anyone who watches animes? ^_^  

It could be the reflexive Kanon anti-hype or the sporadic tirade against the host of bishoujo series this Fall, that of late I found my thoughts dwelling on why one would persevere with any series or ultimately anime especially if much displeasure was derived from it. DiGiKerot and Jeff’s timely posts with their commentors provided some insights to their own motivations for sticking with the Great Art. And I thought it would be good to chronicle mine (so that I may possibly be quoted in some Anime 101 class in the year 30XX).

My main motivation for anime-watching is enjoyment. It is important to note that I derive exceptional pleasure from this medium, from watching good anime itself and not peripheral anime-related activities such as blogging or buying anime figures. (although the wonderful comaraderie of anime lovers/bloggers enriches so greatly the experience) As such, I never stay with a series for the sole purpose of blogging it (or bashing it to troll blog aggregators). Once I had deem a series poor (which simply means it has exhausted all possibilities of remotely entertaining me), I drop it faster than a fat yaoi girl in heat. This simple rule drastically reduced my dwell time on bad productions and has helped me enjoy more than 80% of my anime intake, thus keeping the flame burning bright.

Now you must be thinking Stripey’s one easy tanuki to please. You are probably right. But I’m not devoid of standards and I do have, in place, a couple of guidelines to aid my chances of catching tanuki-appropriate series. Hopefully by sharing them, one’s efficiency in hitting on the right ‘uns would increase to enhance the anime experience.

There are 2 questions I ask everytime I approach an anime, of which the more pertinent is,

Where are the creators trying to go with the series?

I try to evaluate the series based on the bar the studio sets for itself. I draw clues from the tone, the character setup, plot execution to extrapolate what the animators aim to achieve. Then, by their own objectives, I grade them. A good series imho, is one that becomes what it sets out to be, not what the viewers think it should be. (It’s a fine line to tread I know since it all boils down to perception which could easily be misplaced. But hey, that’s what anime blogs and forums with their plethora of opinions/analyses exist for.) It’s also essential to cut the animators some slack. Most series try too hard to be too many things nowadays but if they achieve their primary targets, I overlook their lame secondary elements (For example the circus side-show they claim to be romances in Starship Operators is overlooked for its excellent main thrust of engaging space battles). Personally, I am of the belief ALL genres can be made enjoyable within its context with good execution. All it takes is placing the series in the ‘right’ context via a meeting of minds with their creators.

Question 2,

Is this show then for me?

This is an issue of personal tastes and target audiences. Having put the series is its place, I assess its suitability for personal viewing. Now if the series aims to entertain via mindless harem fun and you are allergic to panty shots; your inability to enjoy may not be a failing of the studio more than a case of poor discretion in choosing something unpalatable. Or if a show is targeted at 8 yr old girls and you are unable to emulate the mind of a loli for maximum enjoyment, really, it’s you and not the show that suck. XD. So, it is important to pick series which are congruent with one’s anime tastes for a fair assessment.

Essentially, it’s to have a malleable mindset for managing reasonable expectations of any anime. It’s not foolproof I know (After all there’s the other 20% that duped me by beginning so very excellently only to turn around to land a vicious bite on the butt in its death throes.) It certainly improve my odds of embracing most series. However, by this, I don’t mean we swallow any crap that studios throw at us. There are bad anime even by this very accommodating, all-encompassing mentality. Bad series are those that lay the egg for the plot but not hatch it, seed story threads and don’t harvest them or have cardboard characters too filmsy to fulfill lofty premises. Simply put, a bad show is one that fails to deliver promises.

Now this probably sounds self-deluding to the extent of being retarded since some may deem it akin to bending backwards or burying standards to savour that anime high. But I also remember Forrest Gump getting more out of life than 3 reincarnations of my lives combined. Ultimately I believe he who enjoys most of what he watches is merrier than he who watches more than he enjoys. Plus the goth-loli-meido-siscon hedonist in me tells me that sacrifices are needed to attain this anime nirvana.