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I believe it is necessary for a reviewer and his audience to understand each other, and for the reviewer to state his or her biases up-front so that the audience can understand where they are coming from. So here are some pointers:

-Historical, psychological, fantasy, sci-fi, and philosophical series are favorites of mine. I'm largely indifferent to shonen battle series, find mecha to be hit-and-miss, am skeptical of romance series, and actively avoid series heavy on fan-serivce (it's highly unlikely you'll ever see me review an ecchi)
-I'm thoroughly in the Seinen demographic, preferring deeper stories that challenge my mind (granted, not all Seinen are like this by any means). My forays into Shonen are infrequent, rarely do I bother with Shojo or Josei (but I'll defend 'Escaflowne' and 'Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju' against all comers).
-I'm not one to throw around 9's and 10's (there are more than enough fanboy otakus who can do that in my place). Criticism has as much value as praise, and I'll always strive to provide a solid reason when I do either.
-You're going to see a lot of scores around '5'- it turns out a lot of series are about average BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT AVERAGE MEANS (side note, I'll keep the CAPS LOCK to a minimum).

And now to give the basics of my grading scale:
10) Utterly Magnificent. The "you're on a deserted island and can only have one manga/anime" kind of good. The sort of series I dream of creating.
9) Elite. A very strong showing with a few, forgivable flaws.
8) I had a high enjoyment of this series, but can't deny that there a some bumps and hiccups as well. Not huge hiccups, and I'll probably revisit this series, but I can't praise it without a few reservations.
7) Series at this level typically made a very good showing within the context of their genre. They usually don't break boundaries, but take what a story of their type is supposed to do and did it well. Non-fans of the genre might still skip it without major regrets however.
6) The good outweighs the bad, but not by a huge margin. There may have been things I truly liked, but the series is also has important flaws. A solid genre piece that tried a few new things successfully, but didn't stray too far from formula. Rewatch value at this score is debatable.
5) Average. I don't regret watching this series, but the positives and negatives balance each other out. Perhaps there were major pros and and major cons, or it didn't do anything you couldn't find elsewhere. At this rank a rewatch would be solely due to some personal predilection, not out of critical appreciation.
4) Flawed. Series at this ranking might have some notable positives, but unfortunately the negatives still overcome them by a small margin. No real regrets that I spent time on this series (not every gamble pays off) but it's unlikely I'll ever pick it up again.
3) Badly Flawed. Negatives outweigh positives by a significant margin. Not completely without redeeming value, but I'll still let 'em have it. I might actually check this series out again, but only as an example of what to avoid.
2) How did I get suckered into watching this? Sure you can't judge every book by its cover, but you can get some pretty good hints. Flat out bad, very few positives of any kind.
1) Rational human beings spent time and money to produce this and release it to the public- AND THEY ATTACHED THEIR NAMES TO IT?!