Formerly YouAreMySquishy
("I shall call you 'Squishy' and you shall be mine. And you shall be my Squishy.")
Hello everyone. As you'd expect, I enjoy video games and anime. While what I watch varies depending on my mood, I usually watch older stuff, so I'm usually out of the loop when it comes to airing shows. That and I prefer to binge shows, so I wait until a show is done airing to start watching it (though I do wait a while after a show ends to avoid having hype affect my scores). My rating system and some personal biases are below:
• Don’t expect many (if any) 1 through 3 scores or 9 through 10s. Regardless of how much I like or hate a show, I don’t believe shows are “absolute” successes or failures (this includes my personal favorites).
• I try to have my scores align with "older" anime scores, given how there is a discrepancy between older and newer scores these days. So for any newer MAL members, I say add 1 or 2 points to my scores if the anime is older than 2010 if you want my scores to align with more recent ones.
• My average score of 6 is my "the good and bad balance out" and/or my "the anime didn't have anything stand out" score.
• While this isn't always the case, I tend to give what I considered a "bad" show that is saved by its production value a 4 (and some 4s I've given have different "redeeming qualities" brought down by bad production value, so there's a mix).
• I actually do happen to like some of the anime that I gave low scores to ("guilty pleasures"), but my scores are not based solely on my enjoyment.
• Since the visual quality of anime has changed quite a bit between the older anime that I watch and now, I try to have the animation quality scores be based on what I feel is relative to the time period (and just basing my score solely on the visuals isn't something I do).
• Odds are I will give a better score to a work not taking itself seriously over something that is being serious but, for personal reasons, I feel it fails at being so.
• These days, if something is too "predictable" due to it "playing too safe" (commonly either by overreliance on cliches or general lack of an identity while following trends, though long running shows with their reoccurring quips/themes can have this issue if overdone), I tend to give such shows lower scores. While I'm not asking that every show be "random" as the opposite extreme either, I don't want to pretty much "guess/spoil everything to the point of it being mindless".
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Genre biases:
• Favorite genres: Comedy (and I'm not above dumb/dirty/chaotically random humor), Parody, Underdog stories (without being Power Fantasies given the contradiction)
• Least favorite genres: Horror, Isekai (mostly because of all of the "cut and paste" logic /cliches in many isekai nowadays, I don't dislike isekai as a premise by itself), "overly emotional" works (standalone movies can be fine, but a full episodic series are a bit much personally), Power Fantasies, shows that don't feel like they got anywhere when the selling point would imply progress (sorry, but this would imply a fair number of romance works in my case without some other selling point alongside it)
• I've come to realize that anything with Nobunaga/feudal Japan in it will at least get my attention
• While I used to like some filler episodes of longer running shows between arcs, I don't really get wowed by "slow life" works these days if nothing of "significance", let alone one I'm invested in that don't have the stuff I gripe about here, occur (slice of life can still have something go on but so many shows that have literally nothing happen don't even get this level of a pass)
Other causes for potential score bias:
1) Favorite character types: Funny Characters AND Characters that improve themselves through effort (character development)
2) Least favorite characters: “Perfect”/"Overpowered/have everything handed to them on a silver platter" Characters, Bland (likely "self insert") Characters, Antagonist(s) written to be downright dislikeable just to prop up a bland/unlikeable protagonist, Characters who exist to create otherwise unnecessary conflict for others despite not being a "villain"
At this point, many of my issues embody the modern isekai and power fantasy shows. I'll admit I do still watch them on occasion when I'm in the mood for the "junk food equivalent of anime" (by my biases), so if I give any of these types of shows at least a 5/10, consider it a seal of approval on my end (with some exceptions of course).
And to people who only got into anime recently and/or just watch the airing shows only, I'd recommend that you watch some older/"less mainstream" stuff here and there. You'd be surprised at how much good stuff has been left behind, and it would be a shame to not at least give some anime that aren't talked about anymore a chance.
I've noticed that I do tend to score shows I've seen more recently harsher than shows I've seen in the past. This is because of me admittedly getting grouchier over the years coupled with me working on my own "light" novel series (if many of the things I've seen that I have issues with in shows I've seen recently that were given bad scores were in my own writing, I promise you that the writing community would eat me alive, though that's only for shows that I feel aren't good personally after getting more involved with the "creative process"). Sure, my writing won't be the best story ever written either, but there's something to be said about learning from what you consider good and bad writing.
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Synopsis:
Everyone who could sing in one of the nine tones they were born with was granted a special power. Everyone who wasn't Oren Tsurai, that is.
Unable to use song magic, with his memories missing, and trapped in a full-body cloak that cannot be removed, Oren knows nothing of who he was.
At least his life was peaceful, with a loving family and a few troubles. Nothing lasts forever, however, and the place of the very few memories Oren has is soon taken away from him in the name of an unknown revolution. Yearning for revenge, but also filled with a desire to learn who he is, Oren wants to learn who he really is. Ignorant of how the world works, he finds himself struggling with lies, corruption, and betrayal. All without realizing that something bigger is at play.
If there's any anime I would recommend people watch, it would be "Tenshi no Tamago" (Angel's Egg). While this doesn't have tags I usually like, it's still an experience I'd recommend (and at the very least, going outside your comfort zone is still something worth trying once in a while).
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