Fic Writer and Reader, general nerd, OG Irontai shipper, lover of rarepairs and space trains. Currrently working on some fanfics, drabbles, and anime reviews.
So I figured if I do continue these anime reviews, I should probably explain my rating system.
My system has a certain number of rankings I present to each title based on certain criteria. That criteria is:
Story
Characters
Sound and Animation
Personal Enjoyment
Overall Content Warnings
Each of these things I analyze, and then decide on how much certain aspects of these five things could affect another’s enjoyment. Once I’m done, I form the review in an easy format, starting with personal anecdote with a content warning, and then moving on to Story, Characters, Sound and Animation, and ending on Final Thoughts with a rating and information on where you can currently legally access what I talked about. You can see examples of that here and here with my first two full reviews.
Now, as for the ratings, these are the ones I came up with. The five ratings are:
Certified Classic
Shelf Worthy
Stream it
Skip it
Certified Fuck It
Long, in depth explanation for each rating under the cut
The Certified Classic Rating: a rating I reserve for only the best of the best, and series I believe need all the attention they can get.
This means that the series has either flown under the radar, or had a decent following at some point but that following has either massively declined in recent memory or vanished all together.
These are series that I feel need a bit of extra love and attention and that I know many people with either love themselves, or they know someone who would absolutely adore them as much as I have.
Essentially, this is my ‘Cult Classic’ tag. My smaller, more honest souls that should be cherished but have yet to be discovered by others.
The Shelf Worthy Rating: a rating I reserve for only the best of the best, and those series that are worth the hype.
This means this series is incredibly good. As good as the Certified Classics.
However, unlike the Certified Classics, these series either have an incredibly large following currently, (like whatever new anime is currently airing in the season) or are considered an Anime Essential (in the same vein as the FMA franchise, Gundam Multiverse, DBZ, Sailor Moon, or Cowboy Bebop).
Essentially, this is the ranking reserved for those series who have made such a strong name for themselves based on their quality, that they’ve become part of the anime lexicon, are easily recognizable, and/or are currently receiving all the attention.
TL:DR: It’s mainstream and you know it, even if you’ve never seen it. And I agree with the majority that it’s worth the purchase.
The Stream It Rating: a rating reserved for series that have a rather high level of ‘your millage may vary’ content, but is still worth giving a try.
This is essentially where I put series that I either do not see as highly as others may, or its got too much content that it makes me wary of recommending it to just about anyone.
It’s also where I put series that have not aged well in some aspect, be it in how it deals with certain topics or issues, dub quality if one is available, or overall animation.
Basically, if it gives me too many misgivings on any level, I’ll recommend you just try it before you buy it.
The Skip It Rating: a rating reserved for series I feel do not live up to the hype, and are not worth the time.
This is for series that have either highly disappointed me in some way, shape, or form, or have been hyped up so much that upon seeing the content it makes me question why anyone would watch this.
These are the shows I dislike greatly, but may still have one or two redeeming qualities to them such as good animation or a fantastic soundtrack that makes it perfect AMV or writing fodder. Or perhaps is connected in some way to a better product that you can check out instead, such as if its based on a book or a video game.
You and can friends can watch it, but you’ll only really be able to enjoy it with a damn good drinking game.
If you were to ask me if I’d recommend it, or if I enjoyed it, I’ll be blunt and tell you that you’re not missing much and can do without whatever gets this rating.
The Certified Fuck It Rating: a rating reserved for only the worst of the worst, and those that I feel you should avoid at all cost.
Anything with this rating is something I will adamantly insist you do not come into contact with. There are no redeeming qualities to this product, and you’re better off chucking it into the garbage where it belongs, plain and simple. We’re talking Fallout 76 levels of what the fuckery.
These series aren’t even worth a hate watch. Not worth the drinking game.
Do not pass episode 1. Do not collect $200 in merch. Go straight to jail.
Please for the love of the old Otaku Legends, do not watch whatever gets the Certified Fuck It.
And that’s how my reviews and ratings are going to be.
I hope this helps make sense of my thought process for anyone curious.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and hope you’re looking forward to the next review.
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"why we build the wall" from hadestown is really gonna trip up future media analysis students. they'll be like "ah a piece of media from the 2010s referencing building a wall to keep out the poor, clearly this is a reference to the president of the united states from 2016-2020", and then their professor will have to be like "actually the concept album for this musical came out in 2010"
how i hope this conversation goes from there is like:
"actually the concept album for this musical came out in 2010 and the original song was written in 2006"
"so she knew about the wall 10 years before Trump proposed it be built?"
"well, let's talk about that...
...but that wasn't when the wall was first built...
...this shift in the '90s marked the start of an enforcement philosophy called Prevention Through Deterrence, which basically says that if crossing is made more deadly, fewer people will cross (fact check: it just means that more people die on the journey). From the start, the purpose of the wall was not to physically to stop people from crossing -- it was to make it more deadly to do so.
...and we can also look at the song metaphorically and expansively, as a reference to the policing of migration, to company towns, to gated communities, and the physical and metaphorical walls that throughout history have kept people in and out and defined who does and don't belong.
Sources: 1 & 2 / 3 / 4"
"...how did you just say a hyperlink?"
"why worry about that when you can use this show as an entry-point into a deeper understanding of capitalism's investment in coercive control over human migration, and its long history in the United States?"
"so the song only seems prophetic because the long history of policing and militarizing the border has been ignored, and treated as an outsider position by Trump rather than the continuation of bi-partisan policy dating back decades? and it can be seen to reflect larger patterns of capital controlling people's movement in order to extract land, labor, wealth, and ultimately life from them?"
thank you so much for this well-researched response tho because, as a texan, the very concept that trump invented the idea of the border wall made me kinda. reboot. not mad at op! just surprised at the difference in our life experiences
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they should invent a disproportionate emotional response that goes away when you understand it's disproportionate. they should invent a way to logic yourself out of emotions
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There is no such thing as “the evil kill-people disorder that makes you kill people”; it has always been a myth made up by demonization to sell more ableism.
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