At some point, it seem likes most anime reviewers begin to lose passion for their work, provided they had any in the first place. Though we may say something along the lines of, “Why do it in the first place if you no longer like it,” they say that one of the reasons they lose that passion is because they are constantly forced to wade through shows they dislike. They cannot choose the anime they review, and so with every disappointing show they become more and more bitter towards anime. That ocean that once seemed so wide turns out to be polluted.
At least, that’s what I think might be happening.
Aside from a few exceptions, I haven’t really tried to talk about anime on here that don’t really interest me. I mean, it’s difficult to talk about things you find boring, right? And anime reviewers have to do it, be it hell or high school romantic comedy.
In that case, what if I did start reviewing things outside of my interests?
I don’t know if I’ll actually do this. While I have a strong love of anime and manga, to put it to the test like this may be asking too much of me. If I go in, I may come out a different person. I’d like to think there’s interesting lessons to be learned in any anime, good, bad, or decidedly mediocre, but how many will it take before I break, if I do at all?
Most likely, if I do decide to begin this self-experiment, I won’t say specifically which reviews are part of it. That would be up to the readers to determine.
OGIUE MANIAX 
I agree 100%. The way Xam’d came about made it perfect for me to keep reviewing it, so I hope something comes together for you that tickles you the right way to make reviewing a show that much more rewarding.
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I think that most anime reviewers look down on a lot of titles, similar to what movie critics do for most comedies. Can’t anime simply be enjoyable? So what if it’s the same high school romantic comedy format we’ve all seen a bazillion times!
Just like every movie doesn’t have to be as good as Titanic to still be good, anime doesn’t have to be as good as, say, Cowboy Bebop to be worth watching. If that’s how some of you feel, then I’d recommend that you find a new hobby or continue to watch the same old thing over and over again.
I’ll say it, I love romantic-comedies. Sure, a lot of them are cesspools of fan-service, aliens, harems, magicians, mythical creatures, shinigami, angels, demons, maids, guns, robots, and all that jazz. But that doesn’t take away the enjoyment I get when I watch them.
The reason I like rom-coms so much is because they don’t take themselves seriously like a lot of “good anime” do. Sure, it may have a compelling plot, an interesting character, and/or an amazing plot twist, but “serious anime” like Gundam is so full of itself and there’s too much crap to remember.
I like an anime that has a smaller roster of characters that are easily distinguishable and have names that I may recognize them by instead of just “the guy with the spiky blonde hair” or “the chick with the short blue hair”.
Love Hina is an excellent example. Where it “lacks” in plot, it makes up for it with character development. You know who Narusegawa, Keitaro, Su, Mutsumi, Shinobu, Kitsune, Motoko (my favorite!), and Kanako are. Sure, there’s a lot of comic violence as Keitaro is punched to the moon and back and enough panty shots to make even a gay man blush. However, the characters are well fleshed-out and they seem like they could leap out of your manga or computer screen at any moment.
I’m sure that a lot of you didn’t like what I said, but I’m just putting in my two cents for what they’re worth. Just loosen up, guys!
TheAndySan
http://www.theandysan.com
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People often call me jaded, but believe you me I’ve seen jaded and I’m not it. I’m just very vocal about what I like and dislike. Still, I’m terrified of the notion of someday becoming jaded.
I think you’re 50% right on why this fate befalls so many reviewers. But I don’t think wading through shows they dislike is what makes them break. After all, it’s easy to write reviews of things which you either like a lot or hate a lot. What kills them dead inside is trying to find the words to talk about something they don’t have any strong feelings for one way or the other. You said it yourself: it’s difficult to talk about things you find boring, yet anime reviewers HAVE to do it. Doing this once or twice every so often isn’t the end of the world. But doing it on a regular basis will grind your resolve down.
In my case, I avoid falling into this trap by refusing to write about things I know I’m not going to care about and requesting to write about things I like. I like to think that Otaku USA and AWO are for the better as a result. Were I to start doing otherwise, it’d be just a matter of time before my hobby started to feel like my job. There is no way I’d be able to prevent burning out if I had to review every single anime DVD that got released in the US. Lucky for me, there’s so much out there that I don’t think I’ll ever run out of stuff to cover from the “awesome” pile.
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I totally agree, Daryl.
It’s like me doing a review on Eureka 7; I haven’t watched too much of it because it’s hard for me to get into a mecha anime, so why would I review it? Let the mech-head deal with it!
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Such a shame you say that about Eureka Seven, because Eureka Seven’s main focus is on the growing relationship between a boy and a girl, i.e. romance.
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I am wondering why you are thinking about writing such reviews. Is that because you feel you are beginning to loose some of the interest in anime, and this experiment in reviews will prove that you love is still so strong that you can even dedicate time to the shows you don’t like?
I think it is an interesting experiment, but in the end it is all about your priorities. If you are an organized person (I think you are), you have a finite amount of time dedicated to your hobbies. How to use that time? What goals are you trying to achieve? These are some of the questions you have to ask yourself and answer honestly.
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I have plenty of interest in anime still, with lots of shows to look forward to watching from the past, present, and future of anime.
The reason this came up was that while reading many, many poor anime reviews, clearly from people whose flame for anime had died long ago, I found it easy to point fingers, but then heard a specter saying, “IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANY OF US. MAYBE EVEN YOOOUUUUU!”
I wondered whether or not my otakudom could survive a direct assault, the kind that the “professionals” have to deal with it. Maybe it would turn me bitter and angry. Or maybe it would instead expose me to facets of anime I hadn’t thought about.
The real trouble is actually finding anime I’d have zero interest in watching. Even a show like Koi Koi 7 would provoke a reaction out of me.
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sdshamshel: I tried watching a couple episodes of Eureka Seven, but for some reason, I just couldn’t get into it.
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I thought about this recently. I kinda doubt that I will burn out because I review and rant on my own terms. I never HAD to review something unlike you guys. I can’t say I relate to you, Daryl or Andy San. The thought of that happening is the same though. It wont happen for a long time though. I’m still a greenhorn at it.
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@sdshamshel: I gave the whole “main focus is on the growing relationship between a boy and a girl, i.e. romance.” reason for non mech fans to get into it. Some people don’t like that either.
I think it’s also an allegory for the stages of a relationship but that’s a hunch. I wish I had that hunch sooner.
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