I've watched a fairly large pool of anime in the past, but it's only been recently that I've been cataloguing and reviewing shows that I've watched. I started reviewing anime because I've little to no recollection of some of the anime I've watched in the past, and all I'm left with is a general feeling about a show. "Yeah, this was pretty good," or "this was pretty mediocre/bad." So, I just put up reviews so that I can look back and see why I rated this show the way I did, when I still have watching experience fresh in my mind. I don't mind at all that they're public, perhaps people will find them helpful.
I follow the philosophy that reviews should be relatively short, since if it's so long, I might as well watch the first few episodes and decide for myself if the show is worth watching rather than reading a 5 page essay. Reviews should only focus on what the reviewer thinks is the highlight of the show, good or bad. Cut as much fluff and irrelevant information out as possible. Why talk about something when you didn't think it was important? It should also bring out your personality as a reviewer. Definitely add in your bias! What's the point of adding a plot synopsis to a review? Thanks but no thanks. I can read the basic plot on their wiki or mal page if I wanted to. A review should consist of your subjective thoughts on the matter, not objective details. That ought to be a textbook or a wiki if that were the case. My reviews tend to reflect on this philosophy and I understand that, in the end, it's just one of the many ways to create a review. This is just the reason why I write reviews the way I do, and by no means is it the only way or the "correct way."
Rating scale that I use. Most shows end up being in the 4-6 range. Below is a binomial distribution of the ratings I have on this site. Mean is 5.45, Std dev is 1.8. Sampling bias heavily influencing graph since I only rate shows I want to watch, so average rating of a show is probably much lower.
1- The worst show. It's a cruel and unusual punishment to subject people to watch this show.
2- Utter garbage. There is no redemption for such works, as the mere thought of it being good never even crossed your mind.
3- Bad. Nothing is executed right, and more often than not, this show was awful.
4- Clearly amateurish in execution in almost all departments. Little to no characteristics that are well polished enough to be considered "ok." There is absolutely nothing good about the show.
5- Below average. If you knew the show was a 5/10, you would have never watched this in the first place. There might have been some interesting concepts, that if properly executed, could have made for a decent show, but it flopped. Almost everything about the show is not good at all. Little to no aspects of the show is above average, and even if there are, the flaws are more than enough to make you consider it below average.
6- Mediocre: barely watchable. You wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants to watch something good. Good parts of the show, if any, are not enough to offset the glaring and significant flaw(s) of the show. There was potential for the show to be good.
7- Good. There definitely are flaws, maybe even a major one, but the there are enough positive things about the show that compensates for the negative things about the show, enough to the point where it piques your interest and you would give praise to the overall experience. There is definitely room for improvement, but it's good.
8- Great. There are a few flaws, but nothing too significant that you think it would hinder the watching experience. Everything about it is pretty good or amazing, but there are enough flaws to not warrant the title of "amazing," or things that did not quite meet the mark of "amazing" and "stunning."
9- Amazing. It's an absolutely stunning piece of work with almost no critique to speak of. As much as this is emotionally charged, the show has to give some sort of rush. There could be a few small flaws, if any. It's nothing short of a masterpiece
10- The best show. It is perfection. This show has no equals.¹
¹ I understand that having only being able to have one 10/10 show is pretty subjective and perhaps even snobbish to some. You don't need to agree with me, but try to show some discretion. If every show is a 10, then your 10 is not worth much.
All Comments (61) Comments
But honestly, it surprises me how similar our tastes are.
Regarding the other points, as you said the points I made are subjective, but I would like to clarify that the point I was trying to make is that, in those episodes Gakuto was clearly expressing his child-like desires. Beyond that I think we can agree to disagree.
Lastly, you mentioned that my comment made you feel that I don't understand their dynamics, and I'm disappointed in myself for failing to express. I am aware of their personalities and behaviour, it is these very traits and their interactions that make the show interesting at least to me. I can understand that the show's characterization may not be to your taste, but we're human, I can't force you to like the same things as I do.
Cheers, have a great day.
As of 23th January 2024 (+8GMT) your review states that the youngest sibling's name is "Yuzuki", several times in fact. His name is Gakuto, not Yuzuki. Yuzuki is their family name, kinda discredits your review if you don't get the character's name right. Next, I find that Gakuto although "wise beyond his years" shows his actual age several times. Some I can remember off the top of my head are episode 1 where he is visually excited that Minato was going to take him to see the fireworks. A child with the "mental acumen of an adult" as you put it, would've tried a lot harder to stop Minato from going through his reckless plan. Yet Gakuto just goes along happily. Also later in episode 9 the solution that he came up with to prevent Hayato from attending his class visiting was to hide it from him instead of discussing and coming to a resolution like an adult would. Later, when his brothers showed up he clearly gets flustered and wanted to show off, much like a child would want to show off to their parents. To me at least, these clearly displayed his childishness. Gakuto may converse with words atypical of a first grader, and has unusual TV show preferences, but his thought processes are very much childlike.
To be frank your review felt shallow and kind of shows that you didn't pay the most attention to the show. I mean, you got the most popular character's name wrong and it's right there on the MAL page. Granted it could've been a careless blunder, but not proofreading a several paragraph long review seems out of the ordinary especially on MAL where it's prone to nitpicking. Again, your review felt shallow, not wrong or blatantly malicious, but definitely lacking and barely justifiable. On a different note, I appreciate that finished the show it is one of my favourites, just ticks all the right boxes for me. Also that your mean score for anime is sitting around 5, most are heavily skewed.
I hope this didn't come off as me getting defensive over the show, and if it did, I apologise. Hope you have a great day