Sadly, this process really took a lot longer than anticipated, as you might already be aware that I've been working towards rewriting a lot of my older reviews with much more insight & quality. It was a back breaking process I feel somewhat obligated to talk about now, as it really changed my mind on a lot of things and how I'd approach reviewing things.
I'm finished however! Though I did decide not to redo a couple reviews simply because I wasn't interested enough in the given series or the effort it would take. Initially I wanted to set out to give each and every article the absolute best I had, and that manifested into very long written reviews & organized break downs. Such an example would be the Kara No Kyoukai review. I poured everything I possibly had into that review, every fiber of my being, and although I'm very proud of the result in capturing exactly what I set out to do and envisioned, I realized that bar for quality comes at a price I simply shrugged off for a long while. It's really that review in particular that slowed Everything down, my whole schedule in that it took 3 months of writing and organizing to get it published.
This process taught me so many things, I was able to polish & hone my skills, showed me what I was capable of, how hard I was willing to push myself & how to manage my energy levels. However what it really showed me is the concept of Priorities. You see, with someone such as myself who's very OCD about hobbyist activities, I found it and still do find it difficult to prioritize in what I meant Red Q Studios to be, the project was initially born out of the cultural malaise we are going through in our communities, particularly in the anime world. I read, watched & followed many reviewers & videos just feeling unsatisfied, where everybody just sells out for clicks, I see a lack of true love & dignity in that social space. I've always been such an avid member in the community, wanting to trust reviewers and such, but in the end I've always felt that sense of dissatisfaction, I always ran my mouth about how they could do better, and in the end I always had the feeling that "Man I could do better"
How It All Started | & how I feel about the social ecosystem
That's how it all started - The idea was that I would have a brand that would represent & service a particular uncompromising standard for quality that is simply not available or rather extremely scarce in the reviewing space. People with the skills and knowledge who actually know the history of film, the study of cinematography, the history of anime, the ability to deliver & write, and the ability & sensitivity to discern the objective from the subjective. Most importantly however, people with a sense of dignity & who know what hard work means, people who are willing to actually open up a book & do their due diligence in their research, instead of regurgitating un clarified information they found online.
However I also realized the individual value of personal opinion, how it can be fun & genuinely rewarding the sense of committee can be, but also how overrated & feckless it can be, with the absolute & complete lack of respect we have for each other as human beings on opposing sides of the argument. Where we get into these nuanced & subjective battles, in trying to typecast each other (Sexist, Racist, SJW, Bandwagon etc.) in our lazy attempts to disregard each others opinions, instead of actually trying to understand them. I genuinely hate this Me Vs You mentality almost all of us have adopted, how opinions & every word is now weaponized, it's idiot world to me & I refuse to be a part of it. The hypocrisy of it all really reminds me professional wrestling, where socio-political life has become just as much of a gimmick & caricature that you'd be able to play on a stage, in the given person/s attempt to put themselves "Atop" one another, and really the overly commercial aspect of media certainly does NOT help, where the louder the screaming, the more clicks, views, advertisements etc.
Basically it's become a popularity contest & who has the most charisma, instead of a conversation rooted on facts.
What It Means For Red Q Studios |
Though what does this all mean though? How does this correlate to our brand, our identity as Red Q Studios? For one I'm actively choosing to prioritize a certain amount of effort to each given reviews of whatever product, I see the value in short concise & most importantly just fun & casual articles having to do with just how I Feel about something, without really having to go through all the small details. But I'd be doing so with that "Awareness" if you will, and make no mistake it's not a decision solely made because my physical & mental limitations as a human being, but one that see's a certain value in that kind of content, and what's more I'm actually good at it. But know that I truly care, and think that these kinds of articles actually have a value in them that my more in depth breakdowns really don't have, and that the standard of quality I want to represent will still be intact.
I will Still Do in depth articles for a given product that I feel truly passionate about & I think deserves that much effort, however since that uncompromising approach won't allow me to get it done in a timely manner, the time being between those reviews will be more casual content that's easier on me to make, do and simply enjoy - Not to mention it's so that I don't leave my followers hanging out to try, salivating for another video etc.
Although I rambled for a bit there in an effort to explain everything, this brings me to the next step in Red Q Studios that I've been preparing so much for and anticipating.
Youtube | & Where we are going
This was my primary goal all along, I wanted to have the duality between a blog & youtube that I've been inspired by such as the now retired Tyll Hertsens from innerfidelity (Audiophile related) and many others. In that it's hard to keep track of things on youtube, as the cataloguing system is pretty streamlined if you will, which is why I have pages such as the Q's WoF & Favourites to catalogue & filter the more worthwhile entries for convenience. Not to mention I don't think people would enjoy too many T.V length breakdowns, with the given attention span, which is why the our website will be far more in depth with content, whereas the videos will be more concise & enjoyable so to speak.
This whole journey I've dealt with so many waves of doubt & exhaustion, having to push myself & mature as a person. I'm sorry that during that time I was pretty much ghost, not really telling you guys where I was at when publishing these reviews, If I was dead or not when it seemed like this blog was dead since I was busy for months on end trying to finish up articles, being that I felt it was just something I had to deal with & push through with my own strength.
However I see it,
I see the opportunity, what this platform can be & I'm going to follow through on that, and hope you guys are willing to follow & support me on this new step I'm about to embark on. This project will never die unless I say it does, so no worries.
For what will be next, I've finally finished the Shinsekai Yori review & It'll be published next thursday (want to sit on it a couple of days while I'll enter some of the related code etc.), and with that it will mark the end of this preparation I've been doing, & the beginning my efforts on Youtube
Tra La Folks
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