Calling Out Neil Lumbard Reviews

[Nevan Dove]

Neil Lumbard - the designated critic for all things anime on this site - has been at the receiving end of complaints for years, and not without cause. His reviews contain little-to-no expansion or detail regarding the specific release in question, are often riddled with erroneous information, and frequently contain the exact same review scores with no explanation as to why. The video and audio quality sections of the review describe the technical advantages of physical media over streaming, but almost never point to any specific way those factors contribute to the disc in question; reading more like an AI summary of tech specs than a review.

With the names redacted, can you easily tell which title this review pertains to? Does it offer anything about how this release stands out? The score for audio on this one was a 4.5/5, so surely there was something of note.

The release includes a selection of audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless audio provided on the release is a worthwhile element of the presentation. The lossless encoding capably preserves the soundstage of the series.

The release benefits from including both the original language version and the English dub option. Fans of ----- will find the audio presentation satisfying (with good dialogue reproduction and excellent clarity for the score and soundstage). A good effort from -----

But don't just take it from me. These are just a few of the posts from other users I was able to find within one minute of keyword searching Niel Lumbard on this site:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...d#post20042522
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...d#post20512260
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...d#post22060244
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...d#post22870092
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...t=neil+lumbard

I don't know who - if anyone - this thread will reach, but I've grown tired of waiting months (or even years) for a review only to get nothing at all. How does the Boy and the Heron look on UHD compared to the blu-ray? No clue. Any information about Arcane Season 1 on UHD compared to than the standard blu-ray? Nada. Does Godzilla Minus One leverage HDR to its fullest? Your guess is as good as mine. As a consumer, I'm often left with no choice but to buy the disc myself to see.

Whether it's a use of generative AI or just a structured template, the net result is a review that I feel offers very little of practical use. People often go to Blu-ray.com to make informed purchasing decisions; I struggle to see how these reviews help in that regard.