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Oct 19, 2020 5:35 PM
#1
Reviews are a key part of MAL. In the past, i often browsed through the reviews and get a better picture, what awaits me. Now, i wrote a review myself. It often bothered me, when i had to read through the plot, when browsing reviews. So it was good to see, that there is actually a rule against it ("Don't include story summaries, users already have the synopsis written for them."). Also theres is a rule to avoid spoilers. BUT after i was finished explaining my rating of the show, i could not submit it, since it was too short. Now i see, why so many users feel inclined to either include a summary or write about specific parts of the show (spoilers almost guaranteed). I think this minimum length rule is contradictory and should be either abolished or the required length should be set to a lower number. Good reviews ought to be short. Often a review is mainly based on 2/3 things (good or bad). Yes, these are subjective, but a review is not supposed to be an objective discussion about a show, its a personal opinion. Dragging it out to every small little detail does not help the reader, its rather confusing, since the review loses focus and perspective. Yes, empty reviews should not be a thing. Yes, one sentence reviews are bad. But 3 sentence reviews can be completly fine. |
scrimauOct 19, 2020 5:46 PM
Oct 19, 2020 5:50 PM
#2
This is a suggestion, not something that requires support... You posted on the wrong thread... I think that 4/5 sentences would probably be better. You (and everyone else) just need to know how to write reviews. Reviews are exactly what you said, they are not empty, not only good/bad and not less than 3 sentences. But when writing a review, imagine that you are talking with your best friend or girlfriend that wants to know more about that anime. This can help you. I wrote and read some pretty big reviews, and they are very helpful, even when the reviewer adds an "summary" in their own words. I never read an review that had spoilers, without the reviewer clearly stating before the review, that the review contained spoilers. Yes these "summaries" does include things that happened on the anime sometimes, but they are not really spoilers, it's usually just the same as if you attenciously watch the anime opening,ending and trailers. Allowing users to write at least 4 sentences doesn't seem to be e bad thing anyways. |
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Oct 19, 2020 9:25 PM
#3
There is a minimum requirement to avoid spam and trolling. Trolls are less eager to troll on large scale when it's a chore. |
Oct 20, 2020 1:58 AM
#5
A review can be short, but still have substance. I recently wrote a review for the new Ongaku movie where I tried keeping it pretty brisk and only really highlighted some of the core things I had to say about the film. However, even though I didn't say too much, I did my best trying to explain my points with some intricate level of detail. If reviews with only three sentences were allowed, it could discourage people from really developing their thoughts and ultimately would churn out more substanceless reviews that don't help anybody. In fact, I find the word limit to be very helpful in making me develop my thoughts. I start thinking more about what made the show in question click with me and what I could criticize. If you never push yourself to do better, you cannot ever improve. word limit goode yes yes yes |
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Oct 20, 2020 4:50 AM
#6
kronopy said: Trolls are less eager to troll on large scale when it's a chore. Trolls, spammers and bots can pretty much instantly add a few more lines and are set, there is no rly barrier here. I did the same, there was nothing more i wanted to add, so i added some useless lines at the end (any copy-paste lorem ipsum will do). haydenluvsanime said: In fact, I find the word limit to be very helpful in making me develop my thoughts. haydenluvsanime said: If reviews with only three sentences were allowed, it could discourage people from really developing their thoughts and ultimately would churn out more substanceless reviews that don't help anybody. If you write detailed reviews, thats good, and i enjoy those too. But i like to keep my writing short, i dont wanna repeat myself and i want to avoid speicifc examples in the story (since spoilers). Whenever i want to add or rephrase something, i can do so later in an edit. Imo short reviews might be even more helpful than longer ones, since theyre easier to go through, when trying to evaluate a suggestion. Lets say, my friend tells me "hey look, check this anime out". Would you rather go through 200 line reviews all revealing some parts of the plot. Or through 3 sentence reviews who each focus on an aspect that users liked or didnt like? Word limits are not rly a barrier for troll, spam or bots. These can add lines automatically or with very little effort. The real benefit of word limits is to prevent missclicks. So no empty review gets submitted or to prevent a user of submitting prematurely by a missclick (tab-enter or something). Right now, they also prevent good reviews though and provide an incentive to break other rules/guidelines (no summary, no spoilers). |
Oct 20, 2020 5:08 AM
#7
scrimau said: But i like to keep my writing short, i dont wanna repeat myself and i want to avoid speicifc examples in the story (since spoilers). Check reviews on ANN. As an example: Synopsis: In the sloping towers of modern Tokyo resides a man who is absolutely content with his job. He fires people with a smile, but that's fine - the principles of free market economics play no favorites, and there's nothing wrong with taking pleasure in the operation of a finely tuned machine. Until one day, an utterly foolish former employee pushes him onto the subway tracks, flagrantly disregarding the principles of rational self-interest. Time stops, and our hero is presented with a question - why does he not believe in God? His answer to that question will see him spun off into another reality, reborn as Tanya Degurechaff in a world at war. As Tanya, our hero will rise up the military ranks, gaining honor and prestige in a battle between blunt pragmatism and God himself. Review: Saga of Tanya the Evil's first episode largely confirmed all my worst suspicions regarding the title. Framed from the perspective of a tiny girl who'd somehow risen to officer status within a faux-German military, it seemed to revel in nastiness, playing up the grimness of war without any sort of meaningful commentary. The show's absurd premise fought mightily against any possible investment - while all of the background characters were rendered in fairly realistic fashion, both Tanya and her closest officer were given giant eyes and overall childlike appearances, making it impossible to take their actions seriously. The show seemed to dare the audience to enjoy it, offering a superficial glaze of bloody seriousness over an indulgent and misanthropic center. From there, Saga of Tanya the Evil swiftly became one of my favorite shows of this past winter season. The show's second episode gives away the big secret. Tanya Degurechaff isn't just any hyper-competent, utterly ruthless military officer - she's actually a soul transported from our world, a corporate climber so dedicated to dog-eat-dog capitalism that he attracts the ire of God himself. Or if not God, then "Being X" - for even as our protagonist is being questioned by God on the edge of death, he still refuses to believe in anything as irrational as a deity. And so our corporate stooge is banished to an alternate WWI-era Germany, to learn to appreciate the glory of God or die in the trying. The majority of Saga of Tanya the Evil details Tanya's steady rise through the military, as she applies modern business acumen and sheer ruthlessness to all manner of conflicts. Tanya is shot at, blown up, and regularly assigned hellish missions, but Tanya herself is such an awful person that all these trials play equally well as drama and comedy. Eventually, Tanya achieves great success in the military, and begins to pull off the kind of merciless maneuvers that remind us why she was sent to this world in the first place. Tanya's absurd premise ultimately works in its favor. While many “trapped in another world” stories focus on everyday young men or dedicated otaku, Tanya represents a very different type of person who has mastered modern capitalism by ceding his own compassion entirely. Tossing such a person into a grim war story like this means that when Tanya commits some awful act, the thematic consequence isn't limited to “jeez, bad people sure do horrible things in war.” Tanya's actions act as an indictment of our own modern socioeconomic systems, which really do reward those who would manipulate treaty margins to allow for the shelling of noncombatants. Tanya's crimes are our crimes. It also helps that Tanya is consistently entertaining. The early episodes ride heavily on the fun of watching Tanya get pushed around, as she's forced to test new military hardware and regularly bickers with the godlike being who sent her here. Saga of Tanya the Evil has a terrific sense of comedic timing, and smart direction keeps energy high at nearly all times. The show has a precise sense of visual storytelling that evokes something like a Hollywood adventure film, and even though the designs of Tanya and her first officer always feel a little ridiculous, even that eventually feels like part of the joke. Striking backgrounds, storming orchestra melodies, and consistent animation fill out an aesthetically impressive production in general. Later on, Tanya's consistent ability to rise above long odds puts her at the head of an elite military strike unit. At that point, the show's dramatic stakes shift from fostering comedy at Tanya's expense to demonstrating just how awful her actions are. It's easy for war dramas to strive for points about the evils of conflict while reveling in the escapism of violence, but Tanya is generally good about making its angry points land with real weight. There are episodes of this show that aren't really meant to be fun. There's clearly an anger behind this narrative, a frustration that people like Tanya can walk through life thinking self-interest is a meaningful philosophy, while others suffer under the weight of their grander convictions. The men who fight and die for their families and countries are framed as the true heroes, forced into a battle they don't want while Tanya cracks jokes about killing God. The show's mix of black comedy, grim commentary on war and capitalism, and exciting military action is certainly an odd mix. There are points in this show that are difficult to take seriously alongside others that demand your emotional investment to work at all. The show also asks you to follow a character who is without question an awful person, and whose narrative arc involves convincing a bunch of other people that she's actually an inspiring leader. By the end of the show, it's assumed that you really do enjoy the company of Tanya's irregulars, as monstrous as their actions often are. But I think that's all just part of the package when it comes to war stories. The things people do in war are awful, and Tanya almost never shrugs away from that fact. Centering its story on a villain actually lets Tanya seem that much more honest and pointed in its criticisms. It's not the gallant heroes who are rewarded by warfare, and through its magical conceit, Tanya strongly implies that gallant heroes aren't the winners of our own world either. Offering both pointed critique and consistent thrills, Saga of Tanya the Evil is angry, funny, and entertaining all the way through. © https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/saga-of-tanya-the-evil/episodes-1-12/.118262 'These are written by pros; no one writes such on mal!' Not really, you will find many users here that write even better stuff and do it for free. So what am I trying to say? Mal is not strict at all. Tbh, if I were a mod, I would even increase the character count for reviews. Because, if you want to write helpful stuff, you needa invest time in it. However, if you want to share your opinion, there is series discussion for it. (This is my opinion. I cannot make you do anything.) |
Oct 20, 2020 5:18 AM
#8
scrimau said: kronopy said: Trolls are less eager to troll on large scale when it's a chore. Trolls, spammers and bots can pretty much instantly add a few more lines and are set, there is no rly barrier here. I did the same, there was nothing more i wanted to add, so i added some useless lines at the end (any copy-paste lorem ipsum will do). haydenluvsanime said: In fact, I find the word limit to be very helpful in making me develop my thoughts. haydenluvsanime said: If reviews with only three sentences were allowed, it could discourage people from really developing their thoughts and ultimately would churn out more substanceless reviews that don't help anybody. If you write detailed reviews, thats good, and i enjoy those too. But i like to keep my writing short, i dont wanna repeat myself and i want to avoid speicifc examples in the story (since spoilers). Whenever i want to add or rephrase something, i can do so later in an edit. Imo short reviews might be even more helpful than longer ones, since theyre easier to go through, when trying to evaluate a suggestion. Lets say, my friend tells me "hey look, check this anime out". Would you rather go through 200 line reviews all revealing some parts of the plot. Or through 3 sentence reviews who each focus on an aspect that users liked or didnt like? Word limits are not rly a barrier for troll, spam or bots. These can add lines automatically or with very little effort. The real benefit of word limits is to prevent missclicks. So no empty review gets submitted or to prevent a user of submitting prematurely by a missclick (tab-enter or something). Right now, they also prevent good reviews though and provide an incentive to break other rules/guidelines (no summary, no spoilers). You don't need to repeat yourself if you already have a solid foundation to base your think pieces on. I barely talk about the story in any of my reviews because I find that putting more emphasis on the emotional expectations to be far more engaging. That way the audience can fill in the blanks and form some sort of expectation from reading my review, without making things too black and white. No, that's completely wrong. We would get a lot more trolls if we shortened it. Word limits are obnoxious to lazy trolls because it means they have to write more stuff. The whole line argument also doesn't work since mods can easily spot those out in an instance and take the review down. It's not like you have to write a million paragraphs in your review either, going into every needless detail. You're gonna have a hard time selling people on a series with only a few sentences. I'd also feel pretty insulted if my thorough and well-written review got topped by some guy saying "yea it was cool i guess i liked it" |
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Oct 20, 2020 6:09 PM
#9
I'm honestly surprised it's even as low as it is. I actually tried writing an absolutely minimally passing review and it's crazy how little they require you to write. 500 characters is nothing, even if that is excluding spaces. If you want to write a bunch of short ass reviews then keep them for the specific anime boards or post them in your blog. |
Jan 21, 2022 12:13 PM
#10
It might be a bit challenging to write 500 letters about those few minute long anime or few pages long one-shots, but if you struggled to fulfill this minimum word count for a show, I honestly don't think there was enough valuable info in that would be review. 3 regular sentences are definitely not enough for a review. scrimau said: Would you rather go through 200 line reviews all revealing some parts of the plot. Or through 3 sentence reviews who each focus on an aspect that users liked or didnt like? I'll take the 200 lines one, there is no way anything relevant would be covered within just few sentences. "I like show XY because it has good characters. The story is also very very nice. I would really recommend watching this." - here, a three sentence review you could copapyste for literally any show. Do you see my point? |
abystoma2Jan 21, 2022 12:16 PM
You all need to watch Nami. |
Dec 11, 2022 12:29 PM
#11
So, I just tried to write a short and concise review about an anime I really liked. Surprise, surprise I can't submit it without padding it out to some arbitrary length. Guess what, I wont bother now or later. |
Dec 11, 2022 3:03 PM
#12
Kortfattat said: So, I just tried to write a short and concise review about an anime I really liked. Surprise, surprise I can't submit it without padding it out to some arbitrary length. Guess what, I wont bother now or later. I doubt any value was lost if you couldn't even achieve the bare minimum of word limit. System working as intended. |
You all need to watch Nami. |
Jan 4, 2023 2:18 AM
#13
Kortfattat said: So, I just tried to write a short and concise review about an anime I really liked. Surprise, surprise I can't submit it without padding it out to some arbitrary length. Guess what, I wont bother now or later. Yeah same thing happened to me. The fact that we can't submit reviews that are twice as long as many existing reviews (!!!) is really stupid. |
Jan 4, 2023 7:17 PM
#14
Jan 4, 2023 7:19 PM
#15
Jan 6, 2023 3:26 AM
#16
RebelPanda said: Should be higher imo. It's higher on Anilist and IMDB, the reviews on those sites with the minimum character count tend to be more substantive than MAL reviews that barely pass. I think we should set the bar higher, not lower. Why? Does every one shot really need a review as long as the combined text on all of the pages? You're just going to end up with every other review unintentionally having spoilers if every review has to be unreasonably long. There was already a system in place which allowed the community dictate which reviews should be visible and which shouldn't, implementing arbitrary rules like this will only lead to worse reviews that say the same thing, just with more words. Just like some people don't like watching three minute movie trailers that spoil half the movie, some people don't like reading 5,000 word reviews that spoil half of the plot. Not to mention the fact that the absolute worst reviews I've read on this site (and there are a lot of them) also always happen to be some of the longest. At least a bad review that's short is a quick read. The unreasonably long ones written by someone who is clearly about 13 years old are the only problem reviews I've seen ever really seen on MAL. |
Jan 6, 2023 6:35 PM
#17
How is it possible to write a review too short. I often check the limitations on web sites to make sure I don't write too much. Why bother entering one if you don't have anything to say? I'd think most people would write as much as possible. I think my reviews are long but I've read some that were so long I got bored after 10 minutes. you get to write all kinds of thoughts about anime why would you want to remove the requirement to actually say something. If all you can say is "I thought it was ok 6/10" then why bother? |
Jan 8, 2023 10:16 AM
#18
+1 I think that long reviews are poison. I don't want to be reading 6 paragraphs, at that point I can just go and watch the show.A lot of casual people will get scared when they see the wall of text for a single review, it also takes the moment of surprise and some enjoyment from the show,.. I want to read maybe two paragraphs, what type of show it is and hod good it is,.. It should be summarized in less than 8 sentences,.. Understand that trolling is a problem, but rather would count on upvoting/downvoting than having to scroll through each single review. |
Apr 2, 2023 12:29 PM
#19
I wonder if you all ever read movie reviews from professional critics for magazines and newspapers, you know, guys that have their own columns and are paid to publish... yeah sometimes it can be lengthy but sometimes not, you can notice direction, art, story and recommend it or not in a few lines, you don't need to go describing everything... I mean, you guys really want to be reading the same synopsis already on description over and over again? The minimum is something above 500 or perhaps 600 it seems, if you want to review some short animation you end up with more words than the script itself lol I vouch for 250... about trolls they usually write one sentence in caps and copy paste it a hundred times anyway |
PxHCApr 2, 2023 12:33 PM
Apr 9, 2023 10:12 AM
#20
The reviews on MAL do have the (pseudo-)professional movie reviewer vibe. Personally it is not for me. They are just too excessive. I don't need a review that deeply analyzes direction, soundtrack, voice acting performance and cinematography to decide, if I want to watch "Reincarnated As A Underwear Vendor In Another World - Now I Lure My Harem Into My Shop!". Reading 3 reviews may take longer then watching the first episode of a show lol |
Apr 9, 2023 10:54 AM
#21
Limit should be zero and they should add a filter for review length. I don't want to write nor read the entire bible about some Chinese cartoons. The review system in it's current state is pretty much unusable. Writing a lot of words doesn't make a review better and none of you guys is a professional anyway. If I wanted to read a good review I wouldn't use MAL in the first place so please stop acting so pretentious. |
Jun 27, 2023 2:52 PM
#22
I honestly have to agree with ateks, all I generally want out of a review is to know weather people liked it or not and a little bit of why. I don't need or want story spoilers or excess detail. Long winded reviews seem more like something you go back and read AFTER you finish the show and not so much before. If I see a show has a majority of negative reviews I might read more to find out why then proceed to skip it, but when its positive reviews I have to prefer short and sweet before I dive right into the show. It's fine if people want to write long reviews but in all honesty I don't want to read them until I've finished reading/watching the show/manga. |
Jun 27, 2023 3:08 PM
#23
Jun 27, 2023 10:26 PM
#24
I mean. MEH. As someone who writes reviews (not here) I don't see value in an attempted written review in sparse sentence structure. Can short reviews be good, sure. Do most people have poignant thoughts to pull that off? NO. |
StripesJun 27, 2023 10:35 PM
Jun 28, 2023 1:11 PM
#25
Imagine writing an 1k words essay just for it to be deleted by some mod for no reason lol |
Jun 30, 2023 11:05 AM
#26
Should there be a minimum character requirement for reviews? Well, I'm not entirely sure, but 500 characters in a review doesn't seem like all that much; that's roughly around 5-7 sentences or so. If an anime was interesting enough to you that you would want to write a review, then I personally don't think that 5-7 sentences would be too big of a challenge. If we decrease the minimum requirement for a review to something like "300 characters minimum" for example, that would be the equivalent of around 3-4 sentences total, and reviews that are that short tend to be reviews where the person has very little substance and value to say lol. It makes me wonder "are they writing those reviews for themselves and not for others to read?" |
Jul 2, 2023 2:55 PM
#27
You guys seem to forget that your review will be posted alongside many others. Given how many people will skim through tens of reviews at once I'd say that there is space for both types of reviews to coexist. Let casuals write their sort summaries and if someone wants to shoot an attempt at a professional review let them write as much as they want. This way people who want to read a full review could easily find it in the list and people who just want to get a feel for the type of story can go through short reviews of a bunch of different people. And I'd like to add that I was previously noticing a lot of (what I consider to be) long low effort reviews which I now believe was just people babbling on to meet some arbitrary requirement. |
Jul 2, 2023 8:14 PM
#28
As someone that writes long-ish reviews, I agree that short 3 sentence reviews can have substance. Anything that comments on the enjoyment of a work is technically a review. People have different goals and look for different things in reviews. Some people want detail, others just want it quick and to the point. Stripes said: Let the readers decide that.I mean. MEH. As someone who writes reviews (not here) I don't see value in an attempted written review in sparse sentence structure. Can short reviews be good, sure. Do most people have poignant thoughts to pull that off? NO. ateks said: You're right. That's why I always copy my review into my notes. It's a way to organize my thoughts first and foremost. Whether it impresses a bunch of randos is secondary.Imagine writing an 1k words essay just for it to be deleted by some mod for no reason lol Partially agree. Reviews should express what they author has in mind and be as short as possible while doing that. If a review is too brief, then it might fail to express the author's thoughts. If the review isn't succinct, then it wastes the readers' times. I immediately roll my eyes and move on whenever I read a review that makes quotes and descriptive topic sentences for aesthetic purposes. Every sentence should be written to further a point, or it shouldn't be written. |
My subjective reviews: katsureview.wordpress.com THE CHAT CLUB. |
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