I think I've finally watched enough anime to discern my own tastes. This has nothing to do with formal criticism and everything to do with whether or not I should invest my time in a show. I've discovered that plot and thematic importance are pretty much irrelevant to whether or not I enjoy the show. If the plot doesn't have appealing characters or a cool aesthetic, then even if the plot is engaging I'll find myself watching it on 2x speed just to see what happens. It's because I don't care about the characters that I don't feel the need to slow down to see how events impact them. With that being said, here are the questions I must ask myself in deciding if I should start or drop a show (in order of decreasing importance):
1) Is it written by Fuyumi Ono?
2) Does it have a cool aesthetic (art, design, music, atmosphere, environments)?
3) Does it have characters that feel real and unique?
4) If the aesthetics and characters are not great but not offensive, does the show have something to say that will change my life?
5) Is it a mystery/crime procedural, in which case it doesn't need any of the above?
Even if the show does have the answer to world peace, it doesn't matter if that message has no emotional force from its characters and aesthetic. That's because the point of putting the message in a story is to add emotion to it. Otherwise, why use a story as a medium to convey your message, as opposed to a non-fiction book?
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