I use the five star system. I use five stars for my favourites, four for the ones I liked, three for the ones I didn't care about much, two for the ones I didn't like and one for the ones I hate.
I also use five stars for something I really like but that doesn't make it in my favourites. I'm pretty simple.

I just let random.org decide my ratings, it's purely a coincidence that my favorites are the high rated ones in my list

Most people just do it based on their overall enjoyment with 10 being 'I really enjoyed it,' 5 being 'I found it pretty average' and 1 being 'I hated it.'

You shouldn't worry about it much, since ratings don't really mean anything to anyone besides yourself.

10 - Masterpiece must watch by everyone ever aka Kimi no iru Machi.

9 - Really amazing in every sense of the word. Top notch everything.

8/7/6 - I really liked it. Score varies on factors such as visuals/sound/storytelling.

5 - Average as it should be. Anything above was good to me.

4/3/2 - Varying degrees on self loathing after watching this, ranging from what am I doing with my life to maybe I should start cutting myself.

1 - NO TURNING BACK NOW

I tend to rescore my items a lot recently. They just don't seem fitting when put in perspective sometimes. But that's okay! Your scores can always be fluid as you take in and watch more anime/read more manga. You'll come to realize how to score fairly according to your own taste. Anime taste isn't objective, so don't feel bad if people don't score something the same as you do. Hope this helps a bit. I wrote a lot because this new system is fun, don't judge me okay.

I use a 10.0 system to rate. The higher the number, the higher I would recommend it to others compared to other shows.

Personal favorites are on my profile page.

I have happily converted to the 100 point system. It's funny that as the years went on, I found the 10 system to be a little too rigid; especially when I found myself offering high ratings to shows that regardless of how much I didn't like them were undoubtedly great.

I think the most important thing is comparing constantly with your "Top 10" if you have one. I'm talking about those anime that left you haunted in thoughts and dreams the night after you finished the series. Granted it may be 5 for some or 20 for others, but you'll find it easier to give an actual rating when you have a something great in comparison.

5-star system, with 3 being the default "average." Bad things get 2, good things get 4, 5 is reserved for the rare masterpiece that can probably be enjoyed by everyone regardless of their usual preferences. 1 is reserveds for absolutely amateurish trash.

I use a 10 point system. It's simple and easy to change. For me:

• 10: rarely, anime is must-see by anyone, genre doesn't matter.

• 9: uncommon, anime is really good in story, characters, art, music, and high rewatch value.

• 8: common, most anime fit this. Good in almost every aspect except for small issues. Enjoyable, but maybe only rewatch once more.

• 7: common, alot fit this too. Enjoyable in some sense, but not sensational. Low rewatch value.

• 6: uncommon, not a terrible anime, but just wasn't suited to your tastes. No rewatch value.

• 5: rare, crap anime. Common sense would say don't rewatch it.

• 4-1: If I even finish it, I wouldn't even have it on my list. Don't want to remember or look at it.

Oh, and if you don't have a "Top Ten" custom list, make one.

Just a ten point decimal system. I used to use 1-10 without the decimals, but I didn't like how I was rating so many around 7-8 when I felt like I enjoyed some a lot more than the others, you know? Didn't want to put any of them down to 5-6 either, so yeah.

I basically just rate them on a combination of overall enjoyment (like if I couldn't stop watching it), how impressed I was by it technically (so that's the art, soundtrack, etc) and if I found it thought-provoking in some way. But mostly just enjoyment. I don't like to overcomplicate it.

I tend to do a mix between how I personally enjoyed it and it's technical qualities.

Like, did I enjoy it because it was actually well made, or because it was a subject/genre I like.

After I decide that it's really finicky, and I'm always going back in and adjusting scores.

I use this. I made this little simple webpage that takes a bunch of different criteria and works with it. It kinda helps me keep things a bit more objective and consistent, but on average causes me to rate high (7-8 average instead of 5 average). That said, anything beneath a 5 or 6 with this I'll generally have ended up dropping, so I don't find it a big deal.

FYI, you can now recreate something like this with the new version of the advanced rating system. Mine is weighted though, as I generally find Plot and Characters more important than the animation and soundtrack.

To use it, just save the code in a .html file on your computer and open it in your browser.

It looks like this when you run it: IMAGE LINK

Me and 8bitjoestar use a 100 score system. We go up in tens so that if something is midway between two numbers we can use the midway point e.g. if something was between 60-70 we'd rate it 65. A total score of 60 is average, 70 is ok, 80 is good, and anything over 90 is brilliance. Under 50 means poop (see 8bit's SAO review).

My ratings are a hybrid of enjoyment and overall quality for the most part. For example, Valvrave was for all intents and purposes a bad show, but it got a higher score from because it was hella fun. But Cross Ange and SAO are just all around terrible and don't really compensate for it with much else, which is why they're both just sitting there with low scores.

I just smash my numpad for scores.

9 points: very good
8 points: good
7 points: ok
6 points: finished it anyways
5 points: eww
0-4 points: you won't see that on my list

Maybe I should take the stars to rate my anime :/

I usually use the 10.0 system, but I use the multiple ratings (for story, animation, sound, enjoyment, etc...). I have considered switching to 100 point though, because a lot of my ratings will end up from 8.0-9.5

I use 10 point system and if anime is so interesting that I can't stop watching it, I give it 9 or 10 if it has great art and animation. If the anime is average I give it 8 or 7 and I don't even want to watch and drop every anime that would be below 7 point.

I rate shows as follows:

10: Inferno Cop

9-1: Everything worse than Inferno Cop

I used to struggle with numbers before coming here. Now I found the "three faces" rating system and my life became much easier.

It goes like:

:) - I liked it

:| - mixed feelings

:( - I didn't like it

As simple as that.

Wasn't worth my time

• 1-4: avoid
• 5: bad but not as bad as 1-4 or something went wrong and I don't know what to think
• 6: fine but won't ever watch it again
• 7: good but not that good

Was worth my time

• 7: could have been better
• 8: very good for whatever reason
• 9: best crap made during the 3rd millennium (I don't watch 20th century anime)
• 10: 9-worth anime with the little something that makes me want to rate it higher
  
  How do I rate? Mostly comparatively: “T'was better than x but not nearly as good as y, somehow as good as z.”
  
  I don't care about the genre, demography, popularity, etc. When something is good, it's good.
  
  What's good? Dunno, ask the guys that watch anime to criticize it.
  
  I just think a fine, well told, story without annoying characters and bad music/art is good.
  
  Obviously, ratings I gave long ago hold little value (if any) today.

10 Perfect, I loved it, one of the bests!

9 Idk if I rate 10 or 9 'cause it's one of the bests too

8 Very good

7 Cool

6 I just watched/read to see how it will end

5 idk if I'll watch/read 'till the end

4-0 I normally drop these

My rating is based only on enjoyment.

Maybe you're just giving them too much importance, as much as I like to rate the things I've watched accurately as to properly represent my opinion on them, in the end they're just numbers.

Regarding my thought process behind my ratings, I try to balance it between enjoyment and the actual quality and meaning of the work, so to get a 9,0-9,5 from me it really has to be an astonishing show that's very well executed on all areas, that leaves a lasting impression and tries to convey a deeper message, instead of just striving to entertain you. I don't believe in perfect ratings, so you'll never see a 10,0 from me. 8,0-8,5 are for really good shows that do almost everything well, and 7,0-7,5 for shows that are good and worth the watch, but could've done some things better.

just watch a lot of anime, and than you know whats good to watch and what you can score as bat. You can still change the score you gave... Just go with your feeling!

I used a 10 rating system ranging from 1 from down right terrible into a 10 excellent.

Personally I think anime should be rated subjectivity instead of objectively because your opinion is what makes your list unique. I would rate something objectively in the case of a review. I really think that it is better to just rate anime based on your enjoyment and it is also much easier. After I finish an anime I just think of how much fun I had watching an anime then give it a score based on that.

I use a 100 point scale which might sound a little intimidating at first but it really isn't that bad. 100 is reserved strictly for those anime that made me cry out of happiness or sadness because they were just so enjoyable. The 90's are for anime I really enjoyed and don't encounter to often. The 80's has anime I still really enjoyed a lot; I just thought they weren't good enough to be 90's. The 50's to the 70's are all still good, but they are probably the most common anime I come by. Once you get below 50's the anime really were pretty bad. On my list I only have 10 or so below 50 because I generally pick anime I think I will like. Unless an anime is really boring I don't give it blow a 50. Then of course there is a 1 reserved for Mars of Destruction and a -128 for Boku no Pico. As for where to put it in between the 10 intervals, sometimes I can just tell and sometimes I base it off of other anime I have rated with similar ratings. For example, if anime x and anime y were very close I would think which one was better and which was worse and then give them a 1 or 2 point difference.

Of course you don't have to rate your anime like this, but I think you would like it because it is quick, easy, and you usually won't want to go back and change anything. I hope it helped, I had to write it twice because the first draft got deleted :P.

I rate things based on how I enjoyed it at the time of viewing it. Sometimes scores will change because as I rate things I compare them to the other animes that score around the same. If I think Anime A is worse than anime B but better than anime C and there is only a .1 difference between B and C then I need to change one of the two to reflect how I properly feel.

I used to do ratings, then I deleted them all because I was tired of rating things. Now I want to do ratings again, but there's so many things to rate that I'm not motivated enough to start.

Revising my ratings every couple of months is tedious (even if I had fun doing it years ago) so I've come to a conclusion to just give my favorite titles qt smiles and leave the rest blank.

If all else fails, you could use the smiley face system.