Different feelings on 2nd+ viewing of shows?

[Njr Scrawl]

You know when you've watched a series. Know what happens to whom, the consequences if any & how it all works out - or doesn't. Who survives, lives happily ever after, of meets a bad end etc.

Do you have different feelings when watching 2nd & later times, because of your foreknowledge of what will unfold? Do you focus more on different characters than before? Gleefully wait of fast forward to your next favourite scene. That kind of thing /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

To be honest, I hardly ever get a chance to rewatch anime series. It's not that I don't want to, but I'm constantly behind on my dvds the way it is, without compounding the problem by watching a show I've already seen.

[Johnny]

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mifuneral said:
To be honest, I hardly ever get a chance to rewatch anime series. It's not that I don't want to, but I'm constantly behind on my dvds the way it is, without compounding the problem by watching a show I've already seen.

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I'm the same. I planned on rewatching some series over the Christmas break but only managed to rewatch Lain for the third time.
I haven't owned most of my anime too long so I don't feel the need to rewatch just yet. Plus the fact that I'm always collecting 5+ series means I wouldn't have the time to rewatch even if I wanted to! /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Ambers79]

Since my collection has grown so much I can wait a half a year or so before I rewatch anything. Time and watching so many other shows makes most of the story vague for me so it is like seeing it again for the first time. For shows like Fruits Basket and Kenshin that I have rewatched so many times I often watch my favorite epsiodes. As I watch more and more anime I find things like Evangelion, Bastard, Escaflowne don't impress me as much as what they did when I was first getting into anime.

[yumy]

Since i'm poor and rewatch my limited all the time, i should answer /images/graemlins/tongue.gif I mostly just watch comedies and some shoujo though, so it's not like there is some huge plot to it. It's nice to rewatch now that you know the characters better, you notice some new thinigs. It's at least as good the second time around, except for Kare Kano, that got kinda boring...just moves too slow i guess.

[something]

Ideally, when I rewatch a series, I like to remember as little as possible about it. This is why I rarely rewatch a series before it's licensed and out on DVD completely. This is usually such a long time that when I rewatch, it's nice and fresh again.

Still, I don't forget the fundamentals, so it's not entirely fresh. The significance of this varies... For something like Azumanga, no problem. For a mystery/detective show like Spiral, gah! I still liked it on second viewing, but a lot of the mystery was, of course gone. Still, that one was especially long between viewings, which helped.

Occasionally I'll like a show somewhat more on a repeat viewing. Please Twins is one example of this, as was Abenobashi, if I remember correctly.

As for what I focus on... Well, depends on the show. Shows that were all about storytelling tension and wondering what happens next (Gankutsuou, My~HiME) will certainly be different the second time around. Although for Gankutsuou, I never did get to see the last three episodes due to when it got licensed.

Anyway, I guess there's no one answer to this, except that generally the tension is gone and has to be replaced by pure storytelling skill and an enjoyable cast. The show needs to work a bit harder the second time in that regard, but it also doesn't have to worry about losing me during lean times because I already know I will like it (thus, companies don't have to worry about me dropping a show without buying later volumes, for example).

So it's good and and, I suppose.

Edit: to touch on mifuneral's point. I don't tend to rewatch a series on DVD all that often either. Most of the time, the DVD is the rewatch, from watching it as it aired in Japan. So one big difference I left out is that the rewatch is also a marathon, which the original viewing often is not.

So, getting to those DVDs again, essentially to see the series a third time, doesn't happen too much. Still, I like knowing it's there if I want it (and I have done this with some shows). Also, I will watch something with my girlfriend if she hasn't seen it before, and that is often the third watch as well.

[EmperorBrandon]

I rewatch shows quite frequently. Otherwise, there wouldn't be much of a point to buying them on DVD in first place IMO. /images/graemlins/happy.gif That said, I only tend to buy stuff that I have watched once and feel it will have good replay value or something I haven't seen yet which I think I'll really like (which can be a gamble, but has worked for me several times).

Ideally (this only works for series that I love the first time and enjoy enough to even consider something different on repeat viewings), I'll enjoy the second viewing as much as the first. I know everything that happens in the story at that point, but if the characters were interesting enough throughout the show in the first viewing, I tend to look enjoy watching them again knowing how they develop. This was the case with Cardcaptor Sakura, which I was thinking at first (when I was collecting it early on) that it might not have much replay value. I thought wrong there. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

After the second viewing, the novelty in that regard kind of wears off a bit, but there are other things that keep me interested in rewatching. When I like a series, I tend to notice something new each time in terms of animation and dialogue (and in terms of second, I can actually get very deep into that since I usually watch most shows in both Japanese and English). Even after the second viewing, it's really hard to say I've caught everything in regards to those two. There are only a few titles which I really got to wear to death on that point (in which I do know practically everything), but those are only things I've collected earlier and rewatched extensively like MUC and some of the Tenchi stuff (got so many series now that I shuffle around much more frequently). And even still, as far as animation or dialogue goes, if I like how beautifully done a particular scene is or the emotion of the dialogue, then it sticks with me time I watch.

And then other factors to consider as well. Comedy is one, particularly when it's well-timed (I tend to prefer more occasional humor over fast-paced comedy-everywhere types of shows) and integrated with the show nicely. Magical Project S was probably the best in that regard. I've watched it at least 8 or 9 times since I've gotten it, and I still cracked up a lot the last time I watched it. Of course, comedy is never the same as it was for the first time, and even in my favorite shows some jokes only work once. Azumanga Daioh has quite a lot of these, yet I still enjoy it a lot on repeat viewings. One for the jokes that do work many times, though another factor in enjoying the comedy in the series is for the character interaction. If I don't like the characters and don't find them too interesting, then I'm not really going to enjoy their funny moments all that much (that kind of thing effects me right off the bat from the first viewing too).

And then there's the time factor when it has been a long time since you've last seen a show. It tends to not be as easy to remember everything in the show, so there's benefit in regard to the second point (on animation and dialogue). Also, if it's been a while, you often tend to look at things in the series differently than you had before (which can be a bad thing or good thing, but something I usually find interesting). For one thing, when I last watched Hand Maid May, my thoughts on the characters were a bit different from when I first got into the series (for instance I liked Kasumi more than May last I watched, which was definitely NOT the case when I was first into the series).

I do like having a steady flow of new shows to watch, but I definitely get a lot of value from my anime experience from rewatching, and of course this is the reason I love bilingual DVD's so much. I get more out of watching one show I love three times then watching three different new shows that I only think are OK.

[roastedpekingduck]

It all depends really. After I rewatched Crest of the Stars, Gungrave, and Kino's Journey, I loved all those series even more. After rewatching Berserk, Escaflowne, and Infinite Ryvius afterwards, I thought a bit less of those series, not that that makes them horrible, however. I have no clue why that happens, but I guess all those nuances that one doesn't notice the first time becomes apparent the second time and affect viewing pleasure.

[Captain Impulse]

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Wrath of the Njr said:
You know when you've watched a series. Know what happens to whom, the consequences if any & how it all works out - or doesn't. Who survives, lives happily ever after, of meets a bad end etc.

Do you have different feelings when watching 2nd & later times, because of your foreknowledge of what will unfold? Do you focus more on different characters than before? Gleefully wait of fast forward to your next favourite scene. That kind of thing /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

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I had this exact experience with an anime that later came to be my favorite series of all time: Azumanga Daioh. I'd bought the first disc and watched it, but I just...didn't get it. I didn't laugh at all, but nevertheless I watched the whole thing.

A couple days later I found myself sitting around and thinking about things from the show (gags and such). Still didn't think it was funny, but I went back and watched it again. I got a couple chuckles that time, but still, I didn't "get it". (Mind you, this was only the first disc I was rewatching...the rest wasn't out yet).

Again, the show haunted me for days, and I would remember different scenes and start giggling. I couldn't understand why I was laughing at a show AFTER THE FACT, when I didn't seem to get much out of it while watching it. So AGAIN, I popped in the disc and started watching.

I couldn't control my laughter. I practically gave myself an ulcer.

After that, every disc moved to the top of my watch list, and was an absolute riot. I dunno why it took me so long to warm up to it, but when it did, it toppled my long-time favorite anime from the top of my list, and is still my favorite to this day.

I showed the series to my friends (who are normally VERY picky about the shows they watch and enjoy), who I figured also wouldn't "get it" once I'd completed the set. Ironically, they "got it" the first time, and is also one of their favorites now.

[PattyLane]

Upon second viewings, I seem to have soured on Rumiko Takahashi's anime series. Her stories are all similar, and the sheer length of Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku has kind of turned me off of those shows. She also has a tendancy to get sidetracked with minor characters, like Happosai and Yagami, both of whom I got tired of quickly. And Urusei Yatsura reminds me too much of the Sipmsons, adding more and more useless characters and forgetting what was funny about the original cast as well.

[balthier2012]

Actually, I have a list of "rewatchable shows" that I can not only tolerate sitting through but continously enjoy. Usually they are episodic by nature. This keeps the things jumping around. Also if it has a bad ending, it's most likely not on my list. Bunch of these are comedy, but some are just damn good shows I can't get over like Berserk, Twelve Kingdoms, Fushigi Yugi, and so on. I love the adventure, quest, hardship type of shows.

Drama shows will not be on my rewatchable list. Mainly because it is just more depressing the second time around because I already know how things are gonna turn out. There is one exception that is NTHT.

My rewatchable list is like 75 titles long though. So I'm not gonna go over the whole thing. As for how often I rewatch... NEVER. It's been atleast 15 months. In the old days my collection was smaller and I had gone through my favorites atleast 4 times each. Then all the sudden I really got into anime and starting trying out all kinds of new shows. When this happened the backlog grew and it's been a never ending battle to get it watched. If I find myself in desperate desire to watch one of my favorites I will though. Just haven't gotten around to it in over a year.

I've had a few titles that on the second time around, I wonder why I bought it in the first place..those get sold back.

[DanielJr]

Yeah, the Ghost in the Shell movie. It's a totally different experience once you've been exposed to the cast in the TV series. Now I think it's a great movie. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

[lilgumba]

I end up re-watching many of my dvds over time for various reasons. Usually I get a since of understanding things more the second time around especially if I saw it the first time when I was younger. Sailor Moon I see in a completely different light than how I saw it when I was in 7th grade. Jin Roh was another movie that kind of tramatized me when I saw it the first time. I found the ending terrible. However, when I watched it again after waiting 2 years it ended up pretty good. I'm sure I'll enjoy it even more after I let it age another 2 years.

I do notice that sometimes the comedys aren't as funny as they were before because I already get the gist of what will happen but it still makes me smile.

[Sensuifu]

Not a show, but the first time I saw Manatsu no Eve (Tenchi the Movie 2: Daughter of Darkness) I detested it. The second viewing made me realize that it was actually the best Tenchi movie of the Tenchi'verse.

[AutoGyro]

I tend to re-watch shows in which you can jump in on any episode and enjoy.

The shows I've been able to watch more than once are Lupin the 3rd (which, with its episodic nature and stand-alone movies and specials, can be watched in any order), Tenchi Muyo in all its incarnations, with the exception of Tenchi in Tokyo as I haven't yet seen it all the way through, Golden Boy, and Azumanga Daioh. For those, I had as much fun watching them the 2nd (and sometimes 3rd time) as I did the first time.

Everything else, including some of my favorite shows like Hellsing, Berserk, and Chrono Crusade, I've watched only once simply because I don't have the time to re-watch shows that you have to see in order! I have gone back and seen the first episode of some of these series, but I haven't re-watched them all the way through.

[Suwako Moriya]

Well to be honest, I do get a different feeling the second time around. However it doesn't come from who dies, who lives, who comes back to life and who stays dead. It actually comes from a different source.

I began to notice stuff I over looked before. Simply because I didn't feel it was worth paying attention to at the time or it never crossed my mind as important. Yet on the rewatch it becomes noticeable due to this knowledge.

[fantasydewdrop]

Hmm, depends on the series/movie. Some shows feel very different the second time since you pick up on everything you missed the first time; others don't really feel that different, but there is a noticeable difference; and others feel the same (only without the suspense).

Time is also a factor. As one ages, one understands things differently and may have different views.

There's also the factor of how much more anime you've seen in between viewings of a series. I mean, if a parody series is one of your first few series, you certainly won't get all of the jokes, but if you see tons of series and then re-watch that parody series, you'll deffinetly see things in it differently than if you only saw a couple other series in that same time frame. Or hell, this doesn't just apply to jokes; it can apply to certain characteristics. If you watch Escaflowne before watching Sailor Moon, Fushigi Yuugi, and a couple other magical-girl shows where the lead female is a ditzy gluttonous clutz with few talents, then you won't appreciate Hitomi's character development as much as you would if you saw Escaflowne after seeing the other series. The more shows you watch, the more you do/don't appreciate certain things.