It's true, my interest in anime/manga has been growing lately ... but what catches my interest? Specifically, what makes me actually sit down and start watching a series? That's pretty much what Mimmi asked in the comments of my last post, and I thought it was as good a subject as any for my next post, so here we go.
First off, I've got Ranma ½ and Ah! My Goddess listed as my two favorite anime (over on the sidebar), and I'll admit, I'm a sucker for the romantic comedy type genre. Besides those two, Love Hina and Chobits are two more of my favorites. But that's not all I watch; it's just my favorite genre. I'm pretty open when it comes to genre, as long as the anime interests me in some way. Two other series that I really enjoyed were Trigun (the first series I ever saw) and Cowboy Bebop.
Probably the biggest thing that gets me interested in an anime, though, would be characters. If the characters are interesting and make me want to know more about them from whatever I've seen/heard floating around on the internet, I'll be inclined to watch the anime. Also, the story can act in the same way, as it did in the case of .hack//SIGN; I knew nothing about the characters, but what I knew of the story interested me, so I watched the series. (Really, what gamer wouldn't be interested in an anime based around a virtual reality MMORPG?)
Sometimes, though, I'll watch a series just off a recommendation from someone, or just to see if it lives up to all the hype I've heard about it. I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion because of the latter, and even though I didn't enjoy it all that much (too much focus on the angsty drama, too many unanswered questions about the story), I can now at least make fun of my brother for using tons of EVA wallpapers when he hasn't even seen the series.
I guess when it comes down to it, I'm not all that descriminating when it comes to choosing a series to watch (though mainly because my brother has a huge collection and I'm not having to buy it), and I just sort of pick up whatever interests me at the time. I rarely set out with a specific series in mind when I feel like watching some anime. The thought process usually goes something like, "I feel like watching some anime. But what should I watch? ... Hmm, this one sounded interesting; I'll go with it."
So there it is. ... Probably not the best process for finding good anime, but it's not like I'm a huge fan, so it's good enough for now. Between school, gaming, anime, and my various activities on my computer, anime tends to get the short end of the stick since it's still a growing hobby.
