Hey, Answerman! The Shape of Things  by Brian Hanson, Feb 25th
2011  Like a canker sore or an unfortunate and untreated STD,
I'm back!  That was terrible. Let me try that again.  Hi!
Welcome to Hey, Answerman! There's a very fun and interesting
mix of questions this week - ranging from hifalutin' and complex
to the flippant and fun! And there's nothing I love more than
being hifalutin'-ly, flippantly fun.  So let's get into this
whole sordid mess, then:  Last week's responses to the 'Hey,
Answerfans!,' question got me thinking. I've always held that
even though you cannot account for taste, there is an empirical
scale of quality inherent to anime (or art in general). When I
compose my admittedly amateur reviews, I feel confidant that the
existence of certain quality standards will validate the general
shape of my comments. Sure, there are always going to be people
who love a show that is hated by the majority. But isn't having
a conversation about which, among a similar group of shows, is
better a worthwhile