| Most of us anime viewers/fanatics/casuals/etc. have come across a few, if not, many shows that captured our interests or tugged at our hearts. Although that may be the case, that feeling alone does not give us the closure we seek after witnessing such awe. Generally, when I come across something so amazing I feel it necessary to share this enjoyment with someone who I think has the same tastes as me. I, for one, have always found it hard to convince my friends to watch an anime that I assume they would enjoy because it gears towards their genre of interest. Often times I go out of my way to try to adapt my word of choice to their liking just so that they would even think of looking it up on google just to glare at the ratings by other people and then decide if they are willing to use their time to delve into my selfish request. I assume it's important to understand that depending on how you sell your anime suggestion, it needs to be on a reasonable scale to where they can say that they thought it was okay after watching it. I believe it does influence the outcome of the viewer somewhat if they have heard good or bad things about an anime, or simply anything in general. Well, of course the only feedback you really want to hear from your friend is that the anime is great and lived up to everything you've told them it was out to be. Though, that may not always be the case. So I guess my topic of discussion for today is:
I guess, in the end, it only matters if my friend enjoyed it or not and the rest is for myself to digest. It's not like my high opinion of a show will change just because my friend found plot holes and dull aspects to the show. No, I enjoyed it when I watched it, and maybe the plot holes were there but how I feel about a show after watching it is of my own opinion. TL;DR Don't push our ideals and expectations onto another because we are each equally different and enjoy many things whether similar of contrasting. Side note here.. this is my first time testing out the features of the BBCode and I had a fun time with it, but not too much LOL |
| I literally ignore all recs from people. Much easier for me. |
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| I've actually thought about this a lot. On one hand, I'd want to ease them into it so that they get used to the culture, the language, the quirks of honorifics and such. So I thought that it would be best to start them with something more or less harmless. No crazy magical girls or anything weird. Just a short and captivating story, a thriller perhaps or a mystery show. I wouldn't start them off on something like Clannad because while it's an amazing story, it requires some knowledge and appreciation of anime. It would suck to show someone some of the best anime has to offer for their first experience only to have them come away saying they don't get it or they're not that interested. On the other hand, if you show them something too harmless, they may not be that impressed with anime and think that it's really not that worth it. So you have to strike a balance of the show being good, but not too good, if that makes sense. Now, I'm sure others will have better selections since my exposure to anime is pretty limited, but from all of the anime I have seen, I think Death Parade would be a great first choice. It's a very solid anime. It's only 12 episodes. And it doesn't have too much Japanese culture that foreigners would have a hard time understanding. The only downside is that it's quite emotionally heavy, so it may not be enjoyable for everyone. There's also another aspect of which has to do with nagging people. Maybe not everyone feels this way, but I feel like if someone is constantly telling you to watch something and they keep talking about how good it is, it makes me biased against it. This happened with Game of Thrones where people I know talk about it so much that I actually hate the show without ever having seen it. I cannot bring myself to watch it. A lot of it has to depend on how willing they are to watch anime in the first place. I'm a bad example because I wanted to get into anime on my own, so my first ever full anime series was Yuru Yuri, which I think is a poor choice to introduce people into anime with. Fun fact, I wrote on the desk at the library saying that whoever reads this should watch Kimi no na Wa and write back if they like it, and funny enough, someone wrote back saying it was really good :) |
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| I'm pretty similar in that when I find something good I gotta tell people about it, because I have a burning desire to discuss. I never really try to downplay the quality because I feel like that could demotivate some people to watch it, especially if they aren't super interested in the first place. Usually I just briefly tell them why I like it, and why I think they would too and that it's a worthwhile watch. Not necessarily over selling or getting too excited. I've kinda stopped recommending people I know to watch stuff recently though as the last few times after lending physical copies they just would not watch it! Sometimes they would keep my copy for over 6months until I reminded them about it! Plus the lack of enthusiasm from non-anime watchers was kinda disappointing. Felt like a bit of a wasted effort sadly. |
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IniAkuBukanKamu said: Well, I usually like this when I recommend anime to my frien in real Me : yo bro, I have a new anime, it's rich of philosopy and symbolic / it's really funny you may like it (depends on who I recommend something), want to try it? Friend : Sure (if he refused, I usually just "ok") *Me and Friend watching Me : You seems bored, shall we stop now? *If my friend smiles or shows no expression it means he want to stop *If he want to continue, he usually says "no, it's good" I think explaining how great a show when recommending something is risky. The receiver may believe in you and want more recommendations from you when his expectation met up. But he may doubt you or maybe he won't trust your recommendation anymore, if his expectation didn't met up. Oh this is actually another good point. I would never in a million years have them watch their first show with me. No way. It is something the need to watch on their own for the first time, that way there is no awkward social atmosphere. |
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| The thing is, some people keep recommend the same thing over again and again to his friend Sure, you want to share what you love, but that action can lead to reducing point of their enjoyment. If people wants to recommend their friend something, first instead of just saying -Just watch/read it -It's good -It has good ______ -It has excellent ______ They should try to trigger their friend's interest in the series. This should work by giving light spoiler about trope they like in the series without killing their interest. IF it's been a few(DOZEN) time since you've mentioned he series and you friend haven't watched/read it. Chance is. HE DID. but he doesn't like it, And he doesn't want to tell you directly because he knows you're an insecurity sensitive person or vice versa. |
| Don't try too hard to push anime towards any particular person. Just do it casually and only occasionally. When the time comes that they do watch the anime that you recommended and like it, remind who it was that told them about it in the first place. Give similar examples of other anime that they liked. Tell them it's a genre that you already know they like. There's sure to be an aspect of the anime that you're recommending that your friend(s) likes. |
Decamor said: [*]How much should one sell their precious anime out to be to their friend? Should you place a low value on it so that the friend won't end up being disappointed? Usually I just tell that the show has made the season for me. Less usually, I say that a show seems to be the friend's kind of anime. Gushing over a show for too long is counter-productive. Decamor said: [*]Or should the description be vague and lacking in information leading the friend to just think for themselves and not have a bias going into the show? My descriptions are usually vague, similar to tags on AniDB. With some people, I include spoilers, because a lot of people like spoilers. Well, a truthful description of a show like Higurashi or Gakkou Gurashi is a spoiler in itself, but I don't let this stop me. |
| I used to listen to recs from friends but then I realized that (1) they don't necessarily have the same tastes as I do (they often don't) and (2) I'm often not in the mood for whatever they're reccing, and (3) I don't even like hype trains. So these days I take recs mostly from places like MAL when I have seen a show I like and then I read a rec to see how some other show may be similar to it. As for recommending things to others, I try to tread lightly, since I don't like it when other people heap their recs on me. If I happen to know someone's tastes, I may gently suggest things to them, and adjust my suggestions according to how they react. |
| Avatar character is Gabriel from Gabriel DropOut. |
| What I think works really well, and have done so a few times with a MAL friend is to do a recommendations exchange. I give them an anime they should watch, then, in return, they give me an anime with the same number of episodes that I should watch. |
| I usually just describe the show as vaguely as possible. The more you hype it up, the more likely they'll be disappointed. |
| I'm not a lolicon, you're just projecting your tendency to lewd 2D characters. If your favourite character is Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko, you are my soul mate. Been a long time since I've been here, I'll continue expressing myself freely and believe everyone should too. My MAL Interview |
| I recommend stuff that fits. As for selling the shows, they trust me enough to know that they'll find it good. |
| OP, I think its best to try savour what you love about that show and retain its values, other than hope that a friend (especially if it's someone who is not that into that sort of series) will love it as much as you. Everybody's views are different and it can be frustrating if your friend does not correlate with your ideas, unless that doesn't bother you. For myself however, who tends to like series that I don't feel is worth preaching my feelings about, prefers to keep to myself. Cheers. |
| It's usually a 50/10 chance if they're gonna watch it or not. My old freind watched a show I reccomended to them in a day. |
| I had this problem too..so what I did was I suggest an anime to my friend and that anime that I suggested, I told it her it was pretty terrible, it's so crappy, and told her whatever negative things imaginable I could say.I told her that even though it's really horrible, she should watch it just for the heck of it. Of course, that anime is not really bad. It was damn good ,but I thought "hmmm...what if instead of further amplifying her hype for the show, maybe I should try the opposite and bring her expectations down to its lowest?".....Well, it turned out that she really liked the show and got mad at me for insulting it because that anime is now one of her favorites... |
| The animes that people have suggested to me are mostly boring or too cringy for me. As for me I don't really recommend any shows unless they want me to 'cause I think that it's a lot more interesting to find something on your own and start the anime without feeling that it has to be great. |
| >Most of us anime viewers/fanatics/casuals/etc Okay, I'm done, no need to invest my time on this shit~ |
| This is a position I would love to be in. As it is now, most of my friend have either watched anime for many, many years more then I have and they are normally recommending stuff to me, or they are very casual and keep their anime interests as something for occasional kicks. I have tried to recommend both parties things that they haven't seen, but I have a terrible track record. Of my more advanced friends, I've recommended shows like Gunbuster, Utena, and Angel's Egg, only for said friends to detest them. Conversely, I've recommended the likes of FMA:B, Highschool of the Dead, and Kill-la-Kill with mixed results, as only one person actually watched any of the three though, KLK, and while he liked it a lot he soon moved on again to non-anime pursuits. |
"I'd take rampant lesbianism over nuclear armageddon or a supervolcano any day." ~nikiforova |
InsaneLeader13 said: Were those things that they actually specifically were looking for? As in, were they in the mood for, say, "an action show with lots of fanservice", for example, or some other description that could be used to describe those shows?This is a position I would love to be in. As it is now, most of my friend have either watched anime for many, many years more then I have and they are normally recommending stuff to me, or they are very casual and keep their anime interests as something for occasional kicks. I have tried to recommend both parties things that they haven't seen, but I have a terrible track record. Of my more advanced friends, I've recommended shows like Gunbuster, Utena, and Angel's Egg, only for said friends to detest them. Conversely, I've recommended the likes of FMA:B, Highschool of the Dead, and Kill-la-Kill with mixed results, as only one person actually watched any of the three though, KLK, and while he liked it a lot he soon moved on again to non-anime pursuits. Because I can tell you why I have the opinion I have on each of them, so I'm curious whether you have a sense of their opinions in the same way. |
| Avatar character is Gabriel from Gabriel DropOut. |
| I just rec stuff to my friends when they're interested. They tend to come to me when they are looking for an anime to watch. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
Pullman said: That's probably the best way to do it.I just rec stuff to my friends when they're interested. They tend to come to me when they are looking for an anime to watch. |
| Avatar character is Gabriel from Gabriel DropOut. |
GlennMagusHarvey said: InsaneLeader13 said: Were those things that they actually specifically were looking for? As in, were they in the mood for, say, "an action show with lots of fanservice", for example, or some other description that could be used to describe those shows?This is a position I would love to be in. As it is now, most of my friend have either watched anime for many, many years more then I have and they are normally recommending stuff to me, or they are very casual and keep their anime interests as something for occasional kicks. I have tried to recommend both parties things that they haven't seen, but I have a terrible track record. Of my more advanced friends, I've recommended shows like Gunbuster, Utena, and Angel's Egg, only for said friends to detest them. Conversely, I've recommended the likes of FMA:B, Highschool of the Dead, and Kill-la-Kill with mixed results, as only one person actually watched any of the three though, KLK, and while he liked it a lot he soon moved on again to non-anime pursuits. Because I can tell you why I have the opinion I have on each of them, so I'm curious whether you have a sense of their opinions in the same way. Typically, when I ask if there is anything in particular they are interested in, the response I get is just "Something cool!" So I go by the gist of what these late-teenager/early 20's males think is cool, either adventurous long running stuff (FMAB), Insane-over-the-top Action (KLK), and for one guy, anything extremely proactive (HOTD). Whenever I try to press farther, they respond with "You know what I mean!", which is probably the most exasperating answer I can get. |
| "I'd take rampant lesbianism over nuclear armageddon or a supervolcano any day." ~nikiforova |
| The way I get my friends into a specific anime is to be enthusiastic about it, because normally if they see that I'm excited about it, they get excited about it too. Other times I show them the first few episodes, or tell them in general about how great I think it is. This works for me a lot, plus I just know what my friends like and I normally just won't recommend an anime I don't think they'll like, even if I personally love it. |
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Decamor said:
This. I only tell my friends, "just watch this, I know you'll probably like it", and don't give them further and more detailed information about the show, in order to not provoke him/her to be dissapointed in case I had given him/her very high expectations. |
| I only recommend when ppl start talking about anime...otherwise usually i stay quiet..lol |
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