Some people get burnt out, that’s understandable. Others will watch a few of the classics (Cowboy Bebop, Berserk, Miyazaki stuff, Evangelion, Gundam, Kenshin, etc), or whichever shonen-hero series is popular at the moment (FMA, Naruto, D. Gray-Man, etc.) and call themselves anime fans. However, when they burn through the aforementioned classics, or get bored with the popular long-running shonen-hero stuff, they begin to find that there isn’t really anything else that grabs them like those series. That’s when they need to step back and ask themselves if they want to continue spending their time and money on the hobby.

I have been watching anime ever since I can remember. I didn’t know that it was from Japan when I was a small child (as was the case for “The Nozzels” series the Nick Jr. aired way back when), but I’ve enjoyed every minuet of it. Because of this, I’ve become “conditioned” to anime and Japanese culture. It feels natural to watch anime, to hear the Japanese language, and un-natural to not watch any anime at all in a 24-hour time span. Subsequently, I enjoy the majority of what I watch. Instead of comparing new series to older series in the same genre, or only watching the newest stuff and never touching anything made past 1997, I watch every series like it’s the first. To me, every new series is a new world. Another story that I can involve myself in, watching a new scenario with new characters play out before my eyes.

I completely understand if most people don’t feel the same way as me. Still, I have to wonder if the reviewers and other “fans” that throw around the word cliché every time they write/speak about anime, are really fans at all. As much as I watch anime, I feel that it’s good to limit what you watch, and when you watch it. Go do something else, like study, get a job, try some martial arts. Get away from the computer or TV set and do something else often, or else you will burn out for sure. Likewise, if you don’t feel like watching anime, then why are you watching it in the first place. Most people have no obligation to watch anime because it’s a hobby. When you get curious about what will happen in the next episode, or when you get bored and want to see a new story, that’s when you should watch it.

My point being: Quit complaining on the internet until you step back, ask yourself if you even like the hobby anymore, and then decide. When you find yourself being negative 99% of the time, that’s when you need to quit watching and discussing anime right then and there. Leave the hobby to those who actually enjoy it.