Lately I’ve been watching Kekkaishi on Hulu, courtesy of VIZ. Every week they release two new episodes and it’s been fun to keep up with Yoshimori and Tokine and all their wacky adventures. The show is fun and clever with remarkably good characterization for a shounen fighting series. And when an episode ends on a cliffhanger, there I am eagerly waiting for the next episode to appear the following Monday.
Here’s the thing, though. I am in no way against fansubs, and I am well aware that Kekkaishi has been fansubbed in its entirety. With a few clicks I could easily be watching the next episode and the next one after that, all the way until I finish the entire series. But still I refrain from grabbing those fansubs, and it’s not out of some sense of right and wrong or loyalty to the fine companies that license anime. And so I begin to wonder what the hell is up with me.
In his Macross 7 podcast, Andrew talks about how important he believes not marathoning Macross 7 is to enjoying the show more, and this may be affecting my thinking. Part of it may also be that I want to enjoy the experience of watching a series a little bit at a time and in a way where I can plan my schedule around it instead of squeezing it into every moment that I can. Monday is Kekkaishi day; it’s a nice way of approaching watching anime, and leans a little closer to the “passive” side of anime fandom.
But the more I think about it, the more I believe that this conscious self-restraint is just out of sheer stubbornness, like I’m daring myself to see just how long I can keep this up. I’m not only watching only an episode or two a week, but doing it on purpose when I could quite easily do otherwise. I’ve subconsciously thrown down the gauntlet at myself.
One thing I realized about myself is that I enjoy having “streaks.” When I exercise, it’s only partially to keep healthy, and much of it has to do with stubbornly seeing just how long I can do it. I also basically dared myself into making at least one post every day here on Ogiue Maniax, and the result is that, short or long, drawing or writing, I’ve posted 7 days a week for over two years. Granted, I no longer have that early blogger desire to make multiple posts in a day just because I can, but I think that’s more a matter of pacing myself.
So let’s see if I can finish Kekkaishi this way. Even if I fail, I think the experience will have been well worth it either way.
OGIUE MANIAX 
That does sound like a different experience. I’ve often thought a certain show would be decent if NOT watched at once (certain things get repetative.. / story progresses with lots of background repeated)
I check my DVR and see a show every month or so, but never with anime, since my only source is pirating it.
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I’ve watched Gundam 00 and Monster on Syfy the same way: I could grab the episodes or rent the DVD sets, but I figure the episodes are already being delivered to my DVR weekly, so why go out of my way?
This is also the only reason I finished the second season of 00, which only ever showed indications of getting worse over the course of its run. Hey, they delivered.
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Some shows really lend themselves well to be watched and savored at such a slow pace. I find myself not drowning myself with what i have lying around and taking it in a little bit at a time especially with older shows. Though, it really sucks that temptation is only a click away in this era. I feel that there lies something to that particular notion as well as “the lack of self restraint” with regards to why fansubbing seems so prevalent when it comes to anime but that’s a deep rabbit hole I don’t wanna jump into.
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