The anime blog carnival‘s wrapping up now. For those out of the loop, a number of blogs explored the question
What makes a 10 / 10 anime?
together. So how did the carnival go?
I would say it was a success. With the question, I was honestly not expecting too much variety, but there was a surprisingly large divergence of thought between the participants. To overgeneralize broadly, I think we can divide everyone into two categories proposed by Yumeka (some didn’t say this in so many words, so I’m extrapolating, correct me if I put you in the wrong category):
- Those who score with their head.du5k
Sam
Marina
Nopy
Mira
AceRailgun
Leap250
Yumeka
SnippetTee (the headiest of the lot)
hoshiko
Kai
Overlord-G - Those who score with their heart (the few, the proud, the brave).Me
Marrow
EphemeralDreamer
Yi
@fkeroge
Valence
Flomu
Of course, the two groups have a fair amount of overlap. But those who think with their head tend to consciously dwell on the various aspects of the show, sometimes even assigning point values to the different components. On the other hand, those in the heart group tend to ask simply how much they enjoyed the show and go with their gut.
Those who read my reviews know that I have three different categories: Plot / Script, Characters, and Production. Here I at least attempt to think with my head. But the overall rating I give each show comes purely from the heart.
One personal benefit of this carnival for me is that it’s made me rethink my reviewing system. I particularly liked Marina‘s idea of the “Voice” category and Nopy‘s “Attention Grab” category. The amount the show grabs my attention is probably the number one measure of how much I liked it (unless it grabs my attention like Guilty Crown does).
So I’m thinking of changing the criteria on my review to Storytelling, Voice, Characters, Attention Grab, and Production. But still, these categories are just a way for me to organize my thoughts, and the final score will come purely from the heart.
I also ultimately score with my head, but usually I base my ratings on a mix of both.
Thanks for the special mention, Mr. Braveheart.
You’re welcome, Mrs. Brain. (btw, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being in the head category)