Back in February of this year, I had shared my thoughts about why I continue to watch Anime. However, there are reasons why people lose passion for it and it’s not usually clear. Also, I will share some personal experiences.
Availability Issues/Limited Choices
Back in the 90s and early 2000s, it was difficult to watch Anime since you watch it on tape or on television. Moreover, the selection as the shows was limited and mainly geared towards kids such as Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, etc. Because of that, this can deter some people as they feel that these shows are made for children. I remembered this as I own several tapes of Pokémon on tape and some shows airing on television before I went to school. It’s basically the dark ages before broadband Internet became the main stream.
Fortunately, anime got more accessible in recent years not just because it’s easier to download, but there is now access to legal streams like Crunchyroll, which has instant access to lots of shows. Because of this, it’s not a widespread problem.
There are too much shows that focus on Fanserivce/Moe/etc.!
This is one of the complaints I hear once in a while with some blaming the current state of Anime and that there is nothing good to watch. I know people has different tastes but there is always something to watch if you look harder. Back when I started watching Anime back in 2009 again, I had a feeling that there is hardly anything to watch. However, I learned to find shows that I will enjoy.
In short, there will be at least a few shows that you will enjoy each season. Just remember Sturgeon’s Law, which states that 90% of everything is crap.
Lack of Time/Motivation
Just like any hobby, it takes time to watch Anime (and write about it). I understand that not everyone has the time to watch everything because of work or schooling. I have written about this subject last year as a part of a project, so I’m not going to focus too much on this. Generally, teenagers and young adults tend to have more free time to spend on their hobbies, including watching Anime compared to those who carry a full-time job or have a family.
The second part of the puzzle is motivation. Of course you can download Anime, but maybe you want to support a franchise by buying merchandise. Motivation basically comes in two parts, financial and psychological. Financial is pretty simple since you need money to buy DVDs, pay for a Crunchyroll subscription or related merchandise (ex. Source material, figurines, music CDs, video games, etc.). Because of the current recession, it’s hard to spend money on luxury items as one need to pay for the essentials. Even if you don’t decide to buy stuff, you still need an Internet connection to download or legally stream shows, which of course require money.
On the other hand, psychological motivation is hard to convey as people have different feelings on why they want to give up on Anime. Maybe they feel that they are watching the same thing over and over even though it’s a different premise? Or perhaps they are not interested in the medium anymore and want to watch other types of media? Essentially, there are various factors why people lose motivation or passion for the medium besides the examples I have shown.
Overall, I don’t see myself losing passion for Anime anytime soon. However, there will be difficulties to keep my passion for Anime in the near future. But, when the time comes, I will deal with it as the best I can.
With that, I leave this question to discuss about: How do you keep your passion for Anime going? Also, what do you think about this issue?
I’m going to have to admit I’m going through a bit of a low spell (maybe I’m sliiiightly missing the end of shows I enjoyed like Zetsuen no Tempest and Shinsekai Yori), but aside from Chihayafuru, I haven’t really touched anything else. I suspect once the stress of finding a job (graduation in 30 days. eeek!) subsides, I’ll be back to the grindstone. Still find time to listen to anime music, so there’s that at least!
I can understand that the stress of graduating from graduate school. I have been doing my undergraduate for about 5 years and I usually have a good amount of time. But with graduate school, I do expect things to get a bit harder since the workload is higher, but it’s for the best.
Also, congrats on graduating.
Indeed, back then, we would comment “there are not enough anime to watch”, with such limited TV exposures and all, and in contrast, our comments now are “there are too much anime to watch”, due to the powerful presence of internet. Such irony.
Obligations in real life play a bit part in the decision of whether or not an anime fan would quit. Most of the anime fans I had came across quit with similar reasons. Though some of them just plainly complained that it’s the same repetitive thing. Obligations are pretty heavy for me too, but so far, my entertainment values on anime still outweighs the other, so I wouldn’t be quitting, yet.
Yeah, the choices are staggering as there is so much. However, I don’t have the time to watch everything, which is why I only pick a few shows so I won’t get stressed out.
I can understand the reasons why fan quits… but of course, tropes in Anime is going to repeat just like any type of media… but if one watches it for enjoyment, it won’t have that much of an effect overall.
Sad, but all the above kind of matches up with how I feel, especially limited choices. Like you and Kai stated, back then, the choices and outlets we have today just were non-existent. Growing up on the cusp of the internet revolution, things did change, but it was a slow change. Today, too many choices exist, but not enough time to partake in them all. However, if I can find time to play god-awful games along with lengthy RPG, blog, and keep up with current anime, then time isn’t much of a factor. It will be different story in another year, since that is when I graduate from college and need to find a job ASAP. I might quit then, but it will probably be more like a hiatus for me.
Nice topic btw.
Same here. I still have a pile of games I never finish, but I keep buying more. The main problem is that I focus mainly on blogging, college working and studying Japanese. But looking back, my viewing habbits have change a good bit and hopefully, I will keep blogging or something on an infrequent basis once I get my masters and find a job.
In recent years, it seems like more Americans (not a lot of course, but more than before) seem to know that anime is more than just kid shows, which is a good thing. I’d say Adult Swim gets some credit for that, as well as the fact that there’s just more awareness in general. So I would say it’s not hard for people nowadays to be casual anime fans – watching a new anime or two now and then, but not being hardcore about it, like having to keep up 10-15 shows at once and blogging about it, or anything like that. But due to the expense of anime merchandise, and more prominently, the time it takes to watch a lot of shows and partake in other parts of the fandom like blogging, only the truly dedicated are likely to keep it up consistently for years and years. I’d like to think I’m one of the dedicated ones =P
While I don’t watch much Adult Swim at all since I didn’t have cable until like 2005, it’s a good point as it aired more mature Anime. But yeah, I like to view only a few shows as I don’t want to get burned out and I don’t necessarily to watch a lot. What I tend to do is after a season ended, I watch shows I gained interest for that season. I like to take my own pace. But aside from that, I used to buy DVDs, but it’s mostly shifted to importing CDs and video games, especially since the yen got weaker, thus it has become cheaper to buy stuff there even though it’s a little bit more expensive.
Who knows what the future holds, but I probably be doing the same like I do now with some changes.