Anime Sophist was created primarily because I’ve been searching the internet for thorough yet approachable anime reviews to no avail. While there are many review sites that do an excellent job of outlining the pros and cons of a series they are generally bogged down with terminology only a devoted anime-head would be able to understand. The reviews also usually center around individual DVD releases (3-5 episodes) rather than a series as a whole. To make matters worse the review scales used are never really explained and the scores appear arbitrary at times. With all that in mind the Anime Sophist will feature reviews of anime series across many genres that will hopefully be informative yet simplistic enough for someone who isn’t an expert in the field to draw a conclusion about whether a particular series is right for them. The reviews will also be spoiler free, while I might note if a show has a great ending I'm not going to tell you exactly why lest I ruin the entire series for you all at once.
The review scale will range from 5.0 to 10.0 with scores in increments of .1 to provide what will hopefully be a clear distinction between which titles are simply good and which titles are truly great. The reason this scale was chosen because other scales, such as the whole point scale or the 0.5 scale, can sometimes be misleading. For example, a title with an 8.8 and a title with a 9.2 would receive the same score on either of those scales when one is significantly better then the other. The reason the scale starts at 5.0 is because any show below that score would be considered so bad that even hardcore anime fans wouldn’t give it the time of day. The basic understanding of what each number means is as follows, any .1s above that are to illustrate how close it comes to the next level.
5.0- Barely passable, only for fans of the genre or hardcore anime addicts in general. It may have a few good points but they are obscured by some significant failings. Example: None yet
6.0-Fans of the genre will probably enjoy a show with this score, it’s very doubtful anyone else would. This show does a few things well but also does several things poorly. Nothing about it is great. Example: Rurouni Kenshin
7.0-A show fans of the genre will enjoy, but it’s questionable anyone else would really like it. 7.0s typically have many good elements but no great elements. Example: Vision of Escaflowne
8.0-A show with a moderate amount of flaws, but nothing that seriously hinders enjoyment. Example: Ah! My Goddess
9.0-An excellent show with many strong points. Minor flaws have kept it from what would be considered perfection but nonetheless it’s a great work and most viewers will really take to it. Example: Samurai Champloo
10.0- A show that accomplishes perfectly what it has set out to do. Anything with a review of 10 means there is almost no chance a viewer won’t thoroughly enjoy it. More than likely this is a landmark accomplishment in the history of anime. 10s will be difficult to come by. Example: Cowboy Bebop
The majority of reviews should fall somewhere between 7.0 and 8.0 but since I’ll be working through the cream of the crop first things are going to be pretty skewed initially.
At the end of each review after the score is given a few other categories will be noted. These won’t be given a score but rather a simple word to reflect quality. Something like “Excellent”, “Good“, “Passable”, or “Poor”. The categories that will be noted in this way are as follows: Storyline, Animation, Soundtrack, and Dub. A series or two that are similar to the one reviewed will also be recommended under “Also try:”
Shows that have not yet come to the United States will not be reviewed, I will wait until these shows are released in their entirety because it would be pointless to review half a series or the first few episodes. The vast majority of what I watch will be dubbed because I’m such an animation nut that if I am distracted from the picture in the slightest bit it kills the experience for me. For that reason do not expect a paragraph in every review detailing the quality of the subs, only the dub quality will be mentioned. I understand that the dub/sub debate rages on across the anime community but here is not the place to clash over it. Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on these reviews should give you a good idea of whether a show is worth your time. Since I’m not fluent in Japanese, and thus am unqualified to rate the accuracy of subtitle translations, it would be ignorant of me to even try. I stick with what I know for the purpose of delivering the best review possible.
Suggestions are welcome. While I have a back catalog of shows to review initially, and a good idea of what to view after that, I’m not averse to straying from the plan a bit and checking out shows that other people want to hear about. It’s important to mention this right now so it doesn’t come up down the road, shounen series will be rarely if ever reviewed so please do not leave me any “Please review Naruto” comments. This is mainly due to length, I can go through 3-4 (sometimes even more) 20-30 episode series in the same time it would take me to watch a show like Inuyasha in its entirety. With this blog in its infancy it’s important to build up an archive as quickly as possible and shounen shows hinder that. I won’t rule out some shounen series being reviewed in the future, Bleach is a strong possibility when it finishes up.
Here’s is a quick list of a few anime terms I’ll use that those outside the hardcore community might not immediately understand. Don’t expect much anime slang outside of what’s listed below.
Otaku- A devoted fan, generally to the point of being borderline obsessive. The term can have both a positive and negative connotation. I will only use it in the positive. I’m an anime nerd, you’re an anime nerd, why hate?
OVA- Stands for Original Video Animation. Not all anime are released for television, the ones that come straight to DVD are OVAs.
Shounen- A show aimed at boys, generally runs much longer then other shows.
Dub- For the purpose of this blog, the re-recording of character voices in English.
Fan Service-Unnecessary body shots done strictly to please fans of a particular character, generally a female character.
Mecha- A giant robot.
So yeah, now that we have all the housecleaning out of the way let's get to some reviews.
0 comments:
Post a Comment