Two Years of Dreaming

by eternal on September 1, 2010

Yuuki Tatsuya is still the greatest.

Hello there, readers. I’d like to inform you that today, September 1st 2010, is the two-year anniversary of this anime blog.

Anniversaries are a great thing – aside from con posts, they’re the one time a year that we can talk about ourselves without worrying about the ever-imposing word count ceiling, especially since many people have already skipped to the comment section to leave a one line reply (and that’s okay; your thoughts are appreciated no matter what). Oddly enough, despite the fact that this is a notable year for me in a lot of ways, I’m not feeling particularly emotional. I guess that means you won’t have to listen to too much rambling! Anyhow, if you’re in the mood, kick back and grab a cup of coffee for this early September midday. (I-It’s not my fault if you’re in a different time zone!)

– – –

I mentioned this a moment ago, but 2010 is a notable year for me. This anniversary wraps up two years of blogging – more or less the standard life span of an anime blog – but it also wraps up six years of being a casual anime fan, four years of being a high school student, three years of being a serious fan, two years of being a member of an internet community (ours), and eighteen years of being too young to shop at Hendane. Last but not least, it’s my last anniversary before going to university and playing in the big league.

As you might know, I take anime seriously. It’s like a competition to me; not in the winning money sense, in the “spend ten hours playing the Extra stage until you memorize every enemy’s location” sense. In other words, I enjoy spending unreasonable amounts of time on the things that I love, and one of my goals in life is to experience everything that I can as an anime fan – in search of anime enlightenment, right? The enlightenment is the end of the road on your retirement day, be it the day you get your first full-time job, the day you get married, or something even later. My goal is to have no regrets when I reach that point. Nothing would be worse than seeing my kids watch the latest Shounen Jump adaptation on YTV and telling them about how their dad used to be an anime fan but never got to do the fun stuff like get drunk at an anime con or wake up at 3:00 am for Comiket.

From that perspective, entering my third year of aniblogging and losing my ability to categorize myself as a high school student means that I have a lot to live up to. Suddenly, I have to reach the same level as the people I used to look up to back in grade 10 – those old guys who know how to drive and get to study exciting things, the old guys who produce fan translations and DDL links for obscure music and guides for how to browse Japanese sites. The people who actually do things, the people who the anons in the shadows keep an eye on and sometimes talk about. If anime fandom wasn’t already serious business for me, it is now; I’ve got a lot of ground to cover and only so many years of life to cover it.

Of course, the situation isn’t that morbid – I enjoy what I do, and I’m proud of how I spent my senior years of high school and this past summer. In fact, instead of talking only about broad topics, I’m going to lay out a few specific things I want to do before the next September 1st. The school year is more important to me than the calendar year, after all, so resolutions are natural. Here they are:

  • Join a visual novel translation project. I’ve been thinking about this for ages, but I think I’ll finally be ready to do it this year. I’m going to play the VNs available in English throughout the year in the hopes of finishing all of them (with the exception of some SRPGs and the sex romps). I also finally made an account on TL Wiki, and I should be able to use my freshman Japanese and English skills to at least proofread or TL check a small-scale project. I’m okay with grunt work.
  • Start a podcast. I’ve been thinking about this since the spring, actually, but I never got around to it. The format will be similar to wah‘s podcast – an informal, semi-irregular gathering of internet friends to have fun and chat about interesting things. I know I enjoy listening to his podcasts and I think it would be a good experience. Let me know if you’re interested, though it can’t get off the ground until I’m actually ready to do it, which might be a few months.
  • Get into this figure photography thing. I have no eye for visual arts, but photography is pretty cool, and as I know from experience, taking pictures of delicious PVC is surprisingly fun. Unfortunately, I lack the materials at the moment to take presentable pictures. Still, the goal isn’t necessarily out of reach, and I’m only looking for enough material for some online albums, not a figure blog. Along the same lines, I plan on reviewing different types of merchandise like artbooks and music albums. I tried talking about artbooks before, but I think I have enough experience to not totally fail at it this time.
  • Write some reviews. Seriously, why do I never write reviews? I prefer my blogging style over the strict review style, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing I can do. Reviews for things like light novels and eroge might be a good idea, especially if they’re obscure enough than a reflection/editorial/examination of the plot wouldn’t really work. I was also considering applying for a position at The Nihon Review but I’m not sure if my writing is up to par yet.
  • Keep up with the EVN scene. Now that I’ve made more progress on Sepia Tears than simply writing the script, I’m getting a feel for how OEL VN projects are supposed to work. It’s pretty cool, and it has the great side effect of giving you an eye for the finer details of commercial visual novels, almost like an animation student watching anime. Of course ST will be completed and of course it’s always on my backlog, but I’ve also been toying with some other ideas. I think I’d like to have a game or two finished by next year.

And that’s about it! Projects like this sound like a big deal, but a year is an inconceivably long time. Last year at this time, I hardly used Danbooru and didn’t know anything about fanart; my Touhou music folder had 100 songs in it, not 1000; I was still getting confused between nakige and nukige; I hadn’t started frequenting any anime forums; I even though 4chan was scary! One year can make a tremendous difference, and I’m looking forward to challenging this year head-on.

This picture used to be 10302 x 5324 [Tinkle]

Anyway, I suppose I’ve rambled on long enough. If my first year was about getting accustomed to the anime blogging process and getting to know my peers, my second year was about finding new communities and broadening my view to include the internet as a whole rather than just the blogosphere. Of course, I still love the community here, and it would feel odd if I didn’t leave a shout-out for some of the cool people I met this year, so here goes:

  • moefloraine is like that genki girl in your slice-of-life/comedy show that makes every episode more fun. Typo is intentional.
  • Aorii‘s blog is basically what my blog is supposed to be. Delicious editorials.
  • Rune Devros is a Twitter bro who happens to be a pretty cool guy (eh likes Touhou orchestral arranges and doesnt afraid of anything).
  • Arkaether is another Twitter bro who I really don’t see often enough. Blame me and my antisocial internet tendencies.
  • I’ve known Choux since last year but it’s been a pleasure working with her on Sepia Tears this year. Here’s to another year of attempting to prove that your name doesn’t have to be Type-Moon to make a decent amateur visual novel.
  • I don’t know 8C too well but we’d probably get along judging from his blogging manifesto.
  • Shance really needs to start blogging again! Or at least find a way to play PoFV across the Pacific without lag.
  • relentlessflame is my new official mentor for random things that I’m too lazy to google and can’t read thanks to the moon runes. Keep it up.
  • Somehow I ended up talking to Hisui from Reverse Thieves. I swear I’ll play the real Hisui’s route soon…

…And that’s about it. Apologies if you’re not on the list, but don’t take it personally; this is just something I threw together at the last minute.

– – –

So with all of that out of the way, what else is there to say? Two years of blogging and being a member of an internet community has taught me more about anime than I ever imagined, and now that I’ve been settled into this place for a while, I can understand why the social aspect by itself can be so much fun. Indeed, one of my unwritten goals is to simply hang out online more often and forget about the backlog (though too much of that is the #2 cause of Hiatus Syndrome, second only to transitioning from high school to uni). I’m sure that I’ll have a ton of fun this year too, and I hope I don’t have to say goodbye to too many familiar faces.

Here’s to another year of excitement in this fantasy land of thighhighs and super robots. I can declare in the Red Truth that it will be awesome. Cheers.

~ ETERNAL
つづく

{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }

ghostlightning September 1, 2010 at 1:14 pm

Congratulations and I won’t say two years blew by quickly because it didn’t. WRL will also turn two and it does feel good to know other blogs and bloggers from the same year are still at it.

Good luck with everything that you attempt!

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Nazarielle September 1, 2010 at 1:19 pm

Yuuki Tatsuya is still the greatest.

I would have agreed with you here, had you not also linked an awesome picture from Tinkle, who I think has to take the cake as my favorite.

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RyanA September 1, 2010 at 1:22 pm

lol, Red Truth. Man, you totally didn’t list your IRC idea >_< well that's alright.

Congrats on two years. It's good to see you pushing on with such force, and I can only imagine you are going to experience many new things this year because of it; especially with starting uni and all :P

I really like the idea of writing more reviews, or even impressions ("what this specific series means to me", etc)… I think your post on the Haruhi novel was just about right for that kind of entry. Anyhow, podcast would likely be fun, so long as it isn't something that becomes a burden, you know?

Cheers!

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ETERNAL September 2, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Well, the IRC thing was more just “something to do” rather than a full-fledged project; I figured it would be better to get up and make a channel instead of bugging other people to do it, so I did it. You’ll probably see more of me on there when I settled into school, though, and I don’t think there’s any rush. You’re right, I’m not online as often as you :P

And for the podcast, yeah, that’s why I plan on making it irregular. I don’t think I could handle a regular podcast on top of a regular blog, and I’m much better at writing than speaking anyway. I’ll see how it goes~

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ExecutiveOtaku September 1, 2010 at 1:22 pm

Congratulations on your second year, and here’s to the next two. You’re only going to university this year? I had always figured you were a college student, heh. Thanks for contributing to that advice for new bloggers thing I did back in February too. I’m also looking forward to your unwritten pledge to hang out online more (how about being on Twitter more, nudge nudge :P)

With university coming up, good luck with making the transition. It ought to be a lot of fun, and depending on your major you should have just as much or possibly even more time to keep up with what you want to blog, while also meeting more fans on campus.

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ETERNAL September 2, 2010 at 6:54 pm

Yes, I’m quite interested in seeing how university affects my fandom activities, for better or worse. It’s hard to say how the free time will work (I have pretty lenient hours for classes but who knows about homework), but I’m studying English and a bit of Japanese so I’m really looking forward to using those skills for anime. I’ll do my best to simultaneously be in class, write posts, watch anime, and hang out online! :D

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Gargron September 1, 2010 at 1:59 pm

Congratulations. Goddamn, I didn’t think your blog was so much younger than mine *feels old*

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Aorii September 1, 2010 at 2:00 pm

Congrats, and you’re even older than I thought xD (yes I’ve seen the archives, but it just didn’t *click*)

Well technically, joining any translation group/project would be cool. Feels proud to contribute to~. Of course the advantage to the VN-groups is that no one is slamming desks over recent lack of updates =\ … also, what do you have against SRPGVNs? ( ̄へ ̄)

You need to hang around twitter more often~ I’m sure that’s what the other people wants, at least—

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ETERNAL September 2, 2010 at 7:04 pm

I’ve been thinking about fansubbing/scanlating too, but the former is way over-saturated and it would feel pointless unless I do the translations myself and we start a small speedsubbing group just for the heck of it (one show per season, plus random obscure OVAs). Also, I’m incapable of using Photoshop so I can’t really be a scanlation editor… and light novel translation is just as hard as VN translation, plus I can’t think of anything specific I want done.

Actually, I’ve been tsundere for JRPGs as a whole for a few years now; I loved them when I was 12 and thought they all had great plots, but now I can only play them for the gameplay (and it doesn’t take much for me to tire of RPG gameplay). I’ll definitely play Utawarerumono but the others don’t really appeal to me (Tears to Tiara, Men at Work, something else by mirror moon that I forgot).

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Aorii September 3, 2010 at 12:59 pm

Utawarerumono is pretty boring if you’ve seen the anime, wasn’t that detailed to start with, too simplistic gameplay, and its Hscenes are outright awkward (on par with Nasu’s in a different way); meh to the rest. Try Eien no Aselia (the one I reviewed xD) and the currently under-TL Seinarukana for a good gameplay SRPGVN with a decent story~ (romance is bit on the low side though, but setting/themes are pretty nice)

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choux September 1, 2010 at 2:24 pm

What? You haven’t played Hisui’s route yet? Doesn’t that mean you haven’t seen Kohaku… Tut tut tut, and here I thought you were a guy with a maid fetish…

And I’m going to write something here so it’s not a 1 line reply! Ha!

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ETERNAL September 2, 2010 at 6:58 pm

Ahaha… I probably shouldn’t ask why you think I have a maid fetish, but it’s kind of a hard thing to deny >_>;;

Actually, through an unusual chain of events, I decided to re-read Tsukihime’s Far Side routes backwards, and I just finished Kohaku’s route today. I had kinda gone through Hisui and Akiha three years ago but stuff happened and I never got to finish it properly.

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Scamp September 1, 2010 at 3:16 pm

And to think I only wrote a single line for my 2 year birthday…

I’ve always been slightly baffled by fansubbers and what on earth drives them to release episodes every week to an unthanking audience and deal with such a variety and quantity of trolls. However I suppose a visnov translation project would be a totally different experience. Although I seriously doubt it will be without dorama in it’s own way.

Anywho, it’s too early to be celebrating yet! You’re not an oldfag until you pass the 3-year mark

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gaguri September 1, 2010 at 4:33 pm

congrats on 2 years~

I think you should still apply for that position for Nihon Review if you want a place to write reviews, last time I remember Sorrow-Kun wanted few (or several?) more people on board. They also have a section for visual novel reviews in their blog.

Anyway great to see that you decided to do these various things, which are certainly much more productive than us talking about it xD

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mefloraine September 1, 2010 at 4:35 pm

H-hey, I don’t approve of that “typo”!

Nice job on two years, man. Yours was one of the first blogs that really wow-ed me when I started getting more seriously into the aniblogging community. My age and writing so well about anime? Goodness!

It’ll be nice to see more from you in the future.

I’ll keep trying to make the episodes more fun!

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rune_devros September 1, 2010 at 5:06 pm

Congratulations on 2 years of blogging. I’ve always really enjoyed reading your blog and you’ve been a lot of fun to talk to on Twitter and other places.

Oh and proclamations of “awesome” should be made in rainbow text.

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lelangir September 1, 2010 at 5:19 pm

congrats! of course, i’ll always be procrastinating on your OST for Sepia Tears.

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Micchi September 1, 2010 at 9:39 pm

Congrats on 2 years! I should keep remembering your anniversary is one day before mine since I’m pretty sure I thought the same thing last year too.

It’s great that you are looking for ways to expand your blog, but most likely you won’t end up doing all of them. Just concentrate on writing the same great posts that you make and broaden your posts slowly and I’m sure we’ll see this blog be even better in the years to come ^^

(I need to write more reviews too…)

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ETERNAL September 5, 2010 at 3:19 pm

Haha, I know I won’t be able to magically accomplish all of those goals in a month or two, but they’re things to keep in mind anyhow. Growth is always slow, but I like having something resembling a path in mind. And yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing more reviews from you~

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Panther September 1, 2010 at 10:57 pm

Congrats on the 2 years!

Figure photography is easier than most other types since it merely involves still figures, but even so, it is a challenge to get the correct feeling out of a photo encompassing both the figure and its background. This is of course only applicable to outdoor photography. I suppose indoor photography is way easier to get used to at first, but outdoor photography can really bring out the beauty and enhance a figure’s overall appeal.

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ETERNAL September 5, 2010 at 3:21 pm

I’ve always preferred outdoor photography when I look at other people’s shots, but in a way, indoor might be harder because you need the right materials and lighting and all that. Plus, you can also get creative with props. I suppose that’s what makes it fun though.

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zzeroparticle September 1, 2010 at 11:18 pm

I recall seeing an artbook review (well, maybe it was more of a highlight than a review) that got me to look at one of the headphone musume stuff (as if I wasn’t already hooked on those kind of drawings) and I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the Angel Beats soundtrack, so to see you move into more reviews is something I really do look forward to reading. Also wouldn’t discount your writing ability since I do see it as being pretty formidable already, so hope that you find the voice you’re looking for so that the coming year will be awesome indeed!

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kadian1364 September 3, 2010 at 10:54 am

Congrats!

You’ve carved out a nice niche for yourself, and I’d say your passion and quality of your writing will let you excel at any of the things you set out for yourself from here on. I’ll always be looking forward to your next post, be it an ambitious project or simple fanboying.

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Aspie Sincerity September 4, 2010 at 11:50 am

Wow, congrats on the second anniversary Eternal! Looks like I popped in at a good time.

As I’ve said before, I’m really inspired with your work with this blog and your passion as an otaku, it makes me want to follow through with my passion a lot more! I really hope I can become half as good of an aniblogger as you are someday, and I look forward to following your continued journey toward anime enlightenment!

And that red truth at the end made the blog for me. ;)

Spread the love~

PS. How do you get avatars to display in these comments? ahaha~

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ETERNAL September 5, 2010 at 3:25 pm

Thanks! Funny enough, when I joined the blogosphere two years ago, there was one person who inspired a lot of my ideas early on (and some of them remained, like the format I currently have for the rotating banners). His blog was also around two years old at the time. It’s a pleasure to know that someone would call my posts “inspirational” because I know I used to be in the same spot in the past. I look forward to seeing more from you :)

Also, it seems like you already figured it out, but you have to set up a gravatar to get the display pic. I think it determines your identity based on your email address, so commenting with a different address might show a blank avatar unless you set it up too.

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Shance September 5, 2010 at 3:20 pm

Congrats on the two year milestone! It only proves that us bloggers don’t have two-year lifespans like Scamp said! Keep the fire burning!

As for expanding, you don’t need to diversify yourself too much. There are a few people who prefer that (ghostlightning and perhaps digiboy), and it works for them. On the other hand, I’m content with the site so I concentrate almost all of my content there (save the art, it’s all on pixiv now lol).

Just find the groove that works, and hope it sticks. GO!

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kerobear September 8, 2010 at 8:20 pm

Congratz, If you do a podcast id def. download on my iphone xD~

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Can-C Eye Drops September 10, 2010 at 4:29 am

I hope that I am not so late to congrats you. I have just found your site, but accept my heartiest congratulations.

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Sharron Clemons December 21, 2010 at 4:21 pm

Wow, congrats on the second anniversary Eternal! Looks like I popped in at a good time. As I’ve said before, I’m really inspired with your work with this blog and your passion as an otaku, it makes me want to follow through with my passion a lot more! I really hope I can become half as good of an aniblogger as you are someday, and I look forward to following your continued journey toward anime enlightenment! And that red truth at the end made the blog for me. ;) Spread the love~ PS. How do you get avatars to display in these comments? ahaha~

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ETERNAL December 30, 2010 at 10:42 pm

Gee, thanks. I was quite busy in the Fall term as you can see from the lack of posts, but I plan on writing a lot more this Winter. Look forward to it! I know it might seem like comments like this go unnoticed, but they really do make a difference. Thank you :)

Also, you can make the avatar appear by setting up a Gravatar: http://en.gravatar.com/

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