Why I Don’t Watch Anime With Friends

I used to love watching shows with friends. We would pick a show and watch episodes together when we had the time. I watched countless shows with different friends and here has been my experience.

I hope this doesn't come off as complaining or harsh. This is just my experience. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

First, it can be a blast. The best shows are shorter ones you can binge in one sitting. You can yell at the screen together and talk about the show as it’s happening. In the future, I will for sure watch movies with friends, or shows I have already seen, however, I will not be watching anime like I used to.

To start, I had an anime-loving friend in my freshman year of high school. We enjoyed very different genres, but we’d still find shows we both wanted to watch together. We only binged through shows, and we talked about the other shows we watched. She couldn't accept that I didn’t enjoy the same shows as she did, so every conversation would turn to her trying to shove her favorite shows down my throat. It became super annoying and if I even think of those shows I can still hear her voice. We went our separate ways because of school, and I still can’t watch those shows she was obsessed over. Is Bleach worth watching even with her annoying voice in my head?

My closest high school friend and I would start shows and rarely finish them, which always bothered me. I wanted to know how the story would end and she would want to start a new show. As an adult, I know she has commitment issues so this makes sense, but back then it was a pain. I would secretly finish the anime and not tell her. I mean how can you start Deadman Wonderland and not finish it? One of our favorite things to do was pick out characters that matched the friends in our circle. K-on was one of the shows that fit her, my sister, our other friend, and myself perfectly. We were exactly like the 4 main characters. We had a nasty falling out after 10 years of friendship because of life choices. I can’t even think of those shows without thinking of her which hurts. I remember they brought such joy and I wish I could rewatch them, but I can’t bring myself to without seeing ourselves as the characters.

I met a guy on Instagram who also loved anime. We talked about anime all day every day. We grew closer and closer and talked every day for almost 10 years. Since we lived across the country I thought it would be fun to watch an anime together at the same time and talk as we watched. I let him pick, which was a mistake because he had to pick Naruto. 600+ episodes? Yikes. We found it hard to get schedules to align to watch but we still ended up getting through 100 episodes before I suggested we watch something shorter. We watched a 12-episode anime which wasn’t my favorite but I wanted to watch something we both hadn't seen. He said it was his turn to pick again and his choice was one of his favorites Yu Yu Hakusho. I was enjoying it more than Naruto but it wasn’t one I found very entertaining, but it was fun to chat while we watched. One day he just stopped responding. He has ghosted me before for personal issues, however, it's not been almost a year and I am pretty sure this is the end of our friendship. I have less than 20 episodes left in Yu Yu Hakusho and part of me just wants to watch it to see how it ends, and part of me feels as if I will never like it because of the memory attached. I feel the same with Naruto. Maybe I can watch them or maybe it would be too painful to watch them.

That was a lot. To summarize I won’t watch anime with others for a few reasons.

1. They only want to watch shows they like, forcing you to watch shows that you could burn from your memory.

2. You start an anime but don't finish it. I have written about my curse before, I can’t start an anime and not finish it.

3. The memories of watching together can ruin the enjoyment of the show. If I watch a show before watching it with someone else I can have my memories and experiences and just enjoy the fun. However, watching a show after a friendship ends can bring up sad memories and just make you think of that person.

I still go to the movies with friends, I enjoy binging shows, however, anime is my safe space. It is the only thing that makes my brain stop overthinking and brings me joy. I know it is selfish to not want to share those experiences any more. I still talk about anime and recommend shows to watch, but I want to watch shows on my own. If you were to meet me in person you wouldn’t even know I watched anime, let alone finished hundreds of shows and blog about it. I like having anime be my safe space in a world of chaos. If I do end up watching anime with someone again that person would have to be pretty special.

What are your thoughts on watching anime with friends? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!!

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