Review Submission Guide

[Gypsy]

Ok, this post has only been a couple years coming - and that's no stretch of the truth. This is a guide to writing CAA reviews, and it
is designed to help Osaka (Mangafanatic) and myself in the review editing process. And remember, the faster that we can go over your review, the sooner it will actually appear in the database.

How the review submission process works:
1. You write up a review.
2. You paste in and submit your review here: http://www.christiananime.net/submit.php
3. You wait patiently while Osaka or I review the submission.
4. You get a PM that notifies you whether or not your review was accepted. If you do not get a PM within two weeks of submission, PM me and ask about it.

-Review approval is generally first come, first serve. We have record of when the review was submitted, so if someone writes one a week before you do, we're more than likely going to use the first one.


Quick guide:
DO NOTs:
01. Do NOT submit a manga review in the anime review section - it won't get from here to there.
02. Do NOT rip off other written reviews. You may use quotes, but they had better be credited.
03. Do NOT write a review for a series, movie, or OVA that you have not seen every single episode of. For some series, permission to write a partial review will be given by a moderator, but that will hardly ever happen. So far, this has only been used for huge series that are still being released in Japan.
04. Do NOT base your review off a TV version of an anime series. I don't care if it's Adult Swim or not, I don't want to see a review of it unless you've seen it 100% uncut. Exceptions would be if you've watched it on Anime Network, but you still have to specify that it is based off a TV version.
05. Do NOT submit reviews for a series that is already in the database. Unless otherwise noted by a mod, that review will probably be deleted without even being opened. If you have a serious problem with an official CAA review, PM is the way to handle it, and we'll go from there.
06. Do NOT write a spoiler unless it is absolutely necessary for a content report. Even so, please note that the following statement is a spoiler.


DOs:
01. DO use correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling. THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is the single, biggest reason why reviews get held up, and they sit in the pending folder for months. If I open up a submission and see an English teacher's nightmare, I'm not going to waste my time fixing it for you anymore. If you want to have your review become official then I suggest putting some effort into it. In the past, I have completely re-written reviews for people - that's not going to happen again. There are free online resources like spellcheck.net that you can use. We're here to check reviews for content accuracy, we will no longer be your personal editors. If you have any confusion about what is considered acceptable or not, I've included some examples towards the end of this thread.
02. DO be as impartial as possible. There is a special place for comments in the review, so the story synopsis and content reports don't need your opinions inserted. Examples of this would be as follows: "There are three cases of nudity, but personally I didn't find them offensive at all ..." or "The plot is a very cliched setting of two rival training academies ..." We want your opinion, and in essence, the entire review is going to be your opinion, but please write the content reports and story synopsis as impartially as possible.
03. DO be as clear as you can when reviewing possibly offensive material. This does not mean describe in graphic detail every naughty thing that happened - this means that the reader should have no question as to whether or not they want to watch this series after reading your review. Some reviewers like to mention episode numbers when red flag events occur. As a reviewer, it is your responsibility to mention anything that will offend most Christian anime fans. No one should be be surprised by something after using your review as a buying/watching guide.
04. DO try to gather as much info as possible. If you don't know if there's a corresponding manga series or an OVA or movie, go the extra step and do some research. Make note of directors and voice actors that you think are important, mention how many episodes there are in the series, or explain that it's based off a video game or manga.
05. DO keep a back-up copy of your review. This means write the review in a text editor that is not part of a browser. I don't recommend typing directly into the submission form for a number of various reasons.

Tips:
If you're watching a series and you know you'll be submitting a review for it, jot down some notes. This will help immensely when you actually sit down to write up the review.

After writing the main story synopsis, leave a few spaces and then write in a paragraph or two of your own comments. Normally, I'll weed these out of the main review part, but we do have a special section for writer's comments on the official review. Unfortunately, there is no text field for these comments in the submission form, so just use add them under your main review. Also, if there are some things in the content report that you really, really want to explain further (but couldn't, because that would be inserting your opinion) just add a "(see comments)" after the content report.

Use CAA review lingo. Terms like "undetailed nudity" are generally understood to be Barbie doll style nakedness. "Fanservice" or "fanservice-y" will slow you up on the spell-check, but these are terms that our average reader will understand.

You don't need to list off every swear word spoken in the anime. The term "minor swear" usually is understood as a common four letter word such as d*** or s***. If you feel like listing them, do so as I just did, listing the first letter and then using asterisks to fill in the rest. The F word is considered a weightier swear as well as an explicit sexual term, both of which need to be specifically noted in a review, but appropriately censored.

Make sure the numbers you input to the number scale match your review. If characters pray at a shrine, don't give it an 8 for objectionable religious content. On the flip side, if characters are mocking Christ or participating in a black mass, this would be considered highly objectionable, earning it a much higher score.


Quick Grammar Guide:

1. Tense
Pay attention to the tense you use while writing a review. Often the past and present tense is flopped around, but it is considered grammatically correct to use the present tense when reviewing something. This means that you would write "Often Sailor moon vaporizes monsters with her moon tiara," instead of "Often Sailor Moon vaporized monsters with her moon tiara." Try to use the present tense, like it's all happening right now.

2. Homonyms
Remember this term from English class? These are words that sound the same, but they mean different things and are spelled differently. Commonly misused homonyms:

Their - shows possession. "Their house is huge!"
They're - a contraction of "they" and "are." "They're going to kill us!"
There - indicates a place. "They are over there."

Here - indicates a place. "Put that DVD over here."
Hear - a verb - "Can you hear me now?"

its - shows possession. "Before attacking the dragon, I checked its HP."
it's - a contraction of "it" and "is." "It's hard not to spend too much money on anime."

than - used to compare. "FUNimation licenses more popular titles than U.S. Manga Corps."
then - a term for time. "I checked my bank account, then I hit ebay."

to - a preposition. "Tidus was taken to Spira."
too - an adverb, meaning "also" and "very." "I want to go to the con too." "Tohru is just too good of a person."

accept - to agree or receive. "Sophie found it hard to accept the curse she was under."
except - meaning "other than." "Yuki gets along with everyone except Kyo."

your - shows possession. "Your powers are weak, old man."
you're - a contraction of "you" and "are." "You're not allowed to use real weapons when you cosplay."

3. Complete sentences
I'm not going to explain the concept of complete sentences, because everyone should already know. Just please use complete sentences.


This will probably have to be edited a few times, but I think it covers the basics for now. As of today, any reviews submitted (those already in the database don't count) need to be accurate, complete, and checked for spelling and grammar errors. If they're not, then that's reason enough for us not to accept them.