The Jaderabbit School of Anything Goes Martial Arts Anime Review Writing*
Oct 09 '00 (Updated Jan 05 '01)
Often mislabeled as a mere genre, anime is a vibrant, ever-changing medium with something for everyone. Like live-action cinema, anime is used for everything from action to introspection, romance to horror, history to far-future science fiction, children's stories to adults-only entertainment. It takes the form of everything from feature films to short direct-to-video series to TV series--and a few, such as the Tenchi-Muyo! and Rurouni Kenshin continuums, encompass all three.
A good anime review shares many of the same elements of a review of a live-action movie or TV shows, but also touches on points specific to Japanese animation. These are some of the points I consider when writing an anime review.
Total Length of Work
It's important for viewers to know whether they're buying a two-hour movie, an eleven-hour TV season in a box set, or the first half-hour of an Original Video Animation (OVA) series that runs a total of two hours. Sometimes people are looking for a series to watch once a week, sometimes they want a Friday night movie, and sometimes they want an three-day-weekend anime marathon. I try to find out how long the story runs, and how much of it is in the volume or box set I'm reviewing.
Avoiding spoilers
When reviewing Volume I of an eight-volume series, there's no reason to discuss a character that makes her first appearance in Volume VI. It can wait until reviewing the fourth volume. I don't see anything wrong with hints like "this confusion gets cleared up later" or "don't pay too much attention to this subplot; it never comes up again," but telling the audience about character deaths or enemy invasions hours before they happen spoils the fun. Unless the item up for review is the complete work, and I'm labeling my review as "reveals everything about the plot," I do my best to avoid spoilers.
Sub vs. dub
Most anime are available in both dubbed and subtitled versions; it's important to say which one I've seen. Some people refuse to watch one or the other, so if one format is unavailable, that's important, too. Many DVDs offer subtitles and language tracks in different languages; that's good to note. With each format, there are a few things to keep in mind.
The best subtitles are easy to read, well timed, and based on a good translation. If they're especially strong or lacking in any of these, it's worth a mention. I prefer subtitles because I like to hear the original voices, and because I like to pick up Japanese phrases and sometimes critique the translation. Sometimes I match the words and phrases I know and find that the subtitles are either overly literal or too slangy. Sometimes I catch puns and meaning that I would miss in a dub. Often, I come up with new questions to ask my Japanese-speaking friends, and learn useful things about the characters that the subtitles themselves don't provide. I think the answers make my reviews better.
The best dubs are well acted in appropriate voices and based on a good translation. Some people prefer dubs because they allow the eyes to follow the art and/or action without looking down to read. Others just prefer the sound of American or Canadian voice acting. The quality of the voices and voice acting is a matter of taste; I have to use my own judgement in deciding if someone sounds too young, too whiny, etc. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by a dub voice that I prefer over the original. Other areas that merit attention are (mis)pronunciation of names and Japanese words and use of American slang and dialects (Southern for hicks, etc.).
If there's anything special about the dub or sub--Japanese songs sung in English, theme songs subtitled in English and in sing-along romaji (Japanese words rendered in our alphabet), extra translation footnotes, etc.--it's worth mentioning.
Art and animation
Anime can be impressive even when it's not moving--design albums and cels sell quite nicely in Japan and in American specialty stores. Each production has its own design team, and just like in live-action films, anime has different people assigned to each part. Most productions have a character designer, responsible for everything from faces and bodies to costumes and swords, and a mechanical designer, responsible for everything from guns and cars to spaceships and giant robots. Some have gorgeous painted backgrounds. When one aspect of the design especially impresses me, I like to mention it.
Many of the best anime moments depend on the animation. The way little Setsuko swings her chubby little legs, dangling them off the seat of the train, in Grave of the Fireflies chokes me up when I just think about it; those few tiny moments etched the four-year-old's natural sweetness and fragility into my mind. EVA-01's savage attack on one of the last Angels seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series always gives me the shivers, and I can't suppress a delighted laugh when I see the Princess Mononoke's Kodama (forest spirits) dancing in the breeze created by the Night Walker's passage.
I don't know enough about animation techniques to discuss them thoroughly, so I restrict my comments to my impressions. If the movements look believable, and they deliver any kind of impact, I consider the animation good. It's most obvious in action scenes, but any movement can be significant; one thing I love about anime is that every frame is deliberate.
It's important to note whether the work is cel-animated, computer-animated, or a hybrid. If it's a hybrid, readers will want to know how well it works. Inexpert computer-to-cel image matting is a pet peeve for many fans, as is excessive recycled footage.
If the quality of the various technical aspects (art, animation, music, etc.) is comparable across a series, I don't bother with a full write-up of them in every review. I make a point of the things that are remarkable in the volume reviewed, and either make a very brief overview or refer the reader to another review that discusses the issue in more detail.
Music
"The music is good/bad" isn't enough. The same anime might include a fabulous but unrelated opening theme sung by a professional, a decent and mostly appropriate score, and an insipid ending theme sung by one of the seiyuu (voice actors). (Yes, fans, I'm referring to Martian Successor Nadesico.) If any of these is notable in some way, it's good to point it out instead of just calling it "the music." An anime can have a number of soundtracks--Cowboy Bebop and The Vision of Escaflowne each have four--so sometimes I share information about those, such as which disc contains a memorable song.
Giving credit where credit is due
Since an anime presents a polished, cohesive image, it's easy to forget how many real live humans contributed their talent, vision, and hard work. A review doesn't need to list the names of the inbetweeners, but designers, composers, and film directors deserve the credit or blame for their work. Some, such as Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro) and Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Memories) have become so well recognized that with other directors' work is often erroneously attributed to them.
Voice actors have their own followings, too. One of my friends has a special affinity for Koichi Yamadera's characters--even in dubs, his favorite character is inevitably one that Yamadera (Ryoga in Ranma 1/2, Spike in Cowboy Bebop) played in Japanese. There are fans who will rent any anime starring Aya Hisakawa (Yohko in Devil Hunter Yohko, Skuld in Oh My Goddess!) in the hopes of hearing her sing. Some dubs have famous actors, too, like Billy Crudup, Keith David, and Minnie Driver (all in Princess Mononoke and Ardwright Chamberlain (Teknoman, Robotech), best known as the voice of Babylon 5's Ambassador Kosh. Whether the actors are famous internationally, in Japan, or nowhere at all, they deserve credit for good work.
I regularly visit two websites to help me with credits. One is the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com), which has complete credits for feature films. The other is the Online Seiyuu Database (http://www.tcp.com/doi/seiyuu/seiyuu.html), which has complete voice credits for almost every anime. The former can do fuzzy searches, which is useful, since there can be a number of different ways to spell a Japanese name in English (I usually use the one from the credits). The latter is less forgiving, and requires that the family name come first (i.e.; "Inouye Kikuko," "Nakata Johji"). Both are useful for establishing connections between artists and their entire body of work.
Audience appropriateness
South Park and some of the Cartoon Network's wilder offerings seem to be changing the American tendency to equate animation with children's fare, but there are still plenty of folks who expect everything animated to be as simple and kid-safe as a Disney movie. Some anime, such as the feature film Kiki's Delivery Service and series such as Pokémon and Digimon, are made specifically for children. Others simply take advantage of the animated medium to make moving images of manga (Japanese comic book) characters, faces more mobile than Jim Carrey's, and fantastic special effects.
I find that my reviews come out best if I assume the default audience can watch a PG-13 movie. I sometimes make notes of the anime difficulty level and try to give spoiler-free explanations of what might be a red flag, but I'm far from infallible. If a reader is concerned that they or their child might be offended or adversely affected by something in the anime, it's best to check the description or look at the box. U.S. distributors have gotten very good about detailing potentially offensive material, and it's up to the individual viewer (or the viewer's parents) to decide what to accept.
Insights
Every reviewer has their own insights into each anime. An understanding of Japanese language, culture, history, or cinema enhances the anime experience, and I encourage anyone with knowledge in those areas to share relevant tidbits in their reviews. Reading, walks through Japantown, and conversations with my clever friends have enriched my reviews greatly. Anime isn't always steeped Japanese traditions, either--my amateur studies of non-Japanese archaeology and mythology have added to my appreciation of anime. Anime is a vast category, and it takes a variety of different people with diverse interest and insights to fully appreciate it.
I'm going to go be quiet now. No, really.
It's a long list, and I don't follow it every single time--I use my judgement, and I hope other reviewers will do the same. Just because this is how I put my thoughts together doesn't mean I'll SR every review that skips one of these subjects. Epinions would get awfully boring if everybody wrote exactly the same way. As long as the end result is a useful review, anything goes! I wish you happy viewing, and happy reviewing.
*There are three likely reactions to this title: "Hey, that's a Ranma 1/2 episode I missed!" "People will slap on all kinds of crazy titles to get people to read their reviews," and "What is this nutty bunny babbling about now?" All are equally valid.
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Epinions.com ID:
jaderabbit
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Location: Hovering around San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 105
Trusted by: 78 members
About Me:
I sound like a Powerpuff, but I act more or less like a live-action human.
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