This is the last time...

Just Passing Through

The Wildcard
It's easy to drop anime. You start watching and the show sucks, and you stop. Sometimes (especially when you're a reviewer) you watch a whole series through and vow never to watch it again... Oreimo Season 2, J'accuse!

Usually I give a show a second chance, it might have sucked the first time, and maybe I was just in the wrong mood that week, and I have flipped my opinion on a couple of shows that way.

But what about the shows that you fall in love with, and then fall out of love with after several years, and several viewings?

It took me 3 viewings of D. Gray Man to tire of its shonen mediocrity, while I watched Saiyuki Reload 5 times before I got bored with that.

This time around, I am retiring my Gantz DVDs, which I've watched an unprecedented seven times to this point, the difference being that I really loved Gantz the first few times. It's a death game anime, of which there weren't too many around when it came out, and it was provocative in all the classic, Manga Video cyberpunk ways, with swears, sex and gory violence. So much so that I forgave its blatant weaknesses.

But this time around, those weaknesses overwhelm the rest of the show, the poor writing and woeful pacing. It's my last time watching it, and I'm watching it as background noise to whatever is more interesting on my ipad...

So what have you fallen out of love with?
 
I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say I've fallen out of love with this one since I do still enjoy it, but I've certainly lost a lot of the passion I once held for 5 Centimetres Per Second. Probably because I first watched it when I was a young teenager and I didn't have a great grasp of what made something good or bad in terms of the overall writing quality, I just loved the music/animation and enjoyed the story.

To this day I still love the visuals and soundtrack, but as I've gotten older I've come to dislike Takaki's character and the way he handled his relationships with others. Becoming an adult myself led me to understand his struggles but also realise that the way he's written just isn't particularly good and he was never a good protagonist. Also since I've now spent many years thinking about works as a critic it's so much easier to pick out the flaws than it once was and once seen those flaws can't easily be unseen...
 
Also since I've now spent many years thinking about works as a critic it's so much easier to pick out the flaws than it once was and once seen those flaws can't easily be unseen...

Interestingly this is part of why I don't read negative reviews of things these days - it's not that I think critics or the job they do or their opinions are fundamentally unworthy of respect, but I am unwilling to spoil my own fun and enjoyment in watching something in this way - I do look at aggregate scores sometimes if I'm on the fence as to whether to bother with something or not, but that's about it. I was reading the Hans Christian Andersen story The Snow Queen the other day and for me, reading negative reviews is a bit like putting a piece of the glass from the mirror that magnifies flaws in my own eye! Sorry if this seems like an unreasonable thing to say on a review website, but that's part of why I like this site - because you mostly just review stuff you liked and the reviews are largely positive for that reason :) I still love 5cm Per Second, and The Place Promised in Our Early Days as well :)
 
I try my damn est not to read reviews about new series before I watch an episode or two. As far as older series I can't believe many years ago that I thought Sailor Moon was so good-all the endless recycled transformation sequences, monster of the week format, one dimensional characters, etc. Now it would bore me to tears trying to watch it-I would (and do) rather watch Precure.
 
Steel Angel Kurumi comes to mind. I enjoyed it back in the mid 2000s, despite it feeling like a shameless clone of the better Saber Marionette J. It hasn't aged well though, coming across as tired and simplistic compared to the countless shows that have played off the same tropes in the decades since.

I also have little to no interest in many of the ultraviolent 90s OAVs that Manga used to release, and that I used to lap up as a teenager. Angel Cop, Genocyber, and Crying Freeman are among those that I used to watch all the time, but haven't touched in a decade or more.
 
Steel Angel Kurumi comes to mind. I enjoyed it back in the mid 2000s, despite it feeling like a shameless clone of the better Saber Marionette J. It hasn't aged well though, coming across as tired and simplistic compared to the countless shows that have played off the same tropes in the decades since.

I also have little to no interest in many of the ultraviolent 90s OAVs that Manga used to release, and that I used to lap up as a teenager. Angel Cop, Genocyber, and Crying Freeman are among those that I used to watch all the time, but haven't touched in a decade or more.

When I got a combi unit close to twenty years ago, I spent a whole lot of time backing up old VHS tapes to DVD-R. According to my Excel sheet, I haven't watched Detonator Orgun since 2004, The Legend of the 4 Kings since 2005 and Fist of the North Star since 2006. Although it's been only 11 years since I watched Tokyo Babylon V1 and Angel Cop. I really should give them another spin...
 
When I got a combi unit close to twenty years ago, I spent a whole lot of time backing up old VHS tapes to DVD-R. According to my Excel sheet, I haven't watched Detonator Orgun since 2004, The Legend of the 4 Kings since 2005 and Fist of the North Star since 2006. Although it's been only 11 years since I watched Tokyo Babylon V1 and Angel Cop. I really should give them another spin...
Detonator Orgun was one of the last VHS tapes I bought before DVD started becoming a thing. I can't have watched it more than a few times and don't remember a single thing about it aside from its tokusatsu-style vibe. It must be over a decade since it got pruned out of my collection in one of my depressing space-saving charity bag purges. It's often the ones I forget the most about that I end up regretting getting rid of, because I can't remember why I didn't like them enough to keep. 😓

Speaking of middling mech OAVs, I used to at least find Dangaioh watchable, but the only thing I like about it now is that great opening song.

The Tokyo Babylon OAVs have aged pretty well, especially the second one. The only thing holding back the first one is that mega-cringe Strawberry Kiss-Kiss song.
 
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I think this is probably how I'll feel about the Monogatari series after I finish it. It sure has a lot of high points and Kizumonogatari will remain a big favourite. Definitely a series I loved back when I was new to anime but it has a few elements I'd likely find uncomfortable to watch these days.
 
Controversal one I bet but I couldn't finish Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. When I realised I was forcing myself to sit down to watch a few episodes rather than wanting to I just dropped it.
 
I love both FMA TV anime but honestly you're entitled to your opinion @Vincentdante - at least if not everyone likes what I do I'm more likely to get a physical release of an LE or out of print title before everyone else snaps them up anyway! I only paid I think a bit under £12 for all of FMA: Brotherhood on Blu-ray in the boxset that Manga Entertainment put out, got it off Ebay, and if everyone liked FMA as much as I do someone else might have already bought it so it's all for the good really :) (also I love both versions now but I found the first cour of FMA Brotherhood a bit of a slog just because I thought the previous FMA anime told that part of the story better, but I really enjoyed all the parts of Brotherhood that weren't in the first anime) :)
 
I love both FMA TV anime but honestly you're entitled to your opinion @Vincentdante - at least if not everyone likes what I do I'm more likely to get a physical release of an LE or out of print title before everyone else snaps them up anyway! I only paid I think a bit under £12 for all of FMA: Brotherhood on Blu-ray in the boxset that Manga Entertainment put out, got it off Ebay, and if everyone liked FMA as much as I do someone else might have already bought it so it's all for the good really :) (also I love both versions now but I found the first cour of FMA Brotherhood a bit of a slog just because I thought the previous FMA anime told that part of the story better, but I really enjoyed all the parts of Brotherhood that weren't in the first anime) :)
It's just my opinion, I simply couldn't get into it. I know it's a very popular show hence why I said it would be a controversal take. It's like how ActionFaust said above that he doesn't feel comfortable with Monogatari, but for me it's probably my favorite anime series ever. I have no reason to begrudge him or anyone who doesn't like it though.
 
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FMA is a series that I detest (my list of anime that I like is way longer than the list that I hate). I watched a few episodes and there was something that I didn't like about it and that was that-never again. I do like Saber Marionette J and J to X even more.
 
I don't think I've ever watched a series more than once 😅

When I finish one I've bought on BD or DVD, it ends up in a big box (if I liked it) or being offloaded to a charity shop (if I don't like it).

I'm sure one day I'll rewatch some of the shows I enjoyed, but for now I'm more focused on watching one I've never seen before (I've got MVM DOTW DVDs going back about a million years).
 
I don't think I've ever watched a series more than once 😅

When I finish one I've bought on BD or DVD, it ends up in a big box (if I liked it) or being offloaded to a charity shop (if I don't like it).

I'm sure one day I'll rewatch some of the shows I enjoyed, but for now I'm more focused on watching one I've never seen before (I've got MVM DOTW DVDs going back about a million years).
Kind of tying nicely into my last post but I'm currently doing yet another rewatch of my Monogatari sets now that I have finished upgrading them to AoA format lol.

I plan to rewatch my collection at least once, anything that is too big/liked it but not enough to warrant a rewatch or just didn't like at all I end up flogging at CEX. So I guess in the end my shelf will be filled with the most cherry picked anime collection ever lol.
 
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