Dropping Anime

I was surfing 4chan earlier today, and there was a thread in the Animu and Mango board about anime that people had dropped (essentially just stopped viewing without finishing). This might be a surprise to some people, but there are very few anime that I've actually viewed a significant portion of and then stopped before the end. I tend to be a good judge of what I'll like and only start shows that I feel have some potential, but there have been a few through the years that I just haven't finished for one reason or another. Sometimes life just gets in the way, and other times the show just turns sour partway through despite being promising at the outset. Here are a few examples drawn from memory:

Nabari no Ou: I watched a few episodes of this show and even had it as a suggestion on the handout for the "Shiny New Anime" panel I do at various local conventions. Heck, I even blogged a few episodes. I got bored fairly quickly, however, since it began to seem like a bishounen eye-candy version of Naruto. Many of my friends enjoyed it, I had just hoped for a little more, I guess. Pretty animation is great, but I need a little meatiness to go along with it.

Kemonozume: Don't get me wrong, I intend to finish this at some point. As a huge fan of Kaiba, I feel I need to view this other example of Masaaki Yuasa's work. I think what made me stop this show for the time being was its intense and adult portrayal of sexuality. I'm all for including this aspect of human interaction in art, but I think I wasn't prepared for it. The series doesn't lend itself well to watching multiple episodes too close together, either. Sometime I'll pick it back up and finish the second half, even though I've heard the ending might not be the greatest.

Hakaba Kitaro: This is one of those shows that I was almost convinced would get shown in the anime club I attend, so I decided to save the second half of it until that time. Unfortunately, interest in it seems to have trailed off and the likelihood of watching it is slim at this point. I only have maybe five episodes left of the show, so finishing it off shouldn't be a problem, I just have to make the time.

Hayate no Gotoku: I liken this show to Yakitate! Ja-Pan in that I really enjoyed what I watched of it, but I have almost zero desire to finish it for some reason. My tolerance for longer shows is very small even if the show itself remains entertaining. I enjoyed the comedic aspect of the show, but I think some part of me is worried that, if I finish it off, I'll be left disappointed.

The Daughter of Twenty Faces: This is something that I want to finish, but I'm waiting for the fansub group to release the last two episodes before I watch the second half. Knowing Live-Evil, this may take a while. I'm afraid if I watch what I have of it now, I'll get to some very intense bit of cliffhanger action and I'll have to wait an unreasonable amount of time to finish it, diminishing its impact.

So, as you can see, there are various reasons why I've stopped series. Rarely is it because the thing is outright terrible; sometimes I just lose interest or it wasn't what I expected based on the first couple of episodes.