Submitting Reviews

Your Account

How do I get a Dub Reviewer account?

Before you can submit reviews to us, you need a Dub Reviewer account. Go here to get started. You'll need to give us your desired username, your email address, and your real name (or a pen name that you want to use for your reviews). We don't collect this information for any other reason other than to allow you to make use of our review system. The information that you provide to us is secure and will never be distributed to anyone.

When you sign up, a randomly-generated password will be emailed to the address you provided, so make sure you use a current email address or you will be unable to log in.

Does signing up for a Dub Reviewer account sign me up for the forum, too?

Not at this time. We'll be adding this feature sometime in the future, but for now, your forum account is separate from your Dub Reviewer account.

How do I change my password?

When you log in, you'll be taken to the front page. At the top of the front page will be a link to your control panel. Your control panel will allow you to change your password, among other things.

Submitting Reviews

How do I submit a review?

You can submit a review in one of two ways. If you're logged in, you can submit a review using this form. You can also access that form from your control panel when you log in. Alternatively, you can browse for the title you want to review, and click "Submit a Review".

What am I reviewing, anyway?

The reviews that you write should focus on the quality of the dub for a title, and not what you thought of the title itself. Though of course the reviews that you write will likely be much longer than this, here are examples of reviews that we find acceptable and unacceptable:

Acceptable
Crap on a Stick is a highly enjoyable shoujo anime from the creator of Butts Over the Potomac. The dub for this title is provided by Carnivore Productions, and features Johnny Appleseed in the lead role of Crap the Stampede. The cast works notably well together; the interaction between Appleseed and the rest of the ensemble cast is highly amusing, particularly in one scene in which a boy meets a girl beneath a silvery moon, which then explodes for no apparent reason. Aside from a few "American-ism"s, the script is accurate, and the dialogue flows very naturally. Overall, this is one of the best dubs yet from Carnivore.

Unacceptable
This is one of the best shows ever. I really love this show. I saw it a bunch of times when I was five and I just watched it again and it's still great. The dialogue is so funny, and the show is really great. If you liked Butts Over the Potomac, you'll love this. There were some characters I didn't like but overall it was all good. The show was really great. The music was perfect and the concert was a jam. Everyone should watch this show. Oh, and the dub is OK too.

How does this grading system work?

When you review a title, you rate each of its five components, in addition to assigning it an Overall recommendation.

We review dubs based on what we feel are the five key components of a good dub:

Accuracy-- how well the dub conveys the original dialogue. We generally check this by watching a title twice: once in English, and once in Japanese.
Coherence-- whether or not the dialogue makes sense, and/or sounds natural in English.
Synchronization-- how well the dialogue matches up with the lip movements on the screen.
Chemistry-- how well the members of the cast play off of each other.
Acting-- how closely the character's vocal work matches the character's actions.

These are listed in order of the importance we place on them, though it may be different for you. Either way, a dub is the sum of its parts, and the Overall grade you give will reflect that.

For each component, you may rate it Acceptable, Unacceptable, or Neutral, depending on how you felt about it. The Overall grade summarizes your feelings on the dub. For the Overall grade, your choices are Avoid, Not Recommended, Acceptable, Recommended, and Strongly Recommended. If you feel that the dub you are reviewing sets the bar for all other dubs, you may award it our highest honor, the Dub Review Gold Award-- but we do not give this award lightly, and we advise you not to, either.

Why can't I just review an entire series at once?

In many cases, a character will not appear until the later volumes of a series. Reviewing dubs one title at a time allows you, the reviewer, to concentrate on the basic aspects of the dub with your reviews of earlier volumes, using your reviews of later volumes to focus on exemplary performances from late-comers. More importantly, reviewing dubs one title at a time allows you, the reviewer, to elaborate on the finer points of dubbed scenes, even if they take place within a context in which it would be difficult to avoid spoilers.

How do I include an image in my review?

On the review form, under "Review Image Information", you're allowed to upload an image file from your computer for use in your review. This image can be either a JPG or PNG file (no GIFs allowed, sorry), and it must be 200 pixels wide-- no more, no less. If it does not meet these criteria, the review form will automatically reject it.

If you have an image you'd like to use but it does not meet these criteria, you can use the freeware graphics editor WinGIMP to resize it and/or save it in a different format. Of course, if you'd rather not use an image, simply check the "I'd rather not upload an image" box on the review form. But be warned-- if you do wish to use an image in your review, this box must be unchecked.

How long will it be until my review is published?

Once your review is submitted, one of our editors will look over it and, if all is well, publish it. Generally this takes less than 24 hours, but depending on what kind of day we're having, it could take longer. If we find a problem with your review that would prevent us from approving it, we'll email you and let you know.

How do I edit my review once I've written it?

Sometimes you may wish to change something you wrote; or perhaps we emailed you and asked you to make changes to your review before we could publish it. Either way, what you need to do is to edit your review. You can do this only if we haven't already approved it.

To edit your review, simply log in, and select "Edit a Review I've Written" from your Control Panel.

All Other Questions

If you have a question that is not answered in this FAQ, feel free to contact us and we'll do our best to answer it.