Today Yesterday, I was pondering this whole seasonal thing, and I found another idea funny, but assuring, in my own sense of self.
I’m finishing this post because it was interrupted by the G00 entry last night, and Jeff’s most recent update made me ponder seasonal affairs, and why so many take to that path.
Plain
Perhaps the most obvious reason for seasonal watching is because it it is current, airing now, and in progress (it isn’t in the past). With this comes a few notions about seasonal viewers 1- seasonal titles are the only thing they haven’t experience (least likely) 2- it’s paced and organized, one episode per series per week allows decent scheduling.
These are not the interesting ideas about seasonal viewing, it gets better with the social perspective.
Social
Pondering seasonal viewing from a social aspect, I came upon two natural stimuli, competition and affiliation (belonging). Especially in the otakuken, these concepts hold pretty well, but why does it work? Simply, everyone has the ability to look at the same things in relatively the same span of time. This has transformed the quantity of an episode into a sharable event.
An episode contains something in the moment and often draws reflection, but generally it is information, and retains power. Thus we have:
- Competition: who has the most information, the best handle?
- Affiliation: synchronous communication and mutual expression by viewers
Isn’t it humanly interesting? I’m not strong on seasonal viewing, but with this aspect, I feel it is innate, human, and the sign of something healthy. Ne?
Now, I don’t plan to change my habits of nonchalant seasonal adventures, but I’d be lying if I denied the slight desire to view seasonal series and interact with others viewing the same series (I do on some level). It’s quite natural… grasp it and love it, I am human.
