Anime Discussion Rules

Anime Discussion Rules

In addition to the Site & Forum Guidelines, the following rules apply to the Anime Discussion board and the Anime Series sub-boards.


1.　Anime/Manga specific threads should go into their respective sub-boards.

e.g.　Did anyone feel this way after the end of ____ ?
e.g.　What order should I watch ____ in? Do I need to have watched ____ before ____?
e.g.　Which movie/season is your favorite from the ____ franchise?
e.g.　What chapter should I start from?
e.g.　Season 1 vs. Season 2, anime version vs. manga version.
e.g.　Any questions about characters in a specific anime/manga.

Thread topics which cover several database entries and/or series of a franchise (e.g. best viewing order) should be posted in one of the sub-boards of the franchise.

2.　Please refrain from creating threads that do not encourage meaningful and/or civil discussion. Examples include:

a.　picture collecting

b.　random "xx vs. yy"
e.g.　Goku vs. Lelouch, Gintama vs. Clannad, etc.

c.　discussing social media/community members or their works
e.g.　What do you think about YouTuberA? Do you agree with blog B? Why is userC so hated? etc.

d.　personal storytelling, narration, ranting, and/or blog-style posts
e.g.　Rate my list/favorites, Post your ___ and I'll rate it, review and/or rant texts about an anime, etc.
These topics only encourage a one-way discussion where members are commenting on the poster's idea (or vice versa).

e.　MAL community data
e.g.　Questioning the score/ranking/character favorite counts
e.g.　Saying that series X should have a higher/lower score/count
e.g.　Specific reviews, moderation of data/community content/reviews, etc.
Concerns about the website should be reported using the appropriate buttons or designated MyAnimeList boards.

f.　labeling and/or berating groups of people
e.g.　What is the most toxic fandom? Fans of ___ are toxic, Elitists think ___, ___ have "shit taste", etc.

g.　categorizing generalized opinions as popular/unpopular
e.g.　Why does everyone like/hate ___, Why is studio ___ so hated, Post your unpopular opinion about ___, etc.
These threads are designed to assign people into black/white categories which then instigate wars between each "side". Either use the overrated/underrated thread or think carefully about what it is you want to discuss and avoid generalizing.

3.　Do not create threads that ask about information that can easily be seen on user profiles or database entry pages.

e.g.　What is your favorite anime/manga/character?

4.　Do not ask where to download/watch anime or where to download/read manga.


5.　Please refrain from creating threads which extend beyond the discussion of anime/manga as an entertainment medium to highly-debated and/or sensitive issues liable to incite rule violations (trolling, flaming, abuse).

This includes but is not limited to:
• gender/racial equality
  
• sexual orientation, homophobia
  
• sexual assault
  
• pedophilia, lolicon/shotacon, incest, teenage-adult relationships

Unfortunately, these threads always devolve into the same final scenario: users are assigned into black/white categories where one side is "SJWs", the other side is "Nazis/rapists/etc", insults/abuse are being fired off from both sides, and trolls come in to feed the drama. Please choose more appropriate settings for these discussions than in a public forum on an entertainment website.

Anime Series Episode Discussion Rules

These rules are specific to episode discussion threads and supercede the Anime/Manga Discussion Rules whenever there is a conflict.

1. Do not start an episode discussion before you have actually seen it.
   
2. Refrain from writing episode summaries or running commentaries. Please use your blog for this purpose.
   
3. Posts must not contain more than one screenshot.
   
4. Single phrase responses (e.g., "Good episode") do not contribute nor promote discussion and will be removed without notice.
   
5. Do not ask when subs/raws will be released, or where to download/watch an episode.
   
6. Refrain from comparing/conversing about whose fansubs to use or watch in the Episode Discussion.
   
7. Do not compete to be the first person to create and/or post in episode discussion threads. If you are suspected of competing, the moderator team may ask you to refrain from creating further episode threads for that series. If you continue competing for first post/thread creation after this request, warnings and/or bans will be issued until the competing behaviour stops.
   
8. The earliest episode discussion threads can be posted is the broadcast time on the DB entry + the duration on the DB entry + 5 extra minutes. Where no duration exists, 25 minutes should be used.

Keep in mind that a discussion involves dialogue between users about a topic extraneous to oneself. An opinion of an episode can initiate discussion, whereas summaries and screenshots do not.

Rule #5 Added. As a result of continued toxicity surrounding topics which extend current social/moral issues to anime/manga, we will no longer be allowing these discussions in the Anime and Manga Discussion boards. While we certainly do not want to discourage critical thought of the entertainment that we consume as a society, going forward we ask users to take these discussions to other locations, such as clubs, profiles, Discord chats, etc.

+ 5. Please refrain from posting thread topics which extend beyond the discussion of anime/manga as an entertainment medium to highly-debated social and/or moral issues. This includes but is not limited to: pedophilia, gender/racial equality, sexual orientation, etc.

Rule #1 Clarified. Thread topics which cover several database entries and/or series of a franchise (e.g. best viewing order) should be posted in one of the sub-boards of the franchise.

Rule #2 Modified; Expanded. "Simple listing" has been removed from examples of threads which do not encourage discussion, and existing examples have been expanded to include gossiping and blog-style posts.

With the increase of the threads per board page from 20 to 50, the inclusion of the minimum character requirement, and difficulties in consistent moderation of this rule over the years, we have decided to remove "simple listing" as an example from threads which do not encourage discussion. This means we will not be locking threads for this specific reason anymore. However, this does not mean "simple listing" topics can suddenly be spammed on the forum. Please encourage meaningful discussion of any listing topics you create by explaining your own choices.

Rules #7 and #8 added to Episode Discussion rules. Bickering over who created the episode discussion thread early and requiring forum moderators to determine the exact minute when a raw episode finished is a senseless waste of moderator time. We will not be entertaining this behavior from here any further.

Episode discussion threads should be created organically. If this was done naturally, then episode threads would:

• Be created at different time intervals (5-120 minutes difference) rather than seconds before/after the time defined in rule #8.
  
• Be created by different users and not the same individual every episode.
  
• Not contain minimal text on posting and then be edited to expand the post after.
  
• Consist of better quality first X posts than blog post summaries/descriptions of general events.
  
• ... and so on.

When watching an episode, it should take you at least 5 minutes to collect your thoughts and write a post text. It should not be a girigiri safe endeavour and arguments of "but my stream was 3 minutes faster than his!"

If you are suspected of competing to create episode discussion threads, the moderator team will ask you to refrain from creating further episode threads for that series. If you continue competing for first post/thread creation after this request, warnings and/or bans will be issued until the competing behaviour stops.

Please focus on having better discussions, not being first.

All rules clarified with examples and modified formatting.

Rule #2 Expanded. We are seeing an increase in threads intentionally or accidentally designed to fuel wars around community scores and/or audience reception of titles. These threads do not encourage civil discussion and so have been added as examples to avoid their continuous creation.