Forum - View topicShelf Life - Dai Daikon Magic
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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Around volume 6 or 7, I believe. In Viz release time, that means in about another year. 
Thank you for those pictures. 
Unfortunately, this was a result of the source material being trimmed down. This was explained in the manga, but apparently not in the anime. I've never seen past the first few episodes of the anime, but I've read the entire manga (and it remains my favorite shonen action series). Sadly, the anime only covers the through the tournament arc (roughly half of the manga) and apparently removes a lot of things from the latter portion of it. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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I don't understand these complaints. If you actually read the entire column, it is very clear what Bamboo thought of the titles presented. This new format makes the reviews flow together like a narrative, rather than just dumping them into easy categories. It promotes reading the whole thing and maybe getting more out of it than just a product catalog-style reviews dump. It isn't at all hard to tell what she thought of the DVD if you actually read what she wrote. I'd rather not people just "glance" at the column and then come into the forums to agree or disagree based on text they haven't read. I really like this new format, and I think anime criticism could seriously benefit from something that promotes actually reading the text rather than just a heap of scores and categories. |
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Yuukichan's Papa
 Posts: 93 |
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I fell in love with Moon Phase because it does an admirable job of balancing the cute loli vampire girl content with the darker, more dramatic content without getting too bogged down in either mode. There's no denying that the cuter aspects involve fanservice but I personally found it to never be out of line. And as was mentioned in the review, the relationship that forms between Hazuki and Kouhei is an interesting one to watch, as Kouhei isn't the typical wishy washy male lead as is common in this type of show.
I mean, I almost cheered when spoiler[Kouhei slaps Hazuki after he's had enough of her using her powers to manipulate people to get what she wants. Her subsequent reaction to it is great and changes the way she acts for the rest of the series.] |
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Char_Aznable
 Posts: 33 Location: Philadelphia |
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I did indeed read the whole text, so you don't have to jump down my throat for that. Geez, no need to go on the attack; I was just offering some constructive criticism.
In a perfect world, everyone has the time and interest to read the entire thing, but not if you're sneaking in a minute or two of anime goodness while you're at work or something. With the old layout, I could read the good stuff, leave, then come back in a minute a check out the truly terrible stuff. The categories worked for me, but apparently not for everyone. The transitions between reviews did add something along the lines of a narrative, so I see what you're going for. But it probably needs a bit more to pull everything together if you're going for the narrative angle. Like a framing device, etc. A story could be woven through the reviews, rather than just jumping into the Nerima Daikon Brothers following the brief introduction. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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I'm not "going on the attack", I'm responding to your criticisms. I'm aware that some people only have a few minutes or whatever; we're not going to purposefully tailor our content to cater to people who don't have the time to read it. They can just as easily read our full-length reviews and skip to the bottom and check out the letter grades if that's all they're after. Bamboo's been writing the column the same way for years. We felt it was growing stale, and this is the direction we're taking it in now. Personally, I don't like how anime criticism (and it's even worse with video games) has devolved into just a big pile of meaningless numbers and categories. I'm really pleased with the way this turned out; obviously this is the initial version and as we move on, it'll grow more polished. But we're not going back to the old system. I really hope this promotes more people to read the text of a review rather than just relying on or responding to whatever score is attached to it. |
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.Sy
Posts: 1266 |
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I think the change in layout is fine. The only thing I'd suggest is putting some sort of a break between each title. It's no big deal and anyone can tell where one ends and the next begins, but a larger space would...look nicer than having just one blank line between all paragraphs. Other than that, great collumn again!
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Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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Nothing wrong with only wanting to read specific reviews, it shows focus, but it can also prevent you from fully enjoying the column. Personally, I always read the whole column since Bamboo does such a good job writing it. Even if I have zero interest in a series, I like to hear her opinions on it. (Never know, I might find a new favorite in there.) For instance, her comments on Nerima Daikon Brothers have made me rethink my original plan to ignore this release. It sounds more interesting from her review than I originally thought from reading the synopsis in the encyclopedia. Besides, if you skip over parts of the review, you might miss this gem:
*Edit: Spent so long writing this that the first half is almost pointless now. 
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
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Currently, with the new top menu, if you're only interested in reading a few reviews here and there, you can just jump to the titles that interest you. The end of each "review" is marked with a link that jumps to the top again. That way, even if you just want to browse through a few titles, it only involves a few clicks, and almost no extra time.
It also cuts down the scroll time. Before, if you were just going to glance through, you had to scroll through everything and remember what category it fell under. Now, you can look at the categories and all the titles reviewed in one glance. Maximal efficiency for even the busiest of readers. This is the first time I've experimented with this layout, so I appreciate everyone's comments. It's still a work in progress, so every column will see more fine-tuning. |
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garry
Former ANN Editor
 Posts: 120 |
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I think some sort of demarcation between the differerent reviews would help the layout feel like something other than a brick of text spat out at my eyeballs.
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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i loved it!
it really was great like Zac said it would be. I had no problems reading the paragraphs although I did wonder why the FMA movie didn't have a picture with it. I'm intrested in the Shelf Obsessed as well. I'm going to get right on it and submit. |
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
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It wasn't a full review. I had already reviewed the movie before in a previous column-- I just wanted to mention the special edition. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Have you never read anything that's longer than 300 words or so that wasn't broken up into separate convenient categories for you? "Brick of text"? Some of you are really reaching to complain about this. |
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Samurai-with-glasses
 Posts: 628 |
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Most "complainers" are clearly fans of this column. Quite frankly, me too. And I think the layout needs some fine-tuning. Much like others' suggestions, add more color, I'd say, and a little clearer spacing between reviews. It's all fine and good to try a narrative write, which I see an effort in transitions there. But a clearer visual separation for the eyes' sake can easily be compensated by a more integrated transition between reviews. Right now the transitions makes sense (from "Nerima Daikon Brothers = Good For You" to "[paraphrase] Here's something that is not good for you") but stops there. Besides, everyone loves those old snazzy banners. I'm sure you people changed it because you are getting bored with it (and the rankings, as you said). I think that's cool, but something snazzier wouldn't be too bad. Or cheesy. Or crazy. Or just plain fun. A lot of people like Shelf Life for its humor as much as for the pure text what-I-think-of-this-show content. If you hate rankings, why don't try something similar to the old "tastes like"? From my perspective, people who read anime reviews actually care more about what the review says than what ranking it gives to a show anyway. That one-liner ending is to summarize the attitude of the reviewer and not leave the audience hanging on, wondering if the reviewer actually likes it or not. It's probably because we are so different in tastes that something pathetic to some is brilliant to others. Whereas those mainstream reviews, if the reviewers are actually any good, would usually be straight about what's fresh, nice, or fun and what's just yet another Hollywood trite. And yes, I do read the whole column. I always liked the ANN reviewers' take on humor even if I don't even know half of the shows they're talking about. |
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macbethx24
Posts: 1 |
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First of all, I read the whole column, and I guess I can understand where you wanted to go with changing it up and making it more like a constant narrative, but that's where my issue is. This isn't any different from how the column has always been, the only difference is that a transition sentence replaced the demarcation between the reviews.
Go ahead and look through the column and you can see that's really the only difference, is that there's a transition sentence between each review instead of a demarcation. If that's going to be the only difference, why even bother changing it? It was easier to read the other way. It really feels like a completely superfluous change, since the meat of the review is 100% the exact same. Which is a very good thing I might add, this column and the front page news are the only reasons I come here; Bamboo is a very talented critic with a lot of charm and charisma. That's why I felt compelled to start an account just to chime in. I love the work you guys do, but this change really feels like change just for change's sake. About the whole "against scores, etc." thing, I completely agree. But Shelf Life has never had scores...just the blanket "rent/buy/skip", you still had to read the whole review to figure out whether you'd actually like it or not. There are plenty of "Buys" that I know I would hate, and "Perishables" that I know I would love, and I'm willing to bet that 99% of people have had the same thing happen on numerous occasions. It's not like I completely hate the change, I'll live if it doesn't go back, I just don't really see the necessity for it. I do applaud the effort for trying something different, but it's definitely got some flaws. Regardless of how you format it, Bamboo's humor and charm come through, so it's not a huge deal either way. |
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mokitty
Posts: 106 |
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I like the new narrative format in that it reads more like a magazine, and as Answerman said, flows much better. But often I just skim the column at first to get the main points and then come back and read it later to really get the full picture.
I'm not going to say I prefer the old layout better, but I too found the spacing a little bit difficult for my initial look-through. Rather than color coding or complex bars or whatnot, though, perhaps just an extra blank line between reviews? Like that. Or the first word in bold face or something, like book chapters. That wouldn't add much (or in the case of the latter, any) scroll time.... Just a thought.
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