It’s been two years since I’ve been writing here on We Remember Love. Looking back at the work done here on the site, there’s no surprise that much of it was done looking back at past anime, rather than talking about the future, or even the present. Here I’m going to talk about the present.
I believe that the anime fan that I am in 2010 is fundamentally different than the one I was in 2008. In 2008 I was full of intention to express what I thought who I was, as a fan. What actually happened is I became the fan that I am while attempting to express a self that didn’t quite exist the way I imagined it. This is going to be an involved post, and I invite you to be patient with me as I attempt to fulfill my intention to explain this world I choose to live in.
I am an anime fan, and if you’re reading this chances are you are one as well.
The Changes in Taste
My taste for shows didn’t change in a way that I stopped liking a certain kind of show, and then replaced it with another. Instead in the past two years I found that my taste has expanded. Prior to 2008, I was primarily a limited robot anime fan. I am a big fan of the Macross franchise for 25 years, but I had yet to see Macross 7 which I was certain I would hate, but now favor among the sequels and believe to be the most important show in determining the kind of Macross fan one is. I was a fan of super robot anime, but I really had completed watching less than 10 shows at the time (within the sub-genre).
I had seen the Gainax robot shows, and a few newer robot shows, but really very little relative to the breadth of titles available. Significantly, I didn’t really start liking Gundam until 2009. My conversion into a Gundam fanboy is one of the most extreme I can think of, because I did hate a lot of it and was rather indifferent with the rest. Over the past 2 years I then published over 30 editorials about Gundam.
Here is a list of works I’ve discovered over the last two years that I shouldn’t really be surprised I ended up liking so much (an abridged and unordered list):
- Eureka SeveN
- Legend of the Galactic Heroes
- Macross 7
- 20th Century Boys (manga)
- Bakuman (manga)
- Revolutionary Girl Utena
- Nana (manga)
- The Five Star Stories (manga)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
But more importantly I’ve ventured out of my core preferences and found myself rewarded. Before 2008, I had no idea what moé was but over the last two years I’ve exposed myself to quite a few shows that feature such elements extensively. I liked more shows than I disliked (though I’ve stayed away from shows I felt I wouldn’t like at all). Outside of participating in the anime blog community, I would never have discovered how much I’d enjoy the following shows (an abridged and unordered list):
- Lucky Star
- The Aria franchise
- K-ON!(!)
- Toradora!
- Bakemonogatari
These are shows that don’t really fit in any kind of shows I previously liked. While I probably won’t prioritize buying merchandise from these licenses, or actually buy legitimate copies of these shows budget and availability willing. What I learned? Tastes can change. Sometimes, I won’t like a particular show because I’m not ready for it.
It’s seldom wise for me to voice out my dislike for a show, especially to go at length to show hatred for a work, because I limit my possibility in life. How so? It’s because I will thereafter feel that I have to keep justifying my position instead of allowing my natural curiosity to discover something I might like about it in the future.
By acting so sure, and then acting so tough, I get in my own way of discovering new things. Even if I say that I don’t mind making mistakes (and I really mean this), this doesn’t mean I enjoy humiliating myself, or having others humiliate me.
The Economics of Anime Consumption
I don’t vote with my money. The assertion of Capitalism is that it is a democracy, and you vote who stays in the market with your money. I do not purchase anime. When I was younger I watched anime on local television (Philippine English dubs, then Tagalog dubs), then on basic cable. At some point, I started buying bootleg VCDs, then DVDs; many of those bootleg DVDs were poor encodes of bad fansubs. This is still how most Filipinos watch newer shows. In 2008 I started downloading digital fansubs via P2P methods.
I think anime fans here who use torrents to download anime are still a minority. Most fans, the ones that go to anime-related events, the cosplayers, the plastic model kit builders, they watch shows either on local TV or via bootleg DVDs.
Aren’t there any legitimate DVDs available locally? If there are, they’re hard to find, and far more expensive than their bootlegged counterparts. Some people even end up buying Hong Kong bootlegs thinking they’re original. While many young people use the internet extensively, online purchasing isn’t widespread. They don’t usually have credit cards, nor are eligible for them, the exchange rate often works against them, and most simply do not have the means to build a collection this way.
They would have to relate to acquisition of hard copies as collecting, because such an object is rather expensive relative to their means. Hence, if DVD purchasing is the means to simply watch anime, it isn’t a very efficient means for viewers here to do so.
The minimum daily wage in the Philippines (circa 2010) is PhP 404.00. This doesn’t amount to much purchasing power to maintain any hobby. If local cosplayers or model kit builders spent on acquiring legitimate editions of anime, they wouldn’t have the means to do their preferred fan expression. Many cosplayers only play shows on local television or basic cable (Naruto, Bleach, One-Piece). I know of toy hobbyists who purchase toys from shows they haven’t watched or don’t even intend to watch.
The viewing of the source material (or the reading) in many cases isn’t the primary fan activity. This makes more sense than it seems. While there are indeed fans who consider viewing the paramount (or in some cases even the only) way of being a fan, in more than a few cases, it just isn’t so. But how about me? How do I fit in all of this? I blog anime, writing or making content is my primary fan activity. What I enjoy most in the hobby is sharing and discussing with other fans. This isn’t to say I don’t care for the source material, the actual shows. That would be grossly mistaken.
I just don’t vote with my money.
I vote with the publish button, and the send button (for blogs and various online communications methods respectively). Just as people go through their considerations in their heads or with other people on what anime to buy, I put my choices into words or the work I do with media, and I share this with anyone who’d care to read. I imagine this is how a cosplayer votes by making or wearing a costume, or how a model kit builder by buying, building, or displaying toys.
Let it be clear that I am not justifying anyone’s actions here. What I do (and how I vote) is my business. How others choose to do so is theirs.
If I reach a certain level of disposable income, I intend to buy legitimate Blu-ray editions of shows I want to collect, but this will not stop me from downloading fansubs. I want to talk about new things too, or material that won’t be available for purchase for a long time. Still, my pace of consumption over the last two years, even if it is quartered, will outpace any foreseeable ability to purchase legitimate editions.
With manga it is very similar. My wife and I probably own 70+ manga volumes total (of various titles). I want to continue purchasing manga (even though they are as expensive and sometimes more expensive than the books I buy), but my reading consumption via scanlations will outpace any attempts I make at collecting (to say nothing of the lack of availability of many of the titles I follow).
Sometimes I put off reading a manga I know I will love, simply because I know it is licensed and on sale locally, but I cannot afford to collect it.
I feel sad (this happened with Monster, to name a title I haven’t read or have stopped reading), but the feelings come and go.
So How Do I Wish You to Remember Me?
I am a passionate fan of anime and manga, and that the core of this is a desire to connect with people who like them too, or people who will enjoy discovering these works. My being a fan is significantly diminished if it means I don’t keep making and sharing related content. I can’t make original animation or manga (at least not yet), so this is the closest thing I do to show my appreciation.
There may be less means, and time to keep up with this hobby, but I have no intention of giving it up. I’ve made preparations so that this site will publish content throughout 2011.
Thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far. For everyone who’s read, subscribed to, commented in, wrote for, and shared We Remember Love to others, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
We Remember Love 
The economics came out of nowhere XD
Congratulations on two years! Honestly, the years flew by, but it seems like much longer when I think about what’s been written and discussed here.
Sometimes, I won’t like a particular show because I’m not ready for it.
Yup, I like this recurring idea we’ve read about on WRL. Thanks for blogging 🙂
Thank you Ryan, it does feel longer because I did take on a lot of things. Part of the reason why I feel like I want to put out so much material or generate as much conversation as I crave is that I have an acute sense of the finite nature of my activity and effort here.
I always feel like I’m just a few changes of circumstance away from being unable to do WRL the way I want to, which makes me want to give it up entirely than to see it change into something I don’t want it to become (i.e. Power to the Dream.
Congratulations on your second blogging anniversary! Even though I only started reading other blogs since I started writing, your’s has always been a favorite of mine, even if I might not have something to say after reading every post. And I’m really glad to have you as a part-time member of the THAT team as well. Thanks for your interesting posts, your comments on my own posts, and for just being a cool guy to talk to about anime and non-anime topics.
p.s. Glad the package finally arrived, it took forever this time for some reason.
Thank you comrade. I think my second year blogging anime is greatly enriched by making your acquaintance. From the discussions on each other’s posts and the less formal exchanges and free-for-alls on twitter, to the gifts you’ve sent, to finally being able to write for the blog I wanted to write for from the start, you’ve added much to my life and your generosity and open nature is reckoned with, acknowledged, and treasured.
How else could I let pass the abuse you gleefully fling at Minmei and Basara?
Congratulations on your second blogging aniversary. I feel quite connected to your blog since I got introduced to the anime blogosphere through reading your first Eureka seven and Toradora posts. I have discovered many an anime and manga through your blog: onani master, honeymoon salad, and got my intro to macross. And have also discovered many of the editorial blogs through We remember love. Congratulations again, thanks, and looking foward to another year of remembering love
P.S. Heck I might even try to comment more but I am quite set in my lurker ways.
Thank you for your acknowledgment, and for making this exception to venture out from your lurker ways. I’m very happy that WRL is able to do these things for you. I feel quite similar for some of the bloggers that are here in this very comments section of this post. So I do know what you’re talking about.
All this just makes me feel good, that I can pay things forward in my own way. I really love this hobby and your kind words just makes it so much better.
wry ozma wrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy (and fuwa fuwa lakers time waaaaaaaaaat)
Anyway, expanding my personal enjoyment is the biggest thing I have received from participating in the blogosphere. I watch a bunch of different types of movies, so I’m not that uncomfortable with stepping outside of my usual preferences, but I guess with anime it’s more of a time commitment, so the process is slightly tougher. Reading people’s thoughts on all these shows makes it much easier for me to make the plunge, though. I love seeing how I view a series differs from how others view it; the process inevitably makes me reconsider my view and come away with a richer, stronger view as a result. How is that not great?
My experience with Macross during the summer is probably the best example of how blogging and bloggers have enriched my enjoyment of the medium. I would have liked the Macross canon plenty on my own, but writing/reading blog posts and bouncing thoughts/goofy comments off people on Twitter made it that much better. Would I have considered the ideas I have if I did not have access to these things? I don’t know, but the community sure made it a hell of a lot easier.
It is definitely great.
I must say though, your Macross journey this year gave me some really great highs, though it also gave me crushing heartache — how much you hated Macross 7 still gives me nightmares. I understand why a hater щ(ﾟДﾟ)щ like E O would react the way he did, but the intensity of your disappointment crushed me.
ლ(¯ロ¯ლ)
I know it’s not really that big a deal, but this is Macross, and I can’t help but care so damn much lol.
LOL I feel kind of bad now! If it helps, though, I try not to be one of those dickfucks who constantly brings up his hatred of THAT ONE SERIES. (That is, of course, unless someone solicits my opinion. :p) I’m not even going to take Baka-Raptor up on his offer to write about why I dislike Macross 7, because that post would kind of suck hard. I like being positive better, anyway.
Also, congrats on the two-year anniversary since I’m a dumbass who forgot to say it earlier!
Yeah feel totally bad. Us Macross 7 fans just wanna keep dancing the planet dance on the seventh moon on a submarine street where we light the light of a holy lonely light and remember 16, with our power to the dream and our charging heart of love and when we can hear the angel voice we just try again, and make her listen to our song oh my friends.
ლ(¯ロ¯ლ)
I swear to God that I had shivers on my spine when I read your last paragraph. I thought the interwebz will be losing a very good anime blog.
Congrats on two years, man.
And LOL on bootleg anime DVDs. I am so guilty of that.
I do my best to keep the engine running, but I honestly feel that I’m always a few changes in circumstances away from shutting this down or radically changing it.
In any case, I’ve actually slowed down in my second year from 1 post every 2 days to 2 posts every week. Come 2011 I think I can only attempt 1 post every week, promising only 1 editorial every month.
Thank you for all the good times man. Maraming salamat.
Congratulations on two years! Mine is coming up soon, might as well think about what to write.
I hope I have contributed to the changing of your tastes, for better or for worse.
As for how Filipino fans consume anime: from my experience, torrenters are really the minority, most just stream from various different sites. Fansubs are getting more attention, though. However, most con-going people are still 1-2 years behind current shows. And I can totally relate to the lack of licensed manga I want to buy. (Solanin fucking where)
>Solanin fucking where
In my bookshelf? :>
You can borrow it if you want! Along with two volumes of What a Wonderful World!
You… kisama-yatsu!
But don’t you wish Kinokuniya would open up here…
>But don’t you wish Kinokuniya would open up here…
You’re damn right I do.
Thanks! We’re of the same vintage along with emperorj, ak, and gaguri. I love it.
Most definitely you’ve contributed to my core tastes — and my important concern: robot anime lols. Now many people tell me to watch the same great stuff: Patlabor, Planetes, etc. but I do find it easier to start watching a show when I know you like it. But me watching and liking Broken Blade is all thanks to you.
Yeah, most fans are really behind by 2 years, but this will change for better or worse. It does kind of suck that there isn’t really an audience yet at conventions here for the things I would like to talk about. I think I’d enjoy running a panel.
Much appreciated!
If ever the local con scene matures to allow for panels, let us gattai for maximum effect~
My psychologist tried to recommend I read Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. I got through like 3 pages and had no idea what the fuck was going on, gave up.
It’s been a great 2 years; feels longer, maybe just because I’ve been reading since the very beginning. It’s too bad our recommendation-off never went down, but look how far we’ve come just because of that idea.
I wish I’d never talked shit about any anime (or music for that matter) in the past for exactly the reason you mentioned. It took a long time, but I learned not to do that anymore.
I love the speech about voting with the publish button.
Both of us virtually stopped blogging, but you were prepared with a year’s worth of content while I’m just struggling to keep my character database afloat. It’s a good thing I’m making these mistakes so early in life, eh?
Keep up the good work you old-ass bastard.
Most of the collaborations I go into, and my god I do attempt a lot of them with many different bloggers, fail miserably in draft hell (if it even reaches that point, it’s mostly google docs hell). Don’t feel so bad about that one, the ones that do get done make all the failures worth it (see: Starter Moe Anime, Utena Adolescene Apocalypse).
Yeah, mistakes of youth are okay. You get to make different ones as an adult.
I’m actually probably going to scale down publication even more in 2011, just promising an editorial every month, then everything else is a bonus for me. Do know that I always want to keep this hobby going. I truly, truly love it.
A good two years it’s been! Sadly I’ve not been as active for the most recent and have not gotten around to reading a number of posts I intended to, but I can still see you’re putting out quality stuff here man. Here’s to two more. :3
Thank you very much. It’s always been good when you’re around to shoot the shit up so I can’t complain, though I’ll always enjoy more.
It’s really good to feel all this acknowledgment because I do really put in the work in these posts though now it’s less raw effort and ability but more of finding a way to keep at it in the midst of other activities and responsibilities.
Congrats on the 2 years.
Contrary to expanding my taste in anime I found my taste got limited over the past 3 years instead. But then again I used to watch a lot in one season, and I still have not gotten around to old shows that I really felt like or got recommended (premise or otherwise) to watch.
I can see how that happened. In my case I didn’t watch currently airing shows until Macross Frontier which is around the time I discovered anime blogging, though I only lurked until the broadcast run ended.
Thanks for the kind words, and for reading and discussing interesting shows here on WRL.
woot 2 years~ go go late o8′ gen bloggers~
Even before I started blogging I had relatively broad taste, and I can’t say it’s become more limited or widened after almost 2 years of blogging.
Anyway no need to rush buying those expensive blu rays, you’ve now got a baby to feed…(+tuition fees etc o the joy ^^)
Thanks! I love it that our little ‘class’ is still putting out posts one way or another.
Your comment makes me want to chart taste in terms of narrowness distinguished from specialization. I think there are those who have broad tastes despite a high degree of consumption of a particular sub-group of shows. Do you feel like you’ve specialized in some way while retaining your broad taste?
After all, despite my newfound taste for other kinds of shows I’m still specialized in Macross first, real robots to a far lesser degree, robot anime in general to some degree, then science fiction anime to an even lesser degree, and period swordfight anime to an equally lesser degree with sf anime in general.
With regards to the economics of consumption, I’ve pretty much accepted my circumstances without guilt nor justification. Collecting hobby merchandise in any form is under indefinite moratorium.
Well from the day I started getting into this anime watching, and still now, my motto has always been ‘if it’s good, I’ll watch it regardless of genre, if it’s good enough to appeal to me beyond conventions of that genre, like mecha fights/shoujo sparkles/moe moe antics’.
But I think about a year after, I started to really get into artsy, independent, unique, rather aged animations. Like Diary of Tortov, or even the very obscure Spring and Chaos, etc. These are works that are very indepedent, and departure from commercial constraints (like it needs to appeal to kids/have to have mecha => constraints that writers of Eureka 7 had to deal with).
But after that period I just watch whatever that sounds great work of art and animation. I still don’t find myself in alignment with any particular genre (like mecha, moe, etc.) of anime, but I do have an affinity for any independent and artsy animated works, although I’ve hunteded down most of them. So I feel like, along with other very few people like dm00 from BigN blog and Ben from anipages daily, I am one of not many english speaking bloggers who has watched quite a number of artsy/experimental anime.
And yea, I don’t feel any guilt about torrenting myself too, but I just try to avoid the subject all together because, well, it is ‘wrong’, and I’ve got nothing to brag about (and many people are sensitive about hurting industry – and I’m not doing anything to help it). I actually wouldn’t mind collecting genuine copies of manga because the experience of flipping real paper pages late at night in your bed is 99999 times better than clicking pages on electronic screen. Only if it was as cheap in Korea, when I was there it was only like 20 cents for rent and few bucks for purchase. Here it’s literally more than quadraple the price to ho ho
Korea sure sounds like a manga oasis.
I do think of you as someone who’s specialized in artsy animated film. The level of affinity with it may not be the same as my rabid fanaticism for Macross, then robot anime in general, but it is an area you know and appreciate more than others.
I do notice something, though I may be completely mistaken. When we talk about our specializations, we’re less about providing a fair evaluation as compared to advocating the work to others. There is nothing wrong with this, mind you. It’s just something I’ve noticed among many writers.
I actually find it strange how harsh I got towards Macross Frontier at times, since I never intended to be so at all.
Congrats, but post would have been better with a bandwagon Miami Heat cap on.
Ghostlightning’s taking his talents to South Beach and moe anime. The mecha is so betrayed!!
I had this image of Bruno Global as Dan Gilbert. fffffffffffffffffff I can’t unsee… his hate message in comic sans too.
Lawl, if only I had one! The Lakers cap is actually a gift from the local Filipina bloggers KaeBoo, Bianki, Hazy, and ugsagijen for Father’s Day. ZOMG, my first Father’s Day gift I got as a new dad. I will always treasure it! (in a championship season too!)
Thanks for the congrats, maybe I should get other regular writers to keep up the publication productivity. What do you think?
If it’s just a temporary slowdown, you should call in your IOUs and get guest writers, since you wrote a lot of guest pieces.
Two more years! You can do this. At least try and drag it out till Alejandra can read properly imo. 😛 Congratulations.
Dude he’s already got enough posts he could sleep for the next 2 years and the blog wouldn’t even notice, except that the comments sections would be boring.
I personally find it incredible, how he manages to create so much content within such a short period of time. And I’m just doing episodics orz
I try to write 1k words a day in whatever form. For some stretches the writing finds their way into blog posts. On some days off and I don’t feel like going out and/or spending money I write a lot, a whole lot.
Man I want to be writing about anime for a decade, longer even. As long as they make ’em I’ll most likely find them interesting in one way or another. Though at that point I’m way way past my relevance and will be writing less for community and more for self-expression, telling kids to get off my lawn.
Happy blogging anniversary 😀
Thank you very much :3
Congrats on your two years of blogging badassery!
I can totally relate with changing tastes – I used to love things like Bleach and action shows. Now I’m the total opposite! And you’re totally right about not blacklisting/hating shows. There are so many great shows that go well beyond their perceived opinions that are really worth watching – I wish I could keep reminding myself to do the same.
Glad to have you as a fellow blogger and friend. Keep on remembering love and loving to remember.
Thanks bro. I really am glad to meet you and the other Filipino anime bloggers active and not, in meatspace. It’d feel a lot more lonely if all who I interact with are foreigners who I don’t see and can’t share a meal with or watch shows together.
Having an open mind and an expansive taste lets me get along with all of you different people and it’s made a profound difference in enjoying this hobby.
Happy anniversary! I’m still new to your blog (and the world of aniblogging altogether), but I look forward to seeing what other contributions you can make in the future! You’re a big inspiration for me, and I hope that someday I can achieve a status as an aniblogger similar to your own =)
Thank you for all the kind words. If you haven’t checked these out, let me share them with you:
1. Lessons learned after blogging one year
2. Guide to establishing an editorial anime blog
3. Sharing from “veteran” anime bloggers about their craft
4. Response to Guides in Anime Blogging
I love this hobby so much that I want newer, fresher blood to come up and do great as soon as possible.
Happy anniversary! May all your dreams come true, blogwise and otherwise! (this means my blog will be two years old in a few weeks…egad!)
Fall ’08 you’re great! Thank you for all the good times. You’ve been an invaluable contributor to my enjoyment of this hobby, far more than just being someone who is physically older than I am :p
Thankfully I’m more mature as well.
The blogs who have broken the two year rule so far, I think are some of the ones I enjoy the most. Naturally you’re one of them. 🙂 Omedetou!
Thanks for reading. I truly appreciate it, and of course for all the kind words; not only the congratulations and goodwill, but for all the contributions to the discussions as well.
Congrats on your second year in the blogosphere! I’m sure you’ve accomplished a lot from your writings. Looking forward to more posts!
It’s interesting to note that we have a very rabid fan community here, and yet most of the people don’t know where to get mainstream media aside from the usual sources. I guess it’s because of the history in piracy and bootleg material that the country had over the last years, where people readily grab anything that’s tangible in order to accumulate material. But that aside, I think you’ve made yourself clear that we all have our own takes when it comes to being a fan, and I respect that.
Again, cheers for the anniversary!
Thank you very much.
Honestly there are forums where the local communities come together, and there’s also the Filipino Anime Lover’s Club on MAL. However I find it difficult to interact in these fora because of my distaste for the internet forum format, and how the communities are rife with jejespeak, if not outright jejemons.
Omedeto, ghostlightning-san! I always like these sorts of posts. I think my anime tastes have diversified faster than yours for better or worse, I went from hardline mechs and shonen with whatever you’d call GITS:SAC to Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, LOGH, and K-On. And even then I have to juggle anime with Tokusatsu, heh. I just wish I could be as consistent with posts and stuff as you or even digiboy, but I’m just so random and whimsical with when I want to do stuff that running my own site doesn’t work for me.
Here’s to another increment of time equal to 365 days, and I’m looking forward to more of your Database entries on Fuzakenna, too. I need to do more than the one I’ve already done (expect it November according to Digiboy)!
Thank you very much and just keep enjoying the things you enjoy in the way you enjoy them the most! Your open mind will let you discover new things, as you already know.
There are just so many things economics won’t be able to easily capture, and behavior is one since a consumer’s decision is not heavily dependent on disposable income alone, but also in one’s preference. Seeing that, I also believe that even if I’ll be able to afford legit copies of anime in the future, I won’t be stopping either from downloading since it gives us the fastest access.
And lol about the change of tastes in anime. Once upon a time, I’m also among those who really enjoy Naruto and Bleach, but now, I’m not an avid follower anymore after much exposure to better anime(s) out there.
Congratulations GL! And, omg, my blog is older than yours?! I can’t believe this!
I don’t disagree with your statements because they are actually economic considerations: supply, access, and preference (implying consumption and utility).
Thanks for the kind words. My blog seems much older perhaps because I publish a lot and I’m much older than you are lols.
Thank you for all your insightful posts. I always look forward to them!
Thank you for the kind words. Good luck with your new blog. See my response to Aspie Sincerity above in case you find the stuff I shared useful.
Congratulations! More years to remember love!
Thanks bluemist! Glad to have met you and I look forward to hanging out soon.
Happy blog birthday you licentious Lakers fan!
Glad to see that you are now a two year vet that has expanded their viewing range unlike some more limited Zekes. I have little disposable income to speak of but unlike you I have a weakness for sales when they gattai with Sheryl Figures. If I could own a legit subbed Blu-Ray release of Macross F I would but alas it will never come out here…
Lakers for another threepeat!
Don’t get me wrong comrade, I’ve made most of my purchases in various sales (merch, toys, gunpla), and have only recently declared a moratorium for a number of reasons.
My wife and I are still vulnerable to these, but I’m proud of the discipline we’ve been able to exercise so far.
Thanks for all the good times comrade, you’re definitely one of the people who have made this hobby as much fun as It’s been for me.
Keep rolling duder, for every anniversary post there’ll surely be your share of comments to wade through. Unless they take away the internet.
Thanks coburn, my very first commenter ever (even though you’re not the first person I begged to visit the site when I started). I’m so happy that you’ve put up Courage Punch because you’ve always been one of my favorite writers (and people) in the community as a whole.
Congrats, happy anniversary, and other pleasant salutations. I know my own fan habits have dramatically changed since I began following the aniblogoshere; I can only imagine the change when someone steps into the arena as actively as you have! Passionate guys like you are in no small way responsible for why I’ve stuck with the medium for this long, and I’ve relished every word you’ve written. Cheers! And hopefully to another great year.
Thank you so much. Discussing shows with you keeps me going in no small part. You being part of the community as a writer yourself may now appreciate active and enthusiastic readers who participate in our writing endeavors.
Like you I started out as a commenter in other blogs, though I plunged headfirst into it much sooner — as I’m mostly a READY, FIRE! AIM kind of guy. When Lbrevis provoked me, and mechafetish came up with the name “We Remember Love” I wrote and published my first post, begged my favorite bloggers to come look, and I’ve managed to get two years out of this hobby that I love.
Congratulations! I think I said this last year, but for some reason it feels like you’ve been around a lot longer. It’s always a pleasure visiting the site, even when we’re on completely separate paths when it comes to what shows we’re viewing or our opinions of them (Highschool of the Dead, for example).
I’m sure Yuuki is watching from above and is very pleased with what he sees. 😉
I think it feels that way because I publish as often as I do — which didn’t seem much when I thought about it at the time, but given how single author editorial blogs become less prolific it now seems that WRL publishes at a prodigious rate.
Thanks man. I think Yuuki’s glad that a big tower got him instead of the alternative: zombie Yuuki attacking eating his sister’s brains.
Congrats, Ghosty! It’s been short but sweet, but I’ve really enjoyed sharing comments and discussions with you – and I look forward to more of the same in the future! 🙂
Thanks and I look forward to these as well! :3
Congrats on your anniversary! It’s really cool to see how you’ve become such a staple of the anime blogging community.
Lots of interesting stuff in this post. First, that you don’t like to express a lot of negativity on DYRL which is something I think we’ve discussed before. While your anime tastes have opened up over the years, my own have narrowed. I think it’s because I’ve been watching less of it and my time away has made anime cliches and hackneyed writing harder to overlook. Suddenly 99% of an anime season preview all looks the same to me. In this mindset, it’s easy to start sympathizing with certain bloggers who pick something they don’t like (such as moe) and rail on it over and over. Fortunately I’ve got DYRL and a good sense of humor to keep me from becoming the angry old guy in the corner ranting about how much anime sucks nowadays.
Also interesting to hear you talk about how anime in the Philippines is consumed. The idea of voting with the publish button is similar to what fansubbers say when they justify their work – i.e., that they’re popularizing the content and therefore helping the creators indirectly. Of course, for those whose livelihood actually depends on people buying anime and manga… well, I can see why we’ve got so much tension between the fans who download, the ones who don’t, and the industry itself. Personally, I draw the line at bootlegs because if I am going to spend money I want it to go to the real creators/distributors, not somebody profiting off of their work.
Surprisingly, most of my consumption these days is legal thanks to Netflix, Hulu and a fantastic public library here in SF that has tons of manga and allows you to check out a whopping 50 items at a time.
P.S. I am NOT encouraging you to quite this blog, but if you do you should join me in creating the site I’ve been building in my head… something where film, anime, manga and comics all collide in an orgasmic and disastrous collaboration of nerdery.
I agree that it’s easy to become that jaded anime fan, but man it’s so not fun to be that person. It’s far more fun to hunt for the gold than to point out the dirt, which is the easiest to notice.
The jaded folk do that as well, but they dismiss shows wholesale as dirt instead of finding the gold in it. And ultimately the essay becomes about the dirt.
Don’t get me wrong, I dismiss shows like this too, quite often every season. I just don’t make it a point to make my writing about that, about my taste. I am more of an advocate than a reviewer. Both are filters for consumption selection, but the differences should be obvious.
I am sympathetic to what the fansubbers are saying, but I stop at using it as a justification. I won’t say that I am right in doing what I do and that it is wrong to criticize me for it. It’s just a reality of my hobby and unless I find a better way that I can sustain, this is how I’ll do things.
I’m more than happy to be part of your project. You had me 2 years ago.
PROSIT!
Keep on fucking tits, and thanks for making WRL my internet home away from home!
Thanks bro-tousan, basically I tried to make WRL into what we (or at least how I) envisioned Oi, Hayaku lol and I think I didn’t do too bad a job.
Congratulations on your second anniversary! Hope to have you be around for many more years to come.
The economic aspect is always a pretty sticky one. I would rather buy legitimate anime dvds myself but that means I am cut off watching any new shows that come out. The fact that doing so is pretty expensive is also another dilemma us anime fans always face with… Thankfully, manga in Thailand where I come from is relatively inexpensive (under 2USD per volume) so I can still indulge in the hobby without it hurting my wallet too much. No matter what people say, when it comes to manga, I still prefer the old-fashioned books than any online sources!
Thank you!
It’s great you can buy manga so inexpensively. When the bookstores go on sale we sometimes find manga at comparable prices but that’s pretty much a crapshoot. Also, I think there was very cheap (newsprint) edition of Slam Dunk that went on sale here that cost even less. I can’t imagine being able to complete this title otherwise (30+ volumes, which I realize I didn’t count among our 70+ volume collection).
Dead tree format is best for reading, electronic format is best for blogging :3
Happy anniversary! Two years of blogging about anime and manga really shows your resiliency as a fan. Tagalog dubs also started my anime viewing. Despite the presence of streaming sites and p2p sharing, I still watch and enjoy them, “Ako ang Gundam!” lol.
Indeed, such a hobby is a very expensive luxury here in our impoverished country. To put off reading Monster was very commendable, at least you were able to finish watching the anime adaptation, iirc it never did finish its DVD release.
Thank you very much for your very insightful, passion driven and love filled posts. I hope that you continue blogging and “connecting” way beyond 2011.
Thank you very much.
I may have put off Monster but I couldn’t put off Berserk LOL, maybe because it’s still ongoing and I can’t imagine buying all those volumes.
The Philippine English dubs of Voltes V and Daimos were awesome, even if it bothers me a little how they changed so many names. When talking to the uninitiated I would call the boys Kenichi Go, etc, but to us they’ll always be Steve, Big Bert, and Litttle John Armstrong.
Wait, you only watched Macross 7 less than two years ago? Somehow I feel terribly ripped off.
Discussion blows. Relationships are meaningless. Content is king. Keep producing posts; otherwise you won’t matter to me anymore. You don’t want to be like lolikit, do you?
Congratulations on 2 years.
I spent most of the time prepared to hate it. It was never available locally and if not for Central Anime fansubs… where would I be?!
There’s nothing to discuss without content, so I work as hard as anyone to put stuff together. I’m more than willing to curb publication output if it means I’m putting out stuff I’m wholly unsatisfied with (I always have dissatisfaction with what I put out, but I think this is healthy).
Thanks for everything.
Congrats on the 2 year anniversary!
Like you, I suffered a transformation, from watching exclusively mecha or more seinen type anime, I’ve lately become hooked on show’s with a heavy more content and that I probably would have hated only a few years before.
When I compare how anime was two decades ago with the way it is now, I can’t help but wonder what show’s we’ll be watching in 2020.
Keep on blogging!
Thank you very much, I hope we all get to see you again (I’m sure you get the reference).
Kawamori -san prefers that my current location remain forever shrouded in mistery 🙂
Two years, mehn! Congratulations! I do wish that you could go on with blogging.
Thanks! I don’t ever want to give it up.
But at least I want to be there for the next Macross project.
Pingback: The stages of my anime fandom | 毎日アニメ夢
Pingback: Pointless Debate #15: Anniversaries | Lower Mid-Table
Belated congratulations on your anniversary! Keep trucking.
Regarding economics, and participation in fandom without buying anime episodes, this post of mine may be relevant. The industry isn’t all about anime DVD sales; it simply happens to be in the interests of distributors to focus on that.
Thank you, as we discussed in our very fulfilling conversation via VOIP, there are a lot of systemic problems that afflict the “industry” but the rhetoric we are given represent the best interests of mainly the distributors in the West who are but a part of the industry.
Pingback: Bakuon!! Meets Blogging: On Understanding Our Hobbies – Humble Ace