First Episode (or Volume) Hooks

[Chowwow]

Here is something that I've always wondered:

What is it about a certain anime (or manga, for that matter) that really hooks you in from the start and makes you want to see the rest of the series? What did your favorite anime or manga do to make you stick with it or instantly got you addicted to its concept? Was it the characters? The first elements of the story? The animation? What?

I can't really put my finger as to what made me stick with my favorite animes. I had to stay with Cowboy Bebop, Blood +, Card Captor Sakura, Ghost in the Shell: SAC and Full Metal Alchemist for a few episodes before I decided that I wanted more. I guess I would have to say that the animation and characters got to me at first, but in retrospect, the first episodes of those series were not that exciting or sensible. I had to see more of each before I could see their brilliance. As for Evangelion, it was the ideas and characters outside of the actual show that kept me going, and I had to get that towards the end.

I'm trying to firgure out how these things work, analyze the formula, so that I may use this knowledge for my own purposes in the future. So what have you?

[Veleon]

Heh...I took me untill my 2nd watch through of Eva to like it. Then I watched the movie and loved it.

Anyway, the first episode can really make or break an anime for me. There are so many things I chose not to watch because the first episode wasn't good enough to get me to watch more. I just have the attention span of a rodent and can't stand watching something boring for a long time.

But what you should really go by is the 4th episode. If after the 4th you don't find yourself wanting to finish the series, start looking for a new one. After 4 episodes you should have a pretty solid idea of the setting and what's going on. The 4 episode rule is what I try to use, but my attention span doesn't let me. Of course, bad shows are a lot easier to watch when they are being released. A crappy episode a week isn't as bad as bingeing through a whole crappy series.

A factor that can easily make or break a series is the music. If the anime has jazz in it, I will probably enjoy watching it. Things scored by Yoko Kanno i also end to enjoy. The Cowboy Bebop OST has always been my favorite sound track. I also enjoy things like the Eureka Seven sound track.

The anime to hook me the earliest on while watching would have to be Baccano! The minute the opening on episode one finished I was like, "This is gonna be a good one."

[Firemage]

Really depends on a collection of factors.
-Music
-Animation quality (in post 2000 shows)
-Studio (JC Staff, Gainax, Kyoto Animation, and so on)
-Topic matter (even if i'm a historian i'm not the biggest fan of period stories, either east or west based, accept fantasy)
-Outside suggestions (if someone i know likes it, or i read a good review)
-Sometimes nothing it just clicks (Last Exile, never saw it on TV or subbed, but i got all the DVDs as they came out.)

There are other factors, but it's really hard to put into words.