4/5/09 - 5 anime your opinion improves of over time

[Cetonis]

Yep, getting really weird now :P This week we'll vote for 5 anime about which your opinion has improved over time. Could be a total dud, but if not it should be curious to see what pops up.

When someone watches a series they like, it's rather normal for them to think much more highly of it in the hours and days after they finish than it necessarily "deserves." Then, as time passes and/or they watch more anime, one starts to make concessions that the maybe the series in question had this flaw or that flaw, or just generally wasn't quite as good in retrospect, or in light of other stuff out there.

So it begs the question, wouldn't it sometimes be the opposite? One would imagine that for most people there are at least a few examples of anime they've come to appreciate more as time goes on. It could be something you thought was kinda meh initially but have come to see some value in looking back, or even something you liked to begin with but slowly began to feel might be something special beyond that. What anime can you think of where this has been the case?

Happy Voting ^_^

**Voting Closed**

The top 5:

ef - A Tale of Memories
Honey & Clover
Gungrave
Blood: The Last Vampire
Fruits Basket

Thanks for voting!

[alexander]

I'm always right, so I never change my opinion, or I'd have to rewrite history ;)

Seriously can't think of anything. I sometimes bump series from four to five stars after half the episodes, but who has the time to look back fondly months later?

[purplemo]

I'm gonna have to go with this

Shows that were a pleasant surprise the 2nd time around (READ 1st THREAD!!)

since there's not really any shows I can think of that I appreciated more in any considerable way afterwards that I finished.

[valondar]

You know, opinion decreasing over time is a lot easier list.

Zeta Gundam - I scoffed at this series when watching it for being Gundam and having stitled dialogue and characterisation even as much as I enjoyed watching it... but now I have nothing but admiration for this series. It was a shonen action fest that melded politics, character and various arcs chock-ridden with angst for fifty highly addictive episodes. I've tried watching more popular and acclaimed shonen epics like Code Geass, Fullmetal Alchemist and Hajime no Ippo but they're boring, repetitive, uninspired twaddle compared to this thoroughly enjoyable mecha romp. Geass in particular seems like the stupid, pompous version of Zeta Gundam.

La Maison en Petits Cube - I actually think I like this short more every time I see it. I'm just not sure how it moves me close to tears every single time. Also I rewatched it a lot which is an honour in itself.

Comedy - I first watched this for the lulz (anime in Ireland haha) and certainly found a bit of unintentional humour in the experience; but I do get and appreciate that it is a stellar short.

Other Worlds - Yes another short (strapped for ideas here). I shrugged and moved on to something else when I first saw it. Now it's easily one of my favourite Makoto Shinkai works.

Perfect Blue - To call it the weak link in the Satoshi Kon chain... well that's only true for someone who just churns out masterpiece after masterpiece after masterpiece. This is still an exceptional film that's one of the best out there.

[vivafruit]

I like this topic, even though it's another one that will be impossible to tally. ^^

Azumanga Daioh - I saw this extremely early in my anime life. Although I liked it when I first saw it, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Over time, the unorthodox 5-minute episodes have grown on me to the point where I consider it to be the best anime comedy that I've seen. Pretty much every one of the 130 episodes are a success to some degree, and some are absolute riots. The plethora of copycats (Ichigo Mashimaro, Minami-ke, Lucky Star, etc.) vindicate the series as well. This started out as a 7.5 and has grown to a 9.0.

Berserk -

When I saw this the first time the ending was a kick in the balls. I was ANGRY at this show, just like pretty much everyone else. Since then, I've come to realize that any ending that could get such a heated reaction from me should be considered a success. Closure? Closure is overrated. Who needs closure when you can completely fuck with your audience?

Started out as an 8 and has grown to 8.5.

Fruits Basket - Hated it when I first saw it, mainly because I couldn't stand shoujo at the time. When I came back I was more receptive to the genre, and actually enjoyed Furuba a fair bit (although I still don't think it comes close to the best of the genre). 4 => 7

Cat Soup - This was the first abstract anime short that I was ever exposed to, and I was mainly indifferent to it when I saw it. I later came back to it in a different frame of mind and was much more impressed. 5.5 => 8

Honey and Clover II - I LOVED the first one, and thought that the second one was a bit too bombastic and melodramatic for my tastes. Later I rewatched the entire series and realize that while it's still not as good as the first one, it's still plenty good in it's own right when you don't have overinflated expectations.

The scene where Mayama confronts Rika in the hotel is probably the best single scene out of either one.

7.5 => 8

Also: Agreed that the anime that my opinion has fallen over time are much more common than anime where my opinion rises. It's more evidence, in my opinion, that the quality of the really good anime is actually increasing.

[VivisQueen]

I can't think of even one. If I do, I'll amend this post. This one is definitely worth pondering.

[samshadow999]

Originally Posted by VivisQueen

I can't think of even one. If I do, I'll amend this post. This one is definitely worth pondering.

Agree'd

[Fireaxe]

ef - a tale of memories

I watched it once, back in December of 2007, and I didn't even like it at the time (you can see what I had to say about it here). But this show really grew on me like no other series ever did, so much that the show is now in my top 20. Deus would certainly be happy to see that...

I really can't think of any other show for now, I'll edit this post later.

EDIT: Huge lol @ myself saying ef was an overrated show.

[Kenikki]

- Honey & Clover (I remembered I thought it was good and I rewatched it to see if I had maybe overrated it, but it turn s out it was even better than I remembered it, gaining a solid #2 spot and almost gaining the top spot)
- Blood: The Last Vampire (First thoughts about wit as that it was avarage, but later (like two years) I rewatched and noticed just how well written it really is. One of the best short films I've seen)

I'll think of more later.

[Pidjiken]

Oh man, this will be impossible for me to do, if not impossible then very close to it. I generally find shows that I like less over time, especially when they are shit to begin with. I'm sure theres been maybe one or two I've enjoyed more on a second play through, but that's generally only because I can find subtle hints to the future in them that I wouldn't have noticed without finishing the series in the first place (Such as Fullmetal Alchemist.)