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What makes an anime good in my eyes, you ask? Before I answer that, I want to make a distinct clarification. There are two kinds of animes. You've got the silly ones where skirts and potty humor allows no sense of regard or care to any kind of grand scheme or story that the series may pertain. And then there's the serious ones made for teenage to adult audiences who might draw parallels to the quintessential American dramas. I, personally, prefer the latter, and it is this type that arguably fits best with this thread's discussion because mixing up the two with its two different intended audiences, themes, and characteristics just isn't very objective reasoning. And the thought of putting, say, Dragon Ball Z alongside Ghost in the Shell would be as unfathomable as saying The Sopranos would make a suitable runner-up to Family Guy.
This response is basically an extension of relentlessflame's response in his first paragraph. As you browse through these posts, you'll find them to be largely opinionated. Some of them you'll agree; others you'll shake your head and go, "that's not right. S/he obviously has no idea what s/he's saying." But what it all comes down to is there are so many genres in anime just like there are so many genres on your nearby television. You're asking us to summerize what we think are all the good animes from all the different genres as an entity of its own when it's not really that easy. I can tell you what aspects makes a proper fantasy anime or a slice-of-life anime hold dear to my heart. But to answer those two unrelated questions together as one would turn into the very conversation you had wanted to avoid: art should be good, story should be good, yada yada yada.
So to answer your query as best as possible:
- The story and setting are concrete and show signs of progression. The protagonist/s and antagonist/s are clearly identifiable very early on with each of their goals laid out in plain view. Each episode takes us on a wild journey to explore the world they live in and achieve their set goal/s. If there is no visible story, audiences get frustrated and impatient wondering about the whole point of the show and walk away, or it lulls people to sleep. Whichever comes first. If there is a defined story and nothing is done to advance the end result or explain the show's fictional environment (the latter being a loathingly common ploy to add filler episodes), the show becomes stagnant and your audience walks away.
- The cast is minimal and tight. Every character serves a purpose. Introducing too many characters and too many guest characters in the middle of a season can weaken a show. It allows the loss of focus on any one character and to me, it's a sign of producers not trying hard enough to make the existing, "more important" characters a shade more three-dimensional.
- Outcomes of conflict are due to personal effort, not reliance on chance. Chance and luck are the two things I absolutely detest in TV and film. Good characters know exactly what they're getting themselves into and resolve to act on it anyway, not by praying for miracles. If you want something done, do it yourself because every action will be followed by a reaction and that creates a better dynamism in terms of story and character. Situations where people believe that they will be rescued or have fortune reversed in their favor (and proceed to have it become so) is not only lazy, but weak storytelling.
- The story has a complete sense of closure. Obscurity and ambiguity is seldom a virtue. If the point you want to make has any significance, then there is no harm in making it clearly. People have this angst that to be clear-cut and obvious is to be boring or banal, but what it really amounts to is that s/he doesn't really know how to explain things without being dull. And in the process, failing to make an important point clearly irritates and confuses the audience.
- The show doesn't rely on irrelevant and distracting elements to carry itself forward. I'm directing this specifically towards fan service and comedic scenes. Obviously a little of each can't do no harm. But when you have too much, you get the sense that the story is not exciting or involved enough, that they had to fill in the time gap with something that's cheap, cute or perverted.
Perhaps you should be a little more specific in your questioning, babybro. Are you asking us about what makes a good comedy anime/manga? Are you asking us about what constitutes a believable and heart-warming romance? There's lots of good anime out there, and some animes I like'm for reasons I would not necessarily associate with another.
So hope this helps. And if you choose to elaborate, we (or maybe just I) can talk to you more about symbolism, plot, visual asthetics, and the balance between ideas and character. Anime is in many ways just like American or British TV. To even discuss it would be the same as bringing up the Emmy Awards; just as varied and complex in every style and detail that are imaginatively possible.
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