Eh, I'll fill this section out eventually sometime. I treat MAL more like a recording method for the anime I watch instead of the more Facebook-like options, so count on me filling this section later instead of sooner, you who randomly stumbled here.
Milestones:
100th Completed Entry:Aria the Origination 200th Completed Entry:Maria-sama ga Miteru
Because I want to reiterate to myself how I rate anime (beware of TL;DR):
Hey, *insert anime title here*. If you're wondering how you got your rating, it's probably along these guidelines. (Yes, I know that anime aren't sentient beings, but in a weird way I like to rate my anime based on what I would say if I were writing to them):
(Constantly in a state of editing, by the way, due to my prolix tendencies in writing)
10: I can't say anything bad about you without feeling something's wrong with me, and I don't even want to try. You have a special place in my heart because you are the series that I probably won't see in a sea of a hundred shows - in fact, I reckon it'd take going through twice as much to find you. Every part of you is done to near flawlessness, and you are one of the crowning achievements the anime industry has to offer. Production, storytelling, genuine emotions, heart, fun - you've got it all and you are the textbook example of what every anime should be. The argument for whether you (or any show, for that matter) can be declared perfect is a separate argument of semantics, but I don't care for why you're not and you do everything you can and then some to make the argument that perfection is possible. Bravo.
9: I have to try hard to find any problems with you, but I can still try, which is why you're not a 10. But that's just me being overbearing; you may not be the crown jewel of anime, but you still decorate the best parts of the anime industry's resume. You maintain very high standards throughout just about all of your run, and never did I believe for a moment that you would settle for less than your best. On all major fronts, you follow through with your delivery, and you leave little room for even the more subjective of criticisms. You may have flaws, but I believe that they are ineffectual in hindering the experience you bring to the table, and for the most part you are nothing less than excellent.
8: This is where you begin to really elevate yourself above the rest of the pack, and I have little reservation in calling you a great series. You have few flaws that are noticeable, but not critical, and more often than not they are eclipsed by your other qualities. I take a strong liking to you, but although you may have broken into the threshold where you can prove yourself one of the stronger products, you don't truly stand out. Nevertheless, you demonstrate for the most part strong and capable quality work that your staff can be proud of, and I prefer to look at the progress you made instead of lament at the flaws that left you short of a 9.
7: You were a good show and I might have even really liked you subjectively, but I can't quite call you great. You have some key flaws, but the positive things I have to say about you aren't exactly in short supply either, and for the most part they make the experience of watching you a fun time regardless. Maybe your art was off-mark one too many times, or your story felt like it was going to give way in some places, or you simply couldn't maintain your composure. Maybe I couldn't find major flaws with you, but you just didn't seem to push the boundary for what makes a series great. Whatever the case was, there was something about you that I couldn't stomach, but I still found you a good series and you can still be proud of the aspects that make you what you are.
6: Between this and 7, I like to think that I pick shows to watch with the inherent belief that they have a chance to be good (even though I'm a natural pessimist and I'm probably deluding myself here). That, in addition to the fact that I generally try to avoid bad shows, probably points toward the fact that my average MAL score will tend to hang around this area. I can grasp the positives you have to bring to the table, but this often means that I have to endure the ever-growing issues you have as well. You also begin to start showing critical shortcomings, which, should they have become more numerous and/or flawed, would have lowered your score further. Part of me still thinks that you made what you did well work for you, but I certainly had my reservations. You won't win anyone critical over, but I reckon people with a partiality toward your genre or some of the archetypes you possess shouldn't have too much of a problem with you.
5: This is the point of indifference. When you are given this score, it means that I found myself rather ambivalent towards you. You have good qualities, and you have bad qualities, neither of which are enough to tip the scale toward a 6 or 4. However, being the pessimist that I am, I found it easier to focus on your flaws, which were often crippling to you and certainly kept me from enjoying the show you had to offer. But I'm still aware of that at this point, which is why this is what I call the point of indifference. I didn't like you or hate you. You're just average, as the rating indicates, and you're most likely forgettable as well. Your ambition is either devoid or never came to fruition, but at least what you tried to do didn't completely backfire, which would have constituted a lower rating. This is also the highest score you can receive if I decided not to put up with you any more before you finished.
4: At this point, you are not here because I am a pessimist. You are here because your flaws outweigh your assets. You were not an enjoyable experience, and there are simply too many complaints I have to lobby at you. Your characters might have made me extremely angry. Your plot might have left me utterly confused. You may have been painful to look at, or whatever. But one thing's for sure - you were painful to watch. Whatever it was, I knew it the moment I saw it, and I couldn't get away from the stigma of having to endure your flaws as I watched you. If your flaws were so blatant and unbearable that I knew where you were headed, there's a chance you got your rating before I finished you because I was finished with you. It is also a possibility from here on lower that I enjoyed you for ironic reasons - in other words, you were such an awful production that I found more fun laughing at how badly you came short.
3: You flat-out sucked. Your ambition was virtually nonexistent, you have close to no redeeming qualities, you fail on even the most basic of fundamentals, and/or whatever tried to make you look like you were worth the time spent watching you looks like a molehill compared to the mountain of negatives you have to bring up. I seriously question how I managed to finish you if I did, and I question why I didn't drop you sooner if I ended up dropping you. You test the thresholds of my punishment tolerance, so I suppose finishing you makes me a little mentally tougher. I mean, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Right?
2: I question myself hard every now and then for ever thinking why it was a good idea to watch you, and every time I do I have no defense nor justification whatsoever. At a score this low, it is now essentially a comprehensive drilling into the magnitude to which you sucked - there may be one, maybe two little things that may have been good, but it is more likely that you have nothing going for you whatsoever. Chances are high that I had self-inflicted pain on my mind as I was watching you, and I wouldn't wish the misfortune of watching you even upon my worst enemies. I don't care enough to take a magnifying glass and a shovel to you to find and dig up those factors, but I probably wouldn't mind taking up just the shovel with the intention of burying you somewhere.
1: I have never to this date applied this rating, and I hope I never see anything that forces me to use it. Everyone involved in your production has to now wear the crown of thorns that is you. Everything that could go wrong didn't just go wrong; it exploded in the faces of everyone who witnessed your utter disaster of an act, from the producer to everyone who watched it. I am jealous of the people who have never heard of you, for you are unforgettable for all of the wrong reasons. You inspire disgust, anger, horrifying curiosity, futile theory, and a multitude of other heart-sinking thoughts. But above all, along the lines of that horrifying curiosity, I shudder to think of the mind processes that brought about your creation, of which are most likely so terrible they are completely out of the boundaries of my imagination...thankfully.
