NeaRetrogamer said:I don't believe I'm a veteran weeb or anything, but I think I've certainly seen enough anime to at least able to offer some don'ts:
-Do NOT watch long-running series at the start: Long-running series are very tiresome, especially when they have lots of fillers. Better start with shorter stuff, such as series with 12 eps. max, or even better, movies - Ghibli movies being a particularly good starting point. Leave long-running shows for later, after you've developed some patience for longer shows: that is the best getting used to longer shows path would be Movies -> 12 eps. max shows -> 26 eps. max shows -> 50-60 eps. max shows -> everything longer.
-Do NOT engage with anime communities at the start, especially if you're easily influencable by others. I personally started watching anime by myself and didn't engage in any anime community until last year and I had been watching anime for a while before that. This led to me developing a quite unique taste, and in fact I often find high-rated shows less enjoyable than their rating would suggest, and the inverse. Following the trends of the masses might not be helpful in discovering the anime you'll truly enjoy as an individual.
-In the same vein, do NOT take reviews and hype about anime seriously, especially when it comes to on-going ones. To my experience, a lot of good anime is slept on, and a lot of bad anime is hyped to no end. Find your own taste by yourself.
And some do's:
-DO skip anime OPs and EDs. Watch them the first time, but if you don't like them enough, feel free to skip them - those precious few minutes amassed can be used to watch more anime. In the same vein skip repeating footage in anime e.g. transformation sequences after watching it the 1st time. And if you want to skip filler, also feel free to do so.
-DO drop shows if you don't like them enough, you shouldn't suffer through stuff you don't like when you could be watching stuff you actually enjoy instead.
-DO take breaks from anime from time to time, occupying yourself with other hobbies instead, as to avoid anime burnout.
P.S. In case this wasn't evident, unlike most of the other posts, this is actually serious advice - it's what I do in regards to anime.