Ibexfather said:I really hate when I get the feeling that someone's rating of something is irrelevant, and I usually get that impression if they don't seem like the kind of person the show is for (or they outright say so). Even for a show I hate, that pisses me off. Rate stuff on whether it meets the criteria it sets out to achieve, not whether it satisfies some random goals that it wasn't trying to do.
Of course, there are limits to that reasoning. Some things, for example, are basically universal and can't be ignored. For example, you can make a silly, ridiculous show that makes no sense, but it still has to be entertaining. If someone says a show like that makes no sense, therefore it gets a low rating, I'm annoyed. But if they have a compelling argument for why the silliness is not entertaining after all, I'm intrigued.
But drawing the line with that sort of thing is not easy. For example, I don't like Boku no Hero, even though it's objectively a well-made show with good character designs, good pacing, good action, competent writing, etc.. But is that because it's not for me? It's hard to say. I like shonen stories, but I don't like stories with a wimpy, pathetic main character suddenly being given superpowers. I like fast-moving shows, but I don't like undercooked character motivations. Someone who likes Boku no Hero is probably going to tell me the show's not for me because of the negatives I point out, saying "That's the point of the show because XYZ." And that's fair enough. Even I can't say for sure.
I typically rate stuff based on a mix of what I think the show was trying to do and how I personally take in what it has to offer. I think that's why there's the whole enjoyment factor part of the review scale. Something can be really badly made on an objective level, but entertaining in how bad it is, or educational in how a certain show concept could be badly executed. Something could be historically or culturally relevant to certain people, and that significance passes over my head.
All sorts of things that make enjoyment unpredictable. Sometimes I find it depressing, as a writer of stories myself, imagining someone not liking what I wrote due to seemingly random factors like that.
