By quality, I mean the look of the anime, the style in which it was drawn.
Shin Chan is probably the worst looking anime I have ever seen aesthetically (probably purposefully) but it's one of my favorite shows because it's one of the funniest shows ever and the characters are really likeable.
I used to not think it mattered but in later years I have become somewhat of an animation snob. I won't want to watch an anime unless it looks good. I feel like people nowadays are getting used to good animation because technology is changing. It may lead people to not watching the classics anymore like Evangelion and Bebop. Good article idea. – Mary Awad10 years ago
Old Shin Chan was poor in quality, but new Shin Chan, besides all its portrayal of ugly looking humans, the animation is smooth and elegant: the modern variant. As a result, I like new Shin Chan MUCH more than old one, even if old one had better stories. Animation is a deciding factor, and other factors like the story, characters, pace, and development are also important, but animation quality is most important and, in most cases, decides whether the other factors work out or not and finally, whether the work succeeds or not. – Abhimanyu Shekhar10 years ago
I personally think such "yes/no" question should be avoided as a topic, since I can easily the answer to this question is yes and no. Yes, because visual quality is what appeals to viewers right away, which partly explains why Kyoto Animation and PA works' anime always attract many viewers. No, because there are anime with admittedly poor quality but could be immensely popular for many reason, such as Ping Pong (which is often regarded as the best anime of 2014), Aku no Hana (weird and experimental, but most people seem to get past it after a few episodes), Wake Up, Girls! (quality is alright but broken at times, yet it has gathered a fan base and a new movie will come out later this year). What I want to say is, instead of raising it as a "yes/no" issue, it is perhaps more fruitful to discuss how visual quality is implemented in different anime (e.g. why Aku no Hana and Ping Pong deliberately adapt such visual styles) – Justin Wu10 years ago
In my opinion it depends on which piece of animated material we're judging. For me visual quality contributes greatly to a small percentage of enjoyment in the animation, but since we're talking about percentages it can be inferred that visual quality isn't the complete essence of any anime. It's a joint effort from writers, animator, director, etc. Because of that it's my belief that we should take all of this pieces and evaluate them together. – Hassiumhaze10 years ago
I think it does but the story is most crucial. Terrible animation or idiosyncratic art can be tolerated to some extent if the story is enticing enough; however, good art can never excuse a bad story can never. Take Ping Pong the Animation for example. People have dismissed it originally because it's art seems to be too bizarre or unusual, but it turned out to be great and has garnered a lot of positive reviews. On the other hand you can have something like Glasslip which was well animated, but ultimately disappointed a lot of people.
Ideally, we'd all to watch anime with good art and a good story. But whenever we have to settle for just one, most of us would probably watch the one with a good story. – Shellana9 years ago
I'd say it's a personal preference. Personally the style of an anime has a huge impact on whether I'm initially interested in watching it. I have some styles that I will not watch at all, and some that I will definitely try out. The art style is also impacted by the studio producing it, so styles people prefer and studios often overlap. – jajafar9 years ago