I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.
–C. S. Lewis
While C.S. Lewis was talking about books, the sentiment also applies to anime. Revisiting stories allows us to see those stories in a new light. While the stories remain the same, we change. And as we change, we notice different details and resonate differently with characters. Familiar, favorite stories provide comfort when we need it. But each time you revisit, takes time away from discovering a new story. We live in an era that releases new content at a pace that makes consuming entertainment a full-time job just to keep up. All of us drown in the deluge with our backlog expanding into infinity. And most of us have multiple backlogs. I have an anime, book, and video game backlog. An hour spent on an anime takes an hour away from a book or a video game. Add in all the new stuff being released every week, and, yeah, I’m beyond buried.
We live in a strange time period when we need a strategy to wrangle our entertainment, but here we are. I follow a 5-step system to help me manage my backlogs. I don’t always follow these steps, nor do I follow the order. But I found this system helpful. As a writer, I have other considerations for how I work through my backlog. I can’t watch an anime, for example, without thinking about if and how I can write about it. I can’t read a book about Japan or Western philosophy without thinking about how I may use the information. I’ve been known to read with a notebook nearby. I haven’t quite gotten to that point with anime, but I’ve given note taking while I watch serious consideration. But there’s also a point where you have to stop making everything work related. I exclude the steps I use as a writer from this list.
1. Prioritize Disappearing and Old Titles
When Funimation and Crunchyroll merged, many titles disappeared from the new catalogue. Older titles become harder to find as time passes. But just because a title is older doesn’t mean it will disappear before a newer title. Older works have a higher chance of it if people aren’t watching them or if they are a part of a content package that has its distribution rights expire. It’s hard to know what titles are set to disappear from streaming platforms until they are gone. Streaming services don’t always tell you when a series is going to expire ahead of time, as in the case of Funimation and Crunchyroll. The rule of thumb: watch the oldest titles on your backlog first.
2. Alternate Backlog Titles with New Titles
It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. –C. S. Lewis
As C.S. Lewis advises with books, for every new anime you finish, watch a title from your backlog before moving to another new title. Alternating new and old titles gives you perspective on how animation has changed, even over a few years. Contrasting new and old stories in the same genre can enrich your perspective on that genre. You can see how tastes have changed in story and with characters. If your backlog includes stories from decades ago, you will see how those older stories set the foundation for how anime would develop and what new anime have lost in the process. Yes, anime from the 1970s and 1980s did some things better than today’s anime.
3. Alternate Genres
Alternating genres allows your to keep from burning out on a particular genre. I recommend this to tactic to readers as well. When I read history books, I get tired of reading books about Rome, so I alternate with Japanese history books or, if I’m done with the history genre, fiction. If you are tired of isekai, watch slice-of-life. Alternating genres allows you to see the similarities and differences in how the genres handle characters, story beats, and anime’s tropes. Before switching genres, it’s helpful to watch titles in pairs. For example, you’ve watched a new mecha anime. In your backlog is a slice-of-life romance and another mecha from, say, 1990. Watch the older mecha before switched to slice-of-life. By doing that, you will be able to draw more comparisons to the 1990 anime. I don’t go beyond watching two or three titles in a single genre in a row. But if all your backlog titles are within a more limited time period, alternate in a pattern, such as mecha, isekai, slice-of-life, sports, and so on before returning to the beginning of your pattern. This helps you avoid burning out in a particular genre. This also assumes you are binging the series. If you are watching current season anime, you will be naturally alternating across a variety of genres.
4. Try and Drop
I used to force myself to complete books I started. I used to force myself to watch anime I started too. I told myself that I should still get something out of the content, even if I don’t like it. At the least, I could get an article out of it. It was a matter of discipline. But now I’m older, and I’ve been to too many funerals, I’ve realized I waste my life doing this. We are talking about entertainment here! If you don’t like something, there’s no need to consume more moments of your vanishing life just because the content exists. Sometimes we do this because we think we should see this or that anime or read this or that book. Other people love it, or this work is important. Both can be true, but if the work doesn’t matter to you, you throw away your limited life just because someone said that you should. There’s nothing to keep up with. The Joneses are going to die just the same as you. Life isn’t a competition when you realize the reality of death. Now, I know I’m getting dark here. We’re talking about watching anime! But everything you do and don’t do consumes your life. Which is why you must be careful in how you use your time.
I give an anime 3 episodes to grab my attention, which is about an hour if you skip the opening and closing themes. Yeah, I know for many fans that’s sacrilege, but my life, my choice. Many stories take some time to get their feet under them. I’ve found 3 episodes is usually enough to tell if the story will be able to run or if it will stumble. In the past, I gave One Piece and entire season because of how well-regarded it is. One Piece isn’t for me. It was then that I developed my 3 episode rule, even for long-running series. If a story and its characters can’t hook me in the first 3 episodes of a new season, there will be another story that will. I drop the anime and move on to the next.
5. Drop Titles from Your Backlog
Sometimes you just have to drop titles from you backlog as much as it pains you. I’ve had to drop many books and anime from mine as more new titles fold into my backlogs. There’s only so much time. But what titles should you drop?
- Drop titles that people say you should watch that do not interest you.
- Drop titles you feel lukewarm about.
- Drop titles you previously started and didn’t finish.
Just because people say you should watch this or that anime doesn’t mean you really should. I’m guilty of saying people should watch this or that title because of the title’s importance in the development of anime. But, in my defense, I speak to those who are academic in their approach to anime. Just as literature majors need to read certain books to understand their literary specialty, so too academically inclined anime watchers ought to watch certain titles. I know this violates my previous point, but studying something is different from entertaining yourself. Everyone else should ignore the shoulds that don’t interest them.
Next, drop titles you feel meh about. There’s going to be another story that will engage you better for the time commitment. Finally, drop titles from your backlog that you’ve stopped watching previously. Sometimes we drop a title we feel lukewarm about into our backlog instead of just dropping it from our watch list altogether. In the past, when anime was a trickle for Western fans, this made sense. Now, we struggle to keep our heads above the content deluge.
Don’t Feel Guilty
Don’t feel guilty for guarding your time. Anime, books, video games, movies, shows, sports, and so on are entertainment. Stories matter, as I’ve written about for over 12 years now. But stories consume our limited life span. We need to be selective with which stories we choose. We also need to remember to live our own stories by stepping away from entertainment. Just because you haven’t seen this or that anime doesn’t make you any less a fan, no matter what the denizens of your favorite anime forum or social media may say. It’s not a competition, and its perfectly fine to have people know more about anime or less about anime than you do. It’s perfectly fine to have never seen, nor have any interest in seeing, popular titles like One Piece or this or that cult-followed, obscure title.
Anime shouldn’t leave you feeling stressed, but an extensive backlog can do just that. My book backlog, when I think about it too hard about it, stresses me out! Wrangling your backlog by using the steps I outline or through your own method will help you prioritize the stories that matter the most for you. Just remember, your life is limited, so consume what means the most for you.
