That period after you finish a good anime/manga...

Aion

Aion

Time-Traveller
Does anyone else tend to get depressed just after completing a really good series, losing the motivation required to get into something else?

The better something is the harder it is to let go. I know this, yet I always find myself surprised when I go through the same thing over and over. It's happened to me quite a few times over the years. Not too often since I've been seeing less and less over the years, but there have been times that stick in my memory where post-anime/manga depression has managed to grab me. It usually wears off in a day or two, thankfully.

As I'm sure most people have worked out after my recent Love Hina postings, Love Hina is the latest to be added to the list of series that depressed me once I finished them. Even though it's plain and unoriginal looking to someone who hasn't read it, it's probably the most charming and definitely one of the most heart-warming stories I've seen. It just goes to show that, if a story is well-written, originality isn't that important.

Right now, after finishing Love Hina earlier on, I'm finding myself even less motivated and more depressed than usual. It's always hard to finish something great because it's never as good the second time around. Even though I have a few series that I know are worth my time, I find myself unable to bother with them at this moment in time - they're going to have to wait until Love Hina is out of my system. -_-
 
I used to. I'd purposefully slow down reading / watching something I was really enjoying to make it last as long as possible. But now I tend to think "but would I have wanted it to go on?" and the answer so far has always been no, every story needs and deserves a resolution.

However if I find something very thought provoking and /or it affects me emotionally then I'll find it hard to get into anything until I've mulled it over a little in my head. In a way, if someone's managed to evoke that response from me then it feels deserving of a few moments thought. I would cite Grave of The Fireflies, Ghost In The Shell and Jin-Roh as anime examples of this. There are probably more but those are three that sping to mind.
 
Get that feeling often: I know a series/film/manga is good when on completion it leaves me with that feeling. When a series reaches an epic conclusion that really works, you inevitably feel a kind of lull afterwards. Kind of like "That was awesome... Now what do I do with myself?" Usually I have to take a breather before I start on something new.

Series such as Cowboy Bebop, Gungrave, Full Metal Panic TSR, Welcome to the NHK, Monster: all left me in such a state - it's no surprise they're in my top ten as a result.
 
Wildcard said:
Series such as Cowboy Bebop, Gungrave, Full Metal Panic TSR, Welcome to the NHK, Monster: all left me in such a state - it's no surprise they're in my top ten as a result.
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I must say, you have great taste. It's (well, past tense now...) a good indication of how much something has impacted on me if I feel the need to type up a positive review, and I typed up 9/10 reviews for both TSR and NHK. Cowboy Bebop (best ending and main character ever) and Gungrave are both in my top 10. Monster got only 8/10 from me due to its length/slow pace, but it did thrill me.

Cowboy Bebop left me in awe/shock once the credits started rolling. The wonderful English song ("WANNA BE FRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!") that played during the credits, as the 'camera' moved up towards the sky, made what happened before even more unforgettable. I was depressed for quite some time after finishing.

Death Note probably had the most impact on me. I'd followed it weekly since the start, so seeing it come to a close was rather difficult to stomach after it had become part of my weekly routine to watch it. My annoyance over the Madhouse ending changes helped lessen the pain, but it was still hard to think of Death Note as over.
 
Yep that happens to me.

You might notice that I post here in spurts then disappear at times. I tend to switch off from it and then come back.

I usually like a break after an anime series, really found it hard to let go after Samurai Champloo, Berserk and Cowboy Bebop.

Doing better this time tho, watched Freedom, Angel Cop and now on Gits SAC 2nd Gig, as well as watching Planetes with the wife. We'll see if I need a break after that :lol:
 
Absolutely yes. My backlog is full of final volumes because even though I always buy them, it takes me ages to bring myself to be able to watch them, and I always watch them much slower than the rest.

There are shows I'm finishing now that I've been watching and in love with for over five years (some over ten years). I can't bring myself to end the experience of discovering them for the first time without a push.

All of this applies to manga too. And there is always a huge depression following every game completion (fortunately I like RPGs so they each take a while to complete, or I'd probably go crazy).

R
 
It doesn't happen often these days because, sadly, few stories have that kind of impact on me. Or perhaps it's because I don't actually watch that much anime. But I agree with Ayase: even with shows I love and don't want to rush through -- recent examples include Gun X Sword and Samurai Champloo -- I'm glad that they end before my feelings change. I'll take 13 or 26 great episodes over a longer series of mixed quality.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
But I agree with Ayase: even with shows I love and don't want to rush through -- recent examples include Gun X Sword and Samurai Champloo -- I'm glad that they end before my feelings change.
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I wanted Death Note to end. The story had gone on for a long time, and the best character went bye-bye faorly early, so I felt the need for it to end before it became stale. But that didn't stop me going weird after the final episode.

Nowadays I hate series that go on forever. I avoid endless manga series and I find it hard to see myself getting into an anime with over 50 episodes. I like stories to end in a reasonable amount of time, because I don't want to end up hating or getting bored with them.
 
I know exactly how you feel Aion. There are only three volumes of Fruits Basket left and I really don't want it finish, but I know that when it does, I'll feel really depressed.
When I get really involved in a series and I put a lot into it, not just time, but emotionally as well, when it comes to an end I feel a sense of emptiness and sadness that my time with those characters and their story is over.
 
Its happened a fair few times with me, and one series in particular got quite a large reaction out of me when i finished it but then i would agree with what people have been saying about wanting the shows to end early before the feelings change.

This is also true for manga as i'm now hoping that Bleach ends with this next arc before it the shark it jumped becomes nothing more then a spec below.

Normally though i would say this feeling doesn't last long with me, one night- two days tops. Of course this can only happen if i got something new to watch. :p

Also in relaltion to what Aion was saying about series length I would prefer it if the series length was justified by having a good story that ran through and never made it feel a drag to go from one ep to the next.
 
I think most people get that feeling especially when they've really been drawn in by the characters. You do feel in the dumps for a day or two.

I'll take 13 or 26 great episodes over a longer series of mixed quality.
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I agree. Fifty is far too long. It inevitably produces filler and also stoylines that might be relevant to the main plot but just aren't very well thought out. The longest series which worked for me was Macross which was 39 eps.
 
Ark said:
I think most people get that feeling especially when they've really been drawn in by the characters. You do feel in the dumps for a day or two.

I'll take 13 or 26 great episodes over a longer series of mixed quality.
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I agree. Fifty is far too long. It inevitably produces filler and also stoylines that might be relevant to the main plot but just aren't very well thought out. The longest series which worked for me was Macross which was 39 eps.
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Well wasn't Macross suposed to end at the 26-27 mark (hence why the main storyline ends there ) but then were given extra episodes leading to Hikaru's constant flip floping between who he loves (this is one of the reasons why i prefer the movie version, he remains far more constant) Still thanks to the gundam franchise and recently GaoGaiGar i'm used to 50 eps but i wish i could just cut out the parts that just didn't work or weren't needed (if i did that to Seed Destiny i'm sure it would of dropped to 13 eps)
 
ayase said:
I used to. I'd purposefully slow down reading / watching something I was really enjoying to make it last as long as possible. But now I tend to think "but would I have wanted it to go on?" and the answer so far has always been no, every story needs and deserves a resolution....
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Ditto. What put me off american comics and cartoons in the first place was that there never was an ending to then. Even american TV show they do fell like they just go on and on until no one cares about them anymore and rating drops.

There are very few exceptions, such as 12 kingdoms or Dungeons and Dragons where they didn't animate everything, but as a rule, to have them ending is part of the fun of it. For instance, Naruto anime could have ended after the sasuke arc and resumed at some point later when they had enough new material for shipuuden, But currently Naruto is lacking =(
 
ayase said:
But now I tend to think "but would I have wanted it to go on?" and the answer so far has always been no, every story needs and deserves a resolution.
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Ugh, the answer to this question for me on BECK would be no. I felt like it could of gone on for another 70 or so episodes; The manga is 36 volumes so far (and still going) whilst the anime has finished at 26 episodes meaning it finished only on the 8th volume!

Yep, I get it on most series I watch; On death note, I waited about 2 weeks between the 36th and 37th episode (the ending) because I really didn't want it to end, lol.
 
my really longest hiatus was while i wasn't on here

but between that i've been working on my drawings, i get emotional moved by certain anime shows but i don't feel the need to feel disappointed to not move on to the next

Only the contents of my wallet stops me from progressing
 
I don't ever think a series ending has stopped me jumping straight into another series. However if I really liked the characters or I did not find the ending satisfying I tend to think on for days trying to extend the story in my head (though I have no urge to write fan fiction).
 
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