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(This is NOT a recommendation thread.)

I was inspired by the thread a few months ago in which a user posted their personal anime list and asked for recommendations. Although this thread is different, it does retain the premise of "finding common themes in people's tastes."

This thread should be for discussions of what people post in their "My Anime" lists. It should be reserved for intelligent discussion without criticism. We are not discussing shows themselves, but rather people who watch shows, and no one here has a right to critique another person on their aesthetic judgements.

animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?categ=3&user=Xenofan%2029A

I know I have different tastes from a lot of people, so I've commented on all of the titles I gave a perfect rating of 10 to. If anyone wants to hear my rationale behind a particular rating, I'd be glad to write a comment for an individual title.

Once again, this thread isn't about just me. I'd like to have several people discover other people who have similar tastes on this forum. There's too much bashing of this or that show, and too little actual discussion at times.

Well, seeing as your username is "Xeno-"fan and that your avatar is the front cover of the Xenogears OST, I take it you like the game, and therefore enjoy what I like to call "the convoluted," which I thought that game was (since I was practically forced to play it by my friend some time ago, but that's another story...).

Anyway, looking at your list, it seems to fit that you also seem to enjoy some of the more wordy and complex titles like that of Kon Satoshi, most of the GitS incarnations, some Anno Hideki works, and as well as Jin-Roh (big-time favorite of mine).

As for myself, I'm pretty much open to anything from the campy shounen titles like Busou Renkin, to the whacked-out, yet highly enjoyable and symbolic trippyness of a Mind Game, to the overly soap-opera-ish jousei dramas of Honey & Clover, or good ol' episodic mysteries like a Master Keaton or (the now widely revered) Mushishi.

If I had to guess, I'd have to say anime is a lot like any other hobby in that everything sort of caters to our own personalities. Just like if we prefer one type of movie, book, video game, or type of music over another, our interests in anime genres more than likely are affected by how we carry ourselves, though it'd be nice if we could maybe discuss how it came all about, I suppose.

However, in the interest of time, I think I'll wait to see if anyone else is willing to participate, first. My experiences are not all that impressive, but I think my essay-like posts tend to scare a lot of people away, so I think I'll stop here before I begin to ramble Anime smallmouth + sweatdrop

...

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, my list is kind of a low-budget attempt at reviewing each title on an individual basis. Although, it's been a long time since I did any updating and/or proofreading, and some of those comments were made on the fly. I know agreeing or disagreeing is just a matter of your own personal preference, but it's also been a while since I might have seen any of those titles at all, so try to read those (if you dare to at all) with a grain of salt.

I skimmed your list (ie. didn't read most of the detailed comments) and found that you seemed more top-heavy than I am when rating anime. I tend to rate pretty conservatively compared to some. As I expected, we agree on some things (I love the GitS TV series too) and disagree on others (Voices of a Distant Star was the one that popped out at me the most).

You seem to like things that you find entertaining or thrilling. You like good music in your anime, and although you appreciate literary quality in a work, at the end of the day, you might rewatch a favorite Cowboy Bebop episode.

I think you're right about my tastes (and yes, I make no secret of the fact that I am a Xenogears fanatic), down to the fact that I love convoluted things. I love mental puzzles and complex symbolism. Additionally, I have a tendency to rate things a lower score if I was entertained by them, instead of challenged. I absolutely love Excel Saga, but I somehow don't feel right giving it anything above a 7, because it has no literary value. You rated it slightly higher.

Last edited by Cloe on Thu Jan 03, 2008 4:32 am; edited 1 time in total

Tony K. wrote:

...to the whacked-out, yet highly enjoyable and symbolic trippyness of a Mind Game...

Tony, you're my hero now and forever. <3

To the OP, I don't know if it's a good thing to generalize and pigeonhole people's tastes too hastily. It's really easy to go "Hmm, you seem to like so-and-so" while the person in question may in fact have a much wider pallete than can be inferred from a list. That said, it's fairly easy to pigeonhole my taste. ;p

At the very least, this thread has reminded me that my public list is in bad need of updating.

[Edit: D'oh, I guess I should include a link, too, eh?]

animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?categ=3&user=Murasakisuishou

I haven't put in comments for anything yet, although I've been meaning to for some time (and probably will when I'm not busy with other things). I rate based on integration between story, art, music, and acting, plus how enjoyable the anime was to me. Sometimes the enjoyment factor affects the rating quite a bit; Shaman King gets an excellent from me despite the fact that the animation is crud and the story is cliched just because it's an absolute blast to watch. For an anime to earn a masterpiece rating from me, it has to have a certain special something to it; I know it when I see it.

As is probably evident from my list, I've got really diverse tastes. My two favorite series (Shaman King and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) are nearly polar opposites, and I've also enjoyed more emotionally driven series like NANA and Haibane Renmei and mindless fluff like Galaxy Angel. I usually lean more towards action series (I love cyberpunk to death), but I'll watch anything as long as the characters and story are interesting. Good art helps a bit too (it kept me going through the beginning episodes of Air), but it's not always necessary.

Xenofan 29A wrote:

As I expected, we agree on some things (I love the GitS TV series too) and disagree on others (Voices of a Distant Star was the one that popped out at me the most).

Yeah, only saw Voices once and it was a fansub from a few years ago, but I put a little faith into the overall opinion of Shinkai Motoko's buzz and reputation to purchase his little combo pack with Voices and Place Promised. I'm sure if I sit down and try to analyze them more in-depth, that "thing" may click in me and win me over (as opposed to say.. Air, but that's for another thread).

Xeonfan 29A wrote:

You seem to like things that you find entertaining or thrilling. You like good music in your anime, and although you appreciate literary quality in a work, at the end of the day, you might rewatch a favorite Cowboy Bebop episode.

Heh, ironically, I've only seen Bebop once, and that was like 4 years ago, and I only saw half of the series 2 years before that. While a fun series in its own right, these days I'm probably more inclined towards the literary kinds of titles, probably because I just finished a college course on literary criticism.

However, I'll also admit that the more straightforward material like the of themes of a shounen series tend to resonate with me a little easier (though one could argue that's the point, in the first place since they are shounen titles). One of the more recent series I watched was Hajime no Ippo (for a second time, but the first time on DVD), and while it's much more simplistic in story and execution as opposed to something by Kon or Oshii, again, it just comes down to personal preference.

Actually, now that I think about it, my professor brought up a point about how the general expectations of a novel are to entertain its audiences. We like "things" in a story that "capture" us like drama, plot twists, action, and/or some kind of resolution. But some of the novels we read lacked that. The theme of the course was to read and analyze the style of writers in conjunction to "the age of terrorism" and the state of America post-9/11.

Some of them were a little more straightforward like Look At Me or Harbor while a few others seemed more cryptic and symbolic like Philadelphia Fire or The Reluctant Fundamentalist, but all in all, maybe this whole thing about "tastes in [whatever]" can be traced to being more of culture thing? The straightforward action movie or shounen anime versus the cleverly-crafted and convoluted Oscar-winning film or philosophically-driven psycho babble anime.

As Cloe was saying, maybe it's a bit hasty to jump the gun on people's tastes. Just because one person may have "this and that" anime under their belt and found it more enjoyable than others, it shouldn't necessarily reflect their own personal style. Although looking at my first reply, I'm just as guilty for doing the same, so maybe I have a point, too Anime smallmouth + sweatdrop

.

Xenofan 29A wrote:

I absolutely love Excel Saga, but I somehow don't feel right giving it anything above a 7, because it has no literary value. You rated it slightly higher.

Yeah, Excel definitely has no literary value. But thinking about in that sense is a matter of your own subjectivity in loving it, but then objectively when saying it doesn't feel right to rate any higher than a 7/B+/Good (going by my rating system). Today, I'd probably call it a little more vulgar than what I used to think about it. But again, this is another title I've only seen once and several years ago, making my memory of it a bit fuzzy.

This is where the whole "taste" thing comes into discussion. I think it would make for good conversation if we try to figure out the whole objective versus subjective style of ratings. I tried doing so a while back in my Gun Sword thread, though with little success.

Basically, I'm asking should it be okay to like something for what it is (being subjective), or are we all to succumb to a certain degree of standards and like everything from a more formal viewpoint (being objective)?

As you've probably guessed, I'm more towards the subjective side of the crowd. But at the same time, I try to be objective as well, hence some of my attempts at grading the technical aspects like art, animation, and music.

Yeah, tough stuff to consider, especially if you just aren't good with words. But seeing as how we're here anyway, we might as well try to make for some intersting discussion.

animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?user=chichiriNoDa&categ=3

Ok I didn't put any comments because it's really hard for me to come up with words when it comes to describing what I've watched.

My taste of genre varies, but I prefer to watch Slice-of-Life, Romance, Fantasy and Comedy.

My rating system is different, I don't critique or try to find flaws to the anime I watch. Instead, if the anime really grown on to me or I really enjoy it, I'll give it a perfect score. For the sad titles, if it moves my feelings or leave me with a teary eyes, I also give it a perfect score.

I know it's weird, but that's how I rate my list, based on enjoyment and addictiveness....

If the story is well written and the animation is top notch I sometimes rate it with excellent. Whaaa.. I can't explain it well, but I guess I tried..... Anyways those rating list, really comes from what I feel about the show.

Why would you rate a comedy series based on it's literary value? That just plain doesn't make sense. Excel Saga is a fairly intelligent show, despite how random and mindless it is on the surface. It should get points for that at least.

animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?categ=3&user=Vortextk

I've always had a trouble putting a finger on what "I like". For all my negativity come certain topics, I am a glass is half full with popular media. I watch for enjoyment, not to nitpick the bad and ugly. Not that such a philosophy is wrong but that is just not what I do. An example is my abundance of "Good" ratings. If an anime was a bit of fun, decent production values, little bit of good drama or action and I had no problems sitting down to watch, it'll most likely score a good. If I was annoyed at the animation, slow story without actually going anywhere or any other problem(one, mind you), it'll drop to a decent. I use 1-5 for anything I disliked or had no feelings about, which are very few.

chichiriNoDa, you seem to love giving out masterpieces Very Happy

, as you said. I don't hold them back, but anything very entertaining, fun, pretty to look at etc usually gets 7-9 for me. Only when I feel "wow" do I ever bother thinking "9 or 10?"

Murasakisuishou, it's funny that I forget exactly why I rated the Inuyasha movies the way I did, but it seems you are thinking exactly the same, heh. For a short list, you have a pretty good amount of differences in your ratings. I guess one could argue finding only 6-7's+ to watch is better than watching things you end up disliking, but good luck trying to do that!

Tony K., at the start of your list it seemed we'd end up disagreeing but it seems that was just for a few titles. So far, most of my ratings follow pretty closely to everyone's list as well as yours. I like the reviews though. I try to write a short blurb to help me remember what I liked about the show exactly and, in essence, to be the "back of the dvd" paragraph one would read while also trying to be a bit objective. Of course I can only be so objective, though.

And finally, Xenofan 29A. Your ratings don't seem that off. Our lists are rather similar except you seem to rate a bit higher on the epic/mind warps than me and my list skewers more towards action titles anyway.

I've only just started to write down things for each title and most of those being recently watched. Of course I could write why I think FLCL is a masterpiece, and that one is probably easier than most(I've seen it around 7 times), I find it's tough without having viewed it of late. I do have a penchant for rewatching so I'll eventually get around to a lot of my older shows.

If I recall there are already some suggestions at the Encyclopedia Suggestion List to help us find people with similar tastes.

Cloe wrote:

To the OP, I don't know if it's a good thing to generalize and pigeonhole people's tastes too hastily. It's really easy to go "Hmm, you seem to like so-and-so" while the person in question may in fact have a much wider pallete than can be inferred from a list.

You are absolutely right Cloe. The problem is that it's probably the only thing we can do. We are discussing anime with people whom we have never met. Only close friends and relatives probably can tell (with high percentage of accuracy) what you truly like.

Tony K. wrote:

Basically, I'm asking should it be okay to like something for what it is (being subjective), or are we all to succumb to a certain degree of standards and like everything from a more formal viewpoint (being objective)?

Our ratings are subjective. Period. Being objective here reminds me of that book in Dead Poets Society trying to rate Byron and Shakespeare.

That is why an automatic system which could analyze our ratings, titles, genres, and staff would be preferable to analyze our tendecies and do some sort of "match-making". Initially it should probably make lots of mistakes, but it would be a whole lot easier.

Well, here's my list: animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?categ=3&user=MorwenLaicoriel

Looking at it makes me realize a few things:
(1) I have a horribly bad habit of leaving series unfinished for a loooong time (just look at my seen some catagory--agh, why haven't I finished some of these?)
(2) When I DO finish a series, it means I probably liked it enough to watch it all the way through. Heh.
(3) My rating is reeeeally subjective. When I give more detailed reviews I try to be more objective, but...for something like this list? I go with my gut.

As for my personal tastes...I don't think I have a clear-cut taste in genres, but I think what really really matters to me are characters. If I'm not grabbed by the characters, often I won't like a show as much. That's not always the case though...but I know anime I consider favorites of mine are full of characters that I either love to squeal over or love to analyze, or...both (Evangelion, Princess Tutu, FMA, Ouran, Paranoia Agent, etc).

Here's mine which I did on the fly and will most likely get a bit of an update soon since I'm sure I missed a good number of titles.

I find it hard to find patterns in peoples taste who only have under a hundred titles listed. Especially when many of them are more or less universally loved or hated like Miyazaki movies or anything in the top 50 list in the ANN encyclopedia. The fact that Jedi General has Elfen Lied, both Ghost in the Shell movies, Ninja Scroll, and Perfect Blue in the bottom 10 spots speaks volumes.

I tend to enjoy Tony's opinions, although he tends to like shonen titles more than me. I'm a bit surprised at Tony's relatively high ranks for both School Rumble and Saber Marionette. I'm currently watching both series, so don't have a rank on either, but find myself becoming more engrossed (despite my best efforts) with both these series with each volume.

I also tend to agree with Psycho's opinions (he is also one of the rare people who gave Speed Grapher Excellent while giving Jinki Extend and Blue Gender Very Good) and have been paying more attention to him since he suggested Witchblade to me.

I also love Justin Sevakis' huge list which naturally has many buried treasures. I think Bamboo's list would have some anomalies that would sync up with me and I would really like to see her put up a list, although I understand how it can be time consuming. I think it is nice for the ANN reviewers to have a public list so we can see where they are coming from in terms of anime tastes.

The most telling thing about these lists are where people go against the popular opinion, especially if you agree with them.

Yay. Another chance to post a link to My Anime, I don't think I've done it in a few weeks, maybe months. Yet, as always, it is in need of updating.

Oh and something else that may interest, a thread I made quite a while back about how people rate their anime.

In my own anime list I am mostly subjective, as everyone should be. The majority of what I take into account when rating is whether or not I enjoyed the show. It's not that important that jokes be smart as long as they're funny. It doesn't matter much that the animation is stellar as long as the story gets to me in some way. I don't really care if the music sounds like it was put together with a cheap synthesizer, as long as the situation is interesting. Now if there is a grabbing story with wonderful characters that I can't stop watching for fear of missing even an second, and the show happens to have other stuff like great music or pretty animation, it's like a cherry on top or dressing, I'll enjoy it if it's there but not something I look for especially.

For that reason I'm incredibly friendly with ratings. A show doesn't have the greatest bells and whistles to get a 'very good' or 'excellent' or even a 'masterpiece' rating from me as long as it entertains me well enough.

And I don't go out of my way on my comments, but I am strict with myself about adding something before I put a show on my 'seen all' list. I don't do full reviews or plot summaries just a few lines about what I thought about the show. The reason I like being strict about it is not so much for others who are reading (even though I love posting that list every opportunity I get), but more importantly for myself. I watch and read so much that I honesty can forget in a few months quite a lot about what I watched, especially if it didn't make a gigantic impression on me. So in case I want to go back and watch the show again later I can remind myself something I liked or didn't like about it about it and have a better idea if its the kind of show I'm in the mood to watch again or not.

As for finding others with similar interests I think browsing My Anime lists is a great way. I have been almost obsessed with My Anime lists since I started visiting ANN. I am usually open to almost any suggestions on what to watch, so over the past few years I have probably read hundreds of lists, some of them often. With that, and participating in the forums, I have indeed been able to find users with similar interests which also helps a lot.

Actually similar interests might be a bit off, as everyones tastes are truly different, but I've definitely found that a lot of users tastes in certain genres or themes are similar to my own tastes for the same types of shows. Does that make sense? Like I know what users' lists to browse when I'm looking for something cute; by way of common anime watched, we appear to have similar tastes in how we find a show to be appealingly cute. But they may not share my tastes in shounen or drama so in the same way I turn to other users' lists or posts when I'm looking for action, drama, or almost any other genre.

Well that'll be my rambling post for the month. I'll just stop now while it still sort of makes sense.

My anime list is not as neat as many, however I started it mainly as a way to remember what I had seen so I didn't rent it again. I have since decided that it would be nice to comment on some shows after looking at others lists and admiring them, and have started to do that to a few titles, however I will do that more from now on as I see shows or re-watch shows.

I haven't yet got around to breaking down the lists as I can't decide how I would like them broke down. Favorites? Genres? When I figure that out, perhaps I will, however since I am probably the only one who looks at My Anime list, maybe it's better to leave it as it is.

Let me begin by saying that I'm pretty new to Anime and extremely new to ANN, as a matter of fact Xenofan now has my ANN Fourm virginity.

animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?categ=3&user=DerekTheRed

As you can see, it is a short list and almost everything is rated very well, as should be expected seeing as much of it came from the various ANN Top Ten Lists. However, of the things that I've picked out more on my own, I'm finding that generally I like shows with plentiful comedic relief (Slayers, Lupin) over the more serious ones (Master Keaton, Ninja Scroll, X).

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