| People who say a show is really bad rate it 6 and not 3 and 4. I've seen this many times. Most people I talk to are reluctant to rate something below 5 even though they have a bad opinion about it. |
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| For me, it's easy to give a low score if the show is very bad. |
 |
| Because most humans tend to favor things they've already invested time into. |
*kappa* |
| the show needs to be really bad, for me to rate it below 5, I rarely watch stuff like this cuz I know my taste well and I drop anything I don't like max three ep's in and well It's easy to make me like a show XD |
[โ๐ฎโโโ๐ฒโ โ๐ฆโ โ๐ตโโ๐ทโโ๐ดโโ๐ซโโ๐ชโโ๐ธโโ๐ธโโ๐ฎโโ๐ดโโ๐ณโโ๐ฆโโ๐ฑโ โ๐ญโโ๐บโโ๐ธโโ๐งโโ๐ฆโโ๐ณโโ๐ฉโโ๐ดโ โ๐จโโ๐ดโโ๐ฑโโ๐ฑโโ๐ชโโ๐จโโ๐นโโ๐ดโโ๐ทโ] |
| Because 6/10 or 60% are below average grades at school, since almost everyone is able to get a passing grade. Also MAL could define the 1-4 scores in a different way, there's no need for four different synonyms of bad. 4/10 could be "subpar", for example. |
| tbh i dont like rating things under 5 for 2 reasons. Reason 1. if i dont like the story and found it extremely off-putting...it isnt the anime's fault...its the source material/original story that's garbage. so to rate an anime under 5 for that reason doesnt sit right with me. id rather go find the source material and rate that between 1-4, instead of rating the anime 1-4. Reason 2. for an anime to deserve under 5 for me...it has to fail in SO many different points, that its extremely rare to find a show that actually deserves such a low rating. that means it has a dogshit OST, the animation is absolute garbage/art looks like it was drawn by a 5 year old, the voice acting is F-tier, the adaptation quality is utter trash, etc...i cant think of very many anime that check ALL of these boxes lol |
| I'm not reluctant, if a show is that bad, I will rate it accordingly, it doesn't happen often though. because I have a pretty large tolerance for entertainment, I probably find some amusement in things others would consider terrible. |
| Because managing whole ten numbers is too difficult for simpletons. Most of people only use 3-4 higher scores. They be like: "This show sucks. It's a literal torture. I hate it. I barely sit through this crap. So I only give it a 8/10" |
 |
| One reason I can think of is, if someone asks them, "why complete it if it's dog shit?". Like bro, are you masochist or some kind of try hard. It's a little embarrassing to consider people thinking of you like that. I personally don't care and respect people who take full advantage of the rating system. But at the end of the day, it's just some person watching an anime, no need to take it so seriously. |
 |
CaptainGiri said: People who say a show is really bad rate it 6 and not 3 and 4. I've seen this many times. Most people I talk to are reluctant to rate something below 5 even though they have a bad opinion about it. Beats me, i'm trigger happy with 1s as soon as something pisses me off enough :D in compense i'll also give 10s out like candy to the shows i really love |
| For me score 6 means just enjoyable nothing special. And Score 5 means average cliche stuff easily forgettable. |
WaveesJan 26, 3:03 AM
| If a show was that bad, I would drop it. |
| I am certainly guilty about that... The whole 1 to 10 scale is just too big I guess? Like... In school we have grades from 1 (best possible. Hit everything / all the nails) to 6 (your just a failure in life). Mal scores to school grades: 10 - 1+ / best possible. That one teacher who gives you an 0.75 because you outdid his every expectation. 9 - 1 / very good 8 - 2 / good show 7 - 3 / Average 6 - 4 / The passing grade. Its bad but at least it did a few things okayish. 5 - 5 / Trash but one can spot at least some merit. Like even if you hated it maybe the animation wasn't that bad or it had that one ost that actually fit the mood of the scene. 4 - 6 / So bad you wish it would never have been made. Maybe one can spot the effort but you just hate it so much on a personal level that you give it that grade just because your upset with it. Also I believe there is always something worse out there I simply didn't bother to start yet alone finish. I guess if you gave me the trashiest trash I certainly could pick out a 3, 2, and 1. But: Why would I waste my time with it? |
| I try to watch anime I think I'll enjoy. I have a few under 5 but I normally keep such a low score for truly terrible anime. |
 |
Because apparently I'm quite adept at avoiding bad shows,  it's been a long time since I rated something a 4 or less due to how bad it was :) |
 (ใฃโโกโ)ใฃ ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ช๐ต๐ต ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ช ๐๐ธ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฏ๐พ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ ♥ |
| The only thing I can think is that they rate it "objectively." But if a show is bad or good to me, I'm going to rate it accordingly. Not everyone rates or has the same opinions as me. So, I'll leave it to someone else to decide, with their own account and ratings, whether or not a show is deserving of a different rating. |
Prideful_LionJan 26, 4:49 AM
| That's why I gave up rating animes, it is too much work to keep everything balanced. |
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| Who the hell cares? It's sad that people have to justify how they rate things. |
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| Anything professionally made is just not going to be that bad unless you're overreactive or watching something from the earliest days of anime. |
| โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โฃธโ โ โ โ โกโ โ โกโ โขโ โขธโ โ โ โกโกฐโ โ โกโ โ โข โ โ โ โขธโ โ โขธโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โฃโ โ โกโ โกโ โ โ โขธโกโขโ โ โขฃโ โ ขโขโฃโ โ โ ธโ โ โ โขธโ โ โขธโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โขฐโกโกโ โกโกโ โ โ โ โ โกโ โขโขฐโ โ โ โ โ โฃโ โ โ โ โ โ ธโ โ โกโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ คโขโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โกผโ โฃงโ โขฟโข โฃคโฃคโฃฌโฃฅโ โ โ โ โ โขโกโ โ โ โ โกโกโ โ โ โกโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โขตโกโ โ โ โ โ โกฐโ โข โ โ ฑโฃผโกโฃโกโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ ณโ ถโ ถโ โกธโขโกโฃโขฐโ โ โขธ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โฃโฃโฃโ โ โ โ โ โ โข โ โขโ โ โ โฃผโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ ดโ ขโขโกโฃโกโ ฃโฃฑโขธโ โ โขทโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โกฐโ โขโ โ โ โกโกจโขขโกโ โ โ โ โฃโ โ โฃ โ โ โ โ โขโ ฝโ โ โ โ โ โ โกโ ธโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โขโ โฃโกดโ โ โก โกชโ โฃ โฃพโฃโฃทโกฆโ คโฃโกโ โ โขโฃโก โขโ โ โ โ โ โ โขโกคโกโขโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โขโฃ โ ดโขโกจโ โกโ คโ โขโฃดโฃพโฃฟโกฟโฃพโฃฟโกโ โ นโฃปโ โ โ โขโ โ บโ โ โกโขโฃดโฃพโฃงโฃโ โกโ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โฃโ โ โกโ โ โ โ โ โฃดโฃฟโฃฟโฃฟโฃฟโฃปโฃฟโฃฟโกโ โ โข โฃทโฃฎโกโก โ โขโกโก โ โ โ โฃฟโฃฟโฃฟโฃฟโฃโ โ โ โ |
Reply to Wrathberry84
Because i dont watch shows that i know i will hate.
The only show i ever watched which ibreally hate from the core is school days. Which i gave a 1. Because it doesnt deserve anything else.
The only show i ever watched which ibreally hate from the core is school days. Which i gave a 1. Because it doesnt deserve anything else.
| People saying that seemingly didn't recognize the purpose of the story. |
*kappa* |
| I tend to view things as: 10 - All time favorites. And probably in a genre I really enjoy too. Everything came together just right for whole show. 9 - Damn good. I'd wholeheartedly recommend. It probably hit me right in the feels. 8 - Really good. Might be the highest score for some types of genre that I'm just not into. 7 - Competent. Enjoyable. I don't think I'd watch it again, but I'm happy to have watched it once. 6 - Fine. A high mid. Maybe it had some good parts, but also dragged in other sections. 5 - Didn't really move me much one way or the other. The animation and voice acting were probably meh, either from being in the bad era of CG or being some shoveled out product. 4 - Something about this anime frustrated me. Maybe the plot was bad. Maybe there were just some characters that I hated. Maybe it just put me in a bad mood. Most of the "trash" lives in 4 and 5. 3 - Bad. Maybe so bad it's good. Like a Garzey's Wing. 2 - Bad, but in a way that makes me angry. So bad, it's just bad. 1 - Something about this show offended me on a personal level, which is honestly pretty hard to do. I haven't seen anything this bad yet, but if I ever watch anything by that Happy Science cult, it's probably going in here. No rating - I don't rate things that are too short (~15 min or less), are hentai (seems tmi), or that maybe just clearly weren't for me. Most things are probably going to end up in a 7 for me. Not bad. Not amazing. Just decent media for watching to pass the time. |
 |
Reply to Wrathberry84
@Zarutaku sorry, but what is the purpose of that story?
The dude is the biggest piece of shit walking on earth and still both girls hopelessly in love with him, no matter how big a piece of shit he is. It goes so far that they kill each other for him and him...
Sorry, but not a single character 8n that show acts only a little believable.
The show is just there to piss you off and hate it to the core.
Shows should be enjoyed watching and i cant find a single thing about that show tgats enjoyable at all.
And the ending is the biggest middle finger to the audience in anime history.
There is nothing to understand in that show
The dude is the biggest piece of shit walking on earth and still both girls hopelessly in love with him, no matter how big a piece of shit he is. It goes so far that they kill each other for him and him...
Sorry, but not a single character 8n that show acts only a little believable.
The show is just there to piss you off and hate it to the core.
Shows should be enjoyed watching and i cant find a single thing about that show tgats enjoyable at all.
And the ending is the biggest middle finger to the audience in anime history.
There is nothing to understand in that show
| The purpose is to show how a relationship can become toxic and eventually lethal because of selfishness, jealousy, lack of honesty, lack of understanding, and other things. There are lots of people in toxic relationships and lots of girls are in love with "assholes" even I have seen it in my former friends group. Such experiences can potentially be avoided if they watch a show like School Days beforehand. |
ZarutakuJan 26, 6:21 AM
*kappa* |
| they're just as bad as people who give a 6 and say it's good. as if the labels next to the ratings don't exist. |
 |
| MAL scores imo are massively overinflated overall. Average seasonal shows land somewhere between 6.5 - 7.5 because apparently 7 is now 'average' and really really bad shows only land around 4.5-6. It's sort of like the American (?) culture on Google Maps where people fling out 5/5 reviews even for average/above average stuff |
Reina_OrikasaJan 26, 6:16 AM
join the hyper going home club!  |
| At least in my case, it's not so much a matter of being reluctant to rate lower than with a 5 as much as it is that I don't rate anything I haven't completed in full (whether haven't watched yet, currently watching/ongoing, paused/on hold, or dropped), and the majority of series that I can sense early on that I would want to and end up rating lower than a 5 I just drop, whether after three or four episodes, two episodes, one episode, or even 15 minutes or two minutes into it. Sometimes even the most miniscule amount of time is enough. Or there are plenty of those types which I intuitively know well enough in advance that I would likely dislike, since I know my own tastes and interests well enough, and therefore never start watching to begin with. Now, there are a relatively small selection of series I have watched, finished, and rated, for which my own personal enjoyment is probably more in the realm of a 2 - 3 - especially compared to anime series I love and appreciate far more, like the masterpiece-tier life-changing anime, but which I end up rating with something like a 5 or 6. Why? Because I'm not dishonest and I can recognize their merits in music, voice acting, animation, etc. even if they aren't for me and I don't derive much personal enjoyment from them as a complete package as a whole (which usually is something which for me hinges a lot more on the writing). Like Sakamichi no Apollon - despite the unique setting and how I love period pieces, that show's writing, the cheap no communication-induced misunderstandings and melodrama, is gutter-tier garbage to me, it pissed me off to no end while watching it, and I consider it incredibly overrated as a result. But I still rated it with a 6/10 as opposed to something like a 2 or 3 (the score probably most accurately reflecting my own personal enjoyment), because I'm not blind and deaf and can still recognize work and achievement in its direction, songs in the OST like its jazz music, its visual style, etc. |
WatchTillTandavaJan 26, 6:38 AM
| lol, it's the easiest thing. for me at least. |
| ้ฆฌ้นฟใใๅซ็ใๅ จ้จใฌใฉใฏใฟใง |
| Usually if it's so bad that it's below 5, then you likely will drop it, since 5 being the midpoint should be considered average. Unless it's short or it got bad later on and you're already invested in it, so you'll finish it then rate accordingly. You can always drop it and rate it low as well, but if it seems bad at the start, you might not finish it then rate it below a 5. |
| Some other theories: 1. They're considering the anime's average rating, or the typical average ratings throughout the site. I think the general consensus is an average rating of 7.00 on MAL means "mediocre," 6.00 means "poor," and 5.00 means "trash." So unless they actively hate the anime, they will give it a 6 at least. 2. They don't like being mean. Not everyone delights in sternly judging an anime. It's anime, it's for fun. 3. They don't want to think they've wasted time watching bad anime. If they've spent many hours on something they ended up not liking, it makes them feel like a fool who got duped. So they hold back from rating it too harshly. A sort of sunken-cost fallacy. Or kind of like politics. If the party or the politician they fully trust and support messes up, or turns out to be not what they initially thought, some people double down and refuse to admit they had it wrong. |
| I personally view it as extremely pessimistic to only rate things high even if you hate them because if you give the worst show you've ever seen a 6 that's basically implying you think that 50% of anime is unwatchable garbage. I do my best to use the full scale. |
  |
| Yes it has to be actively, offensively bad or incompetent to rate below 5 to me- I can sort of explain..... If you been watching anime since the 80s, and seen how bad it can get- janky animation, horribly drawn characters and terrible audio all over the place... you'd be reluctant to see a current day production with its shiny computer animation, consistent modeling, HIGH picture and sound quality, and much more professional voice acting and view it as garbage. Like the worst isekai of 2025 is going to be light years ahead of most one-shot OVAs of 40 years ago. Even better written (if that's possible to believe) I definitely score modern anime low if they're bad, and usually write a review to explain why I thought it was poor. |
| 1. Watching something not in your demographics. 2. Some try to review bomb stuff to prop up another series. 3. Spite 4. Disappointment |
 |
Reply to chronofantasy
Usually if it's so bad that it's below 5, then you likely will drop it, since 5 being the midpoint should be considered average. Unless it's short or it got bad later on and you're already invested in it, so you'll finish it then rate accordingly.
You can always drop it and rate it low as well, but if it seems bad at the start, you might not finish it then rate it below a 5.
You can always drop it and rate it low as well, but if it seems bad at the start, you might not finish it then rate it below a 5.
| @chronofantasy This is true as well, but I think most people really mark it complete anyway just to make their score weigh higher. |
| I've done it, but it gotta be a real flop in multiple areas to get a 4 or lowing. If 5 is the average, and I tend to try and watch things which I've heard or know off as being decent (so 7 and up), I don't go out of my way to watch Mid stuff (IMO). |
Sometimes it takes a real man to be best girl. Gilgamesh is also chad.   |
| The only things i really have given a 5 or below to are shorts. If i dislike a show enough to give it a low score, it usually means i don't like it enough to actually finish it. Unless it's bad enough to be good. |
| My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine. We're freaking out that we're running out of time, but to do what? Should i stop and think of that? Is there something i could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once, instead of watch it sprinting by |
Reply to SuperAdventure
Yes it has to be actively, offensively bad or incompetent to rate below 5 to me- I can sort of explain.....
If you been watching anime since the 80s, and seen how bad it can get- janky animation, horribly drawn characters and terrible audio all over the place... you'd be reluctant to see a current day production with its shiny computer animation, consistent modeling, HIGH picture and sound quality, and much more professional voice acting and view it as garbage.
Like the worst isekai of 2025 is going to be light years ahead of most one-shot OVAs of 40 years ago. Even better written (if that's possible to believe)
I definitely score modern anime low if they're bad, and usually write a review to explain why I thought it was poor.
If you been watching anime since the 80s, and seen how bad it can get- janky animation, horribly drawn characters and terrible audio all over the place... you'd be reluctant to see a current day production with its shiny computer animation, consistent modeling, HIGH picture and sound quality, and much more professional voice acting and view it as garbage.
Like the worst isekai of 2025 is going to be light years ahead of most one-shot OVAs of 40 years ago. Even better written (if that's possible to believe)
I definitely score modern anime low if they're bad, and usually write a review to explain why I thought it was poor.
| @SuperAdventure The question i ask myself sometimes is how with todays technology there's modern shiney computer animation that's more janky horribly drawn and off model than some 80s, 70s, and even 60s stuff?? |
| For me: 1-4 - Total Trash, I couldn't even finish it. 5- I Never Give 5 6- Watchable but nothing good. 7- Enjoyed but annoyed me some ways. 8- Good stuff but not too good. 9- Very good, top tier. 10- I cried while watching or had goosebumps or thought about for hours after finishing it. |
Reply to DigiCat
@SuperAdventure The question i ask myself sometimes is how with todays technology there's modern shiney computer animation that's more janky horribly drawn and off model than some 80s, 70s, and even 60s stuff??
| @DigiCat Oh it can happen though, if the production doesn't have competent enough staff, or the director is dabbling in shit he knows little about, it happens. My favorite whipping boy is Gibiate, which ranges from 'acceptable' in parts to a complete mess in others, with monster graphics NOT BLENDED AT ALL with the 2D backgrounds or characters. The results are hilarious And a lot of people pick on GoHands (I actually disagree with those complaints, I'm an architectural 3D modeler and think their cities and color palette/contrasts are fire) |
| The reason is most people here use American System which is A = 10 B = 9 C = 8 D = 7 F = 6 |
Mao said: If you have to shit, shit! If you have to fart, fart!  |
| For me personally, it's because I've watched very few series that I actually dislike. I'll only rate something a 5 or below if I didn't like it. |
| I should have actually thought to include this in my previous post as well at the time of authoring it, but rather than go back and edit now for the separate train of thought, I'll just make it into a new post here. I've seen over 300 different series at this point (I know that it's not a huge number compared to some veterans on MAL), probably around 330 if I including all the stuff I'm currently still watching, and I've only rated the following series with something below a 5/10, just to point out and highlight how little and seldom I think it is deserved as a percentage compared to the amount of series I watch through to completion as a whole: - Comical Psychosomatic Medicine - 4/10 - Karneval - 4/10 - Rosario to Vampire - 4/10 - She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man - 2/10 - Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne - 2/10 - Terra Formars - 2/10 And even one like Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne I've thought more than once ever since rating it, including recently, that I was overly harsh with it and probably allowed my personal bias and dislike of certain approaches to storytelling cloud my judgment. Especially concerning the content and direction of its later and final episodes which dragged the score down. *Note - I know I also rated something like Spice and Wolf season 2 low with a 4 and I could even go with a 3 on that one, in addition to there being some other individual seasons of series I rated lower than the first seasons or the series collectively as a whole in my mind, as well as maybe some short OVAs, specials, etc., but I'm just including main anime series in that short list above. |
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