The great anime evaluation criteria thread

[unoduetre]

What makes a certain anime good?
What makes a certain anime bad?

Of course there are no universal criteria to decide that. But it's still possible to first state the criteria someone uses and then evaluate the anime based on that. If the person's evaluation is really based on the stated criteria, it's logical and unbiased, the evaluation can be very useful to other people.

The purpose of this thread is to find out what possible criteria can be used.

I will add all of criteria you mention in this thread to this post, so we will have a nice reference.

So what makes an anime good and what makes an anime bad?

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The names next to the criteria are for people who mentioned it for the first time in this thread. It doesn't mean they necessarily use these criteria in their own evaluations.

THE LIST OF POSSIBLE CRITERIA:

- it delivers what it initially promised or not, it exceeds the expectations or is below expectations (Momogari)
- presence/absence of filler episodes (Citizen)
- lip sync (well done/poorly done) (Citizen)
- voice acting (expressive or flat/monotone) (Citizen)
- do the voices of the chosen voice actors and their acting match the characters (Citizen)
- speed of plot development, pacing (is the speed consistent/inconsistent, is it too fast/too slow) (Citizen)
- animated movement complexity (e.g. many things moving in complex ways) (HentaiSenpai)
- natural animation (e.g. the movement does not look robotic or artificial) (HentaiSenpai)
- the depth of character psychology, personality (the characters are not shallow, they have their inner world) (HentaiSenpai)
- the anime has a calming effect, makes you relaxed (HentaiSenpai)
- well thought out, coherent, consistent and cohesive plot (HentaiSenpai)
- having plot twists and surprises (HentaiSenpai)
- using/not using the established art style for the genre (Lord Myne)
- using or not using CGI for certain elements (Lord Myne)
- relatability of characters (can you empathize with the characters) (Lord Myne)
- understandability of characters (e.g. actions should have understandable reasons) (Lord Myne)
- character originality (being/not being cliche) (Lord Myne)
- using anime tropes (e.g. chibi) (Lord Myne)
- how much "plot" (e.g. nudity and sexuality) there is (HentaiSenpai)
- the complexity of background art (unoduetre)

[lolin]

are you just opening up a debate on logic

because someone could come in and say something like "all logic is based on opinion"

[unoduetre]

[mention=881]Lolin[/mention]

I don't understand your post. Can you explain, please?

[Citizen]

are you just opening up a debate on logic

because someone could come in and say something like "all logic is based on opinion"

All opinions are based on logic.

[unoduetre]

I think there can be a criterium based on the art complexity. E.g. some people might consider more complex art better. E.g. backgrounds with more details might be considered better than backgrounds with smaller number of details.

[HentaiSenpai]

I think there can be a criterium based on the art complexity. E.g. some people might consider more complex art better. E.g. backgrounds with more details might be considered better than backgrounds with smaller number of details.

Same goes with animation style. What would be the 4~ things you most look for when selecting/continuing an anime?
This criteria would have to be used for every single anime

Ie What is the 'plot'-plot scale. 'Plot' 5 to 5 plot and 0 being its trash and has neither.

[unoduetre]

[mention=109946]HentaiSenpai[/mention]

OK, let's discuss these.

What do you mean by animation style? When the style is good and when it's bad? What is the relationship to animation style and animation quality (e.g. smooth, non-mechanical movement or …?)? Are they the same or different?

And the same question about plot. Is it about plot complexity (e.g. some possible versions of this criterium: 1) the plot requires thinking to fully understand or 2) there are many different events and characters, many things going on or 3) the plot touches some difficult problems of the real world) ? Or maybe the surprise factor (the more surprising plot twists the better)?

[unoduetre]

[mention=109946]HentaiSenpai[/mention]

I've added the "plot" criterium as it seems to be pretty clear.

[Tanya]

The Art style used. As how characters are drawn, move, as well backgrounds will change how a viewer views an anime. Depending on the intended audience the style is changed. Character art and animation are two different things though.

Some anime use a lot of computer graphics in them while others minimize there use. Some is cutesy or chibi. Naturally these elements aren’t important to every anime fan but to some these will make or break an anime.

Diverse of characters too. Do they have depth or are they typical with no real spark to them? Realistic characters are interesting while non realistic ones lack life and therefore are boring and makes a potentially good plot meaningless and worthless. Characters and how they interact makes a big impact on how good or bad an anime is.

[unoduetre]

[mention=1132]Lord Myne[/mention]

I have added some of the things you mentioned.

I do not fully understand the "art style" part. Do you mean, that the art style should match anime genre and it's better if it does?

Also about character depth. Do you mean psychological depth (so they're not e.g. psychologically simplified or shallow), or do you mean something like a depth of their story (e.g. some complex circumstances and complex choices they have to make), or both?

As far as realism is concerned. Do you mean the depth as above. Or is it about having characters with e.g. realistic jobs, realistic behaviour, realistic situations, realistic problems, wearing realistic clothes, having realistic hair styles etc. Or maybe it's about rationality and logicality of the character development. So there are no deus ex machina elements in it, e.g. you always know why a certain character made a certain decision based on what you know about the particular character and there are no moments when the decisions are random or seem to be reached by some sort of "magical psychology".

[Tanya]

As for realism, it simply means something that’s relatable to humans. It can be odd and out of the norm such as the character needs to eat metal. This is odd but relatable because the character requires nourishment but metal is weird. Odd would be someone starting to lick metal for no reason except a quirk. After a bit this just be odd and boring and unrealistic because it doesn’t make sense.

[Tanya]

Art style depends on the beholder. Unfortunately there is no clear cut on what will be good and won’t. Generally speaking it’s best to largely stick to what’s expected of a genre. Being unorthodox though can make a good anime too, but that’s a wild card if it succeeds.

[Tanya]

All new anime use CGI to some extent today but I suppose coloring only can be considered none CGI so I’ll accept none or used.

[unoduetre]

OK, I've added these. Please, let me know if you want to add more or I missed your point in the criteria I've written down in the first post.

[HentaiSenpai]

[mention=109946]HentaiSenpai[/mention]
And the same question about plot. Is it about plot complexity (e.g. some possible versions of this criterium: 1) the plot requires thinking to fully understand or 2) there are many different events and characters, many things going on or 3) the plot touches some difficult problems of the real world) ? Or maybe the surprise factor (the more surprising plot twists the better)?

So for plot.
1:Complexity/Chill
The thinking required ie steiens gate, plot twists, complex story and depth really make this a well though out story. However this is not necessary to make something a good anime
So I would have story complexity as a factor.
Be it "This anime was extremely chill and made great viewing when relaxing" or "Holy shit the depth that this story brought with twists and real depth made this anime feel and kept me on the edge of my seat"

2: Characters
Depth of characters, personality, does the charecter feel like they could be real.

3:Reliability
The Garden of Words, break my heart. How closely can you feel with the charecters/story.

I would put each of these in their own category.