How on earth do I finish my anime and manga backlog?

[Remocracy]

It feels neverending, just when I think I make a dent in it some new series starts up and now I have more to read/watch, unless I go full NEET and dedicate like 8 hrs/day to anime/manga how am I supposed to keep up?

 

[ieatass69]

Be better at time management, no real other solution. I run a simple script that I can use to mark series as ignored or following and hide them from the news feed, that way it takes me only 2 minutes every day to see if there's any new series I might want to read. For anime, utilize your commute and meal time (and gym time if you work out). Also read manga while you take a shit.

 

[EOTFOFYL]

This is the neat part,
You will never finish it,
The list always grows.

 

[Mr_Detective]

Take a one-week vacation, then marathon everything.

 

[ieatass69]

Take a one-week vacation, then marathon everything.

sounds good in theory. in practice, i will just sleep my ass off.

 

[Mr_Detective]

sounds good in theory. in practice, i will just sleep my ass off.

Ah, then prepare plenty of coffee.

Spoiler

 

[OisE]

Watch in speed x2

 

[Angry_Panda]

Be more selective. Make time for the series you really enjoy, and leave the rest. It took me a few years to get used to the idea of not staying on top of all the animoos, but at this point:

I pick the series I want to watch each season
I drop the ones that aren't what I was expecting or that get SHONEN ARC CREEP (tm) without feeling guilty
I enjoy the ones I watch and don't feel stressed out about how much time I'm spending in front of the TV
I still have time to do other things I also enjoy

Same thing happened by default with the mangoes, though since I have this site up on one of my computers during working hours, I can take five minutes and read a chapter here or there throughout the day as a short mental break. (Or I'll spend an hour I should have been massaging spreadsheets to burn through a couple volumes... so it's still kind of a work in process. )

Also, the coffee thing sounds good. Someone point me at the nearest half-liter (freedom units: pint) of espresso. ☕

 

[Remocracy]

Be more selective. Make time for the series you really enjoy, and leave the rest. It took me a few years to get used to the idea of not staying on top of all the animoos, but at this point:

I pick the series I want to watch each season
I drop the ones that aren't what I was expecting or that get SHONEN ARC CREEP (tm) without feeling guilty
I enjoy the ones I watch and don't feel stressed out about how much time I'm spending in front of the TV
I still have time to do other things I also enjoy

Same thing happened by default with the mangoes, though since I have this site up on one of my computers during working hours, I can take five minutes and read a chapter here or there throughout the day as a short mental break. (Or I'll spend an hour I should have been massaging spreadsheets to burn through a couple volumes... so it's still kind of a work in process. )

Also, the coffee thing sounds good. Someone point me at the nearest half-liter (freedom units: pint) of espresso. ☕

Anime I do feel like I’m getting a bit more selective but the problem with manga is that it’s much harder to justify dropping a series since it’s so easy to temporarily catch up to any given series (like max 30 mins to binge read to latest)

 

[Angry_Panda]

Anime I do feel like I’m getting a bit more selective but the problem with manga is that it’s much harder to justify dropping a series since it’s so easy to temporarily catch up to any given series (like max 30 mins to binge read to latest)

I would agree wholeheartedly - it's a lot easier to crank through a volume or two of manga and push past a slow or otherwise uninteresting section once it's all been made available, so I find myself revisiting some series after I've initially given up on them. The flipside is also as you say - it doesn't take long to do that. The big thing for me has been getting a bit more selective at the outset - I really want to see a couple chapters translated rather than just one when I start with a series so I get a more representative feel. If I don't like the art style, or the characters are all one dimensional tropes, or the plot hook has been done better a dozen times before, or the pacing is too uneven, it gets dropped after that initial pass, and maybe I'll revisit in six months.

 

[Mr_Detective]

@Remocracy On the plus side, you'll never have to worry about being bored and have nothing to do once you reach your retirement age. Whenever that is.
Guys, let's help OP by recommending him as many manga as possible.

 

[Greenfrost]

My list is a lot shorter since I don't watch sub.

 

[ieatass69]

I pick the series I want to watch each season
I drop the ones that aren't what I was expecting or that get SHONEN ARC CREEP (tm) without feeling guilty
I enjoy the ones I watch and don't feel stressed out about how much time I'm spending in front of the TV
I still have time to do other things I also enjoy

^ this pretty much. though, if you have a heavy case of sunk cost effect, you will have to fix that shit before you can follow these advice. i don't mind dropping an anime that I have watched 10 out of 12 eps but I know a lot of people feel like they have to follow till the end (or even watch the 2nd season of an anime they know they will hate).

Ah, then prepare plenty of coffee.

nah i'm off all substance now. almost got a heart attack the last time i drank any dumb shit.

 

[Angry_Panda]

nah i'm off all substance now.

Except ass, presumably.

 

[ieatass69]

Except ass, presumably.

ah shit you got me

 

[reu]

It feels neverending, just when I think I make a dent in it some new series starts up and now I have more to read/watch, unless I go full NEET and dedicate like 8 hrs/day to anime/manga how am I supposed to keep up?

Quit vidya and become either a manga or an anime only
'tis the only way young'un
Also

8 hrs/day

those are rookie numbers fren, gotta pump those numbers up
You aren't really a NEET unless you read a 700 page book in a day, then sleep till 5pm then binge another book till 9am next day, forgoing both food and hygiene

 

[reu]

Watch in speed x2

Are there people who don't do that? That's implyed my dude
x1 is reserved for rewinding sakuga, listening to the first and last episodes OP and ED and viewing the last episode of anime that you know will stick with you for a long time

 

[popo53414]

I gave up and decided to drop stuff that feels boring. Wanted to clear out older, completed stuff first but after the comment section returned, damage has been done.

 

[bigtiddyoneesan]

yeah i don't think i could keep up with the new popular romcom of the month or whatever it is these days, nor do i feel a desire to. i'd like to finish all the more unique manga i have on my list eventually though

 

[Rooksie]

It feels neverending, just when I think I make a dent in it some new series starts up and now I have more to read/watch, unless I go full NEET and dedicate like 8 hrs/day to anime/manga how am I supposed to keep up?

Dude...... compartmentalize.