A Year in Review, Aniblog Tourney, and Nostalgic Anime

The infamous aniblog tourney makes a return this year, and funny enough, the Emory Anime Club blog somehow got into this circlejerk of a competition 😉

Anyways, joking aside, I find it kind of funny how this blog’s debut into the tourney coincides with this blog’s 2nd anniversary (well, almost. 4/20 as opposed to 4/21… who’s counting?). As usual for my non-episodic posts, I plan on trying to deviate from my normal writing style a bit and try something a little different.

For all you aniblog judges who want to see my usual writing style, just ignore this post and scroll down to see my ginormously lengthy, wordy, and sometimes very grammatically incorrect posts. They can be a dry read (or so some say).

Or you could just comment on this post, giving full honest feedback on whatever you want. Insults, praises, requests, whatever you want; it should be a rather fun experience. Perhaps I’m sounding a bit sadistic here? :3

As for you long-time visitors of this blog, I figured I could celebrate this 2nd year anniversary by talking a bit more about my history with anime. All I’ve posted on this site are reviews of currently airing anime, but I’ve never really had a chance to explain my own history and experience with this wondrous medium that we all share a common interest in.

If you’ve made it this far, you might as well finish the post and continue reading. Or, you could go vote for the Emory Anime Club on the aniblog tourney by clicking (here). Yes, you should definitely check out my opponent and give a fair, unbiased assessment of who should win this round. I’d like to hope it’s me 😉

And finally, I would like to thank all my current readers and commenters for making it possible for this blog to have come this far. Blogging is truly a lonely experience when you first start off on your own, but it becomes a genuinely enjoyable hobby once readers start trickling in. It’s been a fun two years, and I hope to continue such for as long as I continue blogging.

Anyways, continue onwards for my history with anime. I apologize in advance for the rather lengthy post 😡

A Year in Review – Anime of 2011

I think I’ve said this a number of times already, but 2011 has generally been a solid year of anime. The genres this year were surprisingly diverse, with some of the shows ending up being very thought-provoking or entertaining. And it was a significant improvement over last year, that much is for certain.

That being said, I’m just going to list off most of my favorites for this year. Last year I did my year overview by genre, but it’s much easier just including everything you liked in a favorites list 😛

A quick note, I won’t be including Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~, Mirai Nikki, Chihayafuru, Persona 4, and Guilty Crown on this list. They haven’t been completed yet, so it would be a bad idea to do so. Fate/Zero is my only exception, mainly because I’m considering the show as two separate seasons. That, and it was one of my favorites even with only the first half completed.

A Year in Review – Anime OP/ED themes of 2011

With the year 2011 winding down to a close, I’ve been finding myself wondering about what I found memorable about this year. Well, for one, 2011 was a WAY better year of anime than 2010(!). Also, there was an unusually high number of shows that I found myself enjoying the music for, so I figured I might as well list off my personal favorites here.

Note that I like all the songs in this list, it’s just that I have a particularly long list this time around ^_^;

Now then, on to the list!

A Year in Review – Anime, Movies, and OVAs of 2010

First Off, Happy New years to everybody !

With the end of 2010 fast approaching, what better way to celebrate the upcoming new year than remembering all the series that aired this year? Of course, I’ll be listing all of my favorite anime that I watched in 2010, since it’s kind of impossible to cover everything that aired this year (it’s not like I watched everything). Note that I am not including currently airing shows, such as Star Driver, Bakuman, etc., and am including shows that finished airing (or will finish airing) in 2010.

There were plenty of interesting shows throughout the entire year, though admittingly this year has been weaker than previous years. Even so, there have been a few memorable  series amongst everything that aired, and hopefully 2011 will be better.

Continue reading for all of what I thought were the best of 2010 😀

A Year in Review – Anime Characters of 2010

Well, this year had quite a few memorable characters. Though there is nobody as infamous as, say, characters from series such as Code Geass or Death note, there are still some awesome characters amongst all the shows this year.

I’ve picked out my favorite Male, Female, and Side characters in this post, altogether roughly 30 characters in total (I was actually surprised I got such a large list). Note, the characters are listed in alphabetical order in accordance with the series name (e.g. Angel beats comes before Durarara, etc), NOT in the order I consider them the best.

Now, onwards to the list! Continue reading to see my favorite characters for the year.

A Year in Review – Anime OP/ED themes of 2010

With the end of the year fast approaching, what better way to celebrate the new year than remembering all the great anime moments of 2010? Well, to be more specific, the most memorable opening and ending themes of 2010. While I do think this year has been weak in terms of good anime music, there are still quite a couple memorable ones amongst everything that aired, so I’ll be listing my personal favorites from the year. Note that I haven’t watched everything that aired this year, so I’ll only be listing those out of the series I’ve actually watched. Now onwards to the list!

Note: I’ll be including songs from shows that ended airing (or is very close to finishing, such as Shiki or Kuragehime) in the year 2010. That means shows like Star Driver and Bakuman will not be included, while shows such as Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood (which started in 2009 but ended in 2010) can be included.