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Do anime reviews and ratings change your perspective on a particular anime? What anime was better than you expected?


Momoki

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I used to read review and check out the ratings before I watch any anime. This helps me choose a good fish in a large ocean but at the same time it makes me miss underrated animes. but recently I’ve started watching old animes that are underrated and most of them turned out great. For example, mirai Nikki and the promised neverland. I want to hear your opinion on this. 

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I’m personally more inclined to check out a series based on what fellow forum members have to say about it than any sort of “professional” review or MAL rating (usually not a good indicator of whether I’ll enjoy a series). Really though the only way to know for sure is to invest the time to check out at least a couple episodes myself. Though watching the trailer/promotional videos can give an early impression. 

As far as series that exceed my expectations, right now that would be Naka no Hito Genome (The Ones Within). I had zero expectations for that one & it doesn’t seem to be getting any professional attention, but it’s my favorite of the new series for this season. I also prefer the dubbed version, which is unusual for me.

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My favorites among the currently airing series: Demon Slayer, Fruits Basket (2019), The Ones Within, If it’s for my Daughter I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord & Fire Force.

For older series I’d prefer to know what kind of series you’re looking for. If you want general recommendations, see the favorites section of my profile.

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I don't tend to look at reviews and rating for anything. I just look for things that I think I would like and watch it. I also browse anime forums around the internet for suggestions or just get recommendations from friends for different things too.

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Ratings don't reflect how you'll feel about something however if it isn't something you experienced then the only things you have are your research into the material and the opinions of others the latter in the form of ratings. By default my own research trumps opinion polls be it a movie, anime, or product since I know what I'm looking to get out of something, but ratings/reviews do hold some weight for me when ultimately deciding as more information is always a good a thing to have. When considering reviews and ratings however I tend to toss the worst and the best without reading them since the people those tend to be biased for one reason or another. For the low end they tend to be ratings or reviews where they were expecting one thing or another that it simply didn't live up to say they heard the show was X genre and it ended being Y genre and they don't like Y genre then the show will inevitably suffer a heavy handed review for the fact or those that rate it particularly high tend to latch on to one or a few aspects they really like and ignore the flaws it has not saying that a glowing review can't include the flaws as something that was far outweighed, but it's not typical that they do. Really the averages make the most difference to me than individual testimonials do. If a product or program receives a majority of reviews on the low-end then it probably doesn't work/break or in a show has flaws that are widespread enough that they hit a chord among a diverse population of customers/watchers whereas if poor reviews are the outlier and a rarity it's probably a fairly reliable.

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1 hour ago, Sasuke said:

I don't tend to look at reviews and rating for anything. I just look for things that I think I would like and watch it. I also browse anime forums around the internet for suggestions or just get recommendations from friends for different things too.

 

Same, I don't find ratings really have anything to do with whether I personally will enjoy something or not. I usually like things other people don't lol.

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I always prefer watching an AMV over reading some reviews on MAL where people tend to exaggerate. Actually if you've seen anime for a long time, you will eventually give it 3 episode before either continuing or dropping it. I am still watching Black Clover since it's initial release, regardless of the fact that people have been complaining about Asta's screaming and branded it as a bad anime from the get-go. Most MAL reviews for BC were also based off of the first couple episodes but if you have just kept watching it up until now then you won't be having any regrets. Don't get influenced by reviews too much - they're a great source but they also can affect your decision heavily. (which you might regret at some point)

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Everyone would say that they dont care what others write or about rating but thats not how the brain actually works. Just looking at an average rating or a review doesnt change your opinion but when you see it time and time again your brain is actually going to believe that what people are saying is indeed true. 

There are a lot of experiments that show that this is the case. It takes like 2 seconds of searching and you will find something about it.

People unconciously mimic eachother so if you were to read a lot of bad reviews for a show before watching it there is a very high chance you will think its bad too after you have seen it.

So yes it does change perspective if you want it or not. 

And i agree that promised beverland was a good show but i dont think it was underrated it has a 8+ score i think which is pretty high.

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@Humbby I actually seem to have the opposite reaction. If I hear a lot of hype surrounding a series or I go into it with high expectations, I’ve noticed I tend to be less forgiving. One of the reasons I try not to read reviews until I’ve already started to form an opinion.

@Muco I honestly didn’t think Black Clover was that bad. Even though I did drop it fairly early on, I actually think I might revisit it someday. The biggest obstacle is I tend to prefer series that just last a couple cours or at least give you a break in between to explore something different. Same reason I burned out on One Piece & Hunter x Hunter, but would like to get back into them someday.

Edited by Ohiotaku
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2 hours ago, Ohiotaku said:

 

@Muco I honestly didn’t think Black Clover was that bad. Even though I did drop it fairly early on, I actually think I might revisit it someday. The biggest obstacle is I tend to prefer series that just last a couple cours or at least give you a break in between to explore something different. Same reason I burned out on One Piece & Hunter x Hunter, but would like to get back into them someday.

Well this is understandable because nobody really would be willing to watch an anime with so many episodes like OP unless he fully commits himself to watch only that. I have realized over the years that I tend to "put an anime on hiatus" unconsciously, in particular with long running shounen anime where slow pacing plots/arcs can kill the whole thing. Whereas 12 episodic anime, f.e are more forgiven, as far as the anime studio adapts it accordingly. Vinland Saga for instance did the anime adaptation fairly well. 

I have read the manga to 50 chapters (which would be equal to 24+ episodes and even more, no idea how they are planning to fit it into 24 episodes) but the first chapter of the manga is different to what we see in the anime. The Anime Studio decided to follow a linear storyline, what you would normally see in the first episodes could have been "flashbacks" of Thorfinn's childhood if they decided to follow the original manga.

Anyways. I digress but yeah maybe give Black Clover another try and watch it dubbed if you want to. Normally, not a fan of dubs but the dub version for B.C is better than sub.

Edited by Muco
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I don't bother with reviews for anime. If for some reason I want an opinion on if a show is worth my time, I ask a buddy who has seen it themselves. Generally, they are who recommend most of what I watch in the first place anyways, though.

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On 8/8/2019 at 4:51 PM, Ohiotaku said:

@Humbby I actually seem to have the opposite reaction. If I hear a lot of hype surrounding a series or I go into it with high expectations, I’ve noticed I tend to be less forgiving. One of the reasons I try not to read reviews until I’ve already started to form an opinion.

@Muco I honestly didn’t think Black Clover was that bad. Even though I did drop it fairly early on, I actually think I might revisit it someday. The biggest obstacle is I tend to prefer series that just last a couple cours or at least give you a break in between to explore something different. Same reason I burned out on One Piece & Hunter x Hunter, but would like to get back into them someday.

Hard agree here. A lot of the anime that I rate poorly are actually decent anime that I think have been overhyped.

Moving back to the original question, I think positive reviews for an anime can make me appreciate more or from a different angle, but negative reviews typically leave a bad taste in my mouth. Reading analysis on shows like Bakemonogatari can help you appreciate small details that are hard to catch on your first watch. On the other hand, I've read """reviews""" on Land of the Lustrous that just make me wonder if we were even watching the same show.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am gonna be super biased here as I made a website that collects review scores and gives them a universal score. (it's in my signature if you're curious)

Similar to MAL but waay better. 😄

But yes, reviews and scores and Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes aren't for everyone. But here is my reasoning why I depend on reviews.

1. I don't think I'm better than a professional critic.

Now some would say, but there are no real critics in anime!! I think there are. There are people out there who've watched more anime than you and so their judgement is probably better than yours. Since they have that tremendous amount of experience to draw from.

It's not that I can't tell if I like a show or not. It's just that I "feel" I like an anime or not. While these critics can tell me exactly why I like it or not.

People are sometimes too confident in their ability to tell if something is good. This is why some people think SAO is the best anime ever. Or something like that. No offence. I don't mean to offend anyone.

2. So many anime to watch so little time.

I've always been a big believer of, "Anime to watch before you die." Because realistically, you have a limited window to consume anime. You will get old, your eyes will weaken, your hearing will weaken. Eventually you will be physically unable to watch anime or anything for that matter.

So I don't want to waste my time of mediocre or average anime. Much less crap anime. I want to watch the best while I'm still alive. Reviews help me do that. Someone already sifted through the mud and picked out the gems so I don't have to get my hands dirty.

HOWEVER I am talking about aggregated review scores here. Not just 1 review or 1 score. But a lot of reviews and scores. Then averaged. Using this system has worked well for me as I feel I've watched a lot of amazing shows. And that I'm not missing out.
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Reviews do not generally change my perspective of things, but I do look through them a bit.

Most titles I try out are ones that seem to be interesting or I have read the manga for, though I sometimes try out Random ones.

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