Commentators have criticized Emoto for insufficient experimental controls and for not sharing enough details of his experiments with the scientific community.[9][17] He has also been criticized for designing his experiments in ways that permit manipulation or human error.[9][18] Biochemist and Director of Microscopy at University College Cork William Reville wrote, “It is very unlikely that there is any reality behind Emoto’s claims.”[9] Reville noted the lack of scientific publication and pointed out that anyone who could demonstrate such phenomena would become immediately famous and probably wealthy.[9]
Writing about Emoto’s ideas in the Skeptical Inquirer, physician Harriet A. Hall concluded that it was “hard to see how anyone could mistake it for science”.[5] In 2003, James Randi published an invitation on his website, offering Emoto to take the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, in which Emoto could have received US$1,000,000 if he had been able to reproduce the experiment under test conditions agreed to by both parties. Randi did not receive a response.[19]