After a most epic catch-up weekend I’ve set up for myself, I’m still falling short of actually catching up to the shows I’ve been initially watching since the start of the season. The vacation I had kinda messed up my anime (as well as blogging) body clock it seems.
The gap isn’t really that big at the moment – at most I’m behind four episodes in each show I have on my plate. Of course, there were shows like, say, Fate/Zero, that I couldn’t possibly let myself miss out on (and I was only two episodes behind). But, as I watched the latest episode I had at the time, I felt completely lost. I had trouble recalling what happened a few episodes before and wasted a good half of the show just by thinking stuff over. I could always just re-watch the ones I forgot and get back on track right away but I figured that I’d have more or less the same experience with the other shows, and thought to myself – with the new semester looming in, should I just wait until the season ends and watch them all in one go?
Personally, I still prefer watching episodes as soon as I possibly can. Besides being slightly impatient, subbed episodes usually come up around early morning here anyways so I’d more or less finish my anime duties come the afternoon, leaving me some time to blog and/or do other stuff. It’s also really fun to go around other ani-blogs and talk about the latest “WTF”‘s and “hnnnnnnnnnngggggg”‘s of the week, or even get some clarification if a certain scene didn’t make sense.
I’ve been used to waiting a week for new episodes a bit before I started watching anime (I’d have to thank some American series’ for that), and that’s pretty much the only downside I see. It might not even be a “downside” at all. It adds more to the suspense really. I remember my first time following an ongoing show, Index II, and every week I’d just be so psyched to see Kuroko and stuff.
Then again, I know that some viewers prefer wading out that season before marathon-ing a series in a day or so. Having marathoned a number of shows already, (albiet not from current seasons) I can say that doing so also has it’s fun moments, like getting the full story in one continuous flow. I wanted to try picking up Shakugan no Shana III once it finished, but by then I think I lost my drive a bit, so that could be something of a bad side to waiting on a show.
So, what do you guys usually do? Do you guys watch weekly? Or do you guys wait? ^_^
Weekly is the way for me. It just helps to be able to think “hey, its saturday, I need to watch Fate Zero!” and end up debating the progress with fellow bloggers/readers on the various blogs. Watching everything in one go just removes so much from this experience…:P
Yeah, I think it’d be hard to change from weekly once you’ve done it. I doubt I’d be able to handle the suspense anyways, unless I spoil myself, which is a totally bad route 😀
And, lol, you get F/Z a day earlier than me! >.<
For me, it depends. Some shows I like to watch on weekly basis while some I prefer to wait until the season is over. If I really couldn’t wait to know what happens next and I like the momentum of the series, it goes to my weekly plate, e.g Fate/Zero. If I think I can wait and because I think it’ll be more fun should the series is marathon-ed, e.g Bakuman, I’ll stop watching weekly and then accumulate the episodes to watch at one seating.
I agree that the momentum of the series plays a huge part in this. Sometimes though, not enough momentum and waiting until the series ends could end up having the show completely dropped (like what happened with me and Shakugan III) then again, there are shows, like you said, that are better marathon-ed, so yeah, it’s a bit of a double-edged decision.
I think both has it’s pros and cons. If you’re waiting for the whole series to end and marathoned the whole show, you can keep watching and you won’t forget the subtlest of details. But by doing this, you missed out the chance of commenting on episodic blogs or other discussions. This is one reason why I haven’t been commenting on said episodic anime blogs. Also, by waiting for an anime to finish, it gives me more time for other things too, like manga, games, visual novels or light novels.
If you’re watching week by week, then you will for sure won’t have any problem with joining in the discussions, but as for the cons.. well.. as I guess you already experienced them. What happened with you on Fate/Zero reminds me of when I was watching Another weekly. It doesn’t help that during that time was one of my busier days. So as I was watching this, then the next week, I can’t even remember the character names.
Back then, I chose the former, marathoning. But now, I’m more of a hybrid, managing myself “the perfect moment” to start watching. I downloaded them as soon as they come out, sure, but I won’t watch them yet. I’ll only watch them as they are about to end, which actually, I’m already starting to do now for the current Spring shows.
True. Part of me just loves joining in on discussions and such, and that’s the main thing I’m concerning myself about. My enjoyment of it aside, I’d also leave myself open to spoilers if I ever plan to wait, since a number of blogs I frequent do episodic posts, and if I were to avoid even that well, that’s twice the con for one pro.
But, I could really use the time, like you said, to catch up on manga, games, visual novels AND light novels (HakoMari 5 is confirmed for July 10 btw :D)
Ah, the “the perfect moment”. For me it’s the relatively short gap in between seasons that I often use to marathon old shows ^_^
Ooh Really!? Hako Maria! I thought it’s just going to stay stuck at volume 4 forever, lol. The last 2 volumes is damn epic 😀
lol, I know right!? The last two volumes were beyond awesome. Can’t wait for Kazuki and Daiya’s showdown ^_^
I can’t wait for Kazuki and 0’s showdown 😀
That too. Oh yeah! 😀
Watching everything in one go can work but I prefer to keep up to date with what is currently airing. Waiting on cliffhangers every week is a pain but I think it adds to the experience of the anime. That and you can talk to everyone else about the anime if you keep up to date with it.
Yeah, similar to what feal said above, the feeling of watching week by week, watching an episode that’s new to everyone’s eyes is something that you just can’t experience when you marathon a series in one or two days.
Since I usually finish catch up to on-going series quick it depends. Some series I care about I watch them ASAP, others I stall, and the rest I kick to the curb for later in favor BD/DVD releases. Examples would be Hyouka; which I planned to get update on tomorrow (finished the first arc), Saki (on ep 2), and that is it. Dusk Maiden, I always up-to-date on and well….Zombie Desu Ka and Upottee are done airing and I already seen those. =)
Oh yeah, I forgot about BD/DVD releases. I only wait for those when they add and/or improve things drastically to the series (e.g. Nisemonogatari). Usually I just settle for batch releases to fix sub errors, like how I’m just gonna wait for a batch of Accel World, which is almost done anyways.
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