Some blogs that you ought to read, but possibly haven’t yet
Here’s my attempt at irony: a recently-established blog that somehow tries to draw attention to other blogs. Heh. Actually the reason I’m posting the links here is that I’ve started to find I’ve been moving more and more feeds on my feedreader into the wittily-titled Hiatus Disease folder; a feeling shared by others if this is anything to go by. Fresh meat for your feedreader is important so without coming across as arrogant (I know I rule but that goes without saying, right?) I want to see more posts like this one from the rest of you. Hit me with your Recommendation Stick!
I find using a second monitor to be useful at times but more than that I want an audio cable long enough to stretch to my hi-fi rig so I can back up my full catalogue to mp3 on an external HD
In addition to making my tag cloud a bit more aesthetically pleasing I’ve tweaked my layout a bit here and there and had a minor purge of my blogroll. It’s not that the blogs I removed aren’t of good quality – quite the reverse in fact – but they haven’t offered anything new in a while and I want to keep my sidebar tidier than my old blog’s was. There have been some new additions though, so here is some reading that I hope will provide us with wordy win for months to come without them dying on us. So go read them. ^_^
Ha Neul Seom
http://guriguriblog.wordpress.com/
This blog became one of my favourites almost overnight, not least because it has one of the most interesting titles. It means ‘Island in the Sky’, not to be confused – I think – with this one but is also bloody well-written (Gaguri is Korean I believe but his English is over 9000 times better than mine…if he weren’t so polite and cool I’d hate him for it. :P ). Since most of us write about the new stuff and the occasional cult fave, it’s good to see a few forays into the obscure, overlooked and underrated; it’s a varied mixture that blurs the divisions between editorials, commentary and review but most importantly it’s a blog I can read and feel enlightened by without feeling like a thicko.
Low on hit points
http://www.lowonhitpoints.com/
A rare beast is a blog that’s self coded: we all seem to rely on Wordpress or Blogger in some form or another but Michael has built his purely from the sweat of his brow (and remembering my own distant days of self-coded blogging I daresay involved a lot of hair-pulling and cursing of IE’s raeping of CSS layouts too). More importantly it’s candid, opinionated and topical; speaking your mind means two things: you’re likely to get flamed but you’re also cooler than most people for risking being flamed. As far as I know this blog hasn’t whipped up any such dorama but it’s still a stonking good read.
Memories of eternity
http://memories-of-eternity.com/
See what he did there? Even though Eternal has yet to bring me round to the moe fanboy way of thinking, anyone who gets me to admit that Clannad is really quite good has to be doing something right. Putting your own spin on things and conveying your love for the medium effectively are, for me at least, two of the most important things in writing a good anime blog. Here you’ll find sincere and thoughtful impressions on the heartfelt, sentimental and downright cute…I’ll never hear anything said against tl;dr enthusiastic fanboying after all! It’s actually been going for much longer than I thought, which kinda reiterates the problem with good blogs getting the site visits in their early days.
Opinion Prone
http://opinionprone.blogspot.com/
What was that about being opinionated and why it’s a good thing? The title says it all but ever since Kiriska posted how supposedly “The fans ruined it for me!” I realised I’d stumbled on another refreshing source of well-written common sense and commentary. It takes matters away from anime-specific topics too, so in that sense you’ll find a more varied mix to read and inwardly digest. If I said the articles relating to the Darker than Black anime and the potential new direction for Batman hadn’t swayed my decision to include it here I wouldn’t expect you to believe me but go visit anyway.
Schoolgirl Milky Crisis
http://schoolgirlmilkycrisis.com/blog/
A candidate for The Blog With The Most Awesomely Random Name is this, personal blog of industry stalwart Jonathan Clements. I’m not sure how well-known he is outside UK fandom but over here he’s one of the few high-profile professional journalistic types who can be relied upon to give an objective stance on anime as a Serious Business art form. Far from being a cynical plug for his latest book, this is a witty and insightful blend of personal thoughts and retrieved columns from his time writing for the likes of Neo magazine. More Brit Anime Blogging solidarity on my part too I guess.
Well, that’s it for a while. I really do want to hear from anyone who reads (or has) a new anime or geekdom-related blog they want to shout about since it seems the best way to keep this blogosphere lively and interesting. Of course, the days are lengthening and becoming warmer so it won’t be long before we’ll see the glorious days of spring and summer on the horizon. Good times ahead!
I apologise to anyone who isn’t UK-based (or indeed, hasn’t met me IRL, which will be most of you) for this insular gag. I’m merely expressing my reverence for Type Moon…like this (Warning: spoilerific for Fate/Stay Night)
Sorry, no related posts yet.
I already read Ha Neul Seom on occasion off anano when the microcontent is interesting, but I guess I’ll put that on the feed reader. Really helps when the top post is on Simoun!
Well my blog title is a shameless copy of Iwa ni Hana and Laputa: Castle in the Sky, nothing original there sadly…doesn’t help that about a million Korean blogs/sites are using that title. Anyway, I don’t know how to express myself after reading something so beautiful (although highly exaggerated) like this except, um…’thank you’? ^_^b
And much appreciated omo :3
Hah! I’ve read 3/4! Thanks for alerting me to Schoolgirl Milky Crisis. I’ll definitely check that out.
WRL doesn’t count as ‘new’ anymore? My my, time moves fast in the sphere! We’ve only been around for 5 months.
And I guess this blog counts too, even though you’ve been around as a blogger for a long time. ^_^
First off, thank you thank you thank you. I never got around to thanking you for that link a few weeks back in your White Album post, so a belated thank you there too. Oh, and now I see another shout out from a recent Munto post. I really need to get better at keeping up with the blogging community. I am slowly getting better at commenting and keeping track of things. I’m still a noob!
Secondly, good post. Opinion Prone is the only other blog in this post (beside my own) that I had even heard of, and the others look good too. I’ve already got a few of their posts lined up in my tabs to read, which is always a good sign.
And on an unrelated note, have you not registered your new feed with AnimeNano? I was a bit confused when I saw a recent post in your sidebar titled “When we pierce the heavens someone still has to clear up the mess” that I hadn’t read. There’s no way a title like that could slip by me on AnimeNano, right?
gaguri and eternal are doing great (though i haven’t seen new posts from eternal in a while…). gaguri mentioned iwa ni hana: that site is ridiculously awesome. i’d put that at the top of any list for beautiful analysis blogging.
I already read these blogs regularly, but it is good to get their names out. I can’t think of any other lesser read blogs that need to get out at the moment. :3
Well, I hadn’t heard of any of them, but my linklist is limited. Thanks for pointing them out.
I’ve started noticing these writers around on other blogs’ comments and sometimes my own as well. Great stuff. So good, in fact, I decided to make this today’s Dailysite feature–congrats! I feel that y’all need more exposure. :)
Great highlights, considering how all of them deserve to be read. I guess 3 out of 5 ain’t bad at all considering how I’ve heard of the other 2–Low on hit points seemed a bit too contemporary for my tastes (New anime? I don’t watch no stinking new anime!) and I had no idea what Schoolgirl Milky Crisis was all about.
Also, “Insular gag”!? I actually recognise that name! And I fail to see how that Saber picture is a spoiler!
[...] Martin: Here’s my attempt at irony: a recently-established blog that somehow tries to draw attention to [...]
@Omo: the post about yuri didn’t sway my decision at all… ¬_¬ no, really.
@gaguri: I like the writing style of Iwai ni Hana but apparently she’s wiping all her old content. I can understand the ‘fresh start’ thing but I’m going to miss the occasional read-through of the archives.
@ghostlightning: internet years seem to be like dog years, except even shorter! I guess you managed to establish yourself pretty quickly, although it doesn’t seem long ago when I was celebrating the day you started blogging. Keep up the good work, I say.
@Michael: it’s odd but my account on AnimeNano seems to be in some sort of limbo – I tried to update my feed URL but it said something about my account being under review. I ought to contact Hung about it really.
@animekritik: yeah, Iwai ni Hana is a great blog and I hope its ‘rebirth’ is every bit as excellent. You also get a bonus Awesomeness Point for having a pic of Nietzsche in your header. ^_^
@TheBigN: I didn’t actually expect to start anything significant here but if I’ve got even one blog more exposure, it’s Just As Planned. ;)
@Peter S: you haven’t seen my RSS feed list. It’s long. As in, longcat long. And I still see new and interesting things that deserve more attention than I’ve given them so far!
@Mike: much obliged. Every link counts!
@Owen S: the idea that Pimm’s O Clock is a global phenomenon makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe the second pic is only mildly spoilerific if anyone’s a fan of Soul Eater!
Surprisingly, the one blog I don’t read is the only one from the list by another UK resident. I think I’ve been encouraged to up my game in the commenting aspect of things; I’ve been giving way to many single sentence/ random-bordering-on-irrelevant answers these days.
@ Martin: Actually, I think Kabitzin from Sea Slugs! Anime Blog handles that now:
http://www.seaslugteam.com/archives/2009/02/23/anime-nano-announcement/
Martin,
Your blog is not in the review queue. Check to make sure the On Hiatus box is not checked, if you updated the URL. Worst comes to worst, make a new account and submit your blog again and I’ll OK it.
[...] He started it. [...]
[...] everyone seems to be participating on this blog chain letter/tagging game, I guess I’ll join in the fun. Not that you haven’t heard about all these great blogs [...]
[...] fact, it might be better than many of the bigger blogs out there. Therefore, I’ve decided to hop on the bandwagon and link to what I consider to be some of the community’s biggest stars that [...]
@Martin
If Nietzsche were alive today, he’d be watching anime..guaranteed.
It goes without saying, but really, thanks for the mention. I’m sure we’ve all gained a few more readers from this little trend :P
@ETERNAL: it’s…it’s not as if I wanted to start a meme! I just wanted to exchange some links, is all!
Joking aside, I’m pleasantly surprised how this took off. There are some excellent blogs I’d never heard of before that have popped up, and deserve a bit of extra attention.
[...] this post was spurred, in the aftermath of LOL at the title of Martin’s feedreader folder, by the impulse look at the ‘on hiatus’ feeds I subscribe to, [...]
Oh, snap. I feel terrible for not having spotted this before, but it seems I’m a bit behind on my RSS feed (hahaha, 576 unread messages, excellent). But anyway, I really appreciate the mention. It’s encouraging to know that the aniblogosphere is as tight-knit as it is. Heh, kind of makes me feel bad for not having participated in this round of spotlighting myself, but I always wrestle with that need to stay on topic rather than spouting metaentries even though those would also be on topic in some sense. Maybe one of these days. Thanks again though, man. Really appreciate it.
[...] Teleidescope. I will be stealing Epic Win’s ‘holy trinity’ idea. There was also a movement some time ago to promote less heard-of blogs (Memories of Eternity most notably mentioned my blog [...]