What makes you decide to continue watching a show? And how long do you give a show?

I can honestly say I have never dropped a show. I always research something and make sure it's something I really want to get into. In the early 90's when I was first getting into anime I blind bought some crap on VHS but that's because there was less info around back then and sometimes it took a while for the magazines I read to get round to reviewing something. I get though that with streaming sites it's so easy to start in progress shows that end up being kinda crappy, I always prefer to see how they turn out as a whole before jumping in. There have been a couple of exceptions where I've watched em as they've aired in recent years but mostly it's stuff that's finished airing that I watch. There's been a few manga adaptations where I liked the manga where I jumped straight in but other than that not many I've just started as they aired from episode 1. I guess coming from the background of always buying complete stuff on home video has conditioned me to a certain way of viewing. It's great having the choice to watch stuff at the same time as Japan or just shortly after but I rarely feel the need to because my backlog is so massive that I still have stuff from years ago to watch.
A good problem to have I suppose.
 
My stance is kinda similar to @Scrambled Valkyrie's. As someone who doesn't bother with streaming, the stuff I'm watching is stuff I've bought on BD or DVD, so it'd be pretty bad if was driven to actually drop anything.

The titles showing as Dropped on my MAL page are ones that I've *ahem* shall we say 'previewed' online for whatever reason. I have a strict one-episode policy for that: buy it or drop it. I've mostly used that for series that were in AOL's DotW at that point.

The series I most wanted to just give up with was my second-hand Manga DVD boxset of Otogi Zoshi. It'd usually take me around eight days tops to finish a two-cour show, but this one took me eight weeks. It probably wasn't actually as bad as it felt it was; it probably just came at the wrong time.

I'm pretty stubborn about seeing things through that I've started: I even slogged my way through all 22 episodes of Texhnolyze, after taking up @Lord Bacchus's 'Texhnolyze challenge'. The aim: to finish the series without losing the will to live. I made it, but only just. ;)
 
Neil.T said:
I'm pretty stubborn about seeing things through that I've started: I even slogged my way through all 22 episodes of Texhnolyze, after taking up @Lord Bacchus's 'Texhnolyze challenge'. The aim: to finish the series without losing the will to live. I made it, but only just. ;)
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I might have to take up that challenge, I've been meaning to check out the series for a while. Should probably get around to buying the dvds at some point.
 
HWR said:
I might have to take up that challenge, I've been meaning to check out the series for a while. Should probably get around to buying the dvds at some point.
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You're a brave man. Best of bloody luck with it!
Something about artificial limbs eroding people's humanity. Or... something. :confused:
 
Neil.T said:
You're a brave man. Best of bloody luck with it!
Something about artificial limbs eroding people's humanity. Or... something. :confused:
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Yeah I've seen bits and pieces of it, sounds like great fun.
 
Neil.T said:
Yeah, fun. It's exactly this much fun:
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You never did tell me whether you liked it or not when I asked, so I'm glad I am not alone in thinking it is a loathsome waste of Madhouse's talents. Sleep inducing at its best, infuriating at its worst. Buyer beware and all that, though if anyone on this thread wants to see it, it's all on Funimation's Youtube. Unlike the majority of that channel it isn't region locked. What a sick joke.
 
Lord Bacchus said:
You never did tell me whether you liked it or not when I asked, so I'm glad I am not alone in thinking it is a loathsome waste of Madhouse's talents. Sleep inducing at its best, infuriating at its worst. Buyer beware and all that, though if anyone on this thread wants to see it, it's all on Funimation's Youtube. Unlike the majority of that channel it isn't region locked. What a sick joke.
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Well that saves me a few quid. Now I'm really curious...
 
I guess I'll be the dissenter in this discussion. Texhnolyze is great. Dark, unforgiving and uncaring. A story about people just trying to survive, but do they even deserve to? Deeply, deeply nihilistic, it absolutely won't be to everyone's tastes (and that's fine!), and you should absolutely know what you're getting yourself into. But if you're in the mood for a dark, unhappy tale that forces you to think about what's happening and come to your own conclusions about stuff rather than beating you over the head with exposition, it's hard to do better.
 
Joe said:
I guess I'll be the dissenter in this discussion. Texhnolyze is great. Dark, unforgiving and uncaring. A story about people just trying to survive, but do they even deserve to? Deeply, deeply nihilistic, it absolutely won't be to everyone's tastes (and that's fine!), and you should absolutely know what you're getting yourself into. But if you're in the mood for a dark, unhappy tale that forces you to think about what's happening and come to your own conclusions about stuff rather than beating you over the head with exposition, it's hard to do better.
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And this is exactly why I'm so curious, some hail it for the reasons you listed above, and others really dislike it. I'm looking forward to seeing what my opinion will be like. I'll be sure to summarise my thoughts when I watch it soon.
 
I'm also a fan of Texhnolyze tbh, but totally understand why people would hate it.

As for the question this thread is asking, I just drop things when I stop caring really. There was a time that if I was invested in a series I'd watch it to the bitter end, even if I wasn't enjoying it but at this point I just don't have the time or patience to watch something I'm not enjoying so I could drop something after the first episode or after 150, it doesn't really matter anymore.
 
Lord Bacchus said:
You never did tell me whether you liked it or not
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Whoops, you're right; I missed it. I've sorted that now. (Check yer inbox.) ;)
Joe said:
Texhnolyze is great. Dark, unforgiving and uncaring. A story about people just trying to survive, but do they even deserve to? Deeply, deeply nihilistic
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See, this is the bit I don't get. I like stuff that's dark; I like stuff that's basically nihilistic at its core, but I just didn't get that from Texhnolyze. In fact I just didn't 'get' any of it. It's like I said in the spoiler tag before:
Artificial limbs erode people's humanity?
Is that it? Is that supposed to be the entire point that the series is trying to convey?!? **** me.
 
Great you've got me curious about the series now. Funi's YouTube someone said?

I watch rick&morty, for something sold as a sci-fi comedy it's kind of nihilist, especially this season with characters having some self reflection. I'm a bit of a nihilist myself, so I expect that Texhnolyze would attach to that if I seen it
 
Captaaainuniverse said:
Great you've got me curious about the series now. Funi's YouTube someone said?

I watch rick&morty, for something sold as a sci-fi comedy it's kind of nihilist, especially this season with characters having some self reflection. I'm a bit of a nihilist myself, so I expect that Texhnolyze would attach to that if I seen it
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The thing about Texhnolyze is that unlike Rick & Morty, the nihilism is all it has. There is nothing to balance that out whatsoever, and from the 12 episodes I saw, the protagonist (if we can call a reactionary character who just hits things a protagonist) is just a total blank slate that spent half a series just screaming at people. Honestly, I just hated every character in it from what I saw. And I have no problem with unlikable characters, since I rate School Days rather highly compared to most. School Days had a tonne of spectacle to it though, and the characters actually seemed to have personalities (even if they were awful ones). Texhnolyze was just dull and grey, with nothing to latch onto, and no particular reason to feel invested in any of the characters or their world. That's just my opinion though, so give it a try for yourself. I have no idea what people see in it though.
 
I'm reminded I really need to finish watching Texhnolyze after half-heartedly starting several years ago. After owning the DVDs for what must be going on 7-8 years.
 
caught the first episode of that on YT yesterday. not nihilistic or anything at all. there is just nothing set like character or setting in the whole first episode. there are bits and pieces if you know where to look but none of them really fit. there just isn't any substance
 
Captaaainuniverse said:
caught the first episode of that on YT yesterday. not nihilistic or anything at all. there is just nothing set like character or setting in the whole first episode. there are bits and pieces if you know where to look but none of them really fit. there just isn't any substance
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I'd say it gets better, but it doesn't. Unless it miraculously grew a plot in the second half.
 
Having completed Texhnolyze I think @Joe really summed it up nicely. I've voiced my own opinion over on the My Viewing Journal thread and I can recommend that the series is worth checking out and deciding on your own merits as to whether it's good or not. I think it's the kind of anime that no two people will have the same opinion on, it's just that kind of story.
 
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