Hello everyone! Since I’m starting to review anime on this website, I thought it was a good idea to post the format I’ll be using for the reviews. . . so here it is!

Premise

I’ll start every review with a spoiler-free premise summary in my own words. The reason for this is because MAL or other sites can have summaries that give too much or too little detail regarding the actual story, and I believe that I can give fairly cohesive introductions for shows I watch.

Main Review

For the actual review, I’ll first start with some basic information, such as the director of the show/film, the studio, and anything else relatively important in the production background.

Afterwards, I’ll begin giving my opinions on the show at hand, making sure to address four main categories, and critiquing certain elements in each category. Here are the categories and elements I’ll be focusing on. Note that not all specifics of the categories are listed, as they always change depending on the show at hand. In fact, I may add different categories and subcategories for certain shows, as I want my reviews to feel discussion-based and flexible.

 

Story:

  • Cohesion: Does the story add up? Does the story make sense?
  • Complexity: Are story beats cliche? Is the story interesting and complex?
  • Pacing: How is the pacing of the story?
  • Fluidity: Does the show flow well? Are the transitions smooth?

 

Characters:

  • Purpose: Are the characters clearly and sensibly motivated?
  • Depth: Are characters understandable or even relatable? Do they contain depth?
  • Dialogue: Do the dialogues, conversations, and character interactions feel natural?
  • Character Intelligence: Do the characters make sensible decisions for their established personalities? Are the characters acting “in character”?

 

Subcategory to Characters – World:

  • Applies mostly for non-realistic-fiction stories. . .
  • Depth: Does the world feel lived-in? Does the world hint at much more beyond the core narrative?
  • World Logic: Does the world make sense in its natural and societal rules?
  • Interest: Is the world intriguing to learn about?

 

Visuals:

  • Character Animation: Body and facial animations
  • Choreography: Fight sequences, Dance scenes, etc.
  • Consistency: Are there dips in production quality? Is the animation fluid?
  • CG: Is the CG incorporated naturally? Is the CG obvious and/or jarring to watch?

 

Music/Sound:

  • Sound Effects: Are sound effects used well? Are there sound effects that particularly stand out?
  • Soundtrack: Do soundtracks fit their respective scenes?
  • OP/ED: Are the openings and endings memorable and fitting? Are they well animated and choreographed? Do they contain special meaning?
  • Moment-Defining Pieces: Are there soundtracks that elevate certain scenes? Are certain songs particularly memorable or emotionally impactful?

Conclusions

And with all that said, I’ll be concluding my review, addressing important points from the main text in a paragraph and showing my final thoughts in a graphic. The graphic will be organized like the one shown below, and I’ll elaborate on the individual parts.

Review ProtoTemplate.png

  • Show Title: Full title of the anime
  • Season of Airing: Season it first aired in (Summer 2017, Winter 2009, etc.)
  • Studio: Studio behind the anime
  • Director: Name of main director and his/her prominent works (and maybe one or two other famous staff members and their works)
  • Genre Pie: List of genres I think the anime at question is composed of. An easily understandable summary of what to expect from the story.
  • Comp. Score: Overall score of the anime. Will always be a 1-wide range (ex. 5-6, 7.5-8.5) within 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. Very blunt and uninformative. Please don’t think my entire opinion on the anime is summed up by this score.
  • Gauges: For story, characters, visuals, and music (and sound), this bar will show whether the element was about average, extraordinarily good, or truly awful.
  • Pros/Cons: Outstanding achievements from the anime, as well as exceptionally terrible elements.
  • Similar Shows: Shows similar to the anime at hand. I’ll describe similarities in a paragraph below the image on actual reviews.

Please note that the actual graphic looks much, much better, but other than that, this should conclude my review format. . . review. I hope you’ll enjoy my first review coming out very soon!