Since it is my blog’s birthday month I figured I might just confess to a few things that I do as an anime and manga fan. While every fan has their own way here are some of the things I do that I know fellow otaku may struggle with but on the whole, I know I am not alone.
1 – I start a lot of anime – but do not finish them all. Even the ones that I enjoyed.
There are so many anime out there and with new anime releasing daily with more and more coming with each new season, it is impossible to watch every anime out there. Plus with other countries climbing on board and producing their own anime, I am spoilt for choice. This in turn leads to starting many an anime without seeing it through.
This is not due to not enjoying the anime and ditching it, rather it is thanks to being distracted by another anime title. Or forgetting which episode I was on last. Sometimes it is also due to failing to remember the anime name. This happens to me often when I will pick an anime at random late at night, watch a few episodes and then go to sleep. The next day, I no longer know the anime name.
2 – I start a new manga every day – but loose interest
I am not overly fussy with what I consume and this often leads me down rabbit holes of ‘similar’ reads that get recommended to me. This has obviously left me in a situation where on any given day I can have updates with over 20 manga. Since I also binge-read, it is unavoidable that I do not recall the full story of what I have read and with reading many webtoons and manga with similar art styles or plots I can get bored with a certain plot narration. Which means that even if I binge-read over 100 chapters I will not necessarily continue on with the series, or I will wait till I once again have a number of chapters to binge.
3 – I forget plotlines
Due to my binge nature, I sometimes need to rewatch a few episodes or reread chapters to recollect what was happening and what the plot is about. Other times I remember the outline but not the specifics and it takes an episode or two for the details to come back to me.
However, I do consider the stories that I can clearly remember the plot without actively trying to be well told or that it has left a negative impression on me.
4 – I don’t really pay attention to character names
Once again, I consume so many stories that if it is not a long-running one or one with multiple seasons, I dismiss the characters. While I am watching the anime or reading the manga I know who is who, but when I move onto the next, I have left the characters behind. So when going through my screenshots or when discussing the anime I need to dig deep to recall their names, or more often than not, seek the character list of the anime.
5 – I am not phased by the background details like studios, voice actors etc
I acknowledge that the studios, directors, voice actors and all the other elements that go into creating anime are important and deserve the recognition but as a fan, I just don’t have it in me to memorize the information. These factors also have no bearing on whether I will or won’t watch an anime. So yes, I appreciate the hard work of every person in the industry, I am just not particularly bothered to know who is who and who did what and which studio made what.
Yet I know fans who if it is ‘their anime’ can tell you everything you might ever want to know about it and that is cool and I always find discussions with them fascinating. When I am putting together my reviews, character breakdowns or need more specific information, I look it up. Through this, I learn a lot but my brain just does not retain that information.
6 – I get frustrated when certain events or characters hit too close to home
For a fictional medium, anime (and manga too) have moments that are real. Sometimes a little too real. I get sudden bursts of frustration, annoyance and second-hand embarrassment for characters when they react to a situation in pretty much the same whinny, nieve or stupid way that I would. I watch anime for the escape and the amazing storytelling – not to see a self-reflected animated reaction.
A lot of the time, if I do not like a character, the root cause of that dislike is the fact that there is a part of the character that is too similar to a part of my self that I do not particularly like.
7 – If it is dubbed, you can guarantee I will make use of the opportunity to multi-task.
For me dubbed anime means I can split screen my desktop and work, schedule social media posts, sort files and so much more. Especially if I am rewatching a dubbed anime. Sometimes I will also exercise or cook while I have my dubbed anime playing.
8 – I stress over what to watch next
My To Watch List is ever-growing and while this year I have made some headway with it and have made some progress in updating My Anime List I still struggle with choosing my next anime.
At one point I was going through my list alphabetically, I did quite well but then it reached the point where I was watching anime just to get through my list rather for the enjoyment of it. Then I only watched anime that I was in the mood for, but it would take starting an anime and watching an episode or two before realising I was not in the mood for that specific anime. Starting a loop of ‘have I watched this?’ and ‘what was this about again?’.
I have come up with various methods but have found that not having an actual method is my method. Some anime I watch when it is recommended to me, others depend on what is trending on my socials and I wanna relate to what the socials are discussing. Other times it is a completely random pick from my backlog. Either way, it is always a process to start an anime.
9 – I activate and deactivate subscriptions with different platforms to ‘abuse’ their offerings.
There are so many legal platforms out there for anime viewing and manga reading that my bank account just cannot possibly keep up. My solution to that is to hop around from place to place and then over-consume for that month since not one platform has everything.
10 – I ignore the synopsis
This habit of mine is probably the best and worst one I have developed. It leaves every anime and manga a pleasant surprise but at the same time having no information is daunting and can lead to a lot of wasted time. I occasionally wish I would at least check the genre list before diving straight in.
Do you relate to any of my confessions?
Definitely relate on forgetting details and multi-tasking. I wish all volumes came with a little summary because I hate opening up and feeling like I skipped a volume or two even though I read them.
Huh, I’m opposite to a few of these.
I’m a detail oriented person, so I tend to remember names and I’ve long since gotten into the habit of directly paying attention to the thing that I’m doing at that time (this applies to watching anime anime, responding to emails, doing the dishes, almost anything), if I’m watching something and get a message, I have to pause that thing so I can answer my messages, it’s just instinct at this point and my brain refuses to work any other way – unfortunately, this means I rarely multitask (though I am at least capable of listening to music/podcasts while I do other things).
What I definitely relate to though, is starting a show and then not finishing it, regardless of how much I enjoyed it – life is busy, dammit, who has time for every single show out there? How do they do it and why are they keeping that information to themselves?
I do pay attention to the names of the studios and crew members though, it usually won’t turn me off a show but it will pique my interest depending on who is involved – the people who made Infinite Stratos (which is terrible, avoid it at all costs) also made That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, if I cared too much about who made what, I would have missed out on probably the best isekai of 2018; but in that same vein, the only reason I watched Blood of Zeus (outside of the fact that it’s a Greek mythology anime) is because it was made by the same studio that produced Castlevania.
As for synopses… I hear you. Going in blind is sometimes the best thing ever, but to avoid wasting time on something terrible I will usually at least check the genre and read/watch a few spoiler-free reviews.
I can relate to quite a few of the things you listed. My list of unfinished anime is immense. It usually amounts to having too much to watch ant too little time. I’ll start a bunch of shows then get stuck with life commitments which force me to pick only a couple of shows to watch. I also stress out over what to what to watch quite a bit. I want to maximize my free time so much that I just scroll through my list of to watch without picking anything for a while. And I am terrible with names as well especially in anime. If a character really resonates with me then I’ll remember the name quite easily but most of the time I’ll easily forget characters names. It doesn’t help that I’m bad with names in real life as well.
I have the same problem with remembering names! I’ll be fine while I’m reading or watching, but as soon as I’m done and have moved on to doing something else, I’ll forget the names of most of the characters. For long running series, I can usually get to a point where I remember the names of all of the main cast, because I’ve heard/seen them enough times, but even then I usually won’t remember the names of any of the side characters.
I also like to multi-task while watching dubbed anime. Sometimes I’ll work out while watching, but most often I’ll play some Animal Crossing while I binge an anime.
Dubbed anime really does allow that freedom, yet I know some people get so upset when I multi-task while watching anime (-.-‘) So glad that I am not the only one who slips on names
I know this is kind of weird but I also don’t finish anime I like, I started Seraph of the End during summer and liked it toooo much that I couldn’t continue it due to the fact that i would be heartbroken once it ended so I gave it up to save my self from endless depression lol.
I have tried to do this but curiosity always gets me in the end and I watch the remainder – even if I know pain is incoming. I just can’t help it.