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Should you judge an anime without even watching one episode?

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May 4, 2020 4:49 AM
#1

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So i was talking to my friend and she told me that she hated My hero academia and i asked her if she has seen a few episodes to back her statement and the only response i got was that she just doesnt like how it looks. I personaly dont think that my hero academia is an amazing show and its a must watch, i just dont think that u can judge an anime without even seen a few episodes of it (personal experience)
May 4, 2020 4:52 AM
#2

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You can still have opinions on stuff like the premise or character designs
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May 4, 2020 4:53 AM
#3

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Well, if she doesn't like how it looks (maybe the art style and what not), and therefore won't watch it, I couldn't care less, but it will be different story if then she starts to dissuade others to see it...

...whether it's now or ten years from now, if you are going to evolve as a person, generally you need to be broken down first. -Ayanokōji Kiyotaka-




May 4, 2020 4:53 AM
#4

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I mean, it's kinda like judging a book by its cover. Sometimes you can see how bad it is just by looking at it. It's like seeing food that looks disgusting as hell and someone says "it tastes good."Everyone has different opinions but if they haven't seen a single episode, then sometimes their opinion is not valid.
May 4, 2020 4:54 AM
#5

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Theo1899 said:
You can still have opinions on stuff like the premise or character designs

i agree but she still reposts edits of bnha and she likes few of the characters (i dont get her xD)
May 4, 2020 4:56 AM
#6

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Yes and no, like, obviously you can't really know for sure what a show's gonna be like until you watch at least a bit of it, but if you're knowledgable enough about your own tastes and maybe the people who made it, you can generally make a pretty good guess if you're gonna like it or not.

That's how I generally pick seasonal anime. I look at the poster, skim the synopsis, maybe watch the trailer and then I might think "yeah, I know I'm not gonna like this" and then move on.
May 4, 2020 4:56 AM
#7

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guych said:
I mean, it's kinda like judging a book by its cover. Sometimes you can see how bad it is just by looking at it. It's like seeing food that looks disgusting as hell and someone says "it tastes good."Everyone has different opinions but if they haven't seen a single episode, then sometimes their opinion is not valid.

Thats what i think because ive done the same thing with alot of anime for an example i hated jojo but when i watched my opinion changed immediately
May 4, 2020 4:57 AM
#8

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I honestly couldn't care less. People could watch 1 min of a series or 100 episodes and their opinion would look the same for me.
sneed's feed and seed
formerly chuck's
May 4, 2020 4:59 AM
#9

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One can already have an opinion just based on the cover.

One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron


May 4, 2020 4:59 AM

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A_Sad_Dust_Cloud said:
Yes and no, like, obviously you can't really know for sure what a show's gonna be like until you watch at least a bit of it, but if you're knowledgable enough about your own tastes and maybe the people who made it, you can generally make a pretty good guess if you're gonna like it or not.

That's how I generally pick seasonal anime. I look at the poster, skim the synopsis, maybe watch the trailer and then I might think "yeah, I know I'm not gonna like this" and then move on.

You make a valid point but for this instance she watches around the same type of anime (i personaly watch everything so it doesnt count)
May 4, 2020 5:00 AM

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IMustBeNumb said:
Theo1899 said:
You can still have opinions on stuff like the premise or character designs

i agree but she still reposts edits of bnha and she likes few of the characters (i dont get her xD)

I kinda get it. I was obsessed with aigis and 2b before I played their games because their designs were cool.
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May 4, 2020 5:01 AM

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I mean, sure? I refuse to watch Dr. Stone because I hate the main character's design. I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking something looks like trash without actually watching it.
May 4, 2020 5:02 AM

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FMmatron said:
One can already have an opinion just based on the cover.

You could say that as well..its of course opinions, i just found my self loving an anime that looked weird alot of times
May 4, 2020 5:04 AM

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IMustBeNumb said:
guych said:
I mean, it's kinda like judging a book by its cover. Sometimes you can see how bad it is just by looking at it. It's like seeing food that looks disgusting as hell and someone says "it tastes good."Everyone has different opinions but if they haven't seen a single episode, then sometimes their opinion is not valid.

Thats what i think because ive done the same thing with alot of anime for an example i hated jojo but when i watched my opinion changed immediately

I tried getting into Jojo but I couldn't get pass the first episode. But maybe one day I'll pick it back up again
May 4, 2020 5:05 AM

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anime is visual story telling anyway and if you do not find the visuals attractive then its fine to hate it
May 4, 2020 5:05 AM

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Salty-GB said:
I mean, sure? I refuse to watch Dr. Stone because I hate the main character's design. I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking something looks like trash without actually watching it.

Senku's design was probably the biggest turnoff for me for Dr Stone. Why does everyone look kinda normal when his hair looks like a fucking bok choy
May 4, 2020 5:06 AM

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Salty-GB said:
I mean, sure? I refuse to watch Dr. Stone because I hate the main character's design. I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking something looks like trash without actually watching it.

Yeah its kinda opinion based like for me ive seen anime that i thought the design is awful but still enjoyed it
May 4, 2020 5:07 AM

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IMustBeNumb said:
FMmatron said:
One can already have an opinion just based on the cover.

You could say that as well..its of course opinions, i just found my self loving an anime that looked weird alot of times


Same goes for me as well, but there's still no need to watch something that doesn't strike you as your cup of tea, especially when there are other options.

One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron


May 4, 2020 5:09 AM

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guych said:
Salty-GB said:
I mean, sure? I refuse to watch Dr. Stone because I hate the main character's design. I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking something looks like trash without actually watching it.

Senku's design was probably the biggest turnoff for me for Dr Stone. Why does everyone look kinda normal when his hair looks like a fucking bok choy


Right??? Why is he soooo ugly? When they revealed his design along with a ton of other manga starting in SJ, I was like "oh look another failure. I'll be sure to forget that" and then it blew up and I was so confused! Everything else launching at the same time looked so much better!

IMustBeNumb said:
Salty-GB said:
I mean, sure? I refuse to watch Dr. Stone because I hate the main character's design. I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking something looks like trash without actually watching it.

Yeah its kinda opinion based like for me ive seen anime that i thought the design is awful but still enjoyed it


Nah man. It's one thing if one of the supporting leads is uggo but main bitch can't fly that way. You gotta see that design every single episode.
May 4, 2020 5:12 AM

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They are the kind of people that opinion you ignore entirely.


May 4, 2020 5:15 AM
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562347
That's not "judging", that's "I don't feel like I want to watch that."
Hate is just the wrong wording there.

I'm always more confused and amazed by the mindset that you have to try everything just for the sake of trying it. Even if your main hobby is watching anime, you don't have time for this shit.
If bookreaders would treat books the same way like some people treat their anime watching behavior, they must buy every single copy from a book store they find, since even the genre and covers or synopsis don't appeal to you, you HAVE to try it.

You always do a pre-judgement, otherwise you will end up with watching everything.
But since people are people, they will choose what they want to consume by their own preference and tastes in stories and styles.
removed-userMay 4, 2020 5:18 AM
May 4, 2020 5:15 AM

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horridhendy said:
There are quite a few anime that I have dropped after like 5/10 minutes but some of them are really popular on here and beloved so I'm not saying which ones because I don't want to get lectured on why they're great.

I think it's totally reasonable to judge an anime without seeing a whole episode. Sometimes, it doesn't take long to know that an anime is not for you. In fact, occasionally it's an instantaneous gut reaction of "Oh no - I don't like this at all" and in those situations I'm not going to force my way through three episodes to make sure.

Maybe its my personality because im one of those dudes who will watch a least 3 episodes to make sure one example for me would be violet evergarden i personaly thought the 3 first episodes were really slow and it didnt entertain me but after those episodes the show for me got really good and became one of my favorites :)
May 4, 2020 5:18 AM

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Maneki-Mew said:
That's not "judging", that's "I don't feel like I want to watch that."
I'm always more confused and amazed by the mindset that you have to try everything just for the sake of trying it. Even if your main hobby is watching anime, you don't have time for this shit.
If bookreaders would treat books the same way like some people treat their anime watching behavior, they must buy every single copy from a book store they find, since even the genre and covers or synopsis don't appeal to you, you HAVE to try it.
But since people are people, they will choose what they want to consume by their own preference and tastes in stories and styles.

i mean your right but that wasnt the response i got she just told me no i dont like it at all..but it might be the same response as yours and i just didnt get it :/
May 4, 2020 5:19 AM

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She sounds like a real gem that one hahahaha...

Anyways, I've avoided anime because I didn't like the art style. Then after watching those same anime, realized how wrong I was. Now I no longer judge anime on it's animation style or quality. As for scoring? No, I don't put a score without having at least watched 1 or part of of the anime.
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May 4, 2020 5:19 AM
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IMustBeNumb said:
Maneki-Mew said:
That's not "judging", that's "I don't feel like I want to watch that."
I'm always more confused and amazed by the mindset that you have to try everything just for the sake of trying it. Even if your main hobby is watching anime, you don't have time for this shit.
If bookreaders would treat books the same way like some people treat their anime watching behavior, they must buy every single copy from a book store they find, since even the genre and covers or synopsis don't appeal to you, you HAVE to try it.
But since people are people, they will choose what they want to consume by their own preference and tastes in stories and styles.

i mean your right but that wasnt the response i got she just told me no i dont like it at all..but it might be the same response as yours and i just didnt get it :/

It's more like you don't mind your wording in daily life situations. I also mind them less than when I'm writing.
Not liking mostly = don't feel like I will watch and like it
May 4, 2020 5:21 AM

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NO_U_ETC said:
She sounds like a real gem that one hahahaha...

Anyways, I've avoided anime because I didn't like the art style. Then after watching those same anime, realized how wrong I was. Now I no longer judge anime on it's animation style or quality. As for scoring? No, I don't put a score without having at least watched 1 or part of of the anime.

Yeah she is..i love her alot but sometimes she just gets on my nerves for stupid reasons like this and then i come here to cry about it XD
May 4, 2020 5:22 AM

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Generally no....you can't judge objective a series without watching a single episode...but there are exceptions where you cand tell if the show is bad or at least decent/probably good, from the start, just watching some scenes or a PV.

In your friend case...it's a matter of personal tastes, not the quality of the series.

But for exemple...Berserk 2016/2017 tells you that it's shit and a very bad adaptation from the beginning, if you watch any scene..you don't need to watch an entire episode.
The same thing goes for 90% of seasonal Isekai shows.
May 4, 2020 5:26 AM

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DoruCatana said:
Generally no....you can't judge objective a series without watching a single episode...but there are exceptions where you cand tell if the show is bad or at least decent/probably good, from the start, just watching some scenes or a PV.

In your friend case...it's a matter of personal tastes, not the quality of the series.

But for exemple...Berserk 2016/2017 tells you that it's shit and a very bad adaptation from the beginning, if you watch any scene..you don't need to watch an entire episode.
The same thing goes for 90% of seasonal Isekai shows.


yeah its kinda weird with her because she keeps reposting edits of this anime on her instagram but she refuses to watch it

On the topic of seasonal isekai..im just so tired of them xd
May 4, 2020 5:26 AM

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It's what people do when they decide if they gonna watch it or not based on the premise, cover, studio, staff, the discussions about its source material, its author, seemingly similar anime, etc. so yeah, you can.

I don't think you can criticize it though.
May 4, 2020 5:27 AM
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562347
Yes if your judgement is based on artsytle and original source(ie manga/light novel)
May 4, 2020 5:28 AM

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I mean I'll never understand people who judge shows to be unwatchable based on superficial stuff like the designs, or who just hate certain designs so much they can't watch them since to me such a thing does not exist and the sheer variety among art styles is one of my favorite things in anime and I can't imagine having very specific and narrow ideas of how art and designs have to look to be acceptable. Sure, I like some styles more than others but there is no artstyle that's unwatchable to me, at worst they are just kinda there and I don't care about them. I wouldn't be loving art and animation so much if I'd only accept a few specific artstyles and deem the rest ugly garbage.

But if you are one of those weird people, I guess it makes sense - when the plot and characters and nothing matters to you as much as the designs AND you have extremely strong opinions on art styles and how you want stuff to look rather than appreciating art as an idiosyncratic expressiong of the artist's creativity and the variety that comes with it, then avoiding a show solely based on that is to be expected. I can't relate to why they feel that way in the first place, but if they do it makes sense to avoid shows based on that.

But even if you're a regular person with more nuanced preferences and opinions, you can and should always judge shows before you even watch a first episode. That's what 'picking a show' means - you pick one to watch over the 10000 others because you 'judge' it to be more interesting, more enjoyable, more appealing to your taste. I can easily judge a show to be garbage without having seen it, when it's part of a genre that I know I hate. The tags, the synopsis, the souce material, the cover image (setting aside designs you can also imply other things from the cover image) - all of that provides plenty of a basis on which to judge shows on, on which to make the judgment call which shows are worth checking out and which aren't.

I'd even go so far as to say that MOST of your judging of a show should happen before you start it, at least in an ideal scenario. At least I rarely ever try out shows where I'm less than 50% sure that I'll enjoy them, and it seems to be working. You can tick off a lot of boxes in terms of whether the anime appeals to your taste or not before you even start something with a minimum of research and if more people did that with some care, instead of just blindly checking out popular shows that don't appeal to them, there would be a lot less hate, disappointment and toxicity in the community.
I probably regret this post by now.
May 4, 2020 5:35 AM

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I mean,I feel the same way about tower of god.I take one look at the character designs and synopsis,and i just really can't be bothered to check it out because it looks generic.

First impressions are first impressions though,so they are bound to change.
Just because i judge something by its cover at that moment,does not mean i won't probably change my mind in the future for whatever reason and actually check that thing out.

I wouldn't refuse to try something if someone convinced me though,because i still regard first impressions as a superficial thing.
SummerynMay 4, 2020 5:43 AM
May 4, 2020 5:35 AM

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I try not to be too prejudiced and dismiss things other people like before even trying them myself, but in some cases I just know I won't like something. Disliking designs is a stupid reason imo and I don't think I've ever done that, but I have other reasons to dislike shoujo romances for example, and I don't need to watch Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji to know that I'd absolutely hate it.
May 4, 2020 5:37 AM
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562347
Then do not recommend her Cyborg 009.....though it is her loss
May 4, 2020 5:44 AM
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We shouldn't judge them before even really experiencing them, but we're all human, it'll happen regardless of whether it's fair even if we try not to.

Also there's a difference between having expectations of a show and judging it. Saying something like "This show is an Isekai, I've hated the Isekai similar to this show, so I'll probably find it shit and won't watch it" is acceptable as it's basically an educated guess, but saying "This show is an Isekai, I'm not gonna watch it because it's shit" is more of a definitive and judgmental statement.
May 4, 2020 5:44 AM

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I personally think you technically can judge an anime from how it looks without watching an episode,but that is only a first impression that won't mean much.

For example, a lot of people said that Imouto Sae Ireba II was bad even though they only watched the beginning of the first episode, but it turned out to be a good freaking show.





"Get your tentacles off me or ill make calamari out of your manhood" -Mirai Nikki Dub
May 4, 2020 6:02 AM
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562347
Why not? Every anime of the certain genres I can't stand is a pure trash imo. What's the point of wasting my time and watching them?

When it comes to character design - it doesn't bother me that much, unless characters look like the ones in Dagashi Kashi. I just can't take them seriously, they look cross-eyed to me.
May 4, 2020 6:02 AM

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Search great pretender on MAL.
People have rated it 1 even when it's release is not confirmed.

Anime was it's best 20000 years ago, when cavemen drew art with real depth.
Modern anime is all garbage. I miss great old days of anime.
May 4, 2020 6:11 AM

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If she doesn't like how it looks then it's better for her to not watch it or she probably hate it even more than now
May 4, 2020 6:12 AM

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A reason why you might think this way, is beacuse of lack of experince.
I'm pretty sure you woud not state this statement if you had watch around 20-30x the amount of shows that you have watched.

Based on my own experince, I normal rate a show in the first 1-5 minutes, that's enough to get a understanding, if you like the characters, story, animation.
And if I do change my score when I have finished the anime it's normal that I raise the score with 1+ or lower the score with 1-


It feels right now, that I can watch a half part of a Romance ep's and out of that ep's "I KNOW" how the anime will turn out.

The more you watch the higher experince you get and a better understanding how a anime is written and what the studio of the project want's to tell the viewer.

Maybe, it's just me being arrogant ?
But that's how i feel, so I can 100% understand why you're friend is saying that she dosen't like the anime after just a ep's or two.
Everyone can't force themself to watch something they think is pure shit.


May 4, 2020 6:15 AM

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mono_mer said:
Search great pretender on MAL.
People have rated it 1 even when it's release is not confirmed.

It's like age of ultron which had a 9.2 on imdb before it even came out
MEA·MENTVLA·INGENS·EST
May 4, 2020 6:27 AM

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Well, it's up to her if she wants to judge an anime based on character design etc, but I'll never buy the opinion of a person that doesn't experience the things they claim themselves.
May 4, 2020 6:33 AM
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Judging an anime BEFORE you even watched it is absolutely ridiculous. Every anime has its up and down and should only be judge once you watch it for at least one episode. Just like how we should not judge people before interacting with them, the same goes for anime.
May 4, 2020 6:57 AM

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Well I dont like males in my anime and only wants cute lesbians. So often I chose not to watch a lot of anime's only because there are males on the cover. Because they are not for my taste . I refrain from doing a deeper analysis about that media . But I can often see fast if its for me or not, even if i haven't watch a single episode

If you dont like Yuri for a example and see two lesbians kissing on the cover ,Would you still watch it? Is a visual art form and imo sometimes can be judge merely because its cover




Yuri-CrusaderMay 4, 2020 7:10 AM
May 4, 2020 7:29 AM
Dragon Idol

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May 2017
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I suppose it's similar to refusing to watch a live action thing for having unattractive people in it. As kid I couldn't get past the first few episodes of the dragon ball series cause the character art didn't appeal to me.

There's countless artists out there, each with their own style. If your friend likes hero academia characters drawn in a different style, she doesn't hate the characters, she only dislikes the art style that is used in the anime (and possibly in the manga too depending on how similar it is)

That's different from hating the anime itself.

To get back to me and dragon ball: the same artist is involved with one of my fav game series. For that series I noticed the characters were tweaked to look more modern, which is my guess as to why I'm not nearly as repelled by it.
May 4, 2020 7:44 AM
Tail On!

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You can get a pretty good idea of what a series will be like without actually watching it, sure you'll sometimes be wrong but more often than not you'll be in the ballpark after a little research. That said you probably shouldn't be that opinionated on a series you haven't actually seen.
May 4, 2020 7:51 AM

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Well we're in the age where we can judge an anime very accurately by the studio, source material, promotional video, director, etc. so yes. How an anime looks aesthetically is also pretty important too because on the reverse side plenty of people watch an anime because they like the art style/designs.
May 4, 2020 7:57 AM

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Ideally, u shouldn't. I have, and have been wrong quite a few of times. But u can't help it if the "good" ones from your PTW list have less interesting or misleading poster images. What works best is first watching the 1st EP, IMO, even more so than reading comments or reviews. If it feels abhorrent, you can drop it even without finishing that EP anyway (geho geho: One punch man)
May 4, 2020 8:36 AM

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It really depends. If someone says "I hate [title] but I've never watched it", I'm likely to roll my eyes at them.

On the other hand, all I have to do is look at the cover of Eiken to immediately know it's a piece of gross ecchi shit I could not possibly enjoy. xD



May 4, 2020 8:53 AM
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Obviously no, because you might find a show that speaks to you, dont take other people's words too seriously, they might be annoyed at something that you didn't even notice in an anime

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