A random post asking questions with illogical answers. No pictures, just drivel. How many times did I want to post something like this but never found the right way to convey my confusion on being an aniblogger, but this is what I came up and I’d pay the 1st person 100 dollars (Or whatever is the equivalent to said amount in the poster’s region).
If any of this offends those brave enough to read this, then you understand why I don’t post analytical topics.
Sometimes I ask myself what the meaning of being an animeniac is: What does it mean to watch anime? What does it mean to study the very fabric of Japanese animation? What does it mean to be an anime blogger? Why do I do this?
Q1: hundreds of reasons but the main one is because I like the character art more than Western ones. I prefer 2D hotties (Excessive or not) over random amphibious beast #727. At least Cheetara 2011 is furry done right rather than “Insert animal ears and tail on an anime character=furry”.
Q2: Several anime preach stuff to the viewers and whether it’s worth listening to or not is a subjective opinion. If me likey what you have to show me, preach all you want. Does it have meaning? I’m not studying to become an animator/cartoonist.
Q3: Right now, it’s a link between finding people with similar interests and a non-paying job. At least that’s what it feels like sometimes.
Q4: In the hopes I can find some people with similar interests or others watching the same show and share opinions, both positive and negative. I will debate with some but not downright ridicule them. Oh, and of course promote almost all forms of yuri and SoL. At least that’s what I think I’m doing.
It’s cool that there are people who bother stopping by and all but what happens when they stop? Will this blog have any reason to continue after that? All good things come to an end but there are times I wonder whether what I’m doing right now is good at all.
Maybe it’s because I’m very forgiving. Maybe I don’t ask for much when watching certain anime. Maybe my expectations are only high when it comes to personal desires rather than that of the mainstream. Maybe I am a hypocrite in the eyes of some. Maybe what I do shouldn’t affect my joy or rage when watching anime.
Sometimes while blogging I look at other blogs and the #1 past participle/past simple verb in all of them is “Dropped”. It feels like what I’m doing has become a no-pay job rather than a source of expressing personal opinions and sharing them with both those who agree and disagree with me. Now it feels like, “Oh, I gotta post something soon, otherwise my blog will become repetitive (If it hasn’t already).On the bright side, I do this voluntarily and not forced. the opinions I express in my reviews are my own.
I don’t do deep analyses posts, nor do I explore the aniblogosphere’s general emphasis on what is awesome and what’s not.I just do what millions of others already do and somehow, it’s working.
These kinds of questions pop into my head every now and then and leave after a good night’s res,t but it seems that something always happens to bring them back in. When they do, I have a good laugh because when I should be quitting, I don’t because I’m not going to quit watching anime anytime soon and I’ll always look for people to share thoughts with. In short, I’m a masochist looking for friends whom I’ll have 0.5% chance of meeting outside of a my monitor and talk about shows that soccer moms and priests labeled, cartoon porn.
“my monitor and talk about shows that soccer moms and priests labeled, cartoon porn.”
I would add “tentacle” in between. It’s a must when labeling anime in some way.
Indeed.
I always thought of anime blogging as a hobby i mean you do what you like and you are not obligated by anything.And about some bloggers taking this too serious have you seen some football fans? A blog without readers will be pointless but you don`t seem to have this problem from looking around here it seems you even got some friends and every hobby is more entertaining in a group. Then at the question of why you should continue this?i guess for the same reason people go at fishing even if they get no money for it or eat fish because you like it.
It pretty much is a hobby, it just feels like others treat it like a very serious matter. Anime is only one example, like you mentioned, Football fans can get pretty insane.
Thankfully this post expresses my only worries with blogging right now. Other than this, I have no issues blogging in the long run.
I’ve been secretly following (and of course bookmarked) your blog since a long time ^^
And you do a good job.
It’s always refreshing to read your entries. I don’t need deep analysist posts; I just want to know how other fans out there feel about certain episodes I’ve watched. Like, “this episode was good, how do the others feel about it?”
Don’t feel pressured of writing a post. Just write when you feel like it. ^^
Keep it up!
Worry not BJ for this post was made merely to reflect that I sometimes go through these kinds of thoughts when feeling down. I get up quickly and continue blogging as I never forget who and why I do this for.
Thanks for the support dood and I do hope someday you’ll come out of hiding more often and not remain a Haunter.
considering that your sites are always visited.. once you add that “ads” stuff.. it can give profits..
Meh. I prefer other ways of getting paid that don’t involve ads. It’s cheap money, yes, but not my style.
I don’t necessarily treat aniblogging as a job. However, as the time pass by and as I see new subscribers and visitors on my blog sometimes I feel like it’s my responsibility to write something. I’m also pushing myself to post something whenever I bump into the nice comments on my blog. And even though I still find it hard to write and I don’t get anything from this, it still feels very rewarding whenever I hit the publish button.
To me, it all depends on my mood and what kind of comments I read on other blogs as my frequent commenters have pretty much made it clear what their tastes are. Still, you are right. Hitting the publish button after writing a review, topic or episodic analysis that you yourself are proud of definitely gives you a sense of satisfaction, whether you readers agree or not.
Is anime blogging becoming a job? To me a job is, even if its something you enjoy, primarily a means to make a living to support yourself. If you wished to make your living by blogging then that would be a job. Of course I’m coming from the view point of someone who doesn’t blog, just comments.
You worry that your blog won’t mean anything in the future if people stop visiting. Honestly as I see it, as long as it means something to you it has meaning. As I see it, as long as you continue enjoying sharing your views and promoting the joys of Yuri and Slice of Life series, your blog will continue to have meaning. Also as long as you continue enjoying it I’m sure you will continue making friends over the internet.
Like BlackJade said, I really enjoy your blogging style. You should not feel pressured to try to write a complex analytical post on everything. You clearly lay out what you liked or disliked about a episode/series/volume/game, which is what I am looking for in a review.
Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed following your blog since I found it and I hope you keep it up for a long time.
“Maybe it’s because I’m very forgiving.” Coincidently, me too — especially when the anime contains ANY amount of yuri! Because, yuri IS my love XD
Indeed elder one. I’m willing to endure almost anything for yuri.