You hear of it, time and time again. Everyone is talking about this anime, everyone is demanding you see it. It’s the greatest thing ever, you hear. It’s a classic, you hear. It will revolutionize the way we watch anime, you hear. Yet, upon watching, you find the anime isn’t all that. You might think it’s a little dull. You might not even like it, at all.
It’s a case of being overrated. It happens in every corner of entertainment. It happened to Hollywood hits, like Frozen and The Avengers. It usually leaves a strong backlash by the people who didn’t find it that good, and people become divided over the story being the best thing or the worst thing ever. It usually happens regarding popular shonen anime, such as Naruto or Bleach. Most recently, it’s begun to happen to Attack on Titan.
Too much hype can ruin the experience of watching an anime for you. But does that make the story actually bad? The anime won’t change, regardless of how many people talk about it. And sometimes you have to take a step back and think, if you had gone into this experience with no expectations, would your opinion of the anime be different?
At the heart of the matter, what it comes down to is personal tastes. Everyone likes different things and everyone has a different opinion of what is good. If an anime with a story you don’t particularly enjoy is being oversold, of course you’re going to dislike it. You’ll dislike it even further if it gets more attention than the anime you really do like.
So, when you find the hype growing on a certain anime, don’t let yourself be sucked in to the expectations. Look at it from an outside perspective. If it isn’t really your style of story, choose not to watch it or keep that in mind as you do watch it. And don’t let the hype build up your excitement and make you believe it’s the ‘best thing ever’ before you even watch it. Enjoyment of anime is always higher when your expectations are lower, as terrible as it sounds. The sensation of being pleasantly surprised is always better than bitter disappointment.
Laura is a Douglas College student and an avid anime aficionado. She can sleep through anything, except the latest manga chapter release. Any questions, fire off a message to lmdeheer@shaw.ca!