I have now been reviewing some shows on an episode by episode basis for weeks, WEEKS, so I’m fairly sure I now know everything there is to know about this particular process. I’ve thought about the differences of these types of posts as opposed to full series reviews and I figured those of you who have never tried your hand at both and wonder how they compare, desperately want to hear my thoughts on it. You know, cause I’m an expert and all…
For your personal convenience, I’ve even gone ahead and structured my thoughts into a handy dandy list complete with 😊 advantage and ☹ disadvantage visual guides. Enjoy, comment, let me know everything I’ve missed, forgotten or not realized yet! There will be lots…
😊 Shorter works are easier to analyze
One of the things I’ve found in general is that the longer the series, the more daunting I find it to review. Not only is it hard for me to find space in a single post to fit all my thoughts in but it’s simply hard for me to organize everything I feel about a long running series in my own head. I almost always forget something that was important to me and the end results tends to be incomplete in my mind.
However, the more restraint breadth of single episodes allows me to go into minute detail if I want to without it getting out of hand. I can touch on everything I want to mention, even describe the action when necessary and not worry about forgetting anything or making it overly confusing for a reader that may not have seen the show. I don’t need to pick and choose specific elements to concentrate on.
☹ They can be too easy
The downside of course is that occasionally an episode is meant simply to be a set up or a filler and this can make writing an entire post on it a huge chore. I usually end up inventing something or wandering onto a different subject but I only review a few shows on episodic basis. I have to imagine that doing this for half a dozen shows every season can get incredibly tiresome when the episode itself cannot be relied on for inspiration.
😊 They help your enjoyment of anime
Even shows I would not have had the patience to sit through under normal (binging) circumstances are so much easier to take a single episode at the time, especially when I get to make fun of them in a post right after. It’s the hate watch effect and although it’s not for everyone, it’s still better than nothing.
☹ They hinder your enjoyment of shows
When watching an entire series, if it’s a good one, there’s a point when I get into it and forget about reviewing it. I might still scribble notes now and then, but I don’t feel the need to hold every detail in my head and study it like it was a job. I know I can simply think back on the experience as a whole when I write my post.
This doesn’t work so well for single episodes. If I forgot a plot point, it’s pretty embarrassing and changes everything, even if it may have no impact in the series as a whole it is likely still important for the single episode in which it features. The shows become fragmented in my mind instead of the single unified experience they are meant to be.
😊 ☹ Limited screencaps and media available
I’ve mentioned this a whole lot, but new shows will have little to no readily available media (clips, pics, gifs…) for my particular post format this means creating a gif per episode and screencaps galore. I really, really, enjoy doing this but that may not be the case for everyone and I can’t deny it’s time consuming.
Basically, if you enjoy this then it’s a plus. If you dislike writing, then you can draw people to your post with your unique and beautiful screencaps instead. Otherwise, it’s a setback that adds time and effort to every review you write.
😊 They are great for getting your blog discovered
We are watching three of the less hyped and popular shows this season, yet I get searches for them every single day. If the search terms on my WP stats are to be believed, 70% of all search engine traffic coming to my blog is due to the new season episode reviews. They are probably some of the best publicity for my blog.
☹ They require a demanding schedule
In order for these reviews to be of interest to readers, you need to publish them at least before the next episode is out. Otherwise what’s the point, and anyway dozens of others will have been published in the meantime. That means you have a few days to watch the episode, write a post, edit it, get the screencaps and publish the entire thing.
Personally, I have no issue with the amount of work involved, but in order to post every day, I schedule everything in advance. That way, days when I feel lazier and just want to play video games or something are offset by days where I’m super productive and manage to schedule 3 or 4 posts. You can’t really do this with episode reviews and I’m finding it challenging to keep up. HUGE props to those of you who do this for multiple shows every season!
😊 They get Views
Like I mentioned, these posts are popular. Even the shortest most offhand episodic reviews I’ve posted generally get more views than some of my detailed and lovingly crafted full season reviews.
The difference is rather impressive, to the point that I originally considered either adding episodic reviews as a regular feature to my blog (I may still do it with a single show per season) or even converting to that general format (I will not, see below…)
☹ They don’t generate much engagement
Even though a lot of people seem to be viewing them, or at least clicking through the page, they get a lot fewer comments. I understand why, in general, there just isn’t that much to say on any given episode. You are much more likely to have general thoughts on a series as a whole. But for me, the episode reviews fell a little lonely.
My personal experience has been that writing for single episodes is in fact much more akin to anime challenges, that give you a specific question to concentrate on, rather than full series reviews. You are commenting on a tiny little segment rather than the big picture so it limits you but also helps you stay focused.
I do enjoy the immediacy of sharing my thoughts with you guys right away and I like getting pictures for you. Once in a while I know exactly what image I want to use and it’s great being able to go get it for you guys. But I would miss my meandering odes to series I’ve loved as well as my ecstatic barely coherent tributes to series I’ve found ridiculous. I feel like I get to share more with you in those and although less people go out of their way to see these posts, those that do often give me a sign that they’ve read it and I truly appreciate that.
Out of curiosity, what do you guys actually enjoy reading more? Not only from me but in general? Have you tried writing both types of reviews? Is there a format you prefer?
I didn’t know that you are a gamer. What games do you play?
A lot. I finally bought a switch yestday so i can get to fire emblem. I was having fun with the latest borderlands. I still like a bit of overwatch from time to time…
I wanted to try OW on the pc but I feel like it’s hard to play. Have you ever tried Apex?
I have not. Is it fun?
WordPress inting on me.. it’s a great game, def try it!
Writing episodic reviews has been the main thing to getting me back into the habit of blogging. But yeah, I can only do this for a series that is 13 episodes or less.
I can’t imagine trying to tackle something like One Piece episode by episode… It would end up my life’s work…
I stopped doing episodic reviews a long time and you covered the reasons why i don’t enjoy them. They take the enjoyment for me when writing about a series and I’m watching seasonal anime less and less. My focus going towards more older content where my heart truly lies. Yeh episodic reviews bleh lol
It’s certainly not for everyone. I’m not sure if I’ll continue them myself
i guess i like to do final reviews instead of episodic. im just bad at keeping up with anime weekly and i also usually tend to lose interest in shows this way xD
I would read ace of diamond episode reviews from you – any day
lol don’t put ideas into my head!
I would dare… (do it… you know you want to…)
>_>…
I rarely read them, mostly because I’m behind on watching them myself. Maybe I’ll read them if the episode happens to be a particularly good one. I’ve tried writing episodic reviews myself by bundling two episodes together, but I found I was wasting so much time doing that when I could just write one big review and then write about a whole bunch of different stuff. It means I’m swamped writing stuff when the season ends, but I also get some free time during seasons to write more complicated things.
That’s true – the commitment is intense!
100th comment :p
and yes, doing weekly episodic posts is tiring. As someone that reviews anime in one go, this is new for me as well. It’s pretty fun though, not gonna lie
I’ve said it a few times – I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would. My ideal terms would be to review just one hilariously bad show a season…
I don’t do episodic reviews because i usually, usually being the key word here, don’t enjoy them as much as other posts. Basically it’s the same reason for why, If i ever had a YouTube channel, I would never unboxing videos. Also, I’d be afraid I wouldn’t have anything to say. If I do decide to ever do episodic reviews for a series, I think it will be for the next season of sao when it comes out. A little experiment if you will.
I’m enjoying doing them more than I thought I would, despite the downsides but I also never let having nothing to say stop me 😜
Very true, you always say something about something. In any case, everything i have read is entertaining, though i haven’t kept up with everything.
“You always say something about something” is fantastic. I’m thinking of making my blog’s tagline!
Feel free to! 😊
Really great post, Irina!
I especially related with your point on the schedule. The timing of episodic reviews is so important and I’ve learned over the past months that covering a show becomes less fun when you’re falling behind. There are a couple of shows in my backlog that I want to finish covering but I also fear that it might not be of interest for readers.
Oh but you’re following (and posting about) an insane amount of shows this season. I really don’t know how you are managing that. I can only speak for myself – but I’d be happy to read your slightly backlogged reviews.
I actually feel like five shows for coverage is a low number but given my personal life, I’m fine with that number for now.
Maybe I’ll get through the backlog. I’ve kind of been doing that with March Comes in Like a Lion though it helps that I happen to really, really love that show. Your encouragement is much appreciated though!
I’m terrible at watching anime, much less keeping up with it. I even signed up for Anime Planet to see if their anime challenges kick my butt to watch more, which it has done but still fairly low.
Episodic review sounds tough, everyone doing them is amazing. I especially remember that during Yuri on Ice there were some bloggers who did long posts with a lot of content per episode and I was incredibly surprised.
That said, I usually only read reviews, episodic or not, from shows or episodes I’ve watched already.
It’s interesting you get more views for episodic reviews, though less comments, I wonder where they’re coming from. Maybe non bloggers, or people that don’t have blogs, or maybe it’s from lazy people that just want to know all the spoilers. After all, Wikipedia has resumes for shows and episodes, I wouldn’t be surprised if many prefer to do this over having to spend time to watch it themselves.
I don’t really watch seasonal anime, though I’m trying to be better and watch at least 2 or 3, I’m kinda super backlogged 💀
I’d love to try episodic reviews, if they generated comments, I don’t care too much about views what I really want is discussion and comments but I’m realizing since I mostly talk about series from ages ago that everyone already jumped ships so I’m not gonna generate it ever 💀
Oh well, in the end you should do what you like and makes you feel inspired. You’re hardworking and you’ll make anything successful 💗
I don’t know I really like your *classic* anime posts. Some blogs get good comments on their episodic reviews but my personal experience is that you need a bit more substance to generate an actual conversation.
Mind you – I would probably love to see what you could do with the format!
Thank you for liking them 💗
The truth is older series of the last 5 years or so don’t get much response because by the time I write it’s been year’s and everything has already been said and done. I’ve made peace with that reality, because if even one person skipped it and gets curious to watch it I’ll be happy.
Me?! With episodic reviews?! I’d probably tank 😹 What you and Karandi do isn’t easy, requires a lot of discipline and analytical skills to pull good material for a review of one single episode. I tip my imaginary hat to you, since I’m mostly a binge watcher. But one day I’ll try it out, even if it’s just as an experience to see if
I like it 😄
You might surprise yourself! I also review mostly stuff That’s been out for a while so I know what you mean but it’s fine. There’s that particular feeling you get when you finally review a series you’ve really loved.
Haha, if I do surprise myself and end up liking it you do realize you’ll have birthed a demon 😝
Yes! And when someone replies saying they love the series or that they’ll watch because of me makes me so happy 😭💗
Firstly I admire everyone who ever writes an episodic review much more than they think.
The dedication!
The passion!
The schedules!
Wow!!
Ahem… anyway, I don’t do episodic reviews for two main reasons
>I don’t watch anime even a hundredth of the manga I read and
>I can’t write a review of ongoing manga (not can’t but don’t because then the best moment might not actually BE the best moment you know Rin-san?)
That said, I like reading episodic reviews because of the effort you can see on the screen. Remy-nii’s older episodic reviews for one had so many screenshots, I think I have never been more shocked by dedication XD
Karandi-san too has great episodic reviews and let’s not start about the Winter Games.
I have also, in the course of writing this comment, forgotten what I was trying to say in the first place….
Ok, I read your questions again, and yes I like reading episodic reviews, no I don’t write them myself and any format works as long as it isn’t too haphazard!
That’s it right?
*looks around* I think I had too much chocolate……..
chocolate is like happiness – doesn’t exists in too much format. D had amazing screencap game as well. I felt lie I had watched the episode
True D-san gave same great stuff!!
Hope he’s doing well….
I remember trying out Episodic review back in May/June, and even though I thought I would start doing it… I just couldn’t. The main reasons behind it is that I can’t keep it short enough and I can’t stop from binge watching. Overall reviews are actually favourable for binge watchers, but episodic? It was really hard to stop from clicking on the “Next Episode” button and use that time to start reviewing.
see I have run into that actual challenge since we are reviewing as they air but I would probably be the same as you
As someone who never ever does episodic reviews… You basically hit the points for why I don’t do them.
But but – I put some good points too….
B-But I don’t do episodic reviews because the bad outweighs the good for me D:
I am really glad that I am only do one episode review at a time, even if it’s not a show that a lot of people are watching, because I can take my time and analyze it as much as I want. I can’t see myself doing that for multiple shows at once.
As for format, I guess I follow the same general format all the time, but I’ve gotten pretty loose with it as time goes on. It all depends on content of the episode. I think I’ve finally gotten used to it, but it’s taken some time to figure out how I want to do it. And yeah, I think I am sticking with one episodic review for the foreseeable future.
Yours are a lot of fun to read and I think that you can stick with what you are doing at the moment in the future, or change it up however you want to. It’s up to you. I don’t think that anything I’ve said helps..
I hear you – 3 is too much for me. I think if I cut back to one I would do a better job. and Thanks Scott, it means a lot!
so um, i agree with it all, which is why I dont typically do it..but..umm…iri…you MUST tell me who that beautiful blonde-ish megane is under the subtitle: They don’t generate much engagement …the megane holding out a notebook in a very dramatic fashion…need to know…*cough* for science yenno.
Leave it to Zel to pinpoint the priorities! Akito from Bakuman (fun anime – better manga)
HAHAHA!! You know me too well
I learnt from trying to do episodic takes on seasonal shows that “being a free legal viewer of anime” and “being an episodic blogger” are mutually exclusive – you either have to get subscriptions to be fair to service subscribers, or wait and cop the lower viewcount/interaction count. I also mentioned at one point reviews aren’t my bread and butter since there’s lots of other people who specialise in them already (plus I’m never in a mindset for reviewing when I churn out a review, since enjoyment and experiencing a show should come first), so I’m in neither camp.
Like others have said, I do read series reviews and episodic reviews if I’ve seen/am watching the show though.
What I find comforting is that most people seem to read about shows they’re already familiar with. That’s good for me since my show descriptions have little connection to reality
I wonder if reviewing a series by arc rather than by episode might remove some of the time constraint problem. Then again, you would also lose out on some of the views and comments because while you ARE keeping up with it in the long-term, you aren’t coming out with a review each time a new episode comes out. Hmmm… Quite the conundrum.
I’ve never read episode-by-episode reviews, mostly because I read reviews either to see if I might be interested in a show or to gush over how much I like a series a positive review is going over, haha. I also never really saw much interest in watching live react videos. They’re simply too time-consuming for me. I can definitely understand the appeal if you’re an active part of the community/fandom for a show, though. I just often climb into the boat years after everyone’s jumped ship. 😛
I,ve never seen a reaction video. I mean to an actual show.
The biggest problem with episodicals is that if people have nothing to say they still fill the page, because it’s a pre-scheduled post. So, the post might be entertaining to read, but there’s really nothing to engage with. Episodicals seem more community watchalongs than posts about stuff people want to get out there, and since I’m not much of a community person I don’t know what to do with them. For example, I’ve read every single episocal post you made this season, but I rarely replied (I think I may have only replied to Gancrest, which is interesting, since it’s actually my least favourite of the three shows).
I’ll read any type of post, since you never know what’s in there until do. I like posts the most when people have something to say and manage to say that. It’s the nature of the beast that this happens less in episodicals than in any other type of post, but it can still happen. It’s just that you look for that in 11 – 26 posts instead of one.
Generally, my favourite posts are thematic ones – posts that focus on points of interest, whether they riff off one show or draw comparisons between many.
Episodicals are very useful for shows I decide to drop but am still curious about (the second season of Gatchaman Crowds comes to mind). I generally don’t reply to those posts, either, though, since I genrally don’t want to spoil the fun (I dropped the show for a reason and am usually not too positive on such shows).
Also, I found the latest Sanrio Boys episode exquisitely boring. I sort of wanted the episode go full west-world with Sanrio characters running amok and trying to hug and make friends with random visitors. Chaos ensues…
Oh my episode reviews are falling into that obligatory category and also going off tbe deep end. I am thouroughly enjoying reinterpreting sanrio as a psychological thriller although at this point you can’t really call it a review anymore. I guess I’m similar to you on the reader side. On the writting side though I enjoy series reviews most.
I really enjoy writing episode reviews as it does give me a chance to maybe discuss the episode with someone (because no one I know in real life has even heard of the show I’m currently wanting to discuss – unless I kidnapped them and made them watch an episode with me while feeding them copious amounts of chocolate – mostly kidding about the kidnapping part of that). However, in terms of my blog, episode reviews actually get the least views. Because I could have two or three of those posts out in a day, each one may only get 20 – 50 views. Most of the full series reviews I do and my feature article or top 5’s tend to get 80 – 120 views within a day of coming out.
However, I have found that episode reviews really help me write my full series review because I can see how my thoughts and feelings about the show changed over time and I’m reminded of the highlights and the low points of the season before I start reacting to just how I felt because of the final episode.
As a reader, I love reading episode reviews, or reactions, or anything. It gives me a chance to talk with people about the current shows, get a different perspective on what is currently airing, randomly come up with predictions for what will happen next. They are just fun.
I am really surprised. I figured as one of the most prolific episode writters you would have cornered the market so to speak. I feel like more than 20 people have personally told me they read your reviews… I often go back to read older reviews once I catch up with a show but it often feels like the party has died down by then. It’s still a fun read and the comments are interesting but I feel odd adding my input after everyone else has forgotten about a show
I think people read some of my reviews. So each follower who reads episode reviews may be following two or three of the shows I am covering. It spreads my views thin over 12 – 16 posts depending on how many shows I am covering. My overall view counts are great (I hit 9000 views in January so that just keeps getting better), but individual posts during the week are sometimes fairly unnoticed.
That said, I’m chasing the discussion so I’m happy as long as a handful of people do read the post and let me know what they thought. It doesn’t really matter that it won’t be my most successful post ever. I still write it as best I can in the time I have.
Congratulations – I seem to remember you had an ultimate goal of 10k views a month at some point so you’re getting close and you’ve certainly earned it.
I change the conversation too. I just happy for you!
Thanks, I had a goal for 10K in a month before my second anniversary in May. I don’t think I’ll quite make it because January saw quite a jump in my stats (I’m thinking people had some free time after Christmas), but still I did get very close so I was pretty happy with that.
I’m very positive you’ll get there before you know it
It’s always challenging to balance enjoyment with reviewing. Sometimes I do the same things with my book where I’m enjoying it so much that I forget to pay attention to things I would want to make note of. I hope you continue to enjoy your shows even beyond the recognition it may get you!
Oh for sure. Let’s face it, this blog has already gone way beyond my expectations. Any recognition from here on out is icing as far as I’m concerned. I’m just having a blast getting to connect with great people I otherwise would never had a chance to know and occasionally chatting about something that makes me happy
Exactly how it should be! The day the things I love become a chore, is the day I quit!! Lol!
Really interesting thoughts, I did a series called JEARETTAS where I released an episode review at least twice a day and I noticed these same trends. I ultimately don’t like them too much because a lot of the time they don’t get very analytical.
I think episodically reviewing things is a really good thing for my enjoyment though. Writing a post after every episode was really interesting to get my thoughts out and it deepened my appreciation of the series. I don’t think I would have liked Eva if I hadn’t episode reviewed it while doing it because it had a lot of ideas I tried to express since it’s an idea rich show.
Good post, was very informative! I’ve reviewed a bit of episodes with that big project and eva and shiki but it was interesting to hear ongoing reviews do much better (I found that too)
But my main problem is that I think a lot of people click on it thinking it’s the episode they want to watch but leave immediately when they realize it’s something else. I can guarantee you that theirs at least a few people who do it!
I loved your Shiki reviews.
But getting analytical on every single episode is quite a challenge. I personally wouldn’t be up to it but I would love to read it.
You know, I hadn’t considered that people were looking to actually watch the episode when ending up on episode reviews but it makes sense. And explains the views. smart!
Wow thank you, I can imagine that about analytical things, it would be difficult if I was always making those and also trying to make them about seasonal anime I would struggle a lot more.
Yeah, whenever you get views from google tags I often like to google those tags in myself to see what my site looks like on google. Often it looks like the actual episode and it sort of feels bad.
I’ve tried both formats for blog and YouTube, and although they generate views, as you mentioned, I didn’t see much point on doing it. It’s something that in a week or less will lose its value.
The only benefited for me if not having to think about what to write about xD
The constant flow of subject matter – I forgot to mention that…. Excellent point
I don’t really have the time to do episodic reviews. I wish I did
I find they are quicker to do than any other type of review really. If you just follow one show then it’s entirely manageable.
Oh yeah, that’s a good point
Even though I don’t only cover anime, I do prefer writing full series reviews. Some series including ones that I like may have a dud episode here or there, but the whole can be better than the sum of it’s parts if there were more good than bad things to it. I can certainly relate to wanting to watch shorter bursts of content which why I review some short films or cover OVAs where I know the episode count will be shorter more often than not.
I don’t have personal experience with it , but I do feel like everything I have experienced would apply just as much to any episodic show (live action, documentary, heck news even) I know in your case you often cover movies so that a different issue all together.
I would certainly agree in applying the same information to other types of episodic media. With movies, I know I’m going to have at least an hour and a half commitment per film. With series, it obviously takes me longer and I have more content to write about. It was a bit arduous despite being fun when I wrote reviews for Kimba the White Lion and Neo Ranga since both of them were the longest series from an episode perspective (52 and 48 respectively). I liked talking about those anime series, but I had to write so much more with the length and with the former series having my thoughts about that controversy for example. I couldn’t imagine covering a series as long as the Hunter X Hunter remake, DBZ, or god forbid One Piece. Oh boy…that review could fit a book.
HxH is intimidating.
I bet. The length and the content would make it a huge review to undertake.
Yeah a longer show would be crazy. That’s why when I did Fist of the North Star a while ago, I did it by arc. I couldn’t imagine talking about the whole thing in one review.
I wouldn’t blame you reviewing something by an arc or by a season. I have a few ideas for reviewing longer series, but I’m debating how I could pull it off.
Worst thing about doing episodic reviews is definitely the time constraints. There are so many occasions where I have ended up fitting three episodes reviews into one post after not getting on it in time. 🙁 The plus point is, in the event fellow bloggers are watching the same show, it’s fun reading their posts after watching the episode and discussing stuff together.
I do love that! Again – you have to find time to do it but the few shows I am watching this season, I read everyone else’s episode reviews and there’s a great sence of community there.
Well, I have thought about doing episodic reviews in the past, but I think it just would not work for my blog. For one thing I have a blog that covers multiple topics. If I would be doing a lot of episodic reviews, it would not be entertaining for the readers that don’t like anime. For another, I don’t think I would have enough time to do them either, as I struggle with writing posts and keeping up with things most of the time.
As for which ones I favour it depends on whether or not I am following the series myself. Last year I started watching season anime because I really enjoyed talking about and sharing thoughts on series that I watched myself. That was a lot of fun (and still is). But I can’t watch everything and the series that I don’t follow myself, I do read posts on, but I hardly ever comment on them . (Mostly because I would not exactly know what to say about them). But that said, I still like reading them…especially if it’s a series I’m still wondering about if it would be show I would enjoy or not. But full series reviews get the job done as well: and for series that I don’t follow, my preference does go to full series reviews 😊
Full series is really coming out on top here. I’m starting to root for episodic just because I feel bad for it. I should associate feeling to disembodied concepts like this…
Well…not exactly 😀 As I said I love reading episodic reviews for shows that I am currently watching, so with exchanging comments it almost feels like you are watching with a lot of people at the same time. For me, that was the main reason that I started watching seasonal anime 😊😊
That sound like an adorable thing you would say
Lol…it’s the truth: Ask Karandi: she will say the same thing 😀 I always felt I was missing out on stuff because I wasn’t watching seasonal stuff and in that way could never comment on those episodic reviews. Last season I started watching, and could finally comment on those: and as I said it felt like sitting in a living room with a lot of peoplee watching the same episode all at the same time 😊
To be honest I want and don’t want to give episodic reviews a try! From one side It’s a thing I didn’t tried yet and I like new experiences, in the other side of it I’m afraid that I will overanalyze an episode which is not what I want to to while writing reviews… I mean, for me to do an episodic review I will need to get all the juicy parts, moreover as you said I’ll have to be super attentive to find nice gifs/screenshots, so I’m a little afraid of spoiling the fun of watching Anime…
Regarding what I prefer to read… Well I don’t read episodic reviews (although I’ll click on it and put a like non the less – because I like the bloggers from their other work and it’s always an incentive… I dunno, maye not), I don’t read episodic reviews because I don’t follow Anime season because I prefer to watch it in my own terms when the Anime has ended, normally one episode a day, that watching it once a week. So, since I don’t really know if I’m going to watch the Anime when the season ends I don’t want to read spoilers… Makes sense?
It does make sense. So far everyone says they don’t read episodic reviews – it’s a little disheartening. Having spoken with other bloggers that hvae gone from one format to the other though – there is a definite trend that *current* episodic gets substantially more views…
Maybe it’s like you said, more people find you through google search, so even if people inside the community are not reading it, you are being able to get random strangers on the Internet
Maybe! And if it’s non wordpress people it, it’s understandable that they may not want to bother with creating an account just to comment or like…
OK – Let’s get WordPress to make comment/likes available without a Gravatar/WP account!
I think you can… But you need to fill a form… I think it’s the name, email and so on. However people who find blogs and read reviews normally don’t really comment, I think..
Really? I feel like I always get more views on series reviews (though it’s not like I really have enough history to say anything for sure). I really do agree with your list though.
I’m having a bit of a hard time keeping up my reviews even now, but the fact that I’m even doing them is what guarantees that I won’t abandon my blog during the school term. I’m having a difficult debate on whether I should up with episodic reviews next season – time consuming, rewarding, consistent, tedious…there are just so many factors to take into account… 😂
I get more likes on my series reviews but double the views on my dinky episodinc ones. I think a lot of them may just be from images searches mind you…
I don’t write episodic reviews, but I enjoy writing reviews per chapter of some of the manga series I’m reading.
Meanwhile, I don’t read others’ episodic reviews unless I’m watching the show. I like reading how others perceive the episodes I watched. But I still prefer series reviews to read if I want to be motivated (or maybe not) to watch a series. :>
See that’s what everyone sayd so far. I wonder where all the views are coming from… it’s a conspiracy
Hahaha! Maybe there are some more people who don’t own blogs that like reading them. 😀
…..There’s also me……who reads episodic reviews of anime because I know I probably won’t watch seasonal and also it’s ANIME, I am a MANGA girl!!
And not only reads but sometimes even re-reads….
But that’s just one person, never mind I said anything….
aaaahhh comented too soon
Fess up – you reread the same review dozens of times – right…
!!
N-no!
…
…
thrice once… but that’s it….
Aww, we all have different motivations of doing things. Manga are always loved. *hearts*
Mei-san’s manga chapter reviews are my savior.
Especially for Haikyuu and Akatsuki no Yona!!!
:”> thank you for appreciating them, Auri! Just having you is enough motivation to post my fangirl thoughts about those. 😀
*grin*
I quite enjoy reading individual episode reviews in general, but the problem is that especially in recent years, I’ve been fairly picky with what new seasonal shows I watch. And if I’m not watching something, I’m probably not going to read an episode review of it. On the other hand, while I sometimes find reviews of whole anime shows a little less engaging, I often /will read said review even if I haven’t watched the show yet, because it might help give me an idea of whether or not I eventually want to do so.
That makes sense. I often read episode reviews of shows I don’t have access to and know I will probably never watch but I still want to know hat happens…
I can see how it would be a challenge to keep up with something like this. I’ve considered trying to add some anime reviews to my site but haven’t quite found the time to do it yet! Well, that’s not quite true; I gave some initial impressions on Gamers! after the first couple of episodes, but somehow I’m still yet to finish watching the whole run, haha.
On the “engagement” part, I think part of it may be that there are people out there who, while they are perhaps typically rather prolific commenters (I’m sure you can think of a few examples!) might wish to hold off on reading episodic reviews because they haven’t watched the episode in question yet.
Speaking for myself, I know I’m someone who typically tends to start watching an anime after the whole run has aired (there have been a few exceptions) so I tend to avoid episodic reviews for shows I haven’t yet watched because I prefer to come to them fresh and open-minded without anyone else’s opinion causing me to pre-judge something. By the time I actually get around to watching the shows in question, the episode reviews have then typically disappeared into the archives a long time ago, hahah.
There are ways around that latter part if you want to make them a regular feature of your site, of course; perhaps you could add an index page to your site with an organised list of the series that you’ve covered, then create a hub page for the series in question that lists your episode reviews in order. That way when someone comes to a series late and wants to read your thoughts on it as they go through, they can look it up in the index and then find all your episode reviews in one place.
It’s a bit of work to set up in the first place and assumes you want to keep your blog “organised” in this way (and that you want to make a regular feature of episode reviews, of course) but I’ve found it worthwhile to do — it’s basically what I do with my All Games page (https://moegamer.net/all-games) and the individual game pages (e.g. https://moegamer.net/all-games/cyberdimension-neptunia-4-goddesses-online/).
I’m not sure if this comment was meant for me or for my readers but I have an index page which I actually put effort into keeping updated. The “Reviews” tab on my menu will bring you to an alphabetical listing of all reviews on the blog, while the “anime”, “Visual Novel” and “Loot Crate“ sub menus are independent pages with alphabetical listings of the reviews in those particular categories. I also have essay and other subcategories but those are simply grouped and I haven’t created lists for them yet.
I have always had a sneaky suspicion that no one uses my index though….
Ah, I typically look at your blog through the WordPress Reader so I genuinely didn’t know you had that already, my apologies! How embarrassing. I have visited all your index pages now in profound disgrace and supplication.
Still, the advice could be useful to someone else though. So I’ll just say I intended it for everyone else. There we go. All fine.
For those interested, you can auto-generate lists of pages and posts using various WordPress shortcodes, that’s what I do on my hub pages. There’s quite a lot of ways you can customise them, too, so if you want them showing up in chronological order rather than reverse chronological order, or alphabetising them, you can do that. If you set this up right you can save yourself time having to manually update indexes, links and suchlike. Check out this page for info: https://en.support.wordpress.com/display-posts-shortcode/
Ha! Don’t worry about it.I probably put as much effort in my layout as my content but the great majority of people will never see it as they are either reading in reader or on a phone (my site is theme uses very minimal settings for mobiles) It’s ok – I’ve come to accept that part is mostly for my own enjoyment.
I haven’t looked into the functionalities of posts shortcodes. That looks awesome. Thank you so much for the info.
If you need a hand with ’em, let me know! 🙂
Thank you so much!
WHAT?!
There was a way to do that?!
I made my index manually!!!
Why does all news like this come so late?!
*cries in corner*
Haha, I’m sorry!
Check out this page for how to make an index of Pages: https://en.support.wordpress.com/list-pages-shortcode/
And this one for how to make an index of Posts. This latter one is a bit more flexible, allowing you to list by category, tag etc. I use this one on my “Hub Pages” to list all the articles that relate to a specific game. https://en.support.wordpress.com/display-posts-shortcode/
Pete – you made this post considerably more useful than it was. Thank you!! and Good Job!!
Always delighted to be of service. *bows, sweeps cape, disappears into the night*
*reappears* As I said to Irina before, if anyone has any questions about using shortcodes, feel free to ping me a message or comment. 🙂
Thanks again – I plan to give it a try over the weekend so you may be hearing from me
I’d only read an episode review of a show I’ve watched/am watching.
Great list btw, I’ve considered doing some more episode reviews, but I think I’d have to be particularly inspired (like I was with Slow Start ep7) to actually do one but that’s only because my format is a bit more restrictive.
Out of curiosity, what do you use to make gifs? I think I should probably start making my own if I do end up doing more episodic reviews.
I’m not very professional I just use gifs.com. I don’t even have a paid account.
I rarely read the episode reviews mainly because I still haven’t watched those shows and do not want to be spoiled – unless it’s also something I’m following. But sometimes I read them just so I’d know if the show is any good. But I do like the full reviews more I think..
I was the exact same way but then I started going back to reread old episodic reviews (once I had watched a show) and I realized some writers are just fun to read. This said I still don’t know which I prefer… Chizu is in the complete review boat! Got it
But that’s in the perspective of the reader. I think another advantage of writing episodic reviews is that you can go back to them for reference and then write your full one. 😊
I read Karandi’s though.
Ooohh that’s smart! My Sanrio boys reviews have devolved into pure fiction at this point – I should probably try to keep them more grounded if I’m to find anything useful in them hen it comes time to wrap it up