Episode summaries = Bad? My random thoughts

Here’s Impzie pooling his views on this.

Ok, unlike Corydorf and Mikey who can articulate their thoughts so easily that they can be great communicators, I am but a simple man that speaks simple words.

I do not have much particularly to add, but there is something that I love to address in response to it. For the both of them, they seemed to give the vibe in their writing that episode summaries + thoughts to be much more inferior than editorials or news. Perhaps, I have interpreted their message differently, like I always so, since the underlying or basic meaning in their posts is their need to have variety.

However, I do not understand why there can be a form that can be considered to be poorer than something else. Is there truly a form of posting that is much better than another type, one that can be considered as “better writing?”. That said, I will firstly talk about a very basic theory that is used to explain behavior, even in the wired world.

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Motivations of blogging

The theory is “Uses and gratifications”. Put it simply, it means that people use a certain form of medium to gratify their needs. Now, let us take a step forward and remember the main purpose of anime. It is to entertain and most viewers who watched anime would want to know about anime and the series in particular. Hence, we have many bloggers to fill in this form of gratification, the need for novel gratifications, or in other words the need to know something new.

I digress, but what are the reasons that can be considered the motivations of bloggers. According to Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht and Schwartz, all pioneers in the field of bloggers and their motivations, they documented various motivations that triggered a blogger to start writing.

They include (and adapted into the anime context by me):

1. Catharsis. The release of pent up emotions over certain series. In layman’s terms, it means rants.

2. Social: To gain acceptance as a community. To interact and to learn from others in the wired world.

3. Information: To provide knowledge, to provide episode summaries and other news.

4. Commentary: Social commentary and editorials about anime in general.

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Episode summaries not easy way out

With that in mind, this is how I started blogging and in fact, I tend to blog episode summaries not because it is the easy way out. I personally like to post episode summaries simply because it allows me to fulfill that feeling of providing knowledge and creating information. I do not deny that sometimes, when you simply write an episode summary, it is simply but that. You probably will not read too many of these summaries but for most, it is just not summaries.

If you look at a “Red garden” or “Ghost hunt” entry, the summary is detailed enough in order to provide good commentary. Where does the line of commentary and summary really cut in “episode summaries”. I will have no qualms if the question was posed to people who simply have summary and 1 line of thought. That is simply a regurgitation of what happened. Still, there is credit done by really focusing and writing a summary. Anyone who has done an anime summary entry will understand what I mean with this, because it is not easy to write an entry.

Trust me, it’s probably harder, much harder than what you can image. I personally believe that the most under appreciated and hardest form of blogging is in fact episode summaries, because they take so much effort, boring and often a not, very mundane. Yet, it helps to inform and provide the public on the episode in general. I will not comment on those that reviewed english subbed series, because I do not believe a detailed episode summary is needed for such since most will have watched the show already. That, to me, does not add much value to the blogging world. That time, I believe, can be spent better with other value-added features such as screenshots or thoughts about the episode.

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Variety even in episode summaries

I have covered a bit on the hard work of episode summaries being hardly the easy way out and now, I will tackle the next issue which is the lack of need to read another summary once you are done with reading one. That said, is one episode summary really so similiar to another that it cannot add any more value to the anime community altogether? Now, to illustrate my point that episode summary posts are so different, the below paragraph will explain with an example: episode 6 of Asatte no Houkou.

I did a basic analysis of Hinano, my blog, psangel’s blog as well as Memento’s blog on Asatte no Houkou. Just within the four posts, the difference cannot be more stark already. While Hinano provides a swift and easy to read format on episode 6, Memento is extremely detailed to the minute facts that you read it for analytic value. My blog is in the midpoint of the both of them, with a roughly detailed entry but with the focus on my thoughts in. Psangels jump straight to the thoughts.

So much variety, and I am simply stating one example. If that cannot convince you that reading one means you have not read enough yet to get the full picture, I will simply urge you to read each of the four entries. You will definitely learn way much more about episode 6 after reading all 4, rather than just one.

Bloggers often fill in the gaps of information, without noticing whatsoever. Most people often check out more than one or two blogs on the summary and thoughts of a certain show, simply because it interests them. People will flock to places that they know provide good information and anime blogs that are popular serve the purpose which they want. Variety is subjective and to state that reading one summary is as good as reading all is a myopic view in my opinion. It is like saying watching one shoujo show is like watching all.

Or even better, reading one commentary about anime is good enough and I do not need another. That, we all know, is not true deep down. The topic might be the same, but within the topic, the blogger style comes in. That, to me, is the most important, especially in episode summaries where the mode of story telling strongly dictates the flow of communication.

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Final thoughts

A last point that I like to note.

As said earlier, people uses blogs to gratify their needs.

I also have to add on that I just believe that no matter what, it is up to the blogger to do what he or she wants. A challenge is good, particularly to those who believes in writing “better” but I always believe it is simply the style of writing, the enjoyment of writing and the sheer passion of writing that will bring viewers in.

When you are passionate over your writing, it shows.

When you feel horrible over your writing, it shows.

That is what is meant as a writer, even if you are writing just a “simple and boring” episode summary. It will show.

Yep, sorry about the very illogical and incoherent rant.