| In my opinion, Characterization is the most important aspect of a story since the audience experience the story and the world through the character and get invested the most to the characters, thus good characters draw-in audience more. Plot is the second most important thing, without it to lead the journey it would be a very incoherence mess. However a story with bad plot or no plot can still work if the characters are fun. The least important part is world building, world building is there to complement the plot and the characters. A story would still work even without detail world building.You can create the most elaborate and detail world ever but no one will care if the characters in it is boring or unlikable. |
ExaltedChampion said: In my opinion, Characterization is the most important aspect of a story since the audience experience the story and the world through the character and get invested the most to the characters, thus good characters draw-in audience more. Plot is the second most important thing, without it to lead the journey it would be a very incoherence mess. However a story with bad plot or no plot can still work if the characters are fun. The least important part is world building, world building is there to complement the plot and the characters. A story would still work even without detail world building.You can create the most elaborate and detail world ever but no one will care if the characters in it is boring or unlikable. Depends on the writer and on the tale. There isn't a broad generalisation that can point to a definitive order of importance. Dickens relied heavily on character, but for Poe character took a back seat to plot and setting. Fuck knows what Hemingway thought because I haven't read him. In anime (for me personally) I'm similar to yourself. I'd sooner watch interesting characters navigate a bland world than the opposite. Of course, watching interesting characters in an interesting world is ideal. And plot, while nice and generally well developed in the "best" of fiction, isn't that necessary for enjoyment. I mean, every slice of life anime ever made has the very thinnest of what could be called plot, but I still really enjoy them. |
CallMeHootOct 10, 2020 5:20 AM
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| I'd say all 3 are important, but you could say there are some shows where one aspect is more in focus than the others that makes a show what it is. Any lack of one of those things can lead a show down a spiral towards disaster. |
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| A good anime has to succeed in those 3 categories, you can't really say one is more important than another when all of them are essential |
Damuzen said: A good anime has to succeed in those 3 categories, you can't really say one is more important than another when all of them are essential Not really, some element are just inherit more important than some other elements. You can have a good plot and great world building but the thing will fall apart when the characters aren't good or interesting. However you can have a work with almost no world building ( especially in Slice of life) but still can be compelling thank to it characters. |
| You can measure the quality of an anime by assigning points for each category and multiplying them. C x P x WB = Q Shows like FMAB score highly in many people's opinion precisely because each of the three factors gets a good score, say e.g. 8 x 10 x 9 = 720; whereas a show that ranks poorly in any of the categories will have its quality score severely limited. Suppose you gave Killl la Kill a 4 in characterization: this means that Q will never reach beyond 400, however well it does in plot and world building. I's all explained here: |
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| it depends on how I see the anime, but I tend to put on top the plot then the characterisation, world building is kinda meaningless to me. |
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| Right now, I prefer world building if its not SOL. |
| BANZAI NIPPON. Nippon is the Land of freedom. Nippon is the Land of Peace. Nippon is the Land of Justice and Prosperity. In Nippon, we trust. We love Nippon, we love Anime. Anime love us, Nippon love us. 日本 I believe in freedom of expression. |
| I actually don't think any of the three are critical as long as the show is entertaining, and there's plenty of ways a show can be entertaining while lacking one or more of these components in a way that's appealing to me. Good writing is a plus, though! |
ExaltedChampion said: In my opinion, Characterization is the most important aspect of a story since the audience experience the story and the world through the character and get invested the most to the characters, thus good characters draw-in audience more. Totally agreed on this part. Whenever I saw an anime with a great plot but bland characters, I was like "Woah, so...what? I don't care about the characters anyway", and it left almost no impression on me. ExaltedChampion said: The least important part is world building, world building is there to complement the plot and the characters. A story would still work even without detail world building.You can create the most elaborate and detail world ever but no one will care if the characters in it is boring or unlikable. However, I'm disagreeing with this. I think world-building is the 2nd most important thing here. I find it pretty much crucial to inform audiences what's going on in the big picture, what's the situation, and what is possible and what is not. For shows with the mystery genre, this might be a bit challenging. You hide too much, the audiences would be confused, but if you reveal too much, there would be nothing left to surprise audiences. |
| Which whatever I enjoy the most, no more, no less. |
| 1 - Characterization, since characters make me want to watch or drop the series. 2- World Building, since if it's not explained and written well. It seems unrealistic. 3- Plot, most of the time I watch anime for genre's and character. As long as I enjoy it plot doesn't matter. |
 just wanna feel wanted by someone other than the police 😫 |
| Those three are really important aspect in writing a story, but in my opinion, characterization is the most interesting part. Side note: I think in domestic girlfriend manga, this topic already discussed by the characters but I couldn't remember which chapter. |
| Characters > World > Plot I would add Pace too, because it's what mesh the 3 points. Without a proper pace everything can fall appart despite of how good they can be individually. |
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| Plot is the most important aspect for me. If it is some nonsensical story no matter how amazing the characters are, it's just trash overall. Characterization is the second one, it can provide the most value in entertainment after all if there's a decent plotline already. But if there's no baseline in the setting, then the characters can potentially go to the vacuum too. I do agree that world building is just the icing on the cake, but it shows proof of what those writers are capable of and it makes me look forward to their other works |
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| In my opinion the importance of characterisation and world building mainly depends on the genre to which show belongs to. For example for a comedy, drama, slice of life kind of show the characterisation is going to be the most important as we as audience need to connect to the characters to care about them and their struggles. The same isn't true for adventure, fantasy genre as the main selling point of such series is exploring the world that the characters inhabits.Take Made in Abyss for example, the characters of that show are fairly mediocre but the deep lore and mystery of the Abyss and it's inhabitants keeps you intrigued and glued to your seat. The plot however is the most important aspect of a show and I believe that a good show can't exist without a good plot. I mean what even is the point of amazing characters or a well built world if the show keeps on dragging and has no idea about the direction it wants to go to. |
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| All of them are important but if we want rank them then it will be like this: 1-plot/Characterization 2- world building World building matters a lot in SOLs for me (I cannot enjoy a sol without it like in Aria and Yokohama kaidashi kiko or mushishi, with some exceptions like 3gastu no lion) then it matters in Adventure anime, I cannot even imagine HxH without great world-building. Characterization matters more in psychological thrillers and character driven stories like NGE and Shinsekai yori. plot matters in all of them but good Characterization can make me forgive major flaws in the show. |
  "elles sont bien noires les pensées des nuits blanches"  |
| Characterization. My favourite manga is just a basic martial art manga but god damn the characterization it it is amazing. |
| Go check out my latest review: https://myanimelist.net/profile/YeeYeeAss/reviews |
| Characters represents people and the self, plot are events that happen, and world building is the environment and small details that individuals pay attention to. I initially watched anime for the plot and world building, mainly how the characters overcome a specific scenario. Nowadays, because I feel like I've watched every major plot archetype in anime, I care more about how the characters think, communicate and change. I don't care as much about world building because I'm not looking for a specific setting or art-style to watch. Basically, went from watching shounen to more slice of life and drama. |
| I prefer well written characters over bland ones I couldn't care less about. Its not absolutely essential for an anime or manga to have exceptional characters but I'm usually way more interested in something if I like the characters I'm watching. An anime or manga with weak characters would need an exceptional plot for me to give a shit about what's happening. An example for me is Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) and Iron Blooded Orphans. I did not like the first one at all even though it had a pretty interesting world ( the only character I did like was Char), while Iron Blooded Orphans had characters I liked and an interesting world, which made me overlook some of its weaker points. |
| Most of it starts with fun and interesting characters and the interactions between them for me so uhh yeah, the first thing. |
| I'd argue that the most important aspect of a show is how all three work together and mix. Cuz if it can do that well, then it'd be fine if the show is lacking in a one of the three. |
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| I was going to say characterization, but now I’m realizing worldbuilding may be important too. The setting and aesthetic could affect the way the story is perceived. Berserk would only truly work in a dark fantasy setting in my opinion. I love Shingeki no Kyojin because of the fantasy world and locations inside the walls as well. Worldbuilding is very important to hooking certain viewers who appreciate certain aesthetics. For example I will watch a cyberpunk anime simply because I love the visuals cyberpunk stuff gives. |
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| lol that entirely depends on the show and what it wants to achieve in some it might be one of these 3, in some others it's none of these. |
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| well in general these elements are important ofc and a show combining these 3 in a good way has a high chance to get my admiration come in the lead plot then characters both are extremely important for me but i said then mainly bec. the plot attracts and concerns me first then seeing how it works and it's development,the characters take some time at first to get familiar with,to relate to and to determine after a while both concerns me alongside how they progress and serve each other equally (I mean by not focusing on one aspect and disregard the other or using one to only provide the other) I do care about the world-building but it depends on the show itself ex:if the show has a discovery theme it's essential to have a good world-building |
| A solid show has to succeed in all 3, but generalizing that does not make much sense. It all depends on what the show or movie tries to be. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a movie that does not put a lot of development into its characters but still remains one of my favorite movies, even though i would say that generally i would take well-made characters above a well plotted story. Movies that dont really wanna tell the story of characters, are the ones that make the whole discussion of what is better among the 3 meaningless, there are just certain works that do not need to have greatly developed characters to be amazing. 2001 used everything from story to characters for thematic purposes and does so in a way where i think a elaborate backstory (or any form of development) for any character would've just ruined the movie. On the other hand the novel Series Wheel of Time has arguably the most impressive and deep world building in fiction with some really well-developed realistic characters, of course realistic in terms of their own world and not based on our standards. But the overarching plot at almost all times takes a backseat. Still its a impressive series, at least i think so and that is why i dont really have a high preference when it comes to these 3 things. It just depends on what the author focuses and how well he executes that. Characters are probably for most shows the most important aspect, many shows try to show characters developing through their actions and how the story develops. But there are authors who switch the importance of their story and just tell their story how they want to tell it, mostly creating unique stories which is always more pleasant to see than the next "solid" show that does every aspect good but nothing outstanding or special. Putting boundaries such as these on art and saying that a show for example needs good characters to be good is just shutting yourself of from many good shows that do not pay much attention to the characters and instead to something else which does not automatically mean its bad. ExaltedChampion said: Not really, some element are just inherit more important than some other elements. You can have a good plot and great world building but the thing will fall apart when the characters aren't good or interesting. However you can have a work with almost no world building ( especially in Slice of life) but still can be compelling thank to it characters. I disagree, firstly because Slice of Live also needs world building. If for example we are talking about a Slice of Live that is not just a high school setting. Mob Psycho has world building, One Punch man has world building or to take a example that has no fantastical elements shows like 3-gatsu no lion which also build its "world" since it showed how the whole shogi thing works. But yea some Slice of Live do not have noticeable amounts of world building, especially the ones that play in high school and such. Secondly i disagree because of the examples mentioned above, in 2001 the characters are not really individuals they just exist for the purpose of bringing a point across which in my opinion works very well. As i said above i would not call one inherently better than the other at all times but it all just depends on what the author wanted to achieve and if they achieved it or not. |
-Mullerio-Oct 10, 2020 2:07 PM
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| I see most people shun world building. While it is true having a deep and complex world is hard to create for the authors and hard to follow for the readers/watchers, it is the only way to achieve greatness in storytelling. The hardest part is most certainly feeling involved in the said world. The world structure, lands, races, era & history, food, culture, etc... all of these are the invisible blocks that support the plot. World building can also be as simple as a highschool setting with plain highschoolers doing normal highschool stuff (lessons, club activities, etc.). How the highschool building is thought can be important. One prime example is in Highschool DxD where the layout of the schoolgrounds serve as a chess battle mechanic. The setting may be in the fantasy genre but the plot of Highschool DxD managed to use something that simple to make a thrilling experience (in my opinion). Another example is how in Oregairu/SNAFU they use the gymnasium to hold concerts or proms which are key events supporting the plot and as a side effect the characterization. |
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| Definitely plot. Out of all 3 elements, it's the only one that can hold a show by itself. I'm trying to watching JoJo Part 4, and even with charismatic characters, the non existing plot makes the experience of watching the show so tiresome and frustating. I really hope people's obsession with characterization in here are due to good written arcs about the characters, and not about their personality. If that's the case, I just want to say that thoses characters arcs are technically the plot. Worldbuilding is an optional element that I'm not even sure why you insert it in here. Not to mention that what most people claim it's interesting about worbuilding is usually related to the plot. But let me also say that even with the plot saving this show by itself, it definitely won't be a really good show. You have to use all the 3, and much more elements to achieve that level. |
BetterTasteOct 10, 2020 3:25 PM
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| It really depends on the type of anime, plus all three of those aspects are often intertwined with eachother. In a high school rom-com, characters are the most important. In a psychological drama, the plot is most important. In a fantasy, the world is often the most important. |
   I swear, I don't have a thing for blondes. |
| Characterization. A good plot/world means nothing to me if the characters are crap, but I can watch even the blandest story in the most generic setting imaginable if it's got a well-written, interesting cast. And since the story is told through the characters, even a plot-heavy anime can be unbearable without a good set of characters to carry it. Characterization makes the heaviest impact for me. |
gyanburubiiOct 10, 2020 3:54 PM
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Eldinis said: I see most people shun world building. While it is true having a deep and complex world is hard to create for the authors and hard to follow for the readers/watchers, it is the only way to achieve greatness in storytelling. The hardest part is most certainly feeling involved in the said world. The world structure, lands, races, era & history, food, culture, etc... all of these are the invisible blocks that support the plot. World building can also be as simple as a highschool setting with plain highschoolers doing normal highschool stuff (lessons, club activities, etc.). How the highschool building is thought can be important. One prime example is in Highschool DxD where the layout of the schoolgrounds serve as a chess battle mechanic. The setting may be in the fantasy genre but the plot of Highschool DxD managed to use something that simple to make a thrilling experience (in my opinion). Another example is how in Oregairu/SNAFU they use the gymnasium to hold concerts or proms which are key events supporting the plot and as a side effect the characterization. The problem i have with world building is it work best when it use to supplement the work and should not be the focus of the work. Those details help the world feel live-in but an easy trapping for authors is that they became over indulge in the world, thus shifting the story focus to showcase the world rather than advance the plot or characterization. Even in LoTR, one of the best world building work, the world building mainly stay the background, Tolkien understand that to make the world feel live in, he need characters and plot first before using those characters and plot to explore the world. |
| It depends on the anime.If the plot is average it needs to have a good world-building and characterization so I could give it a high rating.If the word-building is average then it needs to have a good plot. |
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| All are important, all of them come together in order to make an anime a decent or a great one. If an anime falls short in one of the three, it will definitely be a disaster. Say for Guilty Crown, for example, amazing world-building but characterization falls flat, and that's what makes Guilty Crown a shitty anime. |
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