Anime review sites

[teigeki_calesa]

You know, Teigeki, despite my demeanor, I actually tend to be very fair and even handed when recommending or critiquing a series. That said, there are definitely Animes I'd consider universally tasteless and bad. Annoy the series' fans? The sort of people pleased by some of these series are not the sort of people I'd want to humor.

Well, if that's the way you do things, have at.

Personally, I have taken the "never review hated series" stand since if there is one thing I hate, it's unnecessary conflict, even over the Internet.

[Joshua Christopher]

A very informative fellow.

It wasn't a dig at him, just to be clear. He's just prone to those "elaborated rants" of bad reviews, if we want to call them such.

As for this whole issue over bad reviews, I'm glad they exist. Why should I be worried that a negative review might make fans mad? The same logic could be applied to positive reviews. Positive reviews of the Fullmetal Alchemist movie make me question the human race.

Besides, if everything reviewed was positive, it'd be pretty hard to gauge what's actually good and what's not, because there are a lot of really mediocre series' I'd rather not watch.

[Fish and Chips]

It wasn't a dig at him, just to be clear. He's just prone to those "elaborated rants" of bad reviews, if we want to call them such.

No, no, we're in the clear. And even though I somewhat enjoyed Conqueror of Shambala, I take it with a grain of salt. The point is moot anyway, as the Manga is much better than the Anime.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Duty to warn anime fans and in turn annoy the said show's fans?

Maybe the fan should learn not to be annoyed by a bad review. A fan of an anime has to be respectful to someone who does not like it, same as a non-fan must be respectful to the fan (Despite how bad they think it is).

[MyrrhLynn]

If I am trying to decide if I should check out a series or now I sometimes go to AnimeNfo.com. They allow user reviews so if you read what everyone said, chances are good that you will find out about most of the objectionable content. They don't go into much detail though, so it's mostly good just for a general guide.

[mitsuki lover]

Though it still comes down to your personal tastes.

[Nate]

Personally, I have taken the "never review hated series" stand since if there is one thing I hate, it's unnecessary conflict, even over the Internet.

I hate to say it, but if you're going to do that, then you have to adopt the "never review loved series" stand too. It has to be fair, so if you can't rant about something, you can't gush about it either. So if you can't review series you hate, and you can't review series you love, then what else is there to review? Mediocre series? But who wants to review those? Plus, as other people said, it's a lot harder to write a review for a mediocre series than a good or bad one.

[Radical Dreamer]

That's why my rule of thumb is to never review anime that I know I hate, because I will only churn out biased opinions and turn off fans. Although I am yet to come accross an anime that I'll hate with a passion.

Well, if you review an anime that you love, chances are it'll be pretty biased, too.

I rarely use reviews to tell me if an anime is "good" or "bad". I try to find reviews that are detailed on the content, so I can see whether I should watch it or not, based on my standards. I'll decide for myself if the anime is worth my time after the first/second disc or first handful of episodes, because in reality, everyone has a different opinion on these things. For instance, Nate's example of the Sailor Moon review. Obviously, the reviewer disliked Sailor Moon, but I loved it. Had I read that review beforehand, I may not have ended up watching it. I think what I'm trying to say here is that whether or not someone hates what they're reviewing is irrelevant to whether or not you should take the time to check it out for yourself.

[teigeki_calesa]

Well, if you review an anime that you love, chances are it'll be pretty biased, too.

I hate to say it, but if you're going to do that, then you have to adopt the "never review loved series" stand too. It has to be fair, so if you can't rant about something, you can't gush about it either. So if you can't review series you hate, and you can't review series you love, then what else is there to review? Mediocre series? But who wants to review those? Plus, as other people said, it's a lot harder to write a review for a mediocre series than a good or bad one.

And that stand goes for the series that I love too, because I know I'll just end up fangirling over it. What I would review then, is the title that I don't care for much]As for this whole issue over bad reviews, I'm glad they exist. Why should I be worried that a negative review might make fans mad? The same logic could be applied to positive reviews. Positive reviews of the Fullmetal Alchemist movie make me question the human race.

Besides, if everything reviewed was positive, it'd be pretty hard to gauge what's actually good and what's not, because there are a lot of really mediocre series' I'd rather not watch.[/QUOTE]
I am not against the presence of negative reviews, just to be clear. What I am saying is, a LOT of negatives turn out to be elaborated rants and not as credible as I first thought, especially when I watch the series in question and turned out to be not as bad. My point here is, I wish that reviewers would avoid turning up elaborated rants and make more credible reviews as much as possible. But I guess that plea will fall on deaf ears since not a lot of people share the same views as me.

And yeah; I think I also encountered one of that guy's reviews. I was really disappointed by his review at Sakura Taisen. Not that I'm a fan of it, but he actually failed to consider(or didn't know of, such as the Takarazuka theater, the show is set in the 1920s hence the crude mech design, and girls aren't supposed to wear Las Vegas-style outfits in that era) a lot of important factors on why the negative stuff that he ranted on are there in the first place.

[Joshua Christopher]

And that stand goes for the series that I love too, because I know I'll just end up fangirling over it. What I would review then, is the title that I don't care for much]

I'm not trying to be a jerk, or anything, but I just really can't follow this logic here. You're saying that you shouldn't review a series if, either, you're a big fan, or you hated it? Only review anime you're indifferent on? I just don't understand that.

The point of a review is to give an opinion of the series, not a summary. If you really like something, give it a gushingly positive review. If you hated it, give it an awful one. I don't see what constitutes your criteria for an "elaborated rant", but I assume you mean if the review is exceedingly negative, or positive. Personally, I'm glad there are reviewers willing to give very negative reviews. I don't want to read every review about how series X was "okay" and "adequate", I wanna know if it was good or a giant pile of crap.

I am not against the presence of negative reviews, just to be clear. What I am saying is, a LOT of negatives turn out to be elaborated rants and not as credible as I first thought, especially when I watch the series in question and turned out to be not as bad. My point here is, I wish that reviewers would avoid turning up elaborated rants and make more credible reviews as much as possible. But I guess that plea will fall on deaf ears since not a lot of people share the same views as me.

Again, I'm not intending this to be rude or anything, but it seems like the classic case of "I liked an anime, and I read a bad review of it and it made me angry." It happens. The point is, read a lot of reviews. Don't just rely on one. I mean, heck, I could find a positive review of basically any anime, or a negative review of one. The rule is, if you see the majority of them being negative, it's probably bad.

So yes, it will probably fall on deaf ears because it's a bit of an odd thing to wish for. if that's the case, then, just don't read any reviews.

And yeah; I think I also encountered one of that guy's reviews. I was really disappointed by his review at Sakura Taisen. Not that I'm a fan of it, but he actually failed to consider(or didn't know of, such as the Takarazuka theater, the show is set in the 1920s hence the crude mech design, and girls aren't supposed to wear Las Vegas-style outfits in that era) a lot of important factors on why the negative stuff that he ranted on are there in the first place.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/sakura-wars/dvd-4

Is that the one? Seems perfectly fine to me. He did what he was supposed to do; give his opinion. And he obviously didn't like it. Now, I've spent some time on ANN and its forums, and I say this not as a dig at the guy, but he's not alway very "professional" when it comes to dealing with people on the forums. He tends to catch a lot of heat for his reviews, which quite often can be very negative.

While I may disagree with him often, I always like reading his reviews, because he's got the guts to let me know if HE thought they're either good, or awful. Point is, I don't simply rely on the reviews of one person. If you don't want to read any negative reviews, or whatever, don't read any at all. I just see it as a bit odd to wish everyone to give boring, middle-of-the-road reviews where everything gets a B.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Like you said a lot of bad reviews are elaborated rants (And it's somewhat justifiable because it is their opinion). Isn't it equally valid to say that a good review is an over-glorification of said title?

[mitsuki lover]

That is the problem with reviews.You have to be objective.You can't simply diss or
praise a title.You have to look at it from all sides,not just acting or story but also from technical,musical,and in short all possible points of view.A really objective review will take all of these things in consideration.You can't simply write something like:'I watched episodes 1-10 of Pokemon yesterday and I found that
it sucked big time.'
To write a proper review you have to be willing to suspend your subjectivity and
write down reasons why you liked or hated a title.

[Nate]

I agree with mitsuki; a bad review would be if I said nothing more than "Boy, Sakura Taisen sucks. That show totally sucked. I mean, I'd rather eat vomit than watch that show, it's so horrible, I can't stand it, it sucked." That can definitely get irritating, and if that's how a review you read was written, then yeah, that was a bad review.

But in the example of the Sakura Taisen review, I thought it was a well-written review. He didn't just sit there and say "it sucked," he gave valid reasons why he thought it was a very bad show. You may disagree with those reasons (and you do, obviously), but hey, it's his review, not yours.

I think Azumanga Daoih sucked because it wasn't funny. If I wrote a review I'd say that it wasn't funny. If someone else who liked it wrote the review, they'd probably say it was very funny. Neither of us is right, neither of us is wrong, it's our opinion.

[teigeki_calesa]

^Well, if that's the way you people would view it, I'll leave it at that. I'm not trying to change anyone's opinion here,as some might think. That's downright stupid.

And no, Joshua Christopher, you're not being rude. I like honest answers.(although I have to disagree on "I found a bad review on the show that I really liked and I was angry". Like I said, I'm not a big fan of Sakura Taisen. It has some flaws too that I didn't like if you ask me. I'm just bothered that some of the rants weren't reasonable IMHO.) And that goes for everyone else who answered to my post. Thank you for your honesty and your indulgence of bothering with my admittedly petty little peeve.

At the end of the day, every review is just an opinion that should be taken with a grain of salt. But that still doesn't change the fact that I still don't trust reviews, because like what we are all say here, it's all opinion. If I want to find out about an anime, I won't waste time on other people's opinion. I'll just watch it then and there. If I don't like it, it's just me.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

At the end of the day, every review is just an opinion that should be taken with a grain of salt.

That is one statement of yours I highly disagree with.

Take a look at the reviews for the movie Happily Never After. It pretty much bombed, and got horrible ratings from a multitude of reviewers. Am I going to take it with a grain of salt, and go "Oh it can't be THAT bad..." Yes it probably is bad, so I'm not going to bother with a movie that was hated by nearly every single reviewer.

Likewise, take Pan's Labyrinth. It got a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. My verdict: I love the film to death when I saw it in theaters.

You see, I really hate wasting my time and money for films that are plain and stupid. That's the reason why I actually take account of what movie reviews say over the recommendations of my peers, as many of my peers tend to enjoy crappy movies. Today in school, people were raving about Smokin' Aces, and I was thinking "Ew what the heck?"

But that still doesn't change the fact that I still don't trust reviews, because like what we are all say here, it's all opinion.

But like we said, all reviews -should- incorporate objective material as well. For example, my Monster anime review highlights the genre: Psychological Thriller. That is an objective and true statement. I said that fans of Psychological Thriller and/or crime would probably highly enjoy it. Now for an anime like Futakoi (which I really hate) I will say I disliked the series for a number of reasons. It has no major plot, the characters don't have much development, and the girls are one-dimensional and overly-cute. These are more-or-less objective observations of the series, and I don't think most people can deny these claims.

And on another note, if you read a positive review of something you liked, wouldn't you agree with it? Likewise let's say you read a negative review of something you like. Obviously you would disagree with it, but I don't find it logical to dismiss the reviewer's credibility. Like I said earlier, if you say a bad review can be a giant rant, couldn't a good review be a giant over-glorification?

[teigeki_calesa]

*shrugs*

Well, I don't know. We all have our own minds here. Personally, I don't like saying "oh, this and that show is stupid", because I feel that that would just be plain arrogance on my part. I do however, know the difference between arrogance and standing for your own intelligence.

Besides, BTW, I think I am guilty of being a bratty little sourpuss here. Maybe because my choice of anime happens to have the "shonen tournament" and "monster of the week" formula, things that aren't exactly popular with the critics up there.

And on another note, if you read a positive review of something you liked, wouldn't you agree with it? Likewise let's say you read a negative review of something you like. Obviously you would disagree with it, but I don't find it logical to dismiss the reviewer's credibility. Like I said earlier, if you say a bad review can be a giant rant, couldn't a good review be a giant over-glorification?

If the reviewer had reasonably enumerated the weak points and everything else, naturally I will consider. And yes, good reviews CAN be a giant overglorification if the weak points are understated or totally ignored.

But as an afterthought, maybe it's also culture that makes up an important factor in how a reviewer sees the show. How an American may view one show may be totally different on how a Filipino like myself views it. So what may be totally bashed there in the US may be graciously accepted here in the Philippines. What do you think?

[MasterDias]

It's usually a good idea to do what MSP said a look at the overall ratings of multiple reviewers instead of concentrating on just one. There will always be people who don't like a certain series, or who love an unpopular series.

But on that note, I really don't think people who strongly dislike a particular genre should really be in a habit of reviewing that genre in the first place.

Besides, BTW, I think I am guilty of being a bratty little sourpuss here. Maybe because my choice of anime happens to have the "shonen tournament" and "monster of the week" formula, things that aren't exactly popular with the critics up there.

Any particular shows you had in mind when you said this?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Quite. I am unfamiliar with the "shonen tournament" or "monster of the week" formulas you mentioned.

[Mithrandir]

Well, I felt I have the need to bring my opinion on the matter up and I don't want to make repetitive threads.

That's a good answer. It seems to have struck up an interesting conversation, too.


On a generic mod note (not to any one in particular) - please continue to play nice, everyone.

[teigeki_calesa]

Mithrandir> Thanks. And to all the mods, feel free to give me a ring whenever you think I'm already doing something wrong.

MasterDias and Mr.SmartyPants>Shonen tournament, as in the likes of Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh and Beyblade; and monster-of-the week like the ever popular Sailor Moon and the 90's kids-n-mecha anime Raijin-oh(see the CAA reviews section; that was my review BTW).