Programming Notes for September
Last week marked a major milestone for The Manga Critic: my 100th post! Looking over the last five months of reviews, news, and articles, I’ve decided to make a few tweaks to the site (mostly cosmetic) and introduce some new, recurring features. One change I’ve been contemplating: adding a rating system for reviews. I have my own feelings on the subject, but I want to hear what you think: Do you prefer grades? stars? numbers? Or do you find rating systems too arbitrary or prejudicial to be helpful? Inquiring minds want to know!
RESULTS OF THE FUMI YOSHINAGA POLL
Back in August, I asked readers to name their favorite Fumi Yoshinaga series. Not surprisingly, The Antique Bakery’s mixture of tasty food and hot guys proved immensely popular, but Flower of Life and Ooku: the Inner Chamber also made strong showings:
- The Antique Bakery: 35%
- Flower of Life: 24%
- Ooku: The Inner Chamber: 20%
- Ichigenme… The First Class is Civil Law: 12%
- Gerard & Jacques: 6%
- The Moon & Sandals: 2%
I was surprised to see, however, that y’all dissed Yoshinaga’s short stories and one-shots; no one voted for Don’t Say Anymore, Darling, Garden Dreams, Lovers in the Night, Solfege, or Truly, Kindly. I can’t say any of these titles topped my “best of” list, either, but I thought that someone fancied Solfege or Lovers in the Night more than Flower of Life. Shows you what I know!
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION AND LINKS
Last month was an exceptionally busy one at Good Comics for Kids. As part of our Summer Reading Challenge, I posted reviews of several books that have been lingering in my to-do pile for months: Biker Girl and Rock-and-Roll Love, two tween-friendly romances by Misako Rocks!; Astronaut Dad and First in Space, two graphic novels with an obvious tie-in to the 1969 lunar landing; and Fashion Kitty, a cute, three-volume series about a cat who rescues friends from their own worst sartorial impulses. I also reviewed the first volume of Jeremy Love’s beautiful, haunting Bayou, and revived the long-dormant Good Manga for Kids column with a look at three manga for the under-twelve crowd: ChocoMimi, Dragon Ball: The Adventure Begins!, and The Lapis Lazuli Crown.
Other recent manga reviews at Good Comics for Kids:
- Lori Henderson on Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho, Vol. 1
- Snow Wildsmith on Cirque du Freak: The Manga, Vol. 1
- Eva Volin on Fruits Basket, Vols. 1-23
- Snow Wildsmith on The History of the West Wing
- Snow Wildsmith on Utahime: The Songstress
And don’t forget to check out Eva and Snow’s interview with Traci Todd, editor of the VIZKids manga imprint. Click here for part one; click here for part two.
I don’t know if I could ever institute a rating system, because they’re so concrete. I like a certain amount of plausible deniability in my critical absolutism.
Hee!
I’ve vacillated on this issue several times. When I was at PCS, I disliked assigning letter grades to the books I reviewed, as many folks (especially those under the age of 30) viewed anything less than a “B” as a complete kiss-off. Chalk it up to grade inflation, I guess. On the other hand, I feel like my reviews look a little naked without something that quickly summarizes how I feel about a book… If I didn’t think I’d get slapped with a copyright infringement suit, I could see a tomato rating as an appealing alternative.
I have to say, I do like some visual cue to let me know how much the reviewer really liked the book. Straight reviews can be ambiguous about what the reviewer really thought, especially on those “Meh” titles.
Good point, Lori, and something I hadn’t considered. Those “meh” titles are sometimes hard to pin down in words.
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I’m a purist for my own stuff, so I never bother with ratings. The farthest I’m willing to go for me is a “Read/Don’t Read” scale. It’s simple, it gets the point across, and no one gets mad when you say something is average.
I vote no ratings, though. Ratings scales tend to lead to people asking why you rated X four stars when you gave Y four and a half. They seem like a shortcut, and while I can understand their appeal, they totally aren’t for me. I’d rather read an explanation, rather than a shortcut.
Your comments definitely jive with my experience–whenever I gave something a “C,” you’d think I’d said it was worse than Glitter. I wasn’t planning to substitute ratings for explanations (I imagined them as a supplement), but I can definitely see how folks might stop reading after seeing a grade/star/number, especially if they disagreed with my opinion.
Thanks for your two cents, David!
For me I see ratings as a short summary of the overall grade of the review. The review itself is what helps give reason as to why such and such was given such and such. I like and do a five star system since I feel it sums up all the great, bad, and in between.
I agree that it’s sometimes hard to get across the idea that a C isn’t necessarily awful—it likely had some redeeming qualities if I gave it a C!—but I still like letter grades. Like Lori said, it’s like a visual cue. Sometimes I might not have read a particular book yet and want to get an idea about how a reviewer I trust felt about it without actually reading the review quite yet and getting spoiled. Ratings are very handy for that.
@Jules: Nice website! I found it interesting that you put the rating at the end of the review? Is that strategic, or is it a reflection of the WordPress theme’s set-up?
@Michelle: I definitely use ratings the same way–I find my local movie critic’s rating a helpful barometer for deciding whether or not I want to read the accompanying review, especially for movies I’m not sure I want to see.
Thanks. I put the ratings at the end for strategic reasons so people can browse the rest of the review.
To me, the most useful part of a rating system is figuring out if the reviewer actually likes something. It’s obvious when a review is overwhelmingly positive, but for ‘meh’ reviews it’s not so easy, and occasionally even pans are a bit hard to parse because the reviewer is being too polite.
I put in the poll a thumbs up/thumbs down system, but any binary system would do. Maybe you could conceive of a binary system specific to manga. The binary system gives the most clarity as to whether, on a gut level, a reviewer actually likes something, and I can get all of the nuances and shades of like/dislike by reading the full review.
I strongly dislike the grading system, because (to me) a grade is a sign of approval or disapproval, and art should aspire to something a bit different.
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Sarah: Thanks for contributing a different (but welcome!) perspective to the discussion. I’d contemplated a “Read/Skim/Toss” rating system (similar to the one that Time magazine employs), but I can definitely see the appeal of something even simpler. It worked for Siskel and Ebert, after all!
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