AniBlog Tourney Post
It’s time for the Obligatory AniBlog Tourney Post!
Otakuness is scheduled to compete starting at 20:00 GMT Tuesday April 24th, and the polls will be open for 48 hours. If you do not see Otakuness on the site, do not fret for that just means that the poll isn’t open yet. So, just to make sure that everyone gets the time zone stuff right, here is a handy-dandy link to a time zone conversion website.
Continue reading for some info about Otakuness and a little of the sentimental stuff (and reasons to vote for us) that you might expect from an Obligatory AniBlog Tourney Post…
Kelfio’s POV:
About a year ago, I stumbled upon Otakuness in my never-ending quest to find another good anime series to watch. Since I’ve never been much of an otaku (even though I watch a potentially unhealthy amount of anime), I’ve never been able to stomach a lot of the rampant fan-boy/girl-ism, moe-worship, and vomit-inducing positivity that characterize a lot of AniBlogs. And that’s what struck me about Otakuness – both Saranaufogus and M0rg0th (the blog’s writers) were committed to giving honest reviews about a wide variety of anime series, without ever falling into the trap of mindless fan-dom. At Otakuness, you won’t find series rated highly based on how popular they may be or how many moe-blob-characters they may feature – the writers here at Otakuness rate and review a series based on things like story, animation quality, character development, plot depth, humor, and soundtrack. As a reader, I found Saranaufogus and M0rg0th’s individual styles to be witty, insightful, and refreshing. But it wasn’t just their posts that attracted me to Otakuness; I was constantly impressed by the thoughtful and strikingly intelligent comments left by other readers, which was something I hadn’t seen much of on other blogs. It was a breath of fresh air in an often stale world of mindless moe-fanaticism (or blind-anti-moe-rage), and I found myself visiting the site more and more frequently…
Fast forward several months: I have now been brought onto the team as a writer (I’m Kelfio!). I could probably gush for many pages about how much fun it’s been… About how neat it is to make friends from all over the world (Saranaufogus is in Australia, M0rg0th is in Germany, and I’m in the US) and to have people to rant and rave about anime with. By far, the best part about AniBlogging has been “meeting” so many other folks who love anime as much as I do – my co-writers here at Otakuness, the many astute (and often hilariously funny) commenters here on the blog, and all of the other AniBloggers I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with.
And that brings me back to the AniBlog Tourney.
First of all, hat’s off to the people behind the Tourney – what a great idea! I’ve been diligently doing my part every day, reading all the blogs and voting for the ones I’ve liked best. It takes up a fair amount of time, which is especially precious in the height of final-exam season, but the enjoyment I’m getting out of it makes it worthwhile. There’s a lot of awesome blogs out there that I never knew existed, and in my excitement I’ve made tons of comments on the posts I’ve enjoyed, had some great conversations with other writers, and probably subscribed to far more blogs than I have time to read…
And that’s what it’s all about. The Tourney is about reaching out and connecting with the members of our community. It’s about discovering all the other otakus scattered throughout the far reaches of this planet, and having a conversation. A conversation about anime, manga, games, figures, live-action films – whatever your thing may be, there’s people talking about it in the AniBlogosphere and they’d like to hear what you have to say. So I encourage all of you readers out there to jump in, have a good look at the blogs, start posting comments, and vote!
While the Tourney isn’t really about winning, I can’t help but mention that we wouldn’t mind winning at least a few rounds. Between the dry wit of M0rg0th (the blogger that everyone loves to hate) and the many amiable but uncompromising reviews of Saranaufogus (the blogger that everyone loves to love) and my own rambling opinions (I’m not sure if I have a tag line yet), I’m sure that readers from all walks of life can find something to enjoy here at Otakuness. If you want to know more about the exciting changes that are soon to come to the site, check out our “About” page, where you’ll also find links to our bios and lists of what we’re currently watching. Have some fun while you’re here – get your feet wet, explore the site, make a few comments, grab some popcorn, and prepare to think a lot and laugh your patootie off.
Thanks for being part of the Great 2012 Aniblog Tourney, and may the best blog win!
Saranaufogus’ POV:
First of all, I would love to say thank you to all you people who are following our posts on the blog.
To those who are new to the blog, I haven’t been posting much in the last couple of months (close to none) and so I may seem like a ghost that has just randomly appeared out of nowhere. But I would still like to urge you to vote for the blog and for our two wonderful writers – M0rg0th and Kelfio. A simple push of a button is enough to show that those hours of hard work is appreciated. 😉 Then again, perhaps we are simply people who can’t keep our thoughts to ourselves.
To our old followers, I’ll be getting my butt in gear and you’ll be seeing reviews written by me trickling in soon… so please vote for the blog and support us! (I’ve even created a button and banner to help rally the support. ;))
To everyone, if you enjoy reading our blog please vote for us. And if you are unable to vote (due to time etc), I would like to at least say thank you for reading this post and for reading what we have to say.
Long story short, this tournament is was a great way for us to experience all those anime blogs out there. (Who knew that there were that many eh?) I honestly applaud the organizers for their efforts in pulling the anime blogging community together through this tournament and I hope that you guys will check it out.
Take care!
-ra
Lots of Love,
The Otakuness Team
Posted on April 24, 2012, in Anime, News, Reviews. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
kelfio
M0rg0th
Saranaufogus
tsubaki.seishuu
Otakuness Anime Reviews 
“M0rg0th (the blogger that everyone loves to hate)…”
Haha, that sounds about right! I really enjoy your reviews, though, M0rg0th. So keep up the good work!
And Tsubaki.Seishuu is the blogger who disappeared, I guess.
Anyways, Otakuness is the site that introduced me to the ani-blogosphere and inspired me to make a blog of my own. So of course you’ve got my backing. I hope you guys to well in the tourney. 🙂
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Awww, thank you! 🙂
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Blog Critique:
Although the design looks good, it’s frustrating to find your older content because the lack of an Archives widget. It took me several minutes just to find your first post to find the year you started. As a rule of thumb, archives are a must for blogs as sone readers might want to view older content you made. As for the wiring, it sounds kind of bland. Synopsis is not necessarily in my opinion since everyone would have watched the episode and most of the time, just skip it. Instead, add more personality to your posts and write primarily on your thoughts. Weaving synopsis in your posts is fine to support what you have to say, but don’t retell the whole story. That way, readers will become movtivated to read your content.
Also, get your staff involved on Twitter or other social networks… socialization will bring more discussion to your blog.
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Hello there and thank you for your feedback.
If you wouldn’t mind, would you please explain what you mean by, “kind of bland”? Not once in my life has anyone ever used the word “bland” to describe me or anything I’ve ever done, and thrice this word has been directed at us in the tourney. Fascinating.
First of all, are you sure “bland” is the word you want to use?
“bland
adj. bland·er, bland·est
1. Characterized by a moderate, unperturbed, or tranquil quality, especially:
a. Pleasant in manner; smooth: a bland smile.
b. Not irritating or stimulating; soothing: a bland diet.
c. Exhibiting no personal worry, embarrassment, or concern: told a series of bland lies.
2.
a. Dull and insipid: a bland little drama.
b. Having little or no distinctive flavor: bland cooking.”
-from: thefreedictionary.com
While there are quite a few blogs out there that are much more so, I’ve always considered my co-writers and my own opinions to be pretty strong about most series we have reviewed. Many of our past posts have been quite “irritating” and “stimulating” for our readers, especially some of those from writer M0rg0th, and I wouldn’t characterize any of our reviews as aiming for pleasantness or smoothness.
The reason why I ask is that when I think “bland”, memories of blogs that say nothing more than things like, “This scene was kinda funny,” or “That chara is pretty cute,” or “This show is generic but it’s cute so it’s okay.” You know? Like the many reviews one reads out there that never have anything critical to say about a series (as long as there’s at least one or two moe girls involved)…
Obviously I’m biased, but I just don’t see “bland”. About my own writing, I’m not too proud to admit that there are certain descriptive terms like, “wordy” “unedited” “unclear” “roundabout” “imprecise” “tl;dr” or “lacking impact”, that would very accurately criticize my style…. but “smooth” “pleasant” “insipid” “flavorless” and “tranquil” (from above), aren’t what I think of when I try to objectively see myself.
So if you would be so kind as to elaborate on that point, I’d appreciate it. After all, who doesn’t want to see themselves more clearly *and* become better at writing? 🙂
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