Anime Reviews ⇢ Help
Reviews System Help

Please read through the following helpful instructions.


Index:
- Rating Values
- Terms
- Instructions
- FAQ

Rating Values
  • Overall Rating:
    Overall Rating is how you tell us what you thought of the title. Was it great, just OK, awful, etc? When submitting your Overall Rating, we ask that all users follow a standard set of values:
    - 0: A choice of 0 will be ignored; please select "1" for the lowest rating.
    - 1-3: Making a choice of 1-3 indicates you feel this series was not really worth your time.
    - 4-6: It was OK, but I won't watch it again; I'm not upset I invested this much time in it.
    - 7-9: This was a pretty good title. I might watch it again later.
    - 10: This was the best of it's kind. Period.
  • Violence / Gore Rating:
    The Violence / Gore rating is where you indicate how violent a title is. Because shows range from gentle to comic violence to full-on splatering blood and guts, we've broken this down as follows. Please be sure to follow the same guidelines:
    - 0: A choice of 0 will be ignored; please select "1" for the lowest rating.
    - 1: None. - 2-3: Comical violence (could a kid imitate it?) Limited or no blood.
    - 4-6: Violence is central to the plot (e.g., samurai stories.) Some blood.
    - 7-9: Gratuitious blood/glore, sexual violence, graphic violence.
    - 10: Splatter core - wanton blood and gore. Rape. Brain spatter, etc.
  • Nudity / Sexual Content Rating:
    The Nudity and Sexual Content rating allows you to indicate any what, if any, aspects of this title involve nudity, sexually explicit material, or inappropriate relationships. Because many titles have subtle variations on many of these issues, we ask that you rate the highest value, where appropriate. Note that we are not asking you to make a judgement call on the appropriateness of the content - only to assign a value to it so everyone can be their own judge. For the sake of this review, "inappropriate relationships" involves themes of incest or homosexuality. While CAA does not take an official stance on homosexuality, we recognize that many of the users of this site may be offended by this material. Also note that CAA does not allow hentai (overtly pornographic) titles in the database. Submission of hentai material will be rejected and may be grounds for further punative action by the staff.
    - 0: A choice of 0 will be ignored; please select "1" for the lowest rating.
    - 1: None. - 2-3: Blurred or undetailed (e.g., typical "magical girl transformation" or strategically placed steam.) Implied inappropriate relationships.
    - 4-6: Brief/lingering detailed nudity; inappropriate relationships. If there are massive quantities of blurred or undetailed nudity, you may use this value - but be sure to leave a note about why you chose that value in the reviews field.
    - 7-9: Excessive fanservice, gratuitious nudity, inappropriate relationships are central to the plot.
    - 10: Explicit sexual material.
  • Potentially Problematic Theological Themes:
    CAA Recognizes that anime origniates in a country with a very different world-view that may be incompatible with Christianity. We also recognize that Eastern philosophy is sometimes problematic for children or for Christians with certain backgrounds. The Theo Themes rating allows you to rate and describe any such material.
    - 0: A choice of 0 will be ignored; please select "1" for the lowest rating.
    - 1: None. - 2-3: Magic and/or Eastern religions figure into the plot.
    - 4-6: Plot revolves around magic and/or Eastern religion.
    - 7-9: Frequent use of occult themes; Christianity portrayed as evil.
    - 10: Disturbing, graphic depiction of occult themes portrayed as appropriate behavior.
  • Other Potentially Problematic Themes:
    This section is kind of a catch-all where you are encouraged to think about any material that may not be appropriate for children or that parents may find objectionable. This is a highly subjective category, and parents are encouraged to thoroughly read the comments of titles where they see ratings for this category.
    - 0: A choice of 0 will be ignored; please select "1" for the lowest rating.
    - 1: None. - 2-3: Occasional use of drugs/alcohol/tobacco (DAT), etc. Minor swearing.
    - 4-6: Title is dark in nature - nihilist tendencies. Frequent use of DAT. Moderate swearing.
    - 7-9: Message of title: nothing matters. DAT addiction features heavily in plot. Wanton swearing.
    - 10: Something about this title should cause parents serious pause; see reviews for more information!

Terms / Glossary
  • Title: An anime movie, show, series, etc. Examples of Titles are Totoro, Trigun, Clannad, Clannad After Story, etc.
  • Rating: A rating represents one user's overall opinion of a title. Not to be confused with a Review. A rating consists of an overall Overall Rating (1-10), various Content Ratings (1-10) and a Review.
  • Review: A review consists of one user's in-depth analysis of a title. Not to be confused with a Rating. A review may consist of specific details regarding content, opinions about subtitles vs dubs, descriptions of themes, etc.
  • Suggestion: Any user on the site may suggest a title be added to the database. Suggestions must include the English and Japanese name (if known), the year the title was released, a URL where a moderator can obtain more information about the title, a description of the age appropriatness, and an official marketing description (e.g., from an Amazon description). The description typically will not contain any "review" or "rating" data, as these are generally highly subjective and will therefore be covered in the user submitted reviews. Exceptions to this are limited to titles that are particularly contriversial amoung Christians, and have an official tag.
  • Contributor: A user of the site who has submitted a title or rating. The contributor's section of the site will show any title a user has rated/reviewed and shows the amount of work each contributor has put into the site.
  • Hits: How many times a specific title has been viewed.
  • Brief Description: The Brief Description of a title is not a traditional review. Rather, the Reviews Database at CAA focuses instead on rating the content of various titles.

Instructions
  • Suggesting a title: If you wish to suggest a title for us to review, please use "search" or "Show All Titles" and make sure the title you are suggesting is not already in the system - perhaps named with a slight variation. When you are sure there are no duplicate records, use the "Suggest a Title" link on the front page and follow the instrutions on the following page.
  • Rate / Review a title: Members of the board in good standing will be given access to rate and review titles. This privilege can be revoked at any time. To rate a title, simply navigate to the title and check the link labled "Add your own Rating/Review of this Title." Read the directions carefully and be sure you use the scale provided and described on the HELP page.
  • +1 / -1: The plus/minus system is designed to be used to allow a user to indicate which reviews they think most objectively and thoroughly cover the title. To indicate which review you think is best, simply click the +1 next to the username of the reviewer. If you find a review that is inappropriate, vague, or missing major themes, please use the -1 next to the username to indicate this.

FAQ
The following are a list of Frequently Asked Questions we have received regarding this system, along with the associated answers.
  • How can I help?
    The best way to help out with the system is to submit high-quality suggestions for titles. The moderators of the board must cull through any and all suggestions and make sure they match our quality standards. Please be sure you fill out the forms completly using the instructions on the submission page.
  • How do I submit a bug / request a new feature?
    Bug reports and feature suggestions can be submitted via the Feedback link on the front page.
  • Why do you focus more on content than on high-quality reviews?
    The first iteration of the CAA Anime Reviews Database did, in fact, focus mostly on high-quality reviews. User feedback, however, indicated that our users were more interested in the content evaluation we provided. Since there are many sites on the Internet where a user can get a review of anime, we decided to shift our focus more on the ministry of providing objective content overviews so users could make their own judgements based on their own beliefs.
  • What is the difference between a review and a rating?
    That's a good question. Basically it boils down as follows: A review is an in-depth discussion of how a specific title compares to other similar titles. A rating is simply a numeric value assigned to an emotional response. Have you watched this series over and over again (10), or is this one you would not recomment your worst enemy watch (1)? Our reviews system focuses more on the rating side of things, but encourages individual users to submit their own reviews of the system.