Shounen -or- Seinen, Romance -or- Action-thriller, OVA -or- decade-spanning works, I'm just here to enjoy anime. I believe that everything should be considered within its intended frame of reference. That being said, I have my preferences too.
HOW I RATE MY SHOWS:
TL;DR: 4+ means I can stand it, 5+ means I liked it, 6+ means I really liked it, 8+ means I loved it. I'm a strong believer in separating good from very good.
Feel free to ask me what I think of certain shows/manga. I like discussing those kinds of things.
Everything as follows is a general guideline.
1-2: Bad: Probably dropping. Lack of quality is decided by my impressions of the first or first few episode(s).
3: Poor: Depending on the theme or the length of the show, I might drop it. These just are tedious to watch. Jokes always fall flat, the story goes nowhere or is utterly uninteresting. Annoying characters run rampant. Poorly adapted works, that fall into pacing and production problems, and/or just shows that should have stayed in the original format, are also present here. If all I want is a good story, then I'll read a book.
4: Meh: 'Average' is a difficult rating to work with, so I'm giving 4 to shows that are "Meh" because I want to have a distinction between the truly average 4-8 range that most shows should fall into. These are the lower half of also-ran shows that litter the average season. Shows that are clearly bad, but still entertaining also make this list. They are an overall neutral watch, and I may drop if I don't feel like spending the time getting through them. Because of the neutral watch, much of the time my attention will start to wane, so shows with slow or weak starts that may be decent fall into this group.
5: Fine: The better half of also-ran shows . They are still enjoyable to a degree, but are lacking in any deeper meaning or interesting qualities. Generally still full of cliches. Also present are stories that could have been in the higher brackets, but the story is noticeably incomplete in a production sense despite being seriously entertaining with a story that had high potential. (see Kekkai Sensen)
6: Decent: A positive stand-out. Honestly, a lot of the shows I like to watch fall into this region for being super entertaining, but lack deeper meaning, quality characters and stories, and still have many cliches. There are a mix of quality shows that are just aren't as entertaining, but also some things that aren't known for quality like harems that I find more entertaining. As a rule of thumb, a 6 will have done at least one thing very well - be it characters and story, a deep message, great art/animation/production, or even just pure epicness.
7: Good: Most of shows I plan to watch will fall into a range between six and eight. At this level I would consider recommending shows to non-anime fans. Sevens are more enjoyable and/or higher quality than sixes, with a decent story and characters, evidence of purposeful cinematography, well done humor or occasionally fan service. Anime in this category takes a further step in the direction of my general interests. Some shows in here are very well-executed lighthearted material such as SOL - you could say these are my favorite 6's. It's possible that more meaningful material such as 8's or 9's will drop to a 7 for being too preachy with their message or otherwise lacking tact and entertainment value. (see Parasyte)
8: Very Good: Eights are more emotional or are seriously entertaining for some other reason. These are the shows I look forward to watching more of. Great art or animation can make up for some otherwise weaker elements here, but won't pull them up much further. Lot's of shows here combine many elements that I like. Some eights could have been 9's or 10's, but have noticeable flaws, or otherwise are lacking in depth.
9: Amazing: I can't wait to continue watching. Many nines have some really good messages to be taken from them, including real life advice or contain real world analogies that get you to think. Some degree of expectation and involvement is generally present. High production values with interesting story, characters, setting, and message are present. Some shows in this category could have been tens but narrowly missed some sort of expectation, or felt like they took an unnecessary turn.
10: Top Tier: Anime that I give tens are ones that I highly recommend. I will watch the whole series in one sitting if it's already finished and can be done in the course of my waking hours - see Code Geass (hah). Cinematography, animation, characters, story, etc. are extremely well done. These don't have to be perfect, but they were thoroughly enjoyable and could either give me a full range of emotions, or give strong emotions in any direction. When it comes to comedy, if each episode can have me gasping for air, then it deserves this rating. For Shounen and other action oriented works, the very occasional plot convenience - so long as it is plausible within the scope of the universe and doesn't ruin the feel - is still acceptable.
Addendum:
Exceptional Music, Art, Animation, Cinematography, Voice Acting, Humor, and possibly others are all criteria to bump scores up (or down if they are awful).
Quality versus enjoyment factor is always a difficult question, and one that I myself have to sort through much of the time. There are plenty of otherwise well-written shows that are dull and boring, or just have a tone or pace that I'm not really fond of. Seeming taking the majority though are shows that have enjoyable aspects but screw up in terms of the story, plot, characters, setting, etc. I get it; working with exceptional source material in the span of a 1-cour airing and getting it right is not easy.
Because there are plenty of "LITERATURE IS DEAD"-screamers and edgy "your show is shit... I've never rated a show a 10"-type people out there already, I'm setting my ratings on here mostly for the sake of sorting shows by how much I enjoy them. I can enjoy some decently trashy shows depending on the content, so I wanted to make as much use as possible of the 1 through 10 ratings. Enjoyable for me starts around a 4 for cheap entertainment and goes to 10 for really deep, or otherwise really over the top shows - mostly the latter to be honest.
Growing up watching Tom & Jerry, Ed Edd and Eddy, and the like, and later moving on to spastic Garry's Mod videos, I like my humor punchy. But unlike the previous, I like a degree of realistic expectations and adult sensibilities to go with them. Shows like KonoSuba, Osomatsu-san, and Gintama have the kind of humor I really enjoy. Shows like One Punch Man, Gurren Lagann, and NGE satisfy the Over-the-Top-ness that I think only (well-drawn) animation can do right. Rom/Youth-Comedies like Kokoro Connect, Maidens of the Savage Season, and Kaguya: Love is War can get me admittedly giddy.
I'm not a literary critic, so I won't be reserving 10's for the two or three "best stories ever"
like some people do. I'm also not super picky about repetitiveness within or among shows, so take that in mind.
Also worthy of note, is the fact that I watch entire completed series' at once, so that may of course lead to a biased enjoyment. I watch airing shows as they come out.
0th Anime - est 2000 - Pokemon
1st Anime - est 2011 - Soul Eater (7/10)
1000th Anime - August 24, 2021 - Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta... (6/10)
1250th Anime - September 24, 2023 - Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 (8/10)
I like my anime cartoony. Slightly squished proportions, and simple designs with bigger than real-life eyes (not Clannad huge) > realism and detail (in most cases).
I prefer my shows to be light-hearted and/or parodical in nature. I also like it when they take a turn for the dark so long as there is a good philosophical/psychological message. I also really enjoy high-stakes dramas with good world-building and character development, but not particularly supernatural stuff.
Often I watch shows that make efforts to be humorous but have a weak story. In these cases, I am able to overlook flaws depending on the magnitude. One example of a show that I think is the reverse of this is Shakugan no Shana, which started off with a great concept, but became weak over time.
Sex jokes, satire, and build-ups are the best comedy.
Anti-heroes are 10e12x better than whiny, idealistic cry babies
First anime I came into contact with: Pokemon - Probably shortly after Pokemon 2000 - I still play the games.
First anime I enjoyed: Soul Eater - watched it in 2011 or so and have been hooked on anime since shortly thereafter.
Favorite Genres: Action/Drama, Comedy, Work-drama, Rom-com, SOL, Low(-ish)-key Ecchi (not Melon Jugs) - ok so I like most genres... š
Favorite Aspects:
Thoughtfully presented stories, esp. ones that focus on the "why", but also have decent action to complement them.
Humor that never misses a beat
High keyframe counts, esp. with thoughtful details
Cinematic-level scores
Detailed backgrounds
Purposeful Cinematography that avoids dull panning shots
Well-built backstories with tied ends
Drawing-worthy characters
Dislikes:
Story-focused anime with dense, whiny, idealistic moron MCs - idiot harem leads are OK, but not preferred.
Sharp featured, shoujo proportioned, sclera-less giant-bubble-eyed, high-mouthed, mid-late-1990's era freakshow character designs.
Shows that try to take themselves seriously but suck at it.
Shows that focus a too heavily telling the story, rather than making attempts to visually convey it.
Shows that instead of providing an objective view of society / politics for you to decide on, just try forcing their message on you.
Shows that are rushed from the source material to fit in a 1-cour.
Favorite way to scare my friends with normal amounts of time on their hands: I tell them (truthfully) that I have watched and re-watched One Piece up to around 700 episodes.
Favorite Anime Quote: Don't go trying to play the hero after getting a stick jammed up your ass.
-Joe (Prison School)
I fight for myself alone. There is no other reason to fight ... There must be a reason for fighting, but that reason must never be an ideal. If you fight for ideals, then you will only ever be able to save ideals. That's all - you won't be able to help anyone. A desire to save something or someone stands out as a reason to fight, or at least it does for you .... It's indeed true that your wish to save others can probably be achieved, but in doing so, you must give up all hope of saving yourself. You shall cling to ideals not your own, and you will pursue them until it destroys you in the end. And that is why these ideals you hold so dear, are meaningless. Nothing ever comes of helping others, because in the end you can save neither others nor yourself. That life is an illusion.
-Archer (F/sn:UBW)
It’s hard to share one’s perception. The same way it’s impossible to convey how something feels without them having felt it for themselves.
- Ginko (Mushishi)
Don't forget that kindness can sometimes bring forth an even greater sadness.
- Homura (Madoka Magica)
It sucks, but you can't reach a happy ending just by doing what's right all the time. Actually, the more people get stubborn and insist that they're in the right, the farther away happiness gets.
- Kaname Junko (Madoka Magica)
Talent.. Everyone arbitrarily loves, hates, and curses others for that. And in the end, they all quietly drift away.
- Morita Shinobu (Honey and Clover II)
Welcome to Critics and Connoisseurs . Please go through our Club FAQ . We encourage all our members to be active in our You Decide, Spotlight Forums and keep up with the activity requirements. Here is a link to our Old Spotlights to help you familiarize yourself with titles that have been nominated in the past. You can also find a link to our Discord server on our main page. Again Welcome!
Greetings bossmann-dan, I saw that you were watching a few seasonal shows.
We have entered the finale of the season and at the Anime Guild our main specialization is being a Seasonal Club.
We choose the best Opening, Ending, Character and of course Anime of the Season with also a Review Section and a Power Ranking Group.
If that seems appealing to you, we currently are featuring our Ending competition and Sign-ups for the Review Event is Open.
I have already sent an invite as well as provide a link to our club ^.^ - http://myanimelist.net/clubs.php?cid=63899
All Comments (7) Comments
yeah i like to watch those anime sometimes
i watching kill la kill
can u tell its pros ?
Hope to see you around the club page =).
We have entered the finale of the season and at the Anime Guild our main specialization is being a Seasonal Club.
We choose the best Opening, Ending, Character and of course Anime of the Season with also a Review Section and a Power Ranking Group.
If that seems appealing to you, we currently are featuring our Ending competition and Sign-ups for the Review Event is Open.
I have already sent an invite as well as provide a link to our club ^.^ - http://myanimelist.net/clubs.php?cid=63899