One of the main reasons why binge-watching overall is not good for you has to do with sleep. Sleep is usually put on the backburner when we start watching something and think to ourselves, “Just one more episode won’t hurt.” As we all know, this type of thinking tends to repeat iself until several hours have passed or worse, we finish the show completely. And there are just some great shows that we know would lead us to this same mindset like Inuyashiki or Ergo Proxy. Tou just have to know what happens next, right? This usually results in many viewers losing hours of sleep that are quite crucial for our normal function.
However, there are some of us who do not have that problem where we sacrifice our sleep for a tv show (because sleep is important, right?). Still, binge-watching has been shown to overstimulate our minds and making sleeping difficult all the same. When you watch a single show for a long period of time, your brain tends to become overstimulated as a result. This could be due to the focus on a singular plot, which can create excitement in viewers. Can you imagine trying to binge-watch shows like Clannad: After Story or Tokyo Ghoul and then just falling asleep right after? Not exactly the easiest task.
Sleep is a rather basic fundamental need that all humans have as it allows their body to rest and recover from the events of the day. This could be mentally or physically, but we all need sleep in order to accomplish that. This lack of sleep or possible insomnia, as a result, causes us to have difficulty in our normal day to day activities like at work or in school. Over long periods of time, your body’s sleep deficit will continue to grow and binge-watching anime won’t be a cure to how exhausted you’ve become.
Then there’s the fact that as a viewer, you will be isolating yourself. Wait a minute, Can’t I binge-watch anime with friends? Won’t I be advancing my knowledge so that I can chat with more people online about these anime? Well, while I’m sure the above reasons can be true, that doesn’t mean that it applies to every anime binge. Most people binge-watch shows as a form of stress relief. How often will you be stress-relieving in an effort to talk or be with more people?
Most of the time, when we binge-watch anime, we just want to be able to watch our favorite anime in peace, right? We don’t want to have to hear every little obnoxious opinion about an anime while we watch. We don’t want to have to watch at the same pace as someone or stop for every potty break or snack. We don’t have to explain something to someone who just had to send that text message or scroll through Facebook thinking that a scene was not important. Yeah, you know those people. So most of the time, we are binge-watching anime alone. And usually, we’ll do it after a long day anyway so hanging out with someone might not even be on our minds!
As we become used to this, we choose to spend more time binge-watching anime alone. As life becomes more stressful, that’s just the natural progression of things. Unfortunately, as lives become busier, you start to choose to spend time binge-watching a show rather than doing something that may require more energy, resources, or personal time than you’d like to commit to something.
Your friend wants to go drive down to the beach and then possibly a movie? But that’s precious binge-watching time. Your brother wants to hit the gym and spar. But then what about my shows? Your friend wants to go on a roadtrip for the weekend. But they just released this anime and I have to know what’s going to happen next! It may sound absurd, but after a while, you start to plan your schedule around your anime binges and when someone wants a bit of your time, you feel like you’re sacrificing something. That’s how we become isolated from others thanks to our binges.
Following the same idea, anime binges do tend to take up a lot of time. Unless you watch anime at a faster speed, the normal show will take you at least 3 hours to watch nonstop, give or take a break or an extra episode. If you want to binge-watch a 26 episode anime, you’re out 6 hours of your life. Then, there are the anime that have high numbers like Hunter x Hunter, One Piece, and Fairy Tail. Just when would your anime binge end?
Binge-watching will end up consuming many hours out of your day and while it may consume the same amount of time as watching each episode on separate occasions, you will have to devote large portions of your day to these anime binges. So exactly when would you go grocery shopping, do your laundry, or make dinner? Will you forsake important things like doing homework or work? Binge-watching anime requires a devotion of time so you have to prioritize watching anime over doing things like working or cleaning, which not many people can afford to ignore. Regular binge-watching, especially, will result in things piling up, and while we’d love to be able to watch and do important things at the same time, you know we love our anime subbed so 100% attention is pretty much the least we can devote to our anime.
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