Three years for me is a long time. It’s longer than any single project or occupation I’ve held in my lifetime. Thus, I am personally quite stunned at how this hobby, primarily expressed through this blog, has become (outside of my family) the most stable and enduring thing in my life (since starting this in 2008, I’ve changed employers three times – twice this year; took part of starting 3 or so ventures – failing at one, and countless projects that never saw the light of day).
I don’t necessarily view this as a good thing at all, come to think of it. But I choose to do so. Thanks to this little blog hosted at no cost, I found a way to get back to writing. I’ve stopped writing in a fun and fulfilling way for so many years. Thanks to blogging anime I also enjoyed the three most creative years of my life. To think that I’d experience this in my 30s too – I will forever be thankful for this hobby, and for this blog.
I have more to thank and be thankful for in this post. But first, some thoughts and resolutions:
What I resolve to do is to instead of casting my doubts about how long I can keep this up, I commit to keep WRL running for another year. This is tied with how I, upon reaching (my arbitrary) milestones, enjoy sharing the things that I think allowed me to reach them. 3 years is such a milestone, and so is reaching 4. What’s important to longevity is to have a clear purpose. I know I am more compulsive than I am driven, but purpose gives me direction. These are some of mine:
Share and celebrate Macross like no one else does. To this end I’ve been able to rewatch the original series with fans, and new viewers; and it is as fulfilling as I always imagined it would be. This also allowed me to blog the show in my way, and arrive at fresh ideas I didn’t see coming. After the second Macross Frontier film, there will be no new Macross the coming year. This is rather sad, but this gives me time for a new purpose: to come up with a perspective of the franchise as a whole, in its 30th year anniversary on the 3rd of October 2012.
Explore what makes the Gundam franchise so fascinating. I love Gundam, both the excellent and the awful. As to why this is so there seems to be an inexhaustible amount of answers or, that the question cannot be fully answered to satisfaction and therefore will be answered continuously. Unicorn, AGE, and the upcoming Gundam the Origin makes me wonder all over again. But this upcoming year I will definitely finish Gundam X, and more importantly Gundam Wing, the last of the shitty Gundam shows (including Endless Waltz)! There will be posts!
Explore how it is to be a fan of anime. Another unanswerable question, that I can’t help but keep asking – I’ve written many editorials, culminating in a record of my favorites. I don’t imagine seeing a lot of changes in the list come next year, but it’d be interesting if there were! The thing about blogging is that it is a self-centered activity; the blog is a self-centered place. The value in the blog and the writing is how others connect with the personal thoughts and experience. Except when I’m obviously inflammatory I attempt to create each post in the spirit of sharing. If it isn’t obvious yet, I love this anime stuff.
So yes, purpose: I have these things I want to do and accomplish writing from WRL; corollary to this is the attempt to present blog content in newer, more innovative ways. How I’ve always attempted to distinguish WRL as a blog (and myself as a blogger) is how I give more fucks per blog post, whether it’s the concept, composition or the presentation I want to remember love for the subject in a way that honors the effort that led to my experience of it: from the creators to the fansubbers.
Now, to the thanksgiving proper:
Fansubbers and scanlators. Without you I have nothing.
Standing Committee for the Coordination of Simultaneous Anime Viewing. This community has truly expanded my social experience of the hobby. I wouldn’t have survived Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and GSD without you. I love you forever.
My awesome, awesome collaborators. It’s one thing to watch stuff together, but to make stuff together has been a tremendously fulfilling experience. I will name some of you:
- AJtheFourth & Vucub_caquix
- otou-san (friend, mentor, father)
- The lovely family of @thatblog, but with special mention of Executive Otaku for Sai Mecha. That shit fucking owned.
Special mention:
2DT and 21stcenturydigitalboy for our remembering love for House of Leaves.
And lastly and most importantly, all you readers, all you lurkers and subscribers; and all of you who leave comments and engage me in discussion. I will never ever be able to thank you enough.
So count on one more year of remembering love. After a brief spell of burning out on my backlog watching I love anime more than ever before. Also, count on the Cowboy Bebop project being completed. It’s one of those things that make me love what I do.
We Remember Love 
First! And GRATS!!! 3 Years is an incredible milestone and your work is full of love.
3 years? You’ve been there twice (or almost twice). Thanks for the warm greetings and the acknowledgment. I’ll definitely give it one more go.
Congratulations on three years! Don’t undersell yourself into committing for just one more year. Better to not commit anything at all and come-and-go as you like (don’t be as hiatus-happy as me though lol)
WRL is one of my prime reads for comments and discussion. It’s because you reply to almost every post that we are all engaged and feel that our thoughts are important. All of this contributes to all of us remembering love even in different levels, ways and opinions.
And Macross Frontier!! My body will not be ready.
I decided on a Macross Frontier theme for this post because that’s how WRL really got started, with Sheryl and Ranka brightening up the place. Macross Frontier is just everything I enjoy in anime (not the best of everything, but everything anyway).
Yes, you’re all important. Even the nasty ones, I give them my full consideration (albeit sometimes the result is I will delete).
Oh, I’m a commitment kind of guy. I can’t change my fundamental nature. I make plans and promises. Even if I fail to fulfill them, I feel I go far during the attempt.
Grats indeed good sir. I’ll always love reading and re-reading posts on here!
Thank you so much for being a friend to WRL, to me, and the hobby we love.
Congratulations!
I don’t watch Macross (maybe, someday!), or Gundam for that matter, but you make it all seem very fun.
You have gone past the magical 2 year limit, and now, hopefully, you shall continue on, and on towards the sky your Mecha’s love so much.
Also, uhh, I hope it doesn’t sound like an empty compliment, but I think that pretty much everyone in the anime-blogging community, regardless of whether they read or like your posts, think highly of you. I am not sure why I think that is true, but I think it is. 😛
They’re SUPER fun.
It’s probably not completely true, but I appreciate how it seems that way. Like I said above, I give more fucks per post. That’s how I approach this hobby. Also, if there’s anything I think that’s worth thinking highly of, it’s how I’m having so much fun with everything. I am almost never ever bored.
So thank you for sharing all this and accept your compliments in the generous spirit you give them. Go watch Gundam AGE :3
I am expecting a full post for the K-on!! Moive Mr. Lightning! hahah oh and grats on that 3 year thing 😛
Thanks, and yes I will take on that film with all my might. When is it coming out again? Also, this post is just as much about K-On!! than anything.
also bro don’t forget about GUNDAM SEED HD.
IT MUST BE DONE.
Congratulations! 3 years is a long time and you’ve still been active and relevant in the ‘sphere. It’s inspiring, no really. My timesinks are trivial compared to yours, yet you still write so passionately. As for myself, I’ve turned into the anime blogger version of Kentaro Miura.
Anime fandom is one subject I’m starting to get interested in. In lieu of actually watching anime, I (at least) regularly interact with fans, and they are a very diverse and interesting lot (hello, Capt. Obv.). I’ll want to tackle them in more detail, especially the weird and wonderful world of mecha fandom~!
Also, Endless Waltz is actually decent. Compared to Wing TV, at least!
BURNING SHOUNEN PASSION
I have it.
I would love to read your take on things, how mecha arose from shounen or the other way around — it really sounds like the former but mecha anime was far bigger and more popular in the 70s that I’m not so sure.
The sheer ignorance in both fanbases enjoy remarkable distinctions with each other and I’d love to read more about that too.
As for W, I just need to get a good RHYTHM EMOTION and then I’ll take it on.
Mecha and Shonen’s intertwined history is definitely worth an article or two. Though Tetsujin 28 and Giant Robo were Shonen manga in the sense that they were for boys, mecha actually lifting the formulas and character archetypes from shonen series can probably be traced back to Uncle Go.
Mazinger Z was first published in Shonen Jump in 1972 as something for Nagai to blow off steam while he worked on the much more violent and seinen Devilman. A brash, hot blooded protagonist, tsundere girlfriends, perverted comic relief characters, gratuitous nudity, and new killer attacks as the plot demands. All these tropes are tentpoles to any modern shonen manga series, and mecha, in Mazinger Z, arguably helped popularise them all.
Yes, this is what I suspect as well. I’m just too daunted to take on the research myself so I’ll stay on the bench on this one and cheer on whomever takes this on.
Even I’m daunted by that research… but its tempting
Really? Wing is the last shitty Gundam series? You don’t think they’ll drop another one on us someday? You’re a hell of an optimist about the future of Gundam.
But I’ll drink to three years. I look forward to another year of insight (yours) and argument (don’t worry, I have you covered here)!
LOL thanks.
W is the last truly shitty Gundam show that I haven’t seen yet. I don’t intend to predict things, since AGE has 49 episodes left to suck giant metal balls. Also Gundam the Origin may end up ruining everything good and expected from it.
OH GOD IT’S TRUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEE.
Let’s see if I’m getting this right:
Year 1 = Ranka
Year 2 = Sheryl
Year 3 = Alto?
The prettiest among the three.
My favorite earworm.
Mr. Lightning, I’ll try to keep it brief, but that will be difficult.
Firstly, congrats on a successful three years of excellent blogging. I know that every time I visit WRL I’ll come away having read something insightfully crafted and thoughtful. You have a great appreciation for both the content of your message and for the composition of your writing, and it shows through your solid work. Congrats!
Secondly, and on a more personal level, thanks for being, dare I say it, nurturing, towards me and others. As you said in this post, your really do approach your hobby with a “spirit of sharing.” I couldn’t agree more. Since discovering your blog, I’ve been introduced to some great new-to-me shows (Ryvius, Mazinkaiser SKL, Galient, FLAG, pretty much the whole Macross saga, Cowboy Bebop, etc.). You’ve also challenged me to reassess a lot of things I took for granted about some of my favorite characters (especially Char in “Char’s Counterattack” – wow) and even concepts and ideas – I’ll never forget the great fun I had debating the symbolic nature of Sinanju vs the VF-1(real vs super definitions, to keep it focused on robot anime) during the Sai Mecha tournament!
Above all, thanks for being a stand-up guy…and for tolerating my sometimes infantile bullcrap. Thanks for helping me remember the joy of remembering love for the things we, as a community, love.
Here’s to another great year!
PS: I can’t wait for your scathing report on Gundam Wing and for the Macross 30th Anniversary posts!
Thank you so much. Reading this makes me feel I did something good with this hobby.
While it’s not necessarily bad, nor wrong to blog/write to establish your view or tastes as a filter for others to pursue this hobby with (i.e. writing reviews), I definitely want to distinguish myself from that way of doing things.
In matters when I trash (Gundam) shows (LOL) it’s more a confessional tone, as to say how I failed to enjoy something I wanted to thus I will fire a colony laser of hate at it because it’s fun that way. Or, talk about something beyond how sucky that show was.
Thanks for sticking around. WRL has one more big run to make!
I’m hoping that WRL has many more big runs! I was crushed – almost – when my buddy ol’ pal shut down his modelling-centric blog and I just don’t know if I could stand it if you had to stop blogging any time soon.
And fear not, you do good things for people every day through this blog. It’s a major part of my “warm-up” cycle in the morning. We Remember Love has become just as critical a part of my routine (and I’m a man who loves routines) as peanut butter and honey on toast for breakfast (and I am a man who loves peanut butter and honey)!
You honor me. Now my head is filled with absurd notions of blogging every episode of Gundam AGE. I just need an angle or gimmick and I’ll do it!
To mirror everyone else, congrats on your milestone and thanks for putting the effort to truly create a blog like no other. I’m looking forward to more of your thoughts on Macross and beyond; heck, possibly even Gundam if I can ever commit myself to watching any!
So yeah; cheers for sharing the love with us Ghost. Four more years, four more years! ^ ^
Thank you.
Credit goes to Minmay of course. Also Sheryl and Ranka and Isamu, Roy, Max, Millya, Britai, Exsedol, and Mylene. But seriously, THANK BASARA!
It’s just inspiring to be able to be too stupid to care about failing in the short term knowing that one’s TOTSUGEKI LOVE HEART is sharing with everyone the POWER TO THE DREAM. It’s the approach that sustained me for so long and will carry me through the next run.
Congratulations!! Is it that time of the year again? Wow 🙂
Indeed, a victory against mortality of dubious value but I’ll take it. Thank you.
Our little corner of the net would be a less fun and thoughtful place without your work to brighten it so as long as you’re having fun & being fulfilled doing this I hope we celebrate more of these milestones with you.
Thank you. I am thrilled by this acknowledgment and I will fully apply myself for one more year.
Congrats, Ghostlightning! If it’s one thing the stalkers, trolls, lurkers, and of course, the regular posters agree on, is that we think your blog is great.
If I could make a request for the next year, a post on Macross the First, pretty please?
Thanks so much! I’ll find a way to make a post on it, but what I need are scanlators in english. I can’t read Spanish!
3 years… I’ve been only watching anime for 4 years now. My attitude towards anime is much more selfish I must admit, so I rarely take the time to share my opinion with others, save a short tweet at times. I also must confess that your twitter was the link that lead me here, to this blog, and started reading it in a regular basis, something I don’t really do for lot’s of sites.
Keep writing, and we shall read you, that much is certain.
Thanks a lot, what you say encourages me a great deal.
Many, many congratulations for the 3 years of your blog. As a fellow anime and Macross fan, few things have brightened up my mornings as much as having an email with “We Remember Love; new post” in my inbox.
Reading your blog has been enormously rewarding. It’s always interesting to read other people’s insights into one’s favourite series, An I’ve been introduced to some series that I might otherwise not have picked up (Utena, Eureka 7).
Looking forward to another year of fun and insightful reading.
Thank you. It means much to read this from a fellow Macross fan. It really, really does.
All right, pre… let’s bring out the toma! LOL congratulations, man, for those in-depth discussions about some of the stuff we love watching.
OBTW, today we got our internet back, and it’s a great coincidence that I got my old Tin Lizzy of a PC got a CPU+memory upgrade.
Pick your poison, bro: Pale Pilsen or Tanduay Ice??? 😀 In any case, cheers!
convincing
Red Horse Mucho para lasing agad. Salamat!
😀
Red Horse can beat Colt 45 anytime. :)) Damn, another personal favorite booze of mine, just enough alcohol to make my brain dance to the tune of Seikan no Hikou.
BTW, gonna have to find some way to get some episodes of SDF so that I could try writing something different next year… and to relive childhood memories.
Congrats on another milestone man. Your blog has been the greatest influence on me as an anime fan for close to a year now, so thank you. Thanks for repsonding to every single goddamn stupid post I ever made, thanks for your nurturing and inqusitive spirit. Thanks for trolling to me to hell and back during Sai-Mecha, thanks for setting such a high commitment to excellence in every single one of your posts.
Thanks for giving me the oppertunity to get to know so many entertaining and cool people (Fist-bumps for Reid and JoeQ, love youse guys. No homo. Ah, who am I kidding, full on homo). Thanks for giving me the resolve to check out so many great series and shows I would have otherwise put off or procrastinated from ever seeing. Thank you for convincing me to watch SDF Macross, and for your wonderful replies to my inane posts on your favourtie ever show. Thanks you from the bottom of my heart.
Here’s to another three years of Remembering Love! If nothing else, I am determined to watch all of Macross before you decide to finish blogging. I physically NEED to discuss that shit with you, even if Macross 7 fries my brain out in the process. (P.S. Don’t ever quit blogging! WE NEEED YOU!!!)
Right back at ya, playboi. Hahaha.
You’ve given me a fuckton of encouragement and I thank you.
You, the guys you mention, and a few other most awesome dudes form the mecha fan readership I’ve always wanted. I feel very lucky to have you guys visit as often as you do given how mecha fans usually stay within the walled gardens of their pet internet forums and of course Macrossworld and Mechatalk. Of course I do write about things other than mecha, but trust that I do know where and how deep my roots dig in. Go ahead and watch. Are you done with DYRL? That shit is fuckmazing. Do it soon (And Flashback 2012 — the first OVA ever made?) because Macross Plus is going to rock your world (if you haven’t seen it yet).
Wait a minute… there are others places you can discuss mecha on the internet? (nonplussed). Aside from /m/ I mean. I dare not tread in those halls of corruption and squalor. They would eat me alive. Sorry if I’m a broken record on the subject, but my shallow interests run the gamut from Shonen, to Mecha, to some Seinen series. Outside of Saimecha, which is Flamer Season, this is the best open forum discussion on mecha that I know.
I have seen DRYL?, I’ve just put off talking about it with you for two months now. Must rectify this. I have seen Macross Plus, before SDF actually. Given that I had next to no background knowledge of the franchise my viewing experience was thus limited, so I need to rewatch it at some point to fully appreciate it. Macross II and Flashback 2012 come next in the meantime. Non-canon Obari and Minmay catnip ahoy!
Macrossworld and Mechatalk are top-tier forums for robot fans. These are not 4chan warrens. I’m just not a forum kind of guy so I don’t really spend as much time there as I could.
Good luck with Macross II LOL. Mass-produced Macross Cannons for the lulz. Seriously, those things are freaking ridiculous.
Mechatalk is made of pure bauce sauce. The technical discussions about robot-centric junk is amazing. I just left that website, actually. New MS from AGE revealed yesterday! It looks like a white Batman Gundam. Pretty sweet.
Congrats on a fabulous, well deserved milestone ghosty! I may be a terrible lurker, but I am constantly impressed by the love you pour into your writing – always make an amazing read.
Also as a shameless Wing fangirl I have to take offense at it being dubbed shitty (blind nostalgia FTW!)
Thank you, and yes Wing sucks. But you know I’m gonna love it anyway (albeit in a totally obnoxious and hateful way).
❤
_Macross_ endures; while trying to interview former Gainax translator Michael House, he wrote to me: “You have seen Macross TV and
Ai–Oboeteimasuka, right? If not, recitfy this grievous gap in your
basic education post-haste, or we have nothing to talk about.”
I love you, and Michael House. My name is also Michael LOL.
Hey Ghostlightning!
I take this anniversary as an opportunity to introduce myself. I’ve been reading your blog for about a month now but I never got a chance to contribute. I just didn’t want to enter an ongoing discussion where noone has the slightest idea of who I am.
So here I go. I’m a nineteen year old German, new to university. Being a child of the 90s, I belong to a generation who started their anime career with Pokémon and Digimon Adventures, and also Dragon Ball which was aired back then in Germany. In my teenage years I had other things in mind than anime. Roughly three years, however, I started to remember love, too. I rewatched Clamp’s X, which had been years before the first morte mature anime I’ve seen (more or less – TV schedule, you know^^). I continued with watching Basilisk, Death Note, Code Geass (all hail!), Black Lagoon and mighty Gurren-Lagann. Then finally I’ve become an fan of anime in general.
Of course, I continued remembering love, rewatching Gundam Wing, now with original dub. Yes, Wing, which was not only my first Gundam series, but my first mecha series in general. By no way it is a shitty Gundam! :3 Truely, it is still my favourite one – and not just because of nostalgia – though I have yet to watch Zeta and 8th MS Team.
Ghostlighning, I’m jealous of you. Not because of your successfull blog, which seems to have a large audience – well of that, too. (I’m not a blogger myself, but for many years I wanted to be a journalist.) I envy you for being able to watch all these robot shows in your childhood. What would I give to be ten again, just watch GaoGaiGar not only with the eyes, but with the soul of a child! Yes, like you, I’m a huge fan of mecha shows. I dare say robots are the only reason for me to stick to anime. And nostalgia to be sure!
That is also what I love about your blog. It might be analytic more often than not. Yet, it is mainly driven by emotion; emotion and nostalgia.
I cannot remember how I discovered your blog, but I know why I come back, again and again. Keep going! You’re doing fine!
Regards!
Andaer
Thank you Andaer, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to visit and comment.
I won’t take it against people when they like something atrocious like Wing Gundam. I like terrible, terrible things too. In 2010, I watched over 150 episodes of the shittiest shit Gundam ever: ZZ, SEED, and GSD. I made it a point to hate on them as much as I did because that too, is part of love.
If you are serious about Gundam, go watch the Universal Century shows, starting with the original movie trilogy. Finish that and get back to me. I’ll keep you watching the very best.
I’ve already watched the movie trilogy, 0080 and 0083. A couple of Zeta episodes, too, but at the moment I’m busy watching LoGH. And your blog desperately makes me want to watch Macross. Still waiting till Galaxy Networks finish their new version.
Don’t get hung up on marathoning SDFM, if you watch it steadily they’ll eventually catch up. yot-chan said as much in the comments section of my recent blogging series on SDFM. Enjoy LotGH, it’s fuckmazing.
Congrats on three years, my good man! I always value your perspective on things because it’s so damn passionate. I feel the love when I read your posts~
Keep on rockin’, man.
Thank you!
Can’t do anything half-assed. I can tell when I do and it pisses me off. I don’t have the intestinal fortitude you (and Kadian) have when it comes to watching truly shitty anime, but I have something else: the will born of pure love, to rewatch the shittiest Gundam ever. SEED and GSD will be remastered in HD. ARE YOU WITH ME? (I made DonKangolJones commit to watch the BD remaster of ZZ with me; I cannot in good conscience invite anyone who hasn’t seen it to watch it with us).
We’ll see. During my work week, I’m available at odd hours, so if it works out for me, then I’ll think about it. And if it happens, then I’m sure my eyes will somehow learn to vomit when I see this shit again.
I want to say congrats on making it 3 years!
“We Remember Love” such a powerful phrase that helps shape the lens we use to look at life.
It’s far too easy to remember the bad and forget the good, but your blog constantly challenges me to look and REMEMBER what’s good and joyful in everything that I can. I finally signed up for a wordpress account and will hopefully convince myself to blog as a creative outlet. Being 30, I completely agree on needing something creative to counter the hustle and bustle of RL that doesn’t encourage such things naturally.
So here’s a toast to my fellow Macross Lifer, “Thank you for a wonderful 3 years. Keep writing! Words are a powerful and inspiring thing, even if we don’t mean them to be.”
-SqSp
THANK YOU, BROTHER IN PROTOCULURE!
That’s actually quite a Robotech thing to say, but I’m feeling generous.
This blog has been an outlet indeed, but not because I needed a creative outlet, but something a little different: I am a compulsive writer. Wait, let me put that more accurately: I am a compulsive typist. I am always need to be smacking a keyboard. I ran personal blogs before but I felt constrained writing about real people I know. I felt I had to censor myself a whole lot, and I needed something to write about that does not impinge on the privacy of others. When anime presented itself, I felt liberated.
By all means, start a blog. I’ll support you in any way I can.
Congrats, ghost! This is certainly quite an incredible achievement. ^ ^ In three years, you’ve managed to establish yourself as an authority in your niche. Love your works~ Cheers!
Thank you Yi. The authority part can be nice sometimes, but it wasn’t quite the goal. It’s a necessity sometimes to get an idea across, but it’s something I’m ambivalent about.
Rather than authority, I endeavor to become a fan of a superlative order. A fan with a rich knowledge of the subject, but with a most inclusive of attitudes, and a most generous approach to the hobby. More than wanting to be the expert, I want others to share what I care about so I have people to discuss these things with.
I’m most especially proud of the fact that in the three years I’ve been watching Gundam, I’ve turned into this massive fag that did more to get people to start watching Gundam (and there’s quite a few of them already) than the elitist jerks who make people not want to watch these shows.
Congratulations on three years of what has become some of the most enjoyable anime writing and reading on the internet. Here’s to more of the same. *raises glass*
I personally have to thank you for encouraging me (both directly and indirectly) to comment more on anime posts in general. Remembering love continues to be an enlightening and enriching experience.
It’s 1:30 am and I didn’t realize I’ve spent the last hour and a half responding to such generous comments and yours just came in and just made my night. Thank you so much for saying these wonderful things.
Cheers, bro. Happy birthday. :O
Hehe thanks! (pssst, Bakuman is back LOL)
Congrats on three years and for many more good years to come. Always nice to drop by and read a post or two from time to time.
Seeing EmptyBlue’s post about blog longevities, the third year is THE barrier to overcome and many blogs fail to make it past that point. Seeing blogs die down is always a sad feeling, but on the other hand, seeing blogs that make it through the years is always encouraging.
I’ve always been that close to watching more of Gundam and Macross but haven’t got the chance to. I have the feeling that it’ll get me that much closer to start liking mecha and marathoning it by the truckload. Finally got it. HD. Now I just need the time.
Remember love. One year, three years, eternity. We will remember. Ganbatte.
Thank you. When you do start watching those robot franchises don’t hesitate to reach out so I can explain things that would seem so stupid (they probably still are, but I think context will remove some of the rage people who are used to other kinds of shows sometimes encounter).
Although I am an awful lurker and our interests in anime do not coincide very often, nevertheless I am compelled to congratulate you on the three year anniversary!
I enjoyed reading your philosophical posts, and if I ever feel like getting back into Gundam or Macross (it’s been at least 6-7 years since I’ve watched either one…), I’ll be sure to come to you for your veteran advice! ^_^
May you keep on remembering love!
Thank you, I’m pretty easy to holler at over twitter so just let me know if you feel stuck on things re these shows. Cheers!
Man, I still remember when I first came across your blog when I was looking for Bakemonogatari posts two summers ago now. You were intelligent, insightful, funny, and in truth a bit intimidating. I say that because the majority of the writing here is steeped in language that I’m only recently really beginning to learn (mecha [yes! yes! I’m going to finish SDF!]) and that may have been the reason why I had lurked for so long without mustering up the courage to comment.
But man, now my little upstart experiment in bloggers physically talking with each other and the rinky-dink little blog I started as a result of those experiments are being mentioned in one of the first blogs I ever saw that took a more academic and intellectual approach to appreciating anime (without sacrificing the fanboying one bit!). Man, the very thought of that, plus knowing what your voice sounds like even, would be such a bizarre thought and notion to me two and a half years ago.
I’m glad to have gotten to know you, and to have watched anime with you. You have most definitely been an institution in my comparatively short anime watching lifetime, but you are now also a good friend. How did I get that lucky?
(remember when we talked on a Skype group-chat for like 12 hours, and you went to work the next day without having slept? hahahahahahaha)
Thank you. To be truthful I don’t like it when you talk of your own blog as “rinky-dink” because it smacks of false modesty. You did well and you know it. You can look back at WRL’s first month, first 3 months and we did good but not far from what you did, and I posted wildly and almost every day. I put out a lot of bad ideas then too. So shut up with the self-effacing stuff because it doesn’t ring true. You guys do well, so own it.
I’ve been very careful and precise with what credit I don’t claim. I know I did good here and did so for a long time now. I know that it doesn’t mean much outside of a small group (relative to the internet anime communities) but I’ll take it. I tell you this because I know you guys work hard. Own your successes without having to point unnecessary attention to them (by making silly statements like that).
This anniversary post started out as a tribute to my vanity by making banners for all my favorite posts from every month of WRL’s existence and my favorite comment from each. Besides the work being way too hard, it was precisely too hard for an act of obnoxious masturbation and self-worship.
In some ways I do see the work you do as the kind I like to make and used to read from my old idols now gone. I want you to take it as far as you possibly can. Thank you for all your generous regard!
You are a writer among bloggers, a bro among boys. Congrats on the milestone.
In celebration, how about you watch Gundam Wing, and I watch Macross 7. Deal?
DEAL
I know who lost this deal.
I’m pretty sure blogging years are like dog years or maybe cat years… no, forget that, more like rabbit years, given how quickly most blogs seem to burn out. Happily, you’re still going strong. It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside when another person comes over to the side of Revolutionary Girl Utena.
And, hmm, I suppose I could consider watching Macross 7. We’ll see.
Thank you, and yes do feel good because it’s really you who got me emotionally invested in watching the show when everything else I’ve seen and heard prior has merely put me on “oh I’ll probably watch this eventually ’cause it looks interesting.”
LISTEN TO MY SONG. MACROSS 7 IS THE POWER TO THE DREAM. WE’LL BE DANCING ON THE PLANET DANCE. OH MY FRIENDS!
Sorry for being so long in congratulating you, as I consider you my ultimate bro in the aniblog world. if you go on for another 3 years or more, you will far outlast me (you’ve already out-posted me, out-trafficked me, and just plain outdone almost everyone in every way).
Congrats on building a blog that has turned out to be unique in the space: thought provoking at times but never out of touch with its inner (outer?) mindless fanboy, and one of the best comment sections in the anishapeosphere.
I don’t want you to get a big head so I’ll stop there, but congrats old man.
Thank you old boy! My head was huge to begin with (I have trouble with hats) but I appreciate your efforts.
Yes you and Riex were one of the first to reach out — gtalk, twitter, which really made me feel comfortable reaching out to other bloggers and thus this hobby became the fun social community activity for me that I really didn’t count on becoming at first. (albeit it led to meeting weirdos like lolikit, owen_s, and digiboy).
Looking forward to next year so I can post “Four more years!” But six years may be more appropriate, which I hope you make. So… THREE MORE YEARS!
Wow thanks. After three more years I’ll be 37 and that’s not really young anymore by any stretch of the imagination.
BUT WE’LL SEE. I HAVE MANLY SHOUNEN PASSION.
Congratulations! Your hard work and enthusiasm is always apparent (although it’s still a mystery to me as to where you get all of your boundless energy from), and you’ve created quite a fantastic community here.
In addition to being a ridiculously hard worker, you’re also always willing to help other bloggers in their endeavors as well, even nobodies like myself. I’ve tried to take any and all advice that you’ve ever given me to heart, and hopefully, someday, my writing will be as interesting (and concise) as yours. You’ve also taken the time to open yourself up personally to those in the community, inspiring others to do so. Thank you so much for this. I still tear up reading your response to my Twin Spica post.
Also, I never would have seen Gunbuster or Diebuster were it not for your influence, and they are both now two of my favorites. So thank you for that as well. ^ ^
Best of luck, no matter where your blogging career takes you next. Congratulations.
MANLY SHOUNEN PASSION
Ahem.
Thank you. Like I said to vuc_, I don’t want to hear this “nobody” talk. The community has become such that there aren’t real “stars” and that most people, as long as they participate actively are “somebodies.” Most certainly, your output and content merit consideration, also along with the kind of discussion your work generates. Seriously, I can’t even keep up with Mawaru Penguindrum discussions — but that’s my problem.
Remember we have projects, and remember we’re going to watch Gurren Lagann ^^
A bit new to your blog but I really enjoy what I’ve read so far, congrats on three years man, and best of luck to the 4th year!!
Thank you. It’s very encouraging to hear from new readers and visitors. Enjoy the archives and stick around for the things to come.
I can’t remember when I started reading this blog, but it was definitely one of the first blogs I started reading regularly and launched me into reading other blogs.
Your analytical take and clear writing is one I aspire to.
Good luck with all your endeavours and have fun with all your undertakings.
Thank you for sharing all this and for your well wishes. I got one more run at least and I want to make it my best ever!!
Let’s burn bright and burn out with a hell of a bang this year. I’m looking forward to post-WRL, as you know, and of course, the road there will be fuckmazing.
We’ll see how it all goes after another year. But yes, this year I’m going to go all out, doing some good things for sure, but also some not advisable things at all, like blogging all of Gundam AGE lololol
Wow! Congratulations ghostlightning, 3 years is really a milestone. I’ve really enjoyed each and every post of WRL no matter how long it was, truely some of them inspired me alot to watch with uber excitement. Also hats off to you as running an anime blog for a continous timeline of 3 years is a serious business. I hope you’ll keep us indulged with your writing and make us Remember The Love which we wouldn’t forget.
Hehe thanks, sometimes I do publish very long posts.
Stay subscribed as I give the next year everything I’ve got left.
Congratulations GHOST! WOoooooo!!
Ohhh those times watching Seed/Destiny! They were always amazing and funny to me 🙂
HD REMASTERED VERSION IS COMING.
Congratulations! It’s pretty amazing to see someone who values and makes blogging a true craft. I remember when I started blogging, I was looking for some ideas on what anibloggers usually talk about and I stumbled upon your blog. Although I’m not a mecha fan, I enjoyed your postings on other genres. As I said before, I truly admire your compulsiveness and your intelligent writing.
Also, I really appreciate when you gave me some constructive criticisms. Your tips are really helpful. Thanks!
Toast to your success!
Thank you. I really appreciate the acknowledgment. There aren’t really a lot of blogs that talk about mecha anime anywhere as nerdotic as I do so I do accept that a lot of my posts aren’t for everyone. But my interests have widened over the years and I’m glad to be able to reach many other interesting people like yourself.
Congratulations, I hope you don’t mind if I take “count on one more year of remembering love” as meaning at least another 3 years of remembering love. 🙂
Thank you. I really appreciate the sentiment and regard :3
Congratulations!
please feel free to use this logo i recreated from that screen capture from the Tokyo Game Show
http://polidread.deviantart.com/#/d4bfucn
or:
3 years of this blog? i feel like ive been reading it for 5 years already.
it must be because of how meaty the content is. Congratulations again!
Oh man THANK YOU! I’m gonna put this up on the sidebar soon.
Congratulations on your third year of blogging. I was so busy this year that anime viewing and blog lurking was almost non-existent. IIRC, one of my recent comments in WRL was way back when I congratulated you on your 2nd WRL anniversary and here you are celebrating your 3rd.
30’s eh? Better watch the drinking then, your liver is not young anymore. We need a healthy GL to go beyond the 4th anniversary mark.
Who knows, your daughter might become a WRL contributor and eventually take its helm and be part of the aniblogsphere‘s next generation—in the same vein as Gundam Age!
Thank you for the regard and concern. I never really drank much, even in my “prime” so don’t worry. I don’t even drink at home. So happy to hear you’re still around.
I want to especially congratulate you for still going strong for three years. It’s definitely a hard commitment to stick too, and not many people can do that. I hope your interest in sharing your love of anime doesn’t wane anytime soon. 🙂
Much appreciated. It won’t wane anytime soon at all, even if the energy and ability to maintain WRL the way I want to keep it dissipates inevitably.
I never realized our blog anniversaries were a cool week apart.
I would have never guessed, considering the passion I feel through your blogging. But it speaks greatly to your love and energy of the media and the sphere of bloggers and fans. Three years, as a quantity, doesn’t tell the tale, for you’ve accomplished so very much in these past 36 months (a short period of time), and I believe you’ve reached a level most of us could never imagined.. most of all, you did it not simply through skill, but guts and spirit! Jesus.
Keep progressing, keep evolving, and keep being the wonderful ghostlightning. You are surely loved and appreciated. Cheers to another year of blogging my friend!
October is an awesome month. Happy anniversary as well.
Re: Skill, Hard Work, & Guts… LISTEN TO MY SONG!
Thank you for all the kind words, and generous support for all these years, good friend!
Happy belated anniversary, comrade. Let us sing praise to Macross until the end of our lives.
You know your blog birthday comes at what would have been a special month were it not for the Basketball lockout. Well here’s top you getting Kobe to go barnstorming in a town near you.
Thanks comrade!
Kobe did get to play 2 games here a few months ago, but my circumstances didn’t let me watch him. Too bad.
Yeah fuck the lockout. Sayonara no Tsubasa however, is almost here. Oh god I feel like a chapter of my life is coming to an end!
Doki fansubs are slow as fuck though. They said “it’s on their card” but “don’t expect it any time soon”. Grrrrrrrr the fuck, I don’t need subs but there’re so many people waiting for them 😦
http://commiesubs.com/macross-frontier-movies/#comments
some good news for a change, Commiesubs decided to do the film and subs come out soon!!!!!!!
YACK DECULTUREEEE
oh, and rewatch Utahime before film. A day before, watching them back to bad is bad idea as they’re so differently paced etc.
I did over the weekend. Can’t wait for the subs.
SUBS ARE OUT FGASGASGASGASGAS
GLORIOUS 1080p HERE WE COME
COMMIE IF YOU SCREW UP LYRICS FOR SAYONARA NO TSUBASA OR HOSHIKIRA I KILL YOU
I WON’T BE HOME FOR ANOTHER 8 HOURS. BHHHHADFADDDSDGSASEDFGDFGD
that sucks
But then it’s endless repeat~
it needs to be seen at least twice to be fully appreciated anyway (though it’s not like rewatching Macross work is a problem to you LOL)
one thing I forgot to say is that the Commie release is encoded in hi10p so you need to make sure your codecs and MPC support it
This is indeed a great blog, one of the best anime related ones I’ve read and probably my favourite due to a lot of content being interesting to me.
I think I first stumbled upon this blog as I started watching and slowly but steadily fell in love with Macross Frontier in 2009. I googled something and ended up reading your post on Bakemonogatari/MacrossF ep 3’s and dialogues within them. I really liked that post and eventually, some months later I think, I ended up becoming a semi-regular leader.
Alternatively I first hit your post on Gendo Ikari while googling something Eva-related and liked the post. I don’t remember which I encountered first, but those two posts were my gateway and when I eventually became a Macross fan after Frontier and Plus the blog became indispensable part of anime blogosphere to me
Heartfelt congratzulations for 3 years of great work! 🙂
Thank you, and truly 3 Fire Bomber albums’ worth of thanks for all the discussion and information you’ve contributed here. You have enriched this blog so much.
I’m glad you stumbled upon those posts, as I’ve grown rather proud of them, especially the Gendo one, which was one of the first examples of what would be my confessional style.
Pingback: Thursday’s Lab Report #12: Interview With We Remember Love’s Ghostlightning « Organization Anti-Social Geniuses
Pingback: Thankful For Five Years of Blogging | My Sword Is Unbelievably Dull
Pingback: Organization Anti-Social Geniuses » Thursday’s Lab Report #12: Interview With We Remember Love’s Ghostlightning