When we talked about Oprah’s book club and the idea of “who has the right to make recommendations?” I recall all the reviews and recommendations of anime I find. Most of the time, I can criticize and argue that some reviews are poorly written, or just plain wrong, based on the fact that I have watched the regarded series. Many people write many reviews every day, but the sad fact remains that they are almost always poorly done. And most people accept them anyway. When I look at a reviewer, I tend to check how many shows they’ve watched, just to see if they are remotely familiar with what they are talking about, and most of the time they aren’t.

On the other hand, with my reputation, I get pegged as the “Anime Guy” and people ask me for recommendations. Without knowing my anime background, they assume I can give them what they want. From my perspective, it is difficult to give a recommendation without knowing what they watch, what they like, or if they have ever watched an anime. Even from all that I have watched, I have trouble designating good gateway series.

Overall, it seems people have low standards when it comes to looking for recommendations in some areas of media. It comes down to “if anyone can give me a title, it must be good.”