Anime Beta Awards 07'

[Zetsuai]

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Hentai (sexually explicit & nudity)
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would prefer to divide this category into 3:

Hentai
Yuri
Yaoi

[Moop]

Childlike

Those sweet little DBZ boys just don't seem to fit in here when they start snarling and erupting into balls of flame. Considering how many anime sprouts are unchildlike, a broader name (i.e., Children) might keep this from being viewed as a strictly cute category.

[darksuzaku]

would prefer to divide this category into 3:

Hentai
Yuri
Yaoi

Personally i would prefer the hentai one as a single category and require it to be explicit like last year. I mean, just because it belongs to a hentai series is not enough requirement to be on this category.

As for other categories..... Last year i thought of one but was too late to mention it. So how about a "Musical Instrument" category. It would be similar as the "Weapon" category, featuring characters playing instruments.

Then, following the idea of allowing all kind of art in the constest like WC mentioned, i would take out the Background, Fan Cel, Non-Anime, and even the Hanken category as they would be able to entry in all the other category. I would even allow rilezu. Instead of background we can have an "Scenery" or "landscape" category. Most backgrounds would be favorites in this category. A good idea would be to label each entry as "Cel", "Rilezu", "Sketch" or whatever they are.

Also, something i believe i mentioned last time, allowing each entry to have a single line of text describing the entry. I mean, not necesarilly lines saying "This is from x or y series" but more like "Feel the taste of my revenge!" describing an entry for a the Rage category, or "Realizing the death of a best friend" describing an entry for the sadness category. This way not only the cel compites but also the person who sumbits the entry, and many times one describing line can help the viewers to place themselves into context. I mean, one scene can be very descriptive to someone who has watched a series, and at the same time mean nothing to someone who has not watched it.

mmm, no more ideas for now, will keep my brain thinking for more ^^

[kymaera]

As for other categories..... Last year i thought of one but was too late to mention it. So how about a "Musical Instrument" category. It would be similar as the "Weapon" category, featuring characters playing instruments.

Musical instruments probably wouldn't be prevalent enough that many would enter into it. A compromise might be to change the "weapon" category to "props" so that it includes musical instruments, weapons and other items.

Also, something i believe i mentioned last time, allowing each entry to have a single line of text describing the entry.

The problem I see with that idea is that it moves the whole thing away from a cel contest to a cel/writing contest. Also, it makes more issues for the organizer to have to deal with in determining what is allowable (for example, is a page-long run-on sentence "one line"?).

[kymaera]

Anyone have any suggestions about what should be added/taken away?

Cutest and children have always seemed very redundant to me.

Nitpick, but "Masculine" has always seemed a misnomer with all the bishounen types that are entered (and "Feminine" to a lesser degree with powerful women entered). Perhaps just "male" and "female" instead?

How about expanding "couple" to "group"? Would allow more entries.

[Labinnah]

I love the idea of 'Background' being a option, as there's some really awesome backgrounds out there that just don't into any other category.

For other ideas, whattabout an Opening/Ending option? While many can be lumped into other categories, having one specifically for cels and sketches that original from opening and ending themes could be interesting, there's certainly enough of em out there.

[Cloud]

Good point.

[iwakuralain16]

I love the OP/ED idea... and also the "male" and "female" idea as well. jmaybe we could have a section for group and also a section for couples? Then again when i think of couples i think of romantic couples... just me though.

[Cloud]

Fascinating. Again, How often do you think of couples i think of romantic couples? Oh. With you iwakuralain16?

[HotIce]

well what if the name "couples" was changed to "partners" ?

just a thought. ^_^

[RoboFlonne]

I think an OP/ED Category would be nice!

Also, Can we enter Relizu's with Production Cels because not many new cels are released anymore?

[RX78GP02AGUNDAM]

Wouldn't someone have to ID the cels if theyre OP/ED. I see quite a few galleries on RS that mislabel their cels as such. JP and US openings are different at times though...

[ReiTheJelly]

Cutest and Child-like should be lumped into one category, since pretty much only "cutesy" cels won in the Child-like category.

Backgrounds should still be allowed their own category, as many are simply stunning in their own right. There were lots of entries for this category last year, so it won't be an issue getting submissions.

If "Hanken" is still going to be a separate category, we need a clause stating that no hanken cels can be submitted to other categories. Last year a few hanken cels won in other categories, which was a bit annoying since they had their own specific section.

I agree that the fan cel category can probably be dismissed. I love my fan cels greatly, but it is too hard to pick which one is "best" when ANY type of image can be submitted to this category.

I think changing "Weapons" to "Props" would be a good idea, as long as the contest coordinator makes sure that the art submitted actually showcase the ITEM(S), and not turn this category into a popularity contest between characters or shows.

Having a single "Explicit Hentai" category works best. This category always receives some of the lowest number of submissions. Non-explicit hentai cels can then be submitted into other categories.

Having an OP/ED section would never work. It's like the Fan Cel category: how do you remain objective? What makes one OP/ED cel better than another?


For people that own cels that fit into none of these categories perhaps we can bring back the Best In Show category from a few years ago. But re-name it, so that it doesn't imply that a cel or sketch will be chosen from the other categories as "over-all best item". Perhaps...Most Stunning Artwork, or something. Just so that there is a category for people with spectacular cels that don't fit into any of the pre-defined sections. Just a thought.

[wELCOME cONSUMER]

The Hentai category would be exclusively for cels depicting sexually explicit acts and nudity. Any non-sexually explicit cels from Hentai series would be eligible for the other categories in the contest.

If there is enough interest and people willing to submit cels to these categories, then expanding them into Hentai (heterosexual), Yaoi (gay), and Yuri (lesbian) categories would be acceptable. However, the Hentai category has always had the least number of submissions in previous BAs, so dividing them into separate categories wouldn't be fair. I have to wait and see what people say before determining how to proceed, which is why this thread is very important.

Since I went with last year's nomenclature, the categories have not yet been renamed but I like the input about the impression these words have on contestants/voters. I would like to adjust some of the names accordingly.

For now, these are roughly what categories I'd like to keep and their names:

Action
Background will continue to have its own category
Childlike will simply be Children - can be just a (1) child too
Couple will be changed to Group, the definition of "group" for this contest is art depicting two or more characters, so that includes couples, duos, partners, teams, etc
Creature
Cute
Embarrassed
Fan Cel will now be Fan Art, open to sketches, cels, paintings, stained glass, plushies, you name it
Feminine will be Female
Funny
Hanken - hankens are not eligible for any other category
Hentai (sexually explicit & nude)
Heroic
Joy
Masculine will be Male
Mecha/Robot
Non-Anime is no longer necessary because the submission guidelines have changed to incorporate a broader range of art
Rage
Romantic - scenes of romance, kissing, hugging, groping, whatever as long as it's non-explicit
Sadness will be Sorrow because I like that word better
Shocked
Villainous
Weapon could be changed to Accessory or something, but I hate the word "prop" because it reminds me of Carrot Top
Wild Card - this category is for any piece of art that does not fit any of the other categories, I'm open to a different name for this category as well, maybe Best Overall?

I'm not entirely keen on the OP/END category because I think there are enough categories to accommodate the subject matter of most OP/END cels.

Now, this certainly isn't set in stone. I'm still open to removing/adding categories.

Since I can't appeal to everyone completely in terms of wording, I just have to try and make the categories sound sensible. Certain words incite different imagery and reactions from different people, so I can only do so much to accommodate everyone.

I think it's acceptable for Rilezu to be eligible for any category but submissions are a first come first served basis.

Text is a nice suggestion but is not practical for those of us putting this together. It would be extremely time consuming. Voters have different criteria. Some look at the art objectively and decide for themselves how well the art represents the category. Others are familiar with the series and base their vote on how well they understand the scene. Some voters prefer the delicate line work of sketches and will opt to vote for sketches instead of cels. Others prefer vibrant colors and will favor cels. Whatever the case may be, I can't dictate how voters behave and I don't want to.

Some categories may sound redundant, but we have to have enough categories to appeal to everyone. If we cut too many and don't bother replacing them with new categories or something at least comparable, then the contest becomes unappealing and hollow. The goal is to expand and invite more people in.

[duotrouble]

As for other categories..... Last year i thought of one but was too late to mention it. So how about a "Musical Instrument" category. It would be similar as the "Weapon" category, featuring characters playing instruments.

Musical instruments probably wouldn't be prevalent enough that many would enter into it. A compromise might be to change the "weapon" category to "props" so that it includes musical instruments, weapons and other items.

I would disagree that musical instruments wouldn't be prevalent enough since I've seen several characters use instruments as their weapons. Heck, I have some of those cels. But I totally think a props would work since the instruments typically are their weapons. Nice suggestion!