[Akito Kinomoto]

Lately I've been musing over how much the technical strengths or weaknesses of an anime can influence how much we enjoy it. My like or dislike for a show used to be dictated more by its literary elements like characters or story than its appearance or audio. But in hindsight it's counterintuitive since anime is a visual medium; judging a work solely on its writing is better suited for a book (or light novels to keep with the context of the topic).

Of course, there needs to be a marriage between an anime's technical and literary parts. The problem is how some shows can seemingly remain intact on its writing alone when the art/animation and audio is removed while other shows fall apart without its technical support. Is the latter necessarily a worse show for not holding together without its appearance and sound or is it actually taking advantage of what can be done in a visual medium that cannot be accomplished in a book?

What's your take on the subject? How much does art/animation and sound influence your enjoyment?

*One day I was reading the Strawberry Panic! light novels when I thought wait a minute. Why am I wasting my time reading yuri when I can get my fix a thousand times faster by watching the anime?