Before you look at my dropped list and pass out: Consider that I do a lot of randomly watching one episode of something that I do not expect to be interested in. I frequently hit the random button on streaming sites to dunk on random garbage with friends, and I occasionally watch the first episode of every single new show in a season. Most of the things in my Dropped list are shows that I never would have watched under normal circumstances.
If something listed as Completed is unrated, it means that when I listed it I didn't remember enough about it to feel like I could score it fairly. I didn't start seriously using MAL until mid-2016 so this is usually the case for shows I haven't seen since a while before then. I don't rate shows I'm still watching and I don't rate shows I've only seen 1 episode of.
When listing favorite shows I will tend to only list first seasons of a show that I liked both seasons of more-or-less equally. For example I love both seasons of Space Dandy, so if I list Season 1 as a favorite it doesn't mean I like Season 1 better than 2, it's just meant to indicate that the series as a whole is a favorite.
"Personal enjoyment" is pretty much the only thing that matters to me when scoring a show. For most shows on my list, the score given is what would normally be the "personal enjoyment" score, rather than some combination of other scores like animation, story, sound, etc. This is why some of my high-rated shows would not generally be considered "objective" masterpieces.
Here's how I would describe my 10-point system:
10: An all-time favorite. Just thinking about this show can get me excited, and I'd be down to rewatch it whenever. I'll pester my friends to watch it whenever I can.
9: A really great show. I'll recommend this very highly, especially to friends who have seen all my 10's, and will probably rewatch at least once at some point.
8: A very good show. I might recommend this to people if they're looking for things to watch, and I'd be down to rewatch it if someone suggested doing so, but I probably wouldn't decide to rewatch on my own.
7: A good show. I probably won't rewatch it or try to get others to watch it, but if someone brought it up I'd be like "yeah that show was pretty good."
6: A fine show. The experience of watching was overall positive, but it's hard to give much higher praise than that. Would probably decline to watch it again.
5: A completely average show. These are shows that either were watchable but completely unmemorable, or have an even mix of good and bad aspects.
4: A not-good show. The experience of watching was overall negative, but it's not bad enough to be worth getting worked up over.
3: A bad show. From here down I'll be surprised if a friend says they like the show, and will probably actually try to argue my case.
2: A terrible show. Something I can't imagine anyone enjoying, or that was difficult for me to get through.
1: One of the worst things I've ever seen. Physically painful to sit through.
In order:
- Who did I watch with
- Which language did I watch in (Sub/Dub/Raw)
- When did I start watching
- When did I rewatch/pick it back up after a hiatus (if applicable)
- Other
The "Reviewed" and "Comments" tags both mean that I've written my thoughts on the show into the entry's Comments section. I consider a "Review" to be a thought-out, somewhat lengthy and in-depth explanation of my feelings on a show. "Comments" are more in the vein of 1-paragraph-or-less impressions written immediately after I'm done watching something.
The "Weekly" tag means that I watched the show episode-by-episode as it was airing. Anything not tagged this way I watched after it was finished.
The "TV" tag means I watched the show on actual live television, and therefore probably saw a lot of the show out-of-order and saw some episodes several times. For basically anything tagged this way the "Episodes Watched" count is an educated guess since I wasn't exactly keeping track when watching these shows, being that virtually all of them I watched as a kid on Cartoon Network/Adult Swim/Kids WB.
The "Crunchyroulette" tag means that I first watched the show as a result of Crunchyroulette, i.e. hitting the random button on Crunchyroll and watching whatever pops up, usually with friends and drink. Most shows tagged this way are going to be one-episode drops, but on the off chance that it lands on something good they'll be one-episode on-holds. Once in a blue moon I might finish one, but it'll usually be long after the initial viewing. Upon realizing that other online streaming sites have a random button this has become somewhat of a misnomer, but I'm leaving it as-is to avoid needing to change like a hundred tags.
The "Anime Roulette" tag means the same as above, but watched alone and discussed in a podcast format with a couple of friends. At this point I doubt any of these will ever be released, but it's still relevant to the context in which I watched the show.
The "Sampler" tag means that I watched the show as part of sampling the first episode of every single show airing in a given season. When I do this I randomize which show to watch next, and any sequels airing that season are replaced with the earliest season I could find that I haven't already seen. So for example if the randomizer lands on Shokugeki no Souma Season 3 and I haven't seen Seasons 1 or 2, I watch the first episode of Season 1 instead of Season 3. Starting in 2019, this has changed to more akin to "finish or fail", meaning if I like the first episode of a show, I'll watch it until I finish or drop it before moving to the next one. These tags also specify the season that was being "sampled", for example "W21" to denote Winter 2021.
The "Dumpster Diving" tag means that I watched the show as part of a deliberate effort to watch a really, really trashy show with the intention of shitting on it with friends. These are shows that I went into expecting to think they're absolute garbage, and hoping that they're at least garbage in a way that's fun to make fun of.
The "MAL Challenge" tag means that I watched the show as part of one of the MAL Anime Watching Challenges. More details will be in the entry's Comments section.
The "Proxy" tag means that I "watched" the show as part of something else e.g. a YouTube video. This will be specified in the comments section of the listing.
The "Passive" tag means that I "watched" the show by having it on in the background while doing something else like playing a game.
All Comments (1) Comments
So you're watching Gintama that's great.
Well let me give you an advice.
Just for the information.
The first Episodes and the following first Episodes can be quite average.
I know that it can be for many people. So maybe for you as well.
But it will improve a lot afterwards.
So I hope you will keep on watching Gintama.