Like some of the responses here, I never rate a manga on the extremes of '1' and '10'. Because no manga deserves a one, no matter how horrible it is or how much I hate it - there is always some sort of redeeming feature of the manga that makes it undeserving of a 1 (even if the redeeming quality doesn't do any good to change my perception of the manga). Same goes for '10'... there are series that I REALLY love, but as much as I love the manga, I'd never given a 10 because I always find a negative quality or two in the course of reading it (eg. a chapter that seemed weak in comparison of the whole story). So even if I totally love or hate the manga, I won't give it 1 or 10.

Personally, I don't take into consideration a manga's art when rate. I put minimal importance on the art in comparison to the story, the characters (and their development), the messages being conveyed, the themes etc. So even if the art is really terrible, like some of the mangas I've read-- I'd still give a series high ratings provided they are adequate in the aspects I mentioned above. But even so, all it comes down to is personal preferences, really. If the manga has all the good points I mentioned, but somehow I didn't enjoy it as much as I should, I won't give it that much of a high rating.

Saying that, I'm sure a lot other readers rate according to their personal preferences too, which is why I try not to go by the user ratings of a manga, especially for the low-rankings ones. I read the comments to get a gist of the story (if possible), or go by the synopsis, or by recommendations. It's all a hit-or-miss situation, really.

As for how much of a manga I read before I rate it, I'd say I only rate after I've completed the series. If the series is still ongoing in its country of origin, I'd rate up to the most recent chapter. Those series that I can't bare to finish, I rate it a very low 2 or 3.

I don't rate anything a 1, nor below a 6 because I don't think such a rating is fair, IMO (I can't take criticism). Sometimes when I feel like it, I can rate a series whatever score I can put in. The ones I rated a 10 are the ones I can read over and over again. I think the manga I rated the lowest is Naruto, which I think is mediocre at best. (the plot is a bit stupid, IMHO)

I read so much mangas, I'm too lazy to watch anime! 😛 😛 😛

Manga I'm loving ATM: Heart no Kuni no Alice

I rate pretty much no manga as 10 or 1. My normal scale goes between 9 for very good and 2 for horrible.

It takes something special to reach both 10 and 1. For the 10, it has to be a bloody masterpiece. For the 1, it has to be utterly despicable. I have something like four 10s and about as many 1s, out of the hundreds I've bothered to rate.

Things I actually keep returning to would never get a rating below 5, that would just be completely dishonest (since, even if I do think they suck, there must apparently be some thing in them I want).

This is a topic that I've been slightly intrigued by ever since coming to baka-updates manga. Unforunately, I think I will be of little help to the person who started the thread because I don't think I've encountered a series I would rate 1 or 10; a 10 is something that I think is absolutely brilliant -- though I might change my mind once I have read a lot more --, and a 1 is an absolutely worthless series and deserves in my opinion not to be printed -- explained below, but this is not meant to be an undermining of freedom of speech as I would in the most extreme case (hardly likely) non-violently protest something like this. I was surprised that that there are so many 1 or 10 ratings, but after hearing that people try to skew average rating to something they think is more applicable, I am happy that at least some 1's are not given because they think a series is absolutely dreadful (I don't interact with manga/anime fans all that much). My original guesses were that the ratings were based solely on enjoyment (lack thereof, which seems to be right) and forms of elitism. Also, I guessed that some of the 1+'s might be 1.5 or something like that, but it seems that most of the 1+'s in the comments of series are 1's, so I'm doubtful about that (it doesn't mean I'm right, because the sample might not be representative).

With regard to ratings, I think that personal taste (and enjoyment) should hold a place because most manga is created for entertainment purposes, but it should not be the only criterion for voting, which is one of the reasons for my surprise with a lot of people voting series as 1+ or 10's. I am particularly happy when someone says a series is bad but gives 3/10 because they recognize a level of merit in it -- or maybe rates a series as 1/10, but explains that it might be enjoyable to some people and that they would rate it higher if it weren't overrated. Also, if people read too little of a series, I think a 1 is too harsh, though another rating expressing disinterest is fine (1.5-4) in my opinion, but as it has been suggested, refraining from rating might be a better decision with which I agree. I also disagree with harsh gut reaction ratings from a bad ending (particularly if the series is long) for the reason that a person decided to go through the entire series, so they clearly think that the series had some merit. Well, if they thought it was only something like a 3/10 until the ending and then being upset by the ending decided to rate it a 1/10, I might agree. Although I haven't read anything that I think is a 1, the way I think I could rate a series as 1/10 if I found it to be bad and very morally objectionable -- like putting om Gantz-like violence and sexuality in a manga like Corocoro comic, Nakayoshi, or Ribon, which are aimed at ~9-13 y.o.'s.

I don't think an A, B, C, D, F system is bad, but I would prefer something like with more levels (e.g., A+, A, A-) because I would like to differentiate between a little more between series. Having 91 levels (1.0-10?) of rating available seems like overkill in my opinion, but it I think it is better to give more freedom in case someone wants to use it. I think that about 10 with say 4 levels for good, 3 for mediocre, and 3 for bad (or similar ratios for 8-20 rating scores available). For higher scores, I would tend to use most of the scores (8.0-9.5 using say 8.2 and 8.5 to differentiate series, though I would be happy with using, say, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5), while for lower ones, I would tend to use fewer values (probably only the integers and maybe halves, but I wouldn't care to differentiate between say 3.3/10 and 3.6/10 -- both would be 3.5/10). On a side note, I would also prefer more statistics relating how people who one series at a certain level, rated other series, though it might be too confusing if there is too much information (I really like numbers, though). I like that this website has a "Recommendations" section.

I have yet to rate any manga because when I rate them I would like to do it according to some numeric scheme which I create. The scheme I would create for myself would be something like the following:

(I don't agree with equal ratings, but I'm not sure how to establish a level of objectivity otherwise). Note I would up to half integers.
Art .... out of 10
I was blown away=10, great = 9, good = 7/8, medium = 5/6, 2/3 = weak, 0 = why are you a mangaka? (depending on the situation, I could give even stick figures a 2 for the art)
Characters ... out of 10
Plot .... out of 10
... similar rating to art. A 10 (maybe even 9) is for something I feel is more than just part of a story. 7/8=situation/characters seem/s well-developed, but there are holes or situation is appropriate and no major holes, but does not strike me as a "wow" moment, 5=meh (some problems, but overall problems don't interfere too much), 2=weak (too many bad things), 0=I'm not sure I would give a 0 for these

Enjoyment ... out of 10
-10=blew me away, 8/9=wow, 6/7=positive side of decent, 4/5=not great, but ok, <3 = very little liking, 0=completely turned off (only read through so that I could rate it fairly)

Modifiers ... out of 10 (maybe only out of 5)
(e.g., who is the demographic?, offensive?, other factors that I thought compensated for slight weakness in character/art/plot. can be either positive or negative number)

and then I would map the score out of 100 to a 1 to 10 scale:
40+ = 10, and the rest is on a linear scale (though I might change my mind about this)

I've never rated a title as low as 1, I have however rated a title as low as 2.3 and on average most titles I've read end up rated around 7-8.

I don't believe that only a masterpiece deserves a 10, i thinks "masterpiece" is very subjective term. What I primary take into account is my enjoyment of the art, the plot and the characters. I rate art, plot and characters separately and then calculate the average. I also have temp rating that is more impulsive for titles that I have not finished reading yet, once I'm done with a title I'll recalculate the rating as final. For any book that has more than one story. I calculate each story independently and then calculate the average.

So for ART:

10. Art that is to my liking, the panels are well arranged and the art is consistent through the whole manga.

11. Art that is to my liking, the panels are well arranged, but the art is not consistent through the whole manga (usually it means that the art has become better toward the end).

12. Not the type of art that I like, but has somehow caught my attention, the panels are well arranged and the art is consistent through the whole manga.

13. Art is not to my liking but good, the panels are well arranged and the art is consistent through the whole manga.

14. Art is not to my liking but good, the panels are well arranged, but the art is not consistent through the whole manga

15. Art is not to my liking and is average, the panels are well arranged and the art is consistent through the whole manga.

16. Art is not to my liking and is average, the panels are well arranged, but the art is not consistent through the whole manga

17. Art is to my liking, but the panels are clumsy arranged.

18. Art is not to my liking but good, the panels are clumsy arranged.

19. Art not to my liking and is average, the panels are clumsy arranged.

Generally speaking 3-1 rating in art could be a reason to drop the title altogether.

For PLOT:

10. The story has made strong impact on me and I remember it to the little detail even after several years. Will reread many times.

11. The story has something unique that sets it apart from other titles that I've read and enjoyed. I may not remember all the detailed but that detail no matter how small has stuck in my mind. Will probably reread.

12. Overall memorable, maybe not to the tiniest detail, but I enjoyed it very much.

13. Stories that I enjoyed at the time i was reading them.

14. Stories where the plot has some good points but also had some bad points.

15. Stories that are intentionally PWP, the author had no intention of developing a strong story line.

16. Cliche. Stories that have been done over and over again and do not offer anything new.

17. Stories where the author didn't managed to drive the point in. Deux ex Machina endings, but not open endings.

18. Stories that had more bad points than good point. An overly bad plot line that had one or two good moment.

19. I was bored out of my mind, will forget all about it the moment I close it. This doesn't happen all that often.

For CHARACTERS I have a more compact rating:

10. Well developed characters that are memorable and unique in some way.

11. All around well developed characters.

12. Memorable characters that may be cliche for the genre. Or characters that set the specific cliche in that specific genre.

13. Cliche but somewhat developed characters

14. Cliche, easily forgettable characters.

15. 2D undeveloped characters that spoiled the overall enjoyment of the story.

I hardly see myself rating anything 1 because I don't see myself reading a story that i don't enjoy, with art where i can't figure out what's going on and non-existent characters.

I posted in the topic linked to in the first post. Anyway, I said that I would only rate something as a "1" if it was so horrible that I would throw it down in disgust and wish that I had never seen it. But since I doubt such a manga would actually get published, I doubt that I would ever rate something as a "1".

I guess I'm unlike most of you who posted because I rate a manga according to how much I liked it. I've rated 21 manga as "10" out of 500+ manga that I've read. I only rate something as "10" if I really love it, and I keep on re-reading it.

My lists are public so you can see that I don't rate things as only 10. I have a lot of ratings that are 5-7. They usually don't get lower than 5 because then that means it's very unlikely that I would finish the manga. I try not to rate things that I haven't read to completion, or at least 7-10 volumes of.

Well, my reading list is long, because I usually add series that I will supposedly get to later. I organize my list by using ratings as

1. up to date on
2. in the middle of
3. top priority if I want to read anything different
   no rating) I'll get to it...maybe

I intend to fix this system with customized lists...now I just have to actually do it...

Lalala~

Well i've never rated a series 1 or 10 and don't think i ever will. looking at ratings for some series i'm seeing a lot of 10s and i wonder how they gave the series a perfect rating. A 10 means there has to absolutely no faults both art and story wise, if there'e even just a few chapters you don't like i don't see you can still give it a 10 and say the rest make up for that bad part.

Most of my ratings are 5-7 which i actually think is a bit high already

Aesthetically pleasing art is a prerequisite for me to begin with. If the art is bad, half of enjoyment is gone from manga as it is plot+illustrations. Even if the plot is amazing, a similar book would provide that without making me look at unpleasing art.

A 10 for me, would need no justifications and would make me blind and deaf to all criticisms of it. I shouldn't need to explain why it is a 10 as it should be self evident that it is such. I haven't found a true 10 without rounding yet.

A 1 is the opposite of such. It is completely indefensible and impossible for any to argue otherwise. I haven't found a 1 yet.

I won't read a manga with ugly art.

I rate manga like Hana Ni Nare!, Haou Airen, and Okane Ga Nai 1.

I rate manga like Kare Kano, Gokinjo Monogatari, Densha Otoko - Net Hatsu, Kakueki Teisha no Love Story, Hanshin, or Doukyuusei (NAKAMURA Asumiko) 10.

If I give a manga a 10 that is because I personally believe it is perfect and I found no faults in it. I enjoyed it entirely. If I give a manga a 1 it's because I honestly believe it's a pile of crap and no amount of pretty boys or girls and fanservice is going to change my mind. If I absolutely hate something I am not going to bend over and try to pick out things I like about it. I wouldn't give it a 1 in the first place if I found things I liked about it. If it got a 1 it's because I absolutely hated it. Why would I finish reading it then? Because I'm stubborn. In Haou Airen's case at least my stubbornness paid off. I enjoyed what happens in the end immensely. Maybe I'm a bit of a masochist.

I often rate series with 10s. It's not like my manga rating skills will be evaluated, so I don't feel the need to try to be as objective as possible. Besides I always strive to be objective irl and it's kind of too much for me to be the same way with my hobbies. Not to mention that I enjoy the feeling of being fangirlish xD
However I'd never rate series with a 1.. Every manga deserves at least a 3 for effort.

I never gave a manga 10. But I gave almost 10 scores to mangas that are well-written, well-drawn and have almost no faults. Sometimes I don't even give mangas I like 8 or 9. My personal favorites =/= perfect. I think 7,8 and 9 are high enough and fair. The manga shouldn't be of low quality if I give those scores.

I do give 1's, like Whatever does, to those that I believe are a pile of crap to the point of being very annoying. I wish there could be 0 score. Even 1's are too high for some.

I often rate manga with 10 if it was enjoyable enough, but for lower rating I think 4 was the worst I've ever given

[img]http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/120/zzzkq5.jpg[/img]

I love [color=red]vampires[/color].

I never gave a 1. No manga is bad enough to give out a 1, and we should at least pay a bit of respect towards the mangaka, i gave a few 4's but that was it. Also i have a bit of difficulty understanding how someone can give out a 1, or a 10 for that matter, when there's only 3 or 4 chapters out of a manga. Are 3 chapters really enough to give an assessment of something? I think not.
As for giving 10's, well it's tricky for me. I think that a 10 is something one should give to the best of the genre, and it should be near perfect and have a high degree of enjoyability, so far i've only given about 4 10's i believe.
It's subjective matter, but i do see lots of 1's and 10's, which leads my to believe lots of people are easily impressionable.
I prefer to rate in the levels of 5 to 8, or 9 in a few cases.

Quote from nail80

I never gave a 1. No manga is bad enough to give out a 1, and we should at least pay a bit of respect towards the mangaka,.

Agree with you 🙂 I gave 3 as the lowest if the story is really unbelievable bad.. For me art doesn't really as long as I know what it is..
Well I'll give 10 if the series can make me re-read it a few times..
Usually I'll rate around 6 to 8

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