Caught a panel at Anime Expo in LA that flipped how I pace my watch sessions

I was at the AX2024 convention center floor last July, and a guy named Ken from Crunchyroll talked about how viewers burn out after 3 episodes if there's no breathing room. He said studios actually build in 'rest beats' around episode 4 or 5 of a 12 episode run, but I always binged straight through. Now I pause after episode 3 to let stuff sink in, and shows feel way less exhausting. Has anyone else hit that same wall where you forget what happened by episode 8?

3 comments

3 Comments

nina_hall4812d ago

Pausing after episode 3 changed my whole experience too. Try taking notes after each break, it keeps the details from blurring together by episode 8.

nancy_wood12d ago

Didn't someone post a study last month about how taking breaks actually helps your brain process complex plots? I remember it mentioning something about how binge watching anything over 4 hours makes your retention drop off fast. Your note idea makes sense with that in mind. I tried it with a crime show last week and caught a clue I would have totally missed otherwise. The handwriting got bad after a few episodes though, which tells you something about my focus levels by that point.

richard_young8012d ago

Haha, take notes? My handwriting after three episodes looks like I'm trying to write a ransom note with a fat marker.