So you want to catch up to a long running series
Sometimes you find yourself drawn to a long-running series. It could be anything really it doesn’t have to be just an anime, it could be an American TV show like Game of Thrones. You as a new person to this series, can’t help but feel overwhelmed looking at a large number of episodes and seasons. How do you accomplish a goal of catching up to said series? I want to talk about how I caught up with a very long running anime/manga by the name of Detective Conan. Hopefully, after reading this you will make an attempt to concur a long-running series(probably One Piece).
Is this series something you want to commit to?
Why do you want to catch up to this anime/manga? Have you done any research on why other people like? I normally gauge if the show is for me by asking friends who are following it as well. Majority of the time, my friends know what I’m into and can tell me if it’s a waste of time to catch up. Just because you CAN catch up to a long-running series doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
Fillers
The dreaded fillers. Fillers can make a 400 episode show turn into a 700 episode show. I’m not kidding. I really wish I was. When you start a series early on, you kind of just watch all the episodes that come up because it’s new content. My Hero Academia is great because there has only been one filler episode but that’s because they plan to never catch up to the manga.
Thankfully, there are wonderful people in the world that created Filler Guides. Filler Guides actually provide you with a list of episodes that tell you whether it’s canon or filler. You may find that some episodes are half canon and half filler. At this point, it is at your discretion if you want to watch said episode. When I was catching up with Detective Conan, I avoided all fillers until I caught up. I don’t feel any remorse for it because I can easily see what other people thought of past fillers. I can then determine if it’s worth going back for.
Find a Balance
I remember watching Detective Conan and ONLY Detective Conan for a year. That was a very bad idea in hindsight. I probably should’ve scheduled myself to watch a certain amount of episodes on a daily/weekly basis. Doing that will allow you to watch other shows like seasonal anime. As much as I loved the series and that was why I ONLY watched it, I was so burnt out after catching up that I stopped watching it for 2-3 years. I made the excuse that “I will let it stack up and come back.” Good job past Kenny. Now present Kenny has to catch up to almost 200 episodes…
Conclusion
Fillers suck…
Seriously, hope you can get something out of this. There are a bunch of great series out there that you’re just too scared to conquer because of its episode count. Don’t let it! I know people that absolutely love One Piece and after starting it myself, I can see why. If you watch an anime with filler guides, you can cut out all the fat and get to the end fairly quickly. The issue here is, do you wait for more episodes or switch to the manga? I’ll let you decide.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Any series that you might give a shot after reading this? Have you recently caught up to a long-running series? Let me know in the comments below!
8 Replies to “So you want to catch up to a long running series”
That’s so true about finding a balance. I watched One Piece ONLY for a year and I missed out on a lot of other shows. & yes! Filler guides are my best friend, especially for Naruto Shippuden.
Yeah, I agree. The year of Detective Conan made me miss out on a year of anime. It’s not like it was a great year of anime but there were a few that I missed and I probably won’t make an effort to check them out since time has passed.
Filler Guide is CRUCIAL for Majority of the Shounen Jump Series like Naruto and Bleach. Black Clover is going to be a filler-heavy series.
I’m still only fifty episodes into Hunter x Hunter. I was watching two episodes a week but stopped when I went on my holiday earlier in the year and haven’t gotten back to it. Maybe I’ll set a goal of two eps a week starting sometime next year and eventually finish watching it.
Keep it up! You’ll get there eventually. Not sure how heavy HxH is with Fillers but I’d also look into that.
I never knew there were filler guides! That’s so smart. I remember trying to watch One Piece, but ultimately gave up and just read the manga. That made it easier, now if I want to watch the anime I can just look up which arc I want to watch and start from there. Or start at the latest episode, since I’ve already caught up with the comics.
…That’s what I’d like to say, but I never actually went back to the anime. I probably should, since I’d like to see how some of the arcs were animated.
Filler Guides Save lives! This is the one I usually use http://www.animefillerlist.com/
Also vouching for filler guides. It’s the only way to go if you want to catch up. Then if you have time, go rewatch some fillers that were skipped.
It amazes me how many people never used them. They make a big impact when you are dealing with a large series. Especially One Piece and Naruto.