Introduction
The Otaku Review Network is a group of affiliated reviewers of items from Japan that appeal to “otaku” types: gunpla, plamo, figures, art books, manga, anime etc. Any reviews written for the Network can be used by any other reviewer in the network with certain restrictions. All reviews in the network fall under a CreativeCommons Attribution-NoDerivs License. In a nutshell, this means that anybody can use the review on their own site, but they must give attribution (credit to the original author) and they cannot change the work (make a derivative). The preferred and easiest way to give attribution is to use that member’s network badge. The review should also be posted with an Otaku Review Network badge that links to this page and a Creative Commons license badge. The CreativeCommons badge is a defacto copyright notification and delineates the terms of that copyright.
I created the network to allow others to use my own reviews, and for myself to use reviews written by others. As the pool of reviews in the network grows, it will become easier for lovers of these kinds of products to find reviews for the items they are interested in. Since any member of the network can use any review of any other member, websites in the network can increase their total pool of reviews on all sites. Since reviews must link to the originator’s site, members also help each other out with links to fellow members’ sites.
How to Join
There is no formal process for joining the network. All you need to do is post reviews with the three required badges. You don’t even need to have your own reviews. If you don’t have your own reviews, you can post other’s reviews as long as you do so with the required badges.
There is no registration process, but if you notify me that you are joining and send me your badge, I will post on our Network Members page. Only members with their own reviews will be posted.
Review Guidelines
Writing a good review is not always easy. Whether you are offering criticism or praise, you need to “sell” your opinions to the reader to be taken seriously. Your review should also be comprehensive, covering all aspects of the item under review. Some reviewers create sections such as: Value, Poseability, Music, Graphics, Replayability etc. to help them cover the various aspects of a product.
Research
Make sure and do your homework! If you state facts in your review that turn out to be false, your credibility as a reviewer will decrease.
Spoilers
Try and avoid spoilers, or clearly warn readers that your review contains spoilers. It is usually possible to write a review without revealing spoilers, but if you have to, warn your readers first.
Proper English
We are all part of an online community and we have many ways of expressing ourselves that are not considered proper English such as: LOL, FTW, o rly? etc. Use of these in the review is up to the the writers creative license, but overusing these and not using proper punctuation and sentence structure will make your review harder to read.
Badges
You must use the three required badges with every review you post. Each badge is 80 pixels wide and 27 pixels tall. The creative commons badge must link to the correct creative commons license aggreement. Your badge should link to your site, and the Otaku Review Network badge should link this page. You are free to use our badge template to create your own badge. If you need help creating a badge feel free to contact me.
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Example Member Badges
HG 00-23 GNX-609T GN-XIII A-Laws Type
