Forum - View topicGhost in the Shell / What do you want in a review?
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jmays
ANN Past Staff
 Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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I'm new to the process of reviewing anime, and I'm a little confused by several recent comments on the board about ANN's recent reviews. It appears that there are several misunderstandings (perhaps just disagreements) about the purpose of an anime review. So I'd like to ask:
What do you look for in a review? I want to understand better the opinions of other forum members, as I'm quite confused about that at the moment. I have a fairly defined philosophy about reviewing, but I admit that I am very inexperienced in the actual process, so I think my future reviews would benefit significantly from a better understanding of the audience. Any opinions will, of course, be considered seriously. Thanks for your time! EDIT: Okay, time to make this a little more specific. I'd like your opinions about the form of my Ghost in the Shell review. Is it easy enough to follow? Did it address the areas that you want to read about? Whether or not you agree with my opinions isn't as important to me as whether you think I presented them appropriately. Hopefully, I'll improve with time, but feedback would certainly speed that process. Thanks! Last edited by jmays on Fri Feb 21, 2003 11:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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themacaque
 Posts: 28 Location: Helsinki, Finland |
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I can't say that I'm an expert on writing reviews of any kind, as I haven't written any reviews myself. However, as a regular reader of both your reviews and other anime and non-anime related reviews, there are two key points that in my mind make a good review. The reviewers at ANN probably already know how to write good reviews, so I'll skip the obvious parts.
First of all, the reviewer should keep in mind, that the reader often forms his/her opinion based on more than one review. Therefore, a good reviewer always explains everything based on his/her own feelings, without giving too much room for speculation over what the reviewer actually thought about the reviewable item. No more "it was quite good, but then again, on the other hand, not quite as good as I expected, however to some this might seem as such... ...and so on". Secondly, I always find it very helpful if the reviewer can in some way compare the item with other similar items (for example, a mecha series with other previous mecha series). This way, the reader might be able to form his/her opinion on previous experiences from similar items. Compairing doesn't mean taking the best compairable item there already is, and then thrashing the revieweable item itself. No more "this Miyazaki wannabee, rip-off, b-class, poor man's Mononoke, will never be as popular as the real deal". So there. I can assume all this was old stuff to the great reviewers at ANN, but since you asked for it... 
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Case
Posts: 1016 |
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On a mainstream site like this one (personal homepages or what have you, may be different) I think reviews should focus on telling the generic reader whether or not they should consume the reviewed product themselves. Reviews should focus on how worthwhile the reviewed product is compared to other products, not necessarily whether it is desirable to the particular reviewer. You occasionally hear professional movie critics say that they don't like a particular movie, but acknowledge that the movie was in fact a quality work. I think the same should apply to anime and manga reviews. |
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jmays
ANN Past Staff
Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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What do you mean "worthwhile...compared to other products?" I'm not aware of a standardized mean for anime quality...seems to me it comes down to mere opinion either way.
Unless, of course, you're thinking of that wonderful segment of Peter Weir's Dead Poets Society. You know, about plotting a poem's "greatness" on a graph using a mathematical formula. |
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Cassandra
 Posts: 1356 Location: Birdsboro, PA |
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I'd just like your opinion. People forget that all a review is is someone's OPINION. Big whoop if they don't agree. They don't HAVE to agree. That's not the point of a review. (Maybe that's why I seem to end a lot of my reviews with "Well, that's my opinion anyway." Then reasons why one may or may not want to see said title.)
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Jlbkwrm
Old Regular
Posts: 94 |
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I'm looking for a review that's more than just an opinion. If I want an opinion, I can go to any of a dozen webboards and ask if something's good.
When I read a review, I'm looking for an opinion with context. If the reviewer hated something about the show, I'd like to know if they hate all shows that exhibit this quality, or if there's something about this particular one that's off-base. Do you hate all robot maid shows? Or is there something about the way Hand Maid May's done that is just plain bad? Likewise, if you like something, is it because you're predisposed to the genre? Are you grading the visuals based on DVD quality? Art quality? Cell count? What? I also like to know how much of a series the reviewer has seen. If somebody's already seen the whole series, it's going to color their review of a volume. Some stuff holds up better after you know what's to come, and that can be important, but let me know I have to see the first fifteen episodes before the first four make any sense. It's also good to know in case the reviewer makes any incorrect assumptions about the future of the series--I'd like to know educated guess vs. I've-Seen-The-Whole-Thing. The Shelf Life mini-review of Chance Pop Sessions vol 1 annoyed me because I thought there was a huge spoiler for later volumes in it; had I known the reviewer had only seen the first volume at that point, I wouldn't have been half so irritated. Opinions are all well and good, but there needs to be some solid information there. If you hate shoujo, I should know that before basing my buying decision on your review of a shoujo title. If you only like AIC character designs, make that clear. A laundry list of "I liked this, I hated that," isn't going to do anyone any good. The reading audience needs some way to relate a review to their own tastes. |
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The Spatula
 Posts: 163 |
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That's all a review really is, but some people tend to take things too seriously. One of the most important things is not to cater to other people's wishes, but to be thorough in presenting your opinion. Any truly informed reader will realize that the reviewer has certain tastes and preferences and these should be apparent by the review itself. A better situation would be to have several reviews under your belt so that your audience has a good idea of your likes and dislikes. I have seen one too many cases of people shouting "bloody murder" because a reviewer pans an anime that they love in particular. This is ridiculous. I may have disagreed with one or two reviews, but those reviews are typically well-informed, allowing me to judge the material appropriately. If not, I can always go to other review sites, or ask a friend what she thinks. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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These are all insightful comments and make sense. Since people are saying this now, why, for the love of god, does everyone on this board seemingly love to complain about the reviews?
-Zac |
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themacaque
Posts: 28 Location: Helsinki, Finland |
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The answer to your question, o brother Zac, is that sometimes the readers of these reviews probably feel they could do a better job themselves. When someone feels his/her favourite anime is being thrashed, they write in nagging about the low quality of the review, to cover their own dissagreement with the reviewer.
I guess constructive feedback is always welcomed at ANN, but I can see why the reviewers are getting a tad bit annoyed by the flow of irritating posts about the low standard of reviews here at ANN. |
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jmays
ANN Past Staff
Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Does *anyone* here honestly consider ANN's reviews "low-quality?" You can argue that they don't address what you want discussed, that they're too long, too short, too deep, too shallow, or that you just disagree with a reviewer's conclusions...
...but low-quality? Seriously? I don't get that one at all. |
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LordByronius
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 861 Location: Philippe for America! He is five. |
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Low-standard? What? In all honesty, ANN, along with AnimeJump.com, has the most professional and well-written anime reviews on the web. Most other anime sites generally bog down to livejournal-esque ramblings. "This anime is great! It has a vampire, AND an explosion!" And if you're still not convinced that ANN has good reviews - go read the ones on http://www.animetempy.com. Eccch. |
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themacaque
Posts: 28 Location: Helsinki, Finland |
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Oh no no. I didn't mean that I thought any of the reviews here at ANN would be of low quality. What I meant was, that I guess the staff is getting irritated by those readers who critisise the review itself (who might call it low standard, what ever), when infact the reader only dissagrees with the reviewer.
You're doing a great job there at ANN, and I would be the last one to complain about your reviews. Sorry 'bout the misunderstanding here. |
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jmays
ANN Past Staff
Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Okay, time to make this a little more specific. I'd like your opinions about the form of my Ghost in the Shell review. Is it easy enough to follow? Did it address the areas that you want to read about?
Whether or not you agree with my opinions isn't as important to me as whether you think I presented them appropriately. Hopefully, I'll improve with time, but feedback would certainly speed that process. Thanks! |
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Aya Reiko
 Posts: 166 Location: Nowhere and Somewhere |
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Some critical points:
Equal parts concreate detail and opinion. Too much opinion will leave your readers wondering if you didn't have an opinion before viewing (or something like that). Too fact heavy review are boring and aren't really much of a review. Accuracy. When giving an opinion or a fact, make sure what you are saying is accurate. If someone catches a descrepancy in a review, then the reliabilty of the rest of the review will be questionable. |
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3906 Location: CO |
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I always try to write them as if I haven't seen the rest of the series. Most people who buy DVDs don't already know what the series is about, and I try to keep that real by reviewing each individual disc. Usually, the only time I'll allude to the rest of the series (if I've seen it) is when I say "it gets better as the series goes on" so viewers don't get discouraged by any bad first/middle volumes. I try my damnedest not to put in any spoiler for a volume, but if it's on the back of the box, I figure it's fair game for me to mention. Also, I try to point out some tiny lures like "Character X learns the secrets behind City Y" not to spoil you, but to make you think, "Woah! What secret? Wait, they're finally gonna reveal it? Whoo, maybe I'll start watching this." Miagi: I think you're doing a wonderful job, keep up the good work! Some points I wanted to ask you-- out of curiousity, why is the synopsis in the review, rather than in the synopsis slot (not that it matters. It flows just fine.) Also, I know that you're passionate about what you're writing, which sometimes makes a few parts of your paragraphs a tad hard to read. The ideas are presented solidly, but because you're so poetic about what you're trying to say, it sometimes gets a little wordy, and bogged down. Granted, most of the readers on ANN are definitely intelligent to read your review, but it makes it harder to skim through the review. Other than that, good job! |
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