If I don't do these, my enjoyment tanks + I feel terrible
- I can only watch two episodes at a "time". Usually this translates to two episodes a day, but if there is a suitable amount of mental distance between the two sittings (as in, maybe I went outside and did a great deal of things, or there was some special event), then maybe I can tolerate 2 in the morning and another 1 or 2 at night
- I like to watch the whole thing all the way through: opening, ending, and next episode preview included. It adds to the excitement and the experience. The opening (and potentially recap) is there to get me excited for the episode, the ending is to wind down, and the next episode preview is to get excited for the next one.
- Even in one sitting, I like there to be a little bit, even just a few seconds, between episodes. It is good for digestion.
When I don't follow these, I feel like I lose enjoyment and the episodes start to blur together.
One thing closely related to 1 and 3 is that I very much dislike autoplay. The Netflix-style autoplay where it starts counting down during the credits stresses me out (I'm trying to watch the ending!), and anime sites that autoplay the next episode once the video is complete violate point 3.
The core idea underlying all of this is sort of emulating as closely as possible the experience of watching a show weekly as it airs. For some reason this is not a common thing to enjoy (I know a lot of people that say "I only start a show once it's done so I can binge it"). In fact, in 2019 I watched Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood strictly weekly on Saturday mornings, for the first season and a few episodes of the second season. After that, it was the end of the school year and I started watching episodes in class and eventually binged the rest of the series very quickly. But I still think that those weeks watching the first bit weekly were some of the most enjoyment I've ever had watching anime.
I also tried this a bit later with Dragon Ball Z, where I would watch two episodes a week on the weekends, and it was also very very enjoyable. I stopped after the fight with Vegeta (I should actually watch DBZ one day...). Of course DBZ is not a good show to use this technique for. The only reason I don't watch anime weekly anymore is that there's a lot of anime out there to watch, even if the anime I want to watch are not as lengthy as DBZ.
I am also somewhat sympathetic to the fact that a week is a long time to wait between episodes. That's why I think the points I outlined above are a good way to maximize enjoyment while finishing shows quickly.
(also: I keep saying "shows" even though once or twice I've slipped up and just said "anime". This is because this is mostly about anime since it's the type of show I mostly watch, but sometimes I'll watch like, Terrace House or something.)