Reading Reviews and Comments

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to read and understand common patterns in Japanese online reviews and comments, including expressions of praise, criticism, and neutral observations.

Japanese online reviews (レビュー rebyuu) and comments (コメント komento) have their own style. They often use casual or semi-formal language, common set phrases, and specific vocabulary for describing experiences. Understanding these patterns helps you quickly grasp the main point—whether someone liked something, disliked it, or found it average.

1. Common Positive Review Phrases

These are frequently used to say something was good, delicious, fun, or satisfying.

Note: Past tense adjectives (よかった, おいしかった) are very common in reviews because the experience is over.

2. Common Negative Review Phrases

These express disappointment, problems, or things that didn't meet expectations.

3. Neutral / Balanced Review Phrases

Many reviews mix good and bad points.

4. Key Vocabulary for Reviews

5. Sentence Endings & Style

• Reviews often end with ～です・でした (polite) or ～だ・だった (casual).
• Comments can be very short, sometimes just one word or a phrase.
• Emoticons and kaomoji (e.g., (^^), (T_T)) are common.

Example 1 (Positive)

料理はとてもおいしかったです。サービスもよかったです。また行きたいです。
Ryouri wa totemo oishikatta desu. Saabisu mo yokatta desu. Mata ikitai desu.
"The food was very delicious. The service was also good. I want to go again."料理行

Example 2 (Negative)

味はイマイチでした。値段のわりに量が少なかったです。
Aji wa imaichi deshita. Nedan no wari ni ryou ga sukunakatta desu.
"The taste was not great. For the price, the portion was small."味値段量少

Example 3 (Mixed)

雰囲気はよかったです。でも、待ち時間が長かったです。
Fun'iki wa yokatta desu. Demo, machi jikan ga nagakatta desu.
"The atmosphere was good. But the waiting time was long."雰囲気待時間

Example 4 (Short comment)

最高！また来ます！
Saikou! Mata kimasu!
"Amazing! I'll come again!"最高来

Mistake: Using present tense adjectives for past experiences.

• ❌ おいしいです (oishii desu) — "It is delicious" (present/future)
• ✅ おいしかったです (oishikatta desu) — "It was delicious" (past)

Tip: Since a review talks about something you already experienced, always use past tense (～かったです for adjectives, ～ました for verbs).

Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the lesson.

1. 料理の___がとてもよかったです。(the taste)
   → Answer: 味 (aji)料理味

   料理味

2. サービスはよかったです。___, 値段が高かったです。(but)
   → Answer: でも (demo)値段高

   値段高

3. このレストランは___でした。もう来ないと思います。(disappointing)
   → Answer: 残念 (zannen)来思残念

   来思残念

4. 全体的には___です。(overall, it was satisfying)
   → Answer: 満足 (manzoku)全体的満足

   全体的満足

You now know the most common patterns for reading Japanese online reviews: positive phrases (よかった, おいしかった), negative phrases (イマイチ, 残念), and neutral connectors (でも, けど). You also learned key vocabulary for describing food, service, atmosphere, and price.残念

Next step: Try reading real Japanese reviews on sites like Tabelog (食べログ) or Google Maps (Japanese version). Start by finding the key phrases you learned here. Don't worry about understanding every word—focus on whether the overall feeling is positive, negative, or mixed.食