Can We Talk about Different Styles of Reveiwing

Hey guys, I have decided that it is time for another non-Disney Can We Talk about. Last time, I talked about what I think is the best approach for giving advice. Today however, I would take a look at the other spectrum and talk about the different styles of reviewing.  Please note that this article is no way saying that your style of reviewing is wrong.  As I have immense respect for anyone who takes a serious attempt at reviewing.

Fanboy/Fangirl

I have seen people say that when you review you shouldn’t be a Fanboy/Fangirl.  I disagree with this sentiment wholeheartedly.  I feel that showing your fandom is a great thing to do.   With you showing your fandom, your love of thing you’re a fan of comes through in your review.  Perhaps I’m biased here but I think we need more fans to share with us what they love. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a Fanboy and you need not any further than my main blog series, A Look at Disney.   I’m a Disney Fanboy and that shows with the blogs I write and I’m able to share my thoughts.   If you want a good example of my Disney fanboyishness.  Go take a look at My Final Thoughts from when I reviewed A Goofy Movie.  In fact, here is how I opened My Final Thoughts for A Goofy Movie.

“I love this movie. In fact if you haven't seen this movie, stop reading and go find it. If you don't own a copy find a friend that does or order it off of Amazon. It's available to view on ITunes as well. While you’re there pick up the soundtrack. You'll love it; they even include the scores if you enjoy listening to movie scores. Just see this film.” 

Sure out of context it may look silly and dumb but there is a reason why I started My Final Thoughts this way. I thought it would be funny and it’s true I love this movie.  We all have something that gets us excited and why not share your love. It’s okay to get ecstatic about it. However take into account I said this portion was from My Final Thoughts. The rest of the review was taken seriously but I just wanted to do this. As I said the rest of the review was taken seriously and I believe that you can still be a Fanboy/Fangirl while reviewing if it is taken seriously by you.   My suggestion put your fandom at the beginning or end of the review and take of the rest of it as seriously as you can. On the same token while it is great to be a fan, you have to be able to recognize flaws and be willing to things that you don’t like even if it’s from a show/game/movie you enjoy.   Again, I’ll use myself as an example.  When I reviewed Mickey Mouse Club (‘50s) for my Mickey Mouse Club retrospective, I stated that I did not like the fact that they changed the age of The Hardy Boys and that is the one time, I wished Disney did not stray away from the source material.  My final take on Fan Reviewing as I think I want to call it, if you want to review something you’re a fan of, that’s great but you have to be willing to point out things you may not like about the subject you’re reviewing. Sure, I’ll be honest perhaps I need to work on this with my reviews but I do give you guys my honest opinion when reviewing. Recognize the flaws and things that may bug you but don’t nitpick.

To anyone who says a reviewer shouldn’t act like a Fanboy/Fangirl give me one valid reason. Because as I said, I’m a Fanboy reviewer and proud of it. Again as long as the fans don’t go overboard with their fandom, I think is great to have Fan reviewers.

Straight Up Serious

Now this is one little trickier to explain but what I mean here is that with a straight Up Serious reviewer is that they still can be a fan of what they are reviewing but  for the most part, they really don’t Fanboy/Fangirl territory. Sure they may crack a joke every so often.  Two examples come to mind, here. First JewWario, he takes his material he reviews quite seriously and this is my perspective You Can Play This feels more like an educational program (that isn’t boring)/review hybrid.  I say this because JewWario is teaching his audience how to play these import games.

Now, the next person I would like to mention is one of my CA friends and reviewer of both Western Classics and M*A*S*H*, BigBlackHatMan.   I bring up BBHM because here again is another example of someone who is a fan what he reviews but his reviews rarely ever go into the creepy Fanboy area and that is because he takes his reviews seriously. You can tell from reading any one of his reviews that he is passionate for the thing he is reviewing but he also wants to present seriously and I believe he does that. Here again, if you take your reviews seriously, people will notice you. Just don’t take them too seriously.

Storyteller

Now the two most prominent examples that come to mind here are Linkara and Apollo Z. Hack. They both use stories to help give their reviews something extra. Quite honestly Storytellers happen to be some of my favorites as my favorite TGWTG show is Atop the Fourth Wall.  Now the closest thing I have watched in regards to Toku or Sentai is Power Rangers and my knowledge of comics is very limited, I can only recall reading three and I don’t any comics. However, I’m looking to pick up the new Disney comics collections of Donald, Duck, Scrooge McDuck and Mickey Mouse comics. Back to my point, my knowledge is limited but by watching these two shows not only do I learn about things I would otherwise not known about but I also get a great story. That’s the main draw for me. Now I may not know much about storytelling either but I do know the basics. Make your story engaging, make us want to see the hero win. You shouldn't make the characters one dimeniosnal either.  That is all I can say because this is the best advice I have for this type of reviewing.

Angry Reveiwer

You guys had to know that I would be bringing this up.  Obviously, the two most famous Angry Internet reviewers are Doug and James. Some people have said that this is fading out. Perhaps, it is but it works for these two. Perhaps, it will work for your style of reviewing as well. This style is the most self-explanitory. You just act like you hate or extremely dislike the thing you are covering. Now sometimes the hatred can be comedic and for the most part it is with these types of reviews. On occasion, it can be real as I have seen that as well. If it is real anger or hatred that might the revieiw/video uncomfortable. Try not to be to abrasive but in the end if this style works for you, great.


These are all the different styles of revewing that I could think of. I may have left out others. If your looking to start up reveiwng and don't what style you want, you can use this to help you decide but it must be your own choice and personality coming through.  Don't let anyone tell you that your style of reviewing is 'WRONG".   But do listen to the people that actually give you sound advice and you feel that you can apply it to your style of revewing. Also be happy wiht the style of reveiwer your are. As I said, I think I fall into the Fanboy area and I'm okay with that.