Anime Episode Ratings Make No Sense

Overview

This video is a commentary-style look at anime episode ratings on MyAnimeList (and related rating displays). The host questions whether modern “hype” and social-media momentum are inflating episode scores for newer seasons, and also tests whether widely criticized or “controversial” story endings actually receive lower ratings.

Main Points and Claims

1) Episode rating “inflation” / mismatch with expectations

The host repeatedly compares what viewers say (on social media and community discourse) with what episode ratings appear to show. The argument is that newer, heavily hyped productions often debut with very high episode ratings, which makes ratings look “too good” compared to older consensus.

2) Examples of consistently high “lowest episode” scores

• Frieren (Season 1)

  • Lowest episode: about 7.7
  • Season average: about 8.5
  • The host notes that even “quiet” episodes still score high.

• Solo Leveling (Season 2)

  • Lowest reported: around 7.0
  • Overall average: about 9.0
  • The host finds it surprising, suggesting that even “non-action/build-up” episodes get inflated attention.

3) Older series showing both lows and highs (often tied to pacing/segments)

• My Hero Academia

  • The host claims seasons 1–3 are strong.
  • Seasons 4–5 are described as a “great filter.”
  • A cited low episode rating is around ~5.5.
  • Later seasons climb again.

• Attack on Titan

  • Described as nearly uniformly high.
  • The host emphasizes that even controversial sections still score well.
  • Cited ending example: around 8.9.

• Steins;Gate

  • Presented as having many high-scoring episodes.
  • The host notes that the first half can feel slow to some viewers.

4) Confirming controversial endings don’t always “tank” ratings

The host checks series commonly remembered for divisive endings and argues that episode ratings often don’t reflect the negativity:

• Evangelion: relief that the final episodes aren’t rated as extremely low as feared.
• Darling in the Franxx: no major rating drop aside from one low episode.
• Wonder Egg Priority: still includes at least one very low-scored episode.
• Naruto / Naruto Shippuden: identifies a low-scoring episode described as a recap, implying fandom criticism isn’t limited to “worst plot arcs,” but can target filler/recap material too.

5) “Worst-rated” extremes used to argue ratings can be driven by viewing behavior

• One Punch Man

  • The host claims an unexpectedly very low rating exists (mentions about ~1.6).

• Ex-Arm

  • Described as possibly the “worst season.”
  • The host theorizes people rate it slightly higher because it became “so bad it’s entertaining,” meaning meme-viewing/attention can prevent ratings from collapsing further.

• The host also suggests that color distribution (greens/yellows/purples/reds) shows some shows hitting near-universal extremes without necessarily aligning with the discourse.

6) Hype, production quality, and “vote counts” matter in interpretation

The host argues modern series score well due to:

• Animation
• Choreography
• Cinematography
• Social-media hype

They also note that early episodes can have high ratings with far fewer votes, while later episodes can have similar ratings with dramatically fewer votes—suggesting attention/sampling effects.

7) Ratings vs. series ratings discrepancy

The host points out an interpretive/math mismatch:

• Episode average: about ~7.8
• Overall series rating: about ~6.3

They question how these metrics relate and why they diverge.

Conclusion / Opinion

The host concludes that ratings are not reliable indicators of real quality—at least from their perspective—and that the episode-rating system can be misleading due to hype, community behavior, and inconsistent interpretation.

Presenters / Contributors

• Main presenter/host: “Joey”
  • Referred to repeatedly by name (e.g., “How many alts accounts do you have Joey?” and later “GiGi…”/“Joey” as the running identification).