Deciding Factor for Trying out an Anime/Manga?

[ForgedGlory]

Before you start watching an anime or reading Manga, what about it gave you the desire to give it a chance?

I typically go by Genre and Character Designs.. more so on Character designs. If the designs catch my attention, I'll then check what kinda Genre it is, then I'll give it a few episodes to see if I like it.

[DragoonKain3]

Anime? If it has fansubs, I give it at least 3 episodes. Every single one of them. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.


As for manga, I used to gobble it up the same as anime, but lack of time had me choosing either manga or anime. Anime won out for a variety of reasons... manga chapters usually have bigger time intervals between releases, getting things through IRC takes more time than clicking a BT link, and most importantly, all the good titles are licensed. I started to collect Basara, but learned early on that books are freaking heavy and bulky, and all these inconveniences made me switch over to anime.

That said, I'd take anything from the mangaka Adachi in a heartbeat (read Cross Game), while I get everything that interests me from the group Kotonoha as their releases are easy to pick up (read BT). Once in a while, if I'm itching to read something, all I go for are the complete ones as waiting for the next chapter usually is in the realm of months rather than weeks in the scanslation business.


So yeah, all in all, for me, as it longs as its subbed I'd watch some episodes of any anime. But manga, it depends on the mangaka, the group, and whether or not the series is done (be it all the volumes released in NA or scanslated in full).

[Claude]

On anime I go by

Genre -> Reccomendations -> Charcter Design -> Voice Actors -> Author

On manga I go by

Genre -> Character Design -> Availability

[keedair]

I've only ever used genre as a deciding factor myself. That is to say, there's a few genre's that I'm not willing to try, very few. Once I am watching an anime, I do try and watch as a rule of thumb 2 episodes.
A few gems like Ouran Host Club almost escaped me because I only watched part of the first episode and it's intro at first. Haruhi Suzumiya was the same way, the first episode almost scared me off.
Author and studio have definately come into play once or twice, a great author and studio will more likely than not(gasp) release more great series.
Trailers to be honest I've never watched before the series itself.
Character design also seems unimportant for me, as I've been pleasantly surprised by many a series like School Rumble; where I thought the character design was horrible, but then turned out to be perhaps the greatest design I've ever seen.
That's my 10 cents.

[KholdStare]

I only picked genre, but really, I read through synopses first. Once in a while someone recommends in anime to me, but since I try to follow most new anime until I decide to drop them, it usually doesn't matter.

I really don't care much about character designs.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Anime? If it has fansubs, I give it at least 3 episodes. Every single one of them. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Impressive.

I'm trying to look into as much as possible but I can't watch everything. Things I drop blindly are sequels, spin-offs, or something like that of shows I didn't like or grew tired of. Also kids' stuff (although the stuff I mean is hardly ever fansubbed anyway), and a few genres like sports and yaoi (there are exceptions; sometimes I start watching stuff out of a whim). Sometimes eroge anime if my schedule is tight.

Everything else I try to give a chance. I give the anime one to ten epsiodes, but more often one than ten. I try to be impartial but genre and studio do play a role in my judgement. Some anime are considered guilty until proven innocent, and I can be a very impatient judge. Some anime manage to surprise me against all odds but those that do, do it normally already from the very beginning.

I hardly read any manga. I read comics in general mostly for the art and books for story.

[qtipbrit]

For newer anime, I generally check its genre and synopsis to see if it interests me, check to studio to see if I've liked other anime they've made (this one is minor), then see the trailer to see if I like the character designs, though at this point, it's usually pretty decided that I'll watch it.

For older stuff, I'll usually check the genre, synopsis, and studio again, though I might look at ratings on sites to see if others have liked it (this is pretty much "recommendation".) I generally check character designs and voice actors and such more often for anime that have finished airing, since I'll be stuck with them for a more concentrated amount of time. Of course, if KholdSecks tells me it's good, I'll watch it.

[-KarumA-]

almost all pointers for both
since i am the person who most of the times recommends things for others i didnt count that in
but first there is genre -> synops -> studio -> character designs -> author -> trailers

i hardly watch trailers... only when im hyped up on something really badly or am bored or either confused about a summary and want to see how it looks like in effects
i usually use episode 1 as a trailer and then decide to watch it or not

[Alexandrite]

With anime, I tend to go for genre first, but I don't restrict myself to them. Recommendations are always welcomed, or else I wouldn't have watched some of what I have and enjoyed. Character design / Art style in general it also important - I feel that if it looks lazy and overdone, the plot seems like it may run the same way. I don't find trailers very useful, especially since with fansubs I can grab the new season's shows to preview and will give it a few episodes if it caught my interest beforehand.

As for manga, I've grown very attached to some authors. I'm likely to jump on anything by Kaori Yuki or Arina Tanemura. Art's also a big focus for me in manga as well. Recommendations I don't use as much for manga because I can just flip through it most of the time, unless someone says "Do NOT read that garbage."

[Z3120]

Hype, concurring interest with the series to read the manga or play the game: perhaps even vice versa, amusing storyline, appealing characters, decent plot, animation style and just the music as a final factor.

[orion]

All of the above. Recommendations are valued slightly ahead of trailers for anime.

If the manga is good and available in my native language and I liked the anime then I'll give it a try. That's how I started reading Zombie Loan.

[Irenicus]

Short Answer: Recommendation, Genre, Character Design, and a major factor this poll forgot, Hype/Buzz.

Long Answer:


In anime, I usually give whatever new fansubbed series that catch my eyes a try. I'm a pretty harsh judge, though, and I could usually easily discern just how incompetent the makers of a series are, and proceeding to ignore the rest of the anime as a result.

The ease of acquiring fansubbed anime means that I need to bother less about others' opinions and things like that. The major factor for me in getting an anime I didn't know about is often by the buzz, either by reading a recommendation post meant for someone else, a random lookaround at an encyclopedia, a thread about that anime, or just meeting it in the Animesuki front page.

Recommendations directed for me play just about no role whatsoever, genre not so much (I avoid certain genres, but they're never going to be in my radar anyway), character designs can attract me, but not vice versa, and same goes for directors and studios -- I'm interested in things directors and studios I like are involved in, but I'm not barring out other shows headed by people I don't like -- and the other factors in the poll meant sh*t. Anime trailers...seriously? No offense, but are you serious? Those things are pathetic at best!

However, there are many times when I'm interested in a series but didn't pick it up because of lack of time, waiting for it to finish, or sheer inertia.


Manga, on the other hand, is a big hit-and-miss. Cruising through one of those manga sites help out a lot, so is cruising through one of those manga shelves. (Don't worry, I'm not the kid in your local bookstore who sits down and completely ruins the Bleach volume while "reading" it). I met a lot of "popular" series this way -- only to realize later that there is a fanbase. This, recommendation, and hype are the three major factors that I find my manga, with random encounters playing the biggest role.

Recommendation fills up the hole where good series I haven't encountered by chance are brought to my interest by another person. And hype is just a simple way of getting in with the latest stuff, though that's actually the least important factor here, opposite of my anime habits.

Again, I only avoid genres I automatically dislike (ergh, smut; eww, yaoi) and don't exactly go around searching for genres I particularly like, designs can hook my interest but to hold it requires substance and style, and I only occasionally notice new works of manga-ka I like, mostly because I don't exactly keep up on their activities.

P.S. Adachi sucks.

[DragoonKain3]

^
Burn you heathen!

Seriously speaking, if people still think the same even after reading volume 1 of Cross Game, then there's nothing I can say or do to change their mind.

[ForgedGlory]

Hype? Hm.. I guess I didn't add it, because I never notice any kind of hype for any anime/manga. I tend to see a name, see what the characters look like, then decide from there. I didn't think hype really existed

[qtipbrit]

Originally Posted by ForgedGlory

Hype? Hm.. I guess I didn't add it, because I never notice any kind of hype for any anime/manga. I tend to see a name, see what the characters look like, then decide from there. I didn't think hype really existed

Code Geass, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Fullmetal Alchemist?
Those aren't hyped?

Now that I think back, I actually watched Fullmetal Alchemist and Code Geass because of their hype.

[hideFan]

As awful and shallow as it sounds, I usually base most of my trial basis off of character design. If it had rather boring looking characters, I dont often try it out. The only other way I really start on stuff is to be pushed into it (recommended? XD). I have a hard time starting stuff, but when i do, it pays off. Recently, my friend got me to watch the first ep of D. Gray-Man. I hadnt really got a feel for the show's look, but after watching a few eps I got addicted.

[Vexx]

First and foremost: Recommendation -- and that by a select group of people that I've collected that I trust their opinions.
After that, there's no strong ordering of factors. I'll experiment a bit -- and with that select group of people also experimenting we usually find good stuff and quickly shed the chaff.

[IHaveCrayons]

I really take a long hard look at the animation, really. I have trouble watching anime with animation that I don't like. Case in point, I could not get beyond the first episode of Great Teacher Onizuka, also as much as I liked Initial D I was horrified by the atrocious character designs.

[ForgedGlory]

GTO has the excuse of being an "old" anime, but its still very entertaining in my book. But, "modern" shows.. I dunno, if the designs are like that of the 80's early 90's, I'm immediately turned off to it. I also don't like "whacky" character designs like One Piece. If the character designs are bad to me, I can't sit through it... let alone sit through the opening theme. Asthetics is a big part of entertainment, if the overall design makes your stomach turn, then its not for you.

[Sorrow-K]

Hype plays a small part in what I choose to watch, but it sure as hell doesn't play a role in what I think about a title.

Usually there's very little rhyme or reason to what I watch. I've picked up quite a few series before purely because of the fansubbers that have worked on it. Good well-known director, anime studio or seiyuu sometimes play a role in my decision, but the two things that play the biggest role in my choices are premise and availability (I generally won't watch something if I'm unsure whether it'll be subbed regularly and reliably... unless I'm really intrigued).

I rarely drop anime, though, which is both a good and bad thing, since it makes me particularly wary about what choices I make at the beginning of the season, and I'll sometimes miss some golden series and wind up watching crap instead. I still haven't caught up on Dennou Coil or Mononoke, yet I can say I've watched every damn episode of Rental Magica and H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~. I'd consider changing this policy, but not having closure annoys me a hell of a lot more than watching bad anime.