That’s the main problem, in my opinion.  Too many conversations about entertainment boil down to a conflicting, “If you don’t like it, you’re wrong.”/”Fuck you.” argument.  It’s okay to like something, it’s okay to write the most shallow article about it, it’s even okay to write a really, really dense article on the topic, but I hate it when people are criticized for having one view instead of another.  There are audiences for all kinds of criticism and discussion out there, and it would be nice if everyone could realize that fact.  It would also be nice if people realized there’s no “right” way to do anything, only a series of solutions that come with their respective strengths and weaknesses.  It would also be nice if I could get a job…

…Anyway, great article.  I look forward to reading more of your work in the future, moritheil.

Conceptually, I find that this is a satisfactory reason at the broadest level as well as on the personal, practical level – it’s good to have a variety of views in reviews because otaku themselves have a variety of tastes.

What I’m trying to say is, while a person churning out university-level essays on anime shouldn’t expect to reach DarkMirage’s level of traffic, the writer shouldn’t be ashamed either. One look at Super Fani is all you really need: their information is inappropriate in terms of audience and it wouldn’t appeal to most anime fans, but it does appeal to some, and those are the people that will continue to read them. I guess it’s a long and drawn out way of saying “write what you want, and somewhere, someone will enjoy it.”

It doesn’t really behoove you to comment: you could demonstrate your approach to criticism by practicing it.

Anyway, I think you’re quite right that the audience matters, but I’m not sure I’ve grasped from this what you think the purpose of criticism is, and whether you’re discussing criticism that’s primarily aesthetic or primarily analytic.

rollchan, I would not want to stop the Haruhiists.  They don’t make the blogosphere boring either.

IKnight, I’m flattered that you take an interest in my work. It’s true that I only have one Anime Diet review on file, but surely the four examples of past work linked to in my opening entry count for something.  And of course I’ll have more articles as the days go by.

As for this article, I don’t intend to state that criticism has one proper purpose, nor would I propose to defend such a viewpoint.  My stance is more existential.

“But finding ten thousand otaku marching in goose-step makes for a very boring blogosphere. It is in debate, in trying to explain ourselves to others who do not share our views, that we reach beyond a superficial description of our likes and dislikes.”


—Kind of. But if Haruhi-ists are on the loose, well, you can’t stop them. They like it. :D

“Our “problem” – if you wish to call hundreds of shut-ins discovering that other people who are just as passionate about anime as they are can and do have different tastes “a problem” – is that we have no cues for context”


—Maybe. But I just oso (sometimes) hate mecha-nerds. No offense to such people if they ever read this. It’s just that, well… I’ll just shutup.