Forum - View topicAnswerman - The Shape of Things
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Paiprince
 Posts: 593 |
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One of the main culprits why everyone's experienced a burnout bout or two is because the whole medium became totally available because of the internet.
The doors are open and it's no holds bar anime consumption up the wazoo! Then you get sick of it just as much as a kid who eats 3x his weight in sugar. It's the whole human sensation of overindulgence. Same can be said with just about everything that is "fun." It slowly but surely loses it when you do it over and over and over. As others have said, mixing it up with things you'd normally wouldn't care for certainly help. I've done this by watching older shows circa the 90's and earlier in one season then early 00's in another. Quitting cold turkey, on the other hand, isn't a very good idea in my opinion because you end up leaving the hobby with a bad impression which leads to the well known opinions we see on the net ("all anime is just CGDCT moecrap [insert whatever buzzword here]") That said, my backlog is huge and is ever growing, but I manage to balance it with current season shows (I watch 20 on average and still going strong). There have been lulls here and there, and I sometimes have urges to do other stuff in place of watching them, but I've struck a sweet spot of being able to catch up without fundamentally ruining my life. On the subject of anime musicals, that's what was my first thought when I first check out Sakura Taisen. I was unaware of the source material at that point so I was kinda bummed it was mostly mecha action with a revue draped on it. Not to say I don't appreciate it now I know more about the franchise. Last edited by Paiprince on Fri Jun 27, 2014 11:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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IIRC, the only anime I have with a spindle is my set of Princess Tutu. Which isn't a combo pack. All the combo packs have those multi-disc page-like things. So yeah, cheap packaging doesn't necessarily go hand-in-hand with a combo pack. |
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Cptn_Taylor
Posts: 925 |
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Never had a anime burnout in my life. I watch anime with moderation and that's it. I've never felt the urge to "watch 'em all" because I was going to miss something. If an anime is good people are going to talk about it even 6 months/1 year or more down the line. And then I'll give it a chance and start watching it.
Thank god I'm no anime professional reviewer. Can't imagine watching day after day tens/hundreds of anime I couldn't give a damn about. But as a fan I love anime even if I tend to watch not more than 5 series per year. 
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PurpleWarrior13
 Posts: 2027 |
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I don't watch a ton of anime shows at once, although I don't watch as much as I'd like to. The closest I've come to burnout is when I decided to marathon the first season of Dragon Ball Z in a few days in anticipation of getting Season 2 for my birthday (this was when I was maybe 15). Big mistake. Most of Dragon Ball Z is highly entertaining, but that first season man is pretty boring (at least the Frieza saga can be hilariously bad at times to make up for it's endless dragging). I was watching as many as 12 episodes of it in one day, and by the end, I was morbidly sick of it (there was one episode with Gohan trapped on an island that I kept having to re-watch and start over because I was zoning out). I recommend watching one disc of episodes AT MOST at a time.
I also got sick of much of the anime crowd for a while, and keeping up with the anime scene in general. That's since faded somewhat, but I try to keep my internet anime activity to a minimum so I can still enjoy it. Honestly, part of me was only keeping up with it while I was waiting for Sailor Moon to be rescued. That was the one piece of anime news I really wanted to see, and I waited about five years. As for combo packs, they can be annoying, but I guess there's nothing wrong with having an extra DVD copy handy for your laptop or whatever, and I've loaned them out to friends who have no Blu-ray players. I also keep old DVD copies of stuff I've re-bought on Blu-ray, although I might get rid of a couple of those to free-up shelf-space. |
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ActionJacksin
 Posts: 112 |
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Except it isn't supposed; blu-ray is quantifiably (?) and objectively better looking, whether it's a cel animated show being scanned and restored from its original telecine or a proper upscale of a gaudy early 2000s digital painted production. I don't see how it's pretentious to want something that looks and sounds better than the technology that came before it. |
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EmperorBrandon
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 2210 Location: Springfield, MO |
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As far as burnout goes, it feels like I have the opposite issue. I'm constantly coming upon gems, whether in new seasons or discovering things I missed many years ago. With all the unwatched shows that look so promising, on top of many I really want to watch over again for whatever reason (not being fresh on my mind, a dub to check out, etc.), it feels like I'll never to get to everything I want to watch. I'm kind of set on a particular comfortable pace when it comes to anime that I rarely have the will to break. Series that amass lots of episodes (and that I don't happen to try to catch week-by-week as I do with HxH) can prove to be daunting for that reason, but my tastes tend to steer me away from a lot of series that go on really long anyway.
I suppose if there's anything that frustrates me about going through too many series that are only of middling interest to me, is not so much that they give me "burnout" but it feels I've really wasted time I could have devoted to digging into those numerous gems instead. I think I've gotten much better lately at cutting those kind of series short, though. Trying to wait for something to get better is one thing I honestly do much less of than I used to do. If I don't get at least a good feeling (doesn't have to be spectacular, but at least fairly enjoyable) from the first few episodes, something that I feel I could go through again without being a slog, then honestly the series improving later on (which feels like it's rare after a bad start for me anyway) is unlikely to be enough to be a motivator. There's so much else out there I can enjoy from beginning to end. |
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luffypirate
 Posts: 3187 |
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I finished off the backlog back in '10 and haven't had to deal with stress like that since. The new way I view my collection (I rarely watch streaming unless its by favorite staff of mine, almost all of my viewing is Blu-ray disc) is buying one show at a time. When I finish I buy another unless I find some crazy sale item like a 50% off a brand new BD box, only then will I juggle a few shows at once. This situation just happened when I found both sola and true tears BD boxes for about $100 a piece. Watched them both within a week of receiving in the mail, rotating discs each day. Most of the time focusing on that one show at a time is enough for me. I like to follow certain directors and writers (animation studios not as much anymore) because I know who clicks with me and who doesn't.
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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I was eating up anime at a pace of about 20 episodes per day for about 6 months just last year. I hadn't really been in the community for very long at that point so everything seemed relatively new and I hadn't gotten bored of the anime staples. Over the last few months I really curbed my consumption though. I still watch quite a lot because my backlog has plenty on there that still piques my interest, but I have pretty much stopped watching shows that have poor ratings unless they are in one of my favorite genres. I also don't think I will every really do much of the simulcasting thing. I could be wrong, but, like Justin said, I really like to wait till people are talking and I can see some ratings and reviews before I jump into a new show. I can only imagine how much time that has saved me just in the last year.
As far as combo packs. I guess I'm a little different because I am entirely neutral on the whole thing. I don't hate them or love them. As long as there is a blu-ray copy and the packaging looks nice, I don't care if they want to throw a couple DVDs in there too. I will never watch them, but they don't have a negative impact on me. |
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relyat08
Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Slow clap. You are my hero. I have gotten substantially more picky lately, but I still have a pretty huge backlog. I haven't heard of very many people actually completing their backlogs though, so you deserve some praise for that. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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GiriOni
 Posts: 218 |
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As a guy with ADHD (but not speaking for everyone that has it) I tend to burn out in strange cycles. Basically I would hop from lots of anime to regular US TV (mostly horror shows) to video games before heading back to anime. Currently though I have managed to somewhat balance everything out without burning out. Which has the unfortunate side effect of draining even more money from my wallet.
My biggest burn out happened when I, a couple years back, marathoned about 300 episodes of Detective Conan in about a month to a month and a half. Afterwords I barely touched any anime and instead wasted time on JRPGs, which included like 5 Dragon Quest games (4-6,8&9) and Persona 3 & 4 clocking in probably 1000 hours of game time (of which P4 contributed 200 hours). Which surprisingly left me burned out from video games for a while. Long story short: Everything in moderation is best. Also: Like Justin said, don't force yourself on anime you don't like, just drop it without a word if it bores you. |
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luffypirate
Posts: 3187 |
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I should probably go into some detail about that lol. So back in around '08 when I started transitioning to Blu-ray (just bought an HDTV, PS3, and 5.1 setup that year) I realised how ridiculously out of hand my anime collection had become. I had crap ontop of crap, shows I just bought because of bargain pricing, and shows that I had once loved but not anymore. Many were unwatched so I made a list of what to watch and what to immediately sell. Started selling and pumping thE cash into buying the old shows I would never get tired of and started watching the rest. Yeah I kind of cheated and dodged a ton of series thar were not worth the watch but I knew then and there that most were just going to be a waste of my time. I've narrowed that huge R1 DVD collection of 750 discs to just about 100. That's when I made the promise to myself to never let it get out of hand like that again. Only one at a time: the rest can wait unless its some out-of-print collector item I need to buy right there. Too much stress I'm more in favor of a small collection of titles I love more than anything else. Current collecting strategy is to buy up all of the anime that has really had an impact over the years. Those pieces that really define the medium. Anime is art fanservice and all and I'm a patron of it. I want to fill my shelves with some really lovely well written, directed, and beautifully animated pieces. Last edited by luffypirate on Sat Jun 28, 2014 3:34 am; edited 1 time in total |
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kevinx59
 Posts: 959 Location: In sunny California |
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I've luckily never felt anime burnout, but then again im usually a slow watcher.(i tend to pause and rewind tiny bits often to make sure i didn't miss anything or if a moment was particularly interesting). Im following 7 series this season, and thats the most I've ever followed. That said, i usually only watch an episode a day, soon after its available. If i have a dvd i will watch more episodes, but its never been more than 4 epi.(a disc) at once. Today for example i watched the last episode of No Game, 3 episodes of my friend's Toradora dvd, the beginning of Chaika 12, and rewatched an ep. of Rosario Vampire 2. (And this is because im free summer, but classes limit my viewing the rest of the year) Rewatching older series is great (hopefully pleasant memories), and watching an already finished series is good in the breaks between new episodes (right now its Kyousogiga). I cannot marathon a series (4 eps. my limit before i do something else), and i have no desire to watch everything thats out there. I still haven't seen many classics (Akira, Ninja Scroll, Nausica, Lain) but i still have time in life. Taking my time to enjoy what i watch seems to be my effective way to stave off burnout.
Combopacks? I like em. I have a ps3, but the tv in my room is about my age( early 1990s, only my living and dining room tvs are hd), so it doesnt really matter which. Plus splitting them with friends is great. Arakawa, Okami-san, Sora no Otoshimono, me and my friend have split the cost and each kept dvd or blu ray. Even in my house my sis keeps Haganai dvd and i the bluray. The fact that dvd players are more abundant among my friends makes them convenient. The price for the combos, especially Funi's but also to a certain extent NIS, aint half bad either. Oh and i think there was an old Jack and the Beanstalk anime musical. At least, i think that was the fairy tale. |
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Crisha
Moderator
 Posts: 4290 |
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I'm going through a bit of a burnout myself now. For 2014, I've completed just slightly above an average of one series per month. Some of it is due to work - I tend to work until about 7 PM most nights and occasionally on weekends. Some of it is due to some newer hobbies - playing Town of Salem and watching Let's Plays on youtube. Some of it is just a general exhaustion - the amount of work with an average of 5 hours of sleep per night. And some of it is due to the following issue:
Argh, when it's something I bought, I feel obligated to watch it once to get my money's worth. I've been stuck on episode 5 of Petite Princess Yucie for almost a year now and episode 5 of Martian Successor Nadesico for 3 months. Passing up streaming series isn't as hard (though I've been slowly struggling through Blue Drop for the past month). But an anime I bought? I know I'd be happier just giving them up. But, errrgh, it annoys me. I keep telling myself, "oh, just one episode a day and you'd eventually finish, and then you can sell the series." But I rarely get around to doing it. Something's gotta give though, because it's making my hobby feel like a chore. My preferred method of watching is marathoning. I love watching series I'm really interested in. My recent endeavor was Kill La Kill, and I watched at least 12 episodes in one day. And before that was Blue Seed, which I completed in 2 days and watched 17 episodes in one day. The one episode a week just doesn't work well for me, which is why I don't often watch anime as they're airing. I prefer to wait until the season is over, read up on the general opinions, and then pick and choose. |
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scriver058
 Posts: 127 Location: NY |
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Yeah man, the internet... I cringe when I think of my combined Netflix, Hulu, Crackle and Crunchyroll anime backlogs, and that's just the anime. And then, you know, stuff doesn't stay on there forever, I managed to watch the first 13 of Ikki Tousen before Hulu took it down. Made it through half of Fist of the North Star before Crackle took it down, though I hadn't noticed it's on Crunchyroll too. It's a bit depressing to think about everything in your backlog, and then to also realize it may expire before you get to it. I really can't watch more than 2-4 shows at once, anything past that and ill fall off on something, and I recently wrapped up Kill la Kill and Samurai Flamenco. Bubblegum Crisis 2040 is also being watched. When my Attack on Titan BD came in, I watched those 13 eps 2-3 times, and then I felt like watching Steins Gate again so currently doing that. Don't know when ill pick up a new show or two to stream, but only a matter of time. With all that, I don't think i've ever really burnt out on watching anime, though I may have burnt out on buying it; I bought a ton of stuff in the early 2000's, and then went a lot of years between buying new series. The advent of Blu Ray discs was a factor in me buying series again, and now I pick up new series here and there, at a decent rate. Justin is dead on with this though, and it bears repeating: "Part of the rehabilitation process is going back and revisiting a handful -- JUST a handful -- of your old favorite, formative shows. The ones that made you an anime fan, the ones that give you the sense memory of that magical moment when you said, "wow, what IS this stuff?? I have to see more of it!" As that original "wow" moment recedes further and further into the dusty past, I find it's incredibly important to go back and revisit what stuck a chord in you, and why that is." |
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