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| Another chance to include random pics! |
I can't tell if it is the judgement passed by the "bigger" anime blogs that skews everyone else's opinion, or the hype surrounding each anime that leads people to have the similar pre-emptive ideas about each anime. I mean, not many anime have aired but a quick look at Dog Days, for example, and almost every single blog has the exact same opinion. I mean, the only blogs that mention that Dog Days has any promise are generally less than 5 months old (except this one). It seems almost like once the older and more established blogs form an opinion, most will follow in suit.
I think another problem is regarding reputations surrounding certain anime. The best example I can give is Ore-tachi no Tsubasa; this, most likely, will not be like Madoka, but does it deserve such a harsh critique? There are only four other reviews for the first episode of this, all of which generally say that it is the worse thing they saw, mostly because of the heavy fanservice for the better part of the anime. When Aaro and I were watching it, we couldn't stop facepalming and laughing at it. We even pegged one of them as a "best friend" archetype while watching it, thinking it was going nowhere. As the episode came to a close, we realized it was all just setting up for a plot.
I can agree with complaints about the fanservice being a turn-off the anime, but some of the other claims are a bit...ridiculous. I mean, some of the claims are of the type, "I don't understand what is going on?!" How is this any different then, let's say, the first episode of Baccano? Maybe it's because I have no knowledge of the game but, from just this first episode, I believe its reputation is barring people from even beginning to think there might be a story. After all, there is a reason that fanservice is showing up in more and more anime; it sells. So clearly, people do enjoy it even if they don't admit it.
Most of the posts seem to hate/love an anime's first episode based on different criteria than I rate on, I guess. Some things I noticed that heavily influence decisions are studios, seiyuu, directors and other "background" stuff. I guess it is a valid way to gauge an anime, since generally their quality (or lack of) doesn't improve/degrade too much from series to series and neither does the genre. So, if you like one production, there is a high likelihood of you also liking the next one. I guess I'm not experienced enough in this category to give much insight on which studios are good/bad, and it all seems like gibberish to me when I look at other posts.
I guess judging anime based on those criteria isn't bad; just different then what I look at. The only 2 real things that I rate on are plot potential and drawing style. I realized that the drawing style is a huge factor; if I don't like what I'm looking at, it is hard to watch something just setting up. I would think plot potential would be a big thing that more people would judge on, but I actually don't see it much. It is this anticipation on what you believe will happen that can really differentiate these first episode posts. I mean most the episode is introduction so only other thing you can write about is "background" things or other people's opinions. It feels kind of wrong to base posts mainly on past success of those involved and leave out future potential where you can really show a difference.
After a long rant, I really just had some random incoherent thoughts about all these first episode posts appearing and decided to comment. Actually, maybe it was just me getting tired of reading the same thing over and over again.
~Pearz
