You have entered the section of my page about what I think of different anime movies. I currently own 39 anime tapes and have every movie from the SCI-Fi Channel's Saturday anime recorded (though I have yet to watch a few of the recorded movies). So here are reviews of every anime movie I have seen (at least the ones I remember what they were about) along with different category ratings: animation, story, action, mecha, cute, and overall. These categories are explained more below. Later maybe I'll maybe I'll make up cool little icons for the rating but for now they are just numbers, out of five (five being the best). I've alphabetized these as well for easier navigation. Also even though they are not usually rated I have put what I think the movie would be rated for some of the movies. And I'm so glad you care about my little old opinion.
The Rating Categories
Animation- This is a rating of the animation quality. This is based on how well the characters are drawn, how much detail there is, quality of lighting effects, and smoothness of animation for the most part. I also take into consideration the age of a film when rating this category. Personally something like Speed Racer is pretty low quality but when it was first made it was high quality.
Story- This rates the story of the film. Things considered when rating this are type of movie, how easily the story is understood, quality of the story, how entertaining the story is, the genre of the movie, and also the point of the story. I have noticed many anime have weird endings that could severely detract from the ability to understand part. Good examples of this are Tenchi the Movie and Akira. I sometimes forget the last few minutes of a movie if the plot is good until the wrap up when rating this. I have a feeling that sometimes the ending sequences are only muddled due to bad translation or cultural differences.
Action- Hmm, I wonder what this is a rating of? This is pretty easy to judge and it usually goes hand in hand with how violent or bloody a movie is. Here's a general rundown of what the numbers mean. This is not set in stone but it gives a good idea of how this category is rated. Note the type of stuff I consider action are shoot-outs and high speed chases.
0 - You'll be asleep from looking at the packaging. No movie will be rated this, I wouldn't watch a movie this boring.
1 - This kind of movie would probably have more of a story and less on action. It would probably be more of a kid's movie as well. It's not necessarily a boring movie though.
2 - This movie might have some action. An example of this is Dragon Knight. The battles are short, there's no blood, though this movie is probably more of a comedy with a little action which explains a lack of real action.
3 - Three is always average. A good amount of fighting and or car chases, etc. Nothing too spectacular, nothing too dull.
4 - A movie with this rating is more heavy on action than a three. The story probably revolves some around the action elements. It's not as good as a Five though, obviously.
5 - A five movie is action packed, edge of your seat action for most of the movie. Car chases, starship battles, magic throwing, sword slinging, gun shooting action. Movies like Gunsmith Cats and Riding Bean that revolve completely around chases and shoot-outs, and movies like Akira that have incredible special effects and lots of explosions.
Mecha Stuff- This is a rating of the amount of Mecha in a movie. Mecha being defined for this purpose as basically being anything high-tech or any large piece of machinery that is used mostly for battle. The ratings are as follows.
0 - This means there is no mecha in this movie. Medieval and Fantasy movies usually have this rating. This is probably the only category that would ever be given a 0 rating. Slayers, Dragon Knight, or Record of Lodoss War are good examples of this.
1 - This movie has very little mecha content. A fantasy movie like Final Fantasy would fit here because it is fantasy but has some high-tech stuff like airships and motor bikes.
2 - This rating is good for modern day type anime not involving aliens or robots. A movie like Gunsmith Cats with lots of cars would get a two because the cars are a basic for of Mecha and this sets this type of movie apart from a fantasy movie with no mecha.
3 - This is about the middle of the road. Movies where the only real mecha are humanoid robots and cyborgs fall here. This rating is the edge of the "real" mecha ratings. Anything with smaller mecha or medium sized mecha not playing a real role in the story would fall here.
4 - This rating is given for movies with medium sized mecha that play a significant role in the story and movies with lots of smaller mecha in the movie. An example of this is Dominion because Bonapart is pretty much one of the characters despite that it's only a tank.
5 - This is given to movies with tons of mecha. Any movie with huge ass killer robots piloted by humans automatically gets this rating. The mecha in these movies often is the point of the story and may even be part of the title. Excellent examples of fives on mecha are Neon Genesis: Evangelion, Robotech/ Macross, and Patlabor: The Mobile Police.
Cute Stuff- This is a rating of how much cute stuff is in a movie. I don't know why I picked this category to rate but I did and I'm going to keep it. I've noticed this category is usually the inverse of the Action category. The lowest rating a movie can get in this category is one. There's always something someone might find cute. Things affecting this are characters like Sasami and Ryo-Oki form Tenchi, Amelia from Slayers, and basically anything that you see and just say "Aww, how cute!".
Overall- This is the last and probably most important category. Any movie that falls in my current top five favorites automatically gets a five rating. Any movie that was once in my top five but got knocked out by something else is rated 4.5. In addition movies that fall into either of these categories have the logo of the movie above the name. Also by movie I mean series such as Tenchi and Slayers. Only movies I own are eligible for a five rating.
Click here for reviews of all the movies I own
Click here for reviews of Saturday Anime movies from the SCI-Fi Channel
Click here for reviews of Anime not falling into those two categories