I started writing an anime blog not very long ago. I’ve been trying to figure out how to do reviews. So far I’ve just been giving my opinion. Isn’t that what a review is? An opinion about something?

If you like a crappy show, then you like a crappy show. Nothing you can do about that. There have been tons of crappy anime I’ve loved. There have been some great anime that I just can’t stand. Given the choice of which one to review, I’d choose to review the ones I love.

I think the only time I’d write a truly negative review would be when I was extremely disappointed. Either because the anime was completely different from a manga I love, or because it was passed off as something it wasn’t.

I don’t have to deal with review copies yet. If I do this long enough that I start getting freebies I’m pretty sure how I’d handle it. The same way I do now. Pick something I like and give my opinion on it, or pick something that’s getting a lot of attention and give my opinion on it.

Right now I can’t afford to waste money on anime I know I wouldn’t like.

Treat him as if you were swatting a fly. Because there’s better things out there than wasting your time on an idiot.

Expectations can really make a big difference, too. People can easily ruin a show for others by praising it too much whereas a slating review can adjust your expectations so that you’ll actually be able to enjoy it. Also watching DVDs isn’t the same as watching a show weekly and discussing it each time with others. A lot of shows would be rather boring without the latter. For example, I’d never recommend Suzuka albeit I rather enjoyed it but that’s just due to making fun of it on a weekly basis over at Seaslugs! So it wouldn’t be the same watching it alone or marathoning it. When it comes to more serious shows, it’s also a difference if you sleep about it. It’s certainly not the same if you watch a show to write a review about it either. In other words, the modus of viewing matters.

I usually find it pretty difficult to express what exactly I like about a show anyway. I find it much easier to point out what I dislike, so if I wrote reviews they’d probably be slatings ending with “Nonetheless, it’s one of my favourite shows.”

Last but not least, it’s anything but fair to rant about you without letting you know. He certainly had a point questioning your objectivity and from the few reviews I read, they really seemed a bit too positive but they didn’t feel dishonest.

However, writing “I don’t trust him, I don’t believe him anymore” is really dramatizing. If people have such a big problem with your reviews that they have to diss you in public, they can as well tell you so themselves. Some of the comments were meaner than the blog article itself though.

One specific side note to add is how reviewing on a DVD boundary is meaningless in context of anime series. Steven likes how Mr. Beveridge does it, but I am getting an impression that he only likes to look at the set of letter grades.

I have to agree with FubaredByAnime , that guy had absolutely no place to slant you and his post came across as incredibly condescending. I’m all for opinion but indirect slander tends to irk the crap out of me.

Fact is everyone should be able to present their own two cents , disregard or use them when making a decision about a purchase , etc. But no has the place to decrease the worth of someone else’s opinion especially not in such an underhanded way and more so since you don’t owe him a damned thing.

I’ve always been wary of the guy who stirs up “answers” to the questions nobody asked or defending him or herself when there were no accusations made.

And I’m sorry but no , purchasing all your own review material does not lend to your credibility there is such a thing as blind corporate loyalty. (Ask any Wii owner that isn’t me.)

So don’t let some jerk make you “question” your method especially one that didn’t have the discuss with you personally. Clearly you have people who swing by who care enough about what you think and thats all that freaking matters.

~neob

Besides, someone telling you what your opinion is seems rather ridiculous. It’s one thing to agree to disagree, but if you like something different (and low expectations DO make a difference), you shouldn’t be afraid to say so.

Anyway I don’t get free stuff for my own reviews i e figures, but I do get some perks like discounts. I don’t know about your side, but the guys who I deal with always emphasise honesty, because to them, if the reviewer is perceived by the readers as having a slant because of his freebies, his review is basically useless when it comes to publicity.

But then again, if you think 009-1 is ok, then it is ok.