Happosai looks up from his keyboard, and notices that on 5 Oct 98, at
18:40, Doug Murphy wrote:

     If you want your writing to recieve a fair, un-biased review of
     your
writing,

<Snip>  Little grammar error there :)

where it will be judged on it's own merits and not some Otaku's

<Happosai hums "Tatakae! Otaking!">

personal opinions then send your fanfics to ChiOhki@scifianime.com !

Hmm, I think every reviewer has to rely on his personal opinions to
decide how good he or she thinks a fanfic is.  

<Nods>

In the case of fan-fiction reviews, there's really no avoiding that,
anyway. One of the things the reviewer needs to say is whether or not (and
if not, how badly) everyone in the story was in character, and that will
necessarily be colored by his/her perception of the characters.

It's just a matter of whether he
says "Hmm, I give it a 3 out of 5" or if he sits down and comes up with
useful commentary about why he/she gave it a 3.  Making a good review
relies on three prime attributes: knowing the subject matter (having
seen the series), having the time and energy to form detailed opinions,
and being able to express those opinions and ideas well in the review. 

As a subset of that last point, it's nice to be able to write a review
that gives the reader a feel for the story without any serious spoilers.

It
also helps to have a well though out reviewing system, but those
comments are what makes the review, not the numbers.

The numbers (and other details, such as icons) are nice when browsing a
large list of reviews, but you're right, it's the text of the review that
counts.

I dunno why I decided to suddenly to play 'reviewing guru', it wasn't
really to counter or debate Lord McKenzie... I guess a better phrase
would be that he inspired me to post :P

Likewise. With regards to reviews of Tenchi Muyo fanfics -- and no slight
intended to Mr. McKenzie (or to K'thardin & Navaash, or Leon-san at the
RFFC, who also do TM! reviews) -- the person whose opinion I value highest
is Michael "Brazil" Borgwardt, because he's very tough to please. My only
annoyance is that Brazil has a life ^_^ and thus can't write reviews 24/7
so that there's one for every fic in GenSao's archive.

<Knowing McKenzie's preference, Happosai hands him an 88cm brassiere,
recently stolen (still warm, even!) from a certain Galaxy Police officer>

Enjoy it, m'boy. It was a hell of a lot less painful to get a hold of than
that pair of Ryoko's panties I got for Leon-san.

<Happosai goes back to his word processor and resumes typing...>




Hasheen!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Happosai (happosai@jps.net), devout member of the Ryoko Forever Fan Club, 
#WASHU# lab assistant in training, and Silver Knight of the Knightly 
Order of Mihoshi Enthusiasts.

Read Aikan Muyo at http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~andersor/fanfic/fanfic.html
Voted Best Tenchi Muyo Fanfic Spring'98, GenSao's TM! Fanfic Archive!