There is no such thing as dropping an anime forever. When I use the term ‘dropped’ that does not mean that’s the last I’ll see of that anime in my life. Dropping a show means that I don’t have the enthusiasm to watch this show currently and at a later date I’ll return to that anime. This later date may be the time when I’m stuck on a desert island with nothing other than a portable dvd player and a ‘Lucky Star’ boxset, but I will one day return and give the anime another shot. With this in mind, combined with the fact that I’m only 4 series away from ‘dropping’ 100 anime, according to my MAL account, I’ve decided that I’m going to take a look back at all those series I’ve dropped, recognise why I dropped them and evaluate when I should give them another go.
Canaan
Dropped After: 5 episodes
Why I dropped it: Canaan actually started off pretty well and looking back I now know why. Canaan had one large flaw, that being its plot. The first few episodes of Canaan didn’t tell us the plot, just showed us some well-animated explosions and stuff. So for the first 3 episodes we were treated to hot women duking it out, except with an annoying lack of substance behind that. Then they showed the plot. And it was the most retarded piece of shit I have ever seen. Who the hell wrote this crap? Who on earth came up with the plot to this?
Rebirth Chances: Below average. It only finished pretty recently and I’ve seen nothing to hint that I would really want to continue it. It has gotten some good reviews but they all seem to be from those yuri-loving freaks. If I really want to see a women hump a dead man then maybe I’ll pick it up again, but not for quite a while anyway. Maybe I’ll forget how bad the plot was.
Chaos;Head
Dropped After: 6 episodes
Why I dropped it: Again, Chaos;Head started off fairly interesting. Creepy mystery murder and the extremely unsettling marriage of what appeared to be Shuffle and Paranoia Agent, I was actually quite interested in seeing where this had to go. Looking back, I can’t actually pinpoint what it was that made me drop this in the end.…wait, why did I drop this? I actually genuinely can’t remember now.
Rebirth Chances: Average. As I’ve just said, I genuinely can’t remember why I dropped this, so picking it up again seems like the obvious option. On the other hand, Chaos;Head is used by those who did finish it as an example of a shitty eroge adaptation. Considering how shitty eroge adaptations are anyway, that is quite a feat. Anyone out there actually like this show?
Chrome Shelled Regios
Dropped After: 1 episode
Why I dropped it: Now this probably holds the record for the most unusual reason I’ve ever dropped a series for. The first episode wasn’t that bad. In fact, I distinctly remember it having a hot purple-haired girl and purple haired girls make me drool. The reason I dropped it was actually because of the BGM. It sounded like DDR music played in fast forward. It was so bad that I actually turned off the sound while watching the episode and just read the subs. Needless to say, you can’t watch an anime like that.
Rebirth Chances: Low. Reviews are generally poor of Chrome Shelled Regios. People usually harp on about how great a character Felli was and that she never got enough screentime. I haven’t found any reviews that say whether the horrible BGM stops after the first episode so I’m extremely wary of touching this thing again.
Clannad ~After Story~
Dropped After: 7 episodes
Why I dropped it: Clannad shouldn’t have been my type of anime. Moe, dorama, heck, all they needed was to add some yuri for it to be a tailor-made anime for me to dislike. But opn the contrary, I really liked the first season. Tomoya was a magnificent character who reminded me almost scarily of myself and the anime itself was surprisingly funny. The serious moments were a bit meh but they were few and far between and often worked quite well thanks to the great BGM and artwork. These first 4 episode of After Story, combined with what the VNfags said, showed a clear sign that this season would depart from pretty much every reason I liked Clannad and emphasise what I disliked about it. It would be like the second season of Honey and Clover except worse. So, not wanting my image of Clannad ruined, I panicked and dropped the thing.
Rebirth Chances: Very high. I know from the reviews that it does exactly what I feared it would do but I never gave it a chance to reach those episodes (the first few episodes were mainly stupid filler anyway). For a character I found myself relating to as much as Tomoya, I really owe it to myself to see how he grows up. I may not enjoy those later humourless episodes. In fact, I’m pretty sure they are about as far away from my personal preferences as there could possibly be, but I have to at least give them a go. It must be rated #1 on MAL for a reason.
Denpa teki na Kanojo
Dropped After: 1 episode
Why I dropped it: This episode was far from being bad. In fact, the first episode was very well made and achieved exactly what it set out to achieve. The thing is, what it set out to achieve was to creep the fuck out of the viewer as much as possible. This wasn’t Elfen Lied where the main objective was to tell a story and the creepy gore came as an add-on. The only intention of this anime was to fuck you up. Why on earth would I want to continue watching that?
Rebirth Chances: Average. The reviews of the second episode were very good and there was a week where there was a bit of hype over it, which certainly tempted me to give the second episode a shot. But.….kowai~
::Note:: Do offer me recommendations as to what I should pick up again and is there a different way of approaching an anime I’ve dropped. I’ve already got the Ah My Goddess OVA on my to-watch list.
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17 Comments
Dropping Canaan was a smart move. I tried to finish it, and really regretted watching it. One of the worst endings I’ve ever seen.
This batch looks like a whole bunch of ‘meh’ to me, with the possible exception of Clannad AS. I’d like to see it myself except I can’t get through even 3 episodes of the 1st season. If you’re that far in, you might as well get the payoff. Anyway, I wouldn’t invest so much weight into MAL rankings, but we’ve had this discussion before.
You dropped Chaos;Head at exactly the right time. (Well, either that or ep7 is the right time. I forget exactly when Kozue — the mute blonde chick — becomes part of an awesome tag team with Sena.) After that, it actually has to EXPLAIN the plot, and it becomes a retarded mess. The last couple of episodes are just embarrassing. It’s a pity because it started out in an interesting way.
Clannad ~After Story~ is No. 1 on MAL because KyoAni/Key fans are notoriously, er, enthusiastic.
(And this is coming from someone who loves After Story.) You ever give a really high score to something (an anime, movie or whatever), and then see it have a really high ranking on, like, MAL or IMDb, and then say to yourself, “Man, I really liked that, but no way would I ever rank it that high?” That’s what I think whenever I see After Story in the top spot, haha.
@Janette
I’ve heard the ending was contreversial but that’s about it
@kadian1364
I’ve found that once you take genre preferences into account that the MAL ratings are pretty darn accurate. But yeah, lets not get into that again
@Shinmaru
Maybe I started to see the crapness of Chaos;Head and dropped bailed before it started to sink?
I get that feeling with Monster. Sure, it’s a good show but I can’t see me ever ranking it quite that high
I will never agree with the masses that Clannad AS was better than the first season of Clannad. Like you, I found myself unexpectedly really liking the first season…really enjoying every episode. AS is not really something you ENJOY watching — it’s like one of those movies that you watch because it won an Oscar or something: you watch because you know it’s a GOOD film…not a necessarily a happy one. Watching the characters from the first season “grow up” is pretty painful at times (you’re right about the “humorless” episodes…“humorless” is a huge understatement for some of these) but it’s as you said–I felt a responsibility to watch these characters in their new post-happyending world, and I was rewarded for my efforts: it IS a very good show…but good in a way that hurts. AS is a very cathartic experience…but I will always enjoy the first season more.
I actually thought Chaos Head held some promise, until the last 4 episodes made it go from intriguing premise into one that was totally ridiculous. Let the dead lie buried and you’ll be a happier person for it.
Chuckled at the description of Denpa. Shows that actually manage to creep the viewer out ranks highly in my book because of how difficult it is to manage the show’s atmosphere to accomplish just that. So the fact that it was able to do so was a major plus in my book.
Take it from someone who completed Canaan out of duty: It is NOT worth picking up again.
I also watched Chaos;Head in completion; probably not one of my better anime choices. When I still didn’t quite get it, I thought the concept was interesting, but by the end, I thought it was stupid.
I also dropped Chrome Shelled Regios and I totally remember the music being terrible — and I hardly pay attention to background music.
It’s true that Denpa teki na Kanojo is twisted, but it’s good. Watch it with a friend… and then sleep with the lights on.
Finally: I really love Ah My Goddess. Probably because the OVA was the first anime I ever watched and it has a special place in my heart.
After Story wasn’t that good, but I don’t doubt its ability to hit #1. It’s the definition of melodrama, but it’s also the definition of tragedy. Heck, it’s practically the first tragedy (save the last episode) ever made in the anime medium, and boy, is it tragic.
You’re not the only one who stopped watching Chrome Shelled Regios after episode one because of it’s absurdly awful OST. I and a bunch of my friends did the same (despite them liking the light novels). You could always go that route instead, I’ve seen fan-translations online that were pretty good, though I didn’t have time to read ‘em myself.
Had to write this comment twice because in came two new responces as I was writing it.
@EurydiceQ
I didn’t exactly fall head over heels for the first season of Clannad but yes, I did enjoy it far more than I thought I would. When it comes to these GOOD anime, I generally enjoy it because it’s good. The idea of watching something an appriciating that it is a good anime without actually enjoying it is something that doesn’t sit well with me. That’s where stupid high-class elitism comes into play. Although that’s not what’s happening with AS. That’s just rabid fans and a well-told story combining.
@zzeroparticle
Yeah it looks like I unknowingly made the right choice in dropping Chaos;Head. Well, except no anime is dropped forever. So I will obviously return to it in order to see that crappy ending.
Generally I’m all cool with creepy stuff. I mentioned Elfen Lied because it still holds the record for being the creepiest anime I’ve seen (boring choice but true) but Denpa didn’t have any other qualities other than the horror. Same way a cute show doesn’t appeal to me if all it has is cuteness
@blindability
lol, I remember those Canaan posts. I had an awful lot of fun reading them because most other blogs seemed to be all yuri-fans.
First anime will always hold a place in your heart, especially with something as heartwarming as Ah My Goddess (speaking objectively here). I’ve said this before, but whatever about the haters, I will always adore Love Hina
@fangzhao
Give me a minute on MAL and I’ll find a better tradegy…ok, I couldn’t find one. All I could find was bittersweet. Actually fuck that, Grave of the fucking Fireflies! I know opinion is split but damn, I will never watch a greater tradegy than that.
Melodrama sux~
@temperus
Consume something in a medium other than anime? You must be mad!
(when I say anime fan, I really mean it)
@fangzhao
I’d say Gungrave, Gankutsuou and Berserk (the anime) all count as tragedies in the strictest definition of the word. Tragedies, particularly Shakespearean ones, tend to deal with themes of “fate”, which is definitely a major part of Gankutsuou and Berserk.
@Scamp
I’m still not sure what to think about Denpa teki na Kanojo. It’s, err, rough around the edges, particularly the dialogue which, at times, is just plain dreadful. They do a good job of setting atmosphere, though, which is pretty important in horror anime (someone please tell this to the people making Ookamikakushi).
As for After Story, I’ll be blunt, the first eight or so episodes sucked. Royally. Don’t listen to what VNfags have to say on this issue. But, if you like Tomoya, then After Story is a must watch, because one of the best things about it is the way they develop his character. It delivers two particularly heavy dramatic punches as well. But I’m not going to make any guarantees about the ending itself. It’s divisive, to say the least.
Without spoiling anything, as I hate spoiling people, and you know, no anime is dropped forever, it’s one of those endings that make you go, “…so what was the point of watching this?”
Denpa na teki no Kanojo twisted. Haven’t heard of it and uh.. no thanks. I had enough Higurashi for a lifetime
Well, the only series i’d recommend you pick up again is Clannad AS.
While the first season was a mix of humor and occasional drama, Clannad AS makes a.. uhh.. really heartbreaking turn. I think it’s waaay more heartbreaking than the first one. But gawd, season one was funny and Tomoya’s character did make the story interesting, imo.
And it’s fun to watch more of Nagisa’s family, especially his dad. What a wacky family~ <3
Chaos;Head, didn’t finish it myself. I didn’t have the time back then, and when i read some reviews, a lot of them didn’t really like it that much. :/
In Chrome Shelled Regios they do stop using the really annoying BGM as much after the first episode but they keep using it for the next episode previews, and it doesn’t grow on you at all. It was a mediocre show in the end anyway so there’s no real reason to pick it up again.
@Sorrow-kun
I keep forgetting what constitues a Tragedy, although I’m pretty sure Gankutsuoh doesn’t fit the bill, depending on how ridgedly you stick to the Greek/Shakespeare classics.
Thing about these ‘emotional punches’ series is that they rarely get me. The second season of Honey and Clover bored me silly and I enjoyed the first ‘slice-of-life in space’ half of Planetes than the drama in the second half. I’ll give it a shot though, mainly because I kinda need to see how Tomoya grew up.
@blissfullynaive
See what I said to Sorrow-kun. Heartbreaking drama is not my preffered genre
@Libera
Not even for Felli? NOT EVEN FOR THE HOT PURPLE HAIRED CHICK!?!
As somebody who very recently saw the second episode of Denpa teki na Kanojo? I’d still recommend it. It is a bit creepy, yes, but it has what quite a few other anime lack — depth. It… has a purpose, you know? Not just completely mindless entertainment, not just total gore, not just total mindfuck. There’s some substance in it, even if it’s not executed as well as it could be.
Though I agree with some of the others; some of the dialogue gets very tedious. And this anime has something of a problem with the old “show, don’t tell” rule.
Still, I think it’d be worth getting back into if you ever have the time or patience.