I don’t want to dig too deep into this episodic blogging vs. editorial blogging debate, but since I’m often held up as an example of a blogger who transitioned from one approach to another, I do want to offer a few thoughts.
For what it’s worth, I rarely read episodic or summary posts on anime blogs, with a few exceptions. And when I do, I typically skip straight to the personal opinion portion of the post (should it exist), as that’s where my interests truly lie. Of course, if the personal opinion portion of the post consists of little more than, “This was a good episode,” I probably won’t be bookmarking the blog or visiting all that often in the future.
Yet, if I take a look at the posts I wrote when I first started anime blogging back in the dark ages, most consist of little more than, “This was a good episode,” at least in distilled form. There’s a world of difference between what I was doing then and what I’m doing now, and while I get a lot more personal enjoyment out of my current approach to anime blogging, the old approach was plenty enjoyable in its own right.
However, it required that I be pathologically diligent in keeping up with shows, taking screenshots, and making new posts, and eventually morphed into a part time job that sucked up a lot more of my time and energy than there was time and energy to be had. It was a high cost, low benefit sort of thing, and it was so negatively impacting my anime viewing experience that I had to stop. Had I kept up for much longer, I fear I would have flamed out entirely, and I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this today.
But, there are anime bloggers out there who are still putting the time and effort into summary and episodic blogging. And I can only assume they still enjoy what they’re doing and will continue to enjoy what they’re doing for a long time to come. When I look at the anime blogging landscape, I see a lot of summary and episodic blogs. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. In fact, I’d like to see more anime blogs come online, editorial and episodic both, as it would inevitably make for a more robust and more diverse anime blogging community. That’s a good thing.
Every blogger has their own reasons for walking the path they’ve chosen, and even if you decide not join them on their journey because you have a different route or destination in mind, it doesn’t mean they’re lost. I like discovering new anime blogs, especially when they’re written by interesting people who have interesting things to say. If someone can say something interesting in four screenshots and a couple of sentences, more power to them.
Fundamentally, it’s not the format that matters. It’s the content.
And, just to note, this post should in no way be construed as a dig at Bateszi, who I have a lot of respect for and whose blog I read on a regular basis. I can understand his sentiment, and I even agree with him as far as my actions are concerned (like I said, I read very few episodic anime blogs), but I think we just disagree on what it all means in the grand scheme of things.
I enjoy these “middle of the road” views, not just with anime blogging, but with everything in life. Such a view takes a look at all sides and finds wherein the good lies.
There may be many episode summary blogs with a small touch of commentary, but I imagine a lot of those bloggers will over time consume enough anime that they start finding they have more to say. They’ll be able to make more comparisons, and have more of a background to use when forming thoughts. That can lead to more opinions and thoughts alongside the episode summaries, and maybe even lead to whole posts on ones thoughts on a series or a portion of a series without being cluttered by “here’s what happened this episode”.
I generally don’t read any episode commentary posts (other than re-reading my own to revisit how I saw an episode or scene), but that’s because I don’t watch the latest anime out of Japan. It’s hard to find anyone posting about a series I know, but if I find such a blogger, those episode commentaries on a series I’ve seen are ones I’ll read (but only if they have worthwhile commentary, rather than a long episode summary and a two sentence thought on whether the episode was good or not).
I, too, generally hold Bateszi’s views on a personal level (”What’s the point of writing an episode summary followed by ‘Oh, and I liked this episode. The end’?”), but I wouldn’t want to see a future great anime topic writer not reach his or her potential due to being disillusioned by others early on. (Being disillusioned by ones own realization that one might not be writing anything worthwhile hopefully would have the impact of driving one to reach what they deem worthwhile).
Who knows? Maybe ones of today’s episode summary writers will be tomorrow’s starter of widely-blogged topics of other than “episode summary versus editorial” ;)
Exactly my sentiments.
Which leaves me wondering why Random Curiosity is so popular.
The greatest benefit I get from anime bloggers are recommendations for new series to try. Nowhere Anime was where I first discovered Mahoraba, one of my favorites of all time. Over half the shows I’ve watched so far were the result of some anime blogger expressing their undying love for the show.
For episode summary-heavy blogs, I also did the scroll to the bottom to get the personal opinions. Usually it was to avoid spoilers, and IMHO I think summaries dilute the experience of actually watching the episode. I sometimes will read summaries AFTER watching an episode to see if there was an explanation for parts that I didn’t fully understand. The personal opinion is more valuable to me in actually deciding which show to watch. That combined with some good screenshots (a skill that I think is a lot harder than is given credit for) was enough for me to give a show a try.
Even if the personal opinion is of the “this episode was good” variety, if a show gets a consistent stream of these opinions, it usually means it’s worth watching the first few episodes. Obviously different people have different tastes, but after a while it gets easier to see which bloggers your tastes most closely align to.
Nowadays, I am trying out shows on my own a lot more. And with the increase in anime bloggers, it’s enough to decide what to watch by seeing which shows get blogged about the most (or if I’m feeling more anti-mainstream, which shows are NOT getting blogged ^^). However, I still rely on bloggers for discovering shows that I normally wouldn’t have watched on my own.
One of my goals for this year is to start up my own anime blog (yes, a little late to the party) and my biggest wish for it is that it would help others discover new favorite shows they otherwise would never have watched and to share the enjoyment of that show together. That, for me, is what anime blogging is all about.
@Jeff Lawson: I started off with episode summaries, but soon found it too tough; I’m not the episodic blogger kind, I can’t do summaries. Back in 2007, I was browsing around various blogs and found this blog, and read the about page where you explained that what this blog was about was to be a fan, which inspired me to continue blogging, but in a different way. I never got a chance to thank you for that, and so I will now.
As for the article, I have to agree with what has been said; I, too, have a tendency of skipping the episode summary (Except for a few exceptions where there was witty commentary) and going straight to the thoughts and opinions section.
That is, in a nut-shell, how I view blogging too. That may seem pretentious or heavy going, but I suppose I’m naturally more inclined towards the transcendent qualities of anime blogging. Of course, I’m well aware that most people are, like, “LOL, ANIME IS FUN!”, which is fine, but… I suppose it’s a circular issue. To be honest, I agree with everything you’ve said here, Jeff, though I’m not convinced everyone is having fun trying to blog episode by episode (I’ve been in this boat), and at least, I hope I’ve forced a couple of them to reconsider their pre-defined formula. You don’t have to be another brick in the wall.
“If someone can say something interesting in four screenshots and a couple of sentences, more power to them.”
That’s the hardest part about all forms of writing. Saying as much as you can with as few words as you can. Considering that I was training in technical writing (social science research), it was drilled into my head, but I still find it difficult in all aspects (even leaving comments). Something to work towards I guess!
In terms of episodic vs. editorial, I’ve done both and I would say I fall somewhere in the middle now. When I first started blogging anime 2 years ago, I went the episodic route, but similar to what you experienced it became tiresome for me. NOT having fun blogging along with graduate school made me stop writing for awhile. Nowadays, I don’t like writing episodic posts, unless there was something in a specific episode that caught my attention.
As a reader, I don’t read episodic posts unless it is a blog I enjoy reading and I have already seen said episode. I prefer reading opinions about a series, movie, song, figure, etc on the whole. I also like reading posts about anime that isn’t current. There are always lesser known series out there and I like reading why someone loves (or dislikes) a certain series. In a way I like reading someone who gets passionate about something “different” enough to write about it.
Like you said though, it always boils down to content. As a reader whether a blog entry is episodic or editorial in nature, so long as the content is good and fairly well written if will get the attention it deserves. As a writer, content can get tricky (at least for me). What I deem as “good content” may not be the same for others out there. But I guess that’s where the enjoyment of having a smorgusborg of blogs out there comes in handy–there is something for everyone. If it’s not one’s cup to tea, there are others to choose from.
At the end of the day, for me to comes down to two things: (1) content and (2) does the blogger come across as having fun. The two seem to go hand-in-hand really. Although “good content” can be subjective, if someone can passionately write about something and have fun with it, I say more power to him or her–whether it be episode summaries or editorials or long or short.
I think the whole conflict is a silly issue, and as people have said before, what matters is what works for you in both writing and reading both types of blogs.
In my case, time constraints considering that I watch more anime than I should (especially in medical school) and an inability (I feel) to say something meaningful in only a couple of sentences (bless those who can) lends itself to the “editorial”-style of writing for me (though I’m still not sure that my ramblings constitute such :P). Obviously the latter aspect is more important than the previous, where I could just focus on one series at a time and go on that. But I feel like I process thoughts better when I can explain to the best of my abilities why I’m thinking about what I’m thinking about rather than stating “My opinion is X” and that’s it. I can see what bateszi is talking about in that sense, but I don’t think a lot of bloggers do that, and even for those who do just state what they feel, that’s fine too as long as they do it in a way that makes me want to keep reading them.
I read either type of anime blog (though I feel there’s much more than those two designations) just to see what a person is thinking about, or how they feel, and as long as the blogger does that, I don’t see the problem. Is it harder for me to get that with episodic blogging than with editorial blogging? For me who prefers learning as much as I can about someone, I’d say yes. I also only look at the impressions that an episode gives someone, anyway, and as I’ve said before, usually the longer those impressions are, the better for me (and great to those exceptions to the rule).
So why am I repeating what’s already said? Because I hope that my content has enough spin to it that it “works” with whoever’s reading it. Because I hope that my voice is unique enough. Because anime blogging really shouldn’t be serious business. :P
For those that are Sti-
*is flattened by Gabe Newell for overusing that meme.
Of course, the downside to editorial blogging is that, if you write about a diverse set of topics, you can’t please everyone all the time. It amazes me how nasty some people can get when you post something they’re not personally interested in, as if your purpose as a blogger is to entertain only them and them alone. I try to respond to my readers best I can, but I can’t be expected to make everyone happy at all times. And being an asshole about it won’t make me any more likely to respond in your favor.
Just a note and warning to anyone who thinks about leaving comments here (to any post) along the lines of, “Who cares?” or “tl;dr”. I know there are corners of the online anime community where such trolling is considered an honorable pursuit, but this isn’t one of them. It’s disrespectful to both myself and my readers, and I’d advise you to take it elsewhere.
Anyway…
Lots of good comments, as always. There’s not a lot to specifically respond to, but I do want to mention that, like many of you, I typically read episodic entries for stuff I’ve already watched. I’m interested in seeing what other people think about the shows I’m watching. Of course, that’s why I skip summaries and head straight for the personal opinion portion of the post. I always look forward to Kabitzin’s posts on the shows I’m watching, for example. And if Momotato ever comes back and starts working his “Four screenshots + a couple of sentences” magic, the world will be right once again. Although, if he wanted to do the editorial thing, I wouldn’t complain, either… we’ve had a lot of good conversations about anime (and other topics) over the years.
Oh, and TheBigN and I are very much on the same page as far as enjoying blogs where the author’s interests and personality shine through. That’s why I try to be as sincere as possible in my writing, and it’s why I’m more than willing to spend time on the sort of personal introspection characteristic of the “Year in Review” posts. That’s what I enjoy writing, it’s what I enjoy reading, and I think it’s why most of my dedicated readers keep coming back for more. It likely drives some people away, but like I said, I can’t please everyone.
In my opinion, what makes blogging unique compared to most other forms of mass publishing is the potential intimacy between the author and reader. It’s what I like most about blogging, and it’s something I keep in mind at all times when I’m writing new posts. When I want objective anonymity, I read the newspaper.
Episode summaries are a godsend for those of us who want to watch the RAWs in advance in order to get the gist of what is going on so that we begin discussions on what happened, with more detailed discussions when proper fansubs are released. On that point, it becomes even more welcomed if fansubs simply do not exist for that particular series, or if the fansub is of such atrocious quality so as to actually mislead viewers. This is where Omni shines because he has a reputation for actually understanding Japanese well, and he can be relied upon as a trusted source on what is going on in an episode. The same goes for Garten from Memento.
ES-Blogs and Ed-Blogs do not necessarily cater to the same audience… They both serve their own purposes.
Furthermore… it is a “free market”. So long as there is a demand, supply will naturally follow. Bloggers do not get to dictate what readers should read. There is also nothing to stop readers from enjoying the best of both worlds. Reading one type of blog does not mean snubbing the other.
Cheers.
Despite how I’ve dreamed of writing out editorials or reviews of a series in general, I’ve realized that I am better off “preaching” about my views on animes on an episode-to-episode basis than an editorial post which I’m not really cut-out for. As I’ve also mentioned in bateszi’s post, I’m one of the types of people who can’t quite say something profound and insightful about a series, unless I’ve really been drawn into it, to the point that I have something so say for each and every episode (or for an episode “arc”).
As Skane mentions, these two distinctly different approaches to blogging cater to different readers. It all boils down to doing what you enjoy and love, and make yourself shine through with whatever it is that you write \o/
I try to write my summaries in a way that they will be enjoyed after the reader has already seen the episode. The way I picture it in my mind is I provide just enough information for the reader to remember what the episode was about and then the rest is designed to read like what I would say if I was talking about the episode with a friend.
Episodic blogging sucks >_> it’s boring to read, especially since barely any bloggers have an oppinion that’s worth a damn. Editorials FTW, that’s where the learning is :D
I’d be super surprised if I made a fuss on my blog about how I felt lately I get 40 comments.
You know, just to put the whines in perspective.
I don’t see how people have the time to blog every episode and find time to enjoy all the anime thats out there. btw your blog is always a good read.
Very good points. I especially identify with the idea that sometimes episodic blogging feels like a part-time job. Lately I’ve been trying to mix things up with more thought and opinion style pieces since it’s easier and likely more interesting for most people to read. When I do do episodic blogging I try my hardest to include thoughts about episodes that I haven’t seen elsewhere.
About the only style of blogging I can say I really don’t like is the kind that throws as many memes, one-liners and panning takes on every aspect of an episode into one article. It’s not really fun for me to read as it’s so hard to plod through, and it neither offers information on a series, concept or episode, nor any real coherent thought on it. When I’m reading editiorials I tend to prefer a more even handed approach versus over the top ranting. Essentially I prefer ones exactly like this one, thoughtful, firm and relevant.
I like both types of blogging. My two favorite anime blogging sites feature one with episodic blogging and another with a very very simple editorial blogging style. I’m glad you went with this method though Jeff. I remember back when you were coming back to blogging 2 years ago and were asking for suggestions into how next to proceed, not that I think you picked cause of me but I did suggest episodic like my favorite blog, karmaburn.
^^ I mean editorial (stupid quick to hit submit trigger finger)