Member
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2005
- Messages
- 4,312
I'll be upfront, with this. I dislike reviews. I read them now and again to see people's reactions to things, but only for something I've either already read/watched or for something I never intend to read/watch ever.
I feel like they don't account for the natural cynicism that sets in when your job is to watch/read stuff week in and week out, to say nothing of when the reviewer is the odd man out on a specific work. (IE, it rubs them the wrong way, even though most enjoy it.)
What made me ask this question is just a moment ago I spotted a review for the superb anime Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood on a very well-known website. It was reviewing Part 4 of the series, which is where things start speeding towards the finale. While I haven't finished the series, I'm past that point so I gave it the once-over, and it was yet another time where I was glad that I don't have any stock in reviews.
Actually deciding to try a series who's first 14 episodes you already saw as 25 episodes seven years ago is a hard decision, and it took a number of people telling me how amazing it was before I finally took the plunge. A review like that, which wasn't particularly bad, just very lukewarm, would've made me just skip it.
That's just a specific example, but I can think of dozens of others. (CBR's The Buy Pile is a good example of what I mean. That dude barely likes anything.) I get what a review's purpose was, and as early as ten years back, I can see why they were necessary. But now...
It may be true that 90% of things either suck or just aren't for you...but there's so MUCH stuff out there now that the remaining ten percent is still probably too much for you to get through. (At least if your interests are as varied as mine...video games, anime, comic books, cartoons, television, music....) You would do better just mentioning what's great and ignoring entirely what sucks. Let the cream rise to the top.
But, I doubt everyone else looks at it like me. Are there any reviewers you like, or do you dislike them all?
I feel like they don't account for the natural cynicism that sets in when your job is to watch/read stuff week in and week out, to say nothing of when the reviewer is the odd man out on a specific work. (IE, it rubs them the wrong way, even though most enjoy it.)
What made me ask this question is just a moment ago I spotted a review for the superb anime Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood on a very well-known website. It was reviewing Part 4 of the series, which is where things start speeding towards the finale. While I haven't finished the series, I'm past that point so I gave it the once-over, and it was yet another time where I was glad that I don't have any stock in reviews.
Actually deciding to try a series who's first 14 episodes you already saw as 25 episodes seven years ago is a hard decision, and it took a number of people telling me how amazing it was before I finally took the plunge. A review like that, which wasn't particularly bad, just very lukewarm, would've made me just skip it.
That's just a specific example, but I can think of dozens of others. (CBR's The Buy Pile is a good example of what I mean. That dude barely likes anything.) I get what a review's purpose was, and as early as ten years back, I can see why they were necessary. But now...
It may be true that 90% of things either suck or just aren't for you...but there's so MUCH stuff out there now that the remaining ten percent is still probably too much for you to get through. (At least if your interests are as varied as mine...video games, anime, comic books, cartoons, television, music....) You would do better just mentioning what's great and ignoring entirely what sucks. Let the cream rise to the top.
But, I doubt everyone else looks at it like me. Are there any reviewers you like, or do you dislike them all?