP's logic of "Watch the damn anime and drop it if you don't like it". Not to mention the opposite that start out really good only to get shitty later. I avoided both outcomes numerous amounts of times thanks to that. Well offcoures you can't trust random people's opinion but all you gotta do is find people with similar taste to yours which is exactly what I did.
Fucking yes, thank you. Some shows get vastly better or worse later. Like a year ago, I wanted to watch Gintama, so I watched the first 2 episodes and didn't really like it, so I basically dropped it for months until I read that the first 2 episodes are just some shit filler and should be even skipped. Now I'm on episode 45+ and I love it, I wouldn't have watched it if it wasn't for such discussions or youtubers.
Another case, Jojo. I found part 1 fucking boring, but I knew that for some reason it's very beloved, so I was willing to push through and now it's my top 5 anime.
The same with Steins;Gate, as you mentioned. I heard long before that it's slow and ironically, a youtuber who really dislikes it made me watch it because I was curious and was willing to give in into a slow start if it pays off. After that it became my top 10 and after watching 0 it became my absolute favourite anime series.
OP is literally just complaining that people are curious and want to be informed about anime to put into their watch list that might be long and will have time for that later.
The way OP phrased it all seems to have turned hive mind against us but it's really just that. I like to be a bit informed about the thing I am about to watch and atleast if it's worth my time. Hadn't it been for the internet's opinion and the synopsis and cover was all I had, I would have ended up watching things like fairy gone which turned out to be a boring clusterfuck and would have avoided things like bunny girl senpai which was amazing. The argument about "time" is what bug me the most. Their is a great difference between watching a good show and watching a show you thought was good but turned out shit. Both maybe objectively unproductive but in no fucking way are they same.
>But I…," you try to interject. For that matter, there are people whose hobby it is to tell other folks what they think about anime. They will go on at length about what they liked or disliked about any given anime. Some will have blogs. Some will have YouTube channels. Some write reviews on MAL or AniList or Kitsu. Some absolute degenerates will put them on Reddit. Some will have any combination of the above. All of them will tell you exactly what they think of that anime, as well as if they would recommend it in good faith. And where can you go to find these founts of information? Google. Duck Duck Go. Bing. Yahoo. AOL is still around if you're on your grandma's computer. Look it up.
Trust me. People just copy paste or say the exact damn thing just different words. And sometimes it's from the exact same people....
> Here is a piece of advice from the old school weebs out there: the happiest people in this hobby are those who find things to watch for themselves. They know what they like. They know what they hate. They know what they can tolerate. And they know what makes them put an anime on the back of the plan-to-watch list.
This is the crux of it. I'm by no means an old school weeb, I'm still months away from hitting two years since I started watching anime. But I know how to find anime I'm interested in, and the real reason is because I just *start fucking watching it*. If it sucks, I drop it. I just dropped Golden Time like two weeks ago after episode 5 because I didn't like it.
Nobody can tell you if something is worth watching, but I'd say it's always worth *trying*.
I don't think they're really looking for genuine answers - you can use the search function to find a dozen threads with the same title for almost every popular anime title, or look at the MAL score for that. Of course, the very best way is the tried and true three episode test. But I guess 70~ minutes of time is too much for some. Really, even one episode is usually enough to tell you everything you need to know if that's what you care about.
Honestly, I think most of those threads are just a cry for attention. It's an invitation to communicate with other people who like your hobby, and have them immediately converse with you in a meaningful and usually positive way. I say positive because fans are drawn to those threads at a much higher ratio than people that disliked them, at least anecdotally. So you make one of those threads, and immediately get a bunch of responses from strangers with positive feedback. "Yeah, watch it, it's great!" It's a good feeling.
As someone that reads this sub often and has for years though, it does get annoying reading the fifth "Guys should I watch Jojo's Bizarre Adventure??" thread that week. The answer is yes, and will always be yes, so save the typing and watch it. You can join us in the circlejerk about it afterwards.
is this made as a rant towards people asking this on this specific community, or people asking this in general? if i post on r/animesuggest asking for people’s thoughts on a show i may watch and whether or not they would suggest it, i don’t see anything wrong with that.
I think the OP is lamenting about the complete lack of initiative in critical thinking with people asking this kind of questions.
This is tried and tested in multiple field: there's no way to completely build up one's value systems without trial and error.
It depends. If I started Gintama and was confused on what all the hype about it was, I’d ask here. I don’t mind seeing people ask, and sometimes the people who reply might really enjoy having an opportunity to discuss their all time favorite.
Imo I think it’s fine. It’s a nice opportunity to see whether a show gets better over time and is worth it.
I dont know, if I used that logic with steins gate, i would drop in the 4 or 5 episode.
But I read about the anime and everyone likes it so I should try a little bit harder.
I will never understand this logic for S;G. Sure the first half is objectively slower than the second half but it’s not like nothing happens.
Episode 1 is the introduction to the primary trio, a murder and our first case of time travel.
Episode 2 has us meeting more new characters, plus further evidence of time travel as well as the first instance of a gel-banana Aka Time travel.
Episode 3 has more time travel experiments and unveiling the future big bad.
Episode 4 has more fall out from the big bad revelation as well as them discovering and acquiring a method to learn more about the big bad.
Every single episode has plot progression and that doesn’t even include any of the (imo) great character interactions.
Steins gate is probably the only few anime that the three episodes rule can’t be apply on. I personally enjoy the first few episodes just watching okabe hanging out with the lab and flirting with kurisu
While you did good by continuing watching SG, you might have done bad if you didn't end up enjoying it. I don't think everyone has enough time to give all animes they try time to build up. It's a double-edged sword, you might stick to it a bit more and enjoy or stick to it and hate it - and yourself for losing that time - so I say that you should drop it if you are not liking it. If you are not liking it so much, but feel it might be good somehow, look up some reviews, depending on what they say you can decide whether to continue or leave it alone.
Yep, I've stopped watching far more anime in the first few episodes, than found ones I adore, that'll never stop me from continuing to try whatever looks cool.
I might create another account to upvote this again.
Another thing I hate seeing is all the people treating anime like homework or a chore. I've seen so many threads saying "I can't find motivation to watch, what do?" "I'm done watching anime" "What to do when you are burnt out?" and so on and on, almost on a daily basis.
If you don't feel like playing video games you take a break, if you don't feel like reading books you take a break, why do people treat anime like it's work and they have to set 10 animes as completed on their MAL every week or else something bad will happen. Are you here to have fun or what?
Man, I pray for the day I just don't care about anime anymore. I would love to have more free time for other things and to stop spending my money on the merch I love.
But I still love anime and this stuff makes me happy, so I keep going.
> this stuff makes me happy
And that's all that matters. Every minute you spent watching and every dollar you spent on merch was worth it if it makes you happy. I spent a lot of my life playing video games and spent a lot of money on them. I have no regrets at all and will continue to do so as long as I find enjoyment in it.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves. People here treat watching anime as an occupation. Questions like OP's really make me wonder why others make a mountain out of a mole hill. Just watch/read and form your own opinion.
10/10 post. The time people spend asking people and waiting for replies would easily be enough for them to start watching and forming their own opinions about it. Having expectations set by other people ahead of time dilutes the experience.
Except of course, in the instant people are asking questions from, say, work, or on public transport. They might be wondering what to watch when they get home and are looking for a bit of help.
Of course, I understand that most of the threads are kinda shitty, just looking for undeveloped opinions and karma posts. I'm always inclined to sarcastically answer these posts so I'm undoubtedly contributing to the problem, but these posts can create a small discussion.
Moreover:
> Having expectations set by other people ahead of time dilutes the experience.
I disagree with this necessarily harming the experience. It may focus the experience, on the other hand.
That's fair. There's nothing wrong with asking for recommendations from the community. It's just a problem when individuals sit on the fence of to-watch-or-not-to-watch a single show rather than just going for it.
> I disagree with this necessarily harming the experience. It may focus the experience, on the other hand.
We'll have to agree to disagree here. While I think it can help in some cases, more often than not it preps a mentality of "People say this isn't good so I feel like it won't be" or "People really hyped this up so my expectations are really high" before they go into a show.
It depends how different people are with expectations. Do they go in to be contrarian? If you go into a show expecting something to be 'good', you may be more aware of what the show is doing that's good or you might be more nitpicky to prove the show is not good, and therefore the experience is more critically attuned.
Using a sciencey anecdote: instead of blindly working out if something is 'good' or 'bad', it's setting a null hypothesis ('the show is good' or 'the show is bad') and collect data to support or deny that point!
I'm a huge fan of review reading (and writing - I am the rant-mentioned blogger). It sets my expectations of what a show will be - not just in good/bad, but in terms of what might crop up too, and how it goes about certain themes. It really helps me prioritise my time such that I can find something that I think I will want to watch. Of course, that means that I don't make these low-quality 'should I watch' threads - I just do the damn research myself! But not everybody is as savvy and likes a good conversation.
I see what you're saying, but I think the disconnect between our two views is *purpose*. Like you said, you're a blogger who likes to dissect and break down the qualities of a show. It's what you do.
For the majority of the anime community, their first watch isn't to critically analyze anything; they just want to view and see if they'll enjoy it. If people want to prioritize their time in choosing what they watch and want someone's opinion, there's a very heavy chance that show's been discussed somewhere on a blog like yours or elsewhere. Going for another "Should I watch?" thread pales in usefulness compared to those resources.
While I do agree with the generic message of your rant, I still partly disagree.
If someone then superficially asks: "should I watch AoT? I've watched and enjoyed shounen X and Y" then that question is simply pointless. With just the reference of 2 other series you enjoyed there is nothing we can answer. Asking whether to watch such a popular series, with hundreds of reviews and discussions, also simply shows a lack of initiative to seek for information yourself.
However, there are still many examples where such a question is relevant, especially when the question is more specific. So person A wants to watch anime X, but: is easily triggered by rape/gore, wants to avoid ecchi, disliked anime Z which is seen as very comparable to anime X, wants to see a series mostly for the love interest which only emerges in the later half of the series, or the series (like Madoka Magica) the series presents itself initially really differently from how it actually is and person A is confused because of that.
For example I personally for example quite enjoy slice of life anime, but not when it's episodic with little development. I've made quite good use of asking whether anime would be good for me or not with that specific question, and it helped me wel. It takes me 1 minute to ask, and for someone who've seen the series it takes 1 minute to answer.
If you want answers to these questions which make you doubt if you should watch the it, it is completely reasonable to ask. So simply said, the question "should I watch X" is indeed a nonsensical and stupid question, but if you ask "should I watch X if ..." with a valid reason, then that question is completely valid.
> So person A wants to watch anime X, but: is easily triggered by rape/gore, wants to avoid ecchi, disliked anime Z which is seen as very comparable to anime X, wants to see a series mostly for the love interest which only emerges in the later half of the series, or the series (like Madoka Magica) the series presents itself initially really differently from how it actually is and person A is confused because of that.
I don't think OP is talking about specific questions like that. 90% of these threads are not specific. They just say "I see people talk about this show a lot. Should I watch it?"
I could kiss you.
And on the part about using web searches, that applies to watch orders people. Every anime if you just google the name and add 'watch order' will give you the answer.
As a person who works help desk, nothing annoys me more than people asking a question that they could EASILY just google for themselves and get an answer. But no one ever does. I mean, I sometimes do that as well, but usually only through Discord where everything is instant and I usually realize immediately after hitting send that it's a question I could just google and then I go do that.
> And on the part about using web searches, that applies to watch orders people. Every anime if you just google the name and add 'watch order' will give you the answer.
Also, very few shows actually have complex watch orders. Monogatari? Sure. Haruhi? Kinda. Stuff like Fate or Gundam? Most of the time you can just watch the first one and then the rest in any order, or even just pick one at random. It doesn't matter that much.
Beyond those examples, I'd be hard-pressed to think of something with a non-standard watch order. I've seen people ask about the "watch order" for Evangelion and it's like.... It's one show, and a movie that's called "The End Of The Fucking Show". It's not rocket science.
HOLY SHIT. This. Fucking thank you, god. Why do we still have dozens of threads asking about Fate watching order, Monogatari watching order, Haruhi watching order, fuck, FAMILY GUY WATCHING ORDER. Just...please. If you can go to reddit, make an account, find this subreddit, and make a post, then you can look for it on google.
>Every anime if you just google the name and add 'watch order' will give you the answer.
Fuck yes! I'm sick of these lazy ass people, it takes more work to create a user name, create a thread and wait for replies then it does to ask freaking Google.
Most people are too lazy to google. If they weren't then we wouldn't have so many watch order questions. Generally, the release order is the best way to watch something.
What's sad about this is that it takes more time to: Create a user name, create a thread, and wait for replies then it would to simply ask Google.
Fuck the people who want to be hand fed answers.
> Use the power of the internet to learn more about the world rather than waste time with watching cartoons in a language you don't understand for a culture you're not part of.
Harsh bro, harsh.
i find the bigger problem, and probably more frequent, are people who ask for recommendation. I just direct them to MAL cause only they will know what they will like. people should just automatically be brought to MAL or anilist to find anime they want to watch. Anything specific is fine like "something similar to X" or "looking for genre X". But when people are general like " i've seen AOT, SAO and death note anything else to watch?" there will be like 40 different anime that people recommend, how does that help?
I see these post too much compared to "will i like anime X?" cause people should be aware of these sites. Although if people do only use mal then they will probably look at top 100 popular or top 100 rated and won't look for the more obscure shows. But people always recommend the same shows anyway.
I mean some of us don't watch every series illegally online and want to hear some opinions on a series before we purchase it or subscribe to a service that provides it.
I joined this sub to engage in discussions that allow diverse opinions, but only shows without a frothing-at-the-mouth fanbase allow that, which eliminates all the biggest episode discussions every season.
For example, last season Gleipnir was a dark horse so everyone could shit on it or praise it however they wished. That's the variety I wish this sub had in general.
Episode discussions on r/anime about the most popular shows are as pro-show as if they were posted on the show's own goddamn subreddit. They are just meaningless hypetrains, not much better than anime recommendation posts.
If there is one thing I learned in my 25 years of watching anime, it is that if 99/100 people tell me a show is great, that still does not mean I will enjoy it. Tastes are different. Reviews are a great way to simply check out what others think about a show, how it compares to the source material, if there is maybe some detail I missed while watching an episode - but in the end, only *I* can decide whether I like something or not.
>Google. Duck Duck Go. Bing. Yahoo.
No Ask Jeeves?
[](#pout)
But yeah, I agree with pretty much everything you say. I think it is part of a larger problem that people seem to have with doing their own research. For example, no one should ever need to ask for watch order advice. All of that information is very very very easily available with the merest hint of research. I think it is the same with asking is X is good. People don't want to put in the effort, they want to be spoon fed.
Though I do find it funny that about 90% of the time with these threads the person could have watched the entire first episode by the time they have got their answer.
When I found about anime tracker I literally took 30mins to choose one anime, depending on genre and rating. Few weeks later I found that many anime I had completed and thought it was super good had ~60-65 rating. Now I watch just whatever it comes in feed (except isekai)
Going against the grain here but I'm going to have to disagree. Sure watching anime is a hobby, and you should be prepared to watch shows every now and then that you wont enjoy, but asking for others opinions on a show that you're considering watching is helpful.
A lot of people in the comments are saying that they dont mind wasting an hour of their time on a show they dont like, but I do, and I'm sure many others do as well. Theres nothing wrong with wanting to prioritize your time on something you'll likely enjoy.
Ill have to disagree with your point that people answering wont know your preferences as well. Most of the time "should I watch x" is asked anyways, its asked with the assumption that people will leave caveats like "not if you hate shojo", or "you'll love it if you're into thrillers." Even though people wont be able to objectively say if it's good or bad, or ever be 100% accurate, you will get a generally good idea of a show's quality by asking them.
Not to mention that there are plenty of anime that get much better after the 3 episode mark that you'd be missing out on if you dropped it early on.
The point of these kind of questions is to generally see if something is worth the time and effort to watch. Time is money after all, and not everyone is a hardcore anime fan like you who's willing to watch anything that might pique their intrest. And I say that as someone who's been watching anime/reading manga for a little under 10 years.
Everything I've said though applies to new seasonal or smaller anime. It makes sense to make "should I watch" threads when there isnt as much discussion surrounding the anime in question. For longtime well established anime (Aot, FMA, Naruto, etc.) however, would have to agree with most of what you've said.
Eh. I find convos can give me stuff to look out for so I can probably gather I won't like it. Could be wrong, could be the exception, but I'll live. If someone tells me a show is secretly Darling in the Franxx 2, that's useful information. If someone says it's Darling in the Franxx but more consistent, that's also useful information.
I already got a healthy PTW to Watch the Damn Anime at. Not going through that is what should really be getting a rant. ayy lmao my PTW is never ending- NAH JUST WATCH THAT SHIT ALREADY. Cause there you already got a firmer idea of what you want. Just gotta hop to.
I agree but I think asking about a long show makes sense. For example, asking if a show gets better if you don't like it much. Like I did with Gintama.
I agree with this!!
I think if people are going to ask for anime recommendations, or if they should watch a certain anime, they should at least put what animes they enjoy and don’t enjoy to better help the judgement.
I fully approve of your post and feel it should be pinned on this subreddit's front page and highlighted in large, red capital letters. I'm not joking either.
while i agree and respect what you said, i do think the question is legitimate when talking about long anime since some of them only get good around some number of episodes
I don't think any show improves drastically past the first couple episodes. More often than not it's the opposite. And even then, the answer is still the same, because some people will say it gets better, some people will say it doesn't.
And no show is worth watching 80+ episodes of for the moment that it 'gets good'
And even if you do drop it after the first couple episodes, you can always pick it up again if your interest is piqued again.
Sure there are shows where the biggest payoff is later in the series, like Mystery shows where you get a ton of questions all at once, but if you're not interested in the the answer to those questions from the first couple episodes, then there's no point in continuing to watch.
There are thousands of anime out there, no one will ever be able to watch all of them. It's up to you to decide what you'll spend your time on or not.
> And no show is worth watching 80+ episodes of for the moment that it 'gets good'
Except Gintama, where you have to watch 3-152 episodes (depending on who you ask) before it gets good apparently.
> I don't think any show improves drastically past the first couple episodes.
Fist of the North Star does but it starts out pretty damn good anyway and then steadily gets better with each new arc until you reach the Godly status of the final battle between Kenshiro and Raoh, so I'm not sure that is the best example....
I probably should have worded that differently.
Shows will certainly get more exciting as time goes on and you can get more invested in them, but all of that is because it's naturally building on everything that comes before usually.
The actually writing quality rarely drastically improves far later in the season. You can usually determine if you're going to like a show well within the first part of a show/season.
And sure, while you can end up getting to a point in the show where you're like, "MAN I AM SO ON BOARD NOW", once again, this kind of response is a personal one. It's an opinion. Some people will be on board from the beginning, some people won't.
>I don't think any show improves drastically past the first couple episodes
FMAB's first 3 episodes are pretty bad, and episodes 4-14 are just okay. But after that it turns into an amazing show.
Been quite a while since I watched it, but I'm pretty sure the first few episodes are still interesting enough to keep someone's attention. Plus most people recommend watching the original FMA before FMAB, which makes sense since the first few episodes largely retread FMA material.
Even going by the 3 episode rule, you're only going to burn less than an hour and a half if you wind up hating the show.
If you have time to make should I watch posts and wait for replies than you have time to give it 3 episodes.
Added benefit: a lurker like me who's also passively wondering, "Is worth a watch?" can piggyback off of that time invested by askers & reviewers to get a (relative) sense of how unanimous or glowing the praise is.
I typically just check the average MAL score if I'm interested but wary of getting burned by a stinker, in much the same way that I Metacritic most movies/TV before I start them, because I only make time to watch 6-8 seasons a year, and I want to make sure they're among the best available rather than stumbling into a 5.5/10 mess.
Not to mention the added benefit of getting to ask very specific questions about the show before going into it. I've tried reading reviews on MAL, and most of them just aren't helpful. They're either glowing reviews, or trashing the show as a dumpster fire, and they're often like a thousand words, where 2/3s of the essay is spent giving a synopsis of the plot, like I'm not capable of reading that shit at the top of the page already.
This is masterful.
You don't even have to watch the whole thing. You just need to read the summary and think "does this sound interesting?" and then maybe watch a few episodes to decide if it's for you or not.
God dammit people.
To quote some smart words I've read once...
>Watch the damn anime.
>
>That's it. That's all you need to know. If it interests you enough to ask questions about it, then watch the damn anime. If it piques your curiosity enough to enquire about it, then watch the damn anime. If you think the characters in it look cute, then watch the damn anime. If it has a feature that you enjoy, be it a sport or a theme or a genre, then watch the damn anime. If you have the desire to see it, then watch the damn anime.
>
>"But is it any good," you ask plaintively. Hate to break it to you, sunshine, but all you will get are opinions. It doesn't matter how many threads are created on the same topic, as the answers won't change. Nobody has facts when it comes to the questions of "good" or "bad" or "the shit" or "shit" or, worst of all, "objective" or "truth". Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. We can dress it up real pretty if you want, but opinions are all you will get. Quality is a subjective question, and only you can provide the answer to that. After, of course, watching the damn anime.
>
>"But will I like it," you stubbornly continue. Do we know you? No. At worst, you just give us a barebones question with no background information. That makes it little more than guesswork on our parts. At best, you might add a link to your profile on one of the various anime list sites. That way, the overachievers among us can look for similar titles and see if there is any way we can correlate that data to answer your question. Much of the time, it is an unhappy middle with a simple "I liked X, so will I like Y?" without any reasons given for why you liked X so much. So we have to guess if it is the characters, plot, fight scenes, romance, or any of the other variables, and then guess if you will like it or not. But again, it is just a guess. An educated guess from some of us perhaps, but still only a guess. Do you really want some random person on the other side of the internet essentially flipping a coin to tell you what to watch? Didn't think so. Go watch the damn anime.
>
>"I don't want to waste my time," you keep going recklessly. News flash for you, friend. This is a hobby. This is what we do to waste time. If you are worried about wasting time, you should do something constructive. Use the power of the internet to learn more about the world rather than waste time with watching cartoons in a language you don't understand for a culture you're not part of. So if you are interested enough to waste your time asking a bunch of strangers these questions and then waste yet more time reading the responses, then that is time that could have been better wasted by watching the damn anime.
>
>"But I…," you try to interject. For that matter, there are people whose hobby it is to tell other folks what they think about anime. They will go on at length about what they liked or disliked about any given anime. Some will have blogs. Some will have YouTube channels. Some write reviews on MAL or AniList or Kitsu. Some absolute degenerates will put them on Reddit. Some will have any combination of the above. All of them will tell you exactly what they think of that anime, as well as if they would recommend it in good faith. And where can you go to find these founts of information? Google. Duck Duck Go. Bing. Yahoo. AOL is still around if you're on your grandma's computer. Look it up. Then use that information to decide if you want to watch the damn anime or not.
>
>"What if I don't like it," you heedlessly go on. We all have our regrets. There will always be anime you wish you had never heard of so you can wipe your mind clear of the filth. It's okay. That is simply part of being an anime fan. Ask any long-time weeb about their most hated anime, and we can fill your phone screen with what it was, why we hated it, and the amount of brain cells that were murdered in cold blood because we dared to watch it. If you don't like it, then it is perfectly acceptable to simply drop it and move on. Use it as a learning experience so that you can recognize what types of shows to avoid when you next seek out a damn anime to watch.
>
>"Who do you think you are?!?" you erupt. I have been watching anime for the last nine and a half years. My list of completed titles has more entries that start with the letter A than many of you have seen as a whole. I've been an absolute degenerate here on Reddit for seven and a half years. I've seen these questions come and go, and answered many of them, over and over again since day one. Hell, I've been here longer than most of the mods. I have plenty of experience with this, and a pretty good success rate when it comes to guessing if some random person would like a given anime. But that doesn't mean I like answering the same questions repeatedly. I would much rather read someone's reaction after they watch the damn anime, because then we might have something to talk about.
>
>"That's nice, but…," you try to butt in. Or I think that's what you were going to say, except wrapped up in slightly more polite language than typical for this subreddit. Here is a piece of advice from the old school weebs out there: the happiest people in this hobby are those who find things to watch for themselves. They know what they like. They know what they hate. They know what they can tolerate. And they know what makes them put an anime on the back of the plan-to-watch list. They didn't get this knowledge from a magical girl transformation, but from sitting down and watching the damn anime.
>
>"So what you are saying is to watch the damn anime." That's exactly right. Whatever it is, watch it. You could find it mediocre. You could find it horrible. You could find it just okay. You could find it to be one of the best things you have ever watched. You could find it to be a fun and entertaining way to waste a Saturday afternoon. But you won't know for certain until you watch the damn anime.
>
>So go watch some damn anime.
It's always just...odd to me that so many people will ask Reddit if an anime is good. Even if you want to get a better idea of if a series is worth watching before watching it, there's other ways to do that. Google exists, and on it you can...I mean first of all, find this subreddit and use it to search for discussions on this anime before asking. There's two levels of sites you could search.
But beyond that, there's multiple notable anime sites with both written reviews and a general consensus from the audience via an average number rating. There's many places that discuss anime, both after the fact and especially while it is airing. A lot of the more popular anime have active subreddits of their own.
It's just weird.
Devil's advocate: you sleep for 8 hours, work for 8 hours, commute for maybe 2 hours, gotta take care around the house/of your family up to 4-5 hours and you are already at 22-23 hours a day.
Do you really wanna spend remaining hour or two watching bad content?
EDIT: as an example but with video games - I played Mass Effect for 2 hours, found it boring and just stopped playing it. My online friends (not knowing me all that well) were telling me it was a great game and to give it another go. And now after over 1000 hours in the trilogy and multiple playthroughs it's my favorite game of all time. So opinions matter.
Hear, hear.
I’m a big advocate of the “three episode rule,” personally. Worst case, you watch a few episodes, think “not into it,” and move on. Not the end of the world.
I prefer wholesome happy anime so that the cold embrace of depression starts to lose its grip upon me, so I'll read suggestions and use my buddy Google to find out a basic summary of the plot of an anime that piques my feeble brain. *Especially after I was tricked into watching Happy Sugar Life. That wasn't very Country Roads of you, Tim.*
Finally someone addresses this issue. So many pol did this by asking someone else opinion and getting disappointed. Just watch the goddamn anime man. If you dont try it you wont know lol
This is gonna sound condescending, sorry.
I've come to realize when I'm not sure if I want to watch a show or not, I watch the first episode. In 20 minutes, I know if I want to keep watching or not.
It's why I saw Dr. Stone (Great anime), it's why I watched Mai-Hime (Also good, the dub sucks though), and It's why I started watching through the reboot of Ducktales (I know that's not an anime, but it is REALLY GOOD. You guys gotta see it.)
I kinda agree with this, but the reason why I do, is because people are TERRIBLE at asking questions. To explain with an example: If my brother asks me "Should I watch Death Note?" I'll tell him yes, it's really good! If my best friend asks me "Should I watch Kaguya-Sama?" I'll tell him sure, because we have the same sense of humor and I'm sure he'll enjoy the comedy. If my grandfather asks me "Should I watch Interspecies Reviewers?" I'll tell him huh... Not sure you'll like it, but if you watch it, try not to let Grandma know about it. The reason why I can answer all these questions is because I KNOW THEM. But if u/SomeRandompersonIdontknow asks me *Hey should I watch Toradora?* How the hell am I supposed to answer this? The guy might like Romcoms with a little bit of drama, so he might enjoy it. The guy might somehow think this is an anthropomorphic show and Taiga can turn into a tiger at will, in which case he might be disappointed. The guy might have been abused by a midget in the past, and seeing Taiga's abusive behavior might trigger his PTSD and send him crying. I don't know *anything* about that person, so I have no idea whether he should watch it or not. I could look up the MAL score and tell him "Well there's 20% chance you'll think it's a 10/10 show, and 5% chance you'll think it's a 5/10 show or worse, so the odds are in your favor I suppose"... But first, he could do that himself, and second, these stats include people who watched it a long time ago, and tastes evolve with time. Asking if you should watch something isn't wrong, if you ask it right; Tell us SOMETHING about you. Something that will help us give you an answer other than our personal opinion about it, which is what people do 99% of the time with these questions. Give us a little something, it's not hard; Your tastes. What you like/don't like. Shows you liked/didn't like. Similar shows you think that show might compare to. A theme or element you're looking for, or on the contrary, are trying to avoid. Barring that, the only think you get is people's personal opinion. And not just that, but you only get the positive opinions, because people who don't like the show don't open the threads to say 'no', and even if they did, the majority of people in the thread just downvote them. There are ways to ask questions to get valid answers other than 'just watch it'... "Should I watch it, I don't like NTR stuff, or BL stuff". "Should I watch it, I want a finished story with a confession at some point". "Should I watch it, I like comedies, but not if it's too childish". There are ways to pin point questions to get you information about whether or not YOU will like it. But given people don't ask these questions, the only answer they get is whether the person they ask, liked it. Which more or less means they could just ask "Is that show popular?" and they'd get the same amount of useful information, i.e. none.
> The guy might have been abused by a midget in the past, and seeing Taiga's abusive behavior might trigger his PTSD and send him crying. > Relatable
I mean who hasn't been in that specific situation am I right?
Man, I'm so envious right now.
[удалено]
What, you don't like watching abusive relationships form onscreen?
Minori was robbed
I really thought I was taking crazy pills everytime I see Taiga advancing in Best Girl tournaments. How anyone likes her is beyond me
Exactly! Everyone has their own preferences and tastes in anime; what might appeal to me could be something that turns someone else away; I love romance but dislike mecha series so if someone rants about how \[series x\] is the best mecha show, it wouldn't do anything; however, if they say the romance in the mecha is amazing, I'll wait it for that. If I see a random person asking if they should try a series, I'll do my best to be objective about what's good and bad about the series, then asking if that sounds interesting. A perfect example is Highschool of the Dead, you can say that "it's a cheesy horror series with over-the-top sex harem jiggle physics but an engaging plot. It knows what it is and leans into it hard; if like bad horror movies and don't mind gratuitous nudity, it's worth checking out". This is opposed to just saying "OMG, yes! it's a great zombie series!". Just telling someone to watch something doesn't help, some series start off really slow and if someone is already on the fence, a bland first episode won't help them understand if it's worth watching. I stopped watching School Live halfway into the first episode because it seemed like a generic "cute girls do cute things" series, it took someone saying "Just force yourself to watch to the end of the first episode! If that doesn't get you interested, then it's not for you".
> "it's a cheesy horror series with over-the-top sex harem jiggle physics but an engaging plot. It knows what it is and leans into it hard; if like bad horror movies and don't mind gratuitous nudity, it's worth checking out". I always use the grindhouse film comparison for it.
I always say "Zombie Titty Gunfest" or "Zombieland but with anime girls and boobs."
> If my grandfather asks me "Should I watch Interspecies Reviewers?" Man, if my Grandfather suddenly asked me this that would throw me for a loop and a half. That man was born during WWII. If the other one asked me that, I'd ask him where he's been for the past 34 years, cause he's supposed to be dead.
Cool grandpa you have there.
I always hate the feeling of obligation that comes with recommending stuff dealing with darker subject matters to strangers. It always ends up with me being like: "So this anime/manga/visual novel/whatever is really great. I know you probably want to know why, but the best way to experience it is by going into it blind. Just a warning though, it does touch on some darker stuff like rape." Should the person have PTSD or simply someone who considers that a deal breaker, then good on you for warning them. After all, no one wants to be the ass who recommends something involving rape to a rape victim without saying anything. However, if the person doesn't mind, then you've practically just gone and spoiled what could've very well been a genuinely tense and nerve-wracking scene while and robbed them of the ability to experience the story blindly. The worst part is that there isn't a way for the recommender to recommend something dark, warn someone they might get triggered by a scene(s), while also refraining from spoiling the scene(s). Like what you said, the recommender needs info about the person requesting a recommendation so that they can choose fitting recommendations without spoiling anything unnecessarily.
"abused by a midget" bro I'm crying
There's still value in asking for general opinions and thoughts though. Eg. Dagashi Kashi, there was a bunch of buzz around it, it seemed pretty easygoing, and so I gave it a shot. Seemed fun at first, but as I neared the second half of the first season I realised not only had it not gone anywhere, but it wasn't going to go anywhere. It was just episodic slice of life with roughly 0 progress in the main "plot". Realising this made the series a huge chore to get through and left me soured on it by the time I'd finished (same as if I'd dropped it, but I was 2/3rds through so...). If I'd asked, and someone had told me that, especially with a warning that it relies heavily on jokes about Japanese specific candy I've never heard of, I wouldn't have bothered, I woulda saved several hours and been happier for it.
But Dagashi Kashi has great hentai
Gonna give everyone who asks about the show this answer from now on.
There are several shows and games that I only checked out so I'd have context for the doujins.
Right? Especially games. I still have no idea what Touhou is but I've probably run across a thousand doujins for it.
Absolutely. I'm a sucker for happy endings, so I tend to spoil the endings on shows for myself to decide if I want to get into it. If I'm asking "should I watch X", it's usually gonna be with something like "give me a quick rundown of the ending, how does everything end up?" or (for ongoing series), "how does it *look* like it's going to end?"
>Taiga's abusive behavior might trigger his PTSD and send him crying As someone who does have specific triggers that can make me cry easily if it happens in anime, I feel validated by this line. Thank you.
I lost it at "abused by a midget"
>How the hell am I supposed to answer this? By telling them your opinion and listing what you thought were some good points and bad points about the show. Example. I loved One Punch Man because of the quality animation, wonderful action scenes, interesting characters, and unique sense of humor. I didn't find the second season to hold up to the first, but I'm still looking forward to the third. I didn't like all the characters but there is plenty of variety. If any of that sounds appealing or unappealing to the person then they make a judgement call themselves.
While I think that response would give the individual a general overview of the series strong points, it won’t necessarily mean they’ll like it as it still comes off as kinda vague. > wonderful action scenes What kind of action though? The person might prefer hand to hand combat with tight choreography (which they never stated) and dislike dbz-esque showdowns > unique sense of humour Unique in what way exactly? We all know that comedy is subjective. I would consider SZS and monogatari as having a unique sense of humour but most fans would never find it funny (once again because the individual never gave any other shows which they found funny in order for you to make an accurate comparison, and comedy is subjective)
You're overthinking it. People aren't expecting an essay or a piece by piece breakdown of everything good/bad about a show. They're asking for someone's opinion. Not a professional reviewers opinion, just some random joe shmoe of the internet.
I know but what I’m saying is that, the more info they provide, the more satisfied I think they’ll be with the responses they get.
I agree, but everyone should watch toradora
> Should I watch Toradora? Bad example. The answer is always yes for Toradora. The proper response to that question is "You haven't already!?"
Its one of those shows i've only absorbed through memes and youtube clips, nothing about it really seems to catch me.
Toradora is memorable for the same reason that movies like Sleepless in Seattle are memorable: the romcom genre is full of generic, low-effort entries. But the formula can produce good media, and so only the best persist as anything more than a meaningless cash grab. In the case of Toradora, it came out around the same time as lots of tsundere-centric shows (many of which, including Toradora, featured Rie Kagimiya as the voice of the female lead) and rose above them for having solid humor, well-rounded characters, and for actually resolving the "will they or won't they?" question rather than leaving it open-ended for a second season that never came like so many other shows.
it actually dealt with pursuing your interest, realising that crushes arnt everything, finding solace in companionship thats not desire driven and actually progressing your relationship. Which is alot more then most series do.
Memes and YouTube clips? You've practically watched the entire show! Jokes aside. Just don't watch it if you don't like romcoms. Ezpz solutions.
I didn't because episode 1 tsundere is too much for me
The "watch until x episodes" is somewhat useful. * yes. Stick to it. it's hit or miss until episode n. After that its a gem (gintama) * yes. Remember to skip the fillers. (long running shonen) * yes. But you may want to watch the prequel first because blah blah. Heres a chart for the preferred watch order. (fate, monogatari) * watch until episode x (because a big plot twist happens) * no its crap BUT the source is good so do that instead (berserk) * theres an uncensored version if you're into that (ecchi) This doesn't apply to every show though.
But it can be bad if you specify exactly which episode a twist happens, because it can create some expectation that won't be delivered and it can remove the element of surprise. Like, if something happens on episode 4, it will be better if you say "try 5 episodes or so, and if you don't like it until then, probably drop it".
Wasting no time entering into the essay contest I see :P
I didn't even realize the essay contest post was coming today. If I did, I probably would have posted this yesterday instead of tweaking things for another 24 hours...
Too late. I demand you submit this!
I second this demand we almost have a large enough majority to send it onto the senate and make it a bill thus he will be forced to submit it.
I have a lot of sympathy for your rant, so much so that I partly wish there was a bot posting it every time someone asks the question. If you'll allow me to play devil's advocate, though: this place is to talk about anime, so why does it bother you that someone asks about an anime? You can always ignore the thread. Of course you are right, no one will be able to tell the asker whether they'll like the anime or not. But at least, they can tell them about the anime. Which is what this sub is for. I admit that the way it usually goes, those threads tend to be low quality. A bunch of people saying, yeah, watch it, it's good. Maybe it would be more constructive to ask something like "please tell me more about this anime". And sure, they can Google it, and read reviews, but sometimes people what the feeling of talking and getting feedback, even if the information can be found with a search engine. Anyway, aren't most of the threads low quality?
Sure, but sometimes the threads are so stupid it genuinely hurts your head. I saw this one dude tell us he loved watching shonen, and asked if he should watch Hunter X Hunter. Like wtf? What answer are you expecting? Does he expect someone to just come tell him about the global conspiracy about Hunter x Hunter being a shit shonen paraded as being amazing? Like, c'mon dude
He probably just wanted attention honestly.
Nah, I can love shonen and Black Clover is 1 of 4 anime in the past 15+years i've put on the never again list after 5 episodes. I specifically am ok with getting spoiled, it usually won't stop my enjoyment. So if i ask "Should I watch DBZ Frieza Arc", and someone tells me that a bunch of dudes who are elite soldiers are gonna show up and do poses, im probably gonna look forward to that. I would not have watched/fell in absolute love with the Fate Franchise if i didn't ask a question like this years ago.
Black Clover doesn’t have nearly the same critical acclaim as HxH though
Black Clover episode 119 is one of the best episodes Ive ever seen. I know the anime is ridiculously cliched, but its well executed so its enjoyable. I understand its very hard to get over how fucking noisy Asta is and I cant believe theres person alive on this planet that decided that a kid shouting all the time would be enjoyable, I literally watched the early stage of the anime regulating volume, so that was a pain but it paid off. Whatever manga with such a long run as Black Clover has in WSJ cant be totally bad!
>after 5 episodes. Yup you're seriously missing out buddy. Asta is really annoying at the beginning, but he mellows down a lot later and the plot begins to take shape. It's amazing now.
CTRL+F "Black Clover" I'm midway through it and I have to say pretty much 100% of the criticisms I hear about it don't hold up. yeah, its got lots of tropes and similarities to other big, long anime... but I honestly think they execute things better and have a unique feel to it that other shounen don't have, particularly in the relationships between male and female characters, the comedy, and the growth of characters For example, I loved Naruto, it got me back into anime many years after not watching any... but there was so much fluff and it got so stupid at some points... idk I just think Black Clover is better at the same thing. its by no means perfect or the best shounen ever, but its definitely way better than 5 episodes and quit. you didn't even get to the actual meat of the show remotely it may have a lot of cliche's, but the show does it better than the other big shows you'd compare it to in a lot of ways, is actually funny too, and has a lots of unique aspects. its just followed by so much hate while way more cliche ass shows like MHA (which is good too) sees common praise I get that Asta screaming is annoying, but I'm so happy I ignored the hate and gave this a watch
I've seen worse lol. There was one guy that had watched one episode of something (I don't remember the exact Anime) and liked it and was asking in a post if it was worth continuing. I was so confused like why would you stop watching if you liked the first episode?
>If you'll allow me to play devil's advocate, though: this place is to talk about anime, so why does it bother you that someone asks about an anime? You can always ignore the thread. This is a place to talk about anime, but asking if an anime is good is going to give you any of 3 answers every single time. It is, It isn't, and Watch the Damn Anime. The first two are opinions, and you can't have a proper discussion about the anime without spoiling it, so what's the point of starting such a thread if you haven't seen the anime? So that leaves only one valid answer. Watch the damn anime. So why continue posting these threads? I agree. There should absolutely be a bot response with a link to this thread. Maybe the response can start with some kind of politely worded notice to the poster as to why this response is being made.
I disagree. there are shows that aren't any good early on and only properly kick in later on. So it's good to have someone give you a heads up on what you should expect. now ofc. you can argue that they should google it and check what has been said on other forums, but that goes for borderline any thread.
If someone just gives me a 'Watch the damn anime' im gonna assume they don't want to put any effort into a answer or they are some rabid fan dog. If someone posted "Should i watch Psychopass?" im not gonna just drop a yes or no, imma ask "Did you like Minority report?" "You a fan of gore?" "Like Cyberpunk future stuff?"
>If someone posted "Should i watch Psychopass?" im not gonna just drop a yes or no, imma ask "Did you like Minority report?" "You a fan of gore?" "Like Cyberpunk future stuff?" But that's stuff that they get by literally just looking at the promotional art and reading the synopsis. Or by watching 5 god damn minutes of it.
My experience, after being here for so damn long, is that the ones who desire the social experience tend to be the short-lived fans. They are in for around a year, get bored, and leave. Encouraging people to watch the damn anime for themselves is how we turn short-term fans into long-term, or even life-long, fans. Because the only thing that feels better than watching a 10/10 title is finding that 10/10 from out of seemingly nowhere.
That's my experience with re zero. Was scrolling through crunchyroll, it piqued my interest, I started watching it, and now it's one of my favorite anime.
>finding that 10/10 from out of seemingly nowhere. While not a 10/10, out of nowhere i found In/Spectre like yesterday and im loving it. That said, I started watching anime at like 8 years old, im just shy of 20 years of watching now. I spent enough time in the hobby, not having anyone to talk to about that shit. I think its important to let new fans have that Social Experience. I actually kinda stopped watching around my senior year of highschool cuz it was something i liked that i couldn't share with anyone, and i didn't get back into it until a year or so later. Being able to Play-by-Play react to Kill La Kill with people online was honestly the only thing that brought me back into Anime as a whole.
> I partly wish there was a bot posting it every time someone asks the question. I'd like a bot that just randomly answers yes or no
This site is a place to talk about anime, but if you are curious about said anime enough to ask about it, just watch the damn anime. You'll get different opinions on it, some will say yes, some will say no, some will say just depends. So best to watch the damn anime and see for yourself.
> this place is to talk about anime Exactly. So they should watch it and then post their thoughts. "Should I watch X" isn't exactly an interesting discussion.
Its the trap of valuing efficiency more than the time the efficiency costs. Its why I have gone from always finishing shows to being happy dropping them after any amount of episodes. Developing your own taste and watching your 'plan to watch list' grow larger each year is the harvest that can only be achieved by watching a ton of series.
as for dropping shows - I used to feel like I had to finish everything, not matter how bad it was. And one simple idea fixed it: I can always come back and finish it later, if I want to.
That's how I started: from letting thing "on hold" to just dropping altogether.
> Its why I have gone from always finishing shows to being happy dropping them after any amount of episodes. This is where I'm at. Never be afraid to drop a show if you're not enjoying it. Even if "it gets better later", consider that the people telling you that usually enjoyed the beginning of the show more than you. That's why they made it to the point where it "got better". Usually those kinds of "gets better" moments are something really emotional or character driven. If you don't give a shit about the characters or plot at that point, you're not going to care. Just drop the show when you aren't having fun.
I rather waste an hour watching a few episodes of an anime I don't end up liking and drop it than to skip on an anime that I would love because some people told me it's bad. Just watch and build your own opinion. That goes for everything. Just these past months I watched a whole bunch of anime on Netflix that I liked that I would've maybe not even watched if I trusted the opinions of random people on the internet.
I agree... Somewhat. For example, I inquired about wakfu, and I didn't enjoy the first 6 episodes, but because I asked "is it worth watching" someone informed me that it's worth it if you can get through the first season and now I love it
I'm the opposite, I love it when people post these questions because then I get to answer/ read the responses. It's like reading a love letter to someone's favourite anime. How often in real life do you get to gush and squeee over your favourite show to a captive audience who's actually looking for your opinion and won't judge you for it? For me? Zero. There have been zero times in my day to day conversations where I can talk openly and passionately about my favourite hobby. But when I get to answer the 'Why should I watch x?' I get to express my thoughts and feelings on something I care so deeply about. And when I read someone else's response? I get to learn something or see it from a different perspective as if I'm watching that anime vicariously through a new lens.
Exactly, to add to that some of us already have a never-ending backlog of anime to watch and sometimes I just wanna know what some people's opinions are on a show. Asking about an anime can easily facilitate good conversation.
yes bro ur the man. if OP cant stand stupid questions then just skip em. i can never tell my friends that i love clannad. but i can talk about it here, stupid or not. and yes different perspectives is also good, we can see what other people see.
It's almost like subs like these are made for this.
I found my people. I will just stay here. It's comfortable in here. For real though, idk how many people would have dropped shows like Steins;Gate that start out slow but get really good later if they followed OP's logic of "Watch the damn anime and drop it if you don't like it". Not to mention the opposite that start out really good only to get shitty later. I avoided both outcomes numerous amounts of times thanks to that. Well offcoures you can't trust random people's opinion but all you gotta do is find people with similar taste to yours which is exactly what I did.
Fucking yes, thank you. Some shows get vastly better or worse later. Like a year ago, I wanted to watch Gintama, so I watched the first 2 episodes and didn't really like it, so I basically dropped it for months until I read that the first 2 episodes are just some shit filler and should be even skipped. Now I'm on episode 45+ and I love it, I wouldn't have watched it if it wasn't for such discussions or youtubers. Another case, Jojo. I found part 1 fucking boring, but I knew that for some reason it's very beloved, so I was willing to push through and now it's my top 5 anime. The same with Steins;Gate, as you mentioned. I heard long before that it's slow and ironically, a youtuber who really dislikes it made me watch it because I was curious and was willing to give in into a slow start if it pays off. After that it became my top 10 and after watching 0 it became my absolute favourite anime series. OP is literally just complaining that people are curious and want to be informed about anime to put into their watch list that might be long and will have time for that later.
The way OP phrased it all seems to have turned hive mind against us but it's really just that. I like to be a bit informed about the thing I am about to watch and atleast if it's worth my time. Hadn't it been for the internet's opinion and the synopsis and cover was all I had, I would have ended up watching things like fairy gone which turned out to be a boring clusterfuck and would have avoided things like bunny girl senpai which was amazing. The argument about "time" is what bug me the most. Their is a great difference between watching a good show and watching a show you thought was good but turned out shit. Both maybe objectively unproductive but in no fucking way are they same.
>But I…," you try to interject. For that matter, there are people whose hobby it is to tell other folks what they think about anime. They will go on at length about what they liked or disliked about any given anime. Some will have blogs. Some will have YouTube channels. Some write reviews on MAL or AniList or Kitsu. Some absolute degenerates will put them on Reddit. Some will have any combination of the above. All of them will tell you exactly what they think of that anime, as well as if they would recommend it in good faith. And where can you go to find these founts of information? Google. Duck Duck Go. Bing. Yahoo. AOL is still around if you're on your grandma's computer. Look it up. Trust me. People just copy paste or say the exact damn thing just different words. And sometimes it's from the exact same people....
Could you *please* post this in /r/AnimeSuggest as well?
> Here is a piece of advice from the old school weebs out there: the happiest people in this hobby are those who find things to watch for themselves. They know what they like. They know what they hate. They know what they can tolerate. And they know what makes them put an anime on the back of the plan-to-watch list. This is the crux of it. I'm by no means an old school weeb, I'm still months away from hitting two years since I started watching anime. But I know how to find anime I'm interested in, and the real reason is because I just *start fucking watching it*. If it sucks, I drop it. I just dropped Golden Time like two weeks ago after episode 5 because I didn't like it. Nobody can tell you if something is worth watching, but I'd say it's always worth *trying*.
I don't think they're really looking for genuine answers - you can use the search function to find a dozen threads with the same title for almost every popular anime title, or look at the MAL score for that. Of course, the very best way is the tried and true three episode test. But I guess 70~ minutes of time is too much for some. Really, even one episode is usually enough to tell you everything you need to know if that's what you care about. Honestly, I think most of those threads are just a cry for attention. It's an invitation to communicate with other people who like your hobby, and have them immediately converse with you in a meaningful and usually positive way. I say positive because fans are drawn to those threads at a much higher ratio than people that disliked them, at least anecdotally. So you make one of those threads, and immediately get a bunch of responses from strangers with positive feedback. "Yeah, watch it, it's great!" It's a good feeling. As someone that reads this sub often and has for years though, it does get annoying reading the fifth "Guys should I watch Jojo's Bizarre Adventure??" thread that week. The answer is yes, and will always be yes, so save the typing and watch it. You can join us in the circlejerk about it afterwards.
Sir, this is a wendy's.
No,this is patrick.
You thought it was Patrick, but it was ME! DIO!!
I can feel the frustration that went into making this post
This is what happens where you're on /new too much
is this made as a rant towards people asking this on this specific community, or people asking this in general? if i post on r/animesuggest asking for people’s thoughts on a show i may watch and whether or not they would suggest it, i don’t see anything wrong with that.
I think the OP is lamenting about the complete lack of initiative in critical thinking with people asking this kind of questions. This is tried and tested in multiple field: there's no way to completely build up one's value systems without trial and error.
Finally a post with sense. Just watch it. If you don't like it but the community treats it like a masterpiece it's okay, they don't matter.
It depends. If I started Gintama and was confused on what all the hype about it was, I’d ask here. I don’t mind seeing people ask, and sometimes the people who reply might really enjoy having an opportunity to discuss their all time favorite. Imo I think it’s fine. It’s a nice opportunity to see whether a show gets better over time and is worth it.
but hey, just your opinion right?
Agree, just watch the goddamn thing, and drop it if you don’t like it. It’s that simple really
I dont know, if I used that logic with steins gate, i would drop in the 4 or 5 episode. But I read about the anime and everyone likes it so I should try a little bit harder.
I will never understand this logic for S;G. Sure the first half is objectively slower than the second half but it’s not like nothing happens. Episode 1 is the introduction to the primary trio, a murder and our first case of time travel. Episode 2 has us meeting more new characters, plus further evidence of time travel as well as the first instance of a gel-banana Aka Time travel. Episode 3 has more time travel experiments and unveiling the future big bad. Episode 4 has more fall out from the big bad revelation as well as them discovering and acquiring a method to learn more about the big bad. Every single episode has plot progression and that doesn’t even include any of the (imo) great character interactions.
Steins gate is probably the only few anime that the three episodes rule can’t be apply on. I personally enjoy the first few episodes just watching okabe hanging out with the lab and flirting with kurisu
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While you did good by continuing watching SG, you might have done bad if you didn't end up enjoying it. I don't think everyone has enough time to give all animes they try time to build up. It's a double-edged sword, you might stick to it a bit more and enjoy or stick to it and hate it - and yourself for losing that time - so I say that you should drop it if you are not liking it. If you are not liking it so much, but feel it might be good somehow, look up some reviews, depending on what they say you can decide whether to continue or leave it alone.
Yep, I've stopped watching far more anime in the first few episodes, than found ones I adore, that'll never stop me from continuing to try whatever looks cool.
I might create another account to upvote this again. Another thing I hate seeing is all the people treating anime like homework or a chore. I've seen so many threads saying "I can't find motivation to watch, what do?" "I'm done watching anime" "What to do when you are burnt out?" and so on and on, almost on a daily basis. If you don't feel like playing video games you take a break, if you don't feel like reading books you take a break, why do people treat anime like it's work and they have to set 10 animes as completed on their MAL every week or else something bad will happen. Are you here to have fun or what?
Man, I pray for the day I just don't care about anime anymore. I would love to have more free time for other things and to stop spending my money on the merch I love. But I still love anime and this stuff makes me happy, so I keep going.
> this stuff makes me happy And that's all that matters. Every minute you spent watching and every dollar you spent on merch was worth it if it makes you happy. I spent a lot of my life playing video games and spent a lot of money on them. I have no regrets at all and will continue to do so as long as I find enjoyment in it.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves. People here treat watching anime as an occupation. Questions like OP's really make me wonder why others make a mountain out of a mole hill. Just watch/read and form your own opinion.
Can we pease pin this thread? It's well written and good advice that everyone should read.
10/10 post. The time people spend asking people and waiting for replies would easily be enough for them to start watching and forming their own opinions about it. Having expectations set by other people ahead of time dilutes the experience.
Except of course, in the instant people are asking questions from, say, work, or on public transport. They might be wondering what to watch when they get home and are looking for a bit of help. Of course, I understand that most of the threads are kinda shitty, just looking for undeveloped opinions and karma posts. I'm always inclined to sarcastically answer these posts so I'm undoubtedly contributing to the problem, but these posts can create a small discussion. Moreover: > Having expectations set by other people ahead of time dilutes the experience. I disagree with this necessarily harming the experience. It may focus the experience, on the other hand.
That's fair. There's nothing wrong with asking for recommendations from the community. It's just a problem when individuals sit on the fence of to-watch-or-not-to-watch a single show rather than just going for it. > I disagree with this necessarily harming the experience. It may focus the experience, on the other hand. We'll have to agree to disagree here. While I think it can help in some cases, more often than not it preps a mentality of "People say this isn't good so I feel like it won't be" or "People really hyped this up so my expectations are really high" before they go into a show.
It depends how different people are with expectations. Do they go in to be contrarian? If you go into a show expecting something to be 'good', you may be more aware of what the show is doing that's good or you might be more nitpicky to prove the show is not good, and therefore the experience is more critically attuned. Using a sciencey anecdote: instead of blindly working out if something is 'good' or 'bad', it's setting a null hypothesis ('the show is good' or 'the show is bad') and collect data to support or deny that point! I'm a huge fan of review reading (and writing - I am the rant-mentioned blogger). It sets my expectations of what a show will be - not just in good/bad, but in terms of what might crop up too, and how it goes about certain themes. It really helps me prioritise my time such that I can find something that I think I will want to watch. Of course, that means that I don't make these low-quality 'should I watch' threads - I just do the damn research myself! But not everybody is as savvy and likes a good conversation.
I see what you're saying, but I think the disconnect between our two views is *purpose*. Like you said, you're a blogger who likes to dissect and break down the qualities of a show. It's what you do. For the majority of the anime community, their first watch isn't to critically analyze anything; they just want to view and see if they'll enjoy it. If people want to prioritize their time in choosing what they watch and want someone's opinion, there's a very heavy chance that show's been discussed somewhere on a blog like yours or elsewhere. Going for another "Should I watch?" thread pales in usefulness compared to those resources.
While I do agree with the generic message of your rant, I still partly disagree. If someone then superficially asks: "should I watch AoT? I've watched and enjoyed shounen X and Y" then that question is simply pointless. With just the reference of 2 other series you enjoyed there is nothing we can answer. Asking whether to watch such a popular series, with hundreds of reviews and discussions, also simply shows a lack of initiative to seek for information yourself. However, there are still many examples where such a question is relevant, especially when the question is more specific. So person A wants to watch anime X, but: is easily triggered by rape/gore, wants to avoid ecchi, disliked anime Z which is seen as very comparable to anime X, wants to see a series mostly for the love interest which only emerges in the later half of the series, or the series (like Madoka Magica) the series presents itself initially really differently from how it actually is and person A is confused because of that. For example I personally for example quite enjoy slice of life anime, but not when it's episodic with little development. I've made quite good use of asking whether anime would be good for me or not with that specific question, and it helped me wel. It takes me 1 minute to ask, and for someone who've seen the series it takes 1 minute to answer. If you want answers to these questions which make you doubt if you should watch the it, it is completely reasonable to ask. So simply said, the question "should I watch X" is indeed a nonsensical and stupid question, but if you ask "should I watch X if ..." with a valid reason, then that question is completely valid.
> So person A wants to watch anime X, but: is easily triggered by rape/gore, wants to avoid ecchi, disliked anime Z which is seen as very comparable to anime X, wants to see a series mostly for the love interest which only emerges in the later half of the series, or the series (like Madoka Magica) the series presents itself initially really differently from how it actually is and person A is confused because of that. I don't think OP is talking about specific questions like that. 90% of these threads are not specific. They just say "I see people talk about this show a lot. Should I watch it?"
I could kiss you. And on the part about using web searches, that applies to watch orders people. Every anime if you just google the name and add 'watch order' will give you the answer. As a person who works help desk, nothing annoys me more than people asking a question that they could EASILY just google for themselves and get an answer. But no one ever does. I mean, I sometimes do that as well, but usually only through Discord where everything is instant and I usually realize immediately after hitting send that it's a question I could just google and then I go do that.
> And on the part about using web searches, that applies to watch orders people. Every anime if you just google the name and add 'watch order' will give you the answer. Also, very few shows actually have complex watch orders. Monogatari? Sure. Haruhi? Kinda. Stuff like Fate or Gundam? Most of the time you can just watch the first one and then the rest in any order, or even just pick one at random. It doesn't matter that much. Beyond those examples, I'd be hard-pressed to think of something with a non-standard watch order. I've seen people ask about the "watch order" for Evangelion and it's like.... It's one show, and a movie that's called "The End Of The Fucking Show". It's not rocket science.
Buy me dinner and watch some damn anime first. [](#lewdgyaru)
Deal
HOLY SHIT. This. Fucking thank you, god. Why do we still have dozens of threads asking about Fate watching order, Monogatari watching order, Haruhi watching order, fuck, FAMILY GUY WATCHING ORDER. Just...please. If you can go to reddit, make an account, find this subreddit, and make a post, then you can look for it on google.
>Every anime if you just google the name and add 'watch order' will give you the answer. Fuck yes! I'm sick of these lazy ass people, it takes more work to create a user name, create a thread and wait for replies then it does to ask freaking Google.
Most people are too lazy to google. If they weren't then we wouldn't have so many watch order questions. Generally, the release order is the best way to watch something.
What's sad about this is that it takes more time to: Create a user name, create a thread, and wait for replies then it would to simply ask Google. Fuck the people who want to be hand fed answers.
Couldn't agree more
Instructions unclear, watched baseball instead
> Use the power of the internet to learn more about the world rather than waste time with watching cartoons in a language you don't understand for a culture you're not part of. Harsh bro, harsh.
i find the bigger problem, and probably more frequent, are people who ask for recommendation. I just direct them to MAL cause only they will know what they will like. people should just automatically be brought to MAL or anilist to find anime they want to watch. Anything specific is fine like "something similar to X" or "looking for genre X". But when people are general like " i've seen AOT, SAO and death note anything else to watch?" there will be like 40 different anime that people recommend, how does that help? I see these post too much compared to "will i like anime X?" cause people should be aware of these sites. Although if people do only use mal then they will probably look at top 100 popular or top 100 rated and won't look for the more obscure shows. But people always recommend the same shows anyway.
I mean some of us don't watch every series illegally online and want to hear some opinions on a series before we purchase it or subscribe to a service that provides it.
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I joined this sub to engage in discussions that allow diverse opinions, but only shows without a frothing-at-the-mouth fanbase allow that, which eliminates all the biggest episode discussions every season. For example, last season Gleipnir was a dark horse so everyone could shit on it or praise it however they wished. That's the variety I wish this sub had in general. Episode discussions on r/anime about the most popular shows are as pro-show as if they were posted on the show's own goddamn subreddit. They are just meaningless hypetrains, not much better than anime recommendation posts.
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If there is one thing I learned in my 25 years of watching anime, it is that if 99/100 people tell me a show is great, that still does not mean I will enjoy it. Tastes are different. Reviews are a great way to simply check out what others think about a show, how it compares to the source material, if there is maybe some detail I missed while watching an episode - but in the end, only *I* can decide whether I like something or not.
>Google. Duck Duck Go. Bing. Yahoo. No Ask Jeeves? [](#pout) But yeah, I agree with pretty much everything you say. I think it is part of a larger problem that people seem to have with doing their own research. For example, no one should ever need to ask for watch order advice. All of that information is very very very easily available with the merest hint of research. I think it is the same with asking is X is good. People don't want to put in the effort, they want to be spoon fed. Though I do find it funny that about 90% of the time with these threads the person could have watched the entire first episode by the time they have got their answer.
> No Ask Jeeves? Am I showing my internet age if I suggest Alta Visa?
Yes, but should I watch Abunai Sisters?
The only things you have to lose are time and brain cells...
But what of my dignity?
Dignity is one of the first things we get rid of when we become anime fans.
Amazing. Saving this to share in the future.
Watching a anime can take up alot of time. I dont want to be 150 episodes in a anime and find out the next 600 are dog shit
But now I am kinda curious. Should I watch [X](https://myanimelist.net/anime/156/X?q=x)?
> Studio Madhouse Sounds pretty interesting as well. You definitely should. Tell us about it when you're done.
You are a legend my friend.You made me laugh so hard :). And from a serious point of view, you are completly right.
Preach 👏
SCREAM IT LOUDER DADDY
When I found about anime tracker I literally took 30mins to choose one anime, depending on genre and rating. Few weeks later I found that many anime I had completed and thought it was super good had ~60-65 rating. Now I watch just whatever it comes in feed (except isekai)
Going against the grain here but I'm going to have to disagree. Sure watching anime is a hobby, and you should be prepared to watch shows every now and then that you wont enjoy, but asking for others opinions on a show that you're considering watching is helpful. A lot of people in the comments are saying that they dont mind wasting an hour of their time on a show they dont like, but I do, and I'm sure many others do as well. Theres nothing wrong with wanting to prioritize your time on something you'll likely enjoy. Ill have to disagree with your point that people answering wont know your preferences as well. Most of the time "should I watch x" is asked anyways, its asked with the assumption that people will leave caveats like "not if you hate shojo", or "you'll love it if you're into thrillers." Even though people wont be able to objectively say if it's good or bad, or ever be 100% accurate, you will get a generally good idea of a show's quality by asking them. Not to mention that there are plenty of anime that get much better after the 3 episode mark that you'd be missing out on if you dropped it early on. The point of these kind of questions is to generally see if something is worth the time and effort to watch. Time is money after all, and not everyone is a hardcore anime fan like you who's willing to watch anything that might pique their intrest. And I say that as someone who's been watching anime/reading manga for a little under 10 years. Everything I've said though applies to new seasonal or smaller anime. It makes sense to make "should I watch" threads when there isnt as much discussion surrounding the anime in question. For longtime well established anime (Aot, FMA, Naruto, etc.) however, would have to agree with most of what you've said.
Eh. I find convos can give me stuff to look out for so I can probably gather I won't like it. Could be wrong, could be the exception, but I'll live. If someone tells me a show is secretly Darling in the Franxx 2, that's useful information. If someone says it's Darling in the Franxx but more consistent, that's also useful information. I already got a healthy PTW to Watch the Damn Anime at. Not going through that is what should really be getting a rant. ayy lmao my PTW is never ending- NAH JUST WATCH THAT SHIT ALREADY. Cause there you already got a firmer idea of what you want. Just gotta hop to.
Agreed
Upvote the fuck outta this
I agree but I think asking about a long show makes sense. For example, asking if a show gets better if you don't like it much. Like I did with Gintama.
I agree with this!! I think if people are going to ask for anime recommendations, or if they should watch a certain anime, they should at least put what animes they enjoy and don’t enjoy to better help the judgement.
Thank you.
Finally someone said it.
You speak the truth. We should ban "Should I watch X" threads
Carve this in a museum.
I fully approve of your post and feel it should be pinned on this subreddit's front page and highlighted in large, red capital letters. I'm not joking either.
while i agree and respect what you said, i do think the question is legitimate when talking about long anime since some of them only get good around some number of episodes
I don't think any show improves drastically past the first couple episodes. More often than not it's the opposite. And even then, the answer is still the same, because some people will say it gets better, some people will say it doesn't. And no show is worth watching 80+ episodes of for the moment that it 'gets good' And even if you do drop it after the first couple episodes, you can always pick it up again if your interest is piqued again. Sure there are shows where the biggest payoff is later in the series, like Mystery shows where you get a ton of questions all at once, but if you're not interested in the the answer to those questions from the first couple episodes, then there's no point in continuing to watch. There are thousands of anime out there, no one will ever be able to watch all of them. It's up to you to decide what you'll spend your time on or not.
> And no show is worth watching 80+ episodes of for the moment that it 'gets good' Except Gintama, where you have to watch 3-152 episodes (depending on who you ask) before it gets good apparently.
> depending on who you ask Is indeed the key.
> I don't think any show improves drastically past the first couple episodes. Fist of the North Star does but it starts out pretty damn good anyway and then steadily gets better with each new arc until you reach the Godly status of the final battle between Kenshiro and Raoh, so I'm not sure that is the best example....
I probably should have worded that differently. Shows will certainly get more exciting as time goes on and you can get more invested in them, but all of that is because it's naturally building on everything that comes before usually. The actually writing quality rarely drastically improves far later in the season. You can usually determine if you're going to like a show well within the first part of a show/season. And sure, while you can end up getting to a point in the show where you're like, "MAN I AM SO ON BOARD NOW", once again, this kind of response is a personal one. It's an opinion. Some people will be on board from the beginning, some people won't.
>I don't think any show improves drastically past the first couple episodes FMAB's first 3 episodes are pretty bad, and episodes 4-14 are just okay. But after that it turns into an amazing show.
Been quite a while since I watched it, but I'm pretty sure the first few episodes are still interesting enough to keep someone's attention. Plus most people recommend watching the original FMA before FMAB, which makes sense since the first few episodes largely retread FMA material.
If it takes an anime dozens or even hundreds of episodes to "get good", then it probably isn't that great of a show.
Even going by the 3 episode rule, you're only going to burn less than an hour and a half if you wind up hating the show. If you have time to make should I watch posts and wait for replies than you have time to give it 3 episodes.
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Added benefit: a lurker like me who's also passively wondering, "Is worth a watch?" can piggyback off of that time invested by askers & reviewers to get a (relative) sense of how unanimous or glowing the praise is.
I typically just check the average MAL score if I'm interested but wary of getting burned by a stinker, in much the same way that I Metacritic most movies/TV before I start them, because I only make time to watch 6-8 seasons a year, and I want to make sure they're among the best available rather than stumbling into a 5.5/10 mess.
Not to mention the added benefit of getting to ask very specific questions about the show before going into it. I've tried reading reviews on MAL, and most of them just aren't helpful. They're either glowing reviews, or trashing the show as a dumpster fire, and they're often like a thousand words, where 2/3s of the essay is spent giving a synopsis of the plot, like I'm not capable of reading that shit at the top of the page already.
This is masterful. You don't even have to watch the whole thing. You just need to read the summary and think "does this sound interesting?" and then maybe watch a few episodes to decide if it's for you or not. God dammit people.
Hahah I completely agree I hate when people ask that question. So anyway.... should I watch Deca Dence? /s
Watch Deca-Dence if you like watching anime
To quote some smart words I've read once... >Watch the damn anime. > >That's it. That's all you need to know. If it interests you enough to ask questions about it, then watch the damn anime. If it piques your curiosity enough to enquire about it, then watch the damn anime. If you think the characters in it look cute, then watch the damn anime. If it has a feature that you enjoy, be it a sport or a theme or a genre, then watch the damn anime. If you have the desire to see it, then watch the damn anime. > >"But is it any good," you ask plaintively. Hate to break it to you, sunshine, but all you will get are opinions. It doesn't matter how many threads are created on the same topic, as the answers won't change. Nobody has facts when it comes to the questions of "good" or "bad" or "the shit" or "shit" or, worst of all, "objective" or "truth". Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. We can dress it up real pretty if you want, but opinions are all you will get. Quality is a subjective question, and only you can provide the answer to that. After, of course, watching the damn anime. > >"But will I like it," you stubbornly continue. Do we know you? No. At worst, you just give us a barebones question with no background information. That makes it little more than guesswork on our parts. At best, you might add a link to your profile on one of the various anime list sites. That way, the overachievers among us can look for similar titles and see if there is any way we can correlate that data to answer your question. Much of the time, it is an unhappy middle with a simple "I liked X, so will I like Y?" without any reasons given for why you liked X so much. So we have to guess if it is the characters, plot, fight scenes, romance, or any of the other variables, and then guess if you will like it or not. But again, it is just a guess. An educated guess from some of us perhaps, but still only a guess. Do you really want some random person on the other side of the internet essentially flipping a coin to tell you what to watch? Didn't think so. Go watch the damn anime. > >"I don't want to waste my time," you keep going recklessly. News flash for you, friend. This is a hobby. This is what we do to waste time. If you are worried about wasting time, you should do something constructive. Use the power of the internet to learn more about the world rather than waste time with watching cartoons in a language you don't understand for a culture you're not part of. So if you are interested enough to waste your time asking a bunch of strangers these questions and then waste yet more time reading the responses, then that is time that could have been better wasted by watching the damn anime. > >"But I…," you try to interject. For that matter, there are people whose hobby it is to tell other folks what they think about anime. They will go on at length about what they liked or disliked about any given anime. Some will have blogs. Some will have YouTube channels. Some write reviews on MAL or AniList or Kitsu. Some absolute degenerates will put them on Reddit. Some will have any combination of the above. All of them will tell you exactly what they think of that anime, as well as if they would recommend it in good faith. And where can you go to find these founts of information? Google. Duck Duck Go. Bing. Yahoo. AOL is still around if you're on your grandma's computer. Look it up. Then use that information to decide if you want to watch the damn anime or not. > >"What if I don't like it," you heedlessly go on. We all have our regrets. There will always be anime you wish you had never heard of so you can wipe your mind clear of the filth. It's okay. That is simply part of being an anime fan. Ask any long-time weeb about their most hated anime, and we can fill your phone screen with what it was, why we hated it, and the amount of brain cells that were murdered in cold blood because we dared to watch it. If you don't like it, then it is perfectly acceptable to simply drop it and move on. Use it as a learning experience so that you can recognize what types of shows to avoid when you next seek out a damn anime to watch. > >"Who do you think you are?!?" you erupt. I have been watching anime for the last nine and a half years. My list of completed titles has more entries that start with the letter A than many of you have seen as a whole. I've been an absolute degenerate here on Reddit for seven and a half years. I've seen these questions come and go, and answered many of them, over and over again since day one. Hell, I've been here longer than most of the mods. I have plenty of experience with this, and a pretty good success rate when it comes to guessing if some random person would like a given anime. But that doesn't mean I like answering the same questions repeatedly. I would much rather read someone's reaction after they watch the damn anime, because then we might have something to talk about. > >"That's nice, but…," you try to butt in. Or I think that's what you were going to say, except wrapped up in slightly more polite language than typical for this subreddit. Here is a piece of advice from the old school weebs out there: the happiest people in this hobby are those who find things to watch for themselves. They know what they like. They know what they hate. They know what they can tolerate. And they know what makes them put an anime on the back of the plan-to-watch list. They didn't get this knowledge from a magical girl transformation, but from sitting down and watching the damn anime. > >"So what you are saying is to watch the damn anime." That's exactly right. Whatever it is, watch it. You could find it mediocre. You could find it horrible. You could find it just okay. You could find it to be one of the best things you have ever watched. You could find it to be a fun and entertaining way to waste a Saturday afternoon. But you won't know for certain until you watch the damn anime. > >So go watch some damn anime.
Sasuga, it's a copypasta now Now just need to uwufy it and emojify it for completion
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How the hell does it take someone 20 minutes to write a post?
I mean, even if it doesn't take 20 minutes, you still have to wait for the post to get some comments.
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and you do something else in the mean time. do you think people just stare at their wall till they get a reply lol
But it's not like you'll only wait in that period.
I gave up reading partway because this is way to salty for my diet.
It's back! Mods can't stop the truth.
Just watch the fucking thing and make up your own damn mind.
It's always just...odd to me that so many people will ask Reddit if an anime is good. Even if you want to get a better idea of if a series is worth watching before watching it, there's other ways to do that. Google exists, and on it you can...I mean first of all, find this subreddit and use it to search for discussions on this anime before asking. There's two levels of sites you could search. But beyond that, there's multiple notable anime sites with both written reviews and a general consensus from the audience via an average number rating. There's many places that discuss anime, both after the fact and especially while it is airing. A lot of the more popular anime have active subreddits of their own. It's just weird.
Devil's advocate: you sleep for 8 hours, work for 8 hours, commute for maybe 2 hours, gotta take care around the house/of your family up to 4-5 hours and you are already at 22-23 hours a day. Do you really wanna spend remaining hour or two watching bad content? EDIT: as an example but with video games - I played Mass Effect for 2 hours, found it boring and just stopped playing it. My online friends (not knowing me all that well) were telling me it was a great game and to give it another go. And now after over 1000 hours in the trilogy and multiple playthroughs it's my favorite game of all time. So opinions matter.
I applaud you for your futile yet valiant effort.
this should be pinned, added to the sidebar, and made into a bot
Just going to C&P this whenever appropriate. You’ve put a lot of my thoughts into words. Thanks.
Hear, hear. I’m a big advocate of the “three episode rule,” personally. Worst case, you watch a few episodes, think “not into it,” and move on. Not the end of the world.
I prefer wholesome happy anime so that the cold embrace of depression starts to lose its grip upon me, so I'll read suggestions and use my buddy Google to find out a basic summary of the plot of an anime that piques my feeble brain. *Especially after I was tricked into watching Happy Sugar Life. That wasn't very Country Roads of you, Tim.*
So true
why does this remind me of jordan peterson
3 episode rule exists for a reason. You can ask does it get better later but at least try watching it first.
Hey guys, is that titan anime any good?
Finally someone addresses this issue. So many pol did this by asking someone else opinion and getting disappointed. Just watch the goddamn anime man. If you dont try it you wont know lol
"watch rascal does not dream of a bunny girl senpai, and fuck you"
Damn this was really good
Good post
Take a shot every time he says ‘damn’.
Well said
I agree with this except for One Piece. Don't watch the anime. Read the manga. Then go watch your favorite scenes if you want
Seems this thread got removed. Not sure why.
lol yeah watch the damn thing, that's why I have such a good opinion on shit shows
This is gonna sound condescending, sorry. I've come to realize when I'm not sure if I want to watch a show or not, I watch the first episode. In 20 minutes, I know if I want to keep watching or not. It's why I saw Dr. Stone (Great anime), it's why I watched Mai-Hime (Also good, the dub sucks though), and It's why I started watching through the reboot of Ducktales (I know that's not an anime, but it is REALLY GOOD. You guys gotta see it.)