Forum - View topicShelf Life - Dai Daikon Magic
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
scortia
 Posts: 174 |
|
|||
|
Aww, Recca is perishable. X_x Dunno, I really dislike most tournament anime but Recca still holds a place in my 90s-anime-lovin' heart. I guess the latter half of the tournament did have some lulls... but the ending is stellar in the end. And well, of course, the manga is way better.
|
||||
|
||||
|
LadyFireglow
Posts: 2 |
|
|||
|
As others have mentioned, I think the new layout needs work.
I have been a longtime fan of Shelf Life, and trying something different is fine if you want to switch things up. However, I liked having similar reviews grouped together, i.e. all the Shelf Worthy together, all the Rental Shelf, and all the Perishables. It made reading about and comparing anime easier. I found myself scrolling back and forth between reviews and the top of the screen, just so I could read reviews of anime that was rated similarly. And yes, I always did read the full column. I just think that it's more logical to group similarly-rated titles together. Perhaps an indication of whether the anime was good or not, like some kind of rating before each review, would work if you're determined to keep the new layout? I like to know at a glance how an anime rates - and then read the review as to why. |
||||
|
||||
|
Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
|
|||
This is exactly what we're trying to get away from. |
||||
|
||||
Tsunami3k
 Posts: 43 Location: Overland Park, KS, USA |
|
|||
Perhaps you shouldn't. Despite your boredom with the original design there were clearly elements of it that worked for the readers. I don't think anyone here is trying to pick on anyone involved with the change but I think that, if you truly believe that the original worth/rental/perishable categorization is anything like the typical movie or game reviews you're seek to differentiate yourselves from, then you're being unfairly hard on yourselves...you're already superior to the mainstream media. A 3-tiered good/bad/ugly organization is about as coarse a granularity as you can get while still retaining some bit of organization. It's human nature to want to categorize things so it is an appreciated facet of any aggregated review (and to be fair it is an article of mini-articles) to have some minimal means of quick visual navigation via cues (as subtle or flamboyant as you choose). To be honest, I empathize with your distaste at becoming "yet another [insert topic here] review column" but on the flip side of that coin is that most people are familar with that kind of format because it's so prevalent and will no doubt find it most palletable. Besides, there is no risk that this column will ever suffer from that fate with Bamboo at the keyboard. Hell, if you decide that the next big thing is the "ultra-clean" look and you decide to post the article as a text file, you can be certail that I (and, no doubt, everyone who has posted on this thread thus far) will still be there to read it but, please, don't misinterpret our critiques here as coming from a bunch of fussy grumps with nothing better to do; we have a profound appreciation for Bamboo's talent and efforts on this column which is why we've taken the time to offer our suggestions which we believe to be sincerely helpful. That said, if you feel that strongly about changing the column then, by all means, do what you need to do to keep it spicy and fun; I don't think anyone here wants to spoil the ANN mojo that we continually reap the spoils from with the release of every new article. Few columns on any subject can make me so much as crack a smile, much less laugh out loud (as did the line "I don’t care how mature you think you are—sexual innuendo is still funny."...truer words have rarely been uttered) so it's that much more important that it's clear to you that we're not all just a bunch of cranky jerks (as should be clear from the civility of this thread thus far). Do you agree? |
||||
|
||||
|
DeliciouslySexy
Posts: 6 Location: Canada |
|
|||
|
I agree very much with LadyFireglow and Tsunami3k (with minor exceptions). I'm a casual Shelf Life reader so I'm not sure how much my opinion is going to count on this issue. Here it is anyway.
First of all, I love the new Shelf Obsessed section! I really look forward to seeing other peoples' collections. Secondly, I want to say that I read Shelf Life very infrequently (once a month at most). I loved the old Shelf Life because it was a very user-friendly column. At a glance, I like to know where exactly a title stands with the reviewer. Once I have gained that information, I will begin to read. Sometimes I read the whole column, sometimes I don't. In the end though I always come back. If Bamboo was getting tired with the old format of the column, then it is her right to change things up (it is HER column after all). With that said, many people have expressed concerns regarding the readability of the column and I have to agree with them. It is more difficult to read. Granted, the new menu does show me instantly where a title stands. However, it lacks the fun of the previous format. Now, ANN staff has made it clear that the focus of the column is changing. It is shifting away from rating titles to being more of a fluid, article-style approach to reviewing anime with the hope that it will encourage people to read the entire article. Once again that is Bamboo's call and hers alone. Please consider though that by sacrificing user-friendliness for this format, you will be alienating many of your more casual readers like myself. I hope to see some refinement like that which is being promised (the menu was an excellent start), but if the column continues in this direction with little to no change I will probably just bypass it to check out the Shelf Obsessed section. If this opinion means absolutely nothing, please let me know (I like to know where I stand). |
||||
|
||||
|
ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
|
|||
|
I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments. The layout of the column will be changing, but it's very much still a work-in-progress. I definitely appreciate everyone's input, and over the course of the next few columns, you'll be seeing some positive changes.
|
||||
|
||||
Gauss
 Posts: 519 Location: Finland |
|
|||
Always a pleasure. |
||||
|
||||
|
Ramadahl
Posts: 325 Location: MK, UK |
|
|||
|
Um, I can appreciate the moving away from strict categorization (even though it's now been added in again?) but some better distiction between the writeups of different series would be nice. It doesn't even have to be anything big, I think that even an extra line spacing between different releases would go a long way to clearing things up. Or maybe just the title of the DVD at the start of each paragraph, linked to the encyclopaedia to make it easier to notice? Granted, this'll detract from the more narrative aspect though. Still, up to you *shrug*
Oh, and like other people've said, I'll still keep on reading the column regardless of the changes - I don't even read it to see what series I should buy (not as if I buy US DVDs anyway), I just read it because it's well written. |
||||
|
||||
Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
|
|||
|
I really just don't get the criticisms. I had no problem, even at a glance, recognizing where they started and ended for each title and upon reading them could easily figure which was good and bad. Not to mention the little menu deal in the upper right corner obviously showed where the title fell. I just don't see how it could possibly get anymore spoonfed aside from bringing back the old design. I know we're becoming an instant gratification society, but seriously, we're talking minimal effort.
Personally I just think some people don't like change. |
||||
|
||||
MissAsako
 Posts: 19 Location: Texas |
|
|||
|
Ohmygosh. Kodocha is already at DVD volume 10. I got disk 1 for my birthday last year, and ment to collect each volume but my local Best Buy never had the next volumes in. Wow. I'm really behind.
|
||||
|
||||
Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
|
|||
|
I must say that the scattered catagory template did thow me off when I first read this and I had to check the top again to see if it really was BD's byline, but I did understand just what was what after re-reading it again. However having said that the way I understood some of the reviews didn't match the way BD eventually listed them at the top later. Kodocha read like a "rental" but was listed as "Shelf Worthy" and I don't understand what the catagory of "Pop Life" is meant to be now if, after the deep slagging it got,(no pun intended) I would have expected it to be in the "perishables". It's confusing.
Also what everyone so-far is calling "demarkation" is known in the trade as "segue" which would be a fluid transition from one review to the next. It worked well between the first and second review, but started to misfire after that, which is where I had to start re-reading again to get back on track. The reviews themselves are as one would expect once back on the right rails. It's only the crosspoints that need upgrading. All in all, it is a new technique for BD, and I expect this will improve with each new review. 
|
||||
|
||||
|
ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
|
|||
I've been doing the Pop Life category for a few columns now. Basically, it's any non-anime release, like live-action movies and what not. |
||||
|
||||
|
Mohawk52
Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
chili-san
 Posts: 13 |
|
|||
|
I agree with most of the comments.
The [top] links to me signalled the end of a review, but I read later in the day. But different colours and perhaps more space or a line between reviews would also help. And while it's still fun to read, I miss the old labels. |
||||
|
||||
|
grimster
Posts: 1 |
|
|||
|
I just have to voice my opinion as well---I can see what Zac is saying, about getting the review to read as a narrative, but think of what you might say to your friend.
"Hey, was the movie good?" "No, it sucked." "Oh, why's that?" I prefer to know what people think of a book, movie, or anime first before they launch into an explanation behind their opinion, rather than the other way around (probably why rottentomatoes.com is so popular). It saves time for one, since some people are just satisfied with "it sucks" and go on with their day. I also like things to be organized in my mind--this is good, this is okay, this is bad; that's what I liked most about Shelf Life (and the 1950's banners, haha). That's could just me, though--I'd be totally satisfied if there was just a bracket in between each, though, and understand that it's still a work in process. Thanks for the fun reviews! |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group