rikka is the name of the bot used to create discussion threads in the [email protected] community for currently airing series. Each season, there are ~50 different shows airing, more than our humble little community can handle if each episode that airs is given its own discussion thread. rikka was created to support creating threads just for the shows that the community has demonstrated an interest in.
On this page, I have laid out the different functions of rikka and how you can interact with her to help you discuss the anime that you are interested in.
Prior to the start of the season I, [email protected], will create a thread in which users can create a comment mentioning any shows they are planning on watching. I will be manually keeping tabs on this thread and enabling any series that people mention in rikka's database.
When the season starts, rikka will create an episode discussion thread for any show that has been enabled in the database. The post will be created once the episode has finished airing (uses the AniList api as a source).
For shows that have not been enabled from the thread before the season, no discussion post will be made. Users are able to request a discussion thread for an episode that doesn't already have one through a pm. See here for details.
Unlike the first week of the season, the subsequent episode discussion threads are only created if the previous episode's discussion thread has engagement from the community. Specifically, rikka will look at the total number of upvotes and comments on the previous episode's post to determine if there was enough interest to post the next episode. The exact thresholds that a discussion needs to meet will vary for now as the bot is new and I will be closely monitoring the engagement.
The rationale for this engagement criteria is to help weed out shows that the community has stopped watching. It would not be desirable for rikka to continue making discussion posts for a series that no users are watching or engaging with, littering the community with empty posts. If I find any users that are manipulating votes or creating junk comments to manipulate this, I will take moderator action as needed.
If a show has become disabled through failing to meet the engagement thresholds, but a user still wants a discussion thread for an episode, it can be requested from rikka via pm. See here for details.
Once a show ends, rikka will post an episode discussion thread like normal if the show is still enabled and the penultimate episode meets the engagement thresholds. If the show is disabled or fails to meet the engagement thresholds, then no discussion thread will be created. A user is still able to request a thread be created through pm'ing rikka for some time after the season has ended (see here for details). The exact amount of time after a season ends that a discussion thread can be requested is subject to change, but should be able to accommodate people that are a bit behind the airing episodes just fine.
If a show is disabled in rikka's database or if the previous episode fails to meet the engagement thresholds, there will not be any discussion thread made for that episode. If a user wants to have a thread to discuss an episode for which a thread wasn't created by rikka, they are able to request an episode be made by private messaging [email protected].
It is only possible for rikka to make a thread about a show that she knows about. So, I have made a page here that lists out all the shows that have recently aired or are airing soon and their current status in rikka's database. The shows that are requestable from the bot are in the second table. The AniList link and most recently aired episode number are provided for convenience in crafting a message to rikka. Speaking of the format of the message...
The message to rikka must contain two elements for her to be able to parse it successfully and create the requested discussion thread.
Episode XX where XX is replaced by the episode number being requested.So, as a hypothetical, if the show Mushishi was currently airing, but no discussion thread was created for episode 3, then you could request one from rikka by messaging the bot with the message:
https://anilist.co/anime/457/Mushishi/ Episode 3
Something to note is that different seasons will have different AniList pages. So, if you were instead trying to request season 2, episode 3 of Mushishi, the message would need to have the season 2 AniList link:
https://anilist.co/anime/20595/Mushishi-Zoku-Shou/ Episode 3
Any additional text you provide is simply ignored by rikka. If you were to provide multiple AniList links or episode number phrases, then rikka will just pay attention to the first instance and ignore the rest.
rikka will check for new messages every 5 minutes and will reply to your message with a link to the newly created discussion post if everything went well. Alternatively, if there were errors, rikka will reply with some information about what went wrong.
If you think there is an error and that rikka isn't working in a specific case, please reach out to me ([email protected]). The error information that rikka provides will be helpful for me to figure out any issues that arise.
There are a number of reasons that rikka will refuse to create a discussion thread for an episode other than simply being unable to parse your message:
| Reason | Additional Info |
|---|---|
| The show isn't currently airing | Only shows that are currently airing (or recently aired) are able to have episode discussion threads created by rikka. |
| The specified episode has not aired yet | If the show + episode you are requesting has not aired yet (per the AniList api), then rikka will refuse to create the discussion thread. This can be an issue sometimes when different services air the episode at different times. |
| There is a more recent episode discussion thread | If the show you have linked has a discussion thread for a later episode already created by rikka, then she will reject your request. For example, if you request a thread for episode 3, but there is already a discussion thread for episode 5, then rikka will reject this. The intention behind this is to prevent any confusion for users as threads would be made out of chronological order. |
| The show is marked as NSFW by AniList | To make my moderating life easier, I am preventing any shows that are marked as NSFW by AniList from being added to rikka's database. If you want discussion threads about a show that is marked as NSFW, reach out to me directly and I can consider adding that show manually if I think it won't be a headache going forward. |
One of the things that rikka cannot do is post a silly/interesting screenshot from the episode that aired as the lead image in the discussion thread. This is something that I particularly enjoyed when all the episode discussion threads were being user-created and I am sad that it will need to go away as rikka takes over posting responsibilities.
To help alleviate this, I am going to try to do my best to help participants of a discussion thread add a lead image to the post. If you have a screenshot from the episode that you would like to see as the lead image for the post, here is what you will need to do:
[@[email protected]](https://ani.social/u/rikka)I will try to regularly check the mentions portion of rikka's inbox to catch these. However, as it is being done manually, I can't promise I will always be able to respond timely or at all. Additionally, please ensure that the images you have chosen are appropriate (SFW, spoiler-free) to post to the community/instance.