Hello everyone,
Just wondering if people tend to move on from series to series really fast or if they take time to think about everything they've just watched. I know that when I first started I'd just blow through like two or three series a day, so nothing really stood out or stayed in my mind for too long, even if they were good. These days I tend to take some time in between different series to just enjoy what I read/watched so I've been enjoying everything more even if I'm reading less.
So what do you tend to do? Do you just go through series really fast and with no time in between or do you think about them after?
Love this question because not many people ask this.
For me, it depends on how invested I am in the story. If it's something short and fun, then I can move on quickly afterward because the plot was straightforward and the end was happy and satisfying. I savor it, but not for a long time, I like to think of what I enjoyed about it, whether I would recommend it, and then move on.
I tend to linger on stories that I have invested a lot of time reading or watching. Stories that have high stakes drama and keep me on the edge of my seat. Or those dark, psychological thrillers, that make you question humanity. Where characters aren't always so likable but feel real with hard decisions to make, and sometimes I don't like the outcome but I can understand why it happened. I really savor things like that, because it's easier to make something happy or to make something flow with cliched events that aren't pushing the envelope (and nothing is wrong with that). But for those writers who do, they want their audience to think on a deeper level and I try my best to answer them. Being a writer myself, I understand.
So all in all, I do enjoy savoring the things I have read. Whether it's a short read or something longer, both can teach you many things and bring forth ideas and perspectives that you might not have thought of before.
This Mother's Basement video discusses the benefits and drawbacks of binging.
To summarise, watching seasonal shows at a rate of 1 episode per week gives us more time to savour the show and therefore gain a better apreciation for it. In my experience, I find that I tend to enjoy bad shows more at a rate of 1 episode a week, and end up giving them a higher rating as a result.
On the other side, binging a show can be good, if the show has a surface level story, then you're not missing much and instead, just blasting through the action. However, more poignant scenes may lose their impact if viewed in quick succession.
Binging is rarely a habit of mine, but when a great series finally hooks me in (like episode 14 of FMA:B or Battle Tendency in JoJo), I focus on that one story alone until I finish it (can take anywhere from a day to 3 months). Afterwards comes a period where it leaves me in a state where everything else seems mediocre in comparison, until the Next Big Thing comes along.
I do all my savoring during an anime, whether it requires a lot of thinking or some scene/event or dialogue felt/looked powerful, cool or relatable. Only times I think bout an anime after I completed is that refreshing feeling I get having watched an emotional or eventful rollercoaster. Another would be of course if the show had an interesting ending. Whenever I see the cover of that anime, it reminds me of how powerful it was. Although, I never rewatch it cuz it feels best watching the first time.
But for comedy and SoL I speed past it cuz its short unless its memorable, like the Gintama barber episode. Still makes me laugh rewatching it actually.
For my case I think it happens after completing it. Having the big picture and a solid construction is the base for later thinking.
The good shows aren't like just a 1 day/week/month thinking, I could say it goes forever as a new part of myself.
And that's is the amazing thing about art, it can cause long lasting effects on you =))
Personally speaking I never tend to move on from an anime which had a big impression on me.
After finishing these kinds of anime, I watch analysis about it and try to create meaning of it and its storytelling/directing , character dynamic and deeper themes (philosophy and psychology). This process results usually in me rewatching the show several times, before theming my profile around it. This whole process takes up weeks and often months for me to complete. This behaviour of mine also explains my inactiviy in watching anime.
I binge-watch pretty much everything except for episodic Slice of Life that have little to no action and/or overarching plot - I can only enjoy those in smaller doses - and I take only tiny breaks between the stories, if any.
But then again, if I like a show, I'm more than happy to rewatch it, and since I already know the plot, I no longer feel the urge to get through it all at once. Instead, I watch it slowly and try to catch up on the little things I missed during the binge. So far it's been working out for me just fine. :))