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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23873
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 8:49 am
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Hey, any time you little ladies need us big, strong fellahs to mansplain something to ya, just ask!
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EnigmaticSky
Joined: 06 Aug 2011
Posts: 750
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Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:20 pm
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Honestly Rebecca, I think that you shouldn't worry about "objectivity" when reviewing a show. It's your perspective, say what you think. If a show doesn't work for you, just try to dissect what it is that makes it not connect. All art is subjective, and two people can look at the exact same aspects of a work and like/dislike it for the same reasons. One example is tank controls in old horror games: some people think it can make you feel more helpless and add to the fear, while others think it's just clunky and obtrusive to getting into the game. It's just two perspectives, and the only incorrect opinion is one that isn't pondered. I completely agree with the Jim Sterling approach that an objective review would only say "this is a product which is available for purchase, and has a runtime of XX. Some people like it. Some people don't." A reviewer gives there own perspective and analysis; that's why there isn't just one reviewer that everyone watches and who says "here's the truth about this show: it's good. If you didn't like it you watched it wrong."
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23873
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Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:00 pm
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I don't disagree with any of that, but I believe a reviewer needs to justify a letter grade. Rebecca gave the last episode a B-. That means out of 13 possible grades from A+ at the highest to F at the lowest, she scored it just slightly above middle of the road. A 2.75 out of 5, roughly. However, if you read her text it is not clear to me why she scored it so low. As far as I can tell, her only negative comment was that she wasn't sure what message was being imparted. She wasn't sure of the humour. Okay, but at least for me that doesn't explain such a middling grade. If she had been more specific about things that marked the score down, at the very least I would have been able to guess why she assigned the grade she did. In the absence of that explanation I was left to make the assumption she give it the grade she did because the show simply isn't resonating with her. I want to be clear, I'm not telling Rebecca she should like the show more than she is, I just want her to justify her contention that - for example - the last episode was just a tetch above average.
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Kon'Doriano
Joined: 17 Sep 2016
Posts: 552
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Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:46 pm
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Finally, for once an episode got a grade higher than B-
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zrnzle500
Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 3:51 am
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Blood- wrote: | I don't disagree with any of that, but I believe a reviewer needs to justify a letter grade. Rebecca gave the last episode a B-. That means out of 13 possible grades from A+ at the highest to F at the lowest, she scored it just slightly above middle of the road. A 2.75 out of 5, roughly. However, if you read her text it is not clear to me why she scored it so low. As far as I can tell, her only negative comment was that she wasn't sure what message was being imparted. She wasn't sure of the humour. Okay, but at least for me that doesn't explain such a middling grade. If she had been more specific about things that marked the score down, at the very least I would have been able to guess why she assigned the grade she did. In the absence of that explanation I was left to make the assumption she give it the grade she did because the show simply isn't resonating with her. I want to be clear, I'm not telling Rebecca she should like the show more than she is, I just want her to justify her contention that - for example - the last episode was just a tetch above average. |
This is assuming all grades are evenly spaced numerically, and given that in many grading system this is not exactly the case, I'm not sure that is correct. I mean considering the reviewer in question and other reviewers are in education, higher or otherwise (if I'm not mistaken), you would assume their grades to be equal more or less to what they would be under their grading system. And I imagine people who have been though school at some point would tend to equate letter grades with the numerical equivalent range under their grading system and not equally spaced grades.
And from what I can tell from the average ratings, it seems reader opinion tends more toward the equivalent numerical grade range under the US grading system rather than evenly spaced grades. From what I've observed, A's and A+'s tend to be between 4.5 and 5, A-'s and B+'s tend to be around 4.5, B's tend to be around 4, and B-'s between 3.5 and 4. Below that things tend to vary more and there is less data towards the bottom, as most shows tend to be at or above B-, though there are a significant amount that reside in or occasionally dip into the C range. So looking at the B- and above range, under even spacing: B-=2.91, B=3.33, B+=3.75, A-=4.17, A=4.58, and of course A+=5, and under US letter grade equivalent with plus and minuses: B-=4-4.1, B=4.15-4.3, B+=4.35-4.45, A-=4.5-4.6, A=4.65 to 4.8, A+=4.85-5, and without pluses and minuses: B=4-4.45, A=4.5-5. So it seems to me that especially in the B range (where a lot of reviewed shows reside) the average rating is closer to what the numerical equivalent of the letter grade roughly would be under the American grading system rather than a evenly spaced one. Although, a 5.0 GPA scale fits well in that range too: B-=3.7. B=4.0, B+=4.3, A-=4.7, A=5.
Some caveats. This is just offhand and not from collected data (which would take a lot of time to collect even from a modest but sufficient sample of average ratings) so I don't think I can make any too definitive statements. There are plenty of instances of average ratings diverging from these expected ranges (both above and below) due to a divergence in user and reviewer sentiment on the episode, so trying to ascertain the equivalent letter and and number grades from average ratings is an imperfect method.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23873
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:22 am
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*sigh* In place of a blizzard of confusing text, I will leave you with this very simple graphic:
A+
A
A-
B+
B
Onihei episode 5
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
And really an F grade is so surpassingly rare, I'm not sure is should even be counted as one of the 13 possible grades. In other words, a B- can, I think, with strong justification, be seen as the 6th of 12 possible grades or an absolute middling 2.5 out of 5.
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AyanamiRei
Joined: 27 Aug 2016
Posts: 87
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 8:06 am
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Quote: | this is in line with the time period to a point, but the beauty of fiction is that things about reality can be changed |
When you start doing this in a relatively serious fiction, the favoured element will stand out. To the point of making it look important (maybe more than it is supposed to).
A strong female character in an historical setting where it is not supposed to appear a lot will often be the lead character for example.
And if too much is warped or something is too much warped, then the fiction will appear like a pure fantasy (often to not take seriously).
Sorry if this is a wrong assumption of my part.
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zrnzle500
Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:08 am
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Blood- wrote: | *sigh* In place of a blizzard of confusing text, I will leave you with this very simple graphic:
A+
A
A-
B+
B
Onihei episode 5
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
And really an F grade is so surpassingly rare, I'm not sure is should even be counted as one of the 13 possible grades. In other words, a B- can, I think, with strong justification, be seen as the 6th of 12 possible grades or an absolute middling 2.5 out of 5. |
No even in that case it would be 7 of 12, or 2.91 out of 5.
Edit: Ah I see the error. It is the 6th highest of twelve grades, which is 7 out of 12 not 6 out of 12.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2617
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 12:24 pm
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AyanamiRei wrote: |
And if too much is warped or something is too much warped, then the fiction will appear like a pure fantasy (often to not take seriously).
Sorry if this is a wrong assumption of my part. |
It's not an incorrect assumption, and you're right, care does need to be taken. I don't need (or even want) a random bad-ass lady to come in swinging and knock all the men down a few pegs, but I would like a woman who is in control of her own life - I don't care if she's a single mom or a sex worker who happens to enjoy what she does, or a shopgirl who doesn't take guff from customers. Just someone who isn't in there to be a victim in any sense.
EnigmaticSky, thank you.
zrnzle500, you are correct - I teach (creative) writing and literature at the university level.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23873
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:52 pm
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I agree with Rebecca - I'd like to go a few eppies without a rape or threat of rape rearing its ugly head. Some interesting female characters would be awesome, too.
I guess I'll have to content myself with swooning over the tres manly, Onihei - he's so dreamy!
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mangamuscle
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 2658
Location: Mexico
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:04 pm
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Princess_Irene wrote: | but I would like a woman who is in control of her own life |
... and I would like to see in (any) anime the portrayal of beautiful muscular female protagonists, but surprise surprise, there wont be (I have been looking for decades already) any because I was never the target demographic (we are like ninjas :p). You have already acknowledged that this was written in another era, when females rarely had a place in the workplace so they did not made their own money so most adult entertainment was either geared towards males or couples (morning soap operas were obviously an exception). To me what it is tiring is reading in every review the same comment, it would also be tiring (i.e.) inside a review of Nobunaga no Shinobi, where obviously Chidori is the only female with some "agency" and even her is but a lowly underling of the head honcho.
I do like series set in the past where males and females are about equal (konosuba comes to mind) but they have the "fantasy" tag and not the "historical recreation" tag (i.e. Tanya the evil, where extraordinary circumstances happen for a female to be in control of her own life and dare to say it, the whole country)
I understand that rape is an issue for women and that it has been used so far quite often (albeit not graphically nor in bad taste), but this is part of the setting, there is no bigger than life hollywood style scheme at play (the old Batman live-action tv series comes to mind), bad people abuse their power and are not creative about it (like in that female murder in Psycho Pass) so at best we will see more corrupt officials or murderous lackeys.
Supposedly in ancient japan (when they an an empress) there was more sex equality and I would not mind seeing more females in important roles is such a setting (since it would come naturally), but if you are looking for female role models in an anime geared towards adults, this ain't it.
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AyanamiRei
Joined: 27 Aug 2016
Posts: 87
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:42 pm
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mangamuscle wrote: |
... and I would like to see in (any) anime the portrayal of beautiful muscular female protagonists, but surprise surprise, there wont be (I have been looking for decades already) any because I was never the target demographic (we are like ninjas :p). |
Kanna (from the Sakura Taisen t-RPG/flirt game series, and animations) is one. Looks like some japanese people thought it was an archetype worth including in a "romantic" game.
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darkdeath174
Joined: 02 Jul 2009
Posts: 62
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:53 am
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This episode still isn't on Primevideo.com and episode 6 is still missing a few of it's subtitle languages(English being the deal breaker for me). I've been fighting with Primevideo "specialists" for about 4ish weeks now.
They're having issues with videos not showing up on time, having the wrong air dates listed and have subtitles missing when new episodes are uploaded/having subs going missing on old episodes. They keep telling me they aren't finding issues or that some shows don't support English. If episodes 1-4 and 6 of a show has English subs, then how the heck does it not support it!
I wish they'd work with me to fix issues, but instead they just want to tell me I'm just wrong and that there are no issues. A+ support.
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Merida
Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 2:00 pm
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Really good but also pretty depressing episode. I was hoping that Heizo would offer Otomatsu to work for him but what an utterly miserable and hopeless life he must have lead to rather choose death. I wonder if that hug was the first time he'd actually experienced true affection...
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23873
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:51 pm
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I'm really glad the little girl didn't die. That would have severely pissed me off. Mind you, she did deserve a severe beating for ruining a perfectly good piece of sweetfish...
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