When some parts of an anime really are better than its sum

[roriconfan]

This is an issue most of us face when trying to evaluate or review an anime based on separate sections. Although most just base their vote on “enjoyment” which pretty much is not explained objectively, others use other sections. The most common are four: Animation, Sound, Story, Characters.

Here is the issue. All evaluation systems I encounter in the forums I am in assume each section is as equally important as the other three and it receives the same weight when deciding the average or overall of a series.

So, for example, on a scale of 100 if each of these 4 sections gets an equal weight, then its maximum value is 25. And here is the issue. Is animation really equally important as the story in an anime? Is the sound equally important as the animation? I understand different genres focus on different sections but in general I really think the fuss goes as such:

The most important section is the characters. They are the essence of any series. They act and progress the story. They are the ones you cheer, or identify, or mock.

The story comes second. This includes the setting, the world and the objective purpose of the characters. Yet it is not as important because if the story drives the characters then they are drones driven by fate or the series is some documentary where the events are more important that the characters who perform them.

Animation comes third. A good story is good even with crappy visuals and vise versa. The animation does not make a story or its characters better. It just makes them look better than what they already are.

And sound comes last. Because you watch an anime and not listening to a music video. The sound follows and provides extra atmosphere to the events of the animation and not the other way around. Unless you are really watching an AMV or something which is not really an anime.

So, for me, each section should not get a maximum of 25. It is more like:
Characters 40
Story 30
Animation 20
Sound 10

To make things more clear, imagine two anime, one with the crappiest visuals and SFX yet the most awesome cast and characters. And then the exact opposite, another anime with unbelievably great animation and OST yet terrible story and cast. If all four sections are treated equally, then their averages would be:

Anime A: Characters 25 + Story 25 + Animation 1 + Sound 1 = 52/100
Anime B: Characters 1 + Story 1 + Animation 25 + Sound 25 = 52/100

They get the same average or final score. Yet, if you treat them with different weights like the one I mention then it gets like this:

Anime A: Characters 40 + Story 30 + Animation 1 + Sound 1 = 72/100
Anime B: Characters 1 + Story 1 + Animation 20 + Sound 10 = 32/100

Now the difference is huge. All these based on the assumption of course that no amount of good animation and awesome songs can save a crappy story from being crappy. I understand most just vote based on emotion rather that logic (yes, that issue again). I also understand that extra sections exists just to off-set this issue (like adding Value or a Personal Opinion section just to let you mess with the final average) but I believe that at least we can all agree that a book should not be judged by its cover only.

So, do you agree on this or not?

[Pocari_Sweat]

Those "sections" such as Animation, Story, Characters, Sound are just guides. Like you said it basically comes down to the "Enjoyment" for most people when basing anime, but these four sections provide a starting foundation. Personally, I also consider "atmosphere", "length" (is it too short, long or just right).

In terms of weighting, it really depends on the anime or genre. Some anime I rated highly because of its artistic quality or superb soundtrack (e.g. Makoto Shinkai Movies) others I rated highly because of its great characters (e.g. Spice and Wolf).

Also some anime genres are bound to automatically perform better than some genres. For example, slice of life animes tend not to have little or no story so it isn't really fair to penalise it for a lack of story. However, what distinguishes a good slice of life between a bad one for me personally is the characters. If the characters are cookie-cutter, cliche types, chances are I wouldn't have enjoyed it much.

For genres such as thrillers however, story is very important. Death Note or Code Geass for example were heavily enjoyed by most because of their interesting and in-depth storylines.

Hence, I don't there is any particular "weighting" one should give to a series. It really just comes down to how much someone enjoys it.

EDIT: I disagree with sound being a insignificant factor. What would Clannad(AS)'s atmosphere be like without the memorable music pieces such as "Dango Daikazoku". What made people go crazy over the Hare Hare Yukai Dance to the point people mimik it? What has the Macrossfranchise always been big of?

[Zu Ra]

One of the recent shows which comes to my mind would be Kurozuka . The show had all the ingredients for anime greatness unique plot / unrequited love / Good BGM / well executed action sequence / Blood gore Vampires . But they seriously messed up the basics the art of story telling . it was extremely complicated and times very confusing . The time skip IMO should have happed in present time than post apocalyptic future . The love too was somewhat ignored and forced into the background .

The part which was really awesome was the action sequences which reminded you of Ninja Scrolls

[Kafriel]

I'll take the OP's side on this one, having awesome characters and an immersing plot is what makes an anime good, but characters take precedence over anything else: if they are annoying, I'll drop the show even if the story's good. If the animation's fluid but there's no real story, I might keep watching just for the record but I won't consider it time well spent, I could have watched something better instead. Music is very important particularly to anime with an emotional appeal, but even in Naruto or One Piece, the scores are what make the mood appropriate whenever there are deaths, funerals, etc.

Death Note or Code Geass for example were heavily enjoyed by most because of their interesting and in-depth storylines.

Note that they had their share of astonishing characters from both sides, if Light was a world dominating maniac then DN wouldn't have been as popular.

slice of life animes tend not to have little or no story so it isn't really fair to penalise it for a lack of story.

One would argue that slice of life anime have the story covered from the beginning-it's the story of the characters, whatever it is they do, as long as they live.

is it too short, long or just right

I wouldn't judge an anime based on length, I've enjoyed some and wished they were longer, but still had a good aftertaste. Same with some that were very long and finally reached the end of their journey, as long as they don't get saturated halfway through.

[Archon_Wing]

Yea, I don't think each section can be worth the same. It's hard to say which parts are worth more because a show is simply more the sum of its parts. I doubt anyone takes a notepad and writes about good/bad while watching.

Personally, I'm more interested in what a show does well. But generally I am not too precise with ratings anyways as it often varies from show to show where some aspects are more important to me. For example, I'm not gonna be so harsh on a comedy's plot, for example. My ratings are a brief summary of my relative enjoyment in regards to other shows. I don't reserve 10 for perfect, because I don't want to take in account shows that don't exist. Individual episode ratings are even worse for me-- they are relative to other episodes which is why they often never add up right. But it's often better to just read my thoughts and reasoning rather than the number.

For my ratings, I tend to give a lot of "extra credit" since it is not necessary for a show to hit everything. Often times my enjoyment of a show is how the show comes together in the end and also the impact of the show it has me on the end. Can I still remember it well a year later? It's how I can rank a show with terrible technical aspects like Higurashi over a show that has very good technical aspects like Haruhi.

TL;DR My ratings are unfair. I like shows I rate 8 better than ones I rate 7.

[npcomplete]

I can't think of a show where I really liked one particular component over all others but there is one show that comes to mind when I liked one "section" of the story much more: Honey and Clover (1,2) - Morita's background about his father, his brother, the company, the person who took over the company, the conflicting emotions between them, etc.

This almost entirely separate subplot was the only thing I enjoyed in Honey and Clover actually. It was the only part of the whole series that had any substantial plot and drama IMHO

Originally Posted by Zu Ra

One of the recent shows which comes to my mind would be Kurozuka . The show had all the ingredients for anime greatness unique plot / unrequited love / Good BGM / well executed action sequence / Blood gore Vampires . But they seriously messed up the basics the art of story telling . it was extremely complicated and times very confusing . The time skip IMO should have happed in present time than post apocalyptic future . The love too was somewhat ignored and forced into the background .

The part which was really awesome was the action sequences which reminded you of Ninja Scrolls

I may still end up liking Kurozuka when I watch the whole thing, but I stopped after ep4 to wait until the series finished because I also found it confusing. Ureshii provided a few offline notes that did help a bit. I would probably understand more if I watch straight through.

[0utf0xZer0]

Personally, I think that applying numerical ratings to something as subjective as anime is kind of dumb to begin with - using subcategories that count towards the final total just makes it worse. I can see why people do it - they want a quick "reference" as to what people think of a show without having to read their arguments, but it's not nearly as useful as the arguments behind why people like a show.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Yes. Depends on the series and has somewhat limited application, but I would say yes.

For instance, Full Metal Panic FUMOFFU. No story to speak of, but easily one of the most gut-rippingly hilarious anime series I've ever seen in my life.

Another series that comes to mind is Ergo Proxy. Although the series had somewhat of a flat and linear storyline (in my opinion anyway), it had so many little strange side-stories and character wacko mind trips (i.e. mind-fucks) that it in many ways made up for it. I mean, a whole episode dedicated to the idea that one of the main characters gets temporary Dissociative Identity Disorder? Brilliant.