Anime Burnout

Jun and I, writers of this blog, stopped writing about anime in the blog around 4 months ago. While it may seem like we stopped enjoying writing, that wasn’t necessarily the case. It was more so that we just stopped really watching anime in general.

In fact, the only anime I watched in this period is the Shirobako Movie. Of which being a sequel to my favorite anime of all time, was a no brainer to watch. But I think to myself: if the movie was a 25 or even 12 episode season, would I have taken my time to watch it?

Shows like Gochiusa Season 3 or Zoku-Owari Monogatari are both sequels of my favorite shows of all time. Yet I haven’t even begun touching them. I don’t specifically know what I haven’t watched but I guess it’s either because I’m afraid these sequels won’t live up to their predecessors or I can’t find new anime being enjoyable to me. 

Or maybe these are just excuses and I’ve just become a lazy person who enjoys staring at the ceiling scrolling through reddit rather than consuming different media.

But regardless of my personal change in how I consume shows lately, I want to generally address the cycle of heavy anime watchers.

This might be relatable to most people who’ve watched anime for a while. The rate that I consume anime is just so much faster compared to the amount of good anime that comes out every year. After a certain point, you end up watching everything “good”. Now you are either left with 3 options:

• Find hidden shows that fit your taste

• Watch seasonal shows

• Rewatch shows that you’ve already watched

The first option is good and all. But the chance of finding hidden shows that are good becomes slimmer every day you consume anime. And days where you just end up dropping multiple shows without finding one you can enjoy feels so much like wasted time.

The second option also might be fine for some people. But for me who has never really enjoyed watching shows weekly it’s pretty tough to enjoy. To be frank, most of the seasonal shows aren’t that good anyways. (of course there are exceptions like Eizouken but why would I watch it frustrated about when the next episode would come out rather than just wait) Though of course without this, I wouldn’t have gotten the Arrifureta experience

The final option is kind of the last resort for me. And is something that I’m planning on doing. Of course, it isn’t like I haven’t rewatched shows before. Watching K-on again for the first time in like 4 years is an absolutely joy-filled experience. But they were done in between new shows to kind of refresh my memories with these shows. Now I’m planning on just going through a barrage of old shows to remember why I watched anime.

To get myself back into anime and blogging, I’m going to go back to my favorite shows that I haven’t watched in a while. Hopefully blogging as I watch Hidamari Sketch, the Monogatari Series, Shirobako, Dragon Maid, etc. And meanwhile, I hope good shows like Eizouken pile up for me to binge after they are completed.