Which reminds me…I saw Saint Seiya about five times when I was younger and yet it is only now that I can think about all the missed opportunities in its formula, as entertaining as it was, and how certain episodes hinted at developments that didn’t really go anywhere since a shounen fighting series isn’t going to take many risks.

On the other hand, rewatching Legend of the Galactic Heroes is making me pay a lot more attention to certain characters, like Rubinsky, whose influence I seriously underestimated the first time around, and even get a better understanding of Phezzan’s role in the story, as relatively marginal as it may have seemed to be.

Every person focuses on different details when they first see a show and I admit that deeper specimens have a lot more to offer, but even lesser shows can benefit.

@Flash Sword Irene: It’s been some time since I last saw Utena, which means my opinion is sketchy, but the second time around actually proved to be quite constructive to my experience. The overuse of symbolism might have some problems, among other issues, but I noticed the show’s structure became a lot more…tangible and susceptible to later analysis about the role of gender and what it means in the context of the series, for instance. For me that counts as a positive, at least from what I recall.

@gaguri: The ironic thing is I’m actually noticing a small but far from non-existent amount of interesting details in Code Geass / R2 as the show airs on Adult Swim, and obviously the plot twists are rather indifferent to me at this point.

It may not be the most multi-layered story in the world but there are themes and ideas that aren’t immediately evident to a first time viewer. Some of the flaws in the story become apparent yet again but also some positives, if anyone else can ever admit such a thing. Then again since my position on the show is…rather flexible compared to that of many others, that probably helps. Oh well, to each his or her own.

1. Refreshing my memory of animes from years past that I may have only watched once. And to see what I think of the anime compared to the time period I viewed it.
2. I am bored as hell and have nothing better to do.
3. Nostalgia.

Revisiting animes has been more painful for me the past few years due to the fact that my standards and tastes have changed and evolved. Thus, my opinion of animes I once loved have been more scrutinous present-day as a result. For example, I once loved Revolutionary Girl Utena and its overblown usage of symbolism while believing it to be exemplary of genius when it first aired years ago. Now, since I can see the inherent flaws within the usage of symbolism amongst other problems (especially in the character department), my opinion changed when revisiting it. It does sadden me a bit when I find that shows I once enjoyed thoroughly have not stood the test of time well. Then, there are the animes that are only worth the watch just once and that is about it, regardless.

Sometimes, I have found that some shows manage to keep their novelty and entertainment value regardless of time. While some particular shows may not be along the lines of Mushi-Shi per se, there is just something about appealing to multiple things like an inner child that still makes multiple visits worthwhile. At times, when it comes to franchises, I find myself rewatching older shows to keep my spirits up when the latest incarnation is horrendous crap. Reliving what made a predecessor so great does feel like a clean slate and its nice at times.

Currently, I have not found anything worth a second visit or so. These days, the quality of shows are usually not enough to warrant such a thing. Eventually, years from now maybe there will be a show I will just rewatch for the hell of it. As it stands, I don’t really have anything I want to rush into at all.

@ghostlightning: Yeah, I rewatch lots of random moments as well, but their usually the light, fluffy moments from series like Clannad and Kannagi. I can’t bring myself to watch the big moments from serious anime unless I’m watching the whole thing, because I feel like those moments can’t be done justice unless they’re within context, and I don’t feel like they’re within context unless I’ve seen the entire series leading up to it. Yes, even when it’s a series I’ve seen before. I’m a tad compulsive like that.

@Shadowmage: Certainly shows with high entertainment value are easier to rewatch than the “classics”, but as ghostlightning hinted at, I think it ends up being a more rewarding experience to rewatch the truly brilliant series.

@zzeroparticle: Knowing what I’m like, if there’s ever a super crappy season, I’ll probably be all over that. But there’s also this idea that the anime that surprise you by leading you into setting really low expectations and then blowing those out of the water are the most rewarding to watch. And that idea is kinda at the core of my anime philosophy (which is why I drop things very rarely). ARIA is another series that deserves a rewatch. I rewatched the first series of ARIA, because that was around the time I was still rewatching stuff, but I’ve yet to rewatch the two (better) seqeuel series.

@kadian1364: Yeah, but “known quantities” is part of the reason why I feel like there’s less of a point to rewatching entire series. There’s always something rewarding about watching something new, even if it’s crap, because it’s during that first watch that you find out it’s quality/quantity. It’s kinda like unwrapping a present you know nothing about… there’s a certain joy in that process, with all the unknowns and expectations. And when you find something that exceeds your expectations, in that moment, it feels awesome. But, when you go to rewatch a series, it’s not like you can wrap it up again, and regenerate all those “unknowns” and “expectations”… those are forever gone after your first watch through. The rewatch then becomes about the little things: spotting hints and whatnot that you missed the first time through, getting a new appreciation for the how well woven the various ends are, because you know where they’re all going to end up at in the end. I’m not saying that isn’t a rewarding experience. But I have the suspicion that there’s something about new anime being “new”, combined with the whole discussion and social component of watching new anime, that makes it an even more rewarding experience, even when they turn out to be crap.

@gaguri: No, “overrated shit” is a 4chan meme, ie, typical /a/ trolling. I’d be very surprised if Monster was any less brilliant the second time round. That’s how it has been for the first two eps. Certainly, one gets more out of rewatching multi-leveled anime that are, as you put it, “hard anime” to watch. I guess the “soft anime” are simply easier to rewatch, which is why I often pick out random moments from light series to rewatch. It’s fun and entertaining, but I guess one could argue that it’s pretty meaningless and not all that rewarding.

Then there is rewatching and seeing something different because you as a person has changed. Man do I love Azumanga Daioh now but, I don’t know if any Nihonreview staff here remembers, I used to find every chance to bash it.

I also watch random episodes like ghostlightning does, which is what I did for Mushishi, and that explains why I can remember some episodes clearly in detail, while others are kind of left forgotten.

Hmm there was something else I wanted to say…can’t remember, nvm.

*O yes now I do. YOU ARE NOT IMPLYING MONSTER IS OVERRATED AFTER SECOND WATCH RIGHT?!!?!?!

I love to rewatch things, and I love to see past shows that I may have missed. They’re known quantities, things either I enjoyed previously or were recommended by those whose opinions I value. Watching current shows just for the sake of being trendy or up to date has long lost its appeal to me. Sure, by not following every last fansub released under the sun, I may miss finding the next Haruhi Suzumiya, a yet undiscovered gem of pure joy not yet tainted by the noise of absurd hype or the wild antics of an overzealous fandom. But since I’ve began following weekly episodes as they air, that sort of revelation has only happened the one time.

I guess what I mean to say is that going back and seeing past shows is equally important, or even more so, to my passion for anime as watching new series.

Nowadays, the only chance I get to rewatch something is when I introduce friends/acquaintances to new shows (which explains why I’ve seen the first 3 episodes of ARIA about 4-5 times already).

What we need is a really crappy anime season. That would be perfect for playing catch-up and to get back to the quality series of years past that I’ve seen before.

The lack of shows relevant to my interests next season will allow me to not only rewatch more, but also attack my backlog aggressively. The current season allowed me to finish both Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Macross 7 at 110 and 55 or so episodes (including extras) respectively; as well as rewatches of TTGL, Gundam 0083, and the Mobile Suit Gundam compilation movies.

I can’t say enough how my rewarding my rewatching experience is. I wholeheartedly recommend it.