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Do you still regularly watch the anime? (If not, why?)

Do you still regularly watch the anime?


  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .

Sceptile Master

Survivor of the Great Avatar Depression
(Aight, I may have just had a drink and haven't been on here in years, so I hope I'm posting this in accordance with the rules and everything.)


Disclaimer: Minus like 2 episodes maybe of DP and non-dubbed episodes, I've only watched the [English] dub.


Well, title says most of it all. Do you still regularly watch the anime? It doesn't even have to be newer episodes, do you still regularly watch it?

I love the anime and it's one of my favorites, but I haven't regularly watched it in years. I stopped watching around what must've been mid-DP saga (when Ash got Gligar or so). I don't entirely know why or how to explain it: I got poked fun at for watching by one of my mother's acquaintances (or so my ~11 year old self thought anyway), and I don't wanna say it got boring (as a whole anyway), but it lost a sort of charm for me that I seemed to notice more in both the older dub (TPCI had been dubbing for what, 2 years at the time?), and older series in general. Besides some TPCi-related things, the filler seemed to be more... filler-like around the time. I felt like older filler at least showed more fun situations and characterization compared to what was being shown at the moment. It doesn't feel like a chore to watch Pokemon or anything, but it... feels different, at least with a portion of the newer episodes? Like it's not like I'd be forcing myself to watch it, but compared to the older episodes anyway, I feel like I can't escape into it as easy? This isn't true of every show for me, but I also find some (nostalgic?) pleasure in just watching what I can, whatever I can like it was back in muh VHS days (or once in a while, like when 4Kids only aired it once a week).

That's the best I can word it all anyway. I don't know if anyone has or is experiencing something similar, but regardless, share if you do or not, and if you don't I'd be interested why not!
 
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AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
I watched the Indigo League then I took a long break for years until XY(Z), since I restarted to get invested to this franchise after I played a good amount of mainstream games in a short time frame. I did watch a few episodes of AG, DP & BW, but not enough to give my overall impression of those series.

I'm mostly interested to see the spotlights from Ash's companions, because we got to see them fully in one series before they're gone, and I already have seen Ash for a long time, so I'm not invested on him anymore. But the issue of XY(Z), is that the writers gave too much spotlights on him, while putting the companions in the sidelines. It kinda annoyed me because the companions felt more fresh to me & had more room to develop further.

After XY(Z), I realize that the show is mainly about Ash, Pikachu & Team Rocket, so I was getting fed up about the "status quo". I made a fan project partly to get what I want from the character that I cared, along paying homages to other important characters, and of course defying the status quo. I was satisfied about the results that I don't feel bothered what the producers/writers are delivering anymore, so I watch the show, currently SM, more casually as a passtime.

Oh, and I mostly watched raw. For the boring episodes, I watch them once asap and be done with them. For the interesting episodes, I might watch more, especially the interesting scenes, with subs to understand them more. I don't watch Dubs, not because of the VA qualities, but I wanted to see the series more ahead, so the dub version kinda lag behind in terms of the series events.
 
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Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
No, I only watch certain episodes that interest me. I skip most, if not all of the Ash focused episodes since his character has been pointless since the end of DP and I'd rather not waste my time watching someone that doesn't have an end in sight in their character.
 

mehmeh1

Not thinking twice!
I used to watch it whenever I found it on TV (tried to catch as much eps as possible), then I started watching the subs for the final 2 BW episodes on the internet, I watched the dub for the first 2 XY episodes (on their "sneak peek airing"), waited for months for new eps, saw the next 8 on the dub, later on I saw ash was on his 2nd gym battle on the dub, and started watching the subs weekly
 

VoltTacklingPika

Well-Known Member
That's the best I can word it all anyway. I don't know if anyone has or is experiencing something similar, but regardless, share if you do or not, and if you don't I'd be interested why not!

I've experienced something similar. It's revealing to me that I can still remember a bunch of filler from Kanto, even though I haven't watched that season in several years, but barely remember any of the filler from AG or DP. Maybe it's just a nostalgia thing, because Kanto was a shared experience with friends and family, whereas now I'm the only one in my circle still keeping up with the show.

It didn't help that the show became very samey and lost its ability to surprise by relying a lot on templates. I stopped watching on a weekly basis because I just didn't have a reason to tune in to the next episode. It became too easy to predict what would happen next - like, oh, a character of the day is going to appear, they'll demonstrate zero personality and then draw Ash and friends into a totally forgettable distraction involving a yet-to-be-showcased Pokemon.

It was around halfway through BW that I stopped paying attention to the show on an episode-by-episode basis. I thought it'd be more constructive to let episodes pile up then pick out the ones that looked funny or interesting, rather than watch every episode hoping there'll be a funny/interesting one. Sun and Moon restored some of the surprise element to the show so I check things out weekly again, but I haven't actually watched an episode in a couple of months.
 

lolipiece

Pictured: what browsing Serebii does to a person
Staff member
Moderator
Been watching it constantly since I was a wee lad. Doubt it'll change anytime soon. I'm a sucker for monster collecting shows.

I tend to miss some episodes due to oversleeping or outright skipping them due to lack of interest, but I gotta say, I've made it a point to watch every single SM episode as they air. Never put that much effort into any season prior.
 

AshxSatoshi

Ice Aurelia
The only series I payed a lot of close attention was kinda BF, DP and BW. XY I couldn’t really bare but ended up watching a good amount when it ended and I was practically an infant when OS came out so I never bothered watching most of it. I can honestly say I payed the most attention to DP since Gen 4 was my first kinda introduction to the series (I had FRLG but never finished them and I only really watched the Kanto part of AG). However as time went on... school and work become more of a priority than trying to catch up on every single episode. Sun and Moon lost me after the Aether arc but the episodes I do watch (like the TR episode in Ula Ula or the Pokémon Center episode) I do enjoy. I just can’t get into a series with unlikeable or boring characters. So I find myself in a constant battle of choosing to watch SM for its well done episodes or not because most of the cast being boring. Honestly Lillie and TR are the saving grace of this series.
 
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Ashton Ketchum

Well-Known Member
I now rewatch some episodes, depends on my mode. And I have complete rewatch Kalos Saga, with all episodes, specials and movies.
But, talk about current episodes - I wait 8 generation.
 

Krokketto Prime Danjal

Done with worldly lies
My answer would be yes.

At this point in time, I’ve watched every episode up to partway through Kalos Quest (Ash has visited 6 Gyms).

I was keeping up with the new episodes as they were aired up until a few episodes into the XY season and then I just sort of fell behind, not intentionally but it just dropped back in the priority queue. I do have the episodes ready and waiting to watch, it’s just kind of taken me about 3 years to get back to it which I can’t actually believe. I have been watching a lot of the older episodes that I like during all that time though.

Having watched it since the beginning, there are some things that are predictable and recycled and there are so many pros and cons that you can say about Ash’s character and development but I’ve stuck with the show throughout and will continue to do so despite my time delay. I did persevere through the BW season which IMO had some of the most dull and boring episodes and bad plot and continuity issues after all. XY has it largely back on track.

A large influence that keeps me watching it has always been to do with seeing how Ash does against the Gym Leaders and how he performs in the Leagues as I have played all the main games and like to see the show’s interpretation of them.
 

Frozocrone

Miraculous!
My new job stops me watching it live so now I only catch summaries and if it looks interesting I'll make time to watch an episode.

Sun and Moon is charmingly cute but there's only so much I can take. I usually watch a batch in a row now as opposed to weekly like I used to.
 

Sceptile Master

Survivor of the Great Avatar Depression
It didn't help that the show became very samey and lost its ability to surprise by relying a lot on templates. I stopped watching on a weekly basis because I just didn't have a reason to tune in to the next episode. It became too easy to predict what would happen next

That's part of the thing that gets me though; I don't always think templates are a bad thing. Heck, I'm a big fan of magical girl series (Pretty Cure being one of them, which in summary has evolved to being tyically 3-5 new girls each season needing to collect all of something to save magical their respective magical queen and/or kingdom), which can follow a relatively repetitive formula. But something always keeps me interested or at least coming back. Perhaps it's the typically completely new cast between seasons (for things like Precure anyway), differences in protagonists and settings even between similar series of similar templates, and attachment to the characters and seeing them grow? I'm still not sure how to best explain or think of this all.

(Not that Ash hasn't grown; but it's usually/theoretically a lot easier to see growth in series that focus a little more on the [human] characters themselves that don't run with the same main protagonist that's eternally young for over 1,000 episodes now.)
 

Kage-Pikachu

Well-Known Member
Yes I still watch the anime but if an episode doesn't sound interesting I just use serebii's screenshots instead. Very convenient!
 

VoltTacklingPika

Well-Known Member
That's part of the thing that gets me though; I don't always think templates are a bad thing. Heck, I'm a big fan of magical girl series (Pretty Cure being one of them, which in summary has evolved to being tyically 3-5 new girls each season needing to collect all of something to save magical their respective magical queen and/or kingdom), which can follow a relatively repetitive formula. But something always keeps me interested or at least coming back. Perhaps it's the typically completely new cast between seasons (for things like Precure anyway), differences in protagonists and settings even between similar series of similar templates, and attachment to the characters and seeing them grow? I'm still not sure how to best explain or think of this all.

(Not that Ash hasn't grown; but it's usually/theoretically a lot easier to see growth in series that focus a little more on the [human] characters themselves that don't run with the same main protagonist that's eternally young for over 1,000 episodes now.)

Templates themselves are never inherently bad. The actual content is where the issues will be. Something can be repetitive but still an enjoyable experience if its repeating something you like. However, if something isn't all that interesting to you and gets repeated a lot... well, you're going to grow tired of it, in all likelihood.

I think one of the big things that'll keep people coming back to a show is being able to pick a favourite amongst the new cast and watch for them. I guess the difference between Pokemon and Precure in this respect is the number of new characters each season. Until recently, Pokemon only introduced one or two to the main cast (May and Max in Hoenn, Dawn in Sinnoh) and if you weren't sold on them (or were just ambivalent towards them or something) you're still stuck with Ash, Brock, and one-shot characters you'll never see again. Whereas in Precure it sounds like you have more of a choice.
 

Sceptile Master

Survivor of the Great Avatar Depression
Something can be repetitive but still an enjoyable experience if its repeating something you like. However, if something isn't all that interesting to you and gets repeated a lot... well, you're going to grow tired of it, in all likelihood.

Well, that does sound closer to my thoughts, except for the repeating part to an extent. I think it's something more like that Pokemon is repeating the formula in a way I don't like, rather than that I don't like the formula itself.
 

TheWanderingMist

Paladin of the Snow Queen
Yes. It's difficult for me to regularly watch it, but I catch up as soon as I can. I love this show, and I'm sticking with it to the bitter end.

Oddly enough, I also fell out of Pokemon's anime during the DP era, though for me it was more of a case of absolutely loathing the spotlight an undeserving character got. BW brought me back in, but I didn't like serious TRio and Ash's mental reset was a bit much to take. XY was great though it definitely showed how worn the common formulae had gotten. SM has been mostly great, it's fresh and new, and the writers have made clear that EP06 was definitely the low point of the region in regards to humor.
 
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Mega Altaria

☆~Shiny hunter▢~
I watch the SM episodes raw every week, so I watch it regularly. I occasionally watch other Pokémon episodes, usually the dub version, whenever I have the time.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I watch the episodes, although I did skip a few XY episodes when that saga was airing and I had to catch up when it ended. Even though SM has a multitude of flaws, it's still charming and fun on occasion, which is why I tune in.
 
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