| What do you think about the average voting range here on MAL? I've caught myself more than a few times raving about how high it is, given that it's nearly 8.0... which, to me, is pretty ridiculous. I've always thought a fair voter's average ranges between 4.0 and 6.0. My personal average is 5.7 at the moment. Any thoughts on your own? |
| Most of my lower scores (1 to 4) are movies... I'll watch just about anything if it's short enough. I haven't encountered a full series yet that I've dropped entirely on account of the fact that... well, I'm just too stubborn to start something and not finish it. I try to keep scoring relative, though, meaning my being able to finish an anime doesn't necessarily affect its score. You bring up a good point, though... honestly, that stubbornness is probably the sole reason my score is as centered as it is. |
| I can't remember whose profile it was on, but I found a rather nice summary for my never dropping a series. It makes me feel like the effort I put into watching the series up to that point was just wasted... which is why I'll never watch an insanely long series (usually shonen) without having some prior experience with it or having something that tells me I'm sure to enjoy it at least somewhat. If a series were bad enough for me to drop entirely I suppose it would earn a "0/10" rating... actually, come to think of it, people could still keep series they'd dropped on the Dropped section of their list and give them low scores. That would keep the average pretty even, wouldn't it? |
| My completed manga average is a score of 7.5... It's rather high, but that's because the lists of "dropped" and "completed" have different averages. If there were a total average, however, I'm pretty sure everyone's average would be drastically lower. Another factor that is always important when rating is experience. I know there are things in my list which I found amazing a year ago or so which I honestly think are pretty mediocre now. As you read and watch more series, you become a harsher critic I think. You begin to compare series which are really similar to each other and find out that your favorite series was, in fact, pretty typical and not that amazing at all... |
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| When this thread was started it was referring to the total average, which we used to have before the site was modified. The overall site average was 8.0 between all list entries, including dropped ones. My ratings haven't changed but slightly over the years, and I've never loved an anime series only to find out it was later average. I've always thought great series were great, average was average, and poor was poor. I consider myself a consistent critic, personally. |
| Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't aware of the overall average that was before. I'm sure after a while your ratings will become consistent. But the first handful of titles you read/watched were probably somewhat new to what you were used to. As you read more and see various plots and stereotypes repeated over and over again, (At least I) can't help looking back at some of the titles from back then and seeing how common it was. How over-used and stereotypical it was. But at the time, it was my first time seeing such a thing and it was new and interesting. All I'm trying to point out is that those whom have just begun exploring manga and anime might give series higher ratings for being "new", at least to them. As they begin to read more, they'll see how many of the plots new to the western market are rather over-used in Japan. |
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| I think the vast majority of the overused ones are overused everywhere, not just in Japan, personally. Pretty much every tween-demographic protagonist is a loud-mouthed, tactless class clown who manages to "rise above it all" with the power of friendship or teamwork and become the best at whatever it is the series is about, and yet look at Naruto. Still one of the most popular characters on MAL. |
| I am not necessarily saying that Japan has extremely original ideas compared to all other different types of series out there. They do, however, have some ideas which are not used often in western media (Shinigami, demons, ect). Those are present in Western media to a certain degree, but very often when you find read a manga that includes something of that sort, it usually is your first time exposed to those ideas. Those small details, not necessarily the story as a whole, make some series seem new, fresh, and original. For example, many people I know found CardCaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon to be beyond original due to their female protagonists with magical powers. Yet, as you dig deeper into anime and manga, you discover there is an insane amount of Magical Girl series all around. I think that may also apply to Naruto, since it is one of the few ninja animes that actually reached the western market and that is so long as well, giving the media plenty of reason to give it so much attention. |
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| True enough. But I don't think the number of people who sign up to this site and get into anime at the same time, then drop the site is a significant enough number to contribute much to the trend. The vast majority of the people who even visit this site are going to be pre-established anime fans of some degree. |
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