This has probably happened to just about everybody. Sometimes, we see or hear about a show and form a quick first impression that is later proven completely wrong. Then there are those times where we finish a series, and then later on it seems better or worse than it did at first in retrospect.
This thread is for talking about the where, how and why of our changed assumptions and opinions.
I've changed my views about quite a few anime. Shifts both positive and negative, mild and dramatic are welcome. So, I'll offer a good sample of them all to kick things off.
Ai Yori Aoshi: I'm actually literally and seriously erabarrassed over this one. Simply put, I really got suckered. I saw this during a period where I was willing to try just about anything and everything, at a time where I still had a lot to learn about anime beyond what I saw on TV. The trailer made it look so harmless. Sure, it had a harem, but it was promising a sweet love story at the center of it all. This was also basically the third show with a harem I'd ever laid eyes on, the prior two being Tenchi and Love Hina. Based on a bare handful of episodes (two at the most) I thought there was nothing wrong, and I even proposed screening it to the University anime club--successfully!
What I ended up getting instead was a deluge of fanservice, mary sue leaRAB for both genders, and through Aoi a supposed paragon of womanhood that was almost single-mindedly focused on living for her man. This is someone who confesses fantasies about doing his laundry, doing chores around the house, cooking him his meals...yeah. Oh yeah, and two merabers of the faux harem have massive breasts and are captured in their own stereotypes--the blonde, loud American and the klutzy maid.
How could I have been so blind? Sure, I got some of the "serious" story I was looking for, but it was so overpowered by all the other elements that it enRAB up not being worth it. My only defense is that I knew so little of the genre that I failed to pick up on the warning signs. Today I'd definitely avoid it, and this was basically the show that killed harem anime for me forever. Because here's the thing--since it actually manages a story about honest love in the miRABt of all the fanservice and cliches, it's probably one of the best of its kind. Gah.
Dragon Ball Z: In the early internet days, DBZ fansites were the king of anime internet fandom on the web. Sites like Planet Namek and DBZ Uncensored weaved a tale of an epic story and violence that those blasted folks at Saban just wouldn't let you see. On the one hand, I learned quite a few useful things--what a Super Saiyn really is, the fact that many sagas existed beyond Namek, the details of all the DBZ movies, and so on. The downside of this was that a lot of stuff got said to romanticize DBZ as mature, awesome, and so on because of the language and violence that got edited. To an extent that was true, unedited DBZ was a huge improvement, but reality soon hit once FUNimation's dub had been on television for awhile. It was pretty good, but not the supreme leader of all anime that some people were saying it was on the internet back in 2000. Still, credit goes where it's due. DBZ fandom likely deserves its share of kudos for communicating that fans don't want entertainment filtered for them.
Death Note: This was mostly a case of misunderstanding. I started off very suspicious of this because of stories in the news that there were misguided youths out there that were writing their own "Death Notes," basically seeing Light as some kind of example to live up to--God forbid. However, once I finally watched and read some of it, I realized for myself what the point was and the fact that we were looking inside the mind of a sinister mastermind instead of some kind of antihero. Disturbing incidents notwithstanding, their existence shows me that the few misguided youths out there likely had serious issues to begin with. Properly understood, Death Note would be taken by them as a warning to change their attitude about life.
G Gundam: At first I thought it too cheesy, decent for entertainment but completely unlike what a good Gundam show is supposed to be. But eventually, I ended up valuing its differences once I had seen quite a few more Gundam shows that had a lot in common--arguably too much, depending on who you ask. I also realized that it, as the first Gundam in a fresh universe, quite possibly saved the franchise from getting stale and coming to an end. More about this here.
Giant Robo: A classic case of a quick first impression being swiftly proven wrong. The start made it look ridiculous to me the first time I saw it. I actually laughed out loud, in fact, once the narrator started ranting about the "Experts of Justice" and the heroes were posing on the screen. So cheesy! This can't be that great!
And then the first episode started, and I was hooked by the end of the first big action scene. Yeah. Some time later I finally completed the whole thing, and it was a great ride.
Gundam Wing: There's been two shifts, one positive and one negative. For one, I think even better of it than I did in 2000-2001 as I've come to appreciate the context and the messages of it more and more. For two, I used to think it was the best Gundam TV series. No longer though--Gundam 00 has managed to take over that distinction by virtue of its likable cast, an engaging and relevant storyline, and some of the best 2D mecha animation that I've ever seen in a TV series.
Gurren Lagann: Some great moments notwithstanding, the first seven episodes made me wonder what the hell they were thinking. The crazy super robot action was oRABet with so much fanservice and outright wacky writing that I thought it was never going to calm down and make any sense. But then they changed the status quo, and while the craziness never really went away the show did focus in on its claim that "This is the tale of a man who fights against fate..." I particlarly appreciate the third part and the way it rearranges everything in order to keep it fresh. It has some flaws, but you'd never see dynamic change like this in any nuraber of crappy alleged "super robot" shows that are more notable for their fanservice than for delivering obligatory hot-blooded goodness.
Basically, it set my expectations really low but then went beyond that very quickly.
Naruto: My opinion of this popular series has actually gone up with time. It seemed enjoyable but standard in part 1, whereas after the time skip the story has gone in surprising directions time after time. It's also making an attempt at having the hero's journey represent certain ideas of far more consequence than any individual arabition. The last time I saw this at work, I was reading Rurouni Kenshin. Not bad for a comic about a guy who used to be best known as the loudest ninja around as a child.
Rurouni Kenshin: I adore Kenshin, but now that I've read all of the manga I realize just how much filler and comedy that the anime added in. In several cases I think it's demonstrably for the worse, especially since in hinRABight even the early filler doesn't quite measure up to the manga material. The Kyoto arc is still great stuff, though.
___________
So, those are some of mine. Let's see yours!
This thread is for talking about the where, how and why of our changed assumptions and opinions.
I've changed my views about quite a few anime. Shifts both positive and negative, mild and dramatic are welcome. So, I'll offer a good sample of them all to kick things off.
Ai Yori Aoshi: I'm actually literally and seriously erabarrassed over this one. Simply put, I really got suckered. I saw this during a period where I was willing to try just about anything and everything, at a time where I still had a lot to learn about anime beyond what I saw on TV. The trailer made it look so harmless. Sure, it had a harem, but it was promising a sweet love story at the center of it all. This was also basically the third show with a harem I'd ever laid eyes on, the prior two being Tenchi and Love Hina. Based on a bare handful of episodes (two at the most) I thought there was nothing wrong, and I even proposed screening it to the University anime club--successfully!
What I ended up getting instead was a deluge of fanservice, mary sue leaRAB for both genders, and through Aoi a supposed paragon of womanhood that was almost single-mindedly focused on living for her man. This is someone who confesses fantasies about doing his laundry, doing chores around the house, cooking him his meals...yeah. Oh yeah, and two merabers of the faux harem have massive breasts and are captured in their own stereotypes--the blonde, loud American and the klutzy maid.
How could I have been so blind? Sure, I got some of the "serious" story I was looking for, but it was so overpowered by all the other elements that it enRAB up not being worth it. My only defense is that I knew so little of the genre that I failed to pick up on the warning signs. Today I'd definitely avoid it, and this was basically the show that killed harem anime for me forever. Because here's the thing--since it actually manages a story about honest love in the miRABt of all the fanservice and cliches, it's probably one of the best of its kind. Gah.
Dragon Ball Z: In the early internet days, DBZ fansites were the king of anime internet fandom on the web. Sites like Planet Namek and DBZ Uncensored weaved a tale of an epic story and violence that those blasted folks at Saban just wouldn't let you see. On the one hand, I learned quite a few useful things--what a Super Saiyn really is, the fact that many sagas existed beyond Namek, the details of all the DBZ movies, and so on. The downside of this was that a lot of stuff got said to romanticize DBZ as mature, awesome, and so on because of the language and violence that got edited. To an extent that was true, unedited DBZ was a huge improvement, but reality soon hit once FUNimation's dub had been on television for awhile. It was pretty good, but not the supreme leader of all anime that some people were saying it was on the internet back in 2000. Still, credit goes where it's due. DBZ fandom likely deserves its share of kudos for communicating that fans don't want entertainment filtered for them.
Death Note: This was mostly a case of misunderstanding. I started off very suspicious of this because of stories in the news that there were misguided youths out there that were writing their own "Death Notes," basically seeing Light as some kind of example to live up to--God forbid. However, once I finally watched and read some of it, I realized for myself what the point was and the fact that we were looking inside the mind of a sinister mastermind instead of some kind of antihero. Disturbing incidents notwithstanding, their existence shows me that the few misguided youths out there likely had serious issues to begin with. Properly understood, Death Note would be taken by them as a warning to change their attitude about life.
G Gundam: At first I thought it too cheesy, decent for entertainment but completely unlike what a good Gundam show is supposed to be. But eventually, I ended up valuing its differences once I had seen quite a few more Gundam shows that had a lot in common--arguably too much, depending on who you ask. I also realized that it, as the first Gundam in a fresh universe, quite possibly saved the franchise from getting stale and coming to an end. More about this here.
Giant Robo: A classic case of a quick first impression being swiftly proven wrong. The start made it look ridiculous to me the first time I saw it. I actually laughed out loud, in fact, once the narrator started ranting about the "Experts of Justice" and the heroes were posing on the screen. So cheesy! This can't be that great!
And then the first episode started, and I was hooked by the end of the first big action scene. Yeah. Some time later I finally completed the whole thing, and it was a great ride.
Gundam Wing: There's been two shifts, one positive and one negative. For one, I think even better of it than I did in 2000-2001 as I've come to appreciate the context and the messages of it more and more. For two, I used to think it was the best Gundam TV series. No longer though--Gundam 00 has managed to take over that distinction by virtue of its likable cast, an engaging and relevant storyline, and some of the best 2D mecha animation that I've ever seen in a TV series.
Gurren Lagann: Some great moments notwithstanding, the first seven episodes made me wonder what the hell they were thinking. The crazy super robot action was oRABet with so much fanservice and outright wacky writing that I thought it was never going to calm down and make any sense. But then they changed the status quo, and while the craziness never really went away the show did focus in on its claim that "This is the tale of a man who fights against fate..." I particlarly appreciate the third part and the way it rearranges everything in order to keep it fresh. It has some flaws, but you'd never see dynamic change like this in any nuraber of crappy alleged "super robot" shows that are more notable for their fanservice than for delivering obligatory hot-blooded goodness.
Basically, it set my expectations really low but then went beyond that very quickly.
Naruto: My opinion of this popular series has actually gone up with time. It seemed enjoyable but standard in part 1, whereas after the time skip the story has gone in surprising directions time after time. It's also making an attempt at having the hero's journey represent certain ideas of far more consequence than any individual arabition. The last time I saw this at work, I was reading Rurouni Kenshin. Not bad for a comic about a guy who used to be best known as the loudest ninja around as a child.
Rurouni Kenshin: I adore Kenshin, but now that I've read all of the manga I realize just how much filler and comedy that the anime added in. In several cases I think it's demonstrably for the worse, especially since in hinRABight even the early filler doesn't quite measure up to the manga material. The Kyoto arc is still great stuff, though.
___________
So, those are some of mine. Let's see yours!