Copy pasting from a comment a made on Reddit. Tldr at the end.
Rewatching anime is so addictive.
_You can skip the first three paragraphs, they are just about my personal experience with anime_
For the last couple of months I am having trouble finding anime that I enjoy. I never thought it would come to this but it looks like I have run out of anime that I really enjoy watching. Sure there are still many anime that are watchable but I can't find the anime that makes me feel alive. That feeling when you watch a really good anime, yeah I haven't felt it in a while but recently I got to experience it again. Recently I decided to rewatch Monster. Monster is an anime that I have always regretted watching because I watched it at such a wrong time. I watched it around 4 years ago, just before watching Monster I finished watching FMA: B and the post depression after finishing it was very strong. I wasn't able to think about anything else but I had a lot of free time at that moment so I just started watching Monster. Back then I never dropped any anime, no matter how bad it was. I even sat through the 200 episodes of Fairy Tail, from time to time I still think why did I do that to myself. I did enjoy Monster but after watching something like FMA: Brotherhood watching an anime like Monster isn't the wisest thing to do. I ruined it for myself.
4 years ago I watched Monster for first time and just a few weeks ago I watched it again and I wasn't really into rewatching it because it's Mystery/Thriller anime and I remember some of the major events, etc. But I couldn't have been more wrong! First of all I didn't remember anything properly, I didn't even remember the characters except for the 5-6 main characters. It felt so new to me, it was like my wish came true. The wish of rewatching an anime and it feels like you are watching it for the first time ever. There's just nothing like Monster, it's my second favourite anime now, 9.7/10.
After rewatching Monster I started rewatching FMA Brotherhood and I wasn't really into it after watching Monster (oh how the turn tables) and I dropped FMA several times but I picked it up again because I had nothing to watch and a lot of free time. And I finished watching it two days ago and it's happening to me again, the same feeling that I felt after watching FMA for the first time ever. And again I can't enjoy any other anime for a while now. When I watched it for the time it was a 9.7/10 (I used to rate all the anime pretty high) for me and after this rewatch it's still a 9.7/10. These ratings are just a personal thing and probably don't mean much to others.
After rewatching these anime I have noticed things that I didn't notice back then. The many themes that I noticed during the rewatch are the reason that these anime have become a personal favourite of mine, the absolute best. During all these years I have grown to appreciate fictional media for the all the different things it tries to convey. Back then I used to enjoy anything with a fast paced and action packed story. It's a good thing to rewatch anime and see your opinions change.
Now after rewatching these anime I can't stop myself to rewatch more of my favourites. It's a lot better than consuming anime that you don't enjoy and doing so makes you dislike the media (at least this is how it's for me). For me it's just about the enjoyment you get when you watch something so good that you can't stop watching it until you sleep. I remember how I used to rewatch my favourite anime all the time, I never used to bother myself to watch new anime. Space Dandy and Steins;Gate are my favourite anime and I have watched them countless time. I still remember watching Space Dandy 13 times for the entire year (2016). But now a part of me wants to watch new anime and discover the all the great stories the medium has to offer. There are still a lot of hidden gems out there but finding them is kinda painful. I have trapped myself in a never ending cycle.
**TL;DR - Rewatching anime is really enjoyable and you should do it without thinking that it's a waste of time. It's much better than watching all the same seasonal anime and all the other generic anime out there, at least that's what I think.** |
