I can’t keep up with airing shows

…because I drop everything after a few episodes.

Does this happen to anybody else?  I’ve found that out of all the many million shows I start watching, I end up dropping 99% of them before the third episode.

According to my MAL, I have completed 76 TV series (minus movies and crap that make my anime list look a lot longer than it needs to be) and dropped 62 TV series.  That’s practically a 1:1 ratio (or at least it will be once winter season comes along and I get to drop a few hundred more shows).

So far this year, I have finished seven shows:

  • Rideback (total waste of time – why the hell did I finish this anyway?)
  • Haruhi S2 (obligatory)
  • Hayate S2 (semi-obligatory, turned out pretty nice)
  • K-ON! (obligatory)
  • Eden of the East (obligatory)
  • Hatsukoi Limited (hey, I liked this show)
  • Princess Lover! (average)

Looking back… had I not turned down the evil path of blogging, I probably would have only watched Rideback, Hayate, Hatsukoi, and Princess Lover.  Well, I probably would’ve dropped Rideback and Princess Lover if it weren’t for the posts other bloggers made about them.  So that narrows it down to two shows.

Wait.  Actually, I’m almost done with GA, so that makes three shows.  So three shows in half a year?  Huh.  Compare that to the fifty-four shows (aired this year) that I’ve dropped.  😐

How am I supposed to type up my obligatory “Best of 2009” post when I don’t know what 2009 has been like when I thought just about everything that aired in 2009 was eye-cancer?  Maybe I’ll make a “Worst of 2009” post instead and try to pin it on an effort to be different from all of the other anime blogs.

P.S.: Does last winter season count as 2009?  Or does the coming winter season count as 2009?  Or both?  It’s kind of hard to rate a season’s shows when you’re halfway through them, so I think it’s the former…


28 Comments on “I can’t keep up with airing shows”

  1. Shin says:

    You can’t beat my drop rate.

  2. nekosasu says:

    It happens a lot to me too. I suppose the reason is that I can’t keep up my weekly attention span for as long as 12/13/26 weeks unless the series is brilliantly brilliant (which they rarely are), and I end up backlogging/watching in batches/marathoning the whole series as soon as it’s completed/just forgetting about those, and eventually dropping them. I just can’t. I don’t know why.

    In recent times I’ve been trying to pick my series with first impressions to avoid droppage as much as possible, but in the end I still keep putting them on hold. Sucks. 🙁

    • fangzhao says:

      It’s gotten so bad for me that I often can’t remember the content of the previous week’s episode because I’m too busy marathon-ing old shows in the time between episodes.

      I can’t ever go back to a series I drop, though. Even if you tell me Spice and Wolf II was good, I dropped it because I thought Akagi was more interesting.

      …though for a majority of the shows I watch, I just think they suck. No attention span problem or anything. I thought Bakemonogatari, Tokyo M 8.0, Saki, etc. were terrible shows. I try to watch them, but end up falling asleep or going off to eat snacks.

      • sunshinesan says:

        I also have a habit of dropping shows… often on the first ep. I wouldn’t call it voluntary dropping, its more of letting it sit on the side and forgetting about it.

        It’s a terrible habit and can prevents the discovery of some truly amazing shows. I remember watching Shakugan no Shana and downright hating it until the seventh episode, which was when the characters started to grow on me. Thank god I didn’t drop it or else it would have been one of the dumbest mistakes I’ve ever made.

        Also, it is indeed very difficult going back to “dropped” shows. The only successful revival of a show that I can recall at the moment was when I picked up Index again after like a 5 month “drop” period, it turned out alright.

  3. Kitsune says:

    It means that you have a very high standard. That’s a good thing – why waste your time on anime that don’t worth the investment.

    • fangzhao says:

      Haha, you win the comment of the week award!

      That may be true, but I am actually fully aware that some of the shows I drop are really good (Cross Game would be the best example here).

  4. glothelegend says:

    This is why I decided to stop watching anime week to week, save 1 or 2 shows.

    Now, I find my life full of ease and happiness.

    • Shance says:

      Ditto.

      But hey, before the start of the season, everyone’s already saying that the season sucks save one or two shows. I’m going to bet on dropping Railgun before Fangzhao, but I’m willing to give it another chance to redeem itself.

      Especially if the last half of the show is spent on pure action and Biribiri goodness.

    • fangzhao says:

      Last season, I dropped everything and ended up watching a bunch of old shows. I couldn’t tell what other bloggers were writing about, so I decided to take up weekly watching this season… but I doubt I can make it.

      I guess marathoning is more for me, too.

      Also, @Shance: I won’t drop Railgun in any case, if only out of devotion to my favorite character… but it’s getting tough to keep on watching the series, given that all I have to look forward to is more annoying voices.

      • Shance says:

        Kind of devious of you denote her as the “annoying voice”. But that’s the truth about her, right?

        Let’s bet if the last half of the show goes all to action and the story. I bet 50% it would and it won’t.

  5. FinallyAnime says:

    Omfg, I can COMPLETELY relate. It even seems to happen with shows I like. It seems I just don’t have time. Happened to me during the summer w/Shangri-La, and Umi Monogatari…only watched half of bakemonogatari….the list goes on and on. I just wish sometimes there was more time in a day. Of course, other times I wish there weren’t. But really great post though. It really materializes what’s in the typical anime blogger’s head.

  6. PhoenixRider says:

    I don’t like dropping shows so I usually stick through them till the end.

    I’m thankful though, if it wasn’t for that I probably would have dropped Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 since it had a fail few episodes but ended up in my top 10 in the end.

    • fangzhao says:

      I believe that no matter how good an ending is, it can’t save an overall series. What’s the point of am amazing ending if the first ten episodes put me to sleep?

      Example – sola. That show had the most boring first half I’ve ever seen. I was chewing gum and splashing water on my face ten minutes into the first episode.

      Though I managed to finish it, mostly because I heard that the ending was so amazing that it could turn six episodes of boredom around (it didn’t).

  7. Jubbz says:

    You have no idea how right you are. And I feel the same way. It’s hard trying to blog about 4 or 5 shows by yourself. =

    I mean, i run a team blog, but they’re all College students unlike me.

    • fangzhao says:

      Bah. I’ve given up on episodics for the most part (unless there’s something really horrible or really funny in an episode)… partially because I’m too lazy and partially because I watch the episode a week after everybody else (by that time, it’s no longer interesting…).

  8. Ruby says:

    It’s so normal to drop shows, I think the only reason why I keep going with them is because of what other bloggers say about it. Sometimes I feel like I just wanna drop all the shows I’m blogging about, its really hard to keep up (I’m covering 7 series).. every week so many episodes come out @_@ its not that hard to watch it but the writing part.. well I just get lazy sometimes. The upcoming winter season is not considered part of 2009 since it series aren’t finished yet (in my opinion)

    • fangzhao says:

      …I think the only reason why I keep going with them is because of what other bloggers say about it.

      Definitely. Though for me, I just want to know what other bloggers are talking about (which is kinda hard if I drop the shows they discuss!).

      The upcoming winter season is not considered part of 2009 since it series aren’t finished yet (in my opinion)

      Ah, thanks. I was leaning towards that, since last winter season’s series finish in 2009.

  9. Canne says:

    Marathoning is more convenient for me, too. Umm…I don’t really know but is it possible that you finally reach the anime saturation point? It’s could happen to anyone. Just a wild guess.

    • fangzhao says:

      If there is an anime saturation point, I probably hit it already. My enthusiasm for anime has been dwindling ever since I hit my high of 10 episodes+ per day.

  10. Lero says:

    Haruhi….. obligatory??? XD
    This show is a an endless fail.

  11. Yi says:

    I never watch more than 2-3 series at once, and usually just around 2 series/ season.

    I don’t see how people can watch every anime all the time.

  12. Seinime says:

    I never really finish an anime. 🙁

  13. […] of making lots of small posts, I’ve decided to mash up the few anime that I am following into this one […]


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