Forum - View topicLetter from the Encyclopedist
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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I think strict is probably the best way to go. I'm trying to be as strict as possible with every audit. There are so many shows that do have some great action and have been lauded for those action sequences but the anime in question may not be primarily action, it may be fantasy or sci-fi or something else. If I don't feel that action is the primary goal of the anime then I select to remove it. Or as the audit asks, I wouldn't watch the series for the action element alone. Same with every other genre. There are some shows I've come across in these audits that I know had some great drama have been acknowledged as great "dramas" but the drama is not the main watching point so I select its removal. The ones that are a bit tougher are the few that can very easily fall into two genres. For instance action or adventure is usually easy to distinguish but there are a handful of shows where it is really hard to decide. Especially series where a hero sets out on a quest. He/she is on an adventure and experiences new and extra-ordinary situations and places and there is a sense of discovery, from the mystery and novelty of venturing out into the (often dangerous) unknown, but he/she has to continually resolve conflicts through physical force which leads to continuous fast-paced action sequences. I'll usually default to my memory of which was a bit more prominent to me when I watched the show in question to decide on these. |
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Calli
Posts: 38 |
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I wasn't sure if it had happened before you'd posted that (I was tired and my sense of time was shot), but it probably did, so never mind.
The best way around this might be to make a custom category for shows you've only seen an episode or two of and put them there. Only the "Seen some" and "Seen all" lists get combed for auditing, right? EDIT: I've had stuff from my "Will Not Finish" lists show up for audits. Is this supposed to happen? Last edited by Calli on Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mylene
 Posts: 2792 Location: Indiana |
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So, some questions about themes, given how open-ended they are.
First and foremost, would 'bullying' be considered a valid theme? I know in the example 'friendship' isn't, but would something like 'bullying' be viewed as more "visual" as per semi-required by ANN's definition of a theme? Is there any sort of design we should have in mind when adding themes? For example, for .hack//SIGN (and some other .hack series) I added "Online computer gaming" as a theme. Would MMORPG (written out or abbreviated) or Online RPG have been better choices? What about "computer gaming" in general? I realize that the audits will help, but given the lack of mutual exclusivity in themes (unlike genres), .hack might get tagged as 'online computer gaming,' 'MMORPG,' 'RPG,' 'computer gaming, and 'online RPG' over time if people think/word things differently (and feel, "that's not close enough to how I think it should be define, so I'll add another theme"), which seems to be a bit redundant. Is this a problem, or no? After all, while the individual themes will be audited, you don't automatically see the list of themes for the series on the audit page (unless you think to open up the series' encyclopedia page if you've got a bad feeling there might be redundancy.) |
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angel_lover
 Posts: 645 Location: UK |
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Me too, I don't think that's a very good idea. A lot of the stuff in that category of my list is there because I really didn't like it after one or two episodes. I guess I can always respond "Don't Know". |
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eviltimes
 Posts: 116 Location: Callisto |
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I did a couple of "audits" and the genre change was from one incorrect genre to another incorrect genre.
If we can't correct an incorrect genre, why even give us the choice? example: I would consider "Akira" to be science fiction over all other listed choices. I wasn't given that option. |
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Mylene
Posts: 2792 Location: Indiana |
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You can choose to discard an incorrect genre. If the discard option also has another genre listed, I don't think it automatically assigns it, it's more so you can go into the title and add that genre if it's actually correct. Moreover, if you think Akira should be science fiction, go to the page, see if it's already listed, and if it's not, then use the contribute option to add the genre. Of course, sci-fi is already listed for Akira, so you don't need to do that. |
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eaglestorm
 Posts: 133 |
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Perhaps this is off-topic and maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but is there a way to refine searches for Live-Actions series/movies that are listed on the database?
Or add Live-Action on the Encyclopedia tab so it can be easily searched. |
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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Well thats kind of sad, since 17 of the 26 questions I have been asked are from my seen some. Which doesn't make sense because my seen all is much bigger than my seen some. It's not like I don't plan on finishing some of those, but I don't want to answer until I have. Knowing now whether you answer or not, the question will never again come up again, it kinda makes me want to stop the auditing process because I have seen some that I think were wrong. However I don't feel I have seen enough to answer. It would be nice if there was an option to select at the top of the form, "pool only from seen all".
Ugh, I thought I looked there.  I am turning old and blind.
@dormcat: It's true. Whether people say it or not. |
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Kenji_Ikari
 Posts: 144 |
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I agree with Dargonxtc's comment. The encyclopedia is a big, important, and unique part of ANN. Where would I be without it?
Yeah, I'm not sure there's a link to not anime but related anywhere anymore, though I liked that page. I tried a few audits, but some of them are confusing even with the definitions. For one, are all magical girl anime automatically considered to be in the magic genre? My opinion is that they wouldn't necessarily. A series like Cardcaptor Sakura that features a lot of magic aside from the fact that she could transform is obviously a magic anime, but for say, Sailor Moon, there isn't really any magic featured aside from the fact they can transform. I wouldn't watch Sailor Moon for the magic... I would rather watch something like Magic User's Club. However, magic seems to be the main genre listed for Sailor Moon. Lastly, I would like to mention that of the 15 or so anime I was asked about, only one was from my "seen all." Weird... |
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Dan42
Chief Encyclopedist
 Posts: 3785 Location: Montreal |
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Not at the moment. Eventually I'll implement some kind of appeal process.
I mean, everyone should pretty much know what the different genres mean. There are very standard and well-recognized genres. Schwarzenegger movies are action movies. It's all about blowing stuff up and beating up bad guys. I just wrote up the definitions to clarify a few points, but mostly it should be intuitive. If anyone has suggestions to make the definitions more intuitive, I'm all ears.
That's true but I just thought of something. Some titles give equal importance to two genres. For example, you wouldn't watch a romantic comedy for the romance element alone or the comedy element alone, you watch it because it's a romantic comedy. So both genres apply.
I assumed if you've seen enough of a title that you know you don't like it and put it in "Will not finish", then you've seen enough to know what genre it is. So it was intended but now I'm not so sure it was a good idea.
That's a good question; anyone has opinions? There are basically two aspects to genres & themes: 1) they get displayed on the series page, so people should get a good idea of what the series is about 2) they are searchable, so people can find series if they are in the mood for a particular type of anime Keeping that in mind, would people be interested in knowing that is anime is about bullying? Would the be interested in that anime if they were searching for something with a bullying theme? Or is the bullying simply a side element put in there for drama purposes?
That could certainly turn out to be a problem. We'll have to wait and see. One recommendation I could give is to break up themes to their smallest components. Rather than "online gaming" you could submit "online" and "gaming" because people might search for both of these components separately.
Ah, interesting. The order in which assignments are picked is undefined, but it seems like the database was favorizing "seen some" because categ=2 goes before categ=3... |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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I'm sure people would like to be capable to search and discuss them in an academic manner, as bullying has become such a big problem in Japanese campuses, yet I don't think many people would watch one just for the sake of bullying. |
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Mylene
Posts: 2792 Location: Indiana |
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I think this right there helps me with my decision. If the anime is truly about bullying, use it as a theme, but if it's merely there as a plot device, don't? I might personally look for an anime with the theme of bullying (I'm weird, okay), but what I was originally thinking about (Hana Yori Dango and Peach Girl) really use the element as a plot device to launch the drama. It plays a largish role in parts of the story, but I'm still not sure if it would be appropriate to use bullying as a them because the element does eventually go away (although I suppose it stays alive for the large majority of PG.) Edit: I'm noticing that "shoujo" has started popping up as a theme for me. Given the desire to rid the Encyclopedia of often incorrect categorization by the broad "shoujo" and "shounen" labels, should this particular theme perhaps be banned, or is it going to be okay to use? After all, auditing should keep it from being used for incorrect series (like people calling Strawberry Panic! shoujo.) |
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jel123
Posts: 108 |
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Not sure if this will ever be part of the search mechanism but some people may want to exclude a theme. Say you want to search for drama without bullying, adventure without mecha, or fantasy without harem. If there is enough detail in the themes you would be able to better target the search. I do understand that too many choices would be counterproductive. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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There are always exceptions, but generally speaking, I think a couple episodes (usually even one) would be enough to give an idea of what genre a series falls under. I think there may be cases where major themes may not become apparent until late in the series but I think its still generally possible to get a good idea within the first few episodes. I think this is something the auditors should decide for themselves.
Usually, it may be apparent. But lets take One Piece, which I just did a couple audits for. I leaned towards adventure, but I think it could easily be both. The characters are constantly traveling and on an advanture, but its also pretty heavy on the action. I don't see it being one clearly over the other and I really think its both. |
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Selkie
 Posts: 60 Location: The Golden State |
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I've noticed that shojo and shonen have disappeared as genres. Will they return? (Not that I'm dying to see them again, I think those two are often too confusing as a definition.) Also, are gothic, school, steam punk, cyber punk and magical girl allowed as themes? Or are all of these considered covered by the genres available?
Thank you. ^^ |
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