Oct 21, 2015 6:17 AM
Ratings Thoughts
Anime Relations:
Toradora!
Based on enjoyment, however, I will give the occasional consolation point for exceptional writing/art/music if it isn't already factored into the enjoyment. Typically it's for shows that I found wanting entertainment-wise but felt deserved an objective nod as a work of art.
Examples:
Garden of Words 5+1=6
Mawaru Penguindrum 5+1=6
Perfect Blue 5+1=6
Rating Scale:
I try to use the full scale, as follows:
One to four are gradations of dislike.
Five is neutral* -- neither like or dislike.
Six and above are gradations of liking.
10's (best experiences) Essentially 9's but with multiple memorable moments, multiple great characters, more memorable music, etc. All will be in my top 10 favs list.
9's (superb) Amazingly enjoyable experience that definitely moved me emotionally in some way. They also include titles I'll re-watch repeatedly. Some will make it into my top 10 (until I find more 10's that is).
8's (very good) Very enjoyable and also moved me in some way (happiness, sadness, awe) but has enough aspects that detracts from total enjoyment. Will re-watch at least once.
7's (good) More enjoyable than a 6 but not particularly moving (or has only one or two such scenes). Certain titles may get a re-watch but most won't.
6's (decent, fine, liked) The first grade of liking something.
5's (meh/mediocre, perhaps disappointing, but not enough to dislike) Most very slow or boring shows wind up here.
4's (mildly disliked) The first grade of dislike (often due to a particular character).
3's (this title has serious shortcomings) Bad, on multiple fronts.
2's (ludicrous, outrageous, wtf) Ie.: Endless Eight arc.
1's (abhorrent/appalling/disgusting) Particular scene(s) in this show have crossed the line. Ie. Grisaia no Kajitsu ep. 4 cat death.
Slow paced or outright boring shows generally get assigned a 5 and are in danger of being dropped if there isn't an interesting or particularly cute character to carry it. It's not that I have a short attention span it's just that poor pacing infuriates me more than faulty plots do.
Some points:
- A very good, memorable soundtrack is surprisingly rare and I've noticed that my highest rated shows do tend to have such.
- Re-watching shows is something I do often: we listen to our favorite music over and over and re-watch our favorite movies so why not anime? Anime titles that I am drawn to re-experience often is a good indicator of high enjoyment and hence a high score.
- Every episode counts. If a series manages to finish strong after a crappy start doesn't mean the early episodes are forgiven. Ie.: Steins;Gate, The Twelve Kingdoms. Sorry, but math is math.
*NOTE: the term "average" (used by MAL for their 5 descriptor) is ambiguous as it could mean a calculation or as a qualitative description. Far too many people think their scores (and by extension, MAL's) should "average" out to 5 when in fact this is impossible: dropping shows they dislike before reaching the 1/5 watched threshold, seeking out shows they think they will like, etc. Also, the anime industry is in the business of putting out shows people will like rather than a 50-50 mix of bad and good. Believe it or not but most shows are, indeed, good or at least fine (to use MAL's terms) with the better shows rising up to 8's, 9's and 10's. Of course there are lesser shows and even outright bad ones, but they are by far the minority.
Thoughts on Subjective vs. Objective:
Attempting to rate entertainment objectively is impossible for non-professionals. Only those who actively work in the industry in a production, writing or reporting capacity are qualified and then only in their particular field of expertise. In short, only a purpose-built body of professionals, with individual experts representing writing, art, animation, music, etc. could ever hope to accurately rate anime objectively.
Most people, as non-professionals, can objectively recognize poor animation (for action titles) or plot inconsistencies (any anime) but only on a granularity (at best) of 1-5 (horrible, bad, ok, good, exceptional). Artwork and character traits are far too susceptible to personal taste. Also, there is zero chance of objectively balancing art vs. sound vs. plot into a unified score. Different people are bound to weigh one over another and so turn it into a subjective exercise in the end.
Personal enjoyment is something everybody is their own expert on. Only the professionals can parse why we find something enjoyable.
Examples:
Garden of Words 5+1=6
Mawaru Penguindrum 5+1=6
Perfect Blue 5+1=6
Rating Scale:
I try to use the full scale, as follows:
One to four are gradations of dislike.
Five is neutral* -- neither like or dislike.
Six and above are gradations of liking.
10's (best experiences) Essentially 9's but with multiple memorable moments, multiple great characters, more memorable music, etc. All will be in my top 10 favs list.
9's (superb) Amazingly enjoyable experience that definitely moved me emotionally in some way. They also include titles I'll re-watch repeatedly. Some will make it into my top 10 (until I find more 10's that is).
8's (very good) Very enjoyable and also moved me in some way (happiness, sadness, awe) but has enough aspects that detracts from total enjoyment. Will re-watch at least once.
7's (good) More enjoyable than a 6 but not particularly moving (or has only one or two such scenes). Certain titles may get a re-watch but most won't.
6's (decent, fine, liked) The first grade of liking something.
5's (meh/mediocre, perhaps disappointing, but not enough to dislike) Most very slow or boring shows wind up here.
4's (mildly disliked) The first grade of dislike (often due to a particular character).
3's (this title has serious shortcomings) Bad, on multiple fronts.
2's (ludicrous, outrageous, wtf) Ie.: Endless Eight arc.
1's (abhorrent/appalling/disgusting) Particular scene(s) in this show have crossed the line. Ie. Grisaia no Kajitsu ep. 4 cat death.
Slow paced or outright boring shows generally get assigned a 5 and are in danger of being dropped if there isn't an interesting or particularly cute character to carry it. It's not that I have a short attention span it's just that poor pacing infuriates me more than faulty plots do.
Some points:
- A very good, memorable soundtrack is surprisingly rare and I've noticed that my highest rated shows do tend to have such.
- Re-watching shows is something I do often: we listen to our favorite music over and over and re-watch our favorite movies so why not anime? Anime titles that I am drawn to re-experience often is a good indicator of high enjoyment and hence a high score.
- Every episode counts. If a series manages to finish strong after a crappy start doesn't mean the early episodes are forgiven. Ie.: Steins;Gate, The Twelve Kingdoms. Sorry, but math is math.
*NOTE: the term "average" (used by MAL for their 5 descriptor) is ambiguous as it could mean a calculation or as a qualitative description. Far too many people think their scores (and by extension, MAL's) should "average" out to 5 when in fact this is impossible: dropping shows they dislike before reaching the 1/5 watched threshold, seeking out shows they think they will like, etc. Also, the anime industry is in the business of putting out shows people will like rather than a 50-50 mix of bad and good. Believe it or not but most shows are, indeed, good or at least fine (to use MAL's terms) with the better shows rising up to 8's, 9's and 10's. Of course there are lesser shows and even outright bad ones, but they are by far the minority.
Thoughts on Subjective vs. Objective:
Attempting to rate entertainment objectively is impossible for non-professionals. Only those who actively work in the industry in a production, writing or reporting capacity are qualified and then only in their particular field of expertise. In short, only a purpose-built body of professionals, with individual experts representing writing, art, animation, music, etc. could ever hope to accurately rate anime objectively.
Most people, as non-professionals, can objectively recognize poor animation (for action titles) or plot inconsistencies (any anime) but only on a granularity (at best) of 1-5 (horrible, bad, ok, good, exceptional). Artwork and character traits are far too susceptible to personal taste. Also, there is zero chance of objectively balancing art vs. sound vs. plot into a unified score. Different people are bound to weigh one over another and so turn it into a subjective exercise in the end.
Personal enjoyment is something everybody is their own expert on. Only the professionals can parse why we find something enjoyable.
Posted by
8oomer
| Oct 21, 2015 6:17 AM |
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