By TheBigN(ow this is a Random Rambling!)
Something that I’ve found interesting from following the ‘otaku community’ (more far reaching than I’m considering due to my limited scope) is that even when the current season of shows haven’t even reached their halfway point yet, I see entries that talk about what’s going on for the next season. My first reaction consists of “WOW THAT’S FAST!” which is quickly followed by wondering why people are talking about the near future so quickly. In my case, I’m not following that many shows this summer season, as well as slowly still finishing up plenty of shows starting in last season due to time constraints, interest and the like. If you pay attention, that’s why you don’t see me make the posts that Nomad does for season previews, or why you only see a few shows that I might be interested in from comments on other’s blogs. And while each of us have our own pace in getting to these new shows in do time, I do wonder how people pick and choose what they plan on checking out.
I look forward while always behind. Shikieiki keeps on going. Komachi does as well, but at a more leisurely pace.
I can understand constraints in one way and another in terms of fitting what is deemed watchable into a certain person’s schedule. But when you get into more specifics into preferences on the shows themselves, I can get pretty lost. For example, I almost can never fathom why someone declares that the current season of shows from Japan isn’t worth following what with the amount and (relative) variety of what’s out there (which is where many of the quick season previews come from). Of course, I’m only myself, so even if people tell me their criteria, I’m still not going to know how exactly they come up with the decisions that they do, in the same way that people won’t exactly get why I’m like “give these shows more of a chance!”. Yet I can at least go by the criteria that they state, but how should I decide to use it, if I do so in the first place?
Using a show for next season, reading the comments on the Kannagi trailer on Youtube, wasn’t particularly helpful or edifying for me in terms of getting to see what other people think. When I read that someone might check it out because the character designs are interesting, I think to myself “that doesn’t seem enough of a reason”. But that’s just me needing to get over myself again, because it’s the same thing as me saying that I’m interested in a show because there’s a seiyuu/studio/anime-related person in it that I like. Or that the story from the brief synopsis is intriguing. Or that I want to get the first word out about “so-and-so” series. Or that I get the impression that the series will contain an aspect that I like (character of interaction, just living and learning, etc.). Or that I fit the target audience. Or that because I have some relationship with the source material (as is the case with Kannagi here) and liked my previous experiences, the adaptation will be kick-ass. And so on, and so on.
If only progress was that simple.
We all have our own buzzwords or situations that dictate why we go for what we tend to go for, and it’s not necessarily going to be a substantially deep process as to why these specific triggers fire as they do. But regardless of our differences in what get us interested in a certain show or not, it all seems to lead to a single point: the hope that what we look for will entertain us in some way. Because in the end, anime begins as entertainment, and it spreads from there. And because what’s entertaining is subjective, I can complain about how someone chooses what to watch or when they decide to start wondering about the future (going full circle!), but it’s just calling the kettle black. I’m showing off how hypocritical I can be here, for example. :3
So in that sense, why am I spinning my wheels with this post that could have just been a paragraph (nay, a sentence!) long? I’m just wondering how, if you pay attention to the coming seasons in Japan, you decide on what to initially watch for the future. Or if are one of these people, how the current season (I mean generally, not just Summer 2008!) isn’t entertaining enough for you to continue on with what’s there. Factors for me are studio/production companies (I’d run to SHAFT or ufotable in a heartbeat, for example), seiyuu, music, source material, and the intangibles: stuff like if I feel shows contain a hint of stuff like character interactions as an example. For another example I’m not just a junkie for “slice of life” aspects, as people apparently categorize me in, but when I’m looking at Hyakko and Kannagi because of those possible aspects, I’m not helping matters, am I? 
Torako also has it right in my case.
tl;dr: What tends to get your ears perked up for new stuff?
TheBigN
nomadotto
dm00
At the moment there’s still a lot of old stuff for me to get my teeth into. When I am selecting new series to watch, however, I suppose I do have some priorities . . .
1. Genre (well, mecha)
2. Staff
3. Franchise appeal
4. The potential for Britsploitation (Hakushaku to Yousei)
Genre, but I still look for the plot more often than not. Also I take a look at the production crew, but usually seiyuu and plot do it more for me, the production is more like a bonus. Good shows are determined, for me at least, by their stories and plots, not to mention the seiyuu that can pull off their characters off well.
I look for source material and production, as I’m pretty open to genre, and seiyuu are not my forte. In that way, I’m more touchy about “original” concepts, but they tend to be amazing 1/10 times or mediocre 5/10 times and the rest are meh. Statistical approach? I think not.
Many of us are so overwhelmed by the sheer fold each season, we have to get our defense up early and be en garde for the magical. Truthfully, I think THAT has an advantageous position, because Impz has grouped bloggers accounting for a wide range of tastes. So it’s not like one person needs to test the waters for each series.
On the broader spectrum, I think that speaks for the blogging community in as a whole (otakuken). We get familiar with other bloggers and sort of let our testing be mutually delegated. The only problem is that time waits for no one, and with seasonal affairs there is a lot to keep up with; series and blog reactions.
fight-o dayo, as Nayuki would say ^^
not counting sequels or anything…
1. character design (a completely shitty way of judging a series, nevertheless)
2. title; stupid title can be equated to stupid series? Sometimes. (also a shitty way of judging series)
3. metonymic, representative image. If a studio broadcasts one distinctive image that is supposed to encapsulate the series (or at least try to) then that would perhaps be a good way of judgment in terms of observable moe, GAR, etc.
Hehe, I thought about this too at one point, and I look for:
1) Good production values
2) Reasonable episode count
3) Continuations of shows I liked
That’s how I pick which series I will check out first. And if they all turn out too be good, then too bad for all the long, fugly series that I hadn’t ever heard of.
I’ll usually check out the first few chapters of the manga for adaptations. This is how I decided I want to watch Kannagi but not Toradora. And that Hyakko manga is even worse than the anime in terms of art!!!
Heheh, cute (if I can say that) Aria comic there.
Mm, I find it easy to be overwhelmed by new anime series each season, so I tend to pick out just the ones I’m guaranteed to watch at first. These include sequels I like, and any visual novel adaptations. Sometimes if it’s a bit low, I’ll toss in something from a studio I’m interested in (Shaft, KyoAni, Madhouse’s Kaiji/Akagi team).
The next wave usually comes a few weeks after, from blogger feedback, when there’s this massive flood of “ZOMG WHY ARE YOU NOT WATCHING THIS” posts. I tend to listen to those, even if it’s way out my genre (see: Kaiji), and somehow, I haven’t been dissapointed very much. Yay for peer pressure~
Ryan A: True. Though it would be funner if THAT had an even still wider range of tastes, since you still do see shows that all members pass up on when they do their reviews.
lelangir: Number 2 is funny, but I’d be wary for number 3, if only because it’s subjective what would be thrown out. Reminds me of how ADV tended to market series that so missed the point.
Kabitzin: Well, what do you mean when you say fugly? I take art to mean the background, the animation, and all of that, so I think that Hyakko has good production values. If you don’t like the character designs themselves, than I can’t help you, but I don’t think it’s a good reason to duck out on a show. :3
CCY: In my case, I don’t have time to be overwhelmed with what’s coming up because I’m overwhelmed with what’s already here.
I have often been surprised, too — well, actually quite weirded out — by people talking about the next season when the present season has hardly begun. But here I am now madly working on a full preview of pretty well all the new shows. I figure two weeks ahead of time is about right.
As for how I choose, basically I watch one episode of almost everything and decide from there. But when I’m thinking ahead, I put staff first. I’m beginning to get a handle on directors and writers and I find I can usually judge pretty well how a show is going to go based on what the director and lead writer have done before.
But of course genre comes into it, too. I’m not a shounen fan. I like romances and comedies and dramas. I find mecha and monsters tend to spoil a show for me. As Macross Frontier does, a mecha show has to have a lot of other things going for it for me to enjoy it.
I love many seiyuus, but lots of shows have great casts and end up being poor shows anyway. And animation is a bit of window-dressing for me. I can like shows with pretty awkward animation if the stories and characters are good.
I’m a shallow shoujo fangirl, so more often than not, seeing the possibility of romance in the show is enough to get me hooked
Like others, I make it a habit to check out the manga and/or novels of the upcoming adaptations, though my current lazy mode has been keeping me from reading Hakushaku to Yousei.
Generally (and vaguely) speaking, I’m looking for animes that will pierce through my fangirl soul XD
Decision Maker #1) Anything by KyoAni, and anything with the word ARIA in front of it. If they made an “ARIA the Cheesegrater”, I’d watch it.
DM #2) Genre aka “Slice o’ Life”
DM #3) Comedies over (melo)Drama over Action (way)over Mecha.
DM #4) Whatever preview makes me take notice. That’s how I found Soul Eater, for example.
DM #5) Sheer perversity. By my own rules, I shouldn’t've liked Strike Witches (mecha/action) or the Ikkitousen (action) franchise, but yet I do.
For me, it’s pretty simple. I just check everything with an interesting title out first, and then post about it if it’s good enough.
Mid-season, I will pick up some of the gems I’ve missed when I’ve gotten comfortable with my current picks. If there’s nothing, then I’ll just go check out old stuff.
Gut feeling.
I’ve watched enough anime to know, after watching just the first episode, whether I will like a show or not. Of course, judging a show based on only the first episode can often be wrong and sometimes disastrously so (I went back and watched Zegapain on a recommendation, which was one of the best thing to have happened to me in regards to anime), but I’m not a big enough fan of anime to spend time on more than 3 or 4 series a season anyway, so I like to quickly cut down on what takes up my precious time each week.
hashihime: I agree. I don’t mind when previews come out when it’s a few weeks before the season starts. But if we haven’t even gone halfway, or just past halfway, to me that’s way too early to begin.
usagijen: That’s essentially what it’s all about. But it’s always fun to see what people have that tickle them in the way they want to be tickled.
Wonderduck:
That sounds pretty epic, if you ask me. I’d watch it myself as well. I’m still of the opinion that Strike Witches isn’t even really that perverse. I really think if you took out the fanservice (which really isn’t a lot compared to other series out there), many people would watch the series. So it’s sad that people are tuning things out.
Lupus: I like your and hashihime’s style. I don’t agree with the “first episode test”, but it makes sense considering time and interest, but at least it seems like you don’t knock out a show without trying it out. :3
I rely mostly on the studios. For example, I’ll check out Mikoto to Hachin because it’s done by Manglobe; I’ll also check out the series that going to be done by Gainax.
If possible, I avoid series from GONZO, since they haven’t really done anything great for a long time already.
I also pick up series when I am piqued as regards the topic: I’ll usually watch any mahjong-oriented series because I love watching masters play the game (or cheat at it), and I would pick up ‘intelligent’ anime most of the time.
Of course, I’m not noble a lot of the times as well, so I also just pick up manga like Change 123 because the women are hot. I picked up Code Geass because the women looked hot, and I’m watching R2 because I’m a shipper and I would like to see a ship come into fruition (that is not homolust. My choices are very nonsensical at times; I simply pride myself in being able to discern like from quality.
I go the bluefoxalley to check their impressions because the writers there have good taste!
For me, it’s simple as:
1. It’s got a interesting title/loli pantsu witches/typemoon/magic/slice-o-life/whimsical feel
2. Studios are a bonus, but not a must.
3. Watch. If episode 1 is boring….BYE BYE.
I’m going to watch Kannagi simply because Ishikei drew porn of it.
My selection process is more or less completely arbitrary. For example, right now I’m watching the third season of Zero no Tsukaima because I saw the first two, and Nogizaka Haruka because I tend to like otaku slice-of-life/comedy/romance.
In October, I’ll be watching the new ef and Clannad seasons because — you guessed it — I watched their predecessors, and Toradora because Kugimiya Rie is the best possible reason for anyone to decide to watch a show.
But then, I’m never that concerned with keeping up with new shows. We’ve reached a point now where anime is a tremendous body of work, and my English-majorly instincts tell me I should keep my experience broad by balancing out the new with a healthy chunk of the old.
I just watch whatever 4chan says is good. There, I said it.
“I’m still of the opinion that Strike Witches isn’t even really that perverse.”
And it’s not, you’re absolutely right. When I said “Perversity” is a decision-maker for me, I wasn’t talking about the show being perverse, but my brain!
Perhaps using Ikkitousen as another example was bad… because THAT could be considered perverse. Mnemosyne? Library War? Dirty Pair Flash?
Mike: As long as you don’t let your noble ideals prevent you from taking a look at somethings because they don’t match up with those standards. Then again, your range seems large enough that I don’t have to worry about that.
Soujourner: It’s like me using DMAB for my choices for what to watch!
rbw: Somehow I’m not surprised. And now I’m interested in that picture. :/
Shin: I’m also not surprised as this.
Wonderduck: Funny how that tends to happen. If I think there’s some subtext (especially of the female-female kind, if you catch my drift ;D), it might get me to take a look at shows that that I probably wouldn’t because I don’t have the time to do so. It becomes more relevant to my interests, so to speak, but I’d probably watch it anyway if others were praising it to begin with. :3
My Ultimate Guide to Picking Summer Anime also works for the Fall. And it’s been proven to work with 92.86% effectiveness!