I'm of the opinion that Last Updates should be at the top of a fresh profile page, so I’ll be wrapping everything else in this spoiler tag:
Yo. I’m egobarrier. The original egobarrier. I’ve seen egobarriers on Twitter and LiveJournal so I kind of regret choosing this apparently-uninventive alias on a whim back in the mid-2000s, but I know in my heart I did it first. Regardless, they aren’t me or in any way affiliated with me; other egobarriers might be me (VNDB’s is, for instance), but those 2 are definitely not. I don’t really mind someone unwittingly appropriating my long-held moniker—I’m largely a lurker and pretty much stole it from Evangelion when I was too young to be creative—but I refuse to even entertain the notion of having a Twitter account.
Anyway, yeah, I’m egobarrier. You can call me egobarrier, or ego, or EB, or whatever you want, really. I’m not too picky.
My History
I think my first anime experience was technically random episodes of Speed Racer in the pre-Toonami 90s, but that hardly counts. My proper start would probably be Voltron, but even that’s arguable given my sporadic viewing ability (this will be a trend) and my inability to appreciate what was going on. But it at least succeeded in drawing me to Toonami, and as with many others Dragon Ball Z was where anime really began. And what a beginning it was: most everything that aired on Toonami and the anime segments of Adult Swim quickly appealed to me, though due to that aforementioned sporadic viewing availability I often couldn’t watch what I wanted. To date I still haven't watched all that Cartoon Network offered in my youth (Cowboy Bebop most notably). Nevertheless, between CN and the Saturday morning blocks on other stations my childhood self quickly gravitated to Japanese animation, and away from more Western sensibilities.
Dubbed airings were all I could access for years, as much due to my ignorance as my parents' reliance on dial-up, but eventually (high school) I started to learn just how much more there was out there. Conveniently, this coincided with my parents finally switching to DSL. What started with finding dubs on streaming sites evolved over the years into subscriptions to Crunchyroll and Funimation and a minor in Japanese, and even after entering the workforce I still make time for far more anime than I should. Obsessive? Perhaps so, but I have no regrets. (This is the only path.)
My Taste in Anime
First off, here's what I generally won't watch:
Children's shows—I’m too old for them. They just aren't interesting. Usually, anyway.
Yaoi/BL/don’t-know-the-difference-and-don’t-care—it doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t have anything against it (or homosexuality in general), and I’m not going to rate something lower for including it. I just don’t have a reason to tune in if it’s the show’s focus.
Shows that go on endlessly—I’m not terribly patient, especially if filler arcs are involved. If it has a 3-digit episode count and I didn't watch it as a kid, I need a big incentive to do so now.
Pure fanservice—By "pure" I mean "nothing but"; I can (and do) deal with a LOT of unnecessary, banal, undignified nonsense done in the name of the lonely otaku demographic. On occasion I even enjoy it (comedic delivery helps). But I am only going to keep watching if I feel it has other merits besides.
Beyond that, I'm really up for anything. I don't have any particular requirements other than it entertain me in some way, and I don’t think I'm a hard guy to entertain. Deep or shallow, realistic or fantastic, serious or slapstick, I can enjoy almost anything shounen or seinen, with the occasional shoujo/josei for good measure.
That said, there are certainly factors that give a series a leg up on the competition:
First and foremost, I heavily favor what's currently airing in Japan. I'm too apathetic to start new endeavors and sometimes lack the attention span to see them through before switching to something else; currently airing anime lets me enjoy others' impressions alongside my own, which can make an average current series more engaging than a great one from a decade ago.
I really want the time I invest to give me some kind of closure, which is all too often elusive in the modern environment. Far too many series animate the first X volumes of a manga/novel series and then just stop, leaving me wanting to see what they're building towards but unable to do so. This can give even the best endings a bitter aftertaste, so I'll rarely pass up those that look to animate all of their source material, have a strong ending (original or otherwise), or are anime-original. Furthermore, non-action harem anime gets a special note: if I suspect the generic male lead will end the series without actually choosing someone, I become far less inclined to watch 12 episodes of him walking in on the cast bathing. -_-
Plot is good. Plot advancement more so. Sure, comedy can get away with being plotless and slice-of-life kind of runs on it, but I usually want to see development. I didn't stop watching Naruto and Bleach because the fights weren't pretty enough, I stopped because the filler arcs were meaningless at best and groan-inducing at worst. Incidentally, this is also why I don't watch many sports anime; they usually won’t win it all until the end, and who knows if that will ever get animated? I want something to happen, be it plot-wise or relationship-wise. Speaking of which...
...I'm a bit of a romanticist at heart, sometimes even a shipper. Horribly drawn out Will They or Won't They affairs aside, I enjoy the chemistry that comes with a non-generic lead and a spirited partner, and at times that's been enough to pick up a series. But again, if I'm watching a series for relationships, I want some actual development.
Last, but definitely not least: intelligence. I don’t mean intellectualism or hard science or such (not that any of that hurts), but basic competency on the part of the writer and staff. I groan at shoehorned fanservice, I cringe at cardboard villains, I complain about plot-holes, and above-all I despise competent characters acting like idiots when the plot demands. What that constitutes can be hard to pin down (it often varies with tone and setting), but I know it when I see it. Sometimes I just have to put with it (LNs especially are prone to juvenile writing), but I will be vocal in my discontent, especially if a show knows better and does it anyway (looking at you, Psycho-Pass 2).
Other factors I favor include dark stories, tearjerkers, good action (especially well-constructed and thought-out systems or over-the-top awesome), and twists that keep you guessing without feeling like asspulls. And of course, interesting characters, eye candy, memorable soundtracks, et cetera all help.
My Ratings
There are many things I hate doing, and rating falls near the top of the list. I loathe grading, critiquing, and otherwise passing judgment on others' work, so I don't intend to write any reviews. That said, in those very rare cases where I feel I need to justify or expand on something, I'll say it in the Comments section under "More". Also, I watched some of the shows on my list long before I joined this site, so some of these ratings were gut feelings about shows I barely remember. Take anything that aired on American TV before 2009 with a grain of salt.
Now, no one actually adheres to MAL's rating standards, so doing so myself will probably just make me look overly harsh and snobby. However, I enjoy working within a system, and if the system says 5 is average and the rest of the world says it's 7, I say "Screw you, World." Having said that, going from Average (5) to Bad (4) in a single step is asinine, so here's my philosophy:
1) Unwatchable. I refuse on principle to rate anything until I've completed it, so I can't logically rate something a 1: that would mean I watched it, and thus it's not unwatchable. I'm not sure something "unwatchable" even exists, except maybe that infamous Porygon episode. If I ever rate something a 1, assume it induced a seizure that prevented me from finishing it.
2) Horrible. These are insulting. If they're this bad I'll undoubtedly drop them early on, and as I don't bother to record dropped anime unless I’ve seen a few cours of it I doubt you'll ever see a 2 on my list except perhaps in a so-bad-you've-got-to-see-it scenario. Oh wow, Ousama Game really was so terrible it became wonderful. Bravo.
3) Bad. This is the lowest you’ll actually see on my list. Whatever potential these had was ruined by the makers either not caring or not knowing what they were doing. They might not be completely unwatchable if you really like the genre or they fit some kind of niche, but in most cases I would recommend not wasting your time. Sometimes personal taste plays into it as well; series that might otherwise be a 4 can become a 3 if they tick me off. Psycho-Pass 2, for instance, wouldn’t have been so bad without the stigma of “What did you do to Psycho-Pass?”, and MLA: Total Eclipse's biggest fault was that it managed to make TSF warfare boring.
4) Below Average. These could have been decent, but certain factors really brought them down. Deus ex machina endings, painfully bad animation, horrid pacing, That One Girl's eardrum-splitting voice--whatever the reason(s), these left a bad aftertaste despite having some good points, and ultimately disappointed. Might be worth it if you're a fan of the genre, but there's better stuff out there and I can’t in good conscience recommend these without strong caveats.
5) Average. Average is hard to pin down. Some are those works that do what they set out to do and nothing more. They might be disappointing if you expected more, but they're fine to watch if you know what you're getting into. Alternatively, they can be those which would have been Good series had they not had some rather glaring faults that can't be ignored (but not so damning as to make them Below Average). Either way Average anime can be enjoyable (I often find them so), just not particularly memorable. You can check them out if you enjoy the genre, but they probably won't change your mind if you don't.
6) Fine. These works are somewhere between Average and Good. They do what they set out to do and go a little further, though they are still too flawed to be called Good. The difference is that Fine anime give me some reason to recommend them to a genre fan, while Average anime don't. If you aren't a fan of the genre I still wouldn't recommend them, but if you are they're not a bad use of your time.
7) Good. These are works that do what they set out to do and do it well. They'll have some flaws of course, but they're overall solid productions. I would certainly recommend them to those who like the genre, and also those that don't care either way. If you actively dislike the genre though, these likely won't change your mind.
8) Very Good. These are works which do what they set out to do and more. There are only a few flaws to note and are otherwise consistently entertaining--not perfect, but certainly memorable. Definitely recommended to genre fans, and even to those who typically aren't. Unless you loathe the genre in question, these are worth a look.
9) Great. These do everything they should do and more, and they do it well. They have almost no flaws and provide a memorable experience that brings something special to the medium. You should check these out even if you dislike the genre--they may change your mind.
10) Outstanding. It’s not about genres and flaws at this point—these know exactly what they want to be and pull out all the stops to achieve it with style. Nothing is perfect, but these change the way I look at anime, going above and beyond to achieve their goals. Whether it’s TTGL’s ever-spiraling scale of awesome or ufotable delivering the beautiful FSN moments I’d given up on seeing done right, they are special to me in ways more important than any kind of objective rating. They’re what I fill in when I say, "Yeah, that was good, but it was no _________."
Beyond Anime
As my list indicates, I don’t read much manga. Mostly it's just manga that I originally watched as anime or happened upon by chance in a rare mood. Light novels are likewise, and are even more limited by their length and the scarcity of English versions.
However, I very much enjoy visual novels. Although I find them difficult to start, once I'm going I'm hooked. See http://vndb.org/u22264/list for my full listing. Otherwise, some of my favorites (in order played):
It's hard to describe how much I loved Fate/stay night--the 2006 anime, while good enough for what it was, cannot even compare, and certainly isn't the reason my favorite characters are who they are (and the 2010 movie may as well not have happened; even looked at as “UBW in 90 minutes” it fails on several fundamental levels that I could rant about). Ufotable’s UBW was the greatest present to me, you have no idea. I don’t care about its poor early pacing, its terrible sex scenes or any of its other flaws, I just love FSN to death. Playing FSN (with voices) is something I'd recommend over any anime in existence, no question.
Saya no Uta is the VN for those who don't have the patience for a VN. Short but thrilling, simple but profound, and the exception to every VN rule, it's recommended to any who can handle it.
What Ever17 lacks in production values and translation quality it makes up for with plot, featuring the single most brilliant mindscrew plot I've seen (resist any urge to spoil yourself, and stay away from the Wikipedia article, seriously).
Muv-Luv Alternative was breathtaking, with absurd production values and a plot worthy of the heavy time investment to get there. Not the best ending, but oh what a ride. Definitely play Muv-Luv first though, at least the Sumika and Meiya routes. Trust me, it pays off.
Little Busters! is Key at its best--the best comedic VN I've played in its common route, the most tear-jerking anything I've seen in its final route. If it had a better skip function and Mio's route didn't feel so out of place, it would be right there with FSN. Shame J.C. Staff couldn't capture the magic the way KyoAni did with Clannad.
Remember, those who write off visual novels as porn games don't know what they're missing—all-ages VNs are plenty, and a good eroge isn't played for its porn, it's played in spite of it.
" I enjoy working within a system, and if the system says 5 is average and the rest of the world says it's 7, I say "Screw you, World." Having said that, going from Average (5) to Bad (4) in a single step is asinine."
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I lol'd