People talk about anime burnout a lot. What causes it, how to avoid it, etc. It’s most often discussed as a mild impediment that can be overcome with some handy dandy tips, the way people write about writer’s block. Follow these five instructions, and you’ll be back to marathoning 50-episode TV shows in no time!
Wrong! It boils down to this: people unwittingly watch anime they don’t really like, and the activity of watching anime loses its overall value as a result. It’s the opposite of the Aesop’s Fable where the Fox can’t get the grapes, so he lies to himself and says they’d taste bad. In this case, people force themselves to eat sour grapes, and respond to their displeasure by thinking they must be burnt out on grapes.
The question is: why do people eat sour grapes in the first place? I’m no psychology expert, but I’ve had plenty of conversations with anime fans. Here are some possible explanations, peppered with images from a great anime about self-rationalization: Paranoia Agent!
“Anime backlogs.”
Holy shit. Is there a faster way to suck the joy out of anything than thinking of it as a backlog?
“I’m backlogged on hiking trips. I’d better have one this weekend for fun!”
“I need to tackle this backlog of sexual maneuvers I’ve been meaning to get around to. Want to do the blind pirate tonight when we have sex?”
People think about anime in this way, and it’s sad. Leave backlogs to people who are paid to deal with them. It’s not a word that should pertain to a hobby. Treat anime like a second job and it will inevitably begin to seem like one.
Anime as a social experience supersedes anime as something enjoyable in its own right.
There’s always going to be something social about entertainment. But sometimes the enjoyment of an anime is outpaced by its function as a social adjunct, with bitterness being the inevitable result. I made a conscious effort not to pick on Gundam fans this entire post, but they’re a prime example here.*
Some people have seen every Gundam series ever aired. Is it because Gundam is a franchise made up of nothing but awesome shows? Hell no. It’s because Gundam fans seek an encyclopedic common ground from which they can derive a never-ending stream of arguments and debates. Look up the “Gundam tier lists” people have compiled, where they rank the shows that make up the Gundam universe into different levels, and then argue about it. Or the endlessly unproductive discussions of what someone new to Gundam should watch and in what order.
Some people are “burnt out” on anime because they forced themselves to watch stuff they didn’t enjoy for social reasons. Perhaps they watched it with friends. Or so that they could blog about it. Or because they felt obligated in order to converse about anime at a certain level.
* I’m not talking about all Gundam fans so please don’t beam spam me
“I like anime, I’m supposed to watch it!”
Maybe you don’t like anime, homie. Maybe you outgrew it. Maybe you’re only going to enjoy the same fifteen shows and seven movies for the rest of your life.
It can be hard, especially for geeks, to admit these sorts of things to themselves. Geeks tend to self-identify by their hobbies more than normal people. If you have an enormous amount of information about anime stored in your head, admitting you don’t have much use for it and would rather play Roller Coaster Tycoon for eight hours straight can be hard, even if it’s true.
(It’s often true. If you like anime, you don’t have tell people you’re also a gamer. We can do the “99% of anime fans like video games more” math.)
In conclusion:
If you’re not having fun watching anime, there could be a million reasons relating to the anime itself, the aesthetics of your viewing experience, or personal life issues that are getting in the way. Or you just don’t like anime anymore for whatever reason. In this light, “anime burnout” quickly becomes a dumb, vague descriptor for the complex relationship between your self-image (I am a person who is supposed to watch anime) and your behavior (I am not watching anime).
