[Ledgem]

Thanks everyone for writing out your thoughts and experiences. I've found it pretty interesting how many of you had similar experiences and feelings as I did (and some of you even matched them exactly).

Originally Posted by Vexx

Stuff that probably seems wonderous to a newer watcher, I'll more likely think of 3 or 4 older series that covered pretty much the same material and the new series isn't doing anything at all fresh.

This is a really good point. I hadn't considered it before, either - anime was drastically different compared to Western animation and even film (plotlines and storytelling), and each series seemed to be so different from the rest. But I'm speaking from a different time, back when digital fansubs were relatively new and anime wasn't as popular or well-known as it is today. That was when Neon Genesis Evangelion was the "initiation" show that every "true" anime fan had to see; when Love Hina, a typical harem show by any other standard, was a huge hit among the anime community; and when Noir, a series that would probably be regarded as somewhat generic and bland today, was a big deal.

(Do people even know those titles today? The fast pace of technology is marvelous - we can talk about "the olden days" and how good they were compared to today, something that people traditionally did when speaking about times 30-40 years prior, and yet here we're discussing things from barely a decade ago.)

It's likely as you say - once you've seen enough of something, or had a long enough time to contemplate it, everything else begins to feel like a rehash in some form.

Originally Posted by Tempester

I almost never use the term 'outgrow' these days, preferring to say 'lose interest' instead. Use of the term 'outgrow' can be potentially insulting to people who still have an interest in the subject in context, especially if they are your age or older.

If you're interested in returning to anime we can recommend you some awesome recent anime as well as some old classics you may have missed. Just start a thread in the Suggestions forum and we can help you from there.

You're right about the "outgrow" term, and I apologize for being a bit insensitive about its usage - I was using it from the point of "changing and growing as a person" rather than "growing up." The correct term would probably be to "grow (change) away from"... but I do appreciate your pointing it out. And thanks also for the suggestions forum - I've been getting suggestions from closer contacts, but I may create a thread over there.

Originally Posted by cyth

Ledgem, I still got ways to go before I finish school and find a suitable mate, but still, speaking as an ex-fansubber, I think a lot of us fall into this rut where anime just isn't fun anymore, at least not on its own.
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I think you'll have to forget what you loved in the past and reestablish your tastes from scratch, and as others have mentioned, it wouldn't hurt to extend your interests beyond the anime you watch. Vexx has mentioned Japanese culture, Shinn Kamiyra mentioned light novels and manga. Some people dabble in Touhou, others in Hatsune Miku, and so on.

Ah, Lythka, it's good to see that you're still around You're right that fansubbing certainly added a whole additional element to anime fandom, but even after I left the fansubbing scene I was still watching series (albeit not as heavily as before).

It's an interesting idea about re-establishing my tastes, and you're probably right. I find it interesting what you wrote about extending interests beyond anime, though. I used to be incredibly interested in Japan and Japanese culture, which probably helped to fuel my interest in anime. I even studied the language for three years, and had dreams of possibly moving there, or finding some sort of work that would allow me to visit there regularly. As I progressed in my studies, and then when I got married, those dreams sort of disappeared. It'll probably never happen, and even if it did, I'm not sure that I'd be happy with it. While that may be responsible for diminishing my level of fandom, I'm not sure that it could be responsible for preventing me from enjoying a random series or two... but it's an interesting thought.

Originally Posted by cyth

You could say that today's anime fandom isn't really the anime fandom you once knew, I think it's much more diverse and fueled with so many other interests.

Interesting point, and undoubtedly true. I can't say that I was ever into the social scene behind anime, though. I attended a few anime conventions when I was younger, but never really got into the online discussions. If you could find my earliest posts on AnimeSuki, you'd see that they were nearly all in the tech support forum, rather than in series discussion threads.

But perhaps the changes do catch up to you. When I approach anime these days, I'm still thinking about the series that I saw way back when, and make small comparisons. Nostalgia will almost always make the older series win out. When I visit the community now, I don't expect it to be similar to how it was in the past, but in some ways I long for it.

Yet the most interesting thing to me is that I've tried to go back and re-watch series that used to be my favorites, and I couldn't get past the first 2-4 episodes. The series just couldn't hold my interest as they once did.

Originally Posted by Arabesque

From what you wrote, I think it has more to do with the sort of events you underwent these past years rather than staying away too long from the medium. I mean what you described are life altering events (going to collage, graduating, getting married etc.) and they might have had a rather great influence on the way you see entertainment and what sort of thing you want to take from it.
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Additionally, it could be that you ended up burning yourself by digesting too many shows at the same time, and you might be having trouble getting back into the hobby because there isn't really that much shows to sustain the same level of consumption you have (had?).

Very insightful post. Are you studying to become a psychotherapist, by any chance? I'm impressed!

I will note that I didn't burn out - over time I became too busy to follow every single show, as I once had, and became more selective about what I watched. That was also when I began to have difficulty getting past the first few episodes of some series. Aside from becoming more selective, I began to watch less in general, even passing up series that were regarded as being good and that probably would have interested me.

I think you raise a good point about undergoing life-changing events. In my mind, I'm the same person as I was ten years ago. My knowledge base, skills, and certain aspects of my personality have changed since then, but my basic interests, thoughts, and feelings all seem the same. In reality, they've probably... no, most certainly have changed. My new response to anime, something that was once very engaging, is likely a result of those changes.

Originally Posted by Arabesque

Do you mind telling us though what sort of titles had you tried watching to get back into anime? Also at what point did you start losing interest?

To try and get back into it I tried to re-watch some older series that I had. I started with Scrapped Princess, a series that was one of my favorites (if not the favorite) from back in 2003. I watched two episodes and couldn't bring myself to watch the third or more. It wasn't that I was bored because I already knew what was going to happen; I remember what the ending is, but I'd forgotten a surprisingly large amount of things about the show. Rather, it just didn't feel interesting or engaging. When I first watched it (back around 2002-2004), the world and its characters had seemed so vibrant, even from the first episode. Everything just felt sort of flat when I tried watching it a little over a year ago.

One year ago I managed to watch all of Full Metal Alchemist, a series that I had never completed. I enjoyed it well enough, but I had to force myself through some parts of it. Half-way through I almost stopped watching it entirely, but didn't want to have it sitting around half-finished. I didn't want to go a few years and then have to re-watch the first half again to satisfy curiosity that would come up about the ending.

Now, with a few recommendations, I'm starting into Steins;Gate, Mahou Shoujo Madoka, and Moshidora. I also intend to finish watching Aria, which I loved but never completed (sorry, Vexx!) I watched the first episode of Steins;Gate yesterday, and that's what got me thinking about this topic. The quirkiness of the characters that would have once been appealing and "cool" to me now seemed annoying and somewhat saddening. The premise that once would have seemed intriguing now seemed uninteresting and a bit over-the-top. Character designs that once would have been appealing now don't seem like anything special (even though the character designs and art in this series are top-notch by my old standards). I'm going to force myself to go to at least episode 8 of each series, because "back in the old days" a series' true plot (and worth) usually wasn't revealed until around then, but it feels harder than it used to be to get that far.

Originally Posted by Arabesque

Well, I was but a kid who watched shows like Treasure Island, Future Boy Conan and Grendizer on these badly dubbed Arabic/English TV recorded VHS tapes, but I prefer not to count that and just start from my days when I first started watching Digimon Tamers, as that was the point where I finally got to know that what I was watching was anime, and finally got familiar with the word and its meaning.
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So what happens afterwards? I still think that I will continue to watch anime, depending on what happens to my life from this point onwards I might change the amount I watch, but I will still love it regardless and consider it a part of who I am. I most likely will grow more knowledgeable about the production aspect of anime, and continue to appreciate the high quality and great looking animation coming out.

Hope that helps

So you've been watching since a long time ago! Thanks again for your insightful remarks - you've given me a lot to consider.