Things you look for when picking an anime

[LastLfan]

Vague title I know, but what do you guys look for when choosing an anime. Like what genres do you like, length, studio, VA's?

I know on a sick day I'll find myself a 13 or so episode series and just marathon. Also i seem to like genres i hate in live action. I hate live action horror for the most part, but AoT, Death note and Another? Love em, I hate sports in real life with the exception of crashed ice, but i love one outs and ace of the diamond.

What about you guys?

[Panda4christ:3]

I like a lot of supernatural/thriller anime. But I mostly look for shows with interesting characters or a plot with lots of twists.
Lengthwise I never go over two seasons XD;;

[drill]

Lets see, I notice that I give currently airing anime more of a chance than any other type of show. But my favorite genres are comedy, action, mecha, and SoL (not in any order). I hate drama, especially forced drama. For example, AnoHana, this show was decent up until SPOILER: Highlight text to read: they had EVERYONE blaming themselves for the loss of menma. I mean, the first two people I get, but the rest should have been supporting characters.

[ClaecElric4God]

I'm rather shallow. When I'm actually looking for a new anime series, I look for action/comedy, and that's about all I look for in an anime. But 99% of the time, the way I find an anime is by seeing a picture of a character in it, and being like "Hey, he looks cool", finding out what anime he's from and watching it. I've found some of the best anime that way.
Also, I don't really look for anime anymore, because my watch list is sooooo long....

[Mithrandir]

CAA!

Sometimes when I finish stuff I like, I'll look for other titles by the same company/producer/etc. Mostly, though, I have a few genres that I like most, so look for things in those categories here on the board's review system. I can order by number of stars or reviews and get a good feel for what kinds of things I might like.

[skreyola]

But 99% of the time, the way I find an anime is by seeing a picture of a character in it, and being like "Hey, he looks cool", finding out what anime he's from and watching it

Not nearly as often, but I have watch 4-5 series because I saw a character from them in someone's forum sig and asked what show it was from.

I don't really have a method. I just pick things up as I come across them if they look interesting. Except for things currently airing, I watch very little without looking up its content first.

[PLCDreamcatcher14]

I'll watch just about anything. Most of the time I'll add a certain anime to my to watch list by seeing it in an AMV. Sometimes I'll just hear about an anime and if it sounds half way interesting I'll add that too. Then there's ones that I hear people say are really good so I become curious about them and add them too. lol. I guess my favorite genres though are fantasy, slice of life, sci-fi, and some supernatural. As far as length, I mostly like shorter shows (like 13-26 eps) but there are some where I'm willing to try the longer ones. It's just hard for me to keep my attention on it though. And studios, well Ghibli of course and I like KyoAni and Production I.G. has beautiful animation so...yeah.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I usually watch anime based on personal recommendations - and I've got 51 titles on my "Plan to Watch" list, so...I'll be busy for quite some time

But the anime I tend to gravitate towards are ones that break the mold somehow. I became fed up with the shoujo and shounen tropes early on, and sought out animes that did more interesting things with their stories and were harder to define in neat genres. I like shows that have very strong plots and relationships - though I've discovered that I'll put up with lackluster plots and annoying tropes like wildly impossible fights with people hovering in the air for five minutes while yelling out their attacks...if the characters and their relationships are compelling. Fantasy and supernatural elements are always a plus, but not necessary - I'm currently reading Liar Game, which has nothing supernatural and is just about human nature. And it's fascinating. I also find myself gravitating more towards realistic character designs rather than the more stylized ones.

I don't think I've ever picked a show for one of these reasons, but after getting a recommendation for a show, my interest is immediately piqued if it's done by Bones. At the very least, I'll know that their animation will be beautiful to look at. I also like to check out the voice actors and see if I recognize any (though of course, if I'm watching the dub it's usually FUNimation and I'm familiar with most of their main voices ) As for length, I like the normal length of 26 episodes. Few stories, if you ask me, are strong enough to hold up for 100+ episodes; I have yet to put up with one for that long. It's usually an indication of the creators not knowing how to end the story or milking its success for more than it's worth.

Unless I get a personal recommendation from someone who knows exactly what I like in a story, I'll actually watch a random episode to see if it looks promising or not. I get weird looks whenever I mention this, but I've found it to be extremely helpful. I pick an episode roughly three-fourths of the way through the show, then watch the subbed version and cover up the subtitles. I don't know enough Japanese to understand exactly what's going on, but I can get a really good indication of the tone and nature of the show. Since it's so far into the story, I have no idea what the significance of anything is, and since I stick it on the end of my very long list and probably won't get to it for years, I forget most of what I've seen anyway by the time I actually watch the anime. This method hasn't steered me wrong yet.

[Thunderscream872]

An interesting cast of characters is probably the number one thing I look for in choosing what anime to watch. I firmly believe that the characters are what a make or break a show. Another important factor to this is the way the characters are handled by the writers, in other words, the cast better have good chemistry with each other. I could write a whole essay on this, but I don't have the time, and this isn't really the place for that. I'll just say that if I hear that all the characters in an anime are one-dimensional, have no inner-conflict, and learn nothing from their experiences throughout the show then I probably won't watch it...unless the art is really nice, then I might watch it if its short.

Honestly, most of the time when selecting a new show, I know little more than what random AMVs, the description on MyAnimeList, the intro sequence, and Google Image have to offer. Once I bust through a few on my Watch List though, I think I'm gonna start being more picky what I choose to watch.

I normally look for anime that are post-2005, though I'm not gonna not watch something just cause its older. I do greatly prefer the "look" of newer anime, though. I also usually look into shorter shows (10-30 episodes).

As far as the genre goes, I don't really have a preference. I'll watch just about anything as long as the characters and/or the plot is gripping.