Are you comfortable watching anime in groups?

[Element Jay]

Greetings.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you here on AoD, when given the opportunity to do so, enjoy watching anime among a group of people? Would you prefer sharing the viewing experience with other fans, or is the best way to appreciate anime done by watching it alone?

Personally I think it's fun to watch anime with only a small group of people, more specifically with friends that I know who enjoy the stuff. Larger crowds (say in big anime clubs or in theaters) tend to not be as enjoyable as a tight anime-watching group, simply because there isn't any room to blurt out random comments on-screen or have a fun simultaneous anime experience among people that are close to you.

[tanahome]

i think ideally, 1-2 other people. but prob with not watching alone is i can't really hit the rewind button that often to re-read something (english subs) i miss since it will be annoying for them.

[Lego]

Anime is a private and personal experience for me. I'll watch something I've seen like GITS SAC, Cromartie, or even Bebop with a friend, but I like that one on one experience.

[IamBoogiepop]

Level C should ONLY be watched in a group setting... with alcohol... :evil:

[Splitter]

Depends on the series. In my experience, badly plotted series, harems, or hentai are best in group settings with a little alcohol in everyone's system, whereas shows like Kino's Journey or Haibane Renmei are best watched alone for quiet inner reflection.

Also, the ideal group anime is Gurren Lagann.

[mike.motaku]

Depends on the group. I've had guys woo-hoo the attempted rape in Wings of Honneamise and make threatening, wildly homophobic comments during parts of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Being gay myself, I took that poorly. Silly me. The fact that the guys involved should be thanking jebus on a daily basis for the trifecta of alcohol and girls with both low standards and poor judgment let alone worrying about some gay guy finding them even remotely do-able helped only slightly.

[joelgundam01]

Anime is a private and personal experience for me. I'll watch something I've seen like GITS SAC, Cromartie, or even Bebop with a friend, but I like that one on one experience.

Same here!

[The Great Bear]

I watch alone.

But then, beyond people I know here (and only "here"), I don't know anybody who is into anime.

[Lain Of The Net]

Personally I think it's fun to watch anime with only a small group of people, more specifically with friends that I know who enjoy the stuff. Larger crowds (say in big anime clubs or in theaters) tend to not be as enjoyable as a tight anime-watching group, simply because there isn't any room to blurt out random comments on-screen or have a fun simultaneous anime experience among people that are close to you.


I agree with you on the club thing. I have been in a big club (at a university) where people have come specifically to mouth off at the screen. Smaller clubs sometimes can be clannish and less enjoyable due to the "everyone is an expert" thing. I don't bother with them anymore. A tight group of friends into anime? If you have that - good luck and enjoy. I have one friend that will sit down with me and they are not a big fan. Sometimes I think I am inflicting anime on them and that in itself can be ...tiring. I watch by myself with the cat who seems to not care either way what is on the screen. :)

[ShieldAnvil]

Anime is a private and personal experience for me. I'll watch something I've seen like GITS SAC, Cromartie, or even Bebop with a friend, but I like that one on one experience.

Same here!


Ditto.

[Gatts]

I would watch anime in groups more, but the other people I watch anime with are casual watchers and probably watch about 5 episodes a week. Since can easily watch twice that amount in a day, I get ahead of what they are watching.

So I tend to watch stuff by myself and then rewatch it with my group later on.

[super rats]

It depends. I usually enjoy comedies more when there are other people around, so I try to take that opportunity at conventions. As far as everyday life goes, I watch most things by myself. There are a couple of shows that a friend watches with me, showing up an hour or two before our weekly gaming session. Usually I've already seen what we're watching, but since they tend to be comedic shows like My-Otome and Haruhi it's still fun.

Something like Mushi-Shi I'm watching on my own.

[kit-kat]

It really depends. I do the bulk of my anime watching alone. I just don't have the opportunity to watch anime with others. I think some anime could be fun watching with others, comedies, feel good type shows. Other shows are probably best watched alone.

I do like catching stuff at conventions or going to the rare anime movie release. Watching Ouran High School Host Club at Otakon a couple of years back was one of the best viewing experiences I've had. The crowd was huge and everyone was really into it. The energy was great and infectious, it was a good time.

[jojo_home]

Basically, it's better to watch shows with fans than newbies and/or negative ninnies. Even when I hate a show, I simply don't watch it. But some people will sit there with me and give me an unwanted negative commentary track, or make dumb asides about every scene.

Most of the time, I watch alone.

[Suwako Moriya]

I tend to watch anime alone, but then again I'm not exactly a social person anyway. That's probably the simplest way of putting it.

[Collectonian]

Nope, not comfortable with it at all. I like watching my anime alone. Then again, I also tend to like to watch TV alone and movies in general. While I don't like watching with people IRL, I do sometimes like simultaneously watching stuff with my best friend while we IM each other random (and generally sarcastic) commentary.

We did that just recently for the Wizard of Oz...tee hee hee

[mandisaw]

Depends what day it is. :sd: During the week, I might watch anime or TV after work, so that's usually done alone. On the weekends, my boyfriend & I split time between anime and cable TV, if we're staying home. He's not as hardcore a fan as I am, and he's not as into English dubs, so we'll watch the show together and I'll watch the features/interviews later on.

Our anime club (~30+ regulars) meets monthly and is a pretty varied mix of people and tastes. It does a mix of ongoing series and one-shots that members bring in, so it's a good opportunity to sample shows that might not be on my personal "to watch" list. As for comments, so long as it doesn't get too loud and raucous, folks are cool with shout-backs to the screen, or quiet remarks to friends.

Ah, I stopped going to video rooms at conventions b/c I've seen most of what they're showing for the most part. Also, at the big cons, it's hard to get a decent seat and some cons are on my "never again" list because they mess around too much with the video schedule. But aside from that, I think it's cool to watch anime in groups, 'cause you can share opinions and discussions in person with (hopefully) interesting people.

Oh yeah, and there's something uniquely stimulating and mind-blowing about seeing an anime movie in a real theater with an audience. Even if the movie sucks, it's still a lot of fun.

[Keith Palmer]

I used to watch anime in the rather large group of my university's anime club and didn't mind the experience, but since then I suppose I'm in something of an "I don't know anyone to watch it with..." position.

[neo-pactio]

I agree with you on the club thing. I have been in a big club (at a university) where people have come specifically to mouth off at the screen.

I actually just recently quit my anime club partly because of that. Most of the members were loud-mouthed otakus who beat each other up and argued over whether Gaara wears a scarf in his costume or not. I'm pretty shy in public and I never really care about those kind of details, so I was somewhat uncomfortable. Also, most of the stuff that was played was action stuff which I'm not terribly interested in, I'd rather choose something I want to watch.

One kid (who could be considered the least popular kid in the freshman class) joined because one day we had a video game party and just stood in the back and made random noises at later meetings. Now that was the last straw for me! :mad:

So I now prefer to watch anime alone, or with close friends.

[Ty]

I'm not sure actually, since I've only ever watch anime alone. None of my friends or acquaintances like anime so it is something of a non-issue with me. There are times when I really wish I could share the hobby, but anime is also a very personal thing to me and I'm pretty sure I'd find I prefer watching alone.

[something]

Much prefer to watch alone, particularly the first time through a show. I want to pause and rewind and stop to take screencaps and make notes for a post and etc etc etc.

Not that I really know anyone into anime anyway.

[ibby]

I prefer to watch alone, as it allows me to concentrate on the show.

[lorddream]

Well, it's pretty much a non-issue since I don't have friends that really "get" anime.

In principle, though, I think I'd prefer to watch alone the first time. Group viewing is more fun when sharing something you love or mocking something awful :neko:

[Zalis]

Like others have said, it really does depend on the series. I'm lucky enough to attend an anime club I can still tolerate, and some of the club occasionally watches anime at small-scale parties and gatherings.

Wacky comedy and high-energy action are generally good in a group setting, series like Full Metal Panic (any season), Azumanga Daioh, Nadesico, Genshiken, Ouran HS Host Club, Ghost Stories, and Maburaho. And the more racy/bizarre the comedy, the better it is with alcohol involved, such as Yumeria, Eiken, and Kirameki Project.

But for the most part, I've given up on trying to expose the club to more emotional and serious anime. Mainly because people don't take it seriously enough, and the laughter / MST3K comments ruin the experience. The last straw was with Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo a few weeks ago...when I watched it alone, raw, I thought there were some seriously powerful scenes that drew tears to my eyes. But either my responses were aberrant, or other people watching the subbed version at club didn't/couldn't take those scenes seriously. If I'd been watching it in a group for the first time, I would've been pissed.

Oddly enough, in past years the club has watched Pretear and Chrono Crusade, and the conclusions of those series made for great "communal cathartic" emotional experiences. I don't know what's different now; I all know is that I wouldn't want to watch certain episodes of Air, Saikano, Fruits Basket, or Shuffle with the club. Or with anyone else, for that matter -- I like letting my emotions run wild while watching anime, and unless I had a strong relationship of trust with my viewing companion(s), I wouldn't want to make myself vulnerable like that.

[Legion]

I don't mind watching anime with other people per say, but I find if I watch anime with people who aren't familiar with it, they feel the need to ask me all sorts of questions throughout. Man that gets old, especially if I've never seen the show before..

[dunno001]

Level C should ONLY be watched in a group setting... with alcohol... :evil:

Nah, that OVA is bad enough that you don't need alcohol. All you really need is giant pocky. Now, alcohol (specifically bourbon), candy corn, and My Sexual Harassment go together well...

[LelouchLamperouge]

Now, alcohol (specifically bourbon), candy corn, and My Sexual Harassment go together well...

Dare I ask... Why candy corn?

Anywho, my wife watchs some anime with me, like when she's off and such. Otherwise, I watch it alone since its my alone time away from life's worries.

[dunno001]

Now, alcohol (specifically bourbon), candy corn, and My Sexual Harassment go together well...

Dare I ask... Why candy corn?

Anywho, my wife watchs some anime with me, like when she's off and such. Otherwise, I watch it alone since its my alone time away from life's worries.

Well, it's easier for a snack food. I guess you could use real corn, corn-on-the-cob, or even creamed corn, but those who are squeamish might have a harder time with those. If this still doesn't make sense, one of the characters in the series has an ear of corn forced into him.

[LelouchLamperouge]

If this still doesn't make sense, one of the characters in the series has an ear of corn forced into him.

I wish I had never asked now. I have a bad mental image going through my brain of this. I feel so scarred for life now. :(

[Chuplayer]

If this still doesn't make sense, one of the characters in the series has an ear of corn forced into him.

I wish I had never asked now. I have a bad mental image going through my brain of this. I feel so scarred for life now. :(

At first, I was like "so they shoved candy corn in his ear? That ain't nice. Then I wisened up and got grossed out.

Aside from one brief clip, I have only watched anime with my dad. He has only ever actively watched some Gundam stuff, though. I think a couple of episodes of Robotech caught his attention, too. I tried watching stuff like Kashimashi with him in the room, but he just read a newspaper instead. My mom now thinks all anime is about lesbians and dildos since I got Anyone You Can Do... and Kashimashi. She got really WTF once when she walked by while I was watching Kashimashi. An intimate scene was on, and it was shocking to her. I think she decided to ignore the fact that Hazumu used to be a guy even though it was made clear in the subtitles.

So, I'd say it depends on the anime and it depends on the group based on my experiences.

[EmperorBrandon]

I watch anime alone for the most part, though I also watch with other people and generally have no problem. My brother and sister have watched some anime with me occasionally. My sister likes several shows I have but tends to be busy with other things (haven't really watched much with her lately), and my brother only likes a few things that I like (and tends to think a lot of the stuff I like is "gay" - he's been both amusing and annoying when he was watching some CCS in my latest marathon :sd: ) One of my brother's friends is into anime, and I've became friends with him and shown him some of my series (Azumanga Daioh, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Cardcaptor Sakura). I was wanting to rewatch through those already, and I thought it was nice to do that and introduce someone to them at the same time. I've also attended an anime club a lot, regularly ~10 people, and I tend to be comfortable watching there too.

[roastedpekingduck]

As with films, I watch everything alone. Watching with other people can even ruin some series. NNot coincidentally, series that I have watched with other people decrease in awesomeness level afterwards. After the mess that watching Gungrave and Berserk together with friends proved to be, I ain't trying that again. Struck both of those series a death blow and neither was the same in my eyes afterwards. Nausicaa was just not the same while my friend kept on cracking jokes about tree-hugging.

[Dagger]

I prefer to go it alone, in part because none of my friends are into anime, but mostly because I guess I like to keep my hobbies to myself. We do watch Satoshi Kon and Miyazaki stuff together from time to time, but that feels more like sharing a regular movie than sitting down to watch anime, if that makes any sense.

On the other hand, I love revisiting episodes at Nico Nico (go figure, right?). I suppose that's a whole different kind of group experience...

[MeggieMay]

If this still doesn't make sense, one of the characters in the series has an ear of corn forced into him.

I wish I had never asked now. I have a bad mental image going through my brain of this. I feel so scarred for life now. :(

At first, I was like "so they shoved candy corn in his ear? That ain't nice. Then I wisened up and got grossed out.



All I have to say is I just LOL for a soild minute at the hidden discussion above :laugh: .

I do have a question though - which show does the "candy corn" go with - Level C or My Sexual Harassment? Or is there something in both shows that fits?

[ZhenJi]

I mostly watch anime by myself. Neither my BF nor my friends are into anime, so they feel like I should be explaining things along the line. However, I do enjoy watching anime in the movie theater if the opportunity arises.

So I guess it depends :noodle:

[Citizen Klaus]

I prefer watching anything, really, by myself. Being alone gives me space to work through my thoughts and analyze what I've seen. Beyond that, I just can't get comfortable watching films/anime in public. With a huge crowd (premiere screening at AX, say), it's not so bad, and can actually be nice, since you get collective feedback from the audience, but small groups are intolerable for me.


Larger crowds (say in big anime clubs or in theaters) tend to not be as enjoyable as a tight anime-watching group, simply because there isn't any room to blurt out random comments on-screen

This is actually my biggest complaint about small-group viewing. Mystery Science Theater's running commentary was only funny because comedians wrote the dialogue. Most audience members making those "random comments" are not comedians. When I'm watching a show, I don't want to hear some bozo trying to be witty (and usually failing hard at it). I want to hear the show.

[Nosredna]

I usually watch anime by myself, but that's because only one of my friends has any sort of interest in it. Some times he comes over to watch with me, but that's not very often. But I really have no problems watching with a big group at a con. It can make some shows a little more funny.

[Pachi]

Depends. If it's my brother and my friend, sure, we watch anime together every now and then, albeit only anime on TV. If it's something on a DVD I'm buying, I'll watch with my brother, if he wants to watch. Other than that, I normally watch anime alone.

I have been to anime club before, so I can handle watching anime in a group. If they are other fans who like anime, I'm always willing to watch with them. I like that opportunity to get together through a common interest. It just doesn't happen that often for me.

[Garasharp K7]

Same situation as most folks here: No-one I know watches the stuff, so my anime watching is pretty much a solitary experience. Not to mention anyone who might be interested wouldn't care for the shows I like. I can't imagine sitting down with the guys from work and watching Nadesico, Azumanga, Mazinger Z or Full Metal Panic.
Yeah, that'd go down well. :)

Last time I can recall watching anime with someone else was when a mate brought the Legend of the Overfiend films over many years back. The only thing I can remember from that time was the two of us turning the volume down or switching channels whenever we thought someone was nearby. :D

[Darkex]

I always watch anime alone because unfortunately I don't know that many people interested in anime.

But I imagine it should be really funny to watch anime with a bigger group. I plan to go to a convention next year, so I will try it out. :noodle:

[dunno001]

I wish I had never asked now. I have a bad mental image going through my brain of this. I feel so scarred for life now. :(

At first, I was like "so they shoved candy corn in his ear? That ain't nice. Then I wisened up and got grossed out.

All I have to say is I just LOL for a soild minute at the hidden discussion above :laugh: .

I do have a question though - which show does the "candy corn" go with - Level C or My Sexual Harassment? Or is there something in both shows that fits?

I meant it more for BnSH, but that's also because I don't like having to use a fork to eat while watching anime. It's the closest thing I could think of that's readily accessible. I guess you could get those gummy corn-on-the-cob items that really do taste like corn, but I'd have to find out where those people at Yaoi-con got them from...

[Element Jay]

Larger crowds (say in big anime clubs or in theaters) tend to not be as enjoyable as a tight anime-watching group, simply because there isn't any room to blurt out random comments on-screen

This is actually my biggest complaint about small-group viewing. Mystery Science Theater's running commentary was only funny because comedians wrote the dialogue. Most audience members making those "random comments" are not comedians. When I'm watching a show, I don't want to hear some bozo trying to be witty (and usually failing hard at it). I want to hear the show.
It really depends on who you're with. Jokes or insights made among close friends in a viewing might be far more entertaining than hearing it from complete strangers. Especially when it's with people you've known for a while, in which you already know how they will react to certain things when you're around them.

But yeah, I can imagine that hearing random comments from people you've never met in an anime viewing would be very annoying.

[Pachi]

This is actually my biggest complaint about small-group viewing. Mystery Science Theater's running commentary was only funny because comedians wrote the dialogue. Most audience members making those "random comments" are not comedians. When I'm watching a show, I don't want to hear some bozo trying to be witty (and usually failing hard at it). I want to hear the show.

This is why my anime club usually does not allow that kind of "heckling", except on one meeting once a semester we call "Anime Hell Night", in which we watch the worst anime we can find and are allowed to make whatever obscene/random comments we want.

Of course, my anime club doesn't have a lot of drive or passion to it, so this kind of thing is often hit-or-miss. Couple years ago, I was laughing so hard on Anime Hell Night my face was red. This year's - most of my laughter was forced or just thrown out there because nobody else was laughing.

[Njr Scrawl]

Only if I have exclusive control over the remote control. :susel:

[C_Roberts]

I'm comfortable, but it depends on what I'm watching for if I watch in a group or not. Anything comedy is best in a group, but more serious stuff I tend to watch alone the first viewing. If I like it enough to watch again then I usually share it with a friend or two.

Watched all of Slayers with 4-5 other RPG fans in several marathon sessions. It was a blast and years later we still laugh about parts of it.

[meganly_chan]

Except for very early on in my anime "career," I have always watched it alone (nobody around here likes the stuff, or even knows what it is). This is mostly out of wanting to experience it (for the first time) by myself, with no interruptions. But if I've seen it a few times, I am more open to sharing it with somebody else, if possible.