Do you think high expectations kill your enjoyment of a story?

[BlackKnightX]

I'd never involved myself in any community like I have lately, especially the anime community—or fiction in general. At most, when I was in school, me and my friends would talk about some anime, sing some OP songs, and recommend one or two to each other. But that's it.

Not too long ago, I became more involved in the community because I wanted to see the good stuff people were watching nowadays. Of course, if any of you have been involved in this community, you'll probably have seen the "hype phenomenon" where people put some shows on a pedestal and praise the shit out of them, raising your expectations sky-high.

The problem is, though, when you finally find the perfect time to watch it—you're in the right mood, in a comfortable position, no distractions, etc.—and you start watching it, and... you become more and more disillusioned as the time goes on. You can clearly see what they're talking about, but now that you're really seeing it, it's... not as magical as you thought it would. You can clearly see what it does right, but... meh.

The different is day and night when I watch stuff people are giving shit for or stuff that are underappreciated. I don't take it seriously, no expectations, just wanna have a good time, and it delivers. Not that I can't see what people are shitting about, but it's just fun and I don't care.

This ever happened to you? Do you think overhyping stuff and having too high of expectations can ruin an otherwise enjoyable show (or story in general)?

 

[Azure_Fog]

It’s certainly happened to me before, though not for a show. I think I can absolutely ruin things, but so could underhyping things. I think a balance is necessary.

Also, just in general, ads for things or trailers are meant to build hype and bring in an audience. Of course they will paint things in as great of a light as they can. I think that the best way to avoid disappointment is to wait a bit after you get hyped up. Comparing a heavily processed trailer to the actual show isn’t going to bring about the same feeling.

 

[tiaf]

Yes, reason I don't read stuff at its peak of popularity.

 

[SailusGebel]

No.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Yes, reason I don't read stuff at its peak of popularity.

Same. I haven't watched Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen until this day, believe it or not. I've seen a snippet of their animations and loved what I see, but... Man, I hate buying into the trends. I'mma just wait until new trends arrive and replace them before I start watching~

 

[SailusGebel]

You get shitty recommendations.

 

[HungrySheep]

Not really, honestly. If anything, if I expect something to be good it usually does turn out good. Probably just internal bias though.

 

[BlackKnightX]

You get shitty recommendations.

What?

 

[SailusGebel]

What?

 

[BlackKnightX]

Not really, honestly. If anything, if I expect something to be good it usually does turn out good. Probably just internal bias though.

You base it on your own standards, though, right? That explains a lot. Say, I love power fantasy, so anything with an OP MC will naturally pick my interest. Even if I don't like it after watching it, it's usually decently enjoyable enough.

But when people are overhyping something, they spout some bullshit that makes you think this thing is super significant and has a high value. Like, you've gotta watch it at least once before you die, that kind of thing. So it's no longer your own standards, it's someone else's—probably exaggerated—standards.

Bruh.

 

[DemonOppai]

Yes.. because your expectations are better than what the author can deliver

 

[PlatDragon]

I'd never involved myself in any community like I have lately, especially the anime community—or fiction in general. At most, when I was in school, me and my friends would talk about some anime, sing some OP songs, and recommend one or two to each other. But that's it.

Not too long ago, I became more involved in the community because I wanted to see the good stuff people were watching nowadays. Of course, if any of you have been involved in this community, you'll probably have seen the "hype phenomenon" where people put some shows on a pedestal and praise the shit out of them, raising your expectations sky-high.

The problem is, though, when you finally find the perfect time to watch it—you're in the right mood, in a comfortable position, no distractions, etc.—and you start watching it, and... you become more and more disillusioned as the time goes on. You can clearly see what they're talking about, but now that you're really seeing it, it's... not as magical as you thought it would. You can clearly see what it does right, but... meh.

The different is day and night when I watch stuff people are giving shit for or stuff that are underappreciated. I don't take it seriously, no expectations, just wanna have a good time, and it delivers. Not that I can't see what people are shitting about, but it's just fun and I don't care.

This ever happened to you? Do you think overhyping stuff and having too high of expectations can ruin an otherwise enjoyable show (or story in general)?

Hell, just having any expectations can ruin your enjoyment. I've experienced this when reading stories from sites like SH, RR and others that when there's people just purely talking about the story, they will make me think that a certain character is like this or that, or a plot point is dumb or whatever, when in reality if I downloaded an epub and read it on my own I will enjoy it much, much more.

Personally I think (at least for me) that when having expectations from other people, it will subtlety bias your own true reaction and thus can ruin your enjoyment. Don't get me wrong, not all expectations are bad. I love stories where the commenters either just post emojis or praise the mc (in a humorous way) since it's all just pure positivity but its when you read comments from people that have an inherent bias against that story that it starts to affect you.

In conclusion, don't read the comment section and continue on reading more like you should do.

 

[HungrySheep]

You base it on your own standards, though, right? That explains a lot. Say, I love power fantasy, so anything with an OP MC will naturally pick my interest. Even if I don't like it after watching it, it's usually decently enjoyable enough.

But when people are overhyping something, they spout some bullshit that makes you think this thing is super significant and has a high value. Like, you've gotta watch it at least once before you die, that kind of thing. So it's no longer your own standards, it's someone else's—probably exaggerated—standards.

Bruh.

Ahh, that's what you mean. If people are saying something is insanely awesome, I'll likely give it a watch but approach it a lot more critically since it was so hyped, but usually my friends' recommendations are pretty solid.

 

[SailusGebel]

Bruh.

People like to overhype garbage. Obviously you are going to be dissapointed.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Ahh, that's what you mean. If people are saying something is insanely awesome, I'll likely give it a watch but approach it a lot more critically since it was so hyped, but usually my friends' recommendations are pretty solid.

All about finding the like-minded community, huh? I think the opposite is also true as well. You can follow someone who has a completely different taste from yours and take whatever they give low ratings for. Chances are, those are the stuff you're gonna like.

People like to overhype garbage. Obviously you are going to be dissapointed.

That's a good point. I do enjoy stuff people deem as garbage, though. I'm just the type who swims against the current~

 

[Kalliel]

I don't even watch anything anymore. See what writing did to me?

Seriously though, I just watch things at my whim, and I won't care about things that are hyped, most of the time.

 

[HungrySheep]

All about finding the like-minded community, huh? I think the opposite is also true as well. You can follow someone who has a completely different taste from yours and take whatever they giving low ratings for. Chances are, those are your stuff you're gonna like.

LMAO I've never thought of doing it that way, but I guess it might work. Sometimes I can actually find some common ground with people who have different tastes than I do, though. I don't particularly like ecchi isekai, but I actually enjoyed Mushoku Tensei's worldbuilding and lore.

 

[SailusGebel]

That's a good point. I do enjoy stuff people deem as garbage, though. I'm just the type who swims against the current~

Yeah, I'm the same. But the thing is, overhyped garbage and garbage we like won't be the same thing all the time. Different genres and so on. For example, people overhype a garbage romance manga, but I like almost any kind of romance. I read it, I understand it's garabge, but I did get some enjoyment out of it. It won't be the same for comedy, or shounen.

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

I'd never involved myself in any community like I have lately, especially the anime community—or fiction in general. At most, when I was in school, me and my friends would talk about some anime, sing some OP songs, and recommend one or two to each other. But that's it.

Not too long ago, I became more involved in the community because I wanted to see the good stuff people were watching nowadays. Of course, if any of you have been involved in this community, you'll probably have seen the "hype phenomenon" where people put some shows on a pedestal and praise the shit out of them, raising your expectations sky-high.

The problem is, though, when you finally find the perfect time to watch it—you're in the right mood, in a comfortable position, no distractions, etc.—and you start watching it, and... you become more and more disillusioned as the time goes on. You can clearly see what they're talking about, but now that you're really seeing it, it's... not as magical as you thought it would. You can clearly see what it does right, but... meh.

The different is day and night when I watch stuff people are giving shit for or stuff that are underappreciated. I don't take it seriously, no expectations, just wanna have a good time, and it delivers. Not that I can't see what people are shitting about, but it's just fun and I don't care.

This ever happened to you? Do you think overhyping stuff and having too high of expectations can ruin an otherwise enjoyable show (or story in general)?

I think they can definitely ruin a show...
But I also think that you, others, and even once or twice myself, are quite stupid for letting that happen.

 

[ElliePorter]

Of course.