What? It’s starting to get the opposite of sunny, around here. Couldn’t have the actual weather ruin the mood.

Okay! Guess I haven’t done one of these in aaages. But that’s fine. Let’s see if we still got this. First and foremost, many thanks to ThatRandomEditor for the nomination! And, again, sorry it took so long!

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive, and inspiring, while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

And now a reminder of…

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

My Interrogation Responses

What was the first anime you watched?

The first one I watched with any understanding of what “anime” was is Pokemon. People tend really misunderstand my relationship to that show and game series. If not for it, I definitely wouldn’t be doing any of what I am. It’s the series responsible for sparking my creativity as a kid. I owe it a great deal. It’s not just my favorite because I think it’s good (though I do think Sun & Moon – both the anime and the games – represented a whole new level of quality for the series than anything it’s reached since Johto, and perhaps surpasses even that… and we all know how I feel about Johto).

What was the first manga you read?

Oof. That one’s a bit trickier. The first manga I think I read was back in middle school. The library had a manga called Anima. But only, like, one or two volumes and not even the first two. The first manga I began to actively follow was… I honestly don’t even know. It was a bit more recent than my involvement with anime. Not because I wasn’t aware of manga, or anything. I just didn’t really have much access to it. So the first manga I actually picked up and read (up to a certain point) was My Hero Academia. But I’ve lately been reading a ton more (both Japanese and Korean). Mostly Shonen Jump stuff.

What was the first light novel you read?

Log Horizon… I have far less to say on this subject. Just that it’s my favorite isekai anime and I read the light novel after I saw it. Also recently picked up Arifureta, which is why the anime bothered me. Not because there was no merit to the content of the anime, itself. I don’t wanna be that guy, but… the book is just… it’s so much better.

Do you know Fire Emblem? Or at least played any video game?

Yep! Actually, I started with Fates (though I only acknowledge the Revelation side of it. The other two can be burned and buried, for all I care), and I’m working my way backwards. EvilBob’s a Fire Emblem savant. I’ve gotten all the ones to come out since Fates, though.

Which anime database (e.g. MyAnimeList, AniList, Anime Planet, etc.) do you prefer and why?

I just use MAL because it was the first one I became aware of and was sufficient for our purposes. I don’t really use most of the features though, granted, I absolutely should. I just use it to keep up with my own list… and I’m even bad at that since there’s a ton of stuff I’ve watched that’s not on there and a ton of stuff I just haven’t updated. I should probably get around to that. But… it’d take some time. Anyway, yeah. I don’t really have a preference because I haven’t bothered looking at the others. Should I? I’d actually be really interested to know which ones others use and how, exactly, they go about using them. It feels a bit overwhelming, personally.

What is your preferred demographic in anime? Shoujo, Shounen, Kodomomuke, Seinen, or Josei?

I mean… out of what I read and watch, the Shounen tag pops up the most, followed by Shoujo (for anyone wondering, my second favorite genre is romance). The only thing I watch that I think qualifies as Kodomomuke is Pokemon. So in order of my preference, the list probably goes Shounen, Shoujo, Seinen & Josei, Kodomomuke.

What is your favorite blog post that you’ve produced?

Bold of you to assume that I have an individual favorite. I guess the closest it gets is probs the episode of Bulletoon, The Costume.

Do you take seasonal breaks from time to time?

Not really. Pro’lly should, but I don’t. Because I treat this as much like a job as my outside life (yeah, I do, in fact, have one of those) enables. Though we probably will take a seasonal break for the first time once our actual original content endeavors are released and we start getting adjusted to the flow of that.

What part of blogging do you find the most challenging?

Motivation to actually… blog. Not that I don’t enjoy doing it, mind you. I just don’t really “know” a lot of people in this community, which is largely on me for not reaching out in any capacity to do so. Anxiety sucks. It really does. But it’s beatable. Hence the shift in direction to actually try doing something with the community aspect, rather than ignoring it. Someone with my disposition, in particular, especially needs people around me that motivate me and the like. It’s why I work in groups.

Do knowing spoilers beforehand actually ruin the experience?

No. Honestly, depending on the series in question, sometimes I very much prefer knowing things ahead of time. That way I’m not annoyed if the story does something I dislike. Especially in regards to its ending. It’s a satisfaction thing. I am not someone who appreciates having his time wasted. So I go pretty far out of my way to ensure that I’m going to enjoy whatever I’m reading or watching. That very much includes spoiling myself. But also, speaking as a writer of original stories… I’ve been more or less trained not to care about them. We can’t honestly afford to. Writers talk about writing. They talk about their stories. With one another. I’ve been spoiled to the events of countless stories written by acquaintances. And it just kinda bleeds into the stuff I watch or read that isn’t by them. I’m working on one story solo, right now. The rest of the team already knows pretty much every major detail about it that I do. It’s just how the creative process works. Certainly not in a vacuum. And since I’m someone who’s more invested in the technical side of storytelling anyway, that’s an extra reason not to really care.

If you weren’t blogging, where would you be?

Probably focusing fully on all the other stuff I do. Webshow, book and comic writing, etc. I try to treat it like a job because I use it as practice, or a testing grounds for how we want to run things when we’re ready to take things in the direction we had set from the beginning. But yeah. If I wasn’t blogging, I’d probably be fully leaning into the other stuff. The original idea of the blog is just to serve as a hub for people to be able to find all of our original content when it starts coming out. Bulletoon is the first example of this. But, as we all know, there’s quite a bit more on the way.

11 Nominations

Hoo boy. I apologize in advance if anyone’s already been tagged. This is where that aforementioned problem of not “knowing” a lot of people, comes up. Curse you, anxiety ;-;

1. Auri
2. tcrow
3. lynlynsays
4. Keiko
5. Jack Scheibelein
6. Aria
7. Arthifis
8. LitaKino
9. Takuto’s Anime Cafe
10. Pinkie
11. crimson

11 Questions

1. Do you prefer seasonal anime coverage or full-series/topical deep dives and such?
2. What’s a question you’ve always wanted to ask the creator of one of your favorite anime/manga/games/etc.
3. What’s an anime whose music/soundtrack really stands out to you but you find to be overlooked or underappreciated?
4. What’s a Japanese musician or group that you first heard through an anime OP/ED and fell in love with their sound so had to check what else they’d done? For example, MYTH & ROID is one of mine.
5. Name one of your favorite anime duos. It can be a romantic couple, best buddies, battle companions, whatever. And why?
6. What’s your favorite way to engage with the blogging community?
7. What’s a word you just wish more people would say in day-to-day. Doesn’t even have to be in your native language.
8. Favorite Taste: Sweet, Sour, Spicy, Bitter, Minty, etc.
9. What’s your favorite blog post you’ve read, this week?
10. Does You Say Run go with everything?
11. Hi. How’s your day been? Great, I hope. Here. Just in case you forgot, I wanna remind you. You’re Awesome!

That’s It!

Okay! Done! Phew. Hey, I did it! Okay. One down, on to the next! (I am indeed a very busy guy). Thanks for reading, peeps! Looking forward to hearing from everyone!

Keep up the Awesome!
Voyager