UlasanAnime.com – Over the years, I’ve become better at setting realistic expectations for new anime, often finding them met, or even exceeded. This involves a conscious effort to temper hype with a grounded perspective. My primary goal in managing expectations has shifted towards enhancing the enjoyment of a new show, as pessimism rarely contributes to a positive viewing experience.
Several factors contribute to my ability to adjust expectations. One significant factor is my tendency to be unfamiliar with the source material. Unless it’s a rare light novel I’ve read in advance, I approach adaptations with a relatively clean slate. While I can handle book adaptations, Hollywood has conditioned me for that. Manga and video game adaptations are a different story. I do read some manga, but in the last half-decade, I’ve only encountered one or two where I read the manga before seeing the anime, such as Bakuman. The end result for that adaptation was that “the manga is just what you need to read.” Watching an anime about a couple’s promise to get the man’s manga adapted into an anime so the woman can voice act for it felt overly meta. Reading the manga, however, was just right. More pertinently, I separate my anime and manga experiences; I’m simply not a manga person.
I believe adaptations are best judged on their own merits for more accurate expectation setting. This is because adaptations can vary wildly in their faithfulness to the source material, the source material itself might not be a reliable predictor of the final product, or the adaptation can be completely overshadowed by its origin. Of course, if your primary reason for engaging with an adaptation is its connection to the source material, then these points might not resonate. In such cases, you’re essentially a fish in a barrel with limited choices.
Another notable aspect, well-exemplified this season, is targeted marketing and its underlying reasons. It’s easy to get hyped about a show like Star Driver, with its typical alternative-mecha vibe wrapped in a mainstream package. It’s a Sunday morning cartoon from BONES, and the only thing that could enhance that feeling would be if it were from SUNRISE or a GUNDAM anime (or, for that matter, Sket Dance). But that’s general hype. On the other hand, while most people might not care about PA Works’ 10th Anniversary project, Hanasaku Iroha, it carries just the right amount of hype for a specific audience (namely, emofag-sakuga types, like myself). It barely makes a ripple outside these circles (well, it is a SU FEE AH animu, so that’s a factor). Despite its stellar pilot episode, I doubt anyone who wasn’t already invested would suddenly care unless prompted. However, this is precisely how targeted hype can positively impact expectations for someone like me.
Hype can also serve as a negative indicator for setting expectations. Consider the Persona 4 anime announcement. The hype is largely driven by the fact that Persona 4 is a well-loved game. There’s little about the animation production itself to genuinely excite viewers, which is usually a tell-tale sign of potential mediocrity.
The real question is, would it be worse than SofuTeni? To put it in perspective, I think most people don’t engage with Sofuteni enough to be a good judge. So, let’s just state that it’s a softcore… show, as one should expect. It shouldn’t be surprising to see its content as it is. I mean, there are valid reasons why people prefer hardcore over softcore as a matter of principle, and I’m not just referring to pornography. But some people don’t share that preference.
This season has provided a good example (or, in other words, a challenge in assessing realistic expectations) of various things that can go wrong when predicting how a show will be before it airs. Another example is shows like Tiger & Bunny. Who knew what it was? And perhaps, who even knows what it is? I think it’s a huge mystery, yet it isn’t even a particularly mysterious show. Much like the still-anticipated Madoka anime, part of its charm lies in the inherent mystery. This is another reason to be cautious about your expectations.
You might also be interested in : Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
In a more bizarre, circumstantial sense, you have shows like 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku, which could be very enjoyable… if it wasn’t censored to hell. Perhaps it’s a reason to pick up the source material, or better yet, wait for the eventual uncensored home video release. But there’s not much one can do against arbitrary censoring. I knew it would be censored, but not to this extent. So, that’s a downer example: the stars aligned, but it was censored.
I guess I’m ruined by Qwaser’s AT-X/web release.
To steer away from adult content (again), my expectations were pretty spot on for A-channel and Nichijou. The latter was especially true to its concept, showcasing KyoAni’s signature brand of humor. I was slightly surprised by how much I wished Nichijou to be in Lucky Star’s stead, and for Lucky Star to have never existed. A-Channel was also surprising in its hard-to-describe weirdness, which made it remarkable (albeit not much else). It’s difficult to be disappointed by a weird Japanese 4-koma anime adaptation if you were already expecting that. I mean, why wouldn’t anyone be expecting that, right? I think I shed a single tear when I saw Studio Gokumi’s name appear somewhere, but that’s beside the point.
Or, for that matter, Sengoku Otome. I guess I’m not quite done with adult content yet, but perhaps I can take this opportunity to revisit Samurai Girls, as it handled that adult content much better, with more flair. Even in Rio’s case, they were quite creative with some of those battles. Perhaps it’s just an example of “you win some, you lose some,” as Time Paradox Battle Maids of WTF (which would be a superior title) was somewhat of a disappointment. I’m not sure if it’s a cultural bias, but plot with your fanservice anime? I don’t necessarily need it, but there’s a tendency for those with it to perform better than those without. Too bad it’s hard to tell if there will be a plot or not in that kind of stuff beforehand. Especially when it sacrifices the actual selling point of the shows for plot points.
That, and among other reasons, is why I recommend having little to no expectations at all before diving into a new season of anime. I realize this isn’t a practical solution for everyone. Instead of spending 5 minutes reading first-impression posts, teaser charts, or even the 2 minutes it takes to watch a trailer, it’s probably more effective to just watch the damn thing. Have no expectations, beyond the absolutely necessary (genre, target audience, format, notable creators involved). It would have saved you 20+ minutes if you watched OreTsuba (and wasted another 12 episodes trying to follow it this season), and you could have looked up what it was after seeing the first episode (like any sane person would, should the show pique their interest). Just do it before the rape cliffhanger, for the love of all that is good.
I mean, it’s beyond the language barrier even. Not to mention most of us don’t scour Japanese-language sites that speculate on this stuff to get our Japanese brethren’s consensus first, but even then, things like censorship can still mess with you. It’s tough.
