Behind The Nihon Review

So it’s been like two months since the last post, which is a real shame since there was a real enthusiasm about this blog originally. I think I speak for a lot of us when I say real life has been the big culprit. It really is difficult to try to maintain a site like this which requires constant contributions and a huge commitment from staff, and we all certainly have external things that either take priority or that we’d rather be doing. I, myself, am a post-grad student in physics (read the outstanding crappy* comic, Piled Higher and Deeper, to get an idea of what my life entails right now) into my second year, so my workload is getting bigger and bigger, and I’m consistently doing 50+ hour weeks (for shitty money, I might add, but that’s how academia and science is in anywhere that isn’t the United States). Not that that cuts into my anime watching time, and I’m used to having a *ahem* limited social life, but, for me, it means that the site doesn’t get as much attention as it would otherwise. We all have our excuses (although I laugh at people like Shadowmage and Tamashii who are only in the first two years of their undergrad, which I thought was a bludge), but the fact is, this shit is hard unless you have no life.

So, the blog suffers. Hell, even our review output is suffering, though still somehow remaining head above water thanks to people like Shadowmage (who is the most active retiree I’ve ever come across). We’re on about eight reviews a month at the moment, while, in the past we’ve hit double that at times. That’s not bad, I’ve no complaints about that. We’ve got a few too many inactive reviewers for my liking, but the ones that are active are good. Outstanding, in fact.

The blog is probably the most superfluous component of the site. If there’s a part of the site that can afford to take afford hit in activity, it’s this. My hope with this was that it’d be a good attention grabber. People see a headline from wherever, read a good op-ed on a random anime-related topic, scratch the surface of the site a bit and realize that there’s a healthy library of reviews filled with good recommendations and an active community of well-read anime nerds. That’s the dream. I still can’t see any reason why, with a bit of effort on our part, it can’t happen. Time and dedication, as well. Those are the killers.
To be totally honest, the cyanoacry incident hurt us. While his criticisms were, to a degree, apt (and I’d actually say helpful in some cases), none of them were unequivocal reasons for stopping review writing. But, it forced all of us to justify to ourselves why we were writing reviews in the first place. Some of us couldn’t. It did do some good, though, by highlighting the fact that all of us can improve our writing and must constantly strive to make it interesting for our readers, else there’s not reason for them to bother. I think it’s safe to say that, up to that point, my own writing was becoming dull and formulaic, and it’s something I’m watching for a little more nowadays. But again, constantly trying to improve one’s writing and make it interesting and entertaining isn’t trivial. Writing takes effort, but writing well takes even more effort.

As much as I can’t really blame anyone for it, the current set up is unsatisfactory. Having an environment that’s conducive to lots of output is important, and, as head of the site (that’s official now that hosting fees are coming from my hip pocket), it’s my job to establish such an environment. People need some sort of incentive to do something, or else they won’t do it. I used to think passion for whatever we were writing for was enough to drive people, but I’m starting to come around that this is naive, particularly considering that a big part of reviewing (at least in a way that’s fair) is holding the material at arm’s length, which limits the role “passion” can play in one’s writing. The blog was supposed to offer the other incentive: ego. Blog posts have something review pages don’t have: comments. Comments start discussions, but, moreso than that, comments are direct evidence that people are reading what you have to write, digesting and contemplating your opinion to the point that they can, well, comment on it. In other words, it’s an instant, cheap, ego boost, since knowing that someone actually cares about what you have to say is one of the biggest pay-offs for a writer (well, for writers like us, anyway, that don’t get paid a cent for a single word). The interaction makes the writing more worthwhile, more exciting, I think. Yes, people may think it’s a petty reason for writing. It’s still a reason, or, at the very least, a part of the reason and/or a payoff for the whole process.

So, I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s time to integrate this blog with the front page, and to totally reinvent The Nihon Review, to make it resemble a more traditional blog. We wouldn’t get rid of the review pages, let alone the current reviews, since having such a vast number of reviews at fingertips is a real convenience. But, maybe reviews of recent titles should have post counterparts, which would be open to comments. Like, maybe a preview of the review in post form when it’s first published, with a link to the full page, and a section for comments down the bottom like a standard post. People can then read the new review and, if they so desire, they can comment on it and, thus, engage with the review writer (and vice versa). It wouldn’t fix all the problems with reviewer inactivity, but suddenly there’s another incentive for reviewers to express their opinion, and a better chance for them to see that their opinion is being appreciated or, at the very least, read. And it’d make things more open for feedback, which I’d imagine would be quite welcome among reviewers. As well as this, the op-ed pieces that generally find themselves on this page would appear on the front page (which gets more visits anyway), which would make things easier for both the writers and the readers, since they wouldn’t have to lurk an obscure corner of the site to find these articles.

So, basically, what do people think? I’ve brought this up on occassion among other staff members, but we haven’t really discussed or thought about this thoroughly. Is the current set up fine, or are we due for a change in approach? Would this work, or are we messing with something that’s fine? Are the reviews even interesting, or are these types of articles that appear on the blog even interesting? (Don’t say neither are, my ego couldn’t take it. :p) I’m really interested in seeing what people have to say about this, both staff members and our regular loyals (all three of you :p).

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*All webcomics are crappy. Some are just less crappy then others. Some are even good… but they’re still crappy.