Recently I have been looking over my personal anime list and noticed I have a lot of anime with a 7 rating. When I reflect on a lot of these shows sometimes I feel like I really should have given them a higher or lower rating. An example of this are Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I personally absolutely enjoyed watching this show, but really it is a very inconsistent show with a poor overarching story and many faults. It really lacked a lot of things that would make a show "very good" in my opinion. However, the show was somehow extremely enjoyable to watch and I would have felt as if I was lying to myself if I gave it anything less than a 7. On the flip side there's ef Tale of Memories, Anohana, and Kanon. These three shows were very deep and unique shows that are truly something special, primarily due to the emotional punch they can pack. However, I didn't really connect with the characters or feel attached to the show nearly as much as a show like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or Toradora. Angel Beats is an outlier where it is both very enjoyable, and can pack an emotional punch, but at the same time it had even bigger flaws than the previously mentioned shows (without these flaws it would've easily surpassed all the previously mentioned shows). 7s sometimes leave me with a feeling of wishing that the show lived up to its potential a little better, and other times making me wonder why I even liked the show so much, or why I DIDN'T enjoy the show as much even though it was on fantastic on paper.
When I give a show a 7, it means that if you are even remotely interested in the genre that the show is in, I STRONGLY recommend the show, as I had a great time watching it. When I give a show something like a 6, it means that I liked the show, and if you are a fan of the genre, you will most likely like the show, and I recommend it to you (but with knowledge that it is possible that you won't like it). I've seen people use 8s or even 9s to express the same amount of fondness to a show that I believe a 7 deserves.However, I like to remember that the review scale is out of 10, starting from 0, and I feel many people forget that. Shows that you don't like should be given 0-3, while poor to average to good shows should be 4-6, and great to legendary shows are 7 and up.
I am still yet to give a show an 8 because I believe that an 8 should only be given out to a true next level show. The level of disparity between the three anime that I have given a 9 or higher and all the others is so huge that I can't feel comfortable giving anything an 8 yet. If I find a show that is clearly better than the likes mentioned in this article, yet it is not quite at the level of Code Geass or Steins;Gate, then I will finally be able to confidently dish out an 8. Who knows, maybe as time passes I might raise one of my 7s to an 8 (I know some of them probably deserve it). So don't get me wrong, when I give a show a 7 it doesn't mean that it was only good or alright; It means that the show was unique and at the top of its respective genre and an absolute joy to watch. However, there was something holding it back from being truly fantastic, whether it be the story, characters, animation, or just overall enjoyment and connection with the show.
I find it really hard to describe how all these shows that I have completely different feelings toward all ended up having the same score of 7. But, I guess since it is also really hard to describe what a 7 means to me, then it is very fitting to give that score to all those shows.
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