Should you watch everything under the idea that it IS GOOD?

Dec 1, 3:33 PM

Online

Jul 2013

13213

Well, I think anime is usually fairly good (even though it is clearly fictional and not real). I think it is good because it is fictional. Nobody wants to see a real life footage of some super disturbing event. Watch an anime video of it instead. If good things are fictional and anime is fictional, that makes anime a good thing, I guess.

Dec 1, 3:43 PM

#3

valico

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Feb 2025

975

Middle. Could be good, could be bad, watch to find out for yourself.

Dec 1, 4:18 PM

#4

zombie_pegasus

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Oct 2014

15863

You should go in neutral. If you go in with high expectations it's easy to be disappointed, if you go in with low expectations you end up with the "poisoning the well" or "bitch eating crackers" problem where your initial negative perception frames the way you see the show.

If you go in neutral there's no bias you have either way. You can see an anime for what it is rather than what you think it is or should be.

Dec 1, 4:19 PM

#5

tea-addict26

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Aug 2025

1020

Sure, you should. In fact, this is the mindset I know for certain is better than the alternative. Say you go into a show and you're neutral about the quality. In that case, if you find yourself disappointed by the beginning, you might drop it right then and there. But with the mindset that 'it's good,' you'll push yourself to keep going and have the chance to strike gold if/when the series picks up. If the series is bad all the way through, you've hit a dud, but that's okay. The bottom line is you'll explore many more good series if you keep this positive mindset that 'everything is good.'

Don't forget who you drank water with when you start sippin juice

Dec 1, 4:33 PM

#6

Yuu_Kanzaki

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Feb 2021

5074

At least I don't expect what I'm about to watch is bad. If it was, then I wouldn't watch it in the first place.

"Nobody could laugh at someone who's trying their hardest" -Machio-

Dec 1, 4:53 PM

#7

rohan121

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Sep 2018

14744

You should only aim for anime you expect to enjoy. Knowing your taste helps you find anime that you are more likely to enjoy.

rohan121Dec 1, 4:57 PM

Dec 1, 4:57 PM

#8

Zakatsuki_

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Apr 2024

1926

Bro, i really do appreciate you but do you relax sometimes, you intellectualize so much everything, and while you're not wrong in what you said, why?
Why do you makes all those things so smart?

Dec 1, 10:20 PM

#9

ColourWheel

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Mar 2021

4677

thewiru said:
Almost three years ago I wrote Should you watch everything under the idea that it sucks?, but ever since I had an 180 in my stance.
Just like "being art" isn't an intrinsic attribute of something, but rather a lens of which people see the thing through, I've noticed that the stigma of something being "bad" makes people see issues where there aren't any.

Should you watch everything under the idea that it IS GOOD?

Taste is fucking subjective...

Where that fucking "shit" just left a bad fucking taste in my mouth.... But to others, that "shit" is peak entertainment to them, even if their breath still smells like ass to me. 10/10! lol

“Watching shit assuming it’s good” isn’t enlightenment... it’s taste on autopilot. Outsourcing what one should watch on other peoples opinions.

If one always resorts to doing this shit, it’s not actually asking one to be open-minded, it’s asking one to pre-approve the fucking experience in advance so they don’t have to deal with the inconvenience of having a reaction. If one's first response has to be overridden by a “better mindset”, congratulations... one has just stopped engaging and started obeying like cattle lined up to be slaughtered for low quality burger meat.

This philosophy treats criticism like a software error. Didn’t enjoy it? That’s not a flaw, that’s then a fucking user error. Just reinstall a friendlier lens and fucking try the shit again. lol

It’s the aesthetic version of being told: “Wagyu steak with a shit load of processed wasabi paste smeared on top of it is good shit, but you just need to stop using your own taste buds, to really appreciate it's fucking greatness.” At that point you’re not tasting food, you’re performing a fucking agreement. lol

The funniest part is how radical this sounds while being completely risk-free. If everything is good, one never has to explain their preferences, defend a judgment, or admit one simply didn’t want something. They don't really have taste... they just fucking have plausible deniability.

Taste isn’t formed by assuming everything is good. It’s formed by saying “no” and meaning that shit. If one's worldview collapses the moment one dislikes some shit, what one built isn’t openness... it’s a polite fucking way to outsource one's opinions to a mob who could just be throwing them shit that will always leave a bad shitty after taste in their mouth and always leaving them feeling like their breath perpetually smells like ass. lol

ColourWheelDec 2, 2:22 PM

Dec 1, 10:59 PM

#10

Catalano

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Oct 2010

22306

no, you should watch the anime you want to watch. I consider lots of anime good but I don't wanna watch it mostly because of time

Dec 1, 11:15 PM

#11

alshu

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May 2018

12579

"Should you watch everything under the idea that it IS GOOD?"

No.
You should check many titles with the idea that they could be entertaining.
Tho sometimes it's obvious that even if they are objectively good (like as production), some shows are not your cup of tea.

alshuDec 2, 1:35 AM

AlShu's recommendations Interest Stacks

Dec 1, 11:22 PM

#12

dndlion

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Mar 2025

564

I think you shouldn't have high expectations when you're thinking about getting into an anime simply because there's a chance your high expectations won't be met and you'd be wasting your time watching something you don't enjoy
Now obviously it's good to be optimistic and presume the show will be good without expecting too much otherwuse there's no reason to watch something you know you won't like

Dec 1, 11:48 PM

#13

Merve2Love

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Apr 2020

4064

Enjoyment dude. We've been throught this.
It's entertainment. It aint' work you're turning up to. It's watching something, because it's fun.

Dec 1, 11:56 PM

#14

AnimeEnjoyer2357

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Feb 2025

896

Not everything is good, but I think it's important to start off thinking something is good before watching it. You might be disappointed, but I think that's pretty normal, and I think disappointment is part of the anime experience.

Dec 1, 11:57 PM

#15

Retro8bit

Nostalgia Rules!

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Jun 2008

15967

Yes I do think that's a very good mindset to go into, giving something the benefit of the doubt, unless of course it's Isekai! 😤

Dec 2, 12:30 AM

#16

ktg

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May 2016

2284

zombie_pegasus said:
You should go in neutral

Most people can't do that. To be neutral, you need to watch bad shows on purpose. If you try to watch good shows only, then you won't be able to tell where the neutral level is, because you will be biased towards good stuff.
Generally people try to watch good stuff.

ExoTrillionic said:
But with the mindset that 'it's good,' you'll push yourself to keep going and have the chance to strike gold if/when the series picks up. If the series is bad all the way through, you've hit a dud, but that's okay

But if he pushes through imagining that it's good while it isn't, then he will more likely rate it unfairly because it wasn't good, it was a waste of time.

ColourWheel said:
Where that fucking "shit" just left a bad fucking taste in my mouth.... But to others, that "shit" is peak entertainment to them, even if their breath still smells like ass to me. 10/10! lol

But not everything is taste, therefore not everything is subjective.
Obviously liking or disliking a character or character type is subjective. You can't really do much about it. But claiming that the "entire world bands over backwards" is just objectively false statement. That's why your "review" is not subjective.

Dec 2, 12:30 AM

#17

Otakupervert890

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Oct 2019

3215

I rather going with the perspective that everything is fair game and I let myself finish the show to have an idea regardless of where it lands.

Dec 2, 12:50 AM

#18

ColourWheel

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Mar 2021

4677

ktg said:

ColourWheel said:
Where that fucking "shit" just left a bad fucking taste in my mouth.... But to others, that "shit" is peak entertainment to them, even if their breath still smells like ass to me. 10/10! lol

But not everything is taste, therefore not everything is subjective.
Obviously liking or disliking a character or character type is subjective. You can't really do much about it. But claiming that the "entire world bands over backwards" is just objectively false statement. That's why your "review" is not subjective.

So because I said "the world bends over backwards", my experience isn’t subjective? By that logic, if I said "the sun looks blindingly bright", that’s “objectively false” too, because technically that shit is just emitting light? lol

Taste isn’t about literal fact-checking. Sure, my anecdotal review comes off as throwing shade by basically calling the shit "a convoluted mess". But that doesn’t erase the fact someone else could read what I wrote as appealing to them and find it thrilling, entertaining, or even peak genius. lol

Subjectivity doesn’t need anyone’s stamp of “objectively correct” to exist. My gut, my experience, my “shit taste buds” are all valid, even if someone’s logic wants to turn my Shitpost into a full-on fucking physics lecture. lol

Not everyone has the same opinion on what is "good".

ColourWheelDec 2, 12:55 AM

Dec 2, 1:45 AM

#19

ktg

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May 2016

2284

Reply to ColourWheel

ktg said:

ColourWheel said:
Where that fucking "shit" just left a bad fucking taste in my mouth.... But to others, that "shit" is peak entertainment to them, even if their breath still smells like ass to me. 10/10! lol

But not everything is taste, therefore not everything is subjective.
Obviously liking or disliking a character or character type is subjective. You can't really do much about it. But claiming that the "entire world bands over backwards" is just objectively false statement. That's why your "review" is not subjective.

So because I said "the world bends over backwards", my experience isn’t subjective? By that logic, if I said "the sun looks blindingly bright", that’s “objectively false” too, because technically that shit is just emitting light? lol

Taste isn’t about literal fact-checking. Sure, my anecdotal review comes off as throwing shade by basically calling the shit "a convoluted mess". But that doesn’t erase the fact someone else could read what I wrote as appealing to them and find it thrilling, entertaining, or even peak genius. lol

Subjectivity doesn’t need anyone’s stamp of “objectively correct” to exist. My gut, my experience, my “shit taste buds” are all valid, even if someone’s logic wants to turn my Shitpost into a full-on fucking physics lecture. lol

Not everyone has the same opinion on what is "good".

ColourWheel said:
So because I said "the world bends over backwards", my experience isn’t subjective?

Haha, no, but it was funny.
Your comment implies that because taste is subjective, your subjective statement automatically becomes valid no matter what your subjective statement is. And that's not true.

In your specific case you tried to give an objective reasoning why you don't like that show and that's where your "review's" credibility falls apart.
Btw, this is pretty common "mistake". People cannot accept that they don't like a good show, so they make up false statements to support their subjective taste.

ColourWheel said:
Taste isn’t about literal fact-checking.

It's true, if you don't give false statements to support your taste.

If you say that you don't like a specific chocolate bar, then no one will care. Many people don't like many different things. But if you say that you don't like a specific chocolate bar, because it's full of dead rats, then you are implying that it's objectively true that there are dead rats in that chocolate bar. Which could validate your taste in other people's eyes and could also influence their taste. And that's the issue, because this logic is only acceptable if your original statement is true about dead rats.

ColourWheel said:
Subjectivity doesn’t need anyone’s stamp of “objectively correct” to exist. My gut, my experience, my “shit taste buds” are all valid

And that validity - or you can call it subjectivity - ends when you try to make a statement about what happens in the show. Because the contents of a show is not subjective.
If I watch a show and then you also watch it, we would still see the same stuff, same character, same plot, etc. It won't change based on who watches it.

ColourWheel said:
Not everyone has the same opinion on what is "good".

There are industry standards, principles to define which show is good and which isn't. It has nothing to do with your taste.
Something being good or bad is pretty different from liking or disliking it.

Dec 2, 3:09 AM

#20

Nirinbo

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Sep 2018

5531

Rewatching some anime with a different mindset did affect my enjoyment, so at least trying not to be too negative definitely helps. However, I'll never be able to watch everything under the idea that it's good because, by definition, most of everything isn't.

Dec 2, 3:16 AM

#21

ColourWheel

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Mar 2021

4677

ktg said:

ColourWheel said:
So because I said "the world bends over backwards", my experience isn’t subjective?

Haha, no, but it was funny.
Your comment implies that because taste is subjective, your subjective statement automatically becomes valid no matter what your subjective statement is. And that's not true.

In your specific case you tried to give an objective reasoning why you don't like that show and that's where your "review's" credibility falls apart.
Btw, this is pretty common "mistake". People cannot accept that they don't like a good show, so they make up false statements to support their subjective taste.

ColourWheel said:
Taste isn’t about literal fact-checking.

It's true, if you don't give false statements to support your taste.

If you say that you don't like a specific chocolate bar, then no one will care. Many people don't like many different things. But if you say that you don't like a specific chocolate bar, because it's full of dead rats, then you are implying that it's objectively true that there are dead rats in that chocolate bar. Which could validate your taste in other people's eyes and could also influence their taste. And that's the issue, because this logic is only acceptable if your original statement is true about dead rats.

ColourWheel said:
Subjectivity doesn’t need anyone’s stamp of “objectively correct” to exist. My gut, my experience, my “shit taste buds” are all valid

And that validity - or you can call it subjectivity - ends when you try to make a statement about what happens in the show. Because the contents of a show is not subjective.
If I watch a show and then you also watch it, we would still see the same stuff, same character, same plot, etc. It won't change based on who watches it.

ColourWheel said:
Not everyone has the same opinion on what is "good".

There are industry standards, principles to define which show is good and which isn't. It has nothing to do with your taste.
Something being good or bad is pretty different from liking or disliking it..

I think I see the shit you’re doing here now. You’re taking a colorful gut reaction, running it through your “objective fact scanner”, and declaring it invalid because apparently hyperbole is a fucking crime? lol

Let me re-translate this shit...

“The world bends over backwards” = expressive exaggeration, not a fucking physics report. lol
“My taste is valid” = being human to describe how shit felt, not issuing a law decree. lol
“Industry standards” = invisible authority one pulls out of their ass, like a magician’s rabbit, to try to make my feelings fail some imaginary math test. lol

Basically, you tried to turn a spicy subjective roast into a literal physics lecture, then complained when it didn’t compute. But my “shitty taste buds” remain 100% operational, hyperbole intact, and "Code Geass" leaving that shitty taste in my mouth is still perfectly fucking valid. lol

ColourWheelDec 2, 3:21 AM

Dec 2, 5:19 AM

#22