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To me anime scores are more subjective than objective. I try not to let any personal bias affect the score but enjoyment is also a factor and if I can't enjoy the anime, no matter how stellar its score is, its total will be decreased.
Points that stand to decrease score total for me personally (keep in mind one or two present elements is not going to make me rank the anime low):
-Mindless violence and death used for shock value rather than plot/characterization value.
-Oversexualization of female characters for no particular plot reason, i.e. it might make sense for a person who works in a more adult industry to have a curvy figure but a cast of high school girls with D/E cups on half of them just seems like a low method to attract more views. I'd think there are also sexualized male characters, though I don't see them enough to know if I dislike them.
-Formulaic plot, monster of the week.
-Stock footage reused.
-Negative stereotypical portrayals of 'minorities', i.e. less privileged gender, LGBTQs, disabled persons. Stereotypes are just bad in general, but may hold some artistic value, but negative stereotypes are almost always a detractor for me.
-Predictable and clichéd plots (even well-executed ones, since to me there's not much rewatch value).
-Unrelate-able characters. If main characters are all macho macho men whose only objective is to master their martial / magic / gang / gundam prowess and maybe make out with their childhood friend / big busted damsel in distress, yeah I'm not going to like it much. Hopefully I can avoid such things from the cover right away.
-Butchered adaptations of works, such as novels, poems, games, movies, or other mediums.
Conversely, any anime that avoids the above stands to gain a few points from me.
Exceptions are anime which:
-Are innovative for its time, and are credited with the creation of certain clichés. It will be taken into account when considering the cliché measurements of the show. Not that this will make a bland show more enjoyable.
-Includes these traits that aims to deconstruct above tropes rather than validate them.
Points that stand to increase score total for me personally:
-Originality with either premise, characters, story, art, themes, world-building, etc. But I'm not a big nerd on this, so something that seems original to me may not for others.
-Realistic / logical / solid reasoning and pacing behind characterization, story, themes, world-building. They are highly relevant / relatable to contemporary life.
-A good puzzle / mystery / mind games (I love animes that features logic and strategizing or anything that surprises me, but that's just me.)
-Very relatable characters. This will be different for everyone.
-Nostalgia factor. Conversely, the anime may also not have aged well and score will be adjusted accordingly.
Points that do not affect the score:
-Playing with tropes to a certain degree. Afaic, tropes do not equate to clichés.
-Unrealistic characters / settings / story, i.e. gambling high school (rofl). While rich / complex characterization gains points, anime characters / settings / premises are quite crazy and I'm willing to suspend disbelief up to a certain point if the focus is not on realism. Exceptions are negative stereotypes, and also when characters become so artificial that they're more of a cartridge of their creator's thoughts and feelings than believable personalities.
-Quirky art. Fine if it's not pretty but neat, stylized or interesting to look at.
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10 is fantastic and would rewatch many times, could almost detect no flaws. Something that I personally consider a masterpiece.
9 is great and would like to rewatch again some time. There may be some minor flaws, but compared to its virtues it is negligible.
8 is pretty good and would maybe rewatch if I feel like it. They are very balanced shows by themselves and excellent exemplar of its genre(s). The only fault would be something like lacking a groundbreaking element, but it is hardly a detriment when the show feels so good to watch.
7 is worth a watch but would most likely not rewatch again. It could also represent shows that have an interesting premise but suffers from significant detriments such as lack of afterthought/plot or character cohesion, fall into formulaic plot / filler, or started out strong but falters in spirit as the show continues (like SOME shounen manga, ahem, ahem). Still, it is good idyllic entertainment as long as you're willing to put up with some silliness or suspension of disbelief.
If an anime receives a mediocre score (5-6), it does not mean it's bad or it's not enjoyable, but probably one or the other. It's like an exacerbated version of a rank 7 anime, in which it could have something interesting to work with, but either its detriments are enormous and difficult to ignore while attempting to enjoy the show, guilty pleasure material, or the show didn't live up to its potential (keep waiting for it to get better and it never does), or in unusual cases the characters / plot strongly didn't appeal to me. Would be at the bottom of my watch list and be watched if there is nothing else interesting.
4 or below is pretty bad and most would not be touched with a 10, 11, 12, or 13 foot pole, though there are some exceptions -- shows that may be okay for the average person but strongly repulse me. Examples include classic literature / historical anime adaptations. Because I am also a book nerd, watching my favourite books or historical characters getting "butchered" by anime craziness is something that is not exactly a joyride to me, but if you never read the books or familiar with historical segments, you may find the anime more endearing than I did. And others similar to what I mention here.
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