AnimeSuki Forums

Arkhan · 2007-01-06, 12:05

I don't usually trust in numerical ratings, since they are usually biased because of the fanboy effect. But I think reviews can be quite informative.
Good reviews can tell you a lot of things of an anime, as well as you can read between the lines and know the tastes of the reviewers.
A fanboy review is easy to detect, usually at a glance (lots of capitals, exclamation marks and positive superlatives...), so you can discard it.

Veritas · 2007-01-06, 21:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by xfool

yeah I can't figure why Suzumiya Haruhi gets such high ratings,maybe I miss something

Btw wats KGNE?

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien - the worst anime with the best title I've ever seen. Renai game turned anime, with no good characters and a ridiculous story. Haruhi, though I enjoyed it, is a good example of an overrated anime. I've noticed most of KyoAni's stuff is, and I wonder how much of that is their fault, and not that of the fans or source material. Blah, anyway, Haruhi was well received because it had a pretty good mix of characters, dialogue, and story, in a pretty package. And a very entertaining ending scene.

I don't look at anime ratings, because I don't like to waste time with averages and fanboy bullshit. Far too many factors influence Top 100 lists, especially ones open to the public. Occasionally I'll check the recommendations site, but their input can be pretty iffy, too.

DanielSong39 · 2007-01-06, 23:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Method

The luckiest anime watchers though are the ones who enjoy basically any anime.

I second that sentiment - it's always a pleasant feeling when you find yourself getting into a show.

I wish it would happen more often... don't we all.

4Tran · 2007-01-07, 16:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Js2756

I can't believe that amount of negative flack that reviews are getting in this thread.

The reason is that different people are interested in different things in anime. How relevant a review for you is going to depend on if you are affected by the same things the reviewer is. Raw number don't give you any idea if this is the case, so their usefulness is limited.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veritas

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien - the worst anime with the best title I've ever seen. Renai game turned anime, with no good characters and a ridiculous story.

This is an extremely good example that I was talking about. Veritas dislikes Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, on the basis of its characters and story. I, on the other hand, think that Kiminozo is an extremely good show on the basis of it's humanistic characters, solid dialogue and excellent direction. Even though our opinions are completely different, we may still both be right. However, it's questionable how effectively our respective reviews can apply to anyone else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xfool

yeah I can't figure why Suzumiya Haruhi gets such high ratings,maybe I miss something?

Not really. The reason Haruhi is rated highly is because it has a broad appeal; especially to those who've been exposed to lots of anime. A lot of people like the way it turns standard anime cliches around and/or the clever way in which it was presented. If these elements don't appeal to you, then it's not too surprising if you don't like it as much as they do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xfool

Btw wats KGNE?

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, or Rumbling Hearts as it's released in Region 1. It's a show that starts off like a standard high-school romance, but quickly develops into a deeper show concentrating on inter-personal relationships (and the lack thereof). Kiminozo is often likened to soap operas, but it's structure, writing and direction tend to run counter to the connotation of that genre. I think that it's an extremely good show, but I don't think that's it's one that's exactly pleasant to watch either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Method

The luckiest anime watchers though are the ones who enjoy basically any anime.

I'd like to third this sentiment. Sometimes, even shows that are bad can still be enjoyable to watch. As I've said earlier, even the worst of shows tend to have redeeming qualities, so it's often a matter of looking out for them. Unfortunately, the corollary is also true, there's generally things to dislike about even the best shows.

loading · 2007-01-07, 18:08

for me ratings seem to work at least in the genres i enjoy.
okay i did not like all the shows with great ratings. but the chance is pretty good.

KGNE? I love it. Or this currently I like Nana and Death Note very much. both got very high ratings. Sure some things might be off once in a while for example I did not enjoy Last Exile despite it's good rating. And I liked Avenger (rating about 5 on anidb) better than madlax and NGE is not as good as its rating but it's still very much watchable. Besides that I *can* usually go for the popular stuff.

which is a good thing because that way I don't have to watch every single crappy show.

Nergol · 2007-01-07, 23:31

Daniel;

When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs of New York City, there was a reviewer on Channel 5 (before it became the first Fox station in the country) named Stuart Klein. Stuart Klein was, for me, the absolutely most reliable reviewer in the world because his tastes and mine were totally opposite of each other. If Stuart Klein loved a movie, I was guaranteed to hate it, and I went to see more than a few movies growing up (and enjoyed them) simply on the strength of the fact that Stuart Klein hated them.

But the point is here that for me, Stuart Klein was a very useful movie reviewer - he was a very reliable gauge of what I would like and not like.

The point I'm trying to make for you is that you should find anime reviewers who are reliable gauges of what you'd like and not like - either by the fact that you totally agree with them, or that you totally don't. Find different sites and read their reviews for shows you already know. See whose tastes are similar to yours, and then take their recommendations on new shows. That's the best way to find opinions you'll trust.

Shaorin · 2008-03-29, 05:51

Anyone know if there is a list of the popular top 25 Unlicensed Anime?

Ichihara Asako · 2008-03-29, 05:56

No. Such a list would be a pain to keep updated. Why don't you just look at popular lists and cross-reference whether the titles are licensed?

Or go through the list here on AS, and see if it is popular.

Slice of Life · 2008-03-29, 11:04

Anime ranking exist at Anidb and Animenfo.

Anidb suffers under a hype bias. The top positions are always dominated by new stuff most of which will drop very quickly. But that also means that many of the entries aren't licensed (yet). To find out if it's licensed you have to look at the page for the anime and then click on the Animenfo link.

Animenfo goes to other extremes. Only very, very well know anime enter into the Top 200 and you will therefore find much less nonlicensed stuff in the highest ranks.

-RK- · 2008-03-29, 14:05

Instead of writing about how certain animes are accepted by a broad majority of the anime populus its just better said that everyone has varying taste.

For example, some people like seeing thier favorite heroes rise up against adversity with little or no consequence of death. There are many animes where you know the main character just wont die.

On the other hand, some people dont mind if the main character doesnt end with the "Halmark" ending. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and it adds to the realism of the anime you are watching.

Still others, prefer humor even when it doesnt make sense to the average person. Some people really love the wacky antics that characters can get into.

On the emo side of things, some people love teen angsty dramas of a male and female character trying to hook up but falling short. Or an anime that has a somber attitude; a dark or sad setting where very few things change except the environment of the characters.

Its best to do some homework before you watch an anime so you can pick something that applies to your tastes rather then that of the general populus.

Slice of Life · 2008-03-29, 20:47

Maybe I'm giving people too much credit but I don't think anybody would watch an anime just because it has high ratings.

Seeing how everybody is bashing ratings here I'd like to give Animenfo's Top 200 some praise. (I'm not affiliated to this page.

)

First the negative point: They are too strict. An anime needs 40 reviews to appear in the Top 200 and they delete poorly written reviews mercilessly. Control is necessary to create a Best Of list that actually means something but a minimum of 20 reviews would probably do also without flooding the listing with now-hyped-but-soon-be-forgotten anime.

Looking at that list I think there are really mostly good anime represented in the upper ranks. It doesn't mean that I like them all - in fact, many would bore me to death or I hate them with passion - but as objectively as one can be they are good anime. So yes, average ratings do mean something. This Top 200 is also the best approximation to a compilation of "must knows" on the net I'm aware of. Note that I didn't say "must see", this is an expression I'm allergic against. But I think the serious fan should know these anime and not react with "Huh?" when they are mentioned but at least with "Oh, isn't that where blah and blah blah blah? I hate such stuff."

Consequently, if you are a experienced fan this Top 200 is not for you. But it is extremly helpful for the anime noob who has seen only a handful of anime so far and is only starting to consciously picking them. At that point it is next to impossible to actively ask for advice because you don't have the experience to formulate you likes and dislikes (apart from the fact that the advice you get is often poor no matter how well-formulated your question is). In that case, this Top 200 is the best starting point you can get. Of course, you still have to read the synopses provided and when you then don't dismiss the anime right away you have to the reviews also. But doing so, starting with #1 going down is the most efficient way to start you anime collection IMHO.

So tl:dr: No ratings -> no animenfo Top 200. Animenfo good -> ratings good.

KholdStare · 2008-03-29, 20:53

I watch anime based on good ratings. Why? Because I don't like choosing an anime at random. Actually, picking anime with good ratings usually yield good results, and while there's probably an anime that I personally like more but has lower ratings, that's the opportunity cost that I'm going to have to take.

My second point is let's refer back to the process of rating something. If an anime is rated 9.1/10, what does that mean? Nothing. What it might mean is that out of ten people who voted, 9 people gave it a 10/10 and one person gave it a 1/10. Is a 9.1/10 rating good? Yes. Could you be the person who gave it a 1/10? Yes. Optimistically thinking, if you don't like an anime that is rated 9.1/10, then you are the unlucky 1 person out of 10 who didn't like it. If so, then you can just shrug and move on. There's nothing to think about folks and no reason to say ratings are bad.

qtipbrit · 2008-03-30, 02:13

I find ratings in general to actually be pretty helpful. I wouldn't recommend an anime based purely upon their ratings at ANN or myanimelist, but I might bring it up just to show them that a lot of other people thought it was good.

Here are AnimeNewsNetwork's top 30 and MyAnimeList's top 30:

Spoiler for AnimeNewsNetwork:

Spoiler for MyAnimeList:

If you include 31-35 for minor skew, then these lists share 28 titles.
I highly doubt that it's a coincidence;

Spoiler for Anime included in 31-35:

These titles are universally considered "good", and of the ones I have seen, roughly half of each list, I've enjoyed almost all of them to some extent, only particularly disliking one of the titles from one of the lists.

Regarding things about animenfo and popularity:
I don't think animenfo's ratings are reliable at all, since they have around 200 reviews for each anime. If you notice, AnimeNewsNetwork's top 30 and MyAnimeLists' top 30 are very similar. Why? Each has thousands of users posting ratings, so it's a "truer" rating score, with a larger population. On animenfo, one low rating affects it much more, so it's easier to skew (though people usually don't do so), and it has a lower test population.

Regarding popularity, not all of the anime featured on either list (or both) are popular series, we really only have two overly popular anime on both lists: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Fullmetal Alchemist. Others, while still being popular, are not nearly as popular as these two. Meanwhile, we also have Gankutsuou, Baccano!, Mushishi, and Ef - A Tale of Memories, which are just popular enough to appear in the top 30, though relatively few people have watched them in comparison.
Of the top 30 most popular (most people who have watched all, in part, or are currently watching a series) on both sites,

Spoiler for ANN 30 Most Viewed:

Spoiler for MAL 30 Most Popular:

These lists share 18 anime, and of those 18, only six appear in both top 30's. So popularity leads to good ratings? It doesn't seem so.

Personally, I would rather watch an anime with good ratings than not, as it means people generally liked the anime more than other ones. I won't watch an anime based purely upon its ratings often, but if I'm recommended an anime, it's more likely that I'll watch it if it has good ratings.

Epic post.

Ichihara Asako · 2008-03-30, 02:19

Now look at AniNFO's list.

Spoiler for AnimeNFO's top 30:

KholdStare · 2008-03-30, 02:21

Well, I think that Haibane Renmei and Kino's Journey is better than most of the anime in the top 30 lists.

However, I will (and have already) watched most of what's on those lists, and while you don't have to enjoy them all, you will find favorites among them. That's better than picking an anime at random without looking at ratings, no?

qtipbrit · 2008-03-30, 02:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ichihara Asako

Now look at AniNFO's list.

Spoiler for AnimeNFO's top 30:

Spoiler for AnimeNfo:

Spoiler for ANN:

Spoiler for MAL:

I spent way more time on that tahn I should have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KholdStare

Well, I think that Haibane Renmei and Kino's Journey is better than most of the anime in the top 30 lists.

However, I will (and have already) watched most of what's on those lists, and while you don't have to enjoy them all, you will find favorites among them. That's better than picking an anime at random without looking at ratings, no?

Actually, Kino's Journey was 31 on MAL, so I included it.

And that was one of my points. The top 30 and such are anime that people generally liked. Not everyone liked Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, not everyone likes Death Note, etc.

Sorrow-K · 2008-03-30, 02:50

You see, if you ignore the ordering, and take a few certain titles out of those lists, those are actually fair lists of decent anime. There's only a few anime on any of those lists that I wouldn't be willing to recommend as "worth watching". Now, are any of those lists a clone of my own top 30 list? Of course not. Castle in the Sky is, in my opinion, the second best anime I've ever seen, and it's not on any of those lists. But if someone were to ask me "should I watch number 21 on ANN's top 30 list, because it sounds intriguing to me", I wouldn't think twice about recommending it.

Going over the top xxx lists is a good exercise for anime fans who are just finding their feet in the medium, because you'll have a better chance of finding a winner. I've always thought that newer fans are best served by experimenting with a wide range of different genres to get an idea of what they enjoy, and most of those lists have a decent representation of good titles from most genres. Obviously there's going to be a bit of mainstream bias because they are populist sites after all, but surprisingly titles like Mushishi and Gankutsuou are getting recognized, so they aren't totally bad for off-mainstream recommendations, either. I can't see the harm of top lists, one just shouldn't take them literally.

Unless they come out of magazines... for some reason, magazine lists are terrible.

Z3120 · 2008-03-30, 04:07

Ratings are useful to a certain degree, but the usefulness of those ratings really vary among each and every individual, right? That's why you should read the review first before looking at the rating if there is one (well, it's a personal preference of mine to do so sometimes...). Then you can see where the persons' criticisms lie and are coming from in regards to grading certain aspects of the anime or any review in general. For example, I love Hajime no Ippo much more than Prince of Tennis because of the down-to-earth realistic tie to boxing compared to the exaggerated actions performed in the tennis matches by Ryoma and whoever else. I still enjoyed PoT but not as much as HnJ yet there are people who love Prince of Tennis more than Hajime no Ippo. There's really no wrong in either persons' choices and what's better is a matter of preference, ain't it?

Also, people take ratings too seriously. Personally, on an enjoyment factor I could rate something a 9, but on a serious note, I'd rate the series at around 5-7 because I think it could improve in more areas like story pacing, character development and etc.

Ichihara Asako · 2008-03-30, 05:30

I don't pay attention to ratings or reviews, because a lot of top stuff is typically very over-hyped (Gurren-Lagann being #1 on MAL while being so new is mind boggling to me, for instance) I'll read a synopsis (on anidb typically) evaluate the source material if any exists, look at cast and crew, and go from there.

Of course there are shows every season I've never heard anything about and I'll just get anyway. I try the first couple episodes of every show every season, typically. The best way to find good stuff is simply to try it all. ^^

Triple_R · 2008-03-30, 06:02

The only major flaw I see with anime ratings is that they're frequently based purely, or almost purely, on the likeability/enjoyability factor.

Now, don't get me wrong, that's a very important factor, but in my view, what seperates very good anime from truly great anime isn't likeability/enjoyability, but rather how well characters are developed, how well a story is paced, how good the ending is, the degree of creativity and novelty in the work, etc...

So you'll get two different anime, each about equally enjoyable with an equally likeable cast of characters... but one has a sloppily constructed plot or poor pacing or very little character development, while the other one is strong in all three areas, but... they'll end up getting roughly the same rating.

2008-03-29, 05:51	Link #27
Shaorin Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2004	Top 25 Unlicensed Anime? Anyone know if there is a list of the popular top 25 Unlicensed Anime?

2008-03-29, 11:04	Link #29
Slice of Life eyewitness Join Date: Jan 2007	Anime ranking exist at Anidb and Animenfo. Anidb suffers under a hype bias. The top positions are always dominated by new stuff most of which will drop very quickly. But that also means that many of the entries aren't licensed (yet). To find out if it's licensed you have to look at the page for the anime and then click on the Animenfo link. Animenfo goes to other extremes. Only very, very well know anime enter into the Top 200 and you will therefore find much less nonlicensed stuff in the highest ranks. __________________ - Any ideas how to fill this space?

2008-03-29, 20:47	Link #31
Slice of Life eyewitness Join Date: Jan 2007	Maybe I'm giving people too much credit but I don't think anybody would watch an anime just because it has high ratings. Seeing how everybody is bashing ratings here I'd like to give Animenfo's Top 200 some praise. (I'm not affiliated to this page. ) First the negative point: They are too strict. An anime needs 40 reviews to appear in the Top 200 and they delete poorly written reviews mercilessly. Control is necessary to create a Best Of list that actually means something but a minimum of 20 reviews would probably do also without flooding the listing with now-hyped-but-soon-be-forgotten anime. Looking at that list I think there are really mostly good anime represented in the upper ranks. It doesn't mean that I like them all - in fact, many would bore me to death or I hate them with passion - but as objectively as one can be they are good anime. So yes, average ratings do mean something. This Top 200 is also the best approximation to a compilation of "must knows" on the net I'm aware of. Note that I didn't say "must see", this is an expression I'm allergic against. But I think the serious fan should know these anime and not react with "Huh?" when they are mentioned but at least with "Oh, isn't that where blah and blah blah blah? I hate such stuff." Consequently, if you are a experienced fan this Top 200 is not for you. But it is extremly helpful for the anime noob who has seen only a handful of anime so far and is only starting to consciously picking them. At that point it is next to impossible to actively ask for advice because you don't have the experience to formulate you likes and dislikes (apart from the fact that the advice you get is often poor no matter how well-formulated your question is). In that case, this Top 200 is the best starting point you can get. Of course, you still have to read the synopses provided and when you then don't dismiss the anime right away you have to the reviews also. But doing so, starting with #1 going down is the most efficient way to start you anime collection IMHO. So tl:dr: No ratings -> no animenfo Top 200. Animenfo good -> ratings good. __________________ - Any ideas how to fill this space?

2008-03-29, 20:53	Link #32
KholdStare ISML Technical Staff Graphic Designer Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Age: 35	I watch anime based on good ratings. Why? Because I don't like choosing an anime at random. Actually, picking anime with good ratings usually yield good results, and while there's probably an anime that I personally like more but has lower ratings, that's the opportunity cost that I'm going to have to take. My second point is let's refer back to the process of rating something. If an anime is rated 9.1/10, what does that mean? Nothing. What it might mean is that out of ten people who voted, 9 people gave it a 10/10 and one person gave it a 1/10. Is a 9.1/10 rating good? Yes. Could you be the person who gave it a 1/10? Yes. Optimistically thinking, if you don't like an anime that is rated 9.1/10, then you are the unlucky 1 person out of 10 who didn't like it. If so, then you can just shrug and move on. There's nothing to think about folks and no reason to say ratings are bad. __________________ Kholdy's MAL, ISML Chat, Saimoe Blog, Saimoe Wiki

2008-03-30, 02:13	Link #33
qtipbrit Buddhajew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: San Diego	I find ratings in general to actually be pretty helpful. I wouldn't recommend an anime based purely upon their ratings at ANN or myanimelist, but I might bring it up just to show them that a lot of other people thought it was good. Here are AnimeNewsNetwork's top 30 and MyAnimeList's top 30: Spoiler for AnimeNewsNetwork: 1. Samurai X: Tsuiokuhen 2. Death Note 3. Cowboy Bebop 4. Mushishi 5. Spirited Away 6. The Girl who Lept Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo) 7. Princess Mononoke 8. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 9. Nodame Cantabile 10. Monster 11. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 12. Fullmetal Alchemist 13. 5 Centimeters per Second 14. Kanon 2006 15. Honey and Clover II 16. Grave of the Fireflies 17. Code Geass 18. ef - A Tale of Memories 19. Clannad 20. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 21. Kino's Journey 22. Honey and Clover 23. Baccano! 24. Whisper of the Heart 25. Ouran High School Host Club 26. Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Christo 27. Fighting Spirit 28. Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG 29. My Neighbor Totoro 30. Legend of the Galactic Heroes Spoiler for MyAnimeList: 1. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 2. Samurai X: Tsuiokuhen 3. Death Note 4. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl who Leapt Through Time) 5. Mushishi 6. Monster 7. Hajime no Ippo 8. Fullmetal Alchemist 9. Cowboy Bebop 10. Tsubasa Chronicle: Tokyo Revelations 11. Great Teacher Onizuka 12. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 13. Ouran High School Host Club 14. Kanon 2006 15. Code Geass 16. Spirited Away 17. Princess Mononoke 18. Baccano! 19. Nodame Cantabile 20. Clannad 21. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai 22. 5 Centimeters per Second 23. Honey and Clover II 24. Grave of the Fireflies 25. Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! 26. Howl's Moving Castle 27. Hellsing Ultimate 28. Gankutsuou 29. ef - A Tale of Memories 30. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni If you include 31-35 for minor skew, then these lists share 28 titles. I highly doubt that it's a coincidence; Spoiler for Anime included in 31-35: ANN: 31. Dennou Coil 32. Tsubasa Chronicles: Tokyo Revelations 33. Seirei no Moribito 34. Haibane Renmei 35. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai MAL: 31. Kino's Journey 32. NANA 33. Honey and Clover 34. Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG 35. Legend of the Galactic Heroes These titles are universally considered "good", and of the ones I have seen, roughly half of each list, I've enjoyed almost all of them to some extent, only particularly disliking one of the titles from one of the lists. Regarding things about animenfo and popularity: I don't think animenfo's ratings are reliable at all, since they have around 200 reviews for each anime. If you notice, AnimeNewsNetwork's top 30 and MyAnimeLists' top 30 are very similar. Why? Each has thousands of users posting ratings, so it's a "truer" rating score, with a larger population. On animenfo, one low rating affects it much more, so it's easier to skew (though people usually don't do so), and it has a lower test population. Regarding popularity, not all of the anime featured on either list (or both) are popular series, we really only have two overly popular anime on both lists: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Fullmetal Alchemist. Others, while still being popular, are not nearly as popular as these two. Meanwhile, we also have Gankutsuou, Baccano!, Mushishi, and Ef - A Tale of Memories, which are just popular enough to appear in the top 30, though relatively few people have watched them in comparison. Of the top 30 most popular (most people who have watched all, in part, or are currently watching a series) on both sites, Spoiler for ANN 30 Most Viewed: 1. Fullmetal Alchemist 2. Cowboy Bebop 3. Bleach 4. Neon Genesis Evangelion 5. Naruto 6. FLCL 7. Trigun 8. Princess Mononoke 9. Inuyasha 10. Chobits 11. Rurouni Kenshin 12. Full Metal Panic! 13. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 14. Death Note 15. Samurai Champloo 16. Elfen Lied 17. Spirited Away 18. Azumanga Daioh 19. Hellsing 20. Fruits Basket 21. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children 22. Akira 23. Love Hina 24. Ghost in the Shell (Movie) 25. Dragonball Z 26. Samurai X: Tsuiokuhen 27. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie 28. Ghost in the Shell: SAC 29. Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! 30. Dragon Ball Spoiler for MAL 30 Most Popular: 1. Bleach 2. Death Note 3. Fullmetal Alchemist 4. Naruto 5. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 6. Elfen Lied 7. Naruto: Shippuuden 8. Neon Genesis Evangelion 9. Cowboy Bebop 10. Ouran High School Host Club 11. Chobits 12. Spirited Away 13. Full Metal Panic! 14. Claymore 15. Code Geass 16. Hellsing 17. Samurai Champloo 18. Fate/Stay Night 19. Full Metal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa 20. Lucky Star 21. Trigun 22. Fruits Basket 23. Love Hina 24. Princess Mononoke 25. Shakugan no Shana 26. FLCL 27. Rurouni Kenshin 28. Azumanga Daioh 29. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children 30. Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! These lists share 18 anime, and of those 18, only six appear in both top 30's. So popularity leads to good ratings? It doesn't seem so. Personally, I would rather watch an anime with good ratings than not, as it means people generally liked the anime more than other ones. I won't watch an anime based purely upon its ratings often, but if I'm recommended an anime, it's more likely that I'll watch it if it has good ratings. Epic post.

2007-01-06, 12:05	Link #21
Arkhan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Spain Age: 40	I don't usually trust in numerical ratings, since they are usually biased because of the fanboy effect. But I think reviews can be quite informative. Good reviews can tell you a lot of things of an anime, as well as you can read between the lines and know the tastes of the reviewers. A fanboy review is easy to detect, usually at a glance (lots of capitals, exclamation marks and positive superlatives...), so you can discard it.

2007-01-07, 18:08	Link #25
loading Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Age: 39	for me ratings seem to work at least in the genres i enjoy. okay i did not like all the shows with great ratings. but the chance is pretty good. KGNE? I love it. Or this currently I like Nana and Death Note very much. both got very high ratings. Sure some things might be off once in a while for example I did not enjoy Last Exile despite it's good rating. And I liked Avenger (rating about 5 on anidb) better than madlax and NGE is not as good as its rating but it's still very much watchable. Besides that I can usually go for the popular stuff. which is a good thing because that way I don't have to watch every single crappy show.

2007-01-07, 23:31	Link #26
Nergol Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006	Daniel; When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs of New York City, there was a reviewer on Channel 5 (before it became the first Fox station in the country) named Stuart Klein. Stuart Klein was, for me, the absolutely most reliable reviewer in the world because his tastes and mine were totally opposite of each other. If Stuart Klein loved a movie, I was guaranteed to hate it, and I went to see more than a few movies growing up (and enjoyed them) simply on the strength of the fact that Stuart Klein hated them. But the point is here that for me, Stuart Klein was a very useful movie reviewer - he was a very reliable gauge of what I would like and not like. The point I'm trying to make for you is that you should find anime reviewers who are reliable gauges of what you'd like and not like - either by the fact that you totally agree with them, or that you totally don't. Find different sites and read their reviews for shows you already know. See whose tastes are similar to yours, and then take their recommendations on new shows. That's the best way to find opinions you'll trust.

2008-03-29, 05:56	Link #28
Ichihara Asako Horoist Join Date: Oct 2007	No. Such a list would be a pain to keep updated. Why don't you just look at popular lists and cross-reference whether the titles are licensed? Or go through the list here on AS, and see if it is popular.

2008-03-29, 14:05	Link #30
-RK- WoW addict Join Date: Sep 2004 Age: 40	Instead of writing about how certain animes are accepted by a broad majority of the anime populus its just better said that everyone has varying taste. For example, some people like seeing thier favorite heroes rise up against adversity with little or no consequence of death. There are many animes where you know the main character just wont die. On the other hand, some people dont mind if the main character doesnt end with the "Halmark" ending. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and it adds to the realism of the anime you are watching. Still others, prefer humor even when it doesnt make sense to the average person. Some people really love the wacky antics that characters can get into. On the emo side of things, some people love teen angsty dramas of a male and female character trying to hook up but falling short. Or an anime that has a somber attitude; a dark or sad setting where very few things change except the environment of the characters. Its best to do some homework before you watch an anime so you can pick something that applies to your tastes rather then that of the general populus.

2008-03-30, 02:19	Link #34
Ichihara Asako Horoist Join Date: Oct 2007	Now look at AniNFO's list. Spoiler for AnimeNFO's top 30: 1 Rurouni Kenshin - Reminiscence (1999) 2 Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) 3 Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (2003) 4 Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002) 5 Elfen Lied (2004) 6 Cowboy Bebop (1998) 7 Hikaru no Go (2001) 8 Berserk (1997) 9 One Piece (1999) 10 Gundam SEED (2002) 11 12 Kokuki (2002) 12 Hunter X Hunter (1999) 13 Last EXILE (2003) 14 Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! (2003) 15 Hajime no Ippo (2000) 16 Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) 17 GunGrave (2003) 18 Great Teacher Onizuka (1999) 19 Scrapped Princess (2003) 20 Rahxephon (2002) 21 Grave of the Fireflies (1988) 22 Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (2006) 23 Haibane Renmei (2002) 24 Monster (2004) 25 Furi Kuri (2000) 26 Onegai Teacher (2002) 27 DEATH NOTE (2006) 28 Planet ES (2003) 29 Fruits Basket (2001) 30 Naruto (2002)

2008-03-30, 02:21	Link #35
KholdStare ISML Technical Staff Graphic Designer Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Age: 35	Well, I think that Haibane Renmei and Kino's Journey is better than most of the anime in the top 30 lists. However, I will (and have already) watched most of what's on those lists, and while you don't have to enjoy them all, you will find favorites among them. That's better than picking an anime at random without looking at ratings, no? __________________ Kholdy's MAL, ISML Chat, Saimoe Blog, Saimoe Wiki

2008-03-30, 02:50	Link #37
Sorrow-K Somehow I found out Join Date: Feb 2006 Age: 40	You see, if you ignore the ordering, and take a few certain titles out of those lists, those are actually fair lists of decent anime. There's only a few anime on any of those lists that I wouldn't be willing to recommend as "worth watching". Now, are any of those lists a clone of my own top 30 list? Of course not. Castle in the Sky is, in my opinion, the second best anime I've ever seen, and it's not on any of those lists. But if someone were to ask me "should I watch number 21 on ANN's top 30 list, because it sounds intriguing to me", I wouldn't think twice about recommending it. Going over the top xxx lists is a good exercise for anime fans who are just finding their feet in the medium, because you'll have a better chance of finding a winner. I've always thought that newer fans are best served by experimenting with a wide range of different genres to get an idea of what they enjoy, and most of those lists have a decent representation of good titles from most genres. Obviously there's going to be a bit of mainstream bias because they are populist sites after all, but surprisingly titles like Mushishi and Gankutsuou are getting recognized, so they aren't totally bad for off-mainstream recommendations, either. I can't see the harm of top lists, one just shouldn't take them literally. Unless they come out of magazines... for some reason, magazine lists are terrible. __________________ .:The Nihon Review:.:Ikoku Meiro no Croisée:.:Tamayura: Hitotose:. .:Behind The Nihon Review:.:Understanding Guilty Crown’s Failure:. .:MAL:.:Twitter:.

2008-03-30, 04:07	Link #38
Z3120 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008	Ratings are useful to a certain degree, but the usefulness of those ratings really vary among each and every individual, right? That's why you should read the review first before looking at the rating if there is one (well, it's a personal preference of mine to do so sometimes...). Then you can see where the persons' criticisms lie and are coming from in regards to grading certain aspects of the anime or any review in general. For example, I love Hajime no Ippo much more than Prince of Tennis because of the down-to-earth realistic tie to boxing compared to the exaggerated actions performed in the tennis matches by Ryoma and whoever else. I still enjoyed PoT but not as much as HnJ yet there are people who love Prince of Tennis more than Hajime no Ippo. There's really no wrong in either persons' choices and what's better is a matter of preference, ain't it? Also, people take ratings too seriously. Personally, on an enjoyment factor I could rate something a 9, but on a serious note, I'd rate the series at around 5-7 because I think it could improve in more areas like story pacing, character development and etc.

2008-03-30, 05:30	Link #39
Ichihara Asako Horoist Join Date: Oct 2007	I don't pay attention to ratings or reviews, because a lot of top stuff is typically very over-hyped (Gurren-Lagann being #1 on MAL while being so new is mind boggling to me, for instance) I'll read a synopsis (on anidb typically) evaluate the source material if any exists, look at cast and crew, and go from there. Of course there are shows every season I've never heard anything about and I'll just get anyway. I try the first couple episodes of every show every season, typically. The best way to find good stuff is simply to try it all. ^^

2008-03-30, 06:02	Link #40
Triple_R Senior Member Author Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Age: 42	The only major flaw I see with anime ratings is that they're frequently based purely, or almost purely, on the likeability/enjoyability factor. Now, don't get me wrong, that's a very important factor, but in my view, what seperates very good anime from truly great anime isn't likeability/enjoyability, but rather how well characters are developed, how well a story is paced, how good the ending is, the degree of creativity and novelty in the work, etc... So you'll get two different anime, each about equally enjoyable with an equally likeable cast of characters... but one has a sloppily constructed plot or poor pacing or very little character development, while the other one is strong in all three areas, but... they'll end up getting roughly the same rating.