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Visceral vs Intellectual Appeal

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Luxion

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What do you think is more important when considering an anime to be your favourite: the visceral feelings that it evokes or the concepts implemented?

While obviously both are important (and most of everyone's favourites appeal to them on some emotional level), do you prefer some anime simply because of the concepts and themes? Or do you think concepts or themes are useless if they don't service creating emotions? Would you say most of the anime on your favourites' list appeal to you more on a visceral level, or more on an intellectual level?

I ask this question because I recently put Kuuchuu Buranko on my favourites list above Kyousou Giga. Both Kyousou Giga and Kuuchuu Buranko appealed to me deeply on an emotional level, but if I were asked which one evoked stronger feelings, I would say Kyousou Giga. Nevertheless, Kuuchuu Buranko appeals to me more because of the number of cool ideas which it packs into every episode. Therefore, I put Kuuchuu Buranko higher on my favourites' list. Any similar experiences?
 
I definitely value what I might call 'interestingness' just as much as I do emotional connections with characters. Great shows have both, but exceeding in one of those areas can definitely carry a show as well for me. I always like it when a show makes my cry and even if aside from that I didn't get anything out of the show I'll still value it because it's not something that any show can do. ringtones download
On the other hand unique concepts, cool ideas and creative premises can also carry a show to some degree. As long as I'm interested in seeing how these things play out or are implemented or how they will develop I don't need to have likable characters that I can emotionally connect with. I'd say that for the latter it doesn't work without any emotional appeal if the show is too long. It can be perfect for shorts and some movies and from time to time a 1-cour or maybe even 2-cour show, but long-term some kind of emotional connection to the characters is the only way to reliably keep me hooked.

Concepts can be cool to watch if they're novel, but novelty can't be upheld for dozens of episodes in my experience. On the other hand emotional appeal, or the characters, can indefinitely make me want to continue watching a show. But if that's the only thing the show has I will value them less then shows who also have intellectual appeal. That's just a rarer appeal, on a different level, and because it's harder to get I appreciate it more when a show manages to impress me on that level.

That's pretty much where I draw the line between rating purely on unreflected, base enjoyment and valuing a show because it has more than just that. At least for me it's fairly easy to get addicted to a show based on the characters and while I do enjoy those shows it's more of a conveyor belt kind of enjoyment that can be mass-produced and I usually know after a few episode exactly how much I'll enjoy the remaining 12-200 episodes. It's solid and I love watching the show but it will never blow my mind in the way some other shows did. It might be weird to value it more just because it's rarer despite getting similar levels of enjoyment out of both types but imo it makes sense based on demand and supply. If two products are worth the same amount but one is much rarer to come by it will be valued at a higher price. That's kinda my approach. atomic shark movie
Emotional enjoyment is easy to come by, intellectual enjoyment is rare, particularly in a visceral medium like anime. So I'll see shows as better if they manage to appeal to me intellectually even if I enjoy a comparable visceral show just as much. Part of it is also that usually intellectual shows still have some kind of emotional appeal, as in characters you can relate to or empathize with for example. It's rare for shows to be purely intellectual. But it's not rare for shows to be purely visceral in their appeal. So in reality the decision isn't between 100% visceral and 100% intellectual shows, but more between shows that have 100% emotional and almost no intellectual appeal, and other shows that have 50-90% intellectual appeal and 10-50% emotional appeal.
 
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