Editorial Policy

Four Editorial Pillars

• Anime Feed — Fast factual news from Japan. 200 to 500 words. Sourced from official announcements, studio releases and verified industry media. No speculation framed as fact.
• Nippon Lens — Cultural analysis. 1,500 to 3,000 words. Interpretive, Japan-first, grounded in primary and institutional sources. Never a plot summary. Always requires human editorial approval before publication.
• Tomodachi Project — Short real observations from contributors with a genuine connection to anime culture in Japan or through Japanese cultural spaces. Always requires human editorial approval.
• Ninja Bloggler — Rankings, guides, lists and practical posts. Lighter in tone, but still grounded in verifiable information. No content invented for engagement.

Sources

Hidden Anime uses primary sources wherever possible: official studio announcements, publisher statements, government agency releases, institutional records, verified industry databases and registered media.

We do not publish claims based solely on anonymous tips, unverifiable social media posts or fan speculation without noting the uncertainty explicitly.

When a secondary source is used, we cite it and note its nature. We do not present a translated summary of another publication's work as original reporting.

News, Analysis and Opinion

Hidden Anime distinguishes clearly between factual reporting and editorial interpretation.

• Anime Feed content reports what is confirmed. It does not forecast, speculate or editorialise unless the editorial framing is explicit.
• Nippon Lens, Ninja Bloggler and Tomodachi content is analytical or experiential. It is editorial by nature and framed as such.

We do not present editorial opinion as news.

Fact-Checking

Factual claims in all content — names, dates, titles, credit lines, production history — are verified against at least one primary or institutional source before publication. Where a claim cannot be verified, it is not published as fact.

Quotes attributed to individuals are only published when sourced to a documented interview, official statement or verified public record. We do not invent, paraphrase without attribution or reconstruct quotes from memory.

AI Use

Hidden Anime uses AI tools as part of its research, drafting and language quality process. Specifically:

• AI assists with research compilation, draft structure and language review.
• All factual claims are verified by human editors against primary sources before publication.
• All editorial judgments — what to cover, how to frame it, what tone to use — are made by human editors.
• No article is published without human review and approval.
• We do not use AI to generate images imitating protected anime studios, characters or artistic styles.
• We do not use AI to fabricate quotes, sources, dates or events.

Human Approval Requirement

The following content types require explicit human editorial approval before publication: Nippon Lens articles, Tomodachi Project entries, corrections to published content, and any content touching legal pages, image policy or site identity.

AI-assisted drafts are not published automatically. They pass through human review every time.

Corrections

When we publish an error, we correct it. Significant corrections — wrong dates, misattributed quotes, factual claims that needed revision — are noted at the end of the affected article with a brief description of what changed.

We do not silently rewrite published content. If a correction changes the meaning of a claim, we note it openly.

To report a potential error: hiddenanimenews@gmail.com

Updates to This Policy

This policy is updated when our standards or practices change. The "Last updated" date reflects the most recent revision. We do not change the policy retroactively to cover past decisions.