by Ryan Mathews

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August 1997

Hey, folks! Get your sites on the 'Pike!

Reader Panu Koponen pointed out an omission in last month's review of anime review pages. I had neglected to mention "Non-anime watcher's review of anime". I checked the site out, and it was indeed superior to every site I'd mentioned, reviewing nearly one hundred anime titles, including the current reviews that are so hard to find. So how could I have missed it?

Simple. It wasn't listed on the Turnpike. I double-checked and even triple-checked to be certain. It wasn't there. Hard for me to review a site when I don't even know it exists. It's since been added, but too late.

Folks, if you create an anime-related website, let Jay Harvey know right away, so he can get it on the Turnpike right away. As much as it may astonish those who know him, he's not omniscient.

And I'm not perfect either, although it seems some of my readers expect that of me. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome that people read my column so closely, but I guess I expected I'd have to write for a year or more before I got that kind of attention. I got criticism for last month's column being short. The difference between the July and June columns was only 970 bytes, about the length of the opening page. If you'd like, I can try to blather more before I get to the reviews. :-)

But what's more important are the letters from people who are perplexed, disappointed, or, in rare cases, even angry, that I didn't mention their sites. The worst case was one reader who had suggested at least twice since I wrote the first column that I should do anime review pages. When I did just that, his page didn't make the cut.

He wrote me, wanting to know why I hadn't included his site. I told him. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with his site, it just wasn't anything to write home about, and there were other sites more worthy of mention. He wrote again, very polite, but obviously upset. He suggested that I'd just looked at the home page, pulled up a couple of reviews, and rejected the page. Y'know what? He was right!

If a page doesn't appear in this column, it doesn't mean it sucks. If I included every page that doesn't suck, this column would be a lot longer, and a lot more boring. It might help if I explain exactly how I select pages for this column.

It's a fairly simple process. I sit down with a legal pad and a pen and begin visiting each site in the category, one by one. If I can't connect to a site, I go to the next one. I try again later if I have the time.

Once connected, each site gets a fair chance to grab my attention. This usually means clicking on one or two promising-looking links. If the site looks worth the time, I explore it fully, taking notes for the column. Sites with huge useless graphics, big ugly fonts, or bad writing usually get rejected on the spot. On the other hand, sites with something unique will almost always make it into the column, even if the site is otherwise poor.

Finally, I begin writing the column, and may cut a site or two from my list. Usually this is because a site I'd initially decided to include was so outshined by sites visited later that it no longer seemed worth mentioning. Keep in mind that I don't want my column to be so long that it starts to drag. I may cut an entire group of sites because I feel the column already has enough stuff for one month.

So if you don't see your site in my column, feel free to ask me why, but be prepared for me to answer. You might not like my opinion, or you might learn your site was nixed by the simple luck of the draw, or by my work schedule.

That's enough blather. This month's column should be sufficiently long to silence the critics. Especially with the letters page at the end!

On to the reviews!