Does animation quality affect your enjoyment of a show?

[senshikoi]

I just can't agree with that opinion, I respect it, but can't agree to it, I don't think any series as being too "low animation" to be watched, although I will admit, and might have admitted this previously, I do judge my anime based on aesthetics, if it's too unappealing to the eye, I won't watch, or if I've started watching, and the "ugliness" outweighs everything else, I will stop!

[Evil Bunny of Doom]

Anime is like people:

 

Looks good and has good content -> win win

Looks bad but has good content -> still a win

Looks good but has bad content -> disappointment

Looks bad and has bad content -> BURN IT!!!

 

Simple as that

 

I remember when I started watching Yamato Nadeshiko, the bad animation nearly made me drop it from the first couple of episodes. It seemed funny, though, so I gave it a chance... I'm glad I did. After a few more episodes, I stopped giving a sh*t about the animation cause it was just so funny XP Nana also didn't have the greatest animation imo but it was awesomely awesome!

 

On the other hand, Kimi ni Todoke had pretty okay animation, the classic shoujo-y stuff.... but it was boring ah.

[AnimeThief]

If the animation looks like it was drawn and slopped all over the screen. I won't watch it. A good example is DBZ and One Piece. I have higher expectations since I've watched shows that look liked the studios didn't care what it looked like.

 

If the animation is good with good story. I'll watch it. But if the animation is good with a lame story, I'll probably get bored with it and turn it off.

 

If the anime feels like it's being more or less directed towards a younger audience like kids with horrible animation. I won't watch it. All it takes is a heart beat for me to turn the channel.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Guest

[MischievousWolf]

Nah, if it has an interesting plot & well developed characters I'll probably watch it.

[Cy~]

I will preface this by saying that I am a shallow, shallow person, and I am also *VERY* self aware.

 

Okay good.

 

I judge an anime by appearance first and foremost. If it doesn't make me swoon due to some kind of positive visual quality, then I am out and done. I don't care if the story is amazing, the music is godly, and the characters are incredible. If the animation is bad, then I'm done. I have no shame! (Okay, maybe just a little bit. )

Edited May 29, 2017 by Guest

[RepentantSky]

Yes and no. I've watched anime from as far back as Gigantor, so I can generally tell when an anime is from a certain decade based on the animation style and quality. With that in mind, the animation quality itself may not turn me away, but because when I can tell when an anime is from based on it's animation, I might not watch it if after an episode or two if I can pretty much guess the plot.

Edited May 29, 2017 by Guest

[Orius]

Yes. I'm very much like @Cy~, shallow when it comes to anime. I used to prefer the more recent movies as well rather than the "oldies" because they looked better, only getting used to the older pictures in the last few years. For anime, I am getting more comfortable with older productions recently, but only recently.

 

I think when it comes to animation, or just about any visual medium in general, how it looks is very important, more so than the story itself. I feel like it's the fundamental element that defines that medium, because if it's just a good story, then it can also be a book, an audiotape, etc. What I'm trying to say is, the visuals are what communicate the good story to you, so it's very crucial that creators pay attention to how good it looks.

 

That being said, regardless of what logic tells me is the most important aspect of anime and movies, I would still prefer a good story over good visuals any day. Here's the thing. The reason why I think the visuals is so important because I feel anime as a medium can be compared to film. In filmmaking, the first thing you need to learn is how to shoot the camera, not how to write a script (unless you wish to become a scriptwriter, which is an entirely different expertise). For anime, you also need to learn how to draw well. So logically speaking, visuals seems to be the most important element here. Logically anyway.

 

But on the other hand, art and logic rarely go well hand-in-hand. Art is rarely simple math. An animation needs more than superficial appearances to engage the audience. Look at James Cameron's Avatar. Looks damn good. Gives us a universe full of beauty and grace. But the story itself is hollow and we don't care. Visual mediums like anime have the great advantage of mixing three significant elements into their package - visuals, story, audio - but it's also a double-edged sword. If you don't put in effort into any of these three elements, then as a package, it can be flawed and not as satisfying. An anime with terrible sound but good visuals wouldn't be tolerable, and vice versa. And even if you get all three components right, your story, as entertaining as it might be, might be criticized as mediocre and generic, another rehash of last generation's top anime. So appearances is just one of many problems you need to be concerned about when it comes to the quality of the anime.

 

Writing this far, I realized that I might have gone slightly off-topic from what the title is asking: whether if I enjoy an anime regardless of what I think is quality or not. I have personally enjoyed a lot of anime with 480p graphics like Higurashi and Bokurano, both of which don't have the superior high-definition visual effects you see today. That has to do with the great story and characters, and also the music. On the other hand, I also enjoyed Akira, which looks and sounds amazing on blu-ray, even though it was created many years before Higurashi and Bokurano. When I first watched it, I didn't care much for the story (since I was too young to understand it) and enjoyed it regardless, so that tells you how much enjoyment one can get out of merely appearances and sound. Like I said, it's not math. Good appearance + good sound might not = good anime, and vice versa. It really depends on a lot of circumstances.

 

But I think I've driveled on long enough. Sorry for carrying on for so long. haha

Edited May 30, 2017 by Guest

[brycec]

Art style, storyline, and execution of story are far more important to me the quality of animation.

[Ayushman Gupta]

Not at all but visuals are always a bonus

[Histoire]

Not just animation quality, even art, voices, story, and how they execute it affects my enjoyment.

Heck, even the cover art of the anime will decide whether or not I actually watch the anime. (Unless of course someone recommends it.)

[existentiallylostdumbell]

Normally no, but If it was better I might have gotten more into the fist of the north star. I never finished that one.

[Greeneyes]

Unfortunately yea... I find it difficult to watch anime with poor quality, I would love to be able to watch anime like that but I just cant get into them its a curse....

[Kohloo]

I like it to at least be consistent. I can handle poor animation up to a certain point as long as the story is good.

I haven't dropped any anime due to animation quality yet anyway