Review Writing 101

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Review Writing 101

Postby Ashley » Sat May 28, 2005 10:00 pm

Since Gypsy did such an awesome job writing the rules for the anime reviews, I merely modified them to suit our purposes. Still, props go where props belong, so thank you for writing such a clear set of guidelines, Gyp.

1. Quality takes time
Don't sweat it if your review has been pending for a while. Sometimes it takes several days to verify a review, make sure all the grammar and punctuation are correct, etc. (see #2) I will PM you regardless of whether or not your review has been submitted to the main review database.

2. Read the disclaimer
Since in the past we have had issues with people not reading the disclaimer for the ARD, I'll repost it here:

Please fill out the form below and press "Submit for Approval." Please remember that all forum rules apply here, and that mods/admins are volunteers. We have lives, and may not get to this immediately. Also note that submitting this form will not automatically update the main reviews database; all submissions are subject to mod approval. Once your submission has been reviewed, you will be PM'd with our decision. Also, do not post any copyrighted materials here. By submitting a review to this system, you are stating that this is your own original work.

3. Spelling and grammar are important
Spell/grammar checking your own review would move this process along 70% faster, I promise you. CAA takes a lot of pride in these reviews, and we want them to be very high quality, and this only works if the reviewers have the same goal. If I open your submitted review and every other word is spelled wrong, I'm apt to just minimize it and go to the next one. That's the honest truth. The only exception to this would be if your native language is not English. If English is not your first language, then don't worry about spelling errors and such. If you submit a duplicate review of one already pending and yours is full of typos, I may simply take the other person's review simply for the sake of time management. You don't have to be perfect, but you can at least leave out the "ur", "r u" "b4", etc.

4. Details, details, details
Please make an effort when writing the review to be as detailed as possible. I will not be accepting reviews that have one sentence in each field. Try to be objective about your reviews.

5. Additional qualifications
Unlicensed series are ok, if you note it as such in your review under "volume" information. Although there are a few exceptions, do not review series that you have not read fully, or write a review simply based on the anime. Unless I give you permission, I will not be accepting reviews based on any manga that is not fully released or that you have not fully read. Also, I will only accept scanlation reviews when the series is unlicensed. When it is licensed, I have to accept reviews based on the official material. The ONLY exception to this is if it has been licensed and no release date has been set (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne). Please PM me with your questions.

In fact, the two exceptions to the rule would be if the series were a volume or so away from completion, or if it were in high, high demand. The thread in the announcements board has the full details, or you can PM me.

6. Check for doubles!
Please, please, please check to see if there's already an existing review in the database before you write one up and submit it. Writing reviews take a long time, and I would hate for you to lose all your work.

7. PM the right manager
I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Also, Gypsy is in charge of the anime reviews, but I am in charge of the manga ones. So please do not PM Gypsy with your questions - she's also very busy, and she's only going to forward them to me anyway, so save her the trouble and send them to me directly, please.

EDIT:
8. Remember the dialup users
I just realized how huge my own Time Stranger Kyoko pic was, so I scaled in back. I would ask that if you include a picture, please try to consider our slower connection users and make it a reasonable size.
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Postby Ashley » Sun May 29, 2005 8:12 pm

Edit: make sure you guys read the part about incomplete/not fully released series; that part was edited today.
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Postby Mangafanatic » Mon May 30, 2005 9:49 am

How many volumes would a series have to be before you would consider taking a partial review? (Thinks of series which are 20+ volumes long)
Every year in Uganda, innumerable children simply. . . disappear. These children all stolen under the cover of darkness from their homes and impressed into the guerilla armies of the LRA [Lord's Resistance Army]. In the deserts of Uganda, they are forced to witness the mindless slaughter of other children until they themselves can do nothing but kill. Kill. These children, generally ranging from ages 5-12, are brainwashed into murdering in the name of the resistance and into stealing other children from their beds to suffer the same fate.

Because of this genocide of innocence, hundred and hundreds of children live every night sleeping in public places miles from their homes, because they know that if the do not-- they will disappear. They will become just another number in this genocide to which the international community has chosen to turn a blind eye. They will become, in affect, invisible-- Invisible Children.

But there are those who are trying to fight against this slaughter of Uganda's children. They fight to protect these "invisible children." Please, help them help a country full of children who know nothing by fear. Help save the innocence. For more information concerning how you can help and how you can get an incredible video about this horrific reality, visit the Invisible Children home page.
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Postby Ashley » Mon May 30, 2005 2:51 pm

It would really depend on the series. For example, if it's a 4 volume series, I want at least up to volume 3.

If it's 20 something...it would depend on the demand for it. Fruits Basket, for example, I would accept right away because it is the #1 selling shojo manga right now. The demand for reviews is high, and we have plenty of people to update it frequently. If it's 20 something and not in high demand..you'd really have to sell me on why I should let you, and provide a lot of good, informative links on it.

That help things?
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Postby Mangafanatic » Mon May 30, 2005 6:20 pm

Okay, put a sold tag on Fruits Basket for me. ;)
Every year in Uganda, innumerable children simply. . . disappear. These children all stolen under the cover of darkness from their homes and impressed into the guerilla armies of the LRA [Lord's Resistance Army]. In the deserts of Uganda, they are forced to witness the mindless slaughter of other children until they themselves can do nothing but kill. Kill. These children, generally ranging from ages 5-12, are brainwashed into murdering in the name of the resistance and into stealing other children from their beds to suffer the same fate.

Because of this genocide of innocence, hundred and hundreds of children live every night sleeping in public places miles from their homes, because they know that if the do not-- they will disappear. They will become just another number in this genocide to which the international community has chosen to turn a blind eye. They will become, in affect, invisible-- Invisible Children.

But there are those who are trying to fight against this slaughter of Uganda's children. They fight to protect these "invisible children." Please, help them help a country full of children who know nothing by fear. Help save the innocence. For more information concerning how you can help and how you can get an incredible video about this horrific reality, visit the Invisible Children home page.
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Postby Ashley » Sat Jun 11, 2005 5:47 pm

Additional tips!

Some things you could to do expediate the process:

On the submission form, in the box labeled "review", please include a synopsis of the series first (it's ok if it's taken straight from tokyopop.com or the back of the novel), a break and THEN what you thought of it. Anything subjective like "this is a great series" or "the romance is really well thought out" will be placed in the comments section. It just makes it so much easier for me to move it over to the proper section on my end. I realize there isn't a "comments" field, but this still helps me out a lot.

Where it says "related titles", I mean other titles by the same mangaka.

Where it says "related movies", that's where you list if it's a TV series, OVA, etc. etc.

And some of you are really awesome about providing your own images! So if you can, please try to have one ready for me. Thank you so much to all our wonderful reviewers! We couldn't do this without you!
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Postby bigsleepj » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:39 pm

Is there a limit to the number of words we may use?
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Postby Ashley » Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:06 am

Not at all! And if I hit on a limit, I'll be sure to tell you. ^^
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Postby bigsleepj » Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:44 am

Ah, good. My review is quite long - turns out I'm being too thorough.
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Postby Ashley » Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:48 am

TOO thorough? I'm not sure there IS such a thing. ;)
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Postby uc pseudonym » Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:28 pm

Well, going over every single incident of violence in an action series would probably be too much...
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Postby Mithrandir » Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:46 pm

Actually, I think there IS a limit to the number of words that can be used. If you happen across it at some point, please let me know where and I'll see if I can figure out the limit for you.
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Postby bigsleepj » Sat Jun 18, 2005 12:12 pm

Well, currently my review stands at 2450 words. Is that too thorough?
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Postby bigsleepj » Sat Jun 18, 2005 12:14 pm

Off course, I'm only joking. :grin:
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