the fine print.

the review process:

scale range: 1.0 (lowest) - 10.0 (highest)

media will be experienced from start to completion before review.

the write up will be a reflection of the reviewer’s views of the media.

the rating (while extremely rarely negotiable) is set and locked once given. changes are not permitted unless by Editor in Chief (Marcus Landeros), and only with good reason. changes are not permitted by any outside forces. please respect any rating once given. multiple different ratings may be given to any one piece of media by different members of staff.

we review with the intent to guide our readers toward a more informed listening experience.

10.0 - perfection (achieved)

9.0 - excellent (in execution)

8.0 - really great (but falls just a bit short)

7.0 - great (with some minor setbacks)

6.0 - solid (with both good and bad)

5.0 - average (despite setbacks, keeps an identity)

4.0 - below average (some identity attained)

3.0 - poor (shows perhaps a bit of vision)

2.0 - bad (no good at all)

1.0 - awful (so so so bad)

the ethics:

our writing comes from a place of genuine enthusiasm. we believe criticism works best when it is honest, thoughtful and rooted in curiosity rather than cynicism. we aim to give both a subjective AND objective review. finding the right balance between informative and entertaining. we recognize the conflation of both styles and are happy to lean into it. where the subjectivity will have a higher weight in our process, it is important to denote one’s taste in likes and dislikes and how they influence us. this is further covered in the “the goal” section below. we do promise to inspect the media to the best of our ability and remark on it as such. we will review others’ work in good faith as we do not wish to willfully tarnish anyone’s personal work and we will approach with earnestness and honesty. with that said, we want to have the freedom to review how we like. any and all opinions of The Sagasu Review’s team remain that of our own.

primarily, we wish to celebrate what moves us and have the curiosity to discuss what might or might not.

no tears!

the goal:

here at The Sagasu Review we want to give reviews and thought-pieces first and foremost. behind that we wish for our readers to engage with the staff and the greater community. we want The Sagasu Review to be a place where readers can visit, not for objective and homogeneous music reviews, but for personality-driven and subjective takes. we want our staff to have the freedom to be themselves and write as such. doing this, we firmly believe our reviews and wider-site will offer people a more human way to connect with the content. the world is filled with AI-driven and nonhuman product, so we choose to counteract this reality with more personable and relatable content. we choose to embolden our staff with their own personal views and stances. we hope, with the stated ethics and given impetus, you will choose to trust us as a publication, as a reviews site and as an information catalogue of japanese based media.

with all that uptight stuff out of the way…

we want to we want to get freakin passionate about our current favorite things and we want to have a blast doing it!

join us here at The Sagasu Review for a really cool time, and stay for as long as you like.

- The Sagasu Review Team.