For example, in the West, there are multiple outlets, both newspapers and media-specific outlets, that review media like films, TV shows, video games, music, and so on. However, as far as I can tell, the professional reviewing scene in Japan is far smaller than it is outside Japan. For example, for video games I can only think of Famitsu (I’m not sure if any other Japanese outlet does professional reviews of video games there ala IGN/Polygon/Gamespot/etc. in the West). I’m not sure of TV show reviews exist in Japan, but for movies I can only seem to find them for the most mainstream of movies, while indie stuff and anime movies (except if they’re mainstream) seem to be ignored. And speaking of anime or music, there don’t seem to be professional reviews of them either, at least nowhere to the extent of in the West like ANN’s anime or manga reviews. Come to think about it, most anime coverage in Japan seem to be glorified press releases anyway, they’d be considered churnalism in the West.
Is there a historical or cultural reason as to why Japan’s professional review scene is nowhere as developed as that in the West? I’m far less familiar with Korea or China’s entertainment scenes so I don’t know if it is an East Asian thing in general or a Japan-specific thing. To make it clear, I’m talking about professional reviews (think Roger Ebert), rather than Amazon ratings or user-generated reviews, which are a thing in Japan but not what I’m asking about.
by Far_Breakfast_5808