Writing a good review
#1
After an annoyingly vague and and general reviews for sets I'm interested in, I thought I'd like to point out some good things that will benefit everyone.

I'll just jump into it.

-In terms of video. Simply saying 'very good' and leaving it at that isn't good enough. If there was any pixelation, compression blocks, or and other video defects be specific on them. It's ok not to know what source it's from (VHS, DVD, etc.) but if you do know, do tell about it.

Say if all the openings and ending are there, and if they appear before every episode or not.

Does the video look to dark? Is it too bright, over saturated, or color bleeding? Does it exist through all of the movie/show, or just areas?

--Audio
This is okay not to be able to say much about, you can't get very descriptive. But if there is something such as pops or hisses, instead of mentioning it once, say how long it lasts, and how noticable it is.

Usually audio isn't every really a problem, but it can be and depending on how it's wrong, be descriptive on it.

---Subtitles
Everything is on them. The grammer is important, the punctuations can be, and the numbers of sentence breaks are too.

Even go into the font. You can tell how old a release is (and in general it's quality) by the font sometimes. When someone says AV used an ugly typewrter block font, and the subtitle rating was low, I know EXACTLY what type of translations they mean.

Say if sentences are broken into two lines, if names are correct, the colors of the subtitles (I hate white. Really hate it.)

Timing is another issue. If translations are perfect but timing is way off, that can ruin a set very badly.

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Others::

Menus-
Describe the menus. What language, movies or not? How good was it?

Chapter Points-
Everyone hates one chapter point an episode. Does this set have them? Or is there more, and how many more? Are they well placed or may as well be done at random?

Extras-
Smile Are there any? They're always fun, and it's always nice to know if a set has them.

Packaging-
How good did it look? Was there incorrect information, blurry spots, and other abnormalities?

Was it a gatefold, or individual DVDs? Was there reversable covers? What language was it all in?

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Another annoying thing is when you have a set, but don't review it. On trade lists, people have many titles not yet reviewed, but they've watched before. Reviewing helps everyone, and can save people from a bad buy, or lead them to a good one. Take 10 minutes out of your day to help other people for years (?) to come.

I admit, when I was a beginner, I didn't write very good reviews. But I've gone back and edited them, and even added screenshots to at least 4/5th of all the DVDs I still have. My Level is really high now (Mysterious God is my username), and now people can get a glimpse at what they're gonna be buying or staying away from.

'k, can anyone tell I was bored? Big Grin Just keep it in mind next time you review.
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#2
Quote:Another annoying thing is when you have a set, but don't review it.


Err, I'm sorry. I have over 120 DVDs, I'm not gonna spend all my free time writing reviews for ALL of them.
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#3
Can at least do a few that don't have reviews already. Got any pics of your collection, BTW? That'd be cool to see.
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#4
I'm usually not to descriptive about the video, I can't really put it into detail. I just know if it's good or bad.

I usually take screenshots of the packaging, the menus, high motion scenes and subtitles lines with alot of text so the person can judge for their own
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#5
Quote:Originally posted by Suzakuseikun
Err, I'm sorry. I have over 120 DVDs, I'm not gonna spend all my free time writing reviews for ALL of them.


That's a poor excuse, I've got well over 300 anime dvds alone, and I take the time to write reviews for some of them, and I'm just as busy as anybody. I agree with my man Master here, geez help a poor guy out before he buys some crappy dvd.
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#6
Well if a set has 15+ reviews then there really is no point of writing a review unless you add something new.

What I don't like is people who review a set only after watching an episode or two, the quality of some sets really degrade during the latter part of the set.
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#7
Quote:Originally posted by evilomar
That's a poor excuse, I've got well over 300 anime dvds alone, and I take the time to write reviews for some of them, and I'm just as busy as anybody. I agree with my man Master here, geez help a poor guy out before he buys some crappy dvd.


I have a life. Kthnx.
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#8
Quote:Originally posted by Suzakuseikun
Stuff


I agree. I have a bunch of DVDs I haven't even watched (a lot of which are on my trade list), not to mention a lot of DVDs I watched long ago and can't remember specifics.
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#9
Great stuff to start with. I hate buying something someone said is good and then fing out its Crap- or they didnt see the whole thing- maybe just an episode or two. How many times have you watched an anime where it looks like they got tired of it and ended it quick to get it over with -- or it looks like someone else wrote the last three eps - let us know. also if you can state wether its a TV Rip . thanks for the great job !!!
Big Grin Puzzleguy
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#10
Quote:Originally posted by Suzakuseikun
I have a life. Kthnx.


Who doesn't?
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#11
Suzaku, dvd_master is asking people to write nice and comprehensive reviews, he is not asking u specifically to write 5 paragraph essays on every dvd in your collection,

Please get over yourself, there are people that own far more dvds that you do and do take the time to write a review or 2 for dvds that dont have reviews or that need to be reviewed better than reviews that are added.


dvd_master: I think u got a good point there, maybe we'll compile a small guide that people can refer to when writing a review, to remember to comment about the extras, the menus, etc etc etc
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#12
Rephrase: I own many DVDs. Most of which are R1s. All of the HK DVDs I own have good reviews. The only thing I could do is take screenshots and submit them. Perhaps I shall do this. Sound fair?

I can be egotistical, that's for certain :P
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#13
Quote:Originally posted by Suzakuseikun

I can be egotistical, that's for certain Tongue


Takes a big man to admit that.

Sure screenshots help alot, sometimes aside from good video audio and subs I like to see the art, since some art I just dont like (CLAMP)
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#14
I just gotta remember which program takes screencaps with subs. NVDVD doesn't, but I believe power DVD does. Maybe I'll get some screens up for Z Gundam and the like later.
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#15
Well, I have over 300 DVDs too, mostly R1s and some imports. I have been trying to post reviews for the import sets which are "reviewless" but I never could. Whenever I click on 'add review', it redirects me to the same product page over and over again. Sad *shrug*
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