Mega Megane Moé
Hell and Heaven Moéltdown
Musings inspired by Author on Coburn on the Search For Number 9 (plus lelangir)
Although my post title may be anything but serious, the combination of these three posts, plus their comments (or rather, one main post, two side posts, a few comments, and a stuffed bear, omoichikaeri!) induced some more of my periodic reflections on rating systems and of one’s Golden Age of anime.
After all, with so many bloggers burning out, or at least engaging Emergency Measure #34 in order to prevent burning out, the lack of anime that sit upon my stack of 9s and 10s on the MAL does worry me.
I’ve a strange tradition after all of pretty much having no 10s, ever; it represents a symbol of perfection, something that trancends the space of just a mere work of fiction. It’s not just the anime, but the circumstances; therefore, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsukihime (the visual novel), Kanon 2006, my three gateways to the anime fandom, are the only ones to brandish such a number. It probably fits with coburn’s definition, that a 10 must not just be perfect, but also be resonant.
So in a sense, I end up on the same pedestal as coburn, with just 3 favorites, as opposed to Author’s 4 or Cameron’s 8, and I have to wonder. Even the nines, replacing what might be a conventional ten on the scale – although the standard scale is anything but – are becoming scare. Probably Higurashi is the only one to reach such a status in the last few months.
The seasonal outcry of how anime has gone to hell and we’re all going to die (shortly before being arrested by lawyers of Odex or your ‘favorite’ company of choice) becomes that much more worrysome; although I don’t really believe it, one has to wonder whether there is a slow build-up of tolerance to anime.
It’s somewhat like, fittingly, anime is my waifu; I watched the Kanons, the Kaijis, and I was smitten. I couldn’t stop thinking, and gushing, nonstop. I was absolutely head-over-heels, forcing my family with absolutely no anime experience to go through the same emotions that I did, watching Shiori at the fountain.
But, just like how marraiges cool off after a few years, I wonder, will I be stirred like that ever again? Certainly, I am still happy to wake up in the morning, next to a new Toradora or One Outs episode. I am definitely glad I’m here.
But I fought hard just to convince myself to give the brilliantly nonstandard Higurashi a 9. How will I retrieve the magic from the days when I was so incredibly soul-rocked by mere VN conversions as H2O and Kimikiss (which I haven’t found the ability to rewatch), I gave them the same star status?
That’s what I wonder, to bring it back from the realms explored off of an errant twit by lolikitsune, and to the posts in question. Can you force yourself to find a 10/10? Force yourself to find number 4? In a sense, force yourself to find love? I just don’t think it’s possible.
I’ve had cycles in the past, where I’ve had anime re-find me. Where I thought I was doomed to a list full of 6s and 7s, of generics like Akasaka, and a shining prince (or visual novel conversion) comes out of the rain and shelters me with an umbrella made of pure awesome. (as you will see in the upcoming 12 Moments of Anime 2008 special)
Perhaps the people on hiatus, are doing the right thing, by not looking, not pushing anymore?
Certainly, a bit of exploration won’t hurt; that’s exactly what I’m doing here by taking these posts and flying completely off-topic into my own personal tl;dr land. But, I don’t think you can intentionally find a 10/10 anime any more than you could intentionally find your soulmate.
-CCY
(And now for something completely irrelevant, I’ve gone on such a Patchy bender over the last few weeks that I wonder if I need to rename my blog. Mega Murasaki Moe? There are a lot of cute purple- or purple-tone hair girls in anime…)
December 9, 2008 - 10:22 am
Changing blog names is moe.
December 9, 2008 - 11:25 am
I’ve said my piece on ratings before now, so I haven’t much to add here. I feel prompted to point out, though that some of those on hiatus might not have stopped pushing – indeed, some of them might not have been pushing in the first place. I think you’re spot on about the serendipitous nature of the anime we love – we don’t find them, they find us, almost? That, perhaps, is how it feels, rather than how it is. Or something.
(Reminds me how much I miss Cameron’s blog.)
December 9, 2008 - 11:27 am
You’re onto something here. Inasmuch I can (grudgingly) agree with the consensus that (for example) Char’s Counterattack is awesome, and is given 10s by many mecha fans, I cannot give it a 10 because I can’t force myself to love it.
The Animanachronism makes a great case for it, and I remain unmoved. There’s nothing wrong with the arguments, nor with the people who like it. But I just… can’t enjoy it as much as they do.
Related somewhat, I’ve been following the twittering re convincing lolikitsune about the merits of Kannagi ep 10. No love, no connection, no conversion.
So if we follow a collective canon of 10s, and I find it filled with titles I’ve seen but care little for, then what? How useful will it really be? And if it serves no use, then what’s the point?
December 9, 2008 - 11:57 am
And rating something a 10 doesn’t necessarily make it a favorite anime of mine. It just means it’s just that much more special than other shows that I’ve seen. As to what makes that work, it’s just a matter of taste. :P
December 9, 2008 - 12:12 pm
Hmm. I do love Char’s Counter Attack, but I’ve only awarded it an 8. I don’t think it’s any better than that, and it’s at the bottom end of the 8 range.
December 9, 2008 - 8:06 pm
the few 10s I have in my list are typically ones that I relate to and have a good emotion connection to. that’s what bumps a good production from an 8 or 9 to a 10 for me. it comes down to personal choice and how emotionally involved you want to be with the anime itself. it comes down to a gut feeling.
10 doesn’t mean perfect for me. it means it is at the top of my list and above the 8s and 9s.
December 10, 2008 - 2:08 am
To me, a perfect score of 10/10 represents a show that is not only resonant, as you say, but so resonant as to have absolutely no criticisms levelled against it, including the backlash from over-hyping. It has to actually live up to the hype, and cause all anime-haters (or whatever-medium-hater) to convert to anime-love.
This means that so far I’ve yet to award a 10/10 to any work, anime or otherwise. To get around this, I tend to attach decimal points. In rating systems that don’t allow those, I round down; therefore, Card Captor Sakura gets a 9.8/10 from me, but a 9/10 as a round number.
I’m also a pretty harsh rater, despite my easily-pleased disposition: I rate Zettai Karen Children something like 5.7/10, but I watch every episode I can get.
December 10, 2008 - 3:08 am
I’m with xau on this one — “10 doesn’t mean perfect for me. it means it is at the top of my list and above the 8s and 9s.”
My scores are all relative, and, as such, they constantly change. The bar sits atop whichever show or shows I presently think is the best (and I don’t even pretend to be objective in my ratings; it all has to do with how much shows move me, personally), and if it’s raised, it’s raised. Actually, in my head, I give shows scores out of 100; I really wish MAL would implement that. In any case, though, relativity lets me use every number from 1 to 10 (though if I ever finish a 1-quality show, it’ll be a sad day for me). I don’t worry about what a 10 should be; I worry about what it is, and adjust my definitions as time goes on.
At the end of the day, I don’t like numerical ratings at all.