Anime spoilers can ruin the enjoyment of any anime series.
When an anime fan does this, they’re usually doing this on purpose as a sort of “flex” and to be a dickhead in the process.
Especially when it comes to manga readers or novel readers who already know:
- What’s coming next.
- How it ends.
- The juicy details.
- The plot twists.
And everything else in between that can give anime fans who reveal spoilers a sense of superiority and self-importance.
Let’s talk about WHY anime spoilers are bad and how it affects fans.
Here’s a list.
1. The element of surprise is ruined
Action anime is a prime example of this. Let’s say a certain character dies at some point, and the scene leading up to that is surprising, shocking, violent, and unexpected.
Well, if you’ve been spoiled none of this applies anymore. You can’t be surprised anymore because you know the details.
You can’t be impressed because you already know how it plays out.
You can’t get the same level of excitement because you already know what happens beforehand.
The element of surprise is one of the most important factors in entertainment, anime, video games, or anything you can think of.
It’s what makes the “thing” more impactful. Take that away by spoiling the fun, and now the show in question loses the majority of its appeal.
Especially if the spoiler is a BIG spoiler that ruins all the build-up.
2. Plot development becomes pointless
Following up on the last point, the plot development doesn’t mean much if you’ve been spoiled already.
What if you already know that a character who you never considered could be capable of dying, dies, despite the plot not being obvious that it will lead to that?
What if the plot development is positive for a character, but it turns out badly in the end but now you’ve been spoiled you know that already?
What if the plot has many twists and turns “like Death Note) but you’ve been spoiled so much that all those twists have no value anymore?
Spoilers are devastating in these scenarios.
3. It takes the fun out of slowly figuring things out
Some anime shows start out slowly and build up over time. An anime like Eureka Seven is like this. It starts to get more interesting around episodes 15-20 and major things take place from there.
The same is true for a show like Log Horizon, or even Attack On Titan, My Hero Academia, and so on.
But anime that specialize in the slow burn only to get better overtime are the ones at the most risk of being ruined because of trigger-happy spoilers.
4. It becomes a distraction
Once you know about a spoiler for an anime series, it becomes a massive distraction. How can you pretend like you don’t know what’s going on since you have the information?
You can’t.
Once you know, it’s too late. You can’t dismiss it, throw away the knowledge, throw it in the garbage and be done with it.
It now shapes your expectations and that can damage the experience of an anime series.
5. Things can become boring after seeing spoilers
The element of surprise is no more. You can’t be surprised because you know what’s gonna happen, and your expectations are set in stone.
If you know something is coming, you can’t get that same level of excitement from it.
Now, if you watch something without being spoiled and then go on to watch that anime multiple times over the years, that’s different. The excitement will stick.
Being spoiled though has a different effect. It’s like a bad smell that never goes away.
6. It can make watching the entire series less desirable than it would have been
Attack On Titan has a lot of content at this point and has come a long way over the years. Imagine being spoiled about how it all ends and what happens towards the end, and the middle, before watching the first season.
All of a sudden it becomes pointless and the desire to watch the entire franchise becomes less desirable and more of a massive headache.
Surprise is important, and lack of it saps the fun out of everything.
7. You lose context
Whenever an anime is airing, especially if that anime is popular and famous like a Shounen, you best stay off social media.
Especially platforms like Twitter.
When you see a short clip of an anime that can be enough to spoil the experience. You also lose context since what you’re seeing visually in that short clip is out of context if you haven’t seen the anime or even understood it.
The same is true for spoilers in forums, in text, images, memes, and so on (memes aren’t so bad).
8. The “mystery” is destroyed
The mystery goes hand in hand with surprise. Without the mystery element of a series and NOT knowing what’s gonna happen next, you can’t get as excited or into it unless that’s deliberately part of the plot and they make it known.
Imagine being spoiled about an anime like Re:Zero which is part mystery, before you even start watching it.
Now none of the plot twists, brilliant writing, well-written episodes, or surprises mean anything.
The same is true for anime like Heavenly Delusion, Psycho Pass, Madoka Magica, Higurashi, Shiki, Dark Gathering, Akiba Maid War, and so much more.
Some anime don’t hit the same without the mystery aspects.
9. It becomes less funny and the punchline doesn’t hit the way it should
Comedy anime as surprising as it sounds can be spoiled to a major degree. Every episode might have a lot of comedy in isolation, but that ONE moment or a couple of moments where the punchline matters can be a problem if it gets spoiled.
Some comedy anime purposely build up to these moments to hit the audience in a way they never would have expected, and it ends up making the series so much better.
Sket Dance is an example of this sort of anime, and there are others that SPOILERS can ruin the enjoyment of.
Why do anime fans spoil things?
- Self-importance.
- Arrogance.
- Deliberately trying to piss off anime fans.
- Showing off.
- Bragging.
- Trying to flex.
- Being a nuisance.
- They try to ruin the experience just because they know the outcome.
In other words, it’s usually egotistical reasons for anime fans to SPOIL an anime series.
Sometimes it can be because they’re only sharing their experience with what they just witnessed in an anime series, and others happen to see it since they are on the same site, social platform, etc.
But I’ve noticed a lot of the time it’s for egotistical reasons and to deliberately be an asshole because it won’t affect them.
Either way, anime spoilers CAN be bad but there are those who don’t feel this way.
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