Do you read anime reviews?

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by npcomplete

I bring this up because while they will naturally argue for their position, the purpose of a review (at least a "professional" review) is to provide a service to the reader. Yes, having a reviewer you judge as one that you personally can trust is good, but having a site as a "trusted" place for reviews in general would then demand a balance of reviewers if you cannot get someone who is even-handed.

While I won't disagree with the sentiment, I think the important question is figuring out exactly how you go about doing this.

Originally Posted by npcomplete

I kind of like that idea though. There are some people who are actually interested in everything, meaning that they don't automatically have an aversion to certain things, and could see the good and bad in what they review. Such a review from a single person can even provide useful recommendations to literally everyone if they can shape their review to be propositional so that the outcome or recommendation to the reader is predicated on multiple conditions--taste, attitude, sensibility compatibility--that applies to the reader.

But reviewers can do this anyway without it taking up the entire review. Arguably a good review serves multiple purposes. There's nothing to say that a review can't spend a certain amount of time presenting, unambiguously, the reviewer's take on a given title and then focus on trying to pinpoint who, among their readers, it would appeal to. I think the only place where we seem to disagree is how much energy should be allocated to one or the other.

[Tiran86]

Yes, sometimes. I used to like the site Animeacademy.com and often read the reviews on there. Sometimes when looking up an anime on myanimelist I'll read the reviews for it.

[Zu Ra]

When I am picking up Old Anime I do make it a point to read summary and reviews . There are few anime reviews which correspond to my tastes . One of those sites is Anime Academy . There Top Rated List is suited to my liking , leaving a few I agree with every anime up there .


http://www.animeacademy.com/libgrade90.php

[Badkarma 1]

I used to read reviews just to get an idea of the plot to see if it might interest me. I subscribed to Animerica which did a good job of reviewing anime IMO,then Newtype USA which was out to sell everything they reviewed. Both magazines are now gone and I found ANN.... To say these guys are overly judgemental is an understatement!
Now I either read the back of the DVD cover for the storyline or log onto Animesuki and read what the buzz is from my fellow otaku!

[HayashiTakara]

Nope, hell I don't read reviews on any entertainment media. Because 1 strangers opinion means diddly squat to me.

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

Nope, hell I don't read reviews on any entertainment media. Because 1 strangers opinion means diddly squat to me.

What if it was a friend?

[WanderingKnight]

Nope, hell I don't read reviews on any entertainment media. Because 1 strangers opinion means diddly squat to me.

Sometimes people just know things that you don't.

[Flame-X]

MAHQ is the only site I trust for reviews but it's only a sci-fi and mecha anime orientated.

I'm not too fond of ANN's review because rather than going over the entire series, it's just individual volumes of dvds or first boxset most of the time.

[DragoonKain3]

Well, considering that I sample every fansubbed anime with a 3 episode grace period (barring obvious yuri/yaoi ones which only get 1), I really have no need for anime reviews. Considering, you know, I can make a good judgement call by then whether or not the show is worth watching still.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Well, considering that I sample every fansubbed anime with a 3 episode grace period (barring obvious yuri/yaoi ones which only get 1), I really have no need for anime reviews. Considering, you know, I can make a good judgement call by then whether or not the show is worth watching still.

The "watch em all for 3 eps" is my usual pattern... though I'll also deselect automatically ones that clearly hit my dislike buttons. Sometimes, I'll be lured in if they step outside of their tropes or subvert the archetypes.

And there are certain blogs I'll read because those people have led me to enjoyable series in the past as well as certain posters here at AS.

[felix]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Well, considering that I sample every fansubbed anime with a 3 episode grace period (barring obvious yuri/yaoi ones which only get 1), I really have no need for anime reviews. Considering, you know, I can make a good judgement call by then whether or not the show is worth watching still.

I tend to figure out from first episode if I'll like it or not; at episode two its repent or die most of the time, though I do give a lot more tries to pick the "stay alive" stick for shows that sound interesting.

[Socke]

Originally Posted by Flame-X

MAHQ is the only site I trust for reviews but it's only a sci-fi and mecha anime orientated.

I don't think so. They give every episodes of Gundam Wing 2.5 ratings. Anti-bishounen bias perhaps?

[Theowne]

"To me it’s like the Pitchfork Media writers who are too cool to like music; ANN doesn’t want to seem too much like it enjoys anime. Because, you know, fanboys are gross and subject to pandering."

You know, judging by comments here, that ANN review is probably exaggerated - but since when does disliking otaku tropes determine how much of an anime fan you are? ANN can be biased against otaku tropes while being anime fans. I don't know if those commenters realize this, but there's actually a lot of anime out there, and it's actually possible to prefer anime other than the particular genres/demographics that they like. Shock .

[0utf0xZer0]

Yes, and it's also possible to dislike otaku tropes without grandstanding about how much you dislike them.

The "pitchfork media" comment has about as much hyperbole in it as some of the ANN reviews I've read of series I've watched do. Somehow, a short scene of two 13 year old girls in swimsuits splashing water on each other turns into a full paragraph rant about "shady wank material". In a two paragraph mini-review. I can't make this shit up. Needless to say there's very little talk about the other merits and problems in the show.

Don't get even get me started on the loaded language. ANN is the only place where I can remember hearing a character's eyes described as expressing "bovine passivity".

Basically, many of their reviews read exactly like what you get when someone is being a troll, and in general they're not offering me enough to put up with that kind of thing.

[Vexx]

Aye... my take on ANN is that it is a dressed up troll site with the express goal of maximizing ad-hits via outrage.... in other words, a tabloid rather than "news". I tend to point people away from it other than as a "last resort" site.
The sites used by AS in the torrent database are usually better... for that matter, just googling on the series often gets you more varied and useful opinions on any series.

[Ichihara Asako]

Originally Posted by Vexx

The "watch em all for 3 eps" is my usual pattern... though I'll also deselect automatically ones that clearly hit my dislike buttons.

Pretty much how I do it. I read announcements, say "hey, that sounds worth checking out" and put it on my todo list.

I don't read reviews. I don't like reviews. Which is hypocritical since I blogreview every series I finish... but I don't care about others' opinions, and I just voice mine for my own reference. Sometimes friends read them which is nice but not why I do it.

Never read reviews of any media, anime is no exception. I can form my own opinions based on a synopsis of the show, generally.

[DragoZERO]

The best are when the "critics" say something bad about a movie but everyone else says its great and the movie does great in the box office and vice versa.

Of course, there are exceptions like Avatar for example.

[Armored Knight]

It may sound funny, but I usually read anime reviews after watching the anime. I like to read and listen to other people's opinions and I respect them. Reviews are also useful to support my opinion or to convince me of things that I was not really aware of.

I don't prefer reading reviews before watching the anime. I like to watch the anime without knowing anything about it to maximize the fun and to discover things based on my own thoughts to build a personal first impression. I think it is just my spoiler-phobic nature.

And as for recommendations, my friends watch anime and know what I like and I also trust their recommendations. If they tell me to watch a certain anime, I will watch it without asking too many questions.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Armored Knight

It may sound funny, but I usually read anime reviews after watching the anime. I like to read and listen to other people's opinions and I respect them. Reviews are also useful to support my opinion or to convince me of things that I was not really aware of.

I don't prefer reading reviews before watching the anime. I like to watch the anime without knowing anything about it to maximize the fun and to discover things based on my own thoughts to build a personal first impression. I think it is just my spoiler-phobic nature.

This is why I think it's super important that reviews remain spoiler-free or, at the very least, signpost when they're about the spoil something. Yes, it limits the scope of the analysis, but there are other other places for analyzing the details of a plot, and reviews serve people better when they're written as recommendations first, and analyses second.

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

The best are when the "critics" say something bad about a movie but everyone else says its great and the movie does great in the box office and vice versa.

Of course, there are exceptions like Avatar for example.

Never mind the first case, but you said "vice versa", which I'm assuming refers to occasions where critically acclaimed movies fail at the box office. Don't you think this is a bit sad, though? When potentially great movies get ignored en masse. I'm totally generalizing here, but these types of movies tend to be more challenging and/or difficult to watch than the usual blockbuster and only draw audiences that are specifically in the mood for it. Arguably, most mainstream movie goers aren't often looking specifically for something thought-provoking.

Maybe this is the most important job of the critic... to speak for the titles that don't get the attention they deserve.

[Armored Knight]

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

This is why I think it's super important that reviews remain spoiler-free or, at the very least, signpost when they're about the spoil something. Yes, it limits the scope of the analysis, but there are other other places for analyzing the details of a plot, and reviews serve people better when they're written as recommendations first, and analyses second.

Even though some of them are spoiler-free, it is possible to predict the events based on some points of the review. Yes, all of us watch anime and can predict some events based on knowing some little hints even if they are considered spoilers. I like to watch anime without knowing literally 'anything'. That's way I have the attitude and style mentioned in my previous post of reading reviews.

I think it depends on the writer's ability to deliver useful information without any signs of spoilers and/or hints. And to be honest, many writers lack this ability.