Finally figured out the 3 episode rule for older anime

Used to drop stuff after one boring episode but then I tried watching 3 episodes of a slow show from the 80s before judging it. Curious if anyone else has different episode cutoffs for older vs newer shows.

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

rosek441mo ago

Doesn't it feel like that same pattern shows up everywhere now? Like with music or even new restaurants, we've all gotten so used to things grabbing us in the first 10 seconds that we forget some of the best stuff takes its time. I honestly think it's why I struggle to get into a lot of modern shows, they throw everything at you right away and then fizzle out. Old anime feels like it trusts you to stick around long enough for the payoff, which is basically the opposite of how most entertainment works these days.

9

tylermurray1mo ago

Yeah that's basically me too. The 3 episode thing works way better for older shows because they take their time building stuff up. I remember trying to watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes like 5 years ago and the first episode was just people talking in a room and I almost turned it off. Glad I didn't because by episode 4 or 5 I was totally hooked. For newer anime I usually give it 2 episodes tops because they frontload all the action to grab you right away. Old shows were just made different.

5