If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know that I am a fan of well defined situations. I like rules and rituals. I promise I’m more fun than I sound… I think…
In my casual daily life, this means I like to have a loose schedule and I feel off whenever I can’t stick to it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. For instance a sexy date at a fancy restaurant is always enjoyable but it does throw my routine off, so I’m not going to do it every night but when I do, it’s special!
Anime is a big part of my daily schedule. Not as big as for some of you but still. I watch anime for 2-4 hours weekday evenings. I work out at he same time. I started doing so a few years ago and anime has kept me in the best shape of my life. Friday evenings I only watch shows I need to immediately review. Sometimes I’ll watch a few episodes on Sunday evenings as well to ease me into the work week.
For the past season though, I’ve been watching Demon Slayer around noon on Saturdays in order to review it by the afternoon and give Crow enough time to do his part. I noticed that this affects the way I take a show in more than I would have expected.
I work long hours. I wouldn’t call my job stressful when some people drive ambulances or do air traffic control, but it has its challenges. We have folks on burnout leave regularly enough. I’m nowhere near that but some days can get taxing. So when I get home I can be too exhausted to properly appreciate anime. Well some anime. I also find that little things like obvious audience insert or wish fulfillment characters annoy me a lot more under those circumstances.
Then again if I managed to get a good work day in and I’m feeling positive about it, that same tiredness can work in the shows favour. Blinding me to plot holes and making accept paper thin characters or narratives because of the sheer joy of watching anime at the end of a long day.
I can usually tell which way it’s going to go and I pick my watching experience accordingly. But some days slip through the cracks. It also matters which shows I watch first and which I tackle after my brain has settled into a groove, a few episodes in.
And to go back to Demon Slayer. I watch it sometime around noon on Saturdays. Around then, I’ve usually gotten most of my weekend chores done and unless I’m working, I am about to settle into my leisure time. Either way I’m usually relaxed and better rested than weekday evenings. I’m in a good mood and receptive to whatever the t.v. has to show me.
I’m still me, it’s not like I’m already drunk off my rocker at 12pm but .. this is likely to be the time when I am the most positive and optimistic about a series. On the flip-side, my most judgmental watching times may be Sunday and Wednesday evenings. It doesn’t help that Crunchyroll tends to have more issues at those times as well.
I’ve been trying to figure out those predispositions in order to not let them affect my reviews and maximize my enjoyment. And I’ve noticed it makes a bigger difference than I thought. I watch a mix of older shows which I binge watch on consecutive days and current anime as it airs, so always on the same evenings. And now that I’ve been doing so for a few seasons on several different nights, I can better compare.
I seem to have a soft spot for Friday evening anime for instance. I guess I m in a good mood for the coming weekend. I’ve watched and am watching a lot of shows that air on Fridays and I consistently enjoy them. Even series that I know aren’t normally my *thing*. Tuesdays are fairly neutral while Mondays I tend to be impatient so too exposition heavy or too confusing and convoluted will annoy me way more.
Sundays are tricky for me. I’m well rested and tend to be critical. I pick apart elements and am generally less forgiving of series I’m normally neutral about (I rarely stick with shows I’m not enjoying on some level). On the other hand, I am doubly as enthusiastic about series I enjoy. Overemphasizing whatever I consider a strong point and whipping myself into a fangirl frenzy!
As such, there are series that I’m judging unfairly one way or another, simply by virtue of the day on which they air. The inept but harmless Cinderella Nine didn’t do itself any favours with that Sunday slot!
I’ve also noticed that release schedules aren’t evenly distributed throughout the week either although that may have more to do with when audiences are more likely to be at home watching TV than what mood they’ll be in, but you never know. It may factor in.
I know that this type of cyclical receptivity is hardly unique to me. Most people go through something similar although timing and triggers vary from one person to the next. What I hadn’t realized is just how big a difference it makes.
Do you have times when you enjoy anime more or less? Are they always on the same day or is it based on other events in your life? Have you noticed any patterns?
Had you ever been unemployed ? During period when I between jobs, my taste on anime change greatly.
No but I can see that it would make a difference.
I couldn’t agree with you more on this one. I think how I am feeling impacts how I react to a particular series, sometimes it’s just not the right time to watch a particular show.
I think I might not be giving some shows a fair shake right now since I just finished two series I loved a lot
My anime always has to fit into my schedule and eventually settles into a bit of a pattern. For summer anime, for example, I’ve been watching Demon Slayer the day it’s out (because it’s a collab, I try not to let my fellow bloggers down). Astra I watch the day it’s out (that’s how you know it’s my seasonal darling), Cop Craft is normally a day after it comes out (which happens to be Wed., I particularly like after lunch – 6 pm for it) and the rest get squashed between Tues. morning and Wed. (which is when I have a lot of time to myself). It doesn’t help I have to switch to my phone for CR, since the buffering and/or adblock has been annoying me on PC for months now, although this makes it easier to watch while doing chores. It sounds obvious, but I find if I multitask or know I have limited time to watch an ep. while watching, I’m less likely to critique a show and this affects note quantity as well (though interestingly, note quality isn’t necessarily affected).
Backlog I watch whenever I can squish that in, but due to following my whims, I sometimes watch an entire string of eps. when I don’t intend to.
I watch an episode of the Japanese broadcast shows whilst having lunch on weekdays, and during breakfast at weekends. When I’m reviewing UK DVD releases, it is usually whenever I can, though I always break for other TV shows or a film or do other work, otherwise I get anime fatigue. 🙂
I’ve heard of that
Hang on. You mean we don’t have to just sit still while we watch anime? We can get healthy?
Weird… I mean I have to work off the booze
Ah, the circle of life.
I work midnights as a police officer and days as a security guard at a high school, so my workday definitely affects my viewing. I tend to save current anime for weekends, which is why I sometimes miss a week on my blog–I’m just too tired. Last week, for instance, I collapsed into sleep upon arriving home on Saturday, slept all day and all night, and then spent Sunday trying to catch up the yard work. (Amazingly enough, I neither watched any anime nor posted a review!) This week was better. Anyway, I save current anime for weekends because I’m normally better rested and able to pay more attention.
I do, however, make it a point to watch at least one episode of anime per night on weeknights, just to help me unwind. For weekday viewing, I go to my dvd collection, pick something relaxing (not difficult, since I’m a slice-of-life fan), and then usually watch the series straight through, one episode per night. Because the show is something that I own and have watched before, I don’t need to be particularly attentive. This ritual is a balm for me, allowing me to de-stress before I’m back out on patrol in a few hours.
sounds like a good ritual
Oh, it is! I probably owe my sanity to Ren-chon and Non Non Biyori, along with the girls from Yuru Camp, Encouragement of Climb, etc.
I’m watching anime before and after work to unwind. I tend to watch the fluff before work, and the heavier stuff after work, because I don’t want to risk a bad mood at work, but that’s more a trend than a rule. I watch anime as it airs, either the day it appears or the day after that. If that doesn’t work out, I wait a week and watch two episodes in a row. If I skip two weeks in a row, the show needs to be really good for it not to be dropped.
Weekends are usually loaded with anime, so a not-so-good show has a better chance to get dropped if it airs at a weekend.
I watch older anime out of schedule, whenever I don’t feel like doing anything else, and if I can think of a show that fits my mood, and I only watch one older anime at a time (in contrast to current anime, where I watch lots). It’s because I don’t have a schedule to keep me on, and watching more than one older anime at a time feels like clutter. I almost never watch two seasons back to back. If I do that, I tend to like the second season less than I would after a break.
That’s about it.
I’m the other way. Interesting
Routine is a big thing for me. I like to have a set pattern to do things, and when that breaks, it gets frustrating unless I can see a really good reason that it’s happened. That’s probably got a lot to do with the Asperger’s. So, if the routien breaks, that will generally make me a bit more grumpy and so take less enjoyment in most shows.
That being said, a good slice of dark sci-fi will usually slice through the grump, as will anything with genuinely lovable or hilariosu characters. Mostly though, my overall mood will have a major affect on my enjoyment.
Me too
So I have to be in the right mood to watch anime at all. Otherwise, I get bored really quickly.
Except when I’m reviewing something. It might be that I’m old, but the act of paying attention to the themes and artwork makes me much more invested. That and I’m often stopping the show to take screenshots.
Though I would probably be better off exercising two to four hours a day. 🙂
I also adore parsing through cinematic language of anime but I do so even when I’m not reviewing. Exercise is overrated
So there are times when I notice it, but a lot of times I like sitting in front of a story and letting it wash over me.
I have to be in a particular mindset to start pulling things apart, and looking for what ticks.
Compartmentalization is vital for me. Because I’m a multi-tasker when it comes to my hobbies. I need time for anime, time for wrestling, time for sci-fi, time for Twitter.
Anime usually ends up being on Saturday morning, and not just because I’m a 90s kid and remember the old school ways, but because it allows me to focus in on what I’m watching without the distractions of the work week.
I’ve also learned, to use a sports analogy, to make the tough calls and make cuts when necessary. The days of trying to watch 9 anime per season are long over. Curation is key. It’s the key to avoiding burnout for me.
that sounds reasonable and smart – I should try it some day!
I’m very interested in that part of your routine where you watch and workout at the same time. 😳
Interested?
How do you do it. Teach me sensei 😅
Well you can bring your tablet at the gym. I also have a bike and a threadmill. And then theres free weights, a lot of old school exrcises like jumping jacks, push ups and sit ups you can easily do as well as most pilates and yoga. Really it’s only excercises that have you either looking at the ground the whole time or up at the ceiling that are a problem.