Nick Costanzo
Oct 8, 2007, 10:36 pm
* * * Comixfan Forums THREAD * * *
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
THREAD : MANGAMERICA #19: FANLISTINGS KILLED THE WEB SHRINES
Started at Dec 16, 2006 07:15 pm by raul grau
Visit at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=40888
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Post 1]
Author : raul grau
Date : Dec 16, 2006 07:15 pm
Title : MANGAMERICA #19: FANLISTINGS KILLED THE WEB SHRINES
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/mangamerica.jpg" hspace=10 align=left border=0 alt="Mangamerica logo">By Marcina Riley, fantasyfiv@yahoo.com
Fanlistings Killed the Web Shrines
When I used to find out about a new anime or manga, I would check Google for websites that had information about the series. In fact, I used to frequent shrines, either dedicated to an individual character or to the series itself. These sites were loaded with useful information that helped me make my decision on what to purchase, which, at that time, was highly important. Anime and manga was expensive. One simply did not purchase it on a whim. However, these days the process is somewhat different. I have to rely heavily on review sites, which I don't always find of great quality, Wikipedia, or, on very rare occasion, a fanlisting.
Review sites are more abundant than ever these days. However, I find that maybe they are a little too abundant. Now, I realize that this site produces reviews, but there are several reasons why Comixfan is above many of our other competitors, and the most important reason is that the quality of the reviews themselves. I used to be a reviewer, so I know that the editors and reviewers here make sure that their reviews are reviews, and not actually summaries of the series, which I find elsewhere more often than not. I will say though, that the quality of most comic book review sites is better in general than most anime sites. Again, this tends to be because anime sites provide more of a general overview of the series, not a real explanation as to why it is good or bad, and then a quick rating of the series. A few years back, Comixfan eliminated the quick rating all together, which is another reason why I like our format better. The site is a forum, which allows for comments from other users. Many anime review sites offer single, non-interactive pages. Basically, if the reviewer does give only a summary of the series, a reader has nothing to compare that to, while a forum site allows for comments from different perspectives.
To be completely fair, I don't hate all anime review sites. Some give honest opinions. I used to read reviews from another online fanzine, only for anime and manga. It was pretty good, not interactive, but would often pair two different reviews together for the same review. However, several years ago, they changed their format to be more standard with most anime review sites. As it stands, I only know of two sites that offer really good reviews. Unfortunately, I find one site to be too slanted in their reviews, and the other, which does allow for multiple reviews of a series, is a genre-based anime/manga review site, so would not work for every reader. I suppose that I could go looking for more choices, but after seeing so many that are essentially clones of the others, I stopped. Now, I just watch them take up space in anime site listing boards.
Some part of me longs for the olds days, when Anipike actually listed new fan sites and not just anime reviews of that particular series. Of course, that's before Anipike got its new look, and Ryan Mathews still wrote his column. I remember waiting each month to read the new updates. I recall sending in letters as well. The site was the anime search engine, forget Google, MSN, or Yahoo, of course, back then it was Lycos, Excite, and Yahoo, but I digress. Anipike was the largest anime listings board. At least, it was the largest that I knew of. If I wanted to know anything about a new series, I went there. And while there were other sites that offered much more filtered and better quality sites, Anipike at least had a long list of choices. And I did use it. I got into Magic Knight Rayearth after finding a really good Umi Shrine. The owner put so much feeling into her shrine that I just had to see the series to see what she saw.
I talked about fanlistings briefly, but to give an explanation as to what they are, fanlistings list fans of a particular thing, which could include (but are not limited to) a series, characters, individual episodes, relationships, songs, particular seasons of a television series, actors, or books. They simply list the fans by name. Sometimes the creator of said website will grace it with a brief introduction of the series or who characters are, but that isn't not necessary though. They can also include links to websites about the material on the fanlisting. I get lucky on occasion and find a really good link off of a fanlisting, but such links are somewhat gems, rare in the sea of web surfing. Fanlistings are obviously not my main provider of information.
I tend to use Wikipedia only if the series has been out for a bit. Brand new series aren't covered as well as earlier ones, so they can be a bit difficult to find information on. But for the most part, Wiki does the job. It generally lists the original animation company, how long the run was, if there's a manga series version, and provides a bit of summary. Again, I'm not hugely a fan of just summaries, but if I want to spoil myself, Wiki generally has that too. It also lists who acted in a series, so I at least know the voices, as well as a little bit of trivia. I like knowing if there was a manga or a novel or what not that accompanies such series. Generally, manga is a bit cheaper, so I can use it to kind of test the waters. The information isn't always totally accurate, but it's mostly unbiased, so a reader isn't dealing with just an opinion. It's not the best, but at least it's more information that a general clone summary will give. Furthermore, if an episode or issue is missed, a reader can find out what had taken place, which can be really useful.
I realize that the web is constantly changing and growing, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The anime and manga community has also vastly changed. However, I can't help longing for multitudes of websites dedicated to a single series. I guess that's what it's like to wake up and realize that I'm an older fan. Fans these days have much easier and cheaper access than I did. Video stores and libraries carry selections of anime and manga. A person doesn't have to go through pulling teeth to get that material. I won't go into how I feel about many of these new fans, at least not in this article. While I think that it's good that some things have changed, I can still miss those days, even if just a little.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Marcina Riley is not old, and anyone who calls her old will die, thank you very much.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The messages has been download from Comixfan Forums at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums at 05.10.2007 10:37:41
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
THREAD : MANGAMERICA #19: FANLISTINGS KILLED THE WEB SHRINES
Started at Dec 16, 2006 07:15 pm by raul grau
Visit at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=40888
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Post 1]
Author : raul grau
Date : Dec 16, 2006 07:15 pm
Title : MANGAMERICA #19: FANLISTINGS KILLED THE WEB SHRINES
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/mangamerica.jpg" hspace=10 align=left border=0 alt="Mangamerica logo">By Marcina Riley, fantasyfiv@yahoo.com
Fanlistings Killed the Web Shrines
When I used to find out about a new anime or manga, I would check Google for websites that had information about the series. In fact, I used to frequent shrines, either dedicated to an individual character or to the series itself. These sites were loaded with useful information that helped me make my decision on what to purchase, which, at that time, was highly important. Anime and manga was expensive. One simply did not purchase it on a whim. However, these days the process is somewhat different. I have to rely heavily on review sites, which I don't always find of great quality, Wikipedia, or, on very rare occasion, a fanlisting.
Review sites are more abundant than ever these days. However, I find that maybe they are a little too abundant. Now, I realize that this site produces reviews, but there are several reasons why Comixfan is above many of our other competitors, and the most important reason is that the quality of the reviews themselves. I used to be a reviewer, so I know that the editors and reviewers here make sure that their reviews are reviews, and not actually summaries of the series, which I find elsewhere more often than not. I will say though, that the quality of most comic book review sites is better in general than most anime sites. Again, this tends to be because anime sites provide more of a general overview of the series, not a real explanation as to why it is good or bad, and then a quick rating of the series. A few years back, Comixfan eliminated the quick rating all together, which is another reason why I like our format better. The site is a forum, which allows for comments from other users. Many anime review sites offer single, non-interactive pages. Basically, if the reviewer does give only a summary of the series, a reader has nothing to compare that to, while a forum site allows for comments from different perspectives.
To be completely fair, I don't hate all anime review sites. Some give honest opinions. I used to read reviews from another online fanzine, only for anime and manga. It was pretty good, not interactive, but would often pair two different reviews together for the same review. However, several years ago, they changed their format to be more standard with most anime review sites. As it stands, I only know of two sites that offer really good reviews. Unfortunately, I find one site to be too slanted in their reviews, and the other, which does allow for multiple reviews of a series, is a genre-based anime/manga review site, so would not work for every reader. I suppose that I could go looking for more choices, but after seeing so many that are essentially clones of the others, I stopped. Now, I just watch them take up space in anime site listing boards.
Some part of me longs for the olds days, when Anipike actually listed new fan sites and not just anime reviews of that particular series. Of course, that's before Anipike got its new look, and Ryan Mathews still wrote his column. I remember waiting each month to read the new updates. I recall sending in letters as well. The site was the anime search engine, forget Google, MSN, or Yahoo, of course, back then it was Lycos, Excite, and Yahoo, but I digress. Anipike was the largest anime listings board. At least, it was the largest that I knew of. If I wanted to know anything about a new series, I went there. And while there were other sites that offered much more filtered and better quality sites, Anipike at least had a long list of choices. And I did use it. I got into Magic Knight Rayearth after finding a really good Umi Shrine. The owner put so much feeling into her shrine that I just had to see the series to see what she saw.
I talked about fanlistings briefly, but to give an explanation as to what they are, fanlistings list fans of a particular thing, which could include (but are not limited to) a series, characters, individual episodes, relationships, songs, particular seasons of a television series, actors, or books. They simply list the fans by name. Sometimes the creator of said website will grace it with a brief introduction of the series or who characters are, but that isn't not necessary though. They can also include links to websites about the material on the fanlisting. I get lucky on occasion and find a really good link off of a fanlisting, but such links are somewhat gems, rare in the sea of web surfing. Fanlistings are obviously not my main provider of information.
I tend to use Wikipedia only if the series has been out for a bit. Brand new series aren't covered as well as earlier ones, so they can be a bit difficult to find information on. But for the most part, Wiki does the job. It generally lists the original animation company, how long the run was, if there's a manga series version, and provides a bit of summary. Again, I'm not hugely a fan of just summaries, but if I want to spoil myself, Wiki generally has that too. It also lists who acted in a series, so I at least know the voices, as well as a little bit of trivia. I like knowing if there was a manga or a novel or what not that accompanies such series. Generally, manga is a bit cheaper, so I can use it to kind of test the waters. The information isn't always totally accurate, but it's mostly unbiased, so a reader isn't dealing with just an opinion. It's not the best, but at least it's more information that a general clone summary will give. Furthermore, if an episode or issue is missed, a reader can find out what had taken place, which can be really useful.
I realize that the web is constantly changing and growing, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The anime and manga community has also vastly changed. However, I can't help longing for multitudes of websites dedicated to a single series. I guess that's what it's like to wake up and realize that I'm an older fan. Fans these days have much easier and cheaper access than I did. Video stores and libraries carry selections of anime and manga. A person doesn't have to go through pulling teeth to get that material. I won't go into how I feel about many of these new fans, at least not in this article. While I think that it's good that some things have changed, I can still miss those days, even if just a little.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Marcina Riley is not old, and anyone who calls her old will die, thank you very much.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The messages has been download from Comixfan Forums at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums at 05.10.2007 10:37:41