Looking for review tips

I'm pretty much a rookie when it comes to doing any reviews on anime. I seem to make the same type of reviews when it's either good or bad. With a good one, I go into the synopsis for a bit. A bad one, I ssem to rush it and it just doesn't seem to really be objective. I "sugar coat" the good ones and praise them while I just give quick one-liners and be done with it. I need some tips on how you guys review anime. I'd like to know what you look for and what you do if you end up with a blank mind. I'd like to have some ideas so I can redo my reviews and possibly become more involved in reviewing.

Well for me, it's
1) Why did you like it?
2) Why did you hate it?
3) Are there any moments that stand out special.

Astro-boy has some very good suggestions.



My suggestions to the novice would be as follows (based on my experience).



1) Write your review in MS-Word or some other word processing program (spell check!!).
2) After you write it, take a ten-minute break and then reread what you wrote (does it make any sense?)
3) If you like a series, then tell us about it and why you enjoyed it.
4) When offering negative criticism, try to say something nice (even if it is sarcastic!!).

5) Try to remember the four-tiered review system.
a) Avoid > I really wasted my time
b) Watch > I might have enjoyed it, but probably will never watch it again.
c) Rent > I enjoyed it, it is not a waste of time and I might watch it again.
d) Buy > I really enjoyed it and will probably want to watch it again.

6) There is no such thing as a bad review - which is why MIKOMI.ORG is unique. While your comments might not apply to everyone, a number of different reviews can collectively give the reader a deeper understanding about a series.
7) And yes, you can rate a series as being RENT+ or BUY-, depending on how you feel.

And let me warn you that some of your reviews might get a bit strange. I have found myself really liking and talking-up a series, but then only give it a WATCH rating (but, oh well!!).

And a final suggestion would be to really try not to use the AVOID rating. I prefer to flame a series and then give it a watch rating. (pls see geneshaft for a JAN-CHAN flamed series.) I have only used AVOID twice... but dern... those series were really BADDDDDDD!!!

The thought has occured to me that maybe I ought to give some of my older reviews a review of their own (and maybe rewrite them), because I used to try to crank out as many as possible even if I didn't have anything particularly original to say. Nowadays I'm more discriminating, and if I have a "blank mind" I just don't write one--I think I've watched "Phantom Quest Corps" twice, but neither time did anything worth mentioning (good or bad) come to mind. It's the average shows which are the hardest to review, since you have neither heartfelt praise nor major complaints to work with! I guess reading other people's reviews is where I learned the most about writing my own. Experience is always good--the more shows I watch, the easier it is to draw comparisons and estimate how good a new one is. I guess I'd say the trick to writing a good review would be to explain why you feel the way you do--as long as you provide a reasonable argument, who can blame you for your opinion?

I have something like a checklist for writing a review, in the form of the six ratings for Art, Animation, Characters, Music, Series Story and Episode story. They remind me to write something about

- how I liked the visual appearance of characters and landscpaes (Art),

- how I liked the movement of walking persons, face changes, flying things (Animation),

- whether I considered the characters interesting, likeable, deep/onedimensional and acting/developing in a plausible way (Characters),

- whether I found the story interesting (for my brain) resp touching (for my heart), thought-provoking, without significant hole plots (Series Story) and

- whether I found watching an episode interesting/boring/thrilling, whether the episode used good cliffhangers and whether I enjoyed watching the show in general (Episode story).

Once I have covered these points as good as possible, I focus on the aspects I considered most important for the specific anime and try to give examples, positive as well as negative. That's what every anime has "earned" for a review.

When I really like an anime, I go more into detail about individual characters and their relations, I try to cite specific scenes that were significant for story progress or character development (without spoiling the outcome of course).

And I have a strong tendency to compare animes to each other, providing links to other animes in the progress - my reviews tend to weave a net amongst each other.

My reviews tend to go on how the anime I'm reviewing drove my passions, whether good or ill. When I reviewed Planetes, I wrote a ton (maybe more than I should have) because I really liked this anime. Sometimes a series I really dislike will get a rant, but I'll go into the exact things that got me irritated.

The series that I find hardest to reviews are the ones that aren't great or aren't bad, but just "are." Without passion, I find it more difficult to say things good or ill about the series.

As for the final rating, I use the following:

Buy -- This breaks down into two areas for me. 1) It is a series I absolutely want to rewatch and as such either own it, plan to own it, or would like to own it. 2) It is a series that is very powerful and good even if there is no way I could ever watch it again. Grave of the Fireflies is such a title.

Rent -- I do like the anime title, but I didn't like it enough to spend money on the series because I don't think I'll ever rewatch it. Usually, this is because of flaws in the title.

Watch -- This means that the title has at least a little value in my eyes, but not a lot. I'll never rewatch the series.

Avoid -- I don't do many "avoids" but if I do, it is because I found it so objectionable on many levels.

That's just my 2-cents added to what everyone else has to say.

I remember when I first started submitting reviews here at Mikomi, there seemed to be far more contributors than there are today. Many reviews were little more than a sentance or two, saying "this rocks" or "this sucks" (with half the words misspelled). As I look at the "What's New" list from Aug.3 to present, the bulk of the new stuff comes from the five of us who have replied to KBanger1's question. "Kai", "Anonymous ###", "LopLop", "Sluggysan", "ron", and Rebecca each appear once (sometimes just to tweek their personal information) plus KBanger1, of course. I wonder if beginners to anime criticism are being intimidated by the "Big Five", and feel this website is out of their league and they shouldn't get involved... How does Rebecca feel about this?

There are enough other review sites with a lot more reviewers, and reviews on aniDB tend to be longer and more detailed than ours, for example (and their "rate review" feature can be a lot more "intimidating"). I guess we're just a small community of people who stay more than a couple of weeks in the same project and happen to like it here. ;-)

I had a feeling that the "top guns" were gonna put their 10 cents. I really do appreciate it, though. I guess the intimidation part between all of you is more to the line of trying to be a lot more verbose in my reviews. I do read most of your reviews on the anime I have and the ones I'm curious about. Quite frankly, this place I found through animetric.com via astronerdboy's link in the webmaster's guestbook. Now, since I now have the tips I need to work on, I would like to ask one more thing. What is your top 5 anime with some little detail (or a lot). If I can at least see what you put up and why, then I'll probably have more than enough to do a lot more reviewing. Beyond that, thanks for the info. I really do appreciate you guys taking the time to chime in!

i don't have time to link them but

Kiki's Delivery Service
Maburaho
Hand Maid May
Magikano
FLCL

That's the kind of information that I believe the profile page of each reviewer would be the best place to put it to. (By the way, Majo no Takkyuubin would be on my Top 5 list as well.)

After giving the topic some thought, here are some favorites of mine(subject to change). I could only narrow it down to six, and I'll probably think of a favorite which I forgot tommorrow:

1. PaniPoni Dash!--a crazy show chock-full of anime in-jokes, with different forms of comedy on multiple levels; it has been described as "Azumanga Daioh meets Excel Saga". Currently my all-time favorite anime without doubt.

2. Orguss 02--my favorite mecha show, with neat characters, plentiful action, an intriguing, mysterious plot, and a pleasing conclusion.

3. Mahou Tsukai Tai!--a brilliant, virtually flawless OVA series, with well balanced comedy, mystery, and best of all, originality. The TV series sequel isn't nearly as good, though.

4. City Hunter and it's recent reincarnation, Angel Heart--the chemistry between main characters Ryo and Kaori in the original is frequently hilarious, while Angel Heart takes the action element more seriously and delivers a well-rounded action/adventure series.

5. Sexy Commando Gaiden Sugoiyo!! Masaru-san--this show is crazy! Seldom does any series make me laugh as hard as this one does. Of course, it's always possible that i'm crazy too...

6. Mahoromatic and it's sequel Mahoromatic: Motto Utsukushii Mono--Likeable characters, a strange but believable plot (with a clever twist at the end) and fanservice too! I've rewatched it several times.

Some shows which didn't quite make the cut: Tenchi Muyo, Ninja Scroll, Azumanga Daioh, Honey and Clover, Kodomo no Omocha, Steel Angel Kurumi, G-on Riders, Tetsuwan Birdy, and Macross Plus.