"Letting go" of a series after finishing it

It's happened to you, hasn't it? You watch a series, fall in love with that series, and before you know it, the credits roll on the last episode. Something about the anime has grabbed a hold of you and won't let go. You want more of something there is no more of. What then do you do?

My first response when finishing a great show is to hit the internet hard. Scour for plot details I might have missed on Wikipedia. Read any and all blog entries to see what others had to say. Go to the dedicated fansites to reminisce a little. And while that gives me something to do immediately after, it doesn't last long, and what's left is a growing appetite for more.

An old habit of mine -- which stills crops up every so often -- is to go back over the entire series, skipping around in each episode to see a clip or two here and there. Relive the anime by watching all the highlights. If that sounds obsessive... well, it is. That is precisely what I'm talking about: an obsession for more once it's all gone.

Another thing I do often enough is to go back and rewatch the first episode. It gives you a sense of how far the show, plot, and characters came. It's also a bit sobering, in that it should calm that loud voice in your head that screams "go back and rewatch the whole damn thing!" You know afterwards you don't have it in you, and that it's best just to let it go.

Listening to the soundtrack for a while afterwards is a great way to satisfy the need for more. In fact, I'm doing that right now as I write this post! And the series that put me in this state? Simoun. If you haven't seen it, then let me give you my highest recommendation. A unique setting and plot are brought to life by beautiful art and an impossibly good score.

Of course, it's the nuanced and highly memorable cast that I'm hung up on the most of all. Isn't it always the characters, when you can't quite let a show go? I mean, this certainly isn't the first time. They say the best way to get over one lost love is to simply find another. But so soon after? What if I don't want to move on quite yet?

So, what series have done this to you? How do you obsess over them afterwards? And how do you end up getting over them?

  • dated November 18th, 2008 at 3:25 PM
  • type Anime and tagged Simoun

Poll Question

How bad are you when it comes to "letting go" after it's all done?

Obsess over it for days

Think about it a little, but move on easily enough

Nothing moves me quite like that

or just see the results

User Comments

1)  omo

I blog about it.

Simoun is quite the trip. It still haunts me since I saw it in '06.

2)  IcyStorm

I sometimes blog, but I just mostly do what you said in the post. I rewatch Lucky Star all the damn time, listen to the character song albums, and stare at the LS poster in my room all day long (OK, maybe not the last one). I haven't gotten over Lucky Star. I watch an episode or two every week because it still makes me laugh and smile.

Some other shows were Haruhi, Death Note, and True Tears. I got over them relatively quickly though.

Note: LOL I thought the third form field was for me, and I didn't realize it was an anti-spam measure until a minute later o_o

3)  Michael | Low on Hit Points

@ omo

Just watched Simoun for the first time. Finished the last 15 episodes over the course of two nights! Damn, it was good.

@ IcyStorm

LOL. Thanks for the heads up! I'll fix the way that's stated to avoid further confusion. Lucky Star was weird for me in that I only marginally enjoyed it while it was airing, but once it ended I badly wanted more. You don't realize what you have until you lose it? That OVA was really good too!

4)  TheBigN

You don't even really have to let go of a series you like once you're done with it. It's alright to have a break once in a while. But it can help to share the feelings that you have with other people, like blogging for example.

5)  eipu

i also have a hard time letting go of series that I've grown to love so much. Well, i do same thing as you do, like read blogs and see people's opinions about the series, or rewatch the entire thing. I guess the most intense obsession I had was with Hunter x Hunter back when it was shown in our local television network in 2001.

6)  ghostlightning

My real name is Michael, and my behavior is eerily similar to yours. Although right now, I still truly haven't let go of Macross Frontier. I'm constantly trying to figure a way to shoehorn something Macross in all of my blog posts.

I have the finale on my iPod and every now and then I watch it on the way home. Am I ok?

7)  Michael | Low on Hit Points

@ TheBigN

Yeah, sometimes I get a bit burnt out on too much anime and take a break to do other stuff with my downtime around the house, like read. I've got some good books and manga I should be getting to...

@ eipu

Looking at MAL, Hunter x Hunter looks to be a long one. Now I'm here thinking about what's harder to give up: a short and emotionally poignant work, or a long and developed one? Or what's harder to give up: a marathoned masterpiece or brilliant show watched on a weekly basis? I guess it all depends on the show!

@ ghostlightning

Well hello, fellow Michael. There's a few episodes -- or episode segments -- that I've watched far too many times for my own good. I feel you on that one. The good thing (or bad thing if you're trying to get over it) about Macross Frontier is that you can keep that soundtrack in rotation, versus a more traditional soundtrack featuring only background music. Northern Cross and Diamond Crevasse are easily my favorites.

8)  lelangir

I go watch a really banal anime and then forget about the one I just watched, or rewatch it slowly and "carefully", or blog it, usually in that order.

9)  Michael | Low on Hit Points

@ lelangir

That brings up an excellent point. After watching something I deem great (and hard to let go of), the next series I begin is usually one I won't have high expectations for. And as a definite rule, the next series can not be in the same genre (as in, I won't watch another slice-of-life after completing an excellent slice-of-life).

10)  BakaTanuki

I feel that way all the time. I'll finish a series that I was so into I just wasn't ready for it to end. I am still not over Lain, and I watched that (for the first time) a couple months ago.

One thing I do is make a quick avatar/signature for a coupel forums I go to. Listening to the soundtrack works too; I bought Lain OST and Lain Cyberia remix album.

11)  Michael | Low on Hit Points

@ BakaTanuki

If I had a traditional site banner here, I'd probably be switching it out at the end of every series that really left an impression. I do that with my desktop background, but only at the end of a series. I'm usually too scared to check out any image site for BGs for a show I'm watching, fearful of spoilers.

Soundtracks have a little added bonus to them: if I listen to one I haven't in a while, for a series I really love, it makes me want to go back and watch the anime immediately! It gets me in trouble with FLCL in particular, as that OVA is short enough to consider rewatching at the drop of a hat. And thus, I've seen it way too many times.

12)  jp

I try to play some of the music on an instrument. Either that or I sing, blog, read, talk about it on forums, scour the internet for art and music.

Not on the same day but you get the picture :D

13)  Michael | Low on Hit Points

@ jp

Damn, being able to play music from the show myself would be awesome! My music skills are such that I even suck at Rock Band. I think it would be too cool to be able to pick up a guitar and start rocking out some The Pillows, who provided the soundtrack to FLCL.

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Michael can't let go of what anime?