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@Guile
I didn't say it was impossible to avoid expressing an opinion. I said it was impossible not to have one. Yes they could have limited the book to objective facts, dates, episodes, creators etc. It would have made a very dry, much shorter book. You didn't quote where I said that if they are going to put in reviews, I wanted their opinions visible. You can't review without expressing opinion.

I can't believe you made an analogy between opinions about anime and about abortion. Some things are simply not similar enough to compare.

Guile wrote:

Surrender Artist wrote:

Firstly, I think that you're putting up a straw man by implying that opinions are being treated as gospel truth. That's not how opinions work; some can be valued more highly without that value being absolute.

You would be surprised. If I had a euro for every time heard someone parrot an opinion from someone like Nostalgia Critic or any other internet reviewer as the gospel of truth I'd be pretty well off. The only real benefit is it becomes quite easy to tell if someone is speaking on their own or from what they've heard from someone else.

I almost want to offer to make that tab up if you'd be so kind as to provide an itemized, substantiated invoice of incidents. Although I’ll probably just use counterfeit bills or send you the loveliest edition of Arthur Schopenhauer’s The Art of Being Right: 38 Ways to Win an Argument that I can buy, either of which would be more appropriate. We haven’t really defined ‘gospel truth’ here, but I’m willing to bet that your definition sets a lower bar than mine.

For one thing, I don’t trust your characterization of them is faithful, but for another, I don’t think it matters. So far as I can tell, Nostalgia Critic or anybody else you might dredge up doesn’t really bear upon this. They’re just select bogeymen that people like you throw up as distractions to try to discredit and delegitimize a principle or idea by association. They’re the Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson of this argument. Even if it were somehow true, it wouldn’t in any way undermine the principle that opinions about media can be more valuable or interesting if the person providing them has greater depth of knowledge, experience or creativity.

Quote:

Would you really disregard the thoughts and observations of a man who has worked in Japanese animation for decades, seeing and knowing it from the inside, all the while creating works that were not merely prominent in their time, but will likely be held in the firmament of memory for far longer than most, if any, things that seems so important right now simply because what he might say won't validate you?

He's probably referring to how Miyazaki dislikes a lot of work that isn't his own and says the industry is bad becuase of otaku, and also compares phones and iPads to masturbatory practices. The man is pretty detached from the modern anime industry, so I totally understand why someone wouldn't hold his opinions on it in high regard about the industry.[/quote]

That in no way contradicts or refutes what I wrote. Nothing of your choice litany of Hayao Miyazaki’s alleged sacrileges is about the substance or nature of opinions, only rationalizations for denying their validity. Even if one considers his perspectives misguided, inquiring as to why one thinks that way and why he thinks his way is potentially interesting and useful. Somebody like Hayao Miyazaki who is effectively an ‘outsider’ relative to what are, for the fleeting moment, ‘modern anime’ potentially increases the value of his opinion because it isn’t captive its the controlling norms and dogmas.

This entire line of discussion has been deeply irritating because rhetorical tactics like yours ultimately seem to be about defining what is right or acceptable in opinions as conforming to what you already believe and find comfortable with those to the contrary sealed out as inherently invalid, dishonest or unreasonable.

What a fantastic episode. I could listen to them talk about anime history/industry all day. Helen McCarthy's enthusiasm and passion is so infectious when she speaks, even when I don't agree with her (Terror in Resonance?). It did make me laugh every time they failed to answer Zac's question:

Zac "Tell us about 2006"

Clements: "Well, when I was dubbing in 1995..."

After a tangent that may last a few minutes, Zac would ask again, and after more tangents, finally get an answer. And this happened with almost all the questions. Despite that, it was still great to listen to them, and I hope you get them back on again (though it may be better to get them one at a time).

Folks should be aware that while Helen and Jon mention the Kindle version several time that the book is also available for the Nook and iPad.

I liked this episode I was glad to see the question of including Hentai in The Anime Encyclopedia was broached. I have no problem with it being in a reference work, but I only wish it would be put in the back of the book (like what Manga The Complete Guide did with it's Yaoi and Hentai titles).

As when I've perused the earlier additions I've accidentally read synopsis of some things I wish I didn't know existed. It (Hentai) should have a place in a reference work but I think what ever artistic considerations are secondary to what it was specifically made for.

The reason I think people think there are more Anime is because instead of only seeing the10 to 20 shows a publisher would bring over a year, you can now watch every single show, regardless of whether it gets licensed or not.

Any fan that is gone in 18 months was never an actual true fan. Good riddance.

@DmonHiro
The fans that last 18 months to two years that Helen McCarthy mentioned probably all put some money into the system to support anime for the rest of us. Not a lot from any individual but a fair amount from the group. When they drop out of fandom some of what they bought sells cheaply on E-bay etc. So they do serve a purpose.

I do really doubt that the short time types are part of the market for their encyclopedia though.

I'll add to this later, but Helen McCarthy is incredible.

The reason a lot of these shows are censored is because the content is not allowed on TV, they should of been OVAs/ONAs instead.

Helen's comment about 10 minutes in about being beholden to the publicists and having difficulty getting information on who did key animation in which episodes... She must mean that it's hard to get that information before the show is made? Because we're in the encyclopedia forum here talking about animators in specific episodes all the time. That information is widely available on 2 major sites that I like in about 80-90 percent of the cases, and we have access to raw Japanese credits streamed on Hulu or crunchyroll or Funimation in almost all the remaining cases. I only extremely rarely have to resort to fansubs to find information.

Hi! For those who haven't read the review thread, I'm not Dr. Clements or Ms. McCarthy, but I was a significant contributor to TAE 3rd.

jroa wrote:

There is also a continuing need for corrections of errors and omissions in certain plot summaries, which can even potentially color some of the opinions derived from them.

Here, here. Very Happy

Please also keep an eye out for typos in the entry headers—I submitted corrections for many of them, but there must still be many left. Due to time constraints, I was also unable to go over the entries for the large franchises (Gundam, Ranma ½, Doraemon, etc.), so those need to be looked at. (Again for those who haven't read the other thread: there is an E-mail address at the end of the Publisher's Note to report any errors (it's been there since the first edition).) However, I can personally guarantee that however arcane the choice of titles is, they are applicable to the shows in question—they had to be, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find a link for them for the e-book edition. (Musical Wanderings of Jirocho of Shimizu took me hours to find because the title was badly wrong in the first and second editions: "Musical Wanderings of Jironaga Kiyomizu". Anime dazed

)

invalidname wrote:

(To wit: I've done a bunch of writing on Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse, and it didn't even merit an entry in the Anime Encyclopedia.)

I'll submit a request that it be included in the next edition. Smile

For a reason to buy TAE 3rd, see the entry for Cutta's Story—no-one else in English had that information.

DmonHiro wrote:

Any fan that is gone in 18 months was never an actual true fan. Good riddance.

I feel compelled to say let's not go down that route of who is or is not a true fan. That path almost always leads to elitists clamoring about what makes a true fan by badgering other users. Who then get all upset, and rightfully so, about it, and then it just goes downhill from there and never ends well. So yea, let's not go down that path shall we.

Parsifal24 wrote:

I liked this episode I was glad to see the question of including Hentai in The Anime Encyclopedia was broached. I have no problem with it being in a reference work, but I only wish it would be put in the back of the book (like what Manga The Complete Guide did with it's Yaoi and Hentai titles).

As when I've perused the earlier additions I've accidentally read synopsis of some things I wish I didn't know existed.

I would like if it was organized differently too. Some of the entries are quite detailed so it would be better to quickly know if something is pornographic or not. Though making special sections would probably just cause more criticism as there would be debates on what should and shouldn't be considered adult. The print edition is suppose to have an erotica heading in the index I guess to help but, the eBook doesn't have an index at the end.
The opposite of your problem, I used the encyclopedia recently to clear up a confusion someone had over a title, but it took me a while to find the entry of the hentai title they were thinking of.

Psycho 101 wrote:

DmonHiro wrote:

Any fan that is gone in 18 months was never an actual true fan. Good riddance.

I feel compelled to say let's not go down that route of who is or is not a true fan. That path almost always leads to elitists clamoring about what makes a true fan by badgering other users. Who then get all upset, and rightfully so, about it, and then it just goes downhill from there and never ends well. So yea, let's not go down that path shall we.

But no true Scotsman...........!

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