Why the hell haven’t I watched this again!?
It’s so EPIC!!!
Having read newgeekphilosopher’s post on rewatching anime I couldn’t help but think why it is I rewatch some anime while I leaving others collecting dust on my shelves (or my Ex-HD ^_^).
Take Neon Genesis Evangelion. When I first got into the anime world, NGE was probably the first anime I watched outside of DBZ and Pokemon (the standard fare for any child during the 1990’s). I think I’ve probably seen the series maybe 4 or 5 times now, but it never truly struck a chord with me. I believe I understood most of messages being conveyed (or I just think I did; how people can really understand the philosophical/ metaphysical minds of the creator and director of that series I’ll never know) so what I’m left with is the other aspects of the series, such as animation, voice -acting and characters. Which were all good (except for emo-Shinji).
All in all, I think the main reason I re-watched this when I was around, I dunno, 14, was because I felt this series should be amazing and blow me away due to the fact FANS felt that it was the greatest anime in existence (damn Internet pier pressure!). But as I said before I never saw what was so great about it, and to this day, I still haven’t seen what’s so great about it. Sure, its a good, deep, philosophical show but nowhere near as good as some other shows I’ve seen in that kind of vein, such as Paranoia Agent.
Though it doesn’t have giant robots (a shame) its look into the human psyche was just as good as NGE and that series did blow me away; everything except the ending (which felt kind of rushed) was fantastic and yet I’ve only seen the series once.
And that’s my dilemma. Why have I watched a series I loved only once and one I thought was okay so many times? Gurren Lagann, Code Geass R1, Baccano!, Higurashi, even movies like 5 centimeters per Second, Paprika and Spirited Away, all fantastic and yet all having garnered only a single watch. Maybe I think that these anime are so well done that re-watching it would lead to a sort of disillusionment with them; I would start picking apart all the flaws of the series (Code Geass R1’s ridiculousness, or Paprika’s lack of coherency, both by me and within itself) that would take them down from its 10/10 star rating in my eyes.
Yet, there are some series that I have rewatched many times and loved as well, like School Rumble, FMA, or Yakitate!! Japan (seriously, its not just about the baking). But what truly sets those shows apart from the others? One other thing I’ve realized is that I almost always rewatch the best scenes in some anime (final battle Gurren Lagann, Gaara VS Rock Lee Fight in Naruto) but never the whole episodes. Curiouser and curiouser…
I don’t think I’ll be able to come to a conclusion at any time soon, but newgeekphilosopher’s right in saying that anime you love deserve their rewatch for giving you the entertainment that they have, and you deserve that sense of nostalgia and refreshment that you get from watching them.
Anyway, at 17, I may be too young to start pondering these things but maybe if give those shows I watched another chance I’ll be able to answer my own question ^_^.
Dude, you linked my post, awesome!
Anyway, I’m 18 and I’m thinking about these things, so you’re probably not too young to be thinking about them.
Yeah, I suppose rewatching Anime is a tricky thing, because if you rewatch something you know it has to be good if you’re rewatching it. As for me I haven’t seen “Akira” yet, *oh the shame!* but it’s on my watch list for these holidays. I’ll probably watch My Neighbour Totoro again with my brother, but he’s so MEAN when it comes to judging Anime.
An anime doesn’t need to be rewatchable to be good. Its like the difference between a sweet and a cigarette.
Both give you pleasure, but a cigarette makes you crave for that same feeling again. Whilst it may feel good to rewatch a part of an anime over and over again, often you will realise that the part you are rewatching is what is missing in your real life. Hence you indulge in that feeling over and over again.
Maybe i’m talking rubbish, so don’t take me too seriously. Honestly i think sweets are healthier than cigarettes but nicotine once in a while won’t hurt. <<Bad advice from a medical student.