Have you ever just stopped watching anime?

[xPearse]

Just one day stopped and never looked back? That happened to me over a month ago. My usual TV viewing session used to be split between live action and anime. I'd watch about 2 anime episodes and 1 live action tv show episode before hitting the net for a little bit before sleeping. But, when I got around to watching Watamote about a month and a half ago, I managed to pull myself through the first two episodes before giving up like "fuck this shit", and simply replaced anime with more live action. Watching Vikings, Gotham, The Last Kingdom, The Last Ship and various others. And I actually feel good about it. Has that ever happened to anyone on here before? Anime just doesn't warrant any interest from me anymore.

P.S. - I still read manga from time to time, but not much. Only a little.

[Bagheera]

Nope.

[pwhodges]

For a week or two at a time, I guess. All my various interests have to jockey for their place in my attention.

[jcmoorehead]

I actually went some time without watching anime back in University, ironically enough it was because of the anime society I joined whilst in there. I found the entire group to just be so jarring that all my passion I had for the medium leading up to getting into Uni and joining was just sapped from me. A lot of them were the sort who just said everything was terrible for the sake of it, couldn't see the good in anything except for the exact thing they liked and were always happy to take the piss out of what I liked. (This was shortly after I became a huge Eva fan, so they told me of course how bad the show was and how annoying its fans were)

It wasn't until I started attending conventions properly I started to claw back some passion for the medium.

[Justacrazyguy]

No, why should I? There's always something to watch.

[A.T. Fish]

My interests are kind of seasonal, I'll get into something and then after some time abandon it for long periods of time only to come back later. I'm currently in a hiatus as far as watching anime goes, in the last two years I only watched a few shows. Maybe I'll come back this year, maybe.

[Mr. Tines]

Just one day stopped and never looked back?

That's real burn-out, and I've had it happen with other things, but for anime it's not been that way. In recent years there have been fewer new series with premises that arouse interest, and fewer still that leave me excited for the next episode, and more calls on my time -- so long gaps in the summer, as can be seen from the "what are you watching?" threads, and building up backlogs of those that I do want to see eventually; but the expectation that I will come round to them at some point.

Actually, over the last 12 months I probably rewatched more than I watched as new, and only one new show at anything like time of airing.

[child of Lilith]

I haven't stopped entirely but I hardly watch anything these days.

[cyharding]

For me,it depends on what there is to watch. I barely watched anything this past season, but the year before, I watched several shows that fall. Winter isn't looking great either, so I'll be rewatching some titles in my collection. I don't think it's unusal to stop watching anime, it's just one aspect of a vast multimedia spectrum. I say, if a title looks interesting to you, watch it.

[xPearse]

To be honest, I don't even watch new anime airing. The only one's I watched last year was Umaru and Overlord. And even then I didn't watch them when they initally aired, and while I kinda liked both, there was a lot of things that annoyed me about them. Anyway, it's not that there isn't anything to watch. It's just that none of it interests me and that recently live action has more appeal to me than anime. Same thing happened to me with video games, but like Mr. Tines said, I'm probably just burnt out.

[Blue Monday]

Yes, in a sense. I've gone years without watching a new series at times. For instance, last anime I watched was Serial Experiments Lain followed by a rewatch of FLCL, and that was late 2014 I think. But I've watched the occasional Ghibli, Satoshi Kon or Oshii flicks in the meantime. Heck, even repeats of New Theatrical Edition. Do those count? I've still got Mushishi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Texhnolyze sitting on my computer waiting to go. Don't sweat it. Just watch shit whenever you feel compelled to. No rush. Same applies for books, movies, comics, games, et cetera. All that crap. Variety is the spice of life. If you're feeling a little burnout, just go do something different for a while. Treat yourself.

[MAGI_01]

My anime watching tends to come in seasons, depending on what series I'm watching. As of right now, I'm watching none until the ones I am following start back up later this year, unless I get a new one recommended to me that is.

[Glor]

It comes and goes. I usually only watch stuff my brother recommends since we have very similar tastes. So, maybe one or two shows a season. Otherwise I don't watch anime because 90% of it looks awful. Although I have been watching more of it recently while getting drunk with friends and making fun of whatever happens to be on netflix.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Depends on how you describe it.

I'd say I've pretty much given up on anime. I won't ever again watch a show or a film BECAUSE it's an anime. The appeal isn't there for me anymore.

But, there are certain projects that because of what they're saying, the artwork, or the creative team behind the scenes that does draw me to watch the project on those grounds. I won't watch a new Hiroyuki Imaishi show because it's an anime but I will watch it BECAUSE it's by Hiroyuki Imaishi.
I won't finish the Monogatari series because it's the hit show everyone is talking about but I will finish it BECAUSE it's an interesting artistic endeavor with high highs and low lows that always tests itself.

So yeah, I'd say I've stopped watching anime. Now anything anime related I watch is simply because of the content and the artists and not because of the medium.

[pwhodges]

Wait, who watches anything because of the medium?

[Bagheera]

Wait, who watches anything because of the medium?

Yeah, that was my thought as well. I watch anime if I think it's worth watching, same as anything else.

[Gendo'sPapa]

I'd argue like TV shows or movies, there's a lot of garbage anime that gets watched simply because it exists & is à la mode.

As a film buff I can assure you there were times growing up when I watched terrible horror movies or action flicks that offered no moment of joy or even stuck in my brain for more then a day simply because they were horror movies & action flicks. Pretty sure there's thousands of people in the world - generally younger audiences who are still finding their likes and dislikes - who will watch every schoolgirl fighting monsters anime that is released because they just love the idea of schoolgirls fighting monsters.

This "gotta see 'em all" mentality is how I justify the never-ending onslaught of superhero movies we're still suffering with. Almost all of the entries in the genre are mediocre to forgettable but there's a large enough audience out there that has to see them ALL to keep them profitable.

[robersora]

Yes, it happened right after 2.0. At that time I forced myself to watch Heroman and Rainbow (both currently airing at the time), and thought - "meh, that's just a chore, why am I doing this to myself?" (rightfully so). I switched over to things like Breaking Bad and How I met your Mother - Live Action stuff and felt entertained again.
Then Mawaru Penguindrum happened and respiked my interest again. That's the classical Anime burn-out, and there's nothing wrong with it. Anime should entertain or maybe intrigue your mind to think about stuff, and if it fails to do that, there's no reason to force yourself watching it.

[NemZ]

I don't watch much anime these days. Not because of any particular reason, I just have other things to do.

Last thing I watched was... hmm... Cross Ange?

[GAP]

Recently I just cannot watch anime anymore but I just saw the first 18 episodes of Akame Ga Kill but that is it?