A couple weeks ago, I ran a short poll on twitter, which was limited due to some character limits. But the idea was still there. I wanted to know about who researched the anime they watch. It was just something that I was curious about and here are the results:
Some interesting results and not completely unpredictable. Now, I also know this was only from 45 votes but that is still a decent sample size. Let’s cut my own thoughts down into specific categories. You guys can tell me if you think I’m wrong. That’s completely fine because this is my own opinion after all.
General Staff and Studio @ 62.2%
This being the highest by several country miles makes complete sense to me. This is the age of information and seasonal anime. It feels pretty natural that seasonal anime fans look up the anime they want to watch on anichart. That not only involves seeing what the names of shows are, their synopsis, but also the studio and staff that is going to work for the anime. Its kind of needed to find what series to watch during the season because one can’t watch every single show. Or at least most can’t.
Then there is the finding of older series and other things to watch too. Especially when finding who wrote or worked on what, what year it came from, and just finding what previous creators you enjoyed watched too. Just research for finding more anime and other things too. With the internet, watching and finding staff you like and enjoy feels like the natural way of life and helps a person gain a stronger attachment to the medium itself. At least, that’s how it works with my experience. The more a person digs, the more there is to fine.
Just Don’t @ 24.4%
I am and am not confused by this one. I don’t think it’s as possible to stumble into new series these days like it was when anime aired on television. Sure, you can hear about shows online, but those are primary going to be the main stream shows. At the most part at least, because the smaller shows are just not going to appear on a timeline unless a lot of people yell about it online. This is the time of the internet search where you have to intentionally click on something to watch it now unless you watch anime on Toonami on Saturdays. Even then, you know…
Then I thought about the friend element. Are your friends telling you about an anime series? Are you going to watch it? I suppose so. Going in blind is just so strange to me. I just…maybe the person seeing this will answer some of my questions or how they do it because I am utterly lost other then “oh, pretty button” and then you watch it. Or maybe the Crunchyroll randomizer thing. Hmmm. Much to think about.
Who Animated What Cut? @ 13.3%
This result makes a lot of sense to me. While more knowledge of anime and production has been shown to us normal people through shows like Shirobako and Eizouken, but not a lot of us are going to go after certain animation cuts and see who did what. That is going to be a very dedicated set of fans who love seeing that stuff and honestly, good for you guys. That’s honestly some hard work of memorizing.
I had a lot of trouble remembering the people who did what specific cuts here and there even if i like looking at those moments of animation, but I have trouble remember who did what cut and who did it when. It’s just so hard for me and I don’t know why. Maybe I should write them down. Either ways, that’s a level of anime love that I struggle at getting to so maybe that makes me an amateur fan still. Or at least a moderate level fan. Hmm.
Mechanical Anime Reviews 
Interesting question. I definitely research what I watch especially when I need content for fun facts, finding out cultural context if necessary, and who was involved in the production in general.
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Yeah, that’s the same for me.
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Thatās good. I do like it when other reviewers research things for their work instead of just watching it and start writing a post. The extra info can be quite beneficial.
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Normally, if there’s something I think looks interesting, I try to go into it knowing nothing more than the synopsis and general art style. It helps me to avoid pre-conceived notions and accidental spoilers, and a good studio track record doesn’t necessarily guarantee a work’s quality. If I do research on a show/game/etc, it’s usually only after I’ve gotten at least a few episodes in or if I’m thinking of reviewing it.
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Interesting. I mean, it is true that the studio gaurantee and even star whatever (actor/animator/director/more) is wrong and that’s what I learned. Sometimes, that is all you have to go on though which is what makes it tough.
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I tend to look up stuff after watching. Quite often if there’s enough noise around a particular series, I’d get curious and check it out without much context. Any info I get before I see an anime is mainly cuz I stumbled across memes or spoilers on the internet. Though I do enjoy looking up the VA cast when I recognise a character’s voice to see if I guessed right.
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The voice acting guessing game is pretty fun for sure! And I see, checking it out in that way makes sense.
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I voted “Just Don’t,” but only because when I research a new anime, the main thing I look for isn’t really studio or staff, but the synopsis. I do enjoy going in blind when I have the opportunity too. Interesting results.
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Ah, I see. That’s pretty fair honestly.
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I’m kinda surprised by these results, very interesting. Given how communities are being more forward with trigger warnings of all sorts, I was under the assumption that more people researched what they watched. Granted, I’m just one blogger who goes off of title, synopsis, and being on the fence maybe a studio or key cast, and very rarely a trigger warnings these days – I would have thought the opposite. Maybe it’s just me and the people I hang out with.
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I’d say I’m definitely in the “Don’t research” camp but I tend to at least know some things about it because I rarely watch shows day 1. For example, when reading through the posts on your and other anime blogs, I’ll tend to remember some elements of the shows even if I don’t watch it for another 5 years. I don’t really go out of my way to find out more beyond that.
For example, you’ve been reviewing the Tiger & Bunny series. I don’t know much about it but get the general gist that it’s a superhero/action kind of title. I don’t think I’ll be watching it for a few years but when I do get around to it eventually, I’ll already know a bit about how it looks and feels. Beyond that I’ll just jump into a show if the poster looks cool
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Oh wow, talk about some time commitments here.
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I guess I’ll try replying again, now that I’m not constrained by Twitter character limits – it depends what anime we’re talking about and what level of commitment I want to give. For example, translating stuff is always a huge commitment, because then I have to do a lot of side-research to ensure the best translation possible, such as finding specific staff by name/alias (Japanese characters can be pronounced and/or written many ways, which can make things notoriously difficult on that front).
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Ah, I see. Makes sense.
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I just can’t consume anything without knowing who makes it…
Is that simple enough of an explanation as to why I’m definitely not in the 24%?
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That is me too.
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