FoxxFireArt (Level 25)

An Anime Guide Template

Being a member of Anime Vice has been a great experience for me. The idea that a wide variety of animes and mangas can be filled out with information on a single site by the users that love them. It's a great idea. If you try  to go to official sites for information. They are often either sparse with information or grossly outdated. The problem I have seen is that there are numerous profiles on the site that are made, but never even filled out with the most basic of information. One area on Anime   Vice that is in need of information is the anime episode profiles.
The site has tons of profiles made with absolutely no information put into them. We are talking no episode description, no characters added, no concepts attached, and no objects. It seems like a travesty. To believe what is listed on the site. Naruto Uzumaki has only been in 28 episodes out of the 377 episodes of the anime that bares his name. This kind of information needs to get filled out.

I've been working on the One Piece anime pages for the lions share of about a year's time. At first, I didn't know what the bloody hell I was doing or what went where. In that time, I think I have developed a pretty good system for filling out profiles in full. I'm far from finished, but if you go to the One Piece anime pages on Anime Vice. I have some amount of information filled out on all 459 episodes. I could get things filled in full, but I've sworn off fansubs for this and many other series.

I don't mean to imply that this is how things need to be done. Everyone  has their own style, and that's what is great about the Anime Vice site. I am more putting this out there as a suggestion for something those of you who are interested might want to try. I'll be using the profile I made for One Piece episode 405 as an example.

Pictures

Pictures are a great thing to have on a profile for the anime episodes. It makes it visually appealing, and it's a lot easier to identify an episode with an image than it is to read a title or episode number. It also helps if a person was to write a review for that episode. What would a manga profile be without a picture of the cover? It would seem blank and boring. For the first image of the One Piece episode. I like to follow the lead of whatever FUNimation adds for the preview image on their site of that particular episode. Occasionally, I may select a different picture if I feel the image they selected really doesn't reflect the events, but that's pretty rare.

After the first image, I like to select five others. That gives me a total of six. Don't ask why I chose that number. It just seems to work for me. Adding those to the reviews I write make for a nice visual appeal.

Episode Profile

Basic Information

It's this section that most just write in the episode summary, and leave it at that. I like to have this section to be filled much more. It's here where the wealth of information should be filled on the contents. That way if a person wanted to learn all about this episode. All they have to do is read this page.

Story Arc Description

We can first start off with the basic information on the profile. First, I write in what part of the story arc this episode takes place in. Episode 405 was the "Sabaody Archipelago Arc". I like to add this in with the H2 header option in the edit toolbar. I thought that this might help a new watcher to go through and tell right away what part of the story this episode falls into, and better educate the reader on the series. As most of us know. The big anime series, such as Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, ect.;  normally fall into special arcs of certain stories. Even some filler episodes from these shows are in arcs. Most famously was the "Bount Arc" from Bleach that gaped the "Soul Society Arc" and the appearance of the VIzards and Espada. There was also the infamous two year span of straight filler episodes in Naruto. That had several filler arcs in that period time.

If the arc of the anime is a filler arc. I mark it as such by adding this "(Filler)" to the arc header of the profile. An example can be found on One Piece episode 54, from the "Warship Island Arc (Filler)". This way a person who went looking through the catalog of episodes would know which ones were canon to the story and which were added to the series. That's information you really can't find on most websites. I also add that "(Filler)" description onto the story arc name if an episode within a canon arc is a filler. That happens occasionally with One Piece.

Episode  Title

Right after the story arc. I like to add the tile. I know that  information is at the top of the page, but I also add a bit more with it. I add to it the Japanese text of the episode title and follow that up with the translation of the title in it's Romaji form in parenthesis. I use the H3 header in the tool bar on this segment to make it stand out. Example below:

" Eliminated Friends - The Final Day of the Straw Hat Crew - 消された仲間たち 麦わら一味最後の日 (Kiesareta Nakama-tachi - Mugiwara Ichimi Saigo no Hi) "

You can just chalk this one up to information overkill on my part. I like to be thorough. This information might be hard to come by, but there are official sources out there for you to find the Japanese title. At times you can already find that information on Anime Vice if you look at the full list of anime episodes in a series. Sometimes, I will look to wikipedia for that information, but the title in Japanese and the original Japanese air date is all I get from there.

Text Summary

Following the episode title. I like to write a very brief summary of what this episode is all about. Nothing that involves spoilers, and normally just a few sentences. While it is permitted on Anime Vice to use "official" summaries for the episode. I prefer to write my own. Also, that doesn't mean copy and pasting directly off of wikipedia. Most of that is user created content and not official information. Plagiary is not permitted  on Anime Vice. It's strongly encouraged  that content be user created. It is possible that wikipedia may have official summaries, but it's often too hard to tell for moderators.

A tip to help you out is to let the mods know If you are going to use an official summary from a website. Please, tell the mods if you are using an official summary when submitting edits. It makes things easier for everyone.

Summary of Events

It's in this section where the real meat and potatoes of information gets interesting. Here is where I put in the most information on what actually happens in an episode. I like to start this segment off with the header of "Summary" in another H2 header from the tool bar.

Opening Theme

First, I fill in the opening theme title. The title of the song in quotation marks, italicized; and followed by the performer's name. The opening theme songs to animes can be quite popular. Sites such as youtube are often filled with  them, and many songs go on to be huge hits. It can be helpful to know what song is used on what episode.

Story Synopsis

Occasionally, I like to write rather detailed description of the events in the episode. A general synopsis. At the end of that, I may add a list of things I notice in an episode. An example would be if I would see Nami's tattoo has been drawn incorrectly or on the wrong shoulder. In One Piece episode 426, there was a scene where Zoro is heard saying something, but it was Sanji's mouth that was moving. I like to call those "Points of Interest". To be polite, I like to make sure I put all this information into a Spoiler Tag. It would be up to the reader to beware.

Ending Theme

It's after the synopsis that I like to add the Ending Theme for the episode. Following the same pattern of the Opening. From One Piece episode 391 and on, FUNimation's airing hasn't had a closing theme shown. That's why that section isn't filled out on those episodes.

Moves This Episode

This is something that I only started doing recently, but I really like. It was around One Piece episode 321 that I got the idea to start adding a catalog of all the named attacks that happened in the series. I found putting it into a table format made things much more pleasant from an aesthetics level. Example below:

Moves This Episode

Character	Technique Name
Usopp	Flame  Star
Luffy	Gear Second: Gum-Gum Jet  Pistol
Franky	Strong Right

I thought that this segment might be a nice addition to the site. Most animes that deal with fighting have specialized techniques the characters like to call out before using. It felt like to me that this could be a good idea to have a catalog of what kind of techniques were used in certain episodes. That way if a user was looking for the moment Luffy first used the Gum-Gum Jet Gatling attack. All they would  have to do is go through the list of episodes and know just which one they need to watch to see that technique. This could also help with many other series. An example could be if someone was looking for the time Naruto first successfully used the Fuuton Rasenshuriken. It would be pretty easy to find what episode it happened in.

Characters & Voice Actors

 
This section is pretty self explanatory and simple to fill out. The sad thing is that it's this segment that people still fail to fill in. More often, people only fill this out on a character's first appearance, but even that is sometimes stretching matters. It's because of this that it appears on Anime Vice that Ichigo Kurosaki has only appeared in 71 episodes of the 279  listed on the site. If you were going to look in the List of Anime and Manga characters page on Anime Vice and see who has the most appearances. A large portion of the characters on the first page are from One Piece.

The episode doesn't have to be about the character to be listed. If a character even just appears in the episode they should be added. A tip I could give you would be to keep a note pad with you as you are watching an episode. If you see a character in a scene anywhere. Just  write it down and add it to the profile for that episode.
In my book, this would even include a character appearing in a flashback. If you see them in that episode. It should still count.

If a character doesn't have a profile on Anime Vice. That's a good excuse to have a profile made and earn yourself some points. I haven't concentrated too much on filler characters in One Piece. Before, there were too many canon characters missing, but I've slowly been working on fleshing out filler the characters.

The same could be said for Voice Actors. If you don't know who voices a character. A character's voice actor can normally be found at the bottom of a character's profile page. That is if they have ever been listed at all on the site. If not, it can be kind of tricky. You could look up the names on wikipedia or other actor credit sites if you are in a pitch for Japanese voice actors. That shouldn't be needed if you are watching the episode dubbed in English or in your own native language. You should be able to read it right in the credits. If that voice actor isn't on Anime Vice. Purpose a Person page for that voice actor. I still need to list many of the voice actors for One Piece.

Credited

This segment confused a bit me when I first started. I never knew where to list a series creator such as Eiichiro Oda, creator of One Piece. I remember that I followed the lead of Gia on a profile for the anime Fairy Tail, and she had Hiro Mashima, Fairy Tail creator, credited as "Concept Artist" for the episode. Though, if you know director of an anime episode and other credits. More power to you.  Fill those out as well. I must confess. This is a segment I have neglected quite a bit. So far, I've only listed Eiichiro Oda on episodes.

Locations

 
It's rather surprising that this segment in profiles is often not filled out. The majority of animes often take place in either Japan, Space, or somewhere on Earth. There are series that have their own specialized worlds or cities, such as Naruto, Fairy Tail, or Bleach. If there is no profile option for the  location. That is yet another in the list of opportunities in which you could earn points by submitting a profile. Just try to remember that the rules on Anime Vice is that the English name of a location is the standard. There is a section for the Japanese names, and you can add that name to the alias portion so it  will show up on searches.

The same way I do with characters. If a location appears, even in a flashbacks. I add it to the episode.

Know Your Concepts

This segment in the anime profiles is one of the  least filled out, but  in a way should be the most filled in. This was another one that gave me some trouble at first. This category can be for teams in episodes, the kind of themes in the episode, or the type of character that is within it. If there are jokes in the episode. You should add Comedy. If people are being serious and emotional, That's cause to add Drama.  A filler episode would mean you add Filler concept. Anime Vice has a huge collection of concept profiles that are anime cliches, but not attached to any episodes at times.  

These can even be exclusive to a certain character. For example, for every episode that Naruto Uzumaki even appears in you could add Ninja (which should be on every episode of Naruto), Protagonist, Shounen, Fighter, Jinchuuriki, Genin, and Paku-man(a male character voiced by a woman). If Naruto or anyone else uses a technique. You could add Chakra and Jutsu, since in that series it takes Chakra to perform a Jutsu. Another popular Naruto concept you would see often should be Martial Arts. Shinigami should be in nearly every episode of Bleach.
In every episode Sanji appears. I add Smoker, since he's always smoking. For Sasuke Uchiha, you could add Good turned Bad after he leaves the village. In every episode Sakura Haruno appears in you would add Female Ninja (kunoichi). Tsunade would mean you could add Hokage and Big Boobs.

Tips

A tip that I think may help you out. Get a sheet of paper and just go through the whole list of Concepts. Make a note of concepts that you think may apply to the series you are watching or to the type of characters. You could also look in a character's profile and see what concepts they are attached to on the site. If that behavior happens in the episode. Add it.

Objects

Objects are something that really should be pretty well filled out in series. One Piece has a lot of objects that are in almost every episode. The Straw Hat, Log Pose, and Wado Ichimonji (Zoro's most prized sword). Bleach should have Zanpakuto on every episode, then you can also list what specific ones you see, such as Zangetsu. The Forehead Protector should be on every episode of Naruto.  It doesn't even have to be something the main characters are wearing or using. If the object appears in the episode anywhere. It applies to add it to the profile.

Filling in a profile in such a matter can easily earn you 100 points or more. I hope this guide that I wrote can help you out. Filling out the anime profiles can help make this the premiere site to go to for anime information. That's been part of my goal as I've filled out the One Piece anime information. I really enjoy this site and I want to see it shine.

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt)  is a freelance graphic artist, writer,  and over all mystery geek.-