Forum - View topicThis Week in Anime - Running on Empty
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
mdo7
 Posts: 8224 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
|
||
|
See this is why I have hobbies and other entertainment options outside of anime/manga, it's to prevent me from getting anime burnout.
|
|||
|
|||
TarsTarkas
 Posts: 6216 Location: Virginia, United States |
|
||
|
I have been watching anime since the early eighties, but by 2010 and maybe earlier, I was getting a bit burnt out. No real excitement, probably just 'rote' watching by that time.
And then it came out in Japan, "Puella Magi Madoka Magica". I don't remember how I noticed it and I don't remember why I decided to watch. After all, it was a magical girl anime. At first it was downplayed on ANN, but that changed later. But I noticed an energy on my internet searches and found sites that were raving about it, like it was the 'second coming'. There was also one 'meme video' going around, a fan reaction to the events in episode three, that would be considered quite 'socially inappropriate' in today's culture wars. For me, "Puella Magi Madoka Magica", was a high octane drug that changed everything. I watched each episode as soon as it came out on the fan subs, with an almost feverish anticipation that I never had before or since. Gone was my anime ennui. I consider "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" to be the peak of my anime life, from the Eighties to now. For sure, some of my anime gateway shows from the Eighties are sure up there, but even nostalgia wise, I can't lie to myself, PMMM is it. Nowadays, I have manga and light novels that compete for my attention from anime, so that the seasonal highs and lows of anime, are leveled off. And with China's and South Korea's recent anime successes there is even more to be excited about. I don't think I will be every burnt out again. |
|||
|
|||
Triltaison
 Posts: 939 |
|
||
|
My burnout period was circa 2010 I think. I'd been watching since the '90s, and the newly released series just didn't hit with me as well for a while.
There were so many fanservice and maid type shows in the '00s. And a large uptick in shows geared entirely to buy character goods for personality trope characters rather than tell a story. I don't mind merch-geared shows, but the ones meant entirely to sell keychains and half-naked waifus to otaku were really feeling particularly dominant, shallow, and forgettable to me around then. They seemed to be the majority of series getting made and licensed, and the shows I enjoyed most kept getting relegated to fansubs only. For me, my Renaissance came from discovering older anime and manga. I hadn't really paid attention to not-current stuff before since I mostly noticed brand new licenses to the West. I started hitting up some convention panels by people like Dave Merrill, Mike Toole, Daryl Surat, and Tim Eldred and it was like a treasure trove had been unveiled. I hadn't ever heard about Kitaro, Harlock, Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, and so many others. It turns out that many of the things I craved were in the classics all along. Everything old is new again to the right person. At the time, many were unavailable in the West... but now we live in a Golden Age where you can easily go and buy so many of these anime and manga in English. So I guess my advice is to try something outside of your usual wheelhouse and you might find a new passion within a current hobby. I was very close to falling out of the fandom entirely, but now Discotek helps keep that spirit alive. Cycling other hobbies in and out is also a good way to keep interests from waning, but it's also important to remember why you fell in love with your hobby to begin with. |
|||
|
|||
Beltane70
 Posts: 4183 |
|
||
|
Despite the fact that I’ve been watching anime actively for almost 40 years, I’ve been fortunate enough that I’ve never experienced anime burnout. For me, it would feel too weird to not have anime in my life.
|
|||
|
|||
Glordit
 Posts: 1183 |
|
||
Same. I have watched thousands of shows over the last 20 years and I am still finding interesting shows to watch and enjoy. I'd say the secret to not getting tired is to have other interests, and staying physically active. |
|||
|
|||
|
<('_')^
Posts: 182 |
|
||
|
Given how much variety there is in the anime medium, I find the idea of "anime burn out" weird. Most of the cases I see of it are from people who limit their consumption to specific genres rather than branching out. Most often it's battle Shonen and Isekai that lead to burn out because of how lazy and formulaic they've gotten. For those who know how to hunt the good stuff, there is never enough.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Troyen
Posts: 76 |
|
||
|
I agree that if you're feeling burned out by anime, it's fine to take a break. Watching/consuming so much of anything and it'll start to feel stale. There are certain tropes in Western literature or TV that come up over and over and you'd definitely notice the patterns well before the 100th show. Same with anime, or manhua, or whatever.
I burnt out on anime back in 2013 and came back ten years later to find most of the genres had changed. Anime and manga still have a lot of repetitive plot themes if you read a bunch of them, but for a while, there might be something new that you personally haven't seen before. I've seen enough isekai, demon lord, or villainness stories now to pretty much guess how it'll go, but the first few I encountered when I came back to anime certainly felt different than the shows I was watching when I left. Whatever genre fad replaces them will probably be the same, plus there's always the opportunity to go back and discover shows that came out during the absence, without feeling obligated to keep up with everything in real time. Of course, if your job is to review and write about anime, then this might not work out for you. But as a hobbyist viewer, there doesn't have to be a hard quota on the number of shows you watch each season. I was feeling underwhelmed last season and almost canceled my streaming subscriptions, only for this season to probably become my favorite in years. |
|||
|
|||
|
Cypher997
Posts: 192 |
|
||
|
I tend to take breaks every now and then with regards to anime and other hobbies (gaming, model building, model railroading) so that I don't get burned out. It's not a perfect method by any means, but it has helped me out.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Traptrix Lover
Posts: 194 |
|
||
I usually find it's the opposite. Shounen fans are the easiest to please and always happy while it's the more "media literacy" crowd always unhappy that anime focuses on subjects and topics that are popular with anime fans over esoteric and niche subjects. Luckily I'm part of the former in that I'm into what anime is mostly about about so there's always tons of shows for me to watch or get into every season. Also it goes without saying but interacting with 'fandoms' is always a bad idea: at least ones built on trying to form cliques or name recognition. Anonymous and random communities generally have much better discussions and friendlier people than places like Reddit or X where it's all about making a name for yourself and forming cliques and recognition and gatekeep other people from their fandom. |
|||
|
|||
|
pip25
Posts: 268 |
|
||
|
I watch less anime these days. Burnout might be a bit strong of a word for me - there are simply less series I find interesting enough each season. I don't think my tastes have changed, rather, there's only so much one can stomach from rehashing the same idea over and over again. (I think everyone knows what ideas I'm talking about.)
Also, Transformers FTW! They are an even older hobby for me than anime (unless we also count the G1 cartoon as such). Great to hear I'm not the only one with a collection of transforming robots on his shelf! 
|
|||
|
|||
Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10362 Location: Virginia |
|
||
|
I've been watching anime since I first discovered it in the late 1990s. I'm not completely burnt out but the candle is pretty much burnt to the socket. It has made me rather selective about which shows I try to follow. I think it was the onset of streaming that did it. Suddenly I was no longer limited to shows that were interesting enough to buy or rent. I think the shear mass of shows overwhelmed me. I'm down to one to four shows a season.
I have countered by reverting to my main love, reading. I still read a lot of Japanese light novels and manga but also limited science fiction and mystery and a lot of history. |
|||
|
|||
kgw
 Posts: 1536 Location: Spain, EU |
|
||
|
I can say that with every season I grow more tired. How many 'must watch', 'must read' must whatever? I barely have time to keep with the series I am actually interested to add any more. And it's not as if the quality increased season after season.
|
|||
|
|||
|
moroboshi-kun
Posts: 90 |
|
||
|
Having watched anime since the 70's (no, YOU'RE old) and do feel the burnout creeping in at the edges lately. Some of this has to do with navigating the dumpster fire of a world we now live in, but I think the easy access to nearly everything along with how. That seems counterintuitive, but having so much available can feel overwhelming. I feel like when more effort was required, even if it was just having to go download what you wanted to see, you would more naturally recuse yourself from all the rest.
One thing I have learned not to do is to let shows go. Even if it's one that, at least on the surface I'm interested in, if I just naturally stop watching it, don't go back to it. Especially if was a popular show with a lot of discussion around it and I wanted to participate in the conversation, I'd...not force myself, "force" isn't the right word, but I'd watch it without much interest. Every season I pick 5 or 6 shows to follow, and within a few weeks its down to 3 or 4. I do miss the days when I could follow more shows, but I prefer taking a deeper dive into the ones I really like. Not that Solo Leveling is deep or anything... Having said that, if you're looking for something different, try Odd Taxi. It's animals, which put me off at first, but still one of the best shows of the last decade. |
|||
|
|||
Greed1914
 Posts: 5348 |
|
||
|
Never had a total anime burn out, just genre specific ones. Watching other stuff and coming back later when there is a more exceptional entry in the genre usually worked.
|
|||
|
|||
Mizlude
 Posts: 78 |
|
||
|
This is why I would never want a job in my hobbies. The second you have to have obligations or change the way you engage with something to accommodate obligations it ruins it. If you had to write a book report for every manga you read or anime you watched then yeah I imagine it would be pretty bad and you'd get sick of it. I guess since I just watch anime and don't have to report on it I can watch as many as I want at whatever pace I want without obligation to have a report due-by date deadline or the freedom to drop a show I don't like rather than having to stick with it because it's my job to 'review' it. It's also why I could never be a streamer. I like being able to just pick whatever game I want to play whenever I want without having to accommodate a stream schedule or what actually brings in views or what people expect.
|
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group