This is an idea that Du5k from One Minute of Dusk came up with. Basically, several bloggers have agreed to make posts about what they consider to be a “perfect” or a 10/10 anime. Well, I wasn’t a part of the original circle of people who would do these posts, but I thought it was nigh time that I talked about my standards for the “perfect” anime. So after inviting myself to the event, here are the characteristics of what I would consider to be a 10/10 anime.
But before that, let me tell you something about my rating system as a whole. I have been called cruel a bunch of times by my friends that see my anime list, basically because they think that I score anime too low. On the contrary, I consider everything that I give a score of 6 and above to be anime that had an overall positive impact for me. Here’s a full breakdown:
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10 – The pinnacle of entertainment.
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9 – Kept my eyes glued to the screen. The best of the best.
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8 – The best anime I can hope for. I consider anime reaching this score to be must-watches.
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7 – The better anime. The types that should be watched if you have free time on your hands.
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6 – Good anime. These are anime that should be watched if you don’t have anything better to do.
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5 – Average anime. Has entertainment value, but I guess you’re better off doing something else entirely.
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4 – Bad anime. These are the kind of anime that should be watched, if you want to be amazed at how bad anime can be; so bad, it’s good level.
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3 – Very bad anime – These anime induce sleepiness or rage. Try to stay away from these. Terribad level.
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2 – The lowest score that I have given so far. The “so bad, it’s not even funny” level. May cause narcolepsy. This score is reserved mostly for horrible anime extras, but I can also give this score to TV series that try hard enough.
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1 – I wish the day that I give this score would never come.
I only have a single standard for rating shows, and that is it’s entertainment value – measured in the most biased and personal way possible. You may now be asking what I consider to be the “pinnacle of entertainment.” The answer is very simple. My all-time favorite shows. These are the shows that when I stop to think about them, I would have feelings of fulfillment and time well spent. Shows getting a score of 10 would never disappear from my mind, regardless of there being anime that surpass them. To me, a score of 10 isn’t perfection, but an indication that this anime that got a 10 is tailored almost exactly to my tastes. So far, only two anime have got this score from me: Clannad After Story and Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica.
Of course, this is as subjective as it can be. I mean, that’s the whole point. I believe that rating an anime should be done on a personal level, instead of trying to be “professional” and failing at it miserably. The world does not live on a single standard. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, they say.
Prime example: the big four of 2011 were Madoka Magica, AnoHana, Steins;Gate and Mawaru Penguindrum. I gave these titles scores of 10, 4, 8 and 5 respectively. You will see that the AnoHana fan considers me as someone without a soul and the Penguindrum fan considers me a disgrace to literature, and I would ask why. AnoHana and Penguindrum were titles that I didn’t like. End of discussion. I don’t care about having a soul or being a lit whiz. I have my own tastes and they have theirs. This is the reason why when I review anime, I always attach the words “Super Subjective” as an early disclaimer.
Of course, nothing’s wrong with having multiple parameters and bases, but still, judging based on these doesn’t make a rating objective. What it does is make the scoring system more fair, but not an absolute evaluation of the anime’s worth.
Long story short, anime reviews should never be completely trusted, no matter how well-written and charismatic they may be. For me, the best way to find the “perfect” anime is to watch as many as you can and find that title that fits your taste perfectly, and no statistic or review should hold one back from finding his/her own “pinnacle of entertainment.”
See what the others think!
These wonderful people are also participating in the Anime Blog Carnival. Why don’t you read their articles too? You just may find the perfect rating system for you.
- One Minute of Dusk – Read du5k’s article
- Anime B&B – Read Marina’s article
- The Otaku’s Study – Read Sam’s article
- Anime Viking – Read Marow’s article
- Draggle’s Anime Blog – Read Draggle’s article
- Hachimitsu – Read Mira’s article
- Ace Railgun – Read Ace Railgun’s article
- Leap250′s Blog – Read Leap250′s article
- Mainichi Anime Yume – Read Yumeka’s article
- Lemmas and Submodalities – Read SnippetTee’s article
- Ephemeral Dreams – Read Ephemeral Dreamer’s article
- World of Yamaguchi Hoshiko – Read Hoshiko’s article
- Listless Ink – Read Yi’s article
- Nopy’s Blog – Read Nopy’s article
- Deluscar – Read Kai’s article
- The G-Empire – Read OverlordG’s article
- flomu – Read flomu’s article
- AOIA – Read Valence’s article
Ambivalence , or is it ambiguity? 
I agree with you about the subjective preferences and hence the rating. We all like different stuff.
And some fans are annoying when you rate their favourite show rather poorly 😛
It’s not like I can’t understand the fans if they get angry over someone rating anime that they like low. Heck, if someone badmouths Clannad or Madoka, I would be rather angry myself, but I would try to restrain myself from voicing it out, unless when it gets to the point where they throw personal insults to the staff who worked on the anime, regardless of the quality.
I tend to agree with you for the most part especially since you are rating anime you like and not what you think other people might like. You’re giving your honest opinion and what more could a reader ask for when reading a review you wrote.
I agree the low scores you gave Ano Hana and Penguindrum. I liked Penguindrum but I can see how some people might not, It would be hard to recommend to a lot of people but I know some people that would just love it.
I never really liked Ano Hana either, the drama was a bit to heavy and you didn’t get enough time to like the characters. Plus I can’t help but compare it to Clannad which was vastly superior.
It just goes to show that people have different tastes. I make a sarcastic smirk whenever I see a blog that claims that the writing of AnoHana or Penguindrum were great, but on the other hand, I try to get what they mean.
Maybe because of where I come from, dramas like AnoHana are fairly commonplace, but less exaggerated, and that’s why I found AnoHana to be bad.
i am really easy to entertain, so i give high scores where most people wouldnt expect.
but my main criteria is yuri and lolis. either are automatic 10/10 assuming it wasnt boring.
I’d like to think that I’m fairly easy to entertain too. In fact, I’d recommend that you watch everything in my anime list that gets a 7 or higher, and that’s about a thirdo of the total anime that I watched.
Enjoyment/Entertainment Value is really the best way of rating a show. Likewise, each person has their own standards of enjoyment, which then becomes subjective. In the end, what you said holds true – The world does not live on a single standard.
I’m glad that you see my point. =)
” I believe that rating an anime should be done on a personal level, instead of trying to be “professional” and failing at it miserably.”
I totally see what you mean. Completely subjective ratings are always invariably useful, and of course better than objective reviews that failed to get the point.
But I prefer to be subjective in the review itself, not the score, because then your score would reflect your taste, not the value of the show. I know it balances out against the people who rate the anime with a totally opposite opinion, but still.
Anyway, I would not be able to do it like you, because if my scores are subjective there would be way too many 10/10s and 1/10s. And I would look like a nitwit. =(
But I also agree that anime reviews should never be completely trusted. However I would say that one should read as many reviews as possible to get the general consensus and opinions of the particular anime.
One method I use to ensure that my scores, while subjective, still maintain some semblance of range is to compare the overall feeling I have from the show with other rated shows that I set on my list. So if a show feels less enjoyable than a show rated with 8 but more enjoyable than one rated with 6, I’d rate it a 7. Makes everything a lot simpler that way.
Rating by comparison is actually a good way to gauge your tastes. Yes, it does make it simpler and more manageable.
That’s pretty much what I did as well. I often pick a few titles, say an 8, a 7 and a 6, and decide which one would the one I’m rating be closest to.
“But I prefer to be subjective in the review itself, not the score…”
I think I see what you mean, but I don’t see my scores as a way to gauge the show’s value. Like how I review anime, my scores are still indicative of my personal tastes.
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I like your style – mostly because it’s the same thing I do. If you give me a scale from 1 to 10, by god I’m going to use the full thing. What’s the point of having 1 to 5 when everyone just gives everything a 6 and up anyway?
And rating by your own standards – definitely. I prioritise visuals, direction and story at the top, followed by enjoyment then everything else, and my ratings mostly reflect that. After all, no matter how much you try to be objective, you’re still going to be pissed on by all the subjective fans who spam your wall with “omg this was de greatest show of all tiemz why you give so low you dick” so there isn’t much point.
Also, @fkeroge, this is entirely a subjective proposal, but you really need to change your background, the high-contrast-Homura skin is killing my eyes while trying to read your text.
I think I will, then.
Yes true dat! The fact that it goes from 1 to 10 is for people to actually use the scoring from 1 to 10. The lowest I gave is 2 so far (I think it was Queen’s Blade) and I would like to think I actually “made good use” of the 1 to 10 scale ;D Ooh, now that when I think about it, fkeroge reaches this peak too ;D
Hehe, thanks. In MAL, a score of 1 corresponds to “unwatchable.” I have yet to encounter an “unwatchable” anime.
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I didn’t watch 3 of the big 4 you mentioned not because the story wasn’t good but because I can’t stand some of the character. So for me it needs to has a good balance of good story and likeable characters.
I like to think that characters are not necessarily likable for one to enjoy a piece of fiction. For example, the book Lord of the Flies is a perfect example of how low humans can go, and that’s still an entertaining and meaningful read.
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There’s nothing wrong with rating anime by personal enjoyment, but as you’ve mentioned people who do this probably get some fans trying to convince them to change their scores. This has happened to me a couple times where I gave an anime a negative review and people would start throwing insults and what-not. It’s not pretty, but at least it gets more opinions out there.
Well, I think that’s the purpose of attaching a disclaimer like mine in my reviews. I always say that it is a personal opinion and I hold no grudge against the anime itself and the people who liked it.
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Hehehehehehehe, this is why I like you @fkeroge. You are a professional critic in training in every sense of the word. As soon as I read the part about people saying you don’t have a soul or aren’t a fan of literature I rolled on the floor.
Thanks so much for the laugh dood.
Now back to seriousness. this was a good analysis on how you rate your shows and stuff. Keep it up dood.
Okay, I can’t control myself. That part was almost as funny as Kill me Baby and “Macho” Nichijou! Oh dear, I need to breathe.
I don’t think I meant that to be funny, but thanks anyway. As long as you’re entertained, then that’s fine.
I really like when you defined what is your 10/10 anime. Just like you 10/10 for me isn’t about perfection or how flawless an anime is. I’ll stick with how MAL defined it, plus would say that it’s a masterpiece which gave me the best enjoyment that I could get, wherein all (or almost all) of the elements that I’m searching for are present.
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