Ways to avoid "spoilers"

[Allegro]

For those of you who absolutely dread these things, what are some ways of trying to avoid a possible spoiler in an anime? For me, I usually ignore what's in the back of the DVD covers, since some of the packaging tend to release spoilers as a summary.

Even more ridiculous are the "Favorite Anime Endings" or "Saddest anime moment" threads that pop up in many message boards. I avoid these threads like I do the plague, as they are filled with nothing but spoilers. There's no point in reading everyone's posting unless one of them happens to be a show you've completed from beginning to end.

[EireWolf]

Start a "spoiler tag" campaign, encouraging otakus everywhere to use the spoiler tags for their God-given purpose.

[Debitt]

Why avoid them if you can prevent spoilers alltogether? See, you wire up people's brains, so that when they THINK about posting a spoiler, they'll recieve an electric shock. Thus, they are taught to avoid posting spoilers to avoid the shock - negative reinforcement, baby.

[bigsleepj]

JUst tell those spoilers you have a gold-rush era debilitating disease or imagine them as pizza.

[Bobtheduck]

"I've got the cholera!"

[bigsleepj]

"I've got the cholera!"

And you've got extra cheese! Ah-ha ha ha ha! Oh, pepperoni!

[Stephen]

So did you see the ending to FMA where....



HAHA Got ya. I don't even watch FMA.

[Mangafanatic]

Personally, I've done it by avoiding ALL fan sites and discussion threads for any series I'm following. Particularly, Furuba. I've had more than enough of that spoiled for me already. *clovers her eyes, runs for the thread door, and slams into a wall.*

[uc pseudonym]

Mangafanatic beat me to it... you pretty much have to avoid all discussion of a series. To get information it is best to ask someone you know can answer your question without telling you more than you wanted to know.

Or you could watch/read anime/manga as they come out, so spoilers aren't possible.

[MorwenLaicoriel]

Or you could watch/read anime/manga as they come out, so spoilers aren't possible.

Of course, you'd need to know Japanese to do that....

[Joshua Christopher]

Of course, you'd need to know Japanese to do that....

Not with fansubs and scanlations you don't.

Unless you prefer to learn other languages. If that's your thing, cool.

[CDLviking]

Personally, I've done it by avoiding ALL fan sites and discussion threads for any series I'm following. Particularly, Furuba. I've had more than enough of that spoiled for me already. *clovers her eyes, runs for the thread door, and slams into a wall.*

That reminds me of the time in Furuba when...

[Allegro]

Or you could watch/read anime/manga as they come out, so spoilers aren't possible.

That's a good idea for most shows that are broadcast on TV, but it limits the spectrum on shows that are only available on DVD.

I guess that qualifies towards making blind purchases or renting decisions. Usually the technique I use if I wanted to do this would be to simply look at the bar graphs for the individual series that are in Anime News Network's encyclopedia, and find the average rating for a series.

Not much description there, but a really good consensus if I wanted to save a little time on anime DVD's.

[uc pseudonym]

That's a good idea for most shows that are broadcast on TV, but it limits the spectrum on shows that are only available on DVD.

Ah, that is true. I hadn't considered that, as I tend to be very selective in what I watch. Then again, spoilers don't bother me, so perhaps I have no room to talk. Again, I would point to asking someone you trust, because I certainly don't support completely blind purchases.