I built this for my daughter. The whole reason it exists is that I would like her to grow up on anime someone actually watched and thought about, instead of on whatever an algorithmic carousel or a committee of idiots has decided to push this week.
A forgotten 1980s OAV sits next to a 2023 hit when both earn it, and popularity counts for nothing in either direction.
What gets a title in is visuals and execution. Anime is primarily a visual medium, and I place a huge emphasis on that. Shows that look good and with meaningful visuals, writing that trusts the audience to keep up, editing with a sense of rhythm, a visual idea carried through. Genre has no bearing on my judgement, although there are obvious personal biases. A late-night mecha series and the festival canon are held to the same standard.
Every one of the entries carries an age, and it is my answer to a single question: can a viewer process what they are seeing? I assess that across six axes (narrative complexity, cinematic literacy, thematic depth, emotional processing, tonal sophistication, and the cultural context a work assumes you already have), and whichever axis sits highest sets the number. The six do not average. Someone blocked by a show's irony will get nothing from it however well they handle its violence.
So the age recommendations are a difficulty rating, not a content rating. Age 13 means a thirteen-year-old has the equipment to engage with the work. Read it as a prediction of what will land, not a minimum.
Grave of the Fireflies sits at 10: the grief is heavy, but a ten-year-old can carry it and the film asks nothing structurally hard of them. Perfect Blue sits at 16, and not for its content, because the film is narratively complex and a viewer needs to hold two versions of events at once.
Some titles require context or emotional support, and this is what the Watch Together flag marks: ones that are richer shared, or that will raise questions worth answering while they are still fresh. I would rather she met Now and Then, Here and There at fourteen with me in the room than at twenty-five on her own.
If something that belongs here is not here, or a rating looks wrong, I would genuinely like to hear about it. Some of them are wrong.
marcsrour@gmail.comWhat changed each week, newest first: titles added, star ratings moved and titles taken off the list.
Changes appear here from the next update.