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

Baggie_Saiyan

Baggie_Saiyan

Thousand Master
What do you look for in a series? What makes you go "nope this ain't for me" or "yes this is some like it'll be something I won't click out just yet". I am sure the broad answer is enjoyment but I am sure the definition of enjoyment differs from person to person. So I am curious to read some opinions from you folks. Also how long are you willing to give a show, 1 episode, 2 or 3?

For me, it is characters, as long there is/are characters I like I can sit through anything even though the plot maybe be cliché driven drivel, but the second no character is sticking to me I click off. As for how long I give a show, usually just one episode at most sometimes even half a episode cuz when it feels like 20 mins is up but in reality it is only 10 then I know this show ain't for me.
 
I guess it depends for me. Most of the time it's actually pretty long, because I don't drop out of hatred or dislike of a show, more boredom, like Yu-Gi-Oh GX, which I dropped at 31/180 and Shaman King, which I dropped at 23/64. If it's something I just generally don't like, I'm normally pretty fast, between 2-5 episodes, occasionally more.
 
I'm quite the trooper usually, I sat through two shows I quickly learned to hate after all (Comet Lucifer & Akame Ga Kill) but I'm out if they take the "underage girl" thing wayyy too far, see this seasons My First Girlfriend is a Gal for an example. It wasn't dark humor.. it was unnecessary & in bad taste. I hear the character isn't even in the manga so I'd love to know what the heck the person who thought the character up was thinking ...or maybe not o_O

I agree with the character comment. Sometimes you can't help being drawn to a character even if rest of the show isn't appealing. That character helps you push through (Praise to Esdeath!).
 
I think experience counts as well. After watching over 400 anime I'm pretty good at telling if I will like something after a couple of ep's. Now and again I get it wrong (like with No Game No Life) but for the most part you learn to know what you will like/ dislike over time.

There are certain shows that fall into a grey area which you don't enjoy that much but feel the need to finish. This pretty much sums up how I feel about Death Parade at present. It's also less of an effort to power through single cour shows which have limited appeal that a 24 ep plus show.
 
Peachy said:
I'm quite the trooper usually, I sat through two shows I quickly learned to hate after all (Comet Lucifer & Akame Ga Kill) but I'm out if they take the "underage girl" thing wayyy too far, see this seasons My First Girlfriend is a Gal for an example. It wasn't dark humor.. it was unnecessary & in bad taste. I hear the character isn't even in the manga so I'd love to know what the heck the person who thought the character up was thinking ...or maybe not o_O

I agree with the character comment. Sometimes you can't help being drawn to a character even if rest of the show isn't appealing. That character helps you push through (Praise to Esdeath!).
Click to expand...
Oh god Re:My First Girlfriend that is the only thing I absolutely hate about the show when it first happened I was like "alright whatever it's a one time gag", but it turned out to be the characters only literal trait and it just got worse to the point he got a part time daycare job and I was legitimately stunned they went there anytime he is on screen I try and skip ahead.
 
I have a three-five episode rule for anything whether it's anime or otherwise. If a series can't get me invested in that time then it isn't worth my time completing it. (With a few exceptions here and there). There are different factors that keep me interested, the main two being characters and the narrative.

There is also the case of long-running anime series' which often have a slow beginning but get better as they get past the initial introduction stage. (For instance, Hitman Reborn's first arc of slice-of-life is pretty tedious and takes over 30 episodes to finish, but the stuff after it is pretty decent.) With these I'll give them an arc or two, it's been worthwhile for me so far. One Piece, my second favourite anime for example, hits its stride around the second major arc.

I'm actually surprised that I've only dropped a few anime that I can recall, and that there's one or two that are currently on hold.
 
Last edited:
I try out 3 episodes if I'm not enjoying it after that I normally stop watching it. For me it's about the characters as well there's got to be a character that I like to keep my interest.
 
I don't really drop shows. Once I start watching something I will generally watch it through till the end. That being said, I do put shows on hold indefinitely, which is essentially the same as dropping them :p. Though, sometimes I pick one up again and quite enjoy it, probably because at that point I know what kind of show it is and what I feel like watching at that moment.

Also I have like two "viewing modes"; one where I'm really invested in a show and one where I just enjoy watching the show (by ignoring all its flaws). The latter does require me to be interested in some aspect of the show, be it the visuals, music, (some) characters, or something else. The thing that really drains any enjoyment for me is slow pacing to the point that I rather look at anything else in the room than the screen.
 
I have a terrible thing where honestly it can sometimes take me as much as 9 episodes to get into a show. I like to give a show every chance I can and hey if it's 12 episodes then I normally always finish it. The only times I don't finish shows is when I truly hate them, they are literally offensive to me in someway for example (and somewhat controversially) I feel this way about Heat Guy J, that series is hot garbage of the highest order and even then I slugged through 17 episodes before finally calling it quits.

But yeah I hope to honestly be invested as early as 3 episodes or so but like I say almost always by around episode 8 or 9 I will become invested in almost anything as by then I feel I've come to know the characters, the story and the world etc. It can actually suck though that it takes that long sometimes because in a single cour series thats obviously 75% of the show gone before I feel I'm truly into it and by then there is as little as 2-5 episodes left so I'm suddenly not wanting some shows to end.

Fortunately lots of series can grab my attention nice and quickly, for example Shingu Secret of the Stellar Wars had me at hello lol, pretty much instantly loved the vibe of the series and it never let up. Another show I can tell I will love just from checking out the first 3 minutes or so is Tide Line Blue as it has a vibe that I've gravitated to over and over when watching Anime. I hope to watch it soon once things get back to normal for me over here.

So while it's always great to fall in love with a show straight away pretty much I know from experience that it's worth giving alot of shows the time if you have it as most of the time it's always paid off in some way.

I would rather do that then be like some people who drop as much if not more than they finish, I always feel sorry for people who do that. I feel like they waste so much time rather than just sticking through with some shows and experiencing the stories. I see MAL profiles like that and I think do these guys commit to anything? Like have they seen parts of hundreds of movies without finishing them either? lol

If you see my MAL profile I tend to have on-hold long running shows or classics I wanted to try and would like to return to. While my dropped is the couple of shows I hate and the classics that either didn't do it for me or I just wanted to see but had no intention of ever finishing.

Anyway thats my two cents and about a bag more.
 
Last edited:
I have a 3 episode rule which has served me pretty well. If a show can't get me invested in anything by 3 episodes then I'm not going to enjoy the rest of it.

It is rare for me to drop something after 1 episode, which this year I believe stands at only 2 shows.
 
Baggie_Saiyan said:
Oh god Re:My First Girlfriend that is the only thing I absolutely hate about the show when it first happened I was like "alright whatever it's a one time gag", but it turned out to be the characters only literal trait and it just got worse to the point he got a part time daycare job and I was legitimately stunned they went there anytime he is on screen I try and skip ahead.
Click to expand...

..I...I'm speechless. It's such a shame they added him, such a character clearly damaged enjoyment for many.
 
Peachy said:
..I...I'm speechless. It's such a shame they added him, such a character clearly damaged enjoyment for many.
Click to expand...
I don't get it I really don't, those jokes have never been funny in the slightest but to make it recurring and only trait of a character I don't know how this even got passed but like I said I can slog through most things if there are/is characters I like and in this case it is slightly more the fact so I can hear more of Alison Viktorin and I so happen to think her character is the best in the show.

Blaize said:
I have a terrible thing where honestly it can sometimes take me as much as 9 episodes to get into a show. I like to give a show every chance I can and hey if it's 12 episodes then I normally always finish it. The only times I don't finish shows is when I truly hate them, they are literally offensive to me in someway for example (and somewhat controversially) I feel this way about Heat Guy J, that series is hot garbage of the highest order and even then I slugged through 17 episodes before finally calling it quits.

But yeah I hope to honestly be invested as early as 3 episodes or so but like I say almost always by around episode 8 or 9 I will become invested in almost anything as by then I feel I've come to know the characters, the story and the world etc. It can actually suck though that it takes that long sometimes because in a single cour series thats obviously 75% of the show gone before I feel I'm truly into it and by then there is as little as 2-5 episodes left so I'm suddenly not wanting some shows to end.

Fortunately lots of series can grab my attention nice and quickly, for example Shingu Secret of the Stellar Wars had me at hello lol, pretty much instantly loved the vibe of the series and it never let up. Another show I can tell I will love just from checking out the first 3 minutes or so is Tide Line Blue as it has a vibe that I've gravitated to over and over when watching Anime. I hope to watch it soon once things get back to normal for me over here.

So while it's always great to fall in love with a show straight away pretty much I know from experience that it's worth giving alot of shows the time if you have it as most of the time it's always paid off in some way.

I would rather do that then be like some people who drop as much if not more than they finish, I always feel sorry for people who do that. I feel like they waste so much time rather than just sticking through with some shows and experiencing the stories. I see MAL profiles like that and I think do these guys commit to anything? Like have they seen parts of hundreds of movies without finishing them either? lol

If you see my MAL profile I tend to have on-hold long running shows or classics I wanted to try and would like to return to. While my dropped is the couple of shows I hate and the classics that either didn't do it for me or I just wanted to see but had no intention of ever finishing.

Anyway thats my two cents and about a bag more.
Click to expand...
That is some interesting line of thinking I guess these types of folks more or less try and watch every show a season? So with that sort of burden it is expected that they would end up dropping a lot of shows, and that is why I usually wait for seasons to end (this summer season is the first time I started watching stuff from the start) so I can better formulate other people's opinions for those that have watched it properly and have a better grasp on what I'll like, most of the time it works out but sometimes I do get shows that don't click with me, fortunately all the shows I tried this season I like.
 
There really isn't any formula for me. Sometimes "this is going to be horrible" flags trigger during the first episode and i give up immediately but sometimes for a reason or another i keep watching if things change. If i put up with something that is not for my taste or is plain bad i usually stick until the end if the series is short. It has to be something special if i will force myself to sit through a bad show for 20+ episodes or it has to have some redeeming qualities ( good characters vs **** plot)

But it's been actually quite a while since last time i had bad time forcing myself to watch something. There's been some tedious shows i have seen this year but nothing that makes me sick watching.
 
I don't really have a rule concerning this, and I'm not really sure what my tolerance is.

I remember having dropped 3 shows since I've started watching anime:

Deadman Wonderland, because I remember the characters being annoying and it all feeling a bit silly;

Blassreiter because it was just plain bad (characters, animation, premise) ;

and, I guess, Seven Deadly Sins, but not really consciously, I just stopped watching. I remember thinking it was trope-ridden (the annoying kind), and that made it really hard to appreciate the fights.

I was also disappointed with Tokyo Ghoul S1 which stopped just when things were getting interesting, so I'm not watching S2.

So, all things considered, I think I'm pretty tolerant. I guess there are certain tropes I can't really stand, but if the premise or setting pique my interest, I'll give it a chance. Good animation helps, I guess.
 
I usually drop after one episode if I can tell something will annoy me (lame main character, recycled plot, stupid falling over and groping scene etc). I try to watch the first episode of everything so a lot gets dropped!

It's then rare that I will fall out of love with something after that point, but it does happen. I had hopes that My First Girlfriend Is A Gal would have some cleverness behind its stupidity and finally gave up after eight episodes. Hearing that the awful paedophile jokes were added for the anime confuses me; they were horrendous! What on earth were they thinking?

R
 
I learned early on that most shows tend not to reveal their true quality until they've been able to run for a few episodes - especially if its a quality series that has some big and interesting ideas in it.

Very, very, rarely, I've encountered the odd stinker that just seems to have no oomph to it whatesoever. Gasaraki springs to mind. How anybody with brain cells to rub together actually enjoys that show is beyond me. It might as well have a flashing neon sign oover it saying 'WE'RE MAKING THIS UP AS WE GO ALONG, FOLKS, AND WE DON'T HAVE ANY IDEAS!' - seriously when a character in a show has an actual line of dialogue to say 'I know you want answers, but now isn't the right time to give them to you,' it's a sign that the plotting and writing have taken back seat to a studio's need to knock out a show and get it on air because reasons.

I pick on that show specifically because it's one that seemed to maintain a constant level of crapitude throughout. I gave it a chance. But it never got better.

I don't think I've seen many shows that managed not to redeem themselves one way or another before the end of their run.
 
I'd be careful about attacking the fans of a show even if it sort of sucks, though. As it happens I don't care much for Gasaraki either (great music, though) but if I did I'd probably have hurtled in with all guns blazing at the jab and it was popular enough in the post-Evangelion 'navel-gazing mecha show' era to get a premium release in the US and lots of positive press.

(Having said that, I would love to read a genuine defense of that character in My First Girlfriend Is A Gal. And this comes from someone who thinks some really trashy shows are great.)

Sort of tempted to make a thread for defending shows other people think suck, for comedy purposes, but there's a real risk that it will just be me posting about otome game adaptations with no other participants.

R
 
Last edited:
I very rarely give up on a show, remain intent on watching it all the way through, but, shows I have dropped include Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan, the Gundam franchise, Dragonball GT, just through sheer boredom. With 12 and 24 episode shows, I tend to see them all the way through, as it's not that much of an investment in time. But I'm usually two or three seasons behind on streaming, and only choose a few select titles that have had favourable comments. The only 'new' show I'm currently watching is Sakura Trick, and even them I'm only up to episode 7.

One oddity is the Jojo#s franchise. It's patently daft, and ridiculous, and overblown. It's probably the manliest show since Fist of the North Star, and I find it so stupid that I always resolve to drop it after watching an episode. But then I get drawn in to watching the next one, just to see how dafter it can get. Right now I'm halfway through the Egypt series, so that's some 50-odd episodes of swearing to drop it that I've reneged on.
 
I usually give shows the three episode rule as I don't have time to commit to a billion series a season just in case they get better, three episodes is normally enough for me to tell if it's any good or not.

I'm not against dropping something in its first week though if I'm really not getting along with it, like Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor and Knights & Magic (I really hated that protagonist >_>). Looking at my Anime Planet drop list, it looks like I'm pretty happy to drop stuff at about episode 5-7 as well, usually because I let myself fall behind because I wasn't enjoying it as much as other shows and then decide I can't actually be bothered to catch back up. Lately I've become a lot happier to just drop stuff at the third episode though, to try and prevent getting into the situation where I'm spending time on something that I'm not massively enjoying. My spare time is precious and sought after these days.

When it comes to continuing a show I'll often look at what people are talking about most at the end of the season. If they hold similar opinions to myself and start saying the show gets a lot better then as long as I didn't hate it I might pick it up for another couple of episodes. It rarely happens, but sometimes it's just the little push I need to go on.

I agree with what Crashmatt said though, a lot of it is experience. I can usually tell if I'll like/dislike a series based on the first episode or two and it's not that often I'm proven wrong simply because I've watched so much now that my tastes are pretty set in stone. The exception to the first episode or two rule for me there is KonoSuba, which I was completely cold to until the third episode and then it finally clicked (yes I know that's hard to believe now given how much I go on about it...).
 
I'm quite good at telling what I'll like by now, so it's rare that I actually pick something I end up dropping. Most of the things I do drop are due to boredom rather than outright dislike. I do look at the end of season thoughts and sometimes pick things back up if they seem like they might improve but that doesn't happen often.
 
Back
Top