Review Policies

[The Ratings] [The Reviews] ["Objectionable" Content] [What I Don't Review]

The Ratings

The ratings I assign to anime are really based on something quite simple: my gut feeling. That's right, I simply assign an anime a rating based on whatever I was feeling afterwards. It breaks down something like this:

5 stars - Thoroughly enjoyable and worthy of any fan's collection.

4 stars - An enjoyable anime, probably worth multiple viewings.

3 stars - A fairly average title. Either doesn't shoot for much, or has some noticeable flaws. A rental.

2 stars - A tedious or inane title. Not worth bothering with unless you're a fan of the genre.

1 star - I struggled to watch the whole thing. Not even worth a rental.

Half star ratings are used for anime that fall somewhere in between categories.

The Reviews

The reviews reflect my opinion only

Try not to get too mad at me if I hand out a poor rating to your favorite anime. I write up the reviews based on whatever I felt about the anime in question, regardless of popular opinion or other factors. And while I don't mind debating over opinions of certain anime, I'm probably not going to change my review of it.

I only review series I have seen 100% completely

I feel that the only way to properly review a series is to watch every single episode of it. That way I get a complete feeling for how I should rate it. Heck, if I'd have reviewed Bastard! based on the first few episodes, I would've probably only given it two or three stars, rather than the four I felt it deserved. I do have a section called First Impressions where I write brief reviews of series I have only seen partially. Once I complete a series and write a proper review, I remove it from the First Impressions section.

I try not to change ratings of titles I've reviewed

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, I will not change a rating on an anime I have reviewed. All reviews are based on my initial viewing of an anime. I believe that altering reviews later on affects the credibility of my reviews.

"Objectionable" Content

Now when I say objectionable, it certainly doesn't mean that content will necessarily offend everyone. It's more or less a guide of possibly offensive content. Here's a breakdown of the terms I use and what they mean:

Sex and nudity:

• Brief nudity - usually no more than a few seconds of nudity lasting one scene (non-sexual in most cases)
• Nudity - anything more than one scene of nudity
• Sexual innuendo - sexual references or jokes
• Suggestive situations - implied sexual activity or discussions of sex
• Adult/sexual situations - situations in which people either engage in sexual activity or come very close to it
• Explicit sexual situations - graphic depictions of sexual activity (usually only found in hentai anime)

Violence:

• Mild/cartoon-style violence - Either very exaggerated violence or brief violence (usually no or little blood)
• Violence - Fairly realistic violence (sometimes blood; people may or may not die)
• Graphic/extreme violence - Gruesome violence complete with blood and gore

What I Don't Review

Fansubs

Now just because I don't review fansubs, doesn't mean I don't enjoy them. I have watched quite a few, and am in favor of them. However, I only review commercially released titles. There are several reasons, but the main reason is that fansubs are generally supposed to be "free" (sans shipping or tape costs). If I spent time writing reviews for fansubs, I would neglect a lot of commercial titles which cost a lot more to rent or buy. That's why I stick to reviewing anime that fans have to shell out a lot of money for. Also, there's the issue of quality. Some fansubs I've seen are of particularly poor quality which detracts from the viewing experience, and would probably lead to a lower rating.

Televised anime

If it's on TV on a regular basis, I'm probably not going to review. The main reason is televised anime are usually edited for content and "Americanized" in the process. Trying to compare, say, the American version of Sailor Moon versus the original Japanese version is beyond the scope of what I want to do.

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