News

25 July 2004

I've been surprised by the traffic this page has seen, so I figure that I might as well demonstrate that I have made a bit of progress on things. No reviews yet, but maybe posting this up will give an added incentive to start grinding away.

I suppose I should get my reviewing philosophy out in the open, and here's as good a place as any. If you had any doubts, I'm not a professional reviewer; I don't get screener discs, I don't get any payoffs, I don't get nothing. (I especially don't get grammar. Ha.) Furthermore, since I buy the discs I watch, I don't avoid reading other people's reviews—in fact, I deliberately seek them out, in the hope that I can avoid the real stinkers. The number of low grades I give shows will be inversely proportional to how successful I am in avoiding the purchase of shows I don't like.

As a direct result of this, my reviews will be colored by those of others. Major offenders tend to include Anime on DVD and Anime Jump, though I'm liable to read anything and everything.

After months of grueling thought about a scoring system, I came to the realization that I tend to enjoy any specific show for at least one of three reasons: it has characters I love, it has a compelling story, or it's just pure dumb fun. If those are indeed the dimensions that determine my enjoyment of a show, it only makes sense for me to grade shows based on those criteria. I've rarely been put off by poor animation quality (Trigun's animation never bothered me), and I definitely don't have the ears to determine sound quality (I rarely have issue with 128 kbps MP3s), so you won't hear much technical commentary from me. I generally prefer my anime subtitled over dubbed (though I hold nothing against dubs or those who prefer 'em), so you shouldn't hold your breath for my critique of the latest Hilary Haag role. Mike Toole is my hero as far as writing technique is concerned, so you may expect a pale imitation of his style to grace these pages.

I also don't expect to be writing too much for this "News" box (hence its placement lower on the page); for the most part I'll just post reviews at the top, and leave it at that.

As for what shows I tend to like... I don't really have a particular niche that I identify with, though I seem to be a bit biased against older shows. (That bias can be overcome, as demonstrated by the fact that I enjoyed Kimagure Orange Road.) Some of my more-favored shows, off the top of my head (odds are that this list would change if I put more thought into it), include: Rurouni Kenshin, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Magic Users Club, Crest of the Stars, Escaflowne, Cardcaptor Sakura (partially viewed), Excel Saga, Rahxephon, and Full Metal Panic. I've seen my share of mediocre anime (the episodes of Saint Tail that I've watched would fit into this category), but have actively disliked very few shows. Two stinkers (as far as I'm concerned) that immediately come to mind are Sol Bianca: The Legacy, and Garzy's Wing.

And, with this, we'll see if I can actually pull off a review site! (Feel free to goad me into action, if you desire. Especially let me know if the layout's broken in your browser; I only have a select few to test with.)