Savoring complaints

Crunchyroll is where I watch subtitled anime, but I also love to go there to read the comments. I keep finding lessons embedded in the comments and spats that arise there. It’s a great place to read useful complaints and criticism (along with some praise.)

For example, I was watching a show where the first four episodes of the second season were confusing. They threw in lots of new characters in a new setting and the plot was suddenly complicated. I didn’t know why the characters were doing what they were doing. I didn’t understand the complication the antagonist threw into the mix. And I had no idea how the protagonist solved the problem.

People complained, but others complained that they weren’t paying attention.

• “These characters were mentioned in season one!”
• “He explained this in the previous episode!”
• “In the manga they went into more detail about this.”

The lesson? First of all, if part of your audience complains that something is confusing, that is undeniable proof that your writing was confusing. In the case of the anime I was watching, they were trying to remain too faithful to the source material while rushing through a side quest.

But another lesson is about the kind of audience you want to nurture. Do you want passionate superfans to rush to your defense if someone complains about your work? Or do you want users who care enough about your product to complain when something didn’t make sense to them? Keep in mind there’s a third type of audience: People who like your work but if it gets confusing they silently drop off and never come back.

If the superfans shut down the complainers, you’ll never know why the bulk of your audience dropped off. In other words, protect your engaged audience from your superfans, or risk losing the mildly interested people.