Art of Reviewing Anime #1: Writing - Kain
Good day, students. Starting today, the Staff will be conducting a special series of lectures on how we grade the anime that we watch. And before you all ask yourself, "how does this apply to me? I don't even review anime!", we promise that looking at anime the way we do will give you a good appreciation for the intricacies involved in creating anime... and perhaps how difficult it is to create a great one...

Art of Reviewing Anime #2: Characters and Development - Eek
Without a doubt, characters are the cornerstone of any anime. Even lacking a cohesive storyline, any anime can still be entertaining as long as it has the right characters. They provide most of the substance that makes the material work well, thus they may even rank higher than the story itself. Without characters, the story has no means of progressing...

Art of Reviewing Anime #3: Music, Seiyuu and Sound Effects - Kjeldoran
Because it is harder to evaluate and is more subtly presented than visuals, audio is an aspect many reviewers forget to mention. Even though you do not have to write paragraphs on the matter, the fact that it is present in the form of music, sound effects and voice acting makes it such an important facet of the anime experience that it should definitely not be overlooked...

Art of Reviewing Anime #4: Art, Animation and Cinematography - Kain
The very first aspect of anime that draws fans in, well before they're acquainted with characters, Japanese culture or the music, is the visuals. After all, anime is animation, so it is crucial to know how to dissect and analyze all those flashing, moving pictures on our screens...

Art of Reviewing Anime #5: Story, Plot, Theme and Symbolism - Madoka
For each lecture in our continuing series on the Art of Reviewing Anime, the Anime Academy Professors have shared with you the necessary components of anime, including characters, music, art and more. All of these ingredients are combined with one goal in mind: to successfully tell a story...

Art of Reviewing Anime #6: The Big Picture - Kain
By now everyone here should be well versed on how to analyze the different components of an anime, from music to art to stories to characters. But before you start applying these techniques in your anime reviewing, it's important to be able to distinguish between the whole versus the sum of its parts...