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Zac's Reviews are inappropriate.


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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@



Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 3498
Location: IN your nightmares
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 5:02 pm Reply with quote
Anime News Network provides it's users with a dependable source of information about upcoming series with it's various reviews and columns. In the recent Spring 2012 Anime Preview Guide I'd like to call attention to reviews of the anime series Upotte! that was reviewed by Zac, Carl and Theron. I think regardless of the content of the series, the review should be informative, objective and free of bias and not leaving the reader think they are somehow the scum of society as well. A simple comparison of the review of those 3 contributors will show this was violated and compromised on many levels, but only Zac is guilty of it. There has been numerous occasions in the past where he has used the review to single out a certain segment of the anime community for being interested in certain content and very strongly implying that somehow they are twisted and a stain on the industry. Neither Carl nor Theron has ever done this. It is appropriate to express your own criticism of a show because it exceeds ick bar, but the air of superiority in a very demeaning way is unique to only Zacs review and I'm fed up with it. I think he needs to tone down his reviews and I would actually support that he be removed from Review Staff until further review is determined that he is fit for continuing this position.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 5:27 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I would actually support that he be removed from Review Staff until further review is determined that he is fit for continuing this position.


Laughing Oh man...that was good. The funniest butthurts are the ones were they try way too hard to be all super serious and formal.

@Zac: You suh, have been declared unfit for duty and relieved of your post pending formal inquiry. Laughing
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kyokun703



Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 2505
Location: Orgrimmar
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:32 pm Reply with quote
Then... don't read his reviews? You don't have to click on his name. I, on the other hand, really enjoy reading his opinions in the preview guide.
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jl07045



Joined: 30 Aug 2011
Posts: 1527
Location: Riga, Latvia
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:06 pm Reply with quote
If you really want to complain about his reviews, you should accompany those claims, like "somehow they are twisted and a stain on the industry" or "the air of superiority in a very demeaning way" with specific examples.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:09 pm Reply with quote
Suffice it to say that I don't subscribe the idea that the executive editor should be removed from the review staff or that he particularly needs to be declawed. I don't think that would either redress some serious grievance or genuinely benefit anybody. If he were a racist, misogynist, anti-semite, homophobe or showed hateful prejudice toward some other genuinely marginalized group, there would be something really worth bringing the torches out for, but not for this.

It's hard to be interesting or informative when preoccupied by walking on eggshells.

Past wrote:
... the review should be informative, objective and free of bias


I suspect that, one way or another, whether one regards two of these three as appropriate to reviews will predict agreement with this complaint.
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@



Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 3498
Location: IN your nightmares
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:22 pm Reply with quote
Hey I'm just asking for a little tiny bit more respect for his readers, but I know some of you will contend that's too much to ask for that he really has no obligation to respect anyone, fine. I'm just asking, it's the Forum mantra so I think it should apply to ANN staff (Executive Editor or not) to some extent as well.

Nevertheless, I think an anime NEWS site that Zac himself supports being unbiased, non-judgmental and relatively less purely opinionated does not represent itself well with the kind of reviews Zac writes. Don't get me wrong, I greatly respect him and love his work on the podcasts, he's witty, honest, with a nice dose of crude cynicism and moderates them efficiently but truthfully his reviews are a JOKE. It's fine if he wants to default to comedy, but that comedy need not include inflammatory remarks, that aren't funny.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7578
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:49 pm Reply with quote
You might want to look up the meanings of "news" and "reviews" - the results will evidently surprise you.

I almost made the first reply to this thread asking if you are the "dude who has such a strong gun fetish that you want to f*ck your guns" and decided against it since you clearly don't get tongue-in-cheek, but you're just making that impression stronger and stronger.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:56 pm Reply with quote
The preview reviews are editorial content, opinion pieces. There's no such thing as an unbiased review. Stop being so butthurt that his opinion doesn't match your own. State a case for why you disagree and provoke discussion, instead.
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jrnemanich



Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 238
Location: Denver
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:01 pm Reply with quote
Past wrote:
Nevertheless, I think an anime NEWS site that Zac himself supports being unbiased, non-judgmental and relatively less purely opinionated does not represent itself well with the kind of reviews Zac writes .
While it is a news site, it's also contains editorial and opinion based content. A review is YOUR opinion of what YOU thought of the content. Why you might not like HIS opinion, it is his opinion. Don't read reviews from people you don't personally agree with unless it's the direct opposite of the reviewers. I personally don't agree with Theron Martin's opinion on a lot of things so I've learned to not read his reviews for the majority of time. This outrage could be solved by not reading reviews of things from people you don't agree with THEIR opinion.
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Relenus



Joined: 06 Mar 2012
Posts: 42
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:06 pm Reply with quote
I am trying my best to wrap my brain around how a review can be "objective and free of bias."

Isn't the entire point of a review that it's someone giving their personal opinion?

Besides, the previews aren't really formal reviews. They're just quick and dirty articles on each person's initial reactions to an episode.

Still, it's good to see someone on the internet be polite when making a complaint.
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Fifth B



Joined: 05 Sep 2010
Posts: 213
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:08 pm Reply with quote
I was going to write a somewhat lengthy response to this thread, but I think I can boil it down to this:

No such thing as an objective art review, different writing styles/approaches, no insults or attacks on all people who watch show in question are present, don't like a writers style don't read, again a review for a tv show, not a blender, a simple listing of qualities without a reaction/explanation for said reaction would not suffice, done and done.

And now, to go watch Fate/Zero.
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@



Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 3498
Location: IN your nightmares
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:11 pm Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:
The preview reviews are editorial content, opinion pieces. There's no such thing as an unbiased review. Stop being so butthurt that his opinion doesn't match your own. State a case for why you disagree and provoke discussion, instead.
Yes you are right, I did not mean to imply the whole of ANN content needs to be un-opinionated, and acknowledge as an Executive Editor he is relatively unrestricted in not doing reviews that cater to a popular opinion.

He went to great lengths in a recent podcast to show, if there is a popular opinion about a series and your review supports that opinion but clearly doesn't reflect your own (probably biased) interpretation of the series as if it was the first time it was reviewed then that's a poor review. This is not about that. I made my case, I feel others might feel attacked by his words and I think that doesn't reflect well for ANN. I'm not supporting a specific show, or opinion I'm asking for a review that isn't insulting to others. Hey I don't even like guns myself, I have little reason to watch Upotte!. I like cute characters and I find the concept clever, if it's excessively sexualized and the characters depicted are a bit too underaged looking, fine don't watch it. I might, I'll watch it with an open mind, which is what more of us need.
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Xanas



Joined: 27 Aug 2007
Posts: 2058
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:28 pm Reply with quote
I like Zac's reviews, even if he and I don't generally get along when it comes to my comments about other reviewers or about IP Smile. I have no problems with his reviews at all. He's very opinionated so it's always entertaining to read, which if I'm honest, I read reviews for a kind of entertainment, as if I wanted to know whether I like something for myself I just watch it. I've learned I cannot trust any reviewer completely. I think I agree with Key more than most others here, but Zac's reviews are the most entertaining.

This isn't to say I think reviews should be useless, but to say you shouldn't ever take them too seriously. I think other people need to learn this, and I think Zac should keep it up.
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YotaruVegeta



Joined: 02 Jul 2002
Posts: 1061
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:46 pm Reply with quote
Good luck with that. Getting Zac thrown off the reviews has about as much chance at happening as you would if they banned you from this forum.

A review is a review. The uppote review was intended to be negative and humorous. Of course, if you favor that show, or shows like it, you might have taken offense.

If this was a news item, and Zac put lies and libelous information in it, I'd say that we run him off the internet.

In this review, Zac gave his opinion. He didn't attack anyone, only the anime and its content. Just because he doesn't take it seriously isn't grounds for an uproar.
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Primus



Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2758
Location: Toronto
PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:58 pm Reply with quote
I don't know what you're talking about. His review of Sengoku Collection was marvelous. I agree with him, it is by far the best show of the season.












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