The measure of an Anime

[Newoldschool]

How do you measure how good and Anime is?
What is your Anime yardstick?

Apparently I'm obsessed with the Dragonball series,from start to finish and from top to bottom

In every Anime,Movie and Tv show there is always a part of me asking "what would Goku do?" ,its come to the point where I even play out scenes with him in my head with him as a character in what I'm watching

My yardstick is something so good so utterly fantastic that I dont think of the Dragonball series that is when I know something is good

But so far there has only been 4 stories that has totally sealed away Dragonball

[Don9aldo]

^ What about completely different genres? I doubt you could measure the merits of Mushishi by Dragonball standards.

Originally Posted by Newoldschool

Totally sealed away Dragonball.

:???:



Music is a big sticking point with me - it's how I determine which ones I five star, but of course it isn't the only thing (As my score of Bleach can attest to; great music, especially for the fight scenes. Everything else? Bleargh, once the fillers kick in).

I don't really use any comparisons, I just judge it based on its own merit - with the variety of stuff I enjoy it's impossible for me to find a good medium between each show...

[JacobM]

i usually measure an anime by:

-large number of characters
-cuteness of the girls
-vignette style storytelling

not that these 'rules' are set in stone. also, if there's romance or sports involved, i'm more interested, but those are just my favorite genres, and i don't think that's what the question is.

[MugiwaraMarius]

If you're asking what I look for in anime then here is my answer from this thread:

Originally Posted by MugiwaraMarius

Heh well I think any of my friends around here know what I like. I'm pretty much open to watching anything but what I like best is something that I can dissect and analyze. My favorites are dark psychological shows that explore the darker side of humans. A show like Kaiji that can inspire me to write wall of text just breaking everything down from the strategies to the social commentary are always going to be near and dear to me. The same goes for complex well written anime such as my favorite show Legend of the Galactic Heroes. There are so many parallels to really history there to be mined for what they have to say about democracy as well as autocracy. Their merits and short comings as well as the effects each system has on the people living under them.

Another thing I look for are great character development. Characters should be like real people and change and adapt as they gain new experiences. Not all development has to be complex to be good sometimes it can be something small that gives a character a little bit of depth that makes all the difference. Static characters mostly suck unless they already have really well established personalities.

Anything with parallels to the real world especially history interest me. It's always interesting to see something like Rose of Versailles where I already have a good grasp on the history so I can really see what they've changed and what point they are trying to make. What's good here can also be a certain amount of anachronisms which can be used to differing effects.

Not everything has to be complex though Chii's Sweet Home is just plain adorable and heartwarming. There is also Nodame Cantabile that is not only a great romance with believable development but it also has some breathtakingly beautiful musical numbers. NC really does a great job of developing the characters in a believable manner along with the changes in the relationship. It never drags out disagreements or misunderstanding but turns these situations for the characters to grow.

It's really the writing that makes all the difference when it comes to good and bad shows. Anohana could have easily been a boring slog but the wonderfully bittersweet dialogue made it a joy to watch. It was a show that really evoked the pain of growing up and dealing with tragedy. The character development was great because it was never smooth it always went in fits and starts much like what real people go through when they try to change.

Really while I have preferences and standards good anime is always good no matter what it is about.

I try to go into every anime with an open mind and not have any kind of preconceived notions about. When thinking about an anime I might compare to it other shows in the same genre but I don't have any single measuring stick for anime because given the diversity of different genres of anime that seems a bit crazy.

[Don9aldo]

Originally Posted by MugiwaraMarius

If you're asking what I look for in anime then here is my answer from this thread:



I try to go into every anime with an open mind and not have any kind of preconceived notions about. When thinking about an anime I might compare to it other shows in the same genre but I don't have any single measuring stick for anime because given the diversity of different genres of anime that seems a bit crazy.

/facepalmatownstupidity

I should've realised.

[Kruszer]

I try to start any title with as little knowledge about it as possible, so everything theoretically starts with the median rating and either goes down or up depending on certain conditions. I usually just read a description and/or watch a trailer for it and that's about it. If I had to break down how I actually rate a series when it's all over, it would be on the following things:

1. Technical aspects (animation, art, music)
2. Characters (Were the characters interesting? Was there character development?)
3. Story (Could the story keep me interested? Was it wall written?)
4. Emotional Attachment (Did the show succeed in moving me to care about the characters and what was going on in the story?)
5. The Ending (Was there one even? Did I like and think it fit the story?)

Each of these is basically worth 1 star if that aspect is there, 1/2 a star if that aspect is partially there, and none if it's not present. Thus there are lot of different ways a series could earn different scores.

[hoffstyle]

I just watch whatever attracts my attention. If the OST is good, I can relate to the characters, follow the story and it ends in a way that I am settled with then that's good by me.

I also ignore what everyone else thinks. I will not watch an anime because someone else thinks I should. I will read the official reviews, but could care less about the user reviews, and it's site ranking. Rankings are meaningless in the anime world because a lot of people think they know what YOU should be watching as opposed to you finding what you want to watch and enjoy by your own standards. Not to say that if someone on my friends list recommends something I won't check it out...but that's because I am pretty picky about who I will friend (make my list, there's a good reason for it).

[randomredneck]

It's gotta be awesome. That's the only requirement a show needs, for a watch from me.

[ner1n]

First of all, I have to like the animation, the character design, the quantity AND quality of the characters.

The opening needs to be catchy.

And the story needs to be intriguing, somewhat complicated and elaborated. Not just "This is the bad guy, go kill him"

If the anime in question meets the requirements above, then I'll surely rate it with more than just an 8.

[Newoldschool]

Originally Posted by Don9aldo

^ What about completely different genres? I doubt you could measure the merits of Mushishi by Dragonball standards.




:???:



Music is a big sticking point with me - it's how I determine which ones I five star, but of course it isn't the only thing (As my score of Bleach can attest to; great music, especially for the fight scenes. Everything else? Bleargh, once the fillers kick in).

I don't really use any comparisons, I just judge it based on its own merit - with the variety of stuff I enjoy it's impossible for me to find a good medium between each show...

nope it gets in everywhere even in Hollywood movies all the way to sugar coated toddler cartoons