So, the reason I asked this question was due to noticing how, the more I reviewed, the more my rating of manga settled into something different than what it started as.

Mathematically speaking, 5/10 is literally in the middle, but is that average? If you were to take every manga in existence, add their ratings up, and divide those ratings by the number of manga, what—in your estimation and by your standards for rating manga—would that number be (rounded for simplicity)?

My estimation is a 4. I have rated one of my favorite manga, Bleach as a 4. But what about people who aren't me? Reading these comments and explanations has been really neat, and I look forward to seeing the final results.

As for why I say 4:

• A 4 can actually be a great story, but, for reasons like major plot holes, broken magic systems, etc. they just don't count as meeting my minimum standard for "competently written".

It is my opinion that most manga are interesting but have great flaws... maybe not 15 years ago, but definitely now since so many flawed LNs and WNs have been turned into manga because SAO took off and the publishers saw money and saturated the market. Thus, I rate the "average" manga, according to my personal standards, as being a 4.

I'm a jack of all trades but master of none. Too many jars and not enough hands.

I agree with most folks. Average is 7, but any comic that I drop nowadays or forget about for a long time, I reduce the rating by 1 so my reads hover around 6 for average comics.

Internet Lurker At Heart

Damn, you're a tough critic. 😅 For me, a 5 would be something that might not be outright bad but just isn't good and probably isn't worth reading, and 4 and lower are varying shades of bad that I actively dislike.

I'd say if we're averaging out all mangas, I think there are enough mediocre to meh ones that it would probably end up at or around a 5. Maybe there are more terrible ones out there than great ones and that might drag it down to a 4, but there's a whole lotta sixes and sevens that are just okay but nothing special floating around out there (like holy shit so many of them, they just keep coming), so 5 feels right to me.

I don't blame anyone for thinking that way about me since the way I rate things isn't normal, as personal enjoyment isn't directly connected to quality in my scale.

Without writing out a small essay:

• 1 is for stories that treat the reader like an idiot.
• 2 to 5 is for basic technical storytelling proficiency (major plot holes, magic systems, consistency, etcetera).
• 5 to 9 is when the lesser objective qualities (world building, lore, etc.) and subjective qualities get considered on top of the basics (how well I feel the foreshadowing was done, how natural the drama is, etcetera).
• 10 is when something goes above and beyond in such a way I don't trust myself to be objective about it.

Extraordinary art gets a +1.

By no means am I suggesting I have a better way of reviewing than anyone else, this is just what I personally value when rating something. Seeing how other people view manga as a whole, and reading what they value when rating manga, is the reason I thought this question was worth asking.

I'm a jack of all trades but master of none. Too many jars and not enough hands.