Had a talk with a guy at the con about why he loves 'slow' anime and it kinda clicked for me

I was waiting in line for a panel at Anime Expo last weekend and this dude next to me started talking about how he watches like 3 episodes of Mushishi a night max. I laughed at first cause I usually blast through whole seasons in a day. But he said something like 'the pacing isn't filler, it's the point' and I dunno, that stuck with me. I went home and tried it with a slower slice of life show instead of skipping to the action. Anybody else ever have a random con conversation that changed how you watch stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa_clark741mo ago

Once I sat through the whole first episode of Haibane Renmei three times just to soak in the mood.

gavina731mo ago

Mushishi is actually a perfect example of that slow burn thing. The dude you talked to nailed it with that line about pacing being the point, that's something I had to figure out on my own after years of binging shonen shows. Not every anime needs explosions every few minutes to be good, sometimes the quiet moments are where the real story lives.

thea_mitchell201mo ago

Got your back on this one. @gavina73 hit the nail on the head about Mushishi and that slow burn thing. I used to be the same way, flying through shows like a race, but after a con conversation like yours, I really slowed down and actually paid attention to the atmosphere. It changed how I see a lot of shows now because the quiet moments are where the show earns its weight. Feels way more real when you sit with a character's mood instead of just jumping to the next fight. Solid advice from that guy, and I'm glad you shared it.