For me personally, there are a lot of factors that determine how fast (or slow) I watch an anime. From pacing, to enjoyment factor, to nuance, a lot of things dictate how quickly I can watch a show.
For example, I binge watched all of Violet Evergarden in about eight hours yesterday. It was such an emotionally gripping show that for me personally, I just couldn’t wait to start the next episode as soon as I finished.
I could say the same right now for A Place Further Than The Universe. I’m taking this one a little slower (I watched about four episodes tonight and I think I’ll try to finish the rest tomorrow). This show is a little more challenging since there isn’t as much dramatic tension pulling me in from episode to episode, but I still find it to be an enjoyable watch that I can binge.
However, it usually takes me a while for the shows that have a lot more depth and nuance. I think it took me about 10-14 days to watch all 26 episodes of Steins;Gate. That show requires so much viewer attention that it’s difficult to keep a fresh mind from episode to episode if you try to binge. I ran into the same problem with Monogatari Series as well as From The New World. Steins;Gate and From The New World are my two favorite anime of all-time, but I have to admit that I just couldn’t binge them. They both took a lot of time to watch and digest.
Then, there are the anime I just don’t enjoy that much. What I’ll usually do is watch a bunch of episodes at once and then just put it on-hold for a while. Two examples that come to mind using this approach are Fairy Tail and Gintama. I’m not trying to imply that I hate these shows and that’s why I “dropped” them or put them “on-hold.” They are more or less shows that I enjoy for a while, but due to length and repetition, I get bored of them. That’s part of the reason why I prefer the one or two cour shows. It’s so much easier to watch all the episodes in a short period of time and the writing is more concise, to the point. Whereas, a show like Gintama or Fairy Tail gets dragged out because there is a lot of content and production studios want to drag it out because they know they will make more of it.
About 70% of the anime I watch is seasonal regardless, so I mostly just watch them on the “one episode per week,” basis. However, in the occasion I do watch a fully aired series, this is how I generally go about it. Timing is a factor as well. I work in a busy career field so I don’t get a ton of time to “binge” on anime, so I’m very selective about what I will watch and when. |