:anime: Amending The American Anime Awards

With the American Anime Awards a week away and with the posting of the finalists that helped alleviate some of the confusion surrounding the voting & nomination aspects of the event, I decided to post a list of suggestions that may help make the awards a more credible one, as well as categories that are either new or combine some of the more puzzling ones (can't say much about the ceremony itself yet, since I won't have the chance to see it for a while).

The Awards - Overall

> Little-to-no company appearance. Basically, the less seen of, say, ADV, the better. For the most part, they have done a good job at making themselves neither seen nor heard, yet their "Babes of Anime" reeks of their involvement, since they, like all of the presenters, are from ADV's personal dub house. Not having even a "mostly" corporate face on any honoring event that the corporation itself is in the running for means less concerns of vote tainting or fixing, unfounded or not.

> Have different voice actors present, rather than just from one single company. This is somewhat tied to the previous remark. It would have been very easy to find other VAs from other studios, as there are plenty of fan favorites outside of ADV that could have been asked.

> Have industry people make the final nomination list, not fans. A nice gesture by the organizers, but in doing so, you open the awards into something more close to a fan contest rather than an event truly honoring the best in anime. Instead, make a "Community's Choice" award ("Fan's/Viewer's Choice" sounds too commonplace, but I suppose it could do, too).


The Categories:

Best Actor in a Drama
Best Actress in a Drama
Best Actor in a Comedy
Best Actress in a Comedy
Best Cast
Best DVD Package
Best Theme
Best Score
Best Script
Best Adaptation
Best Director
Best Drama
Best Comedy
Best Feature or OVA
Best Series, Short
Best Series
Best Manga


Anime Categories - Overall

> Five to seven nominations.

> OVA = One (1) to eight (8) episodes in total length

> Series, Short = Nine (9) to fifteen (15) episodes in total length

> Series = Beyond sixteen (16) episodes in total length (at time of nomination)

> Feature = Movie/Film of sixty-five (65) minutes in length or more

> Eligibility:

--Must have been released in the United States in the nominated year.

--Minimum of No. Episodes Available in Nominated Year
--> OVA: Two (2) (if only a single episode in total length, then it would be automatically eligible)
--> Series, Short: Twelve (12)
--> Series: Twenty (20)

--Reissues/re-releases eligible, GRANTED they include differing content from their previous release (e.g. new language cast, new DVD packaging). Such titles will only be nominated in noted area(s).

> Nominations must be in appropriate categories (e.g. If an anime is nominated for "Best Drama," no one can be nominated for the same one in a different category, such as "Best Actor/Actress in a Comedy")

> Musicals are nominated accordingly (e.g. dramatic--> "Drama")

> Japanese-originated/produced only (no pseudo-anime productions).


Best Actor/Actress in a Drama
Best Actor/Actress in a Comedy

> Person may only be nominated for one (1) performance per show (no multiple show listing per person)

> Though this is the "American" Anime Awards, could it perhaps be open to the original Japanese language (or even other language) cast members? It might be more appropriate to limit it to the English VAs, but it’s just a thought...


Best Cast

> Any field, whether it be "Drama" or "Comedy." (Well, it’s already done, just making sure...)

> Like before, could it perhaps be open to the original Japanese language (or even other language) cast? Also, just a thought...


Best DVD Package

> Only one volume/package per show (e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 6, Eureka Seven Vol. 3 LE, Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Edition Thinpack--only one nod for each of them).


Best Theme

> Only one theme per show per category. (e.g. no Naruto OP 2 & 4)

> Can be an opening, ending, or insert theme.

> PLEASE do list the artists behind the themes. It wouldn't be right just to list the song & the anime and not those behind it.


Best Score

> A well-needed category, considering the work that goes into it and the amount of wonder a great score can do for a show.

> Only one nomination per composer, unless paired with other composers.


Best Script

> Another well-deserving category. Reserved for the original Japanese language script.

> Only one nomination per writer, unless paired with other writers.


Best Adaptation

> Reserved for secondary language production (ADR), which includes direction and script. It would be a great thing to give nominations for this, as it is a deserving award for those involved.

> Only one nomination per person, unless paired with others.


Best Director

> Also a well-deserving category.

> One nomination per director.


Best Drama
Best Comedy
Best Feature or OVA
Best Series, Short
Best Series

> The Eligibility rules listed above pretty much covers what could be done better. Hopefully, there is no need to put a "only one..." discrepancy here.


Best Manga

> Five (5) to seven (7) nominations.

> Japanese-originated/produced only (no manhwa or OEL).

> Minimum of two (2) volumes released in nominated year.


Community's Choice Awards
--Best Actor
--Best Actress
--Best Anime
--Best Manga

> Basically, the categories can follow the same voting format used for this year's festivities, only here, the finalists are chosen by the anime community--aka, the fans--in a second vote.

I wanted to make separate categories for the different types of themes mentioned, but it seemed too much and too specific. Perhaps separate honors can be given to the Japanese VAs, though personally, I would find it very interesting to see them go up against the English (or other language) ones. I'll reserve any final thoughts until after I see the AAAs themselves, but as far as the awards themselves are concerned, it would be great if they left the typos and mistakes behind and improve & expand on what they've built thus far.