Do you Still Score Anime?

[MadaraUchiha]

I felt comfortable giving scores to anime(on a 10-point scale in MyAnimeList) until two years ago because I probably still hadn't formed my taste and I also hadn't watched a lot of anime. But, in recent times, giving a score seems pointless, since I feel like my opinion isn't reliable and changes considerably over time.
The anime I scored back when I first started watching anime(which is about 4-5 years ago), aren't representative of what I feel about them, especially in comparison to scores I gave to other anime.
For example, I gave Blue Exorcist a 7 on MyAnimeList back when I watched it(which was in 2014), but it's more like a 5 for me now. That's the same with a lot of other anime, like Elfen Lied, Mirai Nikki, etc., and most of their scores have gotten worse in my mind. But I don't feel like going back and changing them because it's representative of what I felt during that time, but it's inaccurate when you compare the score to the rest of the list, and my opinion on it currently.
Also, giving scores to an anime sort of completely brings down the entire show itself to one metric, or a quantity. Even in a review, most people just look at the score and judge the anime, instead of reading the review itself. I've done this myself, and I've experienced other people do it to my review.

This is a question more suitable to people who've watched more than a hundred anime, and also have a pretty versatile taste that's not restricted to specific genre.

 

[Risk]

You sound exactly like someone I know who has just come up on the 250 mark and he said the same thing stuff he watched ages ago doesn't seem to hold up anymore and he also felt like rating anime ruined it for his as he couldn't enjoy one with out think about the rating and stuff. 

As for me I know how you feel about ratings for stuff you watched a while ago. I feel like my favorites or some of my first anime that seemed so amazing at the time probably wont be that good if I go and re-watch it now having seen much more which is why I don't want to re-watch them because it might ruin them for me.

 

[Demon_skeith]

These days I just say recommend or don't recommend, it seems simpler than trying to come up with a fitting number for it.

 

[MadaraUchiha]

What made me think about this specifically wasn't a lot of anime, just the last two anime I watched, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure(and Stardust Crusaders Season 1), and Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. I just couldn't give them a score in MAL.

 

[Risk]

These days I just say recommend or don't recommend, it seems simpler than trying to come up with a fitting number for it.

I kinda feel the same. Either I liked it or I didn't, there doesn't really seem to be an in between for me.

What made me think about this specifically wasn't a lot of anime, just the last two anime I watched, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure(and Stardust Crusaders Season 1), and Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. I just couldn't give them a score in MAL.

Why these two?

 

[Sindar]

Also, giving scores to an anime sort of completely brings down the entire show itself to one metric, or a quantity. Even in a review, most people just look at the score and judge the anime, instead of reading the review itself. I've done this myself, and I've experienced other people do it to my review.

 

[Burnsy]

So you finally see why I stopped scoring animes ages ago. Judging it by a number leads to disappointment and missing some show you might love. This is why I like anilist's multiple options to score animes. 1-10 score, 1-5 star, a happy/sad/meh emoji face (which I use).

 

[Blackangel]

i don't score anime now but i used to. if people personally ask for my score i will give it to them and i don't care to much for score and read the summary before picking an anime

 

[MadaraUchiha]

These days I just say recommend or don't recommend, it seems simpler than trying to come up with a fitting number for it.

I have a lot of anime that I think are well done but aren't for me, so those types of anime don't fit that category for me. Plus for me there isn't any "I like" or "I dislike". I always like to have some kind of a relative scale. But yes, what you do would probably make life easier.

Why these two?

It was when I watched these two that I realised that I didn't give a score for like 5-6 anime consecutively. JoJo came to mind because each part kept getting progressively better for me, but I don't like to say "it gets better", it's something I hate. It feels like something a fan would say to someone who just doesn't like something.
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun because I liked the first two episodes and I did something I would never do which is have good expectations for the episodes that follow, and I got disappointed. Plus the only score that comes to mind for me is a 5, which I don't think it deserves.

That is exactly what a score is =) It is interesting how a lot of people try to get away from this by giving multiple scores, i.e. one for animation, one for music, one for story, etc. It feels like this should solve the problem, but it doesn't. The score is still one-dimensional, while it tries to describe something extremely complicated. I personally think that scores for specific things, like "character designs", "use of music", "battle choreography", etc., only makes the problem worse.

When I score anime I basically do it to let my friends know what I think about it. People who know me won't have too much trouble understanding my scores, and thankfully they don't need to read too much into them, "he probably liked it"/"he probably didn't" should be enough =) And they are helpful when I look through my list to come up with a recommendation, cause I can sort it by the score. I don't care about objectivity when scoring, and my scores get outdated too, it is to be expected.

As for reviews, scores are basically helpful to decide if I want to read the review : D Like, if I know the show is ~decent and there are three MAL reviews, one gives it 10, another 8 and another gives it 1, then I'll probably read the first one. Chances are, the person is either a fanboy or had actually discovered something really great about the anime. And that is kinda my point about reviews in general. I don't care about objectivity, well-balanced discussions and all that. I want to be told something which I wouldn't necessarily see myself when watching. Or maybe, the review could tell me about something which makes the show unique and worth watching, leaving everything else aside.

Reviews like that don't need scores. You can highlight the key points you are making, and that is good enough. There are other ways of replacing scores with more substantial things. Like, instead of scoring background art you can post a screenshot with an illustration. A gif for animation or choreography, a picture for character designs, etc. Music is harder, because it usually relies on the context to be appreciated, but you can reference other shows with similar score (using word "similar" very loosely here). And usually there isn't any need to illustrate everything.

Yeah but like I've seen people just reply to the score itself and it's obvious that they didn't read the review so if I gave a 7.5 or something it might be because I didn't like some aspects of an anime but other people may, if they read the pro's and con's mentioned. And that's the same if I gave something 9. For example, a few people came to me and started complaining that a certain anime had "no story and I didn't like it". That anime happened to be episodic and I love episodic anime, if it's done well. 
Also I've seen fans of a particular show always come and talk to me about why I gave a show, say a 7, and I'm asked to explain and sometimes I'm just not able to. This happened to me for Darker Than Black. 
Also it's just me but it kinda bothers me lately looking at the scores I gave to anime a long time ago. You mentioned that you don't care about objectivity and scores getting outdated. I don't care about objectivity either, but the latter I'm starting to.

So you finally see why I stopped scoring animes ages ago. Judging it by a number leads to disappointment and missing some show you might love. This is why I like anilist's multiple options to score animes. 1-10 score, 1-5 star, a happy/sad/meh emoji face (which I use).

Yeah I'd probably be more comfortable with a 100 point scale like in AniList but at the same time I'd rather not score at all. So yeah I kinda feel like what you did with your MAL list was for the best.

i don't score anime now but i used to. if people personally ask for my score i will give it to them and i don't care to much for score and read the summary before picking an anime

When I'm picking an anime I generally look at the score alone. I don't trust summaries at all. Plus I only do this when I'm picking an anime that came before 2014. For recent or on-going anime I just look at reddit threads or Youtube videos, or gauge the hype around the anime.

 

[Blackangel]

[quote="MadaraUchiha" pid='110754' dateline='1540100577']


I have a lot of anime that I think are well done but aren't for me, so those types of anime don't fit that category for me. Plus for me there isn't any "I like" or "I dislike". I always like to have some kind of a relative scale. But yes, what you do would probably make life easier.

It was when I watched these two that I realised that I didn't give a score for like 5-6 anime consecutively. JoJo came to mind because each part kept getting progressively better for me, but I don't like to say "it gets better", it's something I hate. It feels like something a fan would say to someone who just doesn't like something.
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun because I liked the first two episodes and I did something I would never do which is have good expectations for the episodes that follow, and I got disappointed. Plus the only score that comes to mind for me is a 5, which I don't think it deserves.

Yeah but like I've seen people just reply to the score itself and it's obvious that they didn't read the review so if I gave a 7.5 or something it might be because I didn't like some aspects of an anime but other people may, if they read the pro's and con's mentioned. And that's the same if I gave something 9. For example, a few people came to me and started complaining that a certain anime had "no story and I didn't like it". That anime happened to be episodic and I love episodic anime, if it's done well. 
Also I've seen fans of a particular show always come and talk to me about why I gave a show, say a 7, and I'm asked to explain and sometimes I'm just not able to. This happened to me for Darker Than Black. 
Also it's just me but it kinda bothers me lately looking at the scores I gave to anime a long time ago. You mentioned that you don't care about objectivity and scores getting outdated. I don't care about objectivity either, but the latter I'm starting to.


Yeah I'd probably be more comfortable with a 100 point scale like in AniList but at the same time I'd rather not score at all. So yeah I kinda feel like what you did with your MAL list was for the best.

When I'm picking an anime I generally look at the score alone. I don't trust summaries at all. Plus I only do this when I'm picking an anime that came before 2014. For recent or on-going anime I just look at reddit threads or Youtube videos, or gauge the hype around the anime.
[/quote]

summary has the story in it and if you like the story you could pick or drop an anime. i trust them a lot and i trust recommendations from yo people a lot too.

 

[Demon_skeith]

I kinda feel the same. Either I liked it or I didn't, there doesn't really seem to be an in between for me.

If there is a in between moment, I'll then just say if you like so and so this may be for you or something along that lines.

 

[Sindar]

 

[Blackangel]

sometimes i do and sometimes i don't
it always depends on what i was feeling at that time. and i like rating lol