What Happened to the 3 Episode Rule?

There is an unofficial rule within the anime watching community.
A rule that at some point, enough people unanimously agreed on to help sort out what shows are
good and what shows are not worth your time.
It’s called the three-episode rule.
Rule states, that any show you want to watch, you should give at least three episodes before
deciding whether to continue it, or to drop it entirely.
The justification was that the show needs to have ample time to demonstrate what’s good
about it and that you wouldn’t be making harsh decisions on just a few minutes of content.
However I’ve noticed recently that this rule has been used less and less amongst
the community that I’m a part of, heck I’ve been finding it less and less useful.
So before we dive into what happened with it let’s take a look at why it might’ve
began in the first place. While there’s no exact origin I can point to…I think the
three-episode rule was a result of trying to balance two extreme views.
On one side you’d try to decide within an episode or less if you like a show, and the
other you’d…just be waiting for it to get good over God-knows how many episodes.
In some cases, I rather like the 3-episode rule.
It has helped me enjoy shows that otherwise I would have skipped entirely.
Recently for example was Kemono Friends which I will fully say had a horrible first episode
and I’m completely unsurprised that many people decided that the show was not worth their time.
But I stuck it out and by the end of episode three it had recovered enough that I thought
it was worth continuing and ended up enjoying the hell out of the series as a whole.
Now though, some people might tell you that they’re so good at picking out awesome shows
that they can do it with only an episode, with only a scene!
And while there are definitely titles out there that are proficient enough to make their
mission statement clear as crystal in just 20 minutes, this is a mindset I’ve never
understood.
It puts so much pressure on that initial episode that isn’t necessary.
First impressions are important, yes, but they’re not necessarily everything.
On the other side of the argument I can see the reasoning behind trying to cut the
rule down to an episode or less.
There are close to 40+ new anime that air every 3 months, and that’s an exorbitant
amount of content to shift through.
I don’t know many who do such a thing, and those I know who have, don’t generally keep
it up for many seasons without burning out.
To try and follow the 3 episode rule for that many shows is ludicrous, and unreasonable.
But all that means is that the 3-episode rule is not an ironclad law that must be followed
at all times, but more of a guideline.
[The existence of Pirates in this video is not a secret code or anything. Don't look very hard into it XD]
It’s a useful barrier to help you give a chance to shows that otherwise would be left
on the side-lines, but I can name plenty of times where the rule would not have helped
you.
This is the second extreme that the rule tries to cover but usually fails: where a show kicks
off after the 3 episode marker, or with shows that are extremely deceiving to what they
are actually about.
Let’s start with a classic example..
Cowboy Bebop is a series that really starts off its 26 episode run, with 4 back to back
side-story episodes.
They aren’t bad, but there’s nothing initially to the show that forces the audience to get
invested enough in the characters and the world to put up with much more of it.
[THE LEGEND OF SPIKE: FAMOUS BOUNTY HUNTER AND DOG WALKER]
If you were to judge Bebop on its first three episodes alone I dare to say that you’d
walk away far more disappointed than someone who gave it more of a chance.
Because the meat of what Bebop is about isn’t introduced until episode 5: The Ballad of
Fallen Angels.
This is the episode that kicks off the show’s overarching plot, gives hints into the dark
backstory of our main character Spike, while toning down the comedic banter almost entirely
in favour of a much more serious crime drama that is so far and away different in tone
than the episodes that preceded it.
Now Bebop is not a series that kept that tone up, and overall it ended with more of a middle
ground between the lax antics we see initially and that much more serious storyline later on.
Another example, is one that I regret having to bring up but I can’t think of one better.
This is an example of a show that after three episodes you might think, “Hey this is pretty
interesting!” and continue watching without fully realizing the shit show you are about
to witness.
We are of course talking about my most hated anime ever...
School Days.
This anime spent its entire first three episodes setting up what looked to be a stereotypical
[ARHAHFKKSJBHDK]
This anime spent its entire first three episodes setting up what looked to be a stereotypical
high school romance.
It has a main character who is nerdy and awkward, a love interest who was beautiful and shy,
and a best friend who seems to just want her classmate to be happy.
But of course this is School Days and we all know that it’s turns into a far worse story
then what is shown initially.
I use School Days as an example, because when I first watched it back in the day I was living
and breathing the 3 episode rule.
I was just about to leave high school, I was watching anime as my primary means of entertainment
and I wanted to watch as much good anime as I could get my hands on.
But like many people I wanted a way to filter out the crap, so the 3 episode rule is what
I used.
Which led to School Days...
Passing.
It got even to the point with School Days specifically that I finished episode three,
and then instantly messaged my friend that this was a show he would be interested in,
because both he and I had a lot in common as far as our romance anime tastes.
Though it’s safe to say that after another episode or so I quickly messaged him again
telling him to ignore my previous message and avoid School Days like the plague.
But again, both that and Bebop are examples of that that extreme where the 3 episode rule
fails.
Situations where people end up making judgements without all the details of how
good the show is going to be.
Though every once in a while, we do get a mulligan first episode for a show, something
that doesn’t really introduce us to the story or the characters all that well, or
one that is just vastly different.
And the rule persists because it has this air of being a middle of the road solution.
It doesn’t cover every possible scenario, but it helps save…enough good shows from
getting dropped out the gate.
Problem is though that three episodes is still far too long.
As I mentioned before most seasons offer up 40+ new shows every three months.
Even following the 3-episode rule that’s 120 episodes!
So really, the 3-episode rule is a filter to a stream of shows that you already filtered
based on your personal interests, a filter to a filter if you will.
Doesn’t really make sense then, does it?
Bottom line: this quote-on-quote “rule” is broken and risk you run by following it
could far outweigh its supposed benefits.
In terms of what you end up dropping you’ll be left with a LOT of unnecessary dead weight.
And on the other hand, while it will streamline the shows you end up watching, that’ll ONLY
be in terms of that initial engagement factor, rather than the overall quality of the anime.,
Eventually all this is gonna do is narrow down your taste.
Watching anime is supposed to be for our enjoyment so if you don’t like watching it, why are
you?
So where does this leave us?
Really right back where we started, not with a rule, but with a guideline.
But the guideline that I want to leave you with is different from the 3-episode rule;
one that’s a true guideline, that’s fluid enough to handle basically every situation
that you will come across: Just…listen to opinions, both your own and the opinions of
others.
If you personally don’t enjoy a show anymore, whether that be after 5 episodes or 5 minutes,
then yeah just stop watching.
Sure there is the chance that you will drop a show that you would have found to be amazing
if you just stuck it out, but then again, dropping a show isn't really final is it?
Anime has attracted so many different kinds of people with equally diverse opinions.
The whole purpose behind communities like this one is for people to point out value
that others might not be able to see.
If a show really does get better later on, you’ll probably hear about it and then might
be more willing to give it a chance.
Still, it isn’t fair for me or anyone else to tell you that you have to force yourself
to watch something you don’t enjoy just because we did.
Any show that I have ever recommended I know perfectly well will not be enjoyed by absolutely
everyone, and that's fine!
So if you don’t like watching it.
Don’t.
Of course if you want to follow the rule, that’s fine too.
But you should be willing to accept dissapointment, and sometime even that’s
important.
No one’s anime-watching life is completely rose-coloured, the inevitable ups and downs
are what define the limits and nuances of your taste.
The genuine shock of disappointment or surprise is damn hard to replicate deliberately, and
with or without the 3-episode rule, THAT is the kind of thing that's kept me watching anime to this day.
Or you know you could just wait until everyone else has torn through each new season and
only watch the shows that people talk about.
Thank you for taking the time to watch this video,
I hope you enjoyed it.
As always I want to thank my patrons for supporting my videos as without them they would not be
possible.
More specifically though I’d like to thank Calhoonboy, Siri Yamako, Viktor Ekmark, Joshua Garcia,
Hedrul Leon, Bing Theo, and Robert Chumsai for being especially awesome.
That’s it for me.
Until next time Stay Frosty everyone.

What Happened to the 3 Episode Rule?

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