reviewing

Ruminations on Grading

April 27, 2009 by MJ 31 Comments

First things first, I have a review in today’s Manga Minis, for DMP one-shot, Hey Sensei? which is definitely my favorite of their BL offerings I’ve read so far.

Now it’s time to get around to my final topic from the poll! Originally in my head, this was called “The Futility of Grading,” but the more I thought about it, the more I realized what a silly thing that was to say. It’s not that grading is futile, just that it is tricky and subjective. I might not like being asked to assign a grade to something, but as others have pointed out, it does provide a shorthand for letting the reader know if you liked something or not. Or does it? Heh.

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Manga minis + a lecture

April 20, 2009 by MJ 9 Comments

Good morning, all! I have a couple of reviews in this morning’s Manga Minis, for volume three of Hitohira (see my reviews for the first two volumes here and here), and for DMP/June’s BL one-shot, Love/Knot.

So, something that keeps coming up between me and another reviewer dear to me is a deep insecurity about our own reviews that kicks in whenever we read something written by the other. I think her reviews have an incredible clarity and power of description that immediately tells the reader whether or not a book is something they want to read–something I feel entirely helpless to achieve. She thinks my reviews are thoughtful and especially insightful into the emotional world of the characters, which she envies on some level. Basically, she thinks her reviews are missing the “big picture” and I think mine are missing the point. Most of the time, I think we just admire each other in a very constructive way that inspires us both to do our best, but sometimes we become disheartened by our perception of our own skills, and that’s when I think I have to pull out some kind of lecture on the subject for both of us to listen to. This is my attempt at that lecture. …

Idle thoughts in no particular order

February 19, 2009 by MJ 13 Comments

I’m enjoying a much-needed idle evening here at home. I have reviews I probably should be working on, and maybe I will as the evening goes on, but for now I’m feeling the need for random surfing and maybe a blog commenting spree.

Speaking of blog commenting, I drove by Danielle Leigh’s reading diary today, but didn’t actually read it, because she has a review there for the first volume of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: The Power of Negative Thinking just released by Del Ray, and though I’m eagerly anticipating reading it myself, I already know I’ll be reviewing it for Manga Recon, so for now, other reviews are off-limits. I have found that I am easily intimidated by someone else’s fantastic review, so after one such experience, I decided to force myself to keep away until I’ve completed my own review. Now I’m wondering, you who review manga (or anything else for that matter), do you do the same?

In other news, I really enjoyed Brigid Alverson’s interview with Matt Thorn, whose translation of est em’s Red Blinds the Foolish (reviewed by me here) I found pretty spectacular. After I read the interview, I did some searching around, and discovered this essay on shojo manga that Matt Thorn published back in 2001. It was a pretty great read, so I thought I’d share that here.

Lastly, Lianne Sentar asked me for further elaboration on my accusations of misogyny in Let Dai, and I’m embarrassed to be unable to respond with any kind of credibility, because I don’t have print copies of the series. Can anyone help me out? I think some specific examples of the language used by Dai would help me, but unfortunately, I’m not good at remembering exact words, especially when I’ve consumed a series as rapidly as I did Let Dai. If you’ve got some handy, let me know! ETA: I think these are no longer necessary! Conversation progressing without them. :)