Scores do not matter. Critical consensus does not matter. Art matters. What you like/dislike is not a measurement of your intellect; none of these works are things we're entitled to, they're not "ours." We're simply given the chance to share in someone else's creation, whether that be a passion project or the product of a studio algorithm. The act of dissecting, rating, and looking at the reception of art to measure yourself is all pointless; if it's not about that very artistic expression, it's of tertiary value. Seek to understand before you seek to dissect. Anyone can point at a broken vase, but a true view of its discrete shards and their refraction before light is reserved for the aesthete. To realize that sometimes, the blemishes are what make it beautiful. The vase may be broken, but the way light contorts off the shards is perhaps where the true expression lies. To see beyond mere surface-level observations. To realize that the moment you attempt to pigeonhole things is the moment you've effectively missed the point of expression altogether. Your knowledge of literary devices, narrative structures, tropes, and terminology are all for further understanding—never for baseless dismissals.
The consumer, the reviewer, the critic, it doesn't matter what you call yourself by; all of us are entering the world of the art and not the other way around. We're the outside force. Whatever you call yourself before art, know that we are the foreigners in its dominion, and not it in our's.
Empty yourself of any pretense or prenotions to be filled with what the art and its expression have to offer. And if after all that. After seeking to understand. After living with the artist's vision, you come to a conclusion on whether you like it or not, only then should you dissect and further expound upon your reason for why.
But for those that haven't had that epiphany yet and are still self-obsessed with arbitrary things like numbers and ratings. Those who haven't realize that art is bigger than us and we're the ones that need to humble ourselves. Or if you do realize this and just wish to gauge the "method" to my madness, then the ranking scale and quality-control evaluations are listed below.
Scores indicate the level of inherent value I believe the title retains for itself, as well as where it may fall in the placement of other similar works. The symbols listed are made to negate all scores and strip things to the raw feelings I have for them:
"◆" indicates if I liked it/enjoyed something throughout.
"★" means I loved it/adored it/a personal favorite, similar to Letterboxd's "♥" option.
"◉" means I did not enjoy/disliked it/found it incredibly boring.
Hopefully, with this installed in my tag section, the stigma associated with scores would be alleviated and people will focus on what really matters; my feelings for the content itself.
Please keep in mind, just because a title on my list doesn't get a "◆" or a "★" doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. I could have enjoyed watching the show in question but the enjoyment was far too sporadic, with elongated moments of dead time for me to state I thoroughly enjoyed watching it from beginning to end. It may even be something I don't have much recollection of to give it a symbol, and if that's the case, adding a symbol for the sake of doing so would be disingenuous. So if you have a question regarding a show without a symbol, simply ask.
10/10 : The crème de la crème of the anime medium. A show that reached a pinnacle rarely seen, not only for the medium but also in the broader storytelling landscape in general. An anime that pushed the envelope far beyond what's expected, finding equilibrium across all fronts in a nearly flawless fashion. These shows are all-time favorites that appeal to me on a personal/conceptual level. I enjoyed these titles from beginning to end. Memorable characters and story, both of which were thoroughly explored and presented. An ambitious project that came the closest to perfecting its vision. The kind of shows that leave you with a void upon completion, the bittersweet feeling you receive from experiencing something truly awe-inspiring. There's no true 10/10 out there, but when it comes to these entries, my strong, personal bias won't allow it anything lower. Whatever minor flaws they have become null and void from how much I adore them. If a show ever made me love like a blind fanboy, these are it. They are the closest to my definition of a masterpiece. They're the reason I remain anchored to the medium to this day. They are irreplaceable.
9/10 : Among the best entries that the anime medium has to offer, and as far as I'm concerned, they are also masterpieces in their own right. Extremely enjoyable. Superb script. Endearing cast. Rich in content. Went far beyond expectations. And it should go without saying, but many of them go on to become all-time favorites. Exceeded in setting itself apart from the rest and left a substantial impact. Properly tackled its themes and concepts in a way that distills its principals. I have minor qualms about this show and most of it was easily overlooked from everything else it did right. Whether propelled to the top for its sheer amount of entertainment value or praised for its thematic resonance, they deserve to be celebrated. This is a show that understands the medium it's working with and utilized audiovisuals with proper writing to achieve optimum results. They're timeless and not limited by contemporary standards.
8/10 : An exceptional show. Its positive aspects overshadowed a majority of its problems. Whether it's the personal project of an auteur or the assembly of passionate individuals pooling together, when you watch the work, you get a sense that a great deal of effort and care was poured into its inception. Utilized its themes in an effective and engaging manner. There may be a few minor discrepancies keeping it from ranking higher but despite that, it's still a solid piece of work. May not always register with a strong personal connection but still a series I look back on with fond memories. They are powerhouses. Titles people use as examples of certain things being done right. Stepped above the call of duty. Might have theatrical displays but never needlessly sensationalized. Titles with integrity and earnestness that you can't help but respect. A series I still love flaws and all. Endearing, memorable and left a lasting impression. Sets a benchmark for others to follow.
7/10 : A good show, memorable, and easily recommendable. A show with noticeable flaws but despite those aspects, manage to power through to create something worth the initial investment. A great cast of likable characters. They may not always be the most developed but they were certainly endearing. Good visual and auditory output. An enjoyable experience that left me with satisfactory final impressions. May have been formulaic at times but still sets itself apart with proper execution and presentation. These are the shows that had a clear amount of effort displayed towards seeing its vision through. They might not have captured it in its entirety but they certainly put their best foot forward while trying to. Rewatchable but a few issues hinder it from being better. But as all things go, they're still solid pieces of work, if only not as explored, consistently entertaining, or as rich in content as they could have been.
6/10 : A decent show. For what it's worth, it had merits that edged it ahead of similar works in its playing field. Had good moments but had an equal amount of times where it wasn't appealing. May have had promise but either poor execution or too many glaring problems kept it from being better. Understand that this score isn't a bad one, in fact, it's still relatively "good," it just means I'm not fully comfortable with assigning it a 7 for a few reasons. These tend to be titles that make for a good time-passer or popcorn flick but rarely elevates beyond the glass ceiling it has imposed on itself. Also, very rarely depending on the effort on the show's behalf or mood I'm in, they can lean towards a 7... emphasis on "rarely" as it doesn't happen often. My enjoyment can also be the biggest reason saving it from being a 5. The functionality of its world and/or characters may not have been finely tuned. With all that being said, it's still a show I can recommend to a certain extent, if only with a few disclaimers coming attached to it.
5/10 : Not necessarily a bad show, but at the same time, far from a good one. A mediocre / wasted potential / standard / run-of-the-mill type of show. Watch at your own risk, something I can't fully recommend without a lot of precursors. For every highlight or aspect the show may have had in its favor, there's an equally detracting quality found that counteracts it. May have shown promise but squandered it. May also have had a few unique qualities but still does nothing to stand out. It can also be a case where the show excelled in a certain area but neglected a lot of the fundamentals. May have had a good premise or concept but failed to properly utilize it. Sometimes they're easily forgettable. Sometimes its only purpose is that of a time-passer. Sometimes it's a show that I feel nothing for at all. It could be a show that didn't aim that high, to begin with, which is fine. Other times, it's a show that was too ambitious for the content provided. Whatever the path that each title ended up taking, they all find themselves being "middle of the road" in one way or another. Whatever the case may be, it's a show that might still warrant a watch, but one that's a hit or miss depending on the individual at hand.
4/10 : Poorly-realized, bland, or subpar show. Now, this is where recommending titles become harder to do. Suffers from more problems than highlights. Way too many noticeable flaws. It may have shown promise for something worthwhile but didn't follow through with it. At best, they're easily digestible pieces of entertainment with nothing of substance keeping it afloat. So basically think The McDonalds of anime; quick to consume but offers nothing of nutritional value. Sensationalized content that's reduced to plot twists, trite storylines, and shock value to hold the audiences' attention. Fail to even meet typical standards or to even get the fundamentals right. Doesn't properly tackle its themes. May only have a few redeeming qualities keeping it from being a complete failure. An anime that's "bad" not because it had nothing good to offer, but because what little "good" was there couldn't help the overall "bad" that it was surrounded by. Squandered whatever idea it had, showing no visible attempts to make itself better. These works are the bane of the anime industry. Shows that lower the bar for quality content byways of simple confetti and masquerading.
3/10 : Deplorable. These are works with almost no redeemable quality. They're mostly trainwrecks or "bottom of the barrel" type of shows. No highlights to take away from it, outside of those ironically. Mostly one-trick-ponies with nothing else to offer. Very poorly written and poorly presented. A lot of these tend to be "schlock" level titles that serve the lowest denominator. They're throw-away titles that will easily be replaced by another in a similar vein. Trying to defend titles like these require an extreme amount of mental gymnastics and delusion. The kind of bad that even the average viewer could subconsciously tell there's something "off" with what they're seeing. At best, they're easy-to-consume titles with nothing else to offer but dumb theatrics, and at their worst, a pile of trash that needs to be discarded upon initial viewing.
2/10 : It's shit, shows so bad it's either comical or infuriating. These are shows that failed in almost every category imaginable. The type of title where its ineptitude has spread throughout the entire production. Narratively and thematically undercooked. Cardboard cutout stereotypical characters. Illogical storyboarding. Sloppy directing. Sloppy writing. No heart or effort seemed to be placed into it. Almost cynically brought together in order to cash in on a recognizable property. The kind of show that left all artistry or personality at the front door to make more room for easy profit. Avoid these like the plague. The only enjoyment received might come from turning the whole thing into a drinking game. No finesse, no integrity, nothing. These are the type of shows that go on to serve as punching bags for endless walls of diatribes. Shows that abandon its craft for cheap gimmicks. Shows that have reached the apex of pointlessness.
1/10 : How was this greenlit to be made? How does this even exist? I'm being held against my will at this point. Shows so bad that it's almost unfathomable to think somewhere out there, someone might actually like it unironically. Cancer. It's the kind of bad anime that everyone could agree that there's something wrong with it. So in a way, these are the kind of shows that bring people together, as we all gather around and fling verbal feces at it. These titles manage to do everything wrong, an accomplishment within itself. Titles so bad they almost become masterpieces in their own right.
Like anything else, there are exceptions to this ranking scale as well. Simply treat it as a guideline to my thought process when assigning scores to a title.
Rating Philosophy
If you're curious about why I think scores matter despite my whole spiel in the precursor section stating otherwise, then read this: Rating Philosophy.
The act of rating anime, to me, is tertiary BUT still a necessary evil, especially when you're dealing with data gathering sites like this one, where people falsely equate their favorites or shows they dislike as a measurement of their intellect and self-worth. Hopefully, this blog entry will help you mitigate that fallacy and perhaps come to a better understanding as to why scores themselves aren't inherently important without first acknowledging art's importance in relation to the viewer.
I see Stray Dog Deezy wasn't pleased with your reviews. I wonder if he's someone here on MAL? I'm going to find this man and send him a friend request.
You need...something Zeph would like. You need....the best and this...is the best. *nods really fast*
NOW GO AND READ IT! OR I WILL FORCE IT ON YOUR EYES!
How do you decide what anime you're going to watch and/or rewatch given how massive your "plan to watch" list is? Is it based on mood or you have a certain "priority list"?
All Comments (9872) Comments
get on my level.
You need...something Zeph would like. You need....the best and this...is the best. *nods really fast*
NOW GO AND READ IT! OR I WILL FORCE IT ON YOUR EYES!
ZEEEEEEEPPPHYYYYYY Read it!