Forum - View topicYour Opinion Influenced By Others?
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Have you felt that when you watched a series after reading what other people said, you were obliged to say the same thing or feel the same way about it? For example, that of Elfen Lied, where it recieved high appraisal for its gory scenes and naked young girls etc. etc. But when you go back and look at how the whole series go, you discover for yourself that a certain series isn't all that it's made out to be once you've stated your opinion about it.
In my case, I have gone back and changed the ratings of about five series where I had the ratings higher than what I changed them to. One of these included Elfen Lied, from which I changed from a Masterpiece rating to a Very Good. When you get down to it, a series can make a stand out, and it can draw you into it's world to make you watch it, but that doesn't mean that it's the greatest series in the world. |
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Meiaminkbell
 Posts: 109 |
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I would have to say that I am obliged, upon hearing about it, to say the same thing. That's why I don't usually listen to people about certain shows or click in threads dedicated to a single show.
I am heavily influenced by others, this comes from my background that I would do or say something in high school so I could "fit in" with the regular crowd. I have long since grown from that, but I still experience withdrawls every now and then. So the solution? Don't listen to people. 
I watched Elfen Lied, Shuffle, and Nagasarete Airantou all before I actually looked up anything about them other than their genre's (in the case of EL, saw it an anime club). All of them are fantastic shows in their own right (I think of Elfen Lied of a masterpiece not because of the gore and nudity, but because it's an intensely dramatic show with a fantastic plot that makes me question its morality, I LOVE shows that get me to think/fantasize). The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Bleach, and Ouran High School Host Club, are all shows that were recommended to me as "it's good" or "you should try it". They were only mentioned once depending on the conversation I had with that particular friend, and although some highly recommended it, they just stopped talking about it soon afterwards. So yes I am influenced by other people, but it's not a bad thing. You need people to influence you and guide you to the right anime. What you may love now you may not love as much in the future. Such is life. Just don't let other people rule your opinions. |
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Eruanna
 Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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I am not very influenced by others, and if my opinion differs from someone elses, I dont change mine to accomidate them.
But you seem to be moreso talking about being swept up in the moment of an anime, only to find later on that it wasnt as good as you intially thought, which.... has little to do with other people. :S |
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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I'll not likely be affected by someone coming straight out telling me "I think [show x] is the greatest thing since sliced bread," but it's really hard for me not to like something that I happen to be watching with someone who's just having a great, great time.
For instance, I've been watching Cooking Master Boy, a rather standard shounen action/comedy, with my fiance the past few weeks. He used to watch it in high school and just LOVES it. Had I watched this series on my own, I wager it'd get a "decent" rating at best, but it's hard not to smile every two seconds when the person next to you is gushing with nostalgic love and excitement and exclaiming stuff like "Oh! Oh! This guy is going to be a major character; you can tell because of his spiky hair!" That heightens my enjoyment to at least a "Very good." On the flip end, while not quite as common, I have been known to lower a rating of a series after listening to calm, rational criticism that succeeded in influencing my opinion. However, most of the time I the enjoyment I derive from a film/series is based entirely on my own personal taste and preferences. I love Tekkon Kinkreet even though Justin (whose opinion I greatly respect) gave it a bad review, I like TokiKake even though my fiance hated it and I think MoHS is just okay, despite its wild success and high ratings. |
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hentai4me
 Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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Every opinion you have is affected by and affects the opinions of others. Consciously or not.
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Aylinn
 Posts: 1684 |
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I don't think I am influenced by other people too much I read what people write about series but I don't care too much what they are thinking about it I don't feel obliged to like what they like. After watching some series that were recommended to me as masterpiece I ended up thinking abut them as a worst ever for example: Elfen Lied, Chobits, Shuffle! Not really good: Claymore So-so: Full Metal Panic! Good: Fullmetal Alchemist even if I liked FMA I didn’t find it as masterpiece. Of course there have been people that recommended me some series that I rated like they did but I have never thought later that I should change it.
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Kelly
Posts: 868 Location: New York City |
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I think one should take rankings into consideration, but also common sense and your own personal preferences and gut feeling after reading a few good reviews. It's also good to keep in mind that you have no idea who is ranking any given anime. For instance, a college age man's masterpiece ranking of Berserk is of limited use to a little girl, and a little boy's masterpiece ranking of Pokemon probably doesn't mean much to a college age woman. In ANN's case, it's useful to note that the poll quite a while ago revealed that the largest chunk of ANN readers are males in their late teens and early twenties, so us gals should keep in mind that although greatness often transcends genders, the rankings here might sometimes be slanted against some anime we might like.
So use the rankings as a tool, but not a be-all or end-all. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 8016 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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My opinions are my own based on my evaluation of something. I hate taking other people's word on things because I don't like to miss out. I may avoid a certain series if somebody with simmiliar taste I trust doesn't like it though. If I like something it's because I personally found it entertaining and worthwhile and if I don't well then it really sucks because I'm not exactly the most critical person when it comes to my entertainment. Besides it's fairly easy for me to look at what people say and automatically weed out what's BS/hype and what's truth, I guess it's a gift.
Last edited by Kruszer on Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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varmintx
 Posts: 1320 Location: Covington, KY |
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I come to this forum for the specific purpose of finding out what others have to say about any particular series; it is through this exchange of ideas that hopefully I can come to a greater understanding of what a series is about. How much I'm influenced entirely depends on how well others support their opinions. It has nothing to do with changing how much I enjoyed the series, since of course, I'm reading about it after I've watched it, but it can have an affect on how good I think the series is if it can be shown that I simply misunderstood something. I think I have changed one series' rating after reading about it here, but I don't remember which one.
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velocet
Posts: 240 |
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I don't feel so much 'obliged' to say the same things as people who've enjoyed the show, but I will find myself wanting to like a series as much as other people have done if I watch something that is generally highly praised. In the case that I don't enjoy something as much as most other people do, when discussing something immediately after finishing it, I do find myself focussing on the aspects of it I did enjoy, not so much because I feel obliged to share their opinion, but more because I respect their opinion. Rather than slating it outright as a gut reaction, if I'm going to criticise something that a lot of people find incredible, I'm too wary of arguments to nitpick and criticise without a little more consideration than first impressions.
The example I'd use here would also be Elfen Lied, I recently found an old review of mine of this series which I wrote probably within the hour of watching the last episode, and my opinion at the time really was quite different to the one I have now. I'd seen it highly praised in many different forums, so I decided to watch it, and though there were aspects I enjoyed about it, my overall impression of it wasn't very positive, and my opinion of the series has only gotten lower over time, as cold reflection later makes it much easier to spot flaws. In my initial review though, I found that I had still kept the sentiment of 'wanting to like something' when thinking about it immediately after finishing. If all these other people enjoyed it so much, was there something about it I just missed? Perhaps I'm being too harsh on certain aspects of it? Thoughts like that made me assess the series in a more positive way than I do today. I also found it easier to focus on the bits I did enjoy (even if my opinion wasn't as positive as it is generally received) because I find watching anime in general an enjoyable experience. A series has to really really suck for me to not have a positive feeling immediately after finishing it, so my initial reactions for any series are usually a lot more positive than they might be later on. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16983 |
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While this is very true I personally try and limit as much of my conscious thought as possible when making up my mind on a show in regard to other people's opinions. Most times it's impossible to watch a show without hearing some information about it. The more you hear the more opinions you'll already have about the show whether you realize it or not. That's why I for one don't watch super popular shows during the middle of their popularity. I didn't try out FMA until Naruto and Bleach had taken off so I wouldn't hear every 5 seconds someone's opinion of the show. So I try never to let anyone else's opinion influence anything I watch, be it anime or otherwise. I like to make up my own mind if a show is good or bad and more importantly why I think that way. I like the watching of a show to be as fun and new to me as possible. |
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2Real
 Posts: 249 |
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Peoples opinions don't driectly influence a choice I make, but I will take into consideration what they are saying.
Upon saying that, I will be more susepable to other opinion when choseing a show to watch then rating it. While some people have given Azumanga Daioh outstanding review, I didn't realy care for it. While I did watch because i heard it was such a good show becuase of the strong romantic ties to most the charactors, also their somewhat girlish tendencies ( while i do relise this show is about girls I found the comedy targeted to females more so then males).It was a well made show with good VA and some parts did make me laugh, it wasn't enough to make me want to wach it again. I may not always agree with people, and vise versa, but I will try to take into consideration what their view points are on the matter and why they belive what they do. |
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Truered
 Posts: 515 Location: Uni |
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From the early days of reading game reviews I listened to opinions...but regards to buying anime, just as with games I read opinions even though I know I'll buy it anyhow. My opinions are one of the few things that are all mine and I'm not prone to changing them over series I like. An example would be Naruto- I see it as slightly cheesy etc but I like it, and no amount of people saying its formulaic/boring etc will change my mind. I really liked Excel Saga, and no amount of "Stupid show" comments will change my mind.
I often don't get involved in discussions without viewing at least some of the series so I know what I'm talking about (it happens occasionally). Often I'll go into a series with my own opinions influencing me- but not others. Yet at the same time I continue to come to this forum to find out other people's opinions to see if I should start watching/collecting something  I may use people's opinions as a base, but often it's my own gut feeling that counts in the end.
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caseclosedfan414
 Posts: 264 Location: Missing In Action |
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Yeah, usually if someone tells me something about an anime before I watch it, it'll influence the way I look at it while I watch it, which impacts my opinion. So, yeah, I think people have an indirect influence on my opinions on anime, to some extent. Not all the time, though. Sometimes they'll say something and I'll totally disagree with it. Sometimes they'll say something and I'll totally agree with it. Sometimes they'll say something and I'll partially agree with it. It's a hit-and-miss, like many other things.
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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Like caseclosedfan414, and most people whether they realize it or not, opinions on a subject do effect me primarily when I encounter those opinions prior to actually viewing the subject myself. I may be looking to pick up a series and someone will point out a flaw they noticed, even if that flaw isn't as big of a deal to me the fact it was pointed out prior to me viewing it is going to make it more apparent to me.
Of course the opinions are only an influence, they may sway how I view the subject in the end but the bulk of my opinion comes down to how I personally felt about it. I'm not heavily swayed by the opinions of others but it's unrealistic to say they have no effect, the opinions of others always effect how we see the subject even if we don't even notice it. |
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