Michael is Low on Hit Points
Quality series that don't compel me, redux
- Posted January 5th, 2010 at 8:29 PM ET
- Subjects Legend of Galactic Heroes, Tweeny Witches, Bokurano, Ghost in the Shell, Mushishi
- Tags short editorial
- Image sources
1- Legend of Galactic Heroes [Safebooru]
2- Tweeny Witches [Safebooru]
3- Bokurano [Safebooru]
4- Stand Alone Complex [Safebooru]
5- Mushishi [Safebooru] - Video searches
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There are those anime where I'd kill a man for the next episode during their initial airing. There are series that I've rewatched completely... in one sitting. But what about those shows that "feel" absolutely great, yet I can't seem to get into them at all? I wrote about this once before, and now it's time to look back and see how things have changed for Legend of Galactic Heroes, Tweeny Witches, and Stand Alone Complex.
The original post about me lauding, yet ignoring those three aforementioned series can be found here. I think sufficient time has passed since I've finished all three to approach this more objectively. Plus, there are a few more series that I want to talk about under this subject.
Important note: None of the following sections contain spoilers. In fact, no section is really about that series. I've written this post with a flow that asks that you actually read each part, as I talk more in general about viewing conditions that casually relate to that show. I promise you don't need to have seen any of these series to get what I'm talking about here.
Legend of Galactic Heroes
Questionably abandoned after 20 episodes, LoGH stood on hold long enough that when I picked it back up, I felt I should start again from episode 1. This time I finished, all the while thinking "this is fucking amazing" and "how did I ever let this go?"
But looking back, I thought those same things back then. I always felt the show was among the best ever, and I never could really wrap my head around why I wasn't compelled to watch more. But after this last, successful watch, it's become obvious what was really going on.
It wasn't that LoGH lacked compelling content. Now I understand. The length of the series had gotten to me. I'm not in good enough "shape" to marathon through 100+ straight episodes. All that I truly needed was a break. During this watch, I would take up to a week off watching the series whenever I felt "burned out."
No matter how great a series is, I get burnout. Plain and simple. Happened with Monster. Same with Gintama. I simply misinterpreted that burnout with LoGH negatively, when in fact it was simply something that I guess no series can avoid with me.
And every time I would get back to LoGH, I always thought to myself "damn this is great" and "it's about time I got back to this." But that's only because I had given it a break in the first place. And there's no way around it. I needed those breaks. It's just how it is.
Tweeny Witches, aka Magical Girl Squad Alice
Witches taught me something about myself, much like LoGH. Length obviously wasn't the issue here. Its pace is quite snappy, the direction solid and the art beautiful. So then what threw me off enough to so long delay finishing the series?
There are those genres *cough*slice-of-life*cough* that I love every series of. These titles have a natural bias in their favor. And I think the opposite is what happened with Witches. The show was written for a younger audience. Let's just be blunt; it's a kids show.
Nothing wrong with stories made for children. Pixar has proven that time and again. But a Pixar movie is one piece. You start it, and you finish it in that one go. There aren't designated stopping points in movies. But there are in television series.
That's where my natural bias took over. Sure, I enjoyed each episode. But once that particular episode came to a conclusion, it wasn't in my nature to demand "I want more of that this instant!" Instead, I'd say that I would pick it up later... eventually.
Once again my bias creeps up, in that given time to watch anime later, I would naturally pick a different series over Witches. That doesn't say Witches wasn't as good, if not better than whatever I ended up watching. It just means that I have trouble "getting into" a series like this for a sustained period.
Bokurano
Let me talk of biases once more. I have come to accept that I have a bias against shows that are dark -- as in really dark. I want some kind of positive element, even if it loses out in the end. Positive moments make those negative ones have all the more impact. Plus, how depressed do you feel like becoming today? Not very, I'd imagine.
Bokurano wasn't mentioned in the previous article, but I feel it fits in right here. I could always look at the series and say "my this is a fine anime." Yet I finished the show only by pushing against it. Unlike Tweeny Witches, I could tell right off the bat what was throwing me off.
I just find it somewhat telling that I could flat out accept that Bokurano was too dark and depressing for me, but couldn't come to terms with Tweeny Witches being too kiddy for me. In fact, I find it hard to even call Witches "kiddy," as if that was some kind of insult towards the show.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
The first time through 1st GIG, I had a hard time following events. I burned out during 2nd GIG after a few episodes, left completely lost and scratching my head. On a successful watch through of both seasons recently, everything suddenly made sense... which doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
It hasn't been that long since my first run through. I haven't "matured" or drastically increased in cognitive ability since then. I was an adult then and -- unfortunately -- remain one now. I guess having a better grip on series events after already seeing it once helped tremendously... but that doesn't explain 2nd GIG.
I hadn't seen 75% of that series before, yet all of the new content was easy to digest. This was certainly not the case before. So here's what I think happened the first time; I wasn't all that into it. Burnout or whatnot, my head clearly wasn't in the series.
And if you don't pay close attention to Ghost in the Shell, it will lose you real quick. The franchise as a whole demands your full attention. I have to say, it certainly deserves your full attention. The payoff is well worth it.
Mushishi
Now here we go again. I haven't finished Mushishi, and I've gone after the series twice now. The first time I let it drift away after 4 episodes. This time I got to episode 9 before taking quite a long break. I certainly haven't "burned out" on only 9 episodes.
Mushishi is 100% episodic, which means that the next episode doesn't demand to be seen immediately. In fact, I feel it's best to watch just a single episode each night, leaving the rest for later. But I've been sidetracked by other series as of late (OMG, Honey and Clover).
It's not that I don't like Mushishi. It's magical and wondrous in its telling of fables. I want to watch more, but I'm not compelled enough to drop everything else and get on it ASAP. I guess that's just the reality of episodic series. The largely episodic yet fantastic Michiko and Hatchin was stretched out long due to the same... lack of necessity, I guess.
Now I'm feeling a bit burned out and am not sure how to properly send off this post, so... (this post finale has been put on-hold).
1 topspin
Oddly, I haven't been able to complete Honey and Clover. Everyone else says it's awesome, and I kinda liked the first season. I also usually love these kinds of shows, including other slow, slice-of-life-ish ones like Ristorante Paradiso and Spice and Wolf. But H&C? I just can't get into it at all.
Mushishi took me a long time, but it was different as I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are some series that I simply don't feel like marathoning. I enjoy them more when I'm watching an ep or two once in a while. Same thing happened with Chi's Sweet Home and Astro Fighter Sunred.. too much and I felt it's charm would wear off.
The opposite happens to me when I want to marathon something but it's just too damn long. LoGH, Higurashi, the first FMA.. things that had accumulated so many episodes before I had the time that I couldn't find the time to marathon them.. and taking them slowly wasn't helping.
2 Seantaku
I'm sorry, I've never heard of Legend of Galactic Heroes before but that picture is absolutely killing me! He looks like anime Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing gear sitting on some sort of an X-wing!! It hurts my brain!! LOL Wow!
Sorry, just had to get that out there.
I do know exactly what you are talking about though. I have done that with MANY a series. I don't know how many times I've started a series, paused, came back later, started again to refresh, got farther, then paused again.
I need to be in the right MOOD to watch something. If I sit and stare and get engrossed by 10 straight episodes, well that's awesome! But if I go to bed and work the next day hoping to pick up where I left off when I get back, sometimes I kinda lose interest! Not because it's bad, but because I have other things to occupy my time other than anime. Like video games and movies. Sad really. lol
Keep posting man, love hearing your thoughts!
3 ojisan
I get your point. In fact, I wanted to argue against it at first, because Mushishi and Mahou Shoujo Tai are two show that I reaallly like & respect - then I remembered that I never finished them either.
AND YET I know I'll watch the rest of them and enjoy them someday. "Cause a quality show can still lack 'finishability' and still be a quality show. It's not just a matter of narrative suspense -there were no long pauses in my viewing of Aria - and yet there it is: Mushishi is a superior anime, and I'm still saving the last 13 episodes for a rainy day.
Now as for GITS, you're right - it requires full attention. I recommend marathoning.
4 kadian1364
I get that feeling with the really long shows too. Monster I did in two parts, and I committed a whole month and a half last summer to take on LotGH.
But other times its just much simpler than time commitment; sometimes we're just not ready for it. Oh sure, we read all these glowing reviews and we can see the basis of such claims to quality, but if we're not ready, in attitude, knowledge, or mood, the greatest piece of literature couldn't make us go.
But at least the we've come to the realization that the problem could be with us, and not a fault of the work itself.
5 Scamp
Well I agree with GITS and the problem with long series (I have an allergic reaction to anything with more than 30 episodes) but great series from a genre I don't like? Normally when I watch something that's been defined as great by others is a genre I don't like, like Clannad AS and Kimi ni Todoke, I can still quite clearly point out the reasons why I think the show is hopelessly flawed. However these flaws I point out seem to be what other people love about it. So it's not that I can see it's a great show but it's just not my sort of thing. I'm seeing these same things and then being totally confounded by how anyone could enjoy watching that.
6 FaS
Wow, am I gonna have to check back like every other day now? (I need to just use RSS for once) Glad to read more posts lol. Anyways, yeah I can completely agree. I almost feel you should have named the post, "Burnt Out, or Just Bored: Is There a Difference?" Hell, maybe I'll write that haha. Anyways, there've been COUNTLESS times when I just can't keep watching episodes back to back even though I love a series. The same with this web-developing thing. I love looking at coding tips and coding design and doing it, but I can only do so much even though I "go hard" at it.
Furthermore, series coming to a stop at the latest episode doesn't help either...sometimes I just might forget to check back even though I was very interested. Like Bleach or Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood - like episode 32 with the sloth character...I completely lost interest, then forgot to check back. I mean that's 32 episodes! The series KEPT me going for 32 EPISODES! Think about it. It's nothing to sneeze at. But overall, yeah it's definitely something to think about :P
Re Michael is LoHP
@ topspin
I guess you can say that some things just "click" with you and some things, for some reason, don't. A lot of that might have to do with "mood" and timing, which I plan to talk about in another post later.
As you mention with Mushishi, sometimes it's good to drag out an anime and enjoy it over a longer period of time. For me, I desperately did not want Aria to end, and I would try my hardest to only watch an episode or two every so often, so as not to breeze through the series too fast.
Some series beg to be marathoned quickly, but have such a high episode count as to create burnout. Those two factors can really work against each other.
@ Seantaku
Let me (and probably everyone else who's seen it) fully recommend LoGH. It's long, but it never loses its luster. It is one of the few works I've ever experienced that I would label "profound."
Mood is such a funny thing. It swings around for no perceivable reason. Why do I always want to do X when I can only do Y now and can do X later whenever I feel like it? But then later comes and I don't feel like doing X anymore...
That's actually one of the big holdups with me posting more often. There are times (a) when it's best for me to write, but I don't feel like it. Then there are times (b) when it's best that I do something else and I suddenly feel like writing. I won't write at that time "b" and I'll hold it off until time "a" comes again. And then the cycle repeats.
@ ojisan
I always felt like I was having that argument against myself: "I don't feel like series X right now. But X is so good and you need to watch it! How can you (me) say that when you haven't even finished it!?"
Something can be quality without being compelling (suspenseful, having 'finishability,' etc.). However in the end, I tend to view those ultra-compelling series a bit higher. Let's call it a bias.
@ kadian1364
I think my Monster viewing got a week break in the middle, now that I think back on it. And it bugged me that I could let that happen back then. Damn, it's all coming back to me!
We are definitively a factor when it comes to impressions. Timing, mood, past experience, etc. all add up to affect the final impression. Wouldn't it be... interesting, funny, something... to see a reviewer lambaste himself over a bad anime!
"My appreciation for this writing is terrible! I need to work on better liking these characters! I have so many flaws as a viewer that I don't know where to begin!"
@ Scamp
I'm sure a lot of us out there have at least a minor bias against high episode counts. They represent such a commitment!
I'm pretty open, and I don't think there's many things I have a strong bias against. I simply try to demand that a series executes what it is trying to execute and do it well. My overall enjoyment of it likely won't change, but I can at least acknowledge that I see where the fans are coming from... when they're not flat out wrong, of course!
So maybe I'm just full of shit on that last point?
@ FaS
I would definitely say there's a difference between burnt-out and bored. It's not that I got bored of LoGH or Monster or Gintama, etc. I just have a certain "stamina" that when reached, requires that I take a break. I think. Yeah, that sounds right.
With site designing, I can just go on and on and on and on... I don't even notice the time. But the weirdest thing is that it has to be my site. I've tried designing sites for other people on a couple of occasions, and I've never actually fully finished a single one! I lose interest really quick and everything about it becomes a chore.
The forced breaks of weekly watching can really ruin your momentum. Some series (Code Geass) I would be checking the fansubber's site the day of release every few hours... fine, minutes. But other series I could completely forget about for a while, if there was something else occupying my thoughts at the time.
7 Glo
I still haven't even started 2nd Gig, and frankly I don't think I ever will. The thing is, I thought that the first season was actually pretty good, so reasons for me not starting the second season are still unclear to me. That's the only anime you listed that I have experience with.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Glo
Maybe because it's a series you feel you have to commit to? Or maybe the tone is too somber and you want something with more 'pop'? I'm just throwing random guesses out against the wind.