Tag Archives: review systems

When the Visitor is the Tour Guide: Reviewing Unfamiliar Genres

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I spent last weekend watching some awesomely bad anime with friends. One title that stood out though, that is the very opposite of bad, was the OVA Baoh, based on the work of Araki Hirohiko, creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. This was not my first time watching Baoh, as it was actually one of the seminal titles that made me into an anime fan when my brother brought it home years ago, but it’d been well over a decade since I last laid eyes on the blue man who shoots needle lasers from his hair, and I was eager to revisit. It was an uproarious time, and it sports one of the best dubs ever. Listen to the Anime World Order review of it to give yourself a better idea of the glory of Baoh.

Just for fun, I decided to look on Anime News Network for a review of Baoh, and what I found was a terribly misguided summary of the OVA, with choice quotes such as this:

Making matters even worse is the show’s ludicrous habit of freezing the action mid-battle to display the names of BAOH‘s attacks. Do we really need to know that BAOH has just performed the “Reskini Harden Saber Phenomenon”? Is there a quiz after the show?

Now, I can obviously forgive this review as it comes from a less enlightened era of anime fandom (2003) and most likely the original writer has improved and matured since then, but it does bring up a recurring problem in the realm of anime discussion: Those who know little about a show’s content or genre discussing the work from a position of authority.

Anyone who’s watched action-based anime knows that the Special Move Name Displayed at the Bottom of the Screen is a common theme in such shows, and is often used for dramatic effect in ways similar to the combination sequence for giant robot anime. This is why the above quote is so off-putting; it shows a lack of knowledge of the type of show Baoh is trying to be, even if it doesn’t pull it off perfectly. I feel that it’s like criticizing a Power Rangers show for using spandex and rubber suits, or a harem anime for featuring lots of attractive girls. It’s a problem which still plagues ANN from time to time, though I understand that when you review professionally, you can’t always pick what you want to review.

I’m not saying that people should not discuss or review anime of genres and tropes to which they’re unfamiliar or for which they have a strong dislike, but that to do so while assuming a position of authority just makes a person look uninformed and trying to toot his or her own horn, rather than actually look at the work.

In summary, if you’re going to give a negative review of Twilight, you can complain about how you think the writing is awful. You can complain about characterization. You can complain about the portrayal of vampires in the story, or even lament the popularity of the suave, handsome vampire. What you can do but should not however, is complain about the fact that there are vampires in Twilight in the first place, because–Surprise!–this series is about vampires.

Another Review Grading System

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Anime World Order every so often will talk about how Letter and Star-based grading systems are a waste and don’t explain anything. For example, what’s the difference between a 4 star and a 5 star in animation quality? How can a show have like C’s in multiple categories but end up with an A rating overall? It’s generally better to just write something out, but what if you really don’t want to? In that case, let me propose some ideas for new grading systems.

1) The Descriptive Letter Grade System

I want to ask you, why should A be considered better than B? What if, instead of having your letter grades be ranked, you instead had letter grades which actually represent aspects of the anime beyond saying “this is good” or “this is bad?” What if, for example, if we were grading animation quality, A stood for high-budget high-quality animation, while R stood for “good use of a low budget” and Y stood for “often inconsistent?” You could have multiple letter grades per category, or you could choose the one that stands out the most. If everyone can agree on what all the letters mean for every category, we can then have a consistent rating system that anyone can use (provided they learn the system)!

2) Elaborate Star Ratings

The problem with star ratings or such is that they tend to be used in the most general sense. 5 stars for story, 3 stars for music, who is to say just what consistutes a 5-star story, aside from Nagano Mamoru? What if, then, stars were a quantitative rating given out for more specific categories, ones that can be seen clearly, where a 1-star is not inherently worse than a 5-star?

Possible categories:

Cast Size
Plot Consistency
Plot Arc Size
Recurring Villains
Amount of Stock Footage
Melodrama

These are not objective ratings now, but no review is every objective. Instead, what these categories tell you is that if you start watching the shows, these are things you might expect. Want to watch a show with a ridiculous-size cast? Go for a 5-star Cast Size show. Prefer something more episodic? Go for a 1-star Plot Arc Size show. The ratings will not tell you that show A is better than show B, but rather, just what A and B have that differentiate one from the other in a way which may or may not indicate that A is better than B.

Conclusion
On second thought, just write out your damn reviews.