A list of general points for Anime-Ima! reviews. Please note that I will be proofreading and editing every review for grammar/spelling errors and so on, and I will not edit content without discussing it with the author first.

1. No reviews of incomplete shows will be accepted UNLESS you are asked/volunteer to write a piece specifically for an airing show. Obvious exceptions are long-running shows like Bleach, Naruto, Fairy Tail, etc. (though, those never-ending shows are so popular and mainstream, it would be nicer if you would refrain from writing reviews for those!  ).

2. Reviews must be a minimum of 500 words, and a maximum of 1000 words.

3. No spoilers, please. Writing a long review without revealing/discussing spoilers is possible. And if I have to edit your work, and you spoil something for me... 

4. Keep a balanced view – every anime has its positive and negative points, no matter how much you adore it. Acknowledge flaws, praise strong points!

5. Have an opinion, and back it up. No “OMG THIS IS THE GREATEST ANIME EVER!!!!1”. Unless you can back it up with a valid opinion, the reader won't take it seriously.

6. You should cover specific areas within the review: Visuals/Art. Audio/Sound. Story/Plot. Characters. Genre. It is up to you to decide which areas are more important. If the anime has strong visual qualities, for example, you can focus more on it. With regard to sound, I would suggest breaking it down into sections. Music is not the only aspect of sound in an anime! You have the OP/ED themes, the voice actors' performances, sound effects... voice actors can have a great impact on characters, and it's important to acknowledge a terrible or brilliant performance. But, you don't need to do this for every review you write - pick out the elements you want to rip apart, or praise 

7. Titles of anime will be italicised in reviews to avoid confusion (for example, talking about the system of Fractale within the anime and differentiating it as the title of the show, Fractale)

8. Include a brief summary of the show. (A format does need to be decided upon – will the summary be included at the very beginning of the review as a separate “block”, or will the summary be worked into the body of the review?)

9. Feel free to review any older anime – until the time Anime-Ima starts doing themed issues, it's pretty much a free-for-all, with your pick from new and old anime.

10. Scores: this is debatable. As I said in previous threads, if one review includes a score, every single review must have one. It would be great to put together a key for the scores, say 1-10, or a rating out of 100 if it is decided to go with scores.

11. Allow for a small paragraph at the end of the review that sums up your overall opinion.  Tie up all the threads you talked about into one neat bundle! 

...and that is all. For now. It's up for discussion, and I'll be looking forward to reading contributions. 

Hi, I have already typed out a review of Welcome to the NHK and well it falls into most of the guidelines my only issue is that my plot description only gives a basic introduction to the plot, is this a problem at all? Otherwise most of it fits, its about 700 words, I back up my opinion (at least I think I do, but the individual is the worst judge of their own work), I talk about the voice acting (comparisons between dub and sub as well, don't know if this was neccessary), the animation etc. (no music mentioned so far, but that can be easily included)

A basic plot description is fine - you don't want to give away too much, after all.

A comparison between the dub and sub is perfect - as long as you don't come off as a raving Japanese-audio only fanatic. Dubs have their merits as well, and while I can't comment on Welcome to the NHK, you do get some decent dubs, and even some dubs that I've found to be preferable to the Japanese.

If you'd like feedback on the review, e-mail it to me at animeimareviews@gmail.com.

Don't worry, I don't bash the dub at all, I personally preferred NHK's subs, but the dub acting was perfectly fine, the main character in english being a particular highlight. I will email it for feedback early next week.

And yeah, i'm open minded when it comes to dubs, Cowboy Bebop, FLCL and Baccano all have excellent dubs which I preferred to their subs.

I actually forgot about the studio/vintage aspect; usually I only talk about the studio if I'm familiar with them or if I think it has a greater impact on the show. It would be better to include genre, studio, vintage in a small "block" beside the review, I suppose. It is then up to the writer to decide whether they want to discuss those elements in greater detail in the body of the review.

Yeah thats what i was thinking, we can't expect everyone to be knowledgable on studio's. Its just interesting to know.

elo, I have a question regarding images ^__^ is it the review writers' responsibility to source some and if so, what about quality? Im thinking about taking some screenshots, since the mag isn't coming out in print (yet) i supose it'll be fine?

As for the plot summary discussion: I also like it right at the beginning of the review. It could function as a paragraph, but I like the block idea coz it's easier, for a person who's browsing for a new anime, to get the info quickly. Then if the plot is to their fancy they will read the rest of the article ^___^ 

If you are taking screenshots, I would say 720p should be a minimum.