When I review anime I go by different categories-- Animation, Sound, Characters, Story, and Entertainment. I evaluate an anime based on these five categories because it is the easiest and most efficient way to review an anime and compare it to other anime. That being said, I do not believe the categories should be weighed equally when determining if the anime is actually good or not. Of course, this makes it easier to objectively say that it is good or bad because if it excels or fails in all these categories, you can then evaluate its quality. But, as times change and certain categories such as animation and sound become more difficult to judge mostly due to the improvement in quality from the industry, one category has begun to stand out the most. For this post, I will break down each category and give them a percentage out of 100 that relates to how important they are to a good anime.
Animation? 5%
Anime and animation go hand in hand just as in any cartoon or animated work. If the animation isn't well done, the end product will be unenjoyable to viewers and critics alike. So why have I deemed animation as 5% of what makes an anime good? Well let's look at it this way. Visuals are certainly very crucial to painting a crucial picture of the anime and for overall immersion, but does it really make an anime good? Do you really need good animation for a good show? I believe you can have average or below average animation and you could still have a great end product. Animation is similar to a poster. It's meant to garner interest from the audience who don't know what to expect yet and serve as a pseudo preview of the anime. Animation is the superficial element of an anime-- the icing on a cake. Animation need not be good so long as it's there.
For example, let's use cult favorite Last Exile as an example. Last Exile had some of the greatest visuals when it debuted in 2003. The world they lived in was beautifully illustrated and the highlight of the anime, the air battles and races, were just stunning. But, Last Exile is not regarded as one of the best anime even though it is undeniable that it had some of the best visuals of any anime. Why? Because it fell short in other categories. Even though it had amazing animation, the other parts of it weren't up to par making it not as good of an anime as others.
Animation can potentially make an anime be perceived as bad, but it does not have as much of an effect as the other categories that I listed on making it good or bad. Good animation does not always make a good anime and vice versa. Good animation is great to have but not something completely necessary for a good anime.
Sound? 10%
Initially I was planning on giving sound a 5% just like I did to animation because similar to animation, sound is basically a superficial layering that acts as overall little more than aesthetic. Then I gave it a little more thought. Sound does not just cover BGM or Opening and Ending songs, but also voice acting. Voice acting can really make or break a scene. It can draw the viewer in and promote full immersion or it can completely break the spell and alienate the viewer.
Opening and Ending songs are similar to animation in that they give the viewer an idea of what they're getting themselves into. Different than animation though, they are skippable and don't have too much impact on the overall experience since they only make up a total of 3 minutes from the (usually) 24 minute episode. If animation is the icing, openings and endings are the cherry on top-- completely optional and if even if they aren't present, they won't change the flavor or consistency too much.
In contrast, BGMs are not able to be skipped and are the backbone of creating the atmosphere. Try listening to a tense anime scene without the music. It just is not the same as when it has music. A lot of anime tend to use the same BGMs throughout the course of the anime which generally is not too much of a problem so long as they don't become repetitive or overused. In my opinion, BGMs are the second most important part of this category because of their ability to set the atmosphere. By being able to set the atmosphere, it helps to illicit desired emotions from the viewers as well as set up the overall tone of the anime. The reason this is so important goes back to immersion. Being able to feel immersed in an anime is incredibly important and is the aim of every category on this list. The fact that BGMs have such a huge pull on it makes them incredibly important.
Something that has more pull than BGMs though is the voice acting. Without good voice acting it's impossible to properly convey emotions of characters as well as the tone of the anime. Additionally, more than BGMs, voice acting is the biggest part of sound that makes immersion possible. If you think of any drama or comedy anime, what really makes the scene work? Is it the situation? Is it the setting? No it's the voice acting. The voice actors have to make sure they sell the scene otherwise there is little to no chance that the viewer will buy it.
The first example I can think of this might not be one that everyone remembers, but it's a great scene. Going back to 2005's Full Metal Panic! Second Raid, there's an episode where the main character, Chidori is in danger but different than usual, she does not have the help of her "bodyguard" Sousuke. She's completely alone, and her anxiety keeps growing because she wants to stop being so reliant on him but she can't help it. This climaxes into a scene where she ends up breaking down and crying (if I remember correctly it was on a rooftop) begging for Sousuke to return. This is one of the few scenes I actually felt like crying. The voice for Chidori, Yukino Satsuki, did such a great job of conveying Chidori's anxiety, her sadness, and her loneliness. Without a doubt she sold the scene and made me really feel like I was there. Due to the voice acting, it was easy to understand exactly what Chidori was feeling, thus making the scene that much more powerful.
I realize that a lot of the times, it's difficult to judge what good voice acting is, especially if the viewer is not a Japanese speaker, but it is without doubt one of the most underappreciated but important aspects of anime.
Entertainment 15%
Initially I was planning to give entertainment a 5% but then I realized something important. Even though entertainment is subjective, it is still crucial to the immersion and the overall experience. It may sound very matter of fact, but if an anime is not enjoyable to watch, it's going to be difficult to appreciate it and think that it's a good anime. If the viewer is not interested in what he's watching how is he going to watch the anime in a positive light. He won't have fun and he won't appreciate the anime. Entertainment is a combination of every category on this list. If the characters are enjoyable, perceived entertainment will go up. Same with animation, sound, and story.
Entertainment is one factor of why guilty pleasures exist. People have guilty pleasures because they enjoy watching it. They might know that the anime is not that great, but they can't help watching it because they really enjoy watching it. This kind of pull into a show is extremely important when watching anime because without it there is little to no way that the anime will be considered good. Of course, by saying this, I put the assumption that guilty pleasures are potentially good anime, and that's fine. I am saying that entertainment is a huge factor of what makes an anime good. Guilty pleasures can certainly have potential to be good anime but are ultimately held back by other constraints.
Story 30%
Story is probably an element of any kind of show that people consider to be the most important. Whenever a discussion begins about anime, one of the first questions asked is "what's the story?" One of the first criticisms that come from people is "it had a bad story."One of the first things people might say to get someone to watch an anime is "It had a good story." Story is without a doubt one of the biggest driving factors of anime. A good story gets viewers interested in the anime and it keeps viewers interested. Story is undoubtedly one of the strongest factors of what make an anime good. With a good story, the anime can keep viewers engaged and excited to see how it progresses. With a bad story, the viewers will not respect the anime as much, get bored, and maybe even drop it. Story is easily more important than the aesthetics of sound and story because it is literally the backbone of an anime. Without story, there is nothing.
Characters 40%
What's the biggest factor in making a good anime? Not story, but characters. This is the conclusion I have come to after sifting through all the anime that I've watched so far. In any genre, characters are by far the most important factor. Bad characters will create a bad anime. For example, if there are generic characters, it will make the anime incredibly predictable and create familiar situations to the viewer who has seen this type of character before in a different anime. That being said, it is impossible to have completely different personalities for every anime ever made. What makes a generic character more interesting is his interactions with the rest of the cast, his lines, and his actions.
An example of a bad character would be Orimura Ichika from Infinite Stratos. He is literally just a carbon copy of every other male character from any harem ecchi anime. The situations he finds himself in, his actions, everything he does feels old and generic. This makes for a much worse atmosphere and ultimately makes the viewer uninterested in the anime. His chemistry with the rest of the cast was also something that is not anything new. Accidents leading to scandalous situations, always throwing himself into danger to protect his friends, being completely oblivious to the girls' around him's feelings for him, it's all something you can find anywhere. Why watch Infinite Stratos when you can get the same experience from another anime. At least in another harem/ecchi anime, To-Love-Ru, it's basically a joke after awhile that the main character, Yuuki Rito, finds himself in scandalous situations. It's expected of him to unintentionally do something lecherous. This doesn't make it any better, but at least the anime is embracing it and going the distance with the character trait rather than doing it half-assed, making Rito more distinct than other harem ecchi male protagonists.
An example of a good character who has generic traits, is Sugisaki Ken from Seitokai no Ichizon. He is also part of a harem, albeit there is minimal ecchi as compared to Inifinite Stratos or To-Love-Ru, but the way everything plays out is completely different. Seitokai no Ichizon is one of my favorite anime because of the character interactions. The tsukkomi-bokke comedy routine, the more heartfelt moments, everything is made exponentially better thanks to Seitokai no Icizon's characters. The amazing thing is Seitokai no Ichizon literally has no plot and yet the characters make it interesting. Seitokai no Ichizon is a prime example of how characters are important to an anime being good.
What made me decide that characters are more important than story came from me thinking about what makes one anime better than another? What makes a harem like Nisekoi or Seitokai no Ichizon better than Ore no imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai or Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai. Of course story is definitely a factor, but what really makes or breaks these series are its characters and their chemistry with one another. Without good chemistry between the characters, story and entertainment take a dip. It's difficult to tell a story without good characters. In Cowboy Bebop are there any characters that were hard to like? What would have happened if they were replaced by different characters. Would the anime still be as liked by others?
These questions fall back to a pseudo chicken or the egg debate-- do characters make the story or does story make the characters. I'm on the side that characters make the story. A story can progress in any way it likes but it's the in-between, what happens in each episode, that makes the viewer come back for more. To get an idea of what happens in the anime, one can just go to wikipedia and look at the plot to find out how the anime ends. But wikipedia doesn't have conversations or interactions between characters. It doesn't have the funny scenes that you can find on youtube. To get those, characters are necessary. Characters are the backbone to story. Without them, the story could potentially progress but, it would not be nearly as interesting.
One might say that the best anime are those with a plot AND good characters, but I want to remind everyone of an anime series called Aria. Aria is an anime that I have rated as high as anime such as Fate/Zero, Gurren Lagann, and Code Geass. It's an anime that has little to no plot and is very centered around its characters and their lives. The reason I use Aria rather than other daily life anime is because Aria is different than them in that there is literally no conflict. There are times when characters become unsure of themselves but most of the anime is dedicated to character growth and exploring the town of Neo Venizia. How can an anime be so great when it has no conflict or semblance of a plot? Characters. The characters were so likeable and had such good chemistry with each other that every instant was made special. They made the setting very convincing and immersive. They made the anime very entertaining. They really made the anime as great as it was and demonstrated that you don't need a strong plot to have a good show, just good characters.
Closing
Characters are what makes an anime good. They contribute to every aspect of anime and while not quite overlooked as BGMs, their effect is certainly overlooked and taken for granted. Without good characters it's impossible to have a good anime. I hope this helps give insight into this topic and was a good read to everyone who decided to stick with me until the end. I tried to put as much thought as I could as well as effort into this post so I could properly explain myself. This is one of my first actual long posts. I've had long posts before this but they were mostly lists where I only really put a brief description/justification accompanied with gifs or videos. Hopefully, this won't be the last time I do a post like this because I really enjoy dissecting topics and creating discussion or invoking thought. When I actually get around to doing my anime reviews, you'll start seeing more content like this.
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