×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Shelf Life - May 20th, 2019


Goto page Previous  1, 2

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7328
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 6:27 am Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
Also with the change could you also get a new header graphic?? The EVA tableware with the sticky bun has always made me a bit queasy.

That's a filet mignon not a sticky bun. Laughing

LegitPancake wrote:
Alan45 wrote:
So does the new format also replace the "North American Anime, Manga Releases" feature?

I kinda hope not, since this doesn't include light novels, and I prefer them over manga.

Same, I don't read much manga, but I do read a lot of LNs.

CatSword wrote:
This is really cool! Will people still be able to submit pictures of their shelves?

Pretty sure they killed that feature. The last one was on April 1st and they stopped asking for submissions the following week.

Emerje
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Aca Vuksa



Joined: 22 Mar 2018
Posts: 643
Location: Nis, Serbia
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 6:40 am Reply with quote
Nice new format, i am well known verse into these kinds of things. I am glad they add more of things like European Anime, manga and video game releases too.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
BodaciousSpacePirate
Subscriber



Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Posts: 3017
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 6:41 am Reply with quote
Emerje wrote:
Pretty sure they killed that feature. The last one was on April 1st and they stopped asking for submissions the following week.


It was months between when they had last asked for submissions and when they hosted my pictures in January. I think they'll host them if someone sends them in?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9807
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 7:09 am Reply with quote
Emerje wrote:
Quote:
That's a filet mignon not a sticky bun.

I'll take your word for it. That makes is even worse. Shocked

I agree that they should add light novels, but not at the expense of manga (I read a lot of both). Perhaps they could put some separation between categories and let people "skip" to the lists they want, like they did where you could skip to the review. I think that the number of manga titles listed indicates that people are buying and are interested in them.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter
Exempt from Grammar Rules


Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 4595
Location: Gainesville, FL
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 8:34 am Reply with quote
I don’t know… I just think you need to keep some opinions flowing. If not short reviews for everything (the earliest format) or one long review (which I honestly have always found redundant- ANN already has detailed reviews) – how about figuring out how to integrate some sort of “Hot Takes” on all anime releases? Like Merxamers said, basically create some "blurbs" but don't limit it to the positive.

Maybe getting new quotes on each one from ANN staffers who have watched the show? It could just be a sentence or snap judgement:
"Lauren says: Rental, a decent reverse harem with an engaging protagonist but problematic romantic interests"
"Rebecca says: BURN WITH FIRE"
-That would take polling and gathering reactions every week though- so it could be a bigger task than you’re looking for.

Or, instead of “here’s a review”- quote the review -or find an opinion stated in an article. That could take a little more scouring of articles but lets say a staff member commented on a show in the season or year-end write-up, that would be a good place for sourcing quick quotes or notable aspects of the show. I’d avoid preview guide quotes though- not a good way to judge a series overall.
Kim says “I never quite grasped what this series was trying to accomplish [but it] is an entertaining anime” in her review.
Voted “best series of 2017” by Theron

Part of me would kind of like to get quotes taken from forum users in review threads, but I know that’s another big problem, as your guidelines say you don’t quote forum users without their direct permission- which is an ethical decision I respect (although by posting in a forum you own- you probably have a right to use anything written in it.)


Another idea for keeping things interactive.

Poll the readers on the week's releases. Ask if they think it is Shelf-worthy, Stream-worthy (get rid of of RENTAL) or Perishable. And reveal the results the next week.
I'm not sure if the current polling system is set up for something with that much detail. You might just have to limit the question to "Are you putting this on your shelf?" with choices for each release.


Last edited by Spastic Minnow on Tue May 21, 2019 12:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 9:11 am Reply with quote
Merxamers wrote:
Not sure how i feel about the changes. Removing the reviews makes this seem to be just a "list," which basically makes this just an ad. Been reading this column for a long time, so my suggestions are:

1. Keep the reviews in one way or another; if a long one isn't feasible, then a shorter format of a few paragraphs would be fine with me.

2. If reviews aren't feasible, then at least include a short blurb for the new releases beyond "here's a link to a review from 2007." This has actually bugged me for quite a while, so it would be nice to get some personal touches to the "list of new stuff."

3. Keep posting pictures of shelves, when submitted. I always enjoy seeing those, and removing this feature just feels sad.


I agree with all three suggestions. One thing I've always liked about ANN is that some shows might get multiple reviews from different reviewers, so not doing it at all seems like a loss and reduces Shelf Life down to what I could probably accomplish by looking at something like Right Stuf's upcoming releases portion of their store.

I'll agree with what other people have said that the format from before didn't make a lot of sense since streaming long since replaced rental, but since this feature focuses on products that are available for purchase, I still think there is value on chiming in on if something is worth buying.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1168
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 2:37 pm Reply with quote
I know Shelf Obsessed had lots of dry spells more recently from lack of participation, but if it is possible to at least continue to have the option, that would be neat. Although I am part of the problem, having never submitted myself before...

I think it might be good to have jump links at the top of the column to go right to Manga or Games.
Quote:
Another idea for keeping things interactive.

Poll the readers on the week's releases. Ask if they think it is Shelf-worthy, Stream-worthy (get rid of of RENTAL) or Perishable. And reveal the results the next week.
I'm not sure if the current polling system is set up for something with that much detail. You might just have to limit the question to "Are you putting this on your shelf?" with choices for each release.

This is a pretty good idea, for keeping interest up without too much work.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Aki_Leaves



Joined: 05 Sep 2013
Posts: 61
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 6:30 pm Reply with quote
Was super bummed to see no Shelf Life review of Gun Gale Online. Sad

Will parrot the other suggestions here. Maybe have manga separated into a different tab than anime?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Haterater



Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 1727
PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 10:55 pm Reply with quote
I'll miss the reviews. I like would like it if its possible to have them again at least every now and then.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Manga
One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Wed May 22, 2019 3:56 am Reply with quote
I already tended to skip the release list and go straight to the review and since I keep up with company releases thru other various ways it just means I'm less likely to even look at this column.

It would really help being able to skip to the section someone is interested in. Perhaps a reader is not interested in games, or they only stream anime and aren't interested in physical releases, but they are a manga collector so being able to skip around instead of scrolling thru a long list could help.
Spastic Minnow wrote:
...Like Merxamers said, basically create some "blurbs" but don't limit it to the positive.

Maybe getting new quotes on each one from ANN staffers who have watched the show? It could just be a sentence or snap judgement:
"Lauren says: Rental, a decent reverse harem with an engaging protagonist but problematic romantic interests"
"Rebecca says: BURN WITH FIRE"
...

Or, instead of “here’s a review”- quote the review -or find an opinion stated in an article. That could take a little more scouring of articles but lets say a staff member commented on a show in the season or year-end write-up, that would be a good place for sourcing quick quotes or notable aspects of the show.

Another idea for keeping things interactive.

Poll the readers on the week's releases. Ask if they think it is Shelf-worthy, Stream-worthy (get rid of of RENTAL) or Perishable. And reveal the results the next week.
Merxamers and Spastic Minnow's suggestions would probably keep me visiting this column.

Alan45 wrote:
Also with the change could you also get a new header graphic?? The EVA tableware with the sticky bun has always made me a bit queasy.
Yea, an update to the header graphic would be nice, it feels a bit outdated.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
VampireNaomi



Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Posts: 146
PostPosted: Wed May 22, 2019 11:57 am Reply with quote
I like that manga is now included and with covers rather than just as a list of titles. Sometimes a series has a really nice cover somewhere in mid-point and it might get me to impulse buy the first volume even if I dismissed the series as uninteresting upon licencing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4563
PostPosted: Thu May 23, 2019 7:03 pm Reply with quote
Meaning no offense, but without at least some sort of review presence, I don't really see why this column has any reason for existing. The anime and manga listings are essentially the equivalent of RightStuf's new releases page, and shoehorning game listings along with generic publisher blurbs doesn't add any real value. As was already noted, it's always good to see multiple review perspectives provided for a series, and in fact there are any number of shows in the encyclopedia that never received a full review, but at the very least have a link to a Shelf Life blurb that adds a bit of context. Now we don't even have that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
zrdb





PostPosted: Thu May 23, 2019 7:51 pm Reply with quote
I really don't give a shit about manga releases, the only reason I read this column was for the anime reviews. Oh well.
Back to top
al505



Joined: 29 Nov 2003
Posts: 24
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 9:14 am Reply with quote
Nah, not gonna bother with Shelf Life anymore. Everything that was interesting about Shelf Life has been summarily stripped away. Too bad.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4784
PostPosted: Sat May 25, 2019 12:34 am Reply with quote
Spastic Minnow wrote:



Another idea for keeping things interactive.

Poll the readers on the week's releases. Ask if they think it is Shelf-worthy, Stream-worthy (get rid of of RENTAL) or Perishable. And reveal the results the next week.
I'm not sure if the current polling system is set up for something with that much detail. You might just have to limit the question to "Are you putting this on your shelf?" with choices for each release.
I think a weekly poll would be the next best option if they can't do regular reviews for this column anymore.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2
Page 2 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group