[quote="Grungie" pid='205911' dateline='1593548630']
Maybe they think the characters are fun and likable, but the story was lackluster. Maybe the ending sucked, but you enjoyed what the characters did before the end.
Or maybe it’s a character driven story instead of a story driven story, so you’re not there for the story because it’s nonexistent.
[/quote]
Just tag next time dude.
This is kinda the answer but not exactly. What I mean is I typically don't like devices used in anime to tell a story, which include the usage of McGuffins, exposition dumps, "world-building", lore etc and I want it to be seamless and cohesive. Basically I prefer visual story-telling over everything else, and since anime for the most part is adapted from manga, which you know has a lot of words, it's not possible.
Unless it's an original anime. A great example would be Totoro. There's no "story" per se. It's just two girls running around and discovering this fantastical world. But the way it's told is what's impressive. This is also why film is my favourite medium, it can use the camera, the lighting and the actors to tell the story.
As for why I separate stories and characters, I guess it's just preference, I prefer character-driven to plot-driven stories. I don't care about Naruto beating Pain or Madara, I care about Naruto being acknowledged by everyone in the village and become the Hokage, which happened at the end of the Pain arc, so almost everything that happened afterwards was meaningless, save for the absolutely insane things they did with the animation, like Madara vs everyone else, Kakashi vs Obito and Naruto vs Sasuke.
Alot of times the story is absolutely insane and doesn't make any sense whatsoever and I can still end up loving it. I'll give an example from 3 mediums:
Code Geass: The second half is just batshit crazy and logic gets thrown out the window, but I still loved it because... Lelouche. He commands attention, you can't quit watching because he's still there.
Uncharted 2: The series is basically a treasure hunt with stakes getting higher and higher. While the story is pretty interesting because of the historical references, what stands out is the gameplay and the characters. The characters are just loveable, insanely charismatic and funny. And the gameplay speaks for itself.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire: It has a unique plot but that's it, the main part of the film is the relationship between the bride who doesn't want to be painted and the painter, it's an intense character-driven film with the most beautiful camera work I've seen in a long time.
