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Nikkei released an interview article with anime director Ando Masahiro. He pointed out a recent trend that the audience of anime programs tend to drop a series by the impression of the first episode. In order to reach these audience, he intentionally put excessive descriptions of the characters and the scenes.

Ando said "It's challenging to let people just watch a series. ... Nowadays, young people are surrounded by abundant amusements. They can spare time only for a couple of series. That's why most of the series are dropped only by the impression of episode 1." "It was surprising to know that the audience want a clear presentation of 'What this anime is about' in the first episode." "Super-high density and pace of the story is one of the ideas. I'm still seeking the solution to appeal to such people effectively."

Source: Nikkei BP

Akai Toshifumi (the general graphic director of "Sora no Woto") reacted to the opinions on the internet that

Source: Akai's blog

I wish I dropped Canaan at episode 1...

Of course, unless people have nothing to do, how could you expect them to continue watching any anime that could be oh-so-crappy? Younger viewers have homework and studying, older viewers have work to do. Glad he figured it out now.

Boobs

Oh well, it depends. Some people give stuff chances while some don't.



I actually really liked it.

He should be grateful that people are giving the shows a chance by sitting through an entire episode. On the other hand, if you drop a series based on episode one alone, don't complain later on that you missed something great.

Cannan was pretty decent overall. Episode one was pretty explosive, and its true the later episodes lost some synergy, but overall it was still a fun watch.

His statement is pretty true though. Unless I can see potential for more development I usually won't stick around unless the episode grabs my attention.

no wonder the 1st episode more kickass than the final episode

CANAAN for me is epic though.

runb4 everybody bemoans bout plothole and etc.

This made me laugh.

I mean, Sora no woto is just no excuse.

usually I give a series until the third episode before I completely drop it, but the importance of pilot episodes is obvious.


that's certainly true, and actually I'd really prefer to see more characters meeting violent demises... Maybe I'm just getting too distracted by the comedies and moeblobs lately, but story writers seem too hesitant to kill people off nowadays even in the fighting genres. Katanagatari is perhaps an experiment on this idea... where you build and kill a character every episode. Understandably that really cuts off your character development (lol!)... but it works here because you have enough time to get to know them before the eventual demise.

I think the main thing plaguing popularity is just a lack of originality -- when you're reusing the same ideas as the twenty related shows that came before you, it's hard to get attention without something frighteningly dramatic. Most shows have the same old stuff with one original spin on it... and once it's recognized, the show becomes easy to dismiss. Striking the right balance between familiarity (the stuff you already love) and originality (the stuff that makes you watch) is the key. Regretfully, the bias is toward the familiar uninteresting shows since the studios know they're easier to produce and have guaranteed profits (however mediocre).

I only drop things after the 3rd episode (though I dropped Dance in the Vampire Bnd after only two), exactly because you can never be sure after only one episode.

As for CANAAN, I sure liked the first ep, but can we please get a non-cliché non-sucky ending? >:

As for killing characters... it sure has impact, but only if you do it well (see Cross Game ep 1)! If the audience doesn't feel for the character, then it doesn't matter if he/she dies or not. And yes, sudden death is always surprising, so rather than characters killing each other, it should be an accident, for which none of the other characters was prepared.

I think the phrase, "patience is a virtue" comes to mind.

What happened to researching things first before taking the plunge? Reading reviews, see how word of mouth is going, researching the staff and studio, previewing the source material? You know, what most people do before starting a show. Or taking the plunge for ANYTHING for that matter. I'm sure no one buys a car just because it piqued their curiosity and ended up selling it after 50 miles because it wasn't to their liking.

Wasn't it our jobs as consumers to make informed decisions about what we buy? In this case, what shows we choose to devote our time to? Maybe that's just my personal maxim, but as my general philosophy, if I took the time to start a show, I'm going to see it through to the end for better or worse. Dropping after one episode is something I wouldn't dream of doing.

But yes, I can see how people value their time far more preciously so that first episode is particularly important. That's still no excuse for not reading up ahead of time.

@ serphjei
I mostly agree with you, but these days there are several shows when researching it, won't help you a thing. Like no one really knew what Sora no Woto will be about, since it was an original work in teh Anime no Chikara project... or reasearching Dance in the Vampire Bund didn't do any good either, cos the anime is really, really different from the manga, and even though it seemed I will like it (since it's done by one of my fav studios), it still failed me.

But yeah, dropping after one episode is bad. Especially if you drop and rate after only one episode. Yes Mathes, I'm looking at you! >_>

I concur, by the time you know it's actually pretty average the plot already drawn you in

@Suny

I reckon it's better not to add the anime at all. I mean, don't distort the MAL system like that XP (though i think they already took it into considerations)

@ Vin-nii
I only add the anime cos I have MALUpdater to check for new torrents, since I'm lazy :P But I delete things from my drop list from time to time.

I'm in the news section, but I feel like I'm in the anime section.

"I'm still seeking the solution to appeal to such people effectively."

Write something intelligent and without generic ass characters and designs..and get back to me.

"People won't be moved nor consented unless someone dies."

I actually agree with Akai Toshifumi to a certain point only... if a character dies in a magnificient fight against an enemy or sacrifices himself for the better good, I would agree... BUT if the characters just keep dying pointlessly, hell if I can watch something with little character deveplopment...

I give chance to every series I watch. Err...sometimes I watch it till the end evein if it sucks, hoping that it would have an epic ending.

Hey guys, how about that "Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya"?

That first episode was weird, I'm not giving the rest a shot.
Looks like the worst series of the season.

*cough*