The anime club meetup at a convention that wrecked my watching habits

I went to a small panel at Anime Expo last summer and this guy spent 20 minutes breaking down why the filler episodes in a 90s show actually made the pacing better. I always skipped fillers before, but he had a point about character buildup. After that, I tried watching a 200-episode series without skipping anything and it took me 3 months to finish. Now I sit through even the boring parts because I feel like I missed stuff before. Has anyone else had their whole approach to binging changed by a random conversation at a con?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicebarnes10d ago

Ugh yeah I've been there. My turning point was when a guy at a con explained how those slow beach episodes in a battle shonen actually set up character motivations for later arcs. Now I treat filler like a side quest in a game, you miss the loot if you skip. My rule is if I find myself zoning out for more than 2 episodes in a row, I drop the series and come back later. That way I'm not forcing myself through three months of boredom but I'm also not skipping actual character moments. Honestly curating your watchlist is way better than feeling guilty about skipping stuff.

riley5810d ago

...wait, THREE months for ONE series? Tbh that's dedication right there. I would have given up after like two weeks. Honestly I get what you mean though, a random con talk changed my whole view on an old mecha show I used to skip half of. Ngl now I just let the episodes play even if nothing is happening and I kinda zone out but at least I'm not missing anything.

blair_butler4710d ago

I have to push back on the zoning out part. If you're zoning out during episodes, that's three months of your life you can't get back. A buddy of mine watched all of Gundam Wing that way and couldn't tell you a single plot point. He just remembers the colors and a vague sense that someone was mad about something. I'd rather skip episodes or just read a wiki summary than treat anime like background noise. At least then you know what happened and can move on to something you actually like.