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ANNCast - Burnout Paradise


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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6199
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 6:44 pm Reply with quote
I think it really depends on the situation. I have a job that allows to me watch a lot of TV/anime, and it's pretty much the only thing that keeps me sane. As a reviewer though... ugh. I personally think the burnout comes from the lack of originality. So many shows coming out now are so similar that it just all blends together.

Last edited by v1cious on Tue Nov 19, 2013 6:46 pm; edited 2 times in total
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 6:44 pm Reply with quote
I think avoiding burnout is easy if you follow new shows and have a wide range of tastes and no aversion to older anime. There's been moments where I don't watch anything but the newly airing shows for a while, and then stretches where I blow through tons of older series all at once, but I think it's all about mixing it up and never only watching one kind of series, while also throwing in OVAs and films. Or maybe it's just a high tolerance to repetition.

As the above poster said, I would never want to collect my thoughts every few episodes and have to compose a thoughtful essay on what I've watched. That would probably suck enjoyment out of the dumber series that I enjoy for purely superficial reasons, like character designs or that they're fanservice-laden, or just have robots.

I do sometimes feel that anime would be better if just fewer shows were produced every season. Not necessarily just focusing on making only better shows, but just a lower number overall.


Last edited by walw6pK4Alo on Tue Nov 19, 2013 6:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ColonelYao47



Joined: 01 Jan 2013
Posts: 274
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 6:50 pm Reply with quote
It's appropriate timing that I'm suffering a bit from anime burnout myself. My Blu-Ray player is overcrowded with shows that I can't seem to get around to for some reason. I can only imagine how Bamboo managed to make it as long as she did with the Stream. I'm glad to see that going forward, the approach to anime-watching will be handled like a prix-fixe rather than a buffet. Anime, like food, should be savored.

Edit: Regarding the "pure fan" issue, I must confess that recently, I booed someone for asking about Attack on Titan in an Aniplex panel. I still wonder if that person gave up on anime because of my behavior. As passionate as I am with this, respect and human decency has to be shared with everyone interested (or not, for that matter) with this medium. I just hope I never forget that when I do anything anime-related.


Last edited by ColonelYao47 on Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:34 pm; edited 2 times in total
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 6:54 pm Reply with quote
Oh, Burnout is an old old friend of mine.

Photography, Hi Fi Stereo, Model Trains, Computers ( Which are my Job! ), Pro-Football ( 20+ years and I still can't stomach it. ), Nascar and some others that I can't think of right now, all have been or are burnouts at one time or another over the past 40 years.

So, Bamboo do slow down and take a breather. I for one enjoy your writing and don't want to lose it.

Zak, your idea for the new stream format sounds good. It's something to look forward to this winter.

Mark Gosdin
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Tanteikingdomkey



Joined: 03 Sep 2008
Posts: 2345
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:09 pm Reply with quote
I have loved pedal myself. It is a great show that introduces cycling in a great way, is a very good take on the kid discovers talent story I think. and I really like where they are taking the main character.

The show zac was thinking of is knight in the arena which was quite bad though it did have some redeeming qualities.

Ace of diamonds was not great in it's first episode (like log horizon), but it actually goes and explores some territory that is actually interesting and has some truth to it actually.

I hope that you get over the burnout bamboo, you are a great reviewer and we all really like your work.

Personally I try to avoid burn out by reading titles I have not from authors I like. I try to avoid watching shows that are very similar at the same time or are a similar type unless they are a different take on the concept.

I Fully agree with what zac says about the stream and why it was a bad idea. I am very excited to see the new format for the stream, I think it will be great and will be very enjoyable.

I also agree with the comment bamboo had on waiting for story arcs on some shows because even if those are released that way they should not be watched that way. KEY shows like little busters is an excellent example of this because it was not written in a style that lends it self to that style and was not adapted in a way that works to correct that.


Last edited by Tanteikingdomkey on Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:27 pm Reply with quote
Wasn't "filthy casual" used for video games?

I guess a "filthy casual" would be someone who only watched Naruto, Bleach and DBZ. I'm just guessing here.
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2530
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:29 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Eiichiro Oda is not an anime director


-That sure didin't stop Monkey Punch with Lupin: Dead or Alive... Granted, MP only directed it because the original director left the production, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Oda direct a movie eventually. Anyway, Strong World was enjoyable, but Shiki was an absolute waste of a hyped-up character; for someone considered "Gold Roger's Greatest Rival" he was an absolute failure. Last year's One Piece Film Z, which was also made with help by Oda, is an infinitely better movie with an excellent villain. I'll probably still buy Strong World eventually, but I really hope FUNimation can license Film Z sooner rather than later.

-Honestly, I'm amazed Bamboo was able to keep doing The Stream for as long as she was able to, especially once she started doing Shelf Life again after Erin's departure. Therefore, first off I just want to say that Bamboo is truly amazing in that she was able to handle that much anime every single week. I watched Paranoia Agent, Genshiken (Season 1), Yugo the Negotiator, Fantastic Children, 15 episodes of Monster, six episodes of Gankutsuou, Ring ni Kakero 1 (Season 1 Raw re-watch), Nausicaa & Warriors of the Wind, Megazone 23 Part I & Robotech the Movie, & Megazone 23 Part II (both Japanese & the "International" dub) all this past April, mostly for my Golden Ani-Versary essay about 2004 but also for reviews on my blog, & I felt insanely drained after that month; I haven't watched that much in one month in a long, long while. Amazingly enough, I didn't feel burnout after that, but I did take a break from watching anime for the sake of reviewing for an entire month after that. Just thinking that Bamboo watched even more than that in one month is just mind-blowing!

I bow down to you, Bamboo. You deserve a rest... And I would never want to bet against you in a fight.

-I think I was lucky in that I realized that trying to keep up with a bunch of new anime just wasn't going to work with me, especially if I wasn't going to continually talk about them with other fans online, which I wasn't; I would have become sick & tired of anime if I kept watching stuff simply because it was new. As it is now, I rarely watch a brand new anime as it airs & instead focus on watching something that simply catches my eye, no matter how old or new it is. Also, I do feel that my blog, The Land of Obscusion, has helped keep me from "dropping" anime altogether by giving me something to do with what I'm watching while also allowing me to slowly chip away from my massive backlog, all while keeping the focus on stuff that I want to watch; what I review is stuff that I want to review. Luckily, I've been having a good time doing the blog & when I do feel tried of writing reviews I usually end up writing something that doesn't require actually watching anime, like a "listicle" (thank Mike Toole for that word!). But I do acknowledge that I kind of have that "luxury", whereas people who watch anime for a job may not have that "luxury" of being in full control of what they watch.

-I, too, hate the very concept of "true fans". If anything, "true fans" have brought back the original idea behind the word "fan", which was originally short for the word "fanatic". There's nothing inherently wrong with being fanatic about something, but there's also a dark side to it, & these "true fans" have seemingly embraced that dark side, thinking that they are more fanatic about something than someone else... Who the **** cares?! I often joke that I have a habit of "doing things wrong" & getting into something via a means that most people don't get into, but it's nothing more than a joke. In reality, I love knowing that I got into some stuff in ways that others didn't, because it means that I have a different way to experience something; it doesn't feel like I'm just copying everyone else.
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Cptn_Taylor



Joined: 08 Nov 2013
Posts: 925
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:30 pm Reply with quote
I could never be a reviewer. I tend to watch too few animes (less than 5 if even that) per season. And those that I watch wether old or new anime I watch at 1 episode per day.
I have never felt the need to watch everything comeing out of japan and this reduces the risk of being burned out. Yet I've taken periods out of anime fandom and anime for long stretches of time. 10 years was the longest. But when I return I always find something interesting to watch.


Last edited by Cptn_Taylor on Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:31 pm; edited 1 time in total
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:31 pm Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
I think avoiding burnout is easy if you follow new shows and have a wide range of tastes and no aversion to older anime. There's been moments where I don't watch anything but the newly airing shows for a while, and then stretches where I blow through tons of older series all at once, but I think it's all about mixing it up and never only watching one kind of series, while also throwing in OVAs and films. Or maybe it's just a high tolerance to repetition.


I think it helps if you have a very wide range of tastes and almost no aversions to anything. Very few I think are like you or I though. I watch nearly everything, just not as it airs, but in batches since I hate waiting a week in between episodes, and I always mix up my viewing between different types of shows, old and new. I love that we have a ton of choice nowadays. Mixing up sports and romance viewing, etc.

Nonetheless doing it as a job, reviewing it rather than sitting back and enjoying it would still lead to burn out for me too. Not burnout from watching, but burn out from reviewing personally.
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purplepolecat



Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Posts: 129
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:45 pm Reply with quote
The Stream has been my favorite ANN feature since day one, but while reading it I would feel sympathy pain for Bamboo, having to keep up with AND WRITE ABOUT all those shows. I'm not surprised burnout set in eventually.

As a substitute, how about a video series: "Bamboo punches a True Anime Fan" ? I'd watch it.

The True Fan thing has been a problem in every nerdy subculture I've ever been involved in, and it sucks. One of the ways in which it manifests is that when True Fans get burned out, they say things like "of course [xxx] sucks nowadays".

I got a touch of burnout myself because last season was SO GOOD and I got used to watching 6 amazing shows every week. Now this season only has a couple of shows I really like, but I tried to watch 6 just out of habit, and got bored. Zac's advice is good: when you lose track of why you're watching a show, stop watching it. There'll be more shows next season.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:52 pm Reply with quote
I think I may have also burned out on some shows if I wasn't able to watch most things at 1.5x speed. I do this for most live action films too, since I find most of anything extremely easy to follow even when played back at a faster rate, sometimes it almost unnoticeable. It makes something that might have felt like a slog to get through much more tolerable because the sense of time and slow isn't there in the same way. If you're watching online or on the wrong video player, I guess you don't have that option, but it saves me time and sanity, and allows me the ability to get through older 3-4 hour long films as if they were nothing (Once Upon a Time in America and Casino, recently). And it seriously helps on older anime that are almost always paced in such a way that's only meant for padding out 24 minutes.

Cheating, non-admittance of a slow creep in not-liking anime? Nah, I recently plowed through the 7 subbed episodes of the Kabocha Wine, all at 1.5x playback, and I'm experience massive withdrawal from not having more of it available. And for the De Niro films, it's not like playing them back faster meant any dislike, it's just that with subtitles on, not a single beat is missed and following and comprehending isn't an issue.

I'm gonna hate on casuals when they cause decisions to be made I'm not in favor of, like what FUNi is doing to DBZ's BluRay. Yeah sure that might only be a singular incident that only affects that one cash cow, but it occurred, and a precedent is set. Maybe they do the same to an eventual Dragon Ball BD, or for GT? As for what people just watch? I don't really pay attention because it doesn't matter much to me,


Last edited by walw6pK4Alo on Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
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GVman



Joined: 14 Jul 2010
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:10 pm Reply with quote
I thought Clannad was considered to be "entry level." I've been under the impression that most folks start out watching anime today with the moe stuff, and stuff like Ninja Scroll is usually seen as more "hardcore." Or maybe it's just me.

Anyway, I always thought it was weird how folks will watch eleventeen shows in a season just because they're new. I usually don't watch more than one or two, considering how I'm always trying to go back and watch older stuff (i.e.: '89 and back). I've never been too big on discussing what's what with folks; I usually just poke around the internet to see if anybody's talking about what I'm into.

And I think life would be better if some fans could have a good slug-out. Punching one another tends to throw the hate out of your body.

DmonHiro wrote:
Wasn't "filthy casual" used for video games?

I guess a "filthy casual" would be someone who only watched Naruto, Bleach and DBZ. I'm just guessing here.


Originally, but, as with everything on 4chan, it bled into everywhere else.

purplepolecat wrote:
I got a touch of burnout myself because last season was SO GOOD and I got used to watching 6 amazing shows every week.


Do tell.


Last edited by GVman on Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:11 pm Reply with quote
Fate/Zero has some pretty noticeable pacing issues. They obviously erred in trying to save a certain big fight until after the season break. As a result, the first half feels very stretched toward the end and the second half feels compressed and and doesn't quite build momentum in the way I'd have liked. Still, it's a pretty solid show though.

-------------------------------------------------------

I never really get burnout. I mean, there have absolutely been times when I've found myself not watching much or any anime. But I don't really think that has anything to do with me being tired or burnt out on watching anime. As a rule, I don't watch mediocre shows. For me, each season consists of paring down to just the shows that seem really worth watching and not just watchable. Some seasons several shows grab me. But some seasons nothing grabs me. So I don't watch anything. And that's fine. I have plenty of other interests.

To be honest, I think, with the obvious exception of reviewers who have to watch, burnout is a myth. If you find yourself not really enjoying a show, it isn't because of "burnout". A really good show will grab you regardless. Consequently, if watching anime inspires nothing but apathy in you, you simply need to watch better anime. And if nothing like that is airing right now, just sit back and wait for something you like to come along. Be the Arnold Rothstein of watching animes.

-------------------------------------------------------

Cool Japan is something I'd like to applaud because such an initiative could actually be really good for anime. But yeah, they obviously have no understanding of what actually made the stuff coming out of Japan in the late 90s and early 2000s cool to the rest of the world.

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It's unfortunate. I don't disagree with putting live action and animation in separate categories. I think, while animation can do the exact same things as live action, it can also often be quite different and hard to compare in the majority of cases. So yeah, it makes more sense to judge something like best animated feature separate from best live action feature. But while that makes sense in principle, it also tends to lead to ghettoization of the category.

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Anime fans are horrible. Sports fans are horrible. Everyone is horrible. Interests vary but most people are stupid tribal shitheads. This is why I stay home and watch cartoons.
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 4377
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:18 pm Reply with quote
Re: Real fans:

I personally believe that if you're a fan of something, then you should at least do some research about it. Because honestly, when I see people who say stuff that's completely wrong, when it would take literally 20 seconds on Google to learn the truth, it drives me crazy.

And honestly, if you, say, watch only the big three and a tiny other bit of the "popular"...don't call yourself an anime fan. You may like anime, but you're not really an anime fan if your interest only goes on the surface. That's the way it is for all fandoms.

There are "anime fans" in my school who didn't know what Madoka, Baccano, or TTGL were. Like...come on. Seriously. As the VP of the anime club there I sometimes find myself face-palming every time we meet up.


Last edited by Chagen46 on Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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No Comment



Joined: 19 Jun 2012
Posts: 83
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:18 pm Reply with quote
I appreciate you guys recording this episode. I think too much stuff along the lines of what you talked about has been bothering me lately, and this was the equivalent of the "screw it they're just cartoons" speech I've been needing to hear for a while. Thanks.

I've never had total burnout and the most time I've avoided anime besides while on vacation has been probably 3 days, but it eventually begins to weigh you down even as an average fan if you think too much about it, I guess.

There was a time when I thought finished a show no matter how much I didn't enjoy it meant something, but thankfully I am past that. Anime is much more fun if you just watch what you want.
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