Now, we are on week two of the competition and it is pretty fierce. As always, my review criteria won’t change as we review another 12 Anime Blogs.
Before going on, this review Digest will contain screenshots of the actual website and how they look on my machine, so slow connections, beware… I’m basing all content on quality, not the blogger’s overall opinion on issues and stuff.
Day 7
Match 13
Black and Blue Socks
Black and Blue Socks have a clean layout. Although the theme is commonly used, I won’t criticize it since it’s a limitation on WordPress.com. The layout is very clean and navigable. Although an episodic blog, it does have a decent amount of editorials mixed in and the content is fairly good, so I have much to say… It is a pretty well rounded blog…
Major Arcana
Major Arcana has a very nice and clean design. Although the author does episodic blogging as the former, unlike the former, there is a lot more editorial blogging covering a variety of subjects. The post quality is very good, except that unlike the former, the author doesn’t post as often… but from the quality of posts and content, the advantage is Major Arcana, but ever so slightly.
Match 14
Daijoubu
There is not much I can say about Daijoubu as it is another comic blog with well, comics that look as they were made in MS Paint and posts that lack quality and not as good as Beta-Waffle’s… I wished that this blog have done a better job in providing content that are higher quality. Perhaps some editorials and stuff… Oh well…
Mecha-Guignol
Although not particularly interested in some of the genres that the author is looking at, I think the author of this blog done a better job with the post quality. The author posts a mix of editorial and rarely episodic blogging. With the shortcomings of Daijoubu, it is quite obvious that this one is going to be my choice…
Day 7 Results
Major Arcana and Mecha-Guignol
Day 8
Match 15
Ani-Gamers
Despite the name of the blog, Ani-Gamers is a mixed episodic, editorial and review blog. Ani-Gamers have a clean layout, although not the usual layout as the stuff is on the left side. Fairly good quality posts and the author seems to post frequently.
Anime Full Circle
The problem with Anime Full Circle is that the text is a bit unreadable, maybe because of the fonts used on my system. In contrast to Ani-Gamers, they post fairly frequently, but the problem with the posts is that some of the posts lack some quality. If they improve their post quality, I would have vote for them, but the clear advantage is Ani-Gamers. Anime Full Circle should consider either getting a new theme or fix their current theme so it would be more readable.
Match 16
Since I follow Anime Instrumentality Blog on my RSS reader, it is obvious that I am going to vote for them automatically. It is rare that the Anime Blogosphere focus mainly on Anime Music as a whole, but I find this blog rather unique with high quality reviews on Anime Singles, Albums and Singles and also focus on Anime and related music as a whole.
The problem with Kita ze Inbou is that they focus way too much on Episodic Blogs and post a lot of screenshots like Random Curiosity. They have a clean layout, but why the banner add is on top of the banner? I would rather have them move it to the content area. Although the theme looks appealing, they really need to post more original content like editorials and stuff.
Day 8 Results
Ani-Gamers and Anime Instrumentality Blog
Day 9
Match 17
Behind The Nihon Review

Behind The Nihon Review is mostly an editorial blog. The pieces I have looked at were pretty professional and rational, although they don’t post as often. The layout design overall is pretty clean and easy to navigate.
Chocolate Syrupy Waffles

Chocolate Syrupy Waffles is probably one of the most controversial blogs out there that tries to be funny and interesting. The problem is some may not like the opinions shown on the blog. Also, they do episodic posting as well. As for the layout, it is pretty clean and easy to navigate. Despite the outrageousness of the blog, I think Behind The Nihon Review is better since it has a more rational approach on issues and being more polished.
Match 18
Listless Ink

The author of this blog must have put a lot of effort to make it look really nice. From the looks of the comments, that is simply insane. The content is mostly editorial and the posts are pretty good quality.
Super Noisy Rice Shower Goes Boom!!
Rarely there is a blog out there that focus primarily on Seiyuus. Like the former, the content is pretty good as well and it also has a very clean layout. Tough decision… so I’m going to let you guys vote for what blog I should ultimately decide on. The poll will close this Friday and I will decide on that day on what blog to vote according to the votes on this poll.
[poll id=”12″]
Day 9 Results
Behind The Nihon Review. Match 18 to be decided.
Okay, this wraps up the long blog digest… Now, vote for what I should vote for on Match 18 and I’ll be on my way. Next digest will be posted on Friday with another 12 blogs to review.
Attribution Information
Fanart used in this post is by G TONG (Pixiv Page)
Hi there,
I just wanted to say that after your review, I went back to my current theme. The day the contest started, I decided to experiment with some different themes but the one pictured didn’t work out the way I had planned. And as for post quality, I try to keep my posts straight to the point. When I do posts, I try to give basic general information and not try to sugarcoat it to death.
This way, I give my readers the information that they need to know without having to go into a long and boring rant or editorial piece that they can lose interest. I know that my site is not as good as the Ani-Gamers, but if were you were to give it another look I can guarantee you you will find that my blog is of decent quality and that I take my time to come up with interesting posts to read. So please give us another try, and trust me you will not be disappointed. Thank you.
Andrew L. Budny
Webmaster of Anime Full Circle
Okay, just tell me when to review your site again. I will review your site privately and send you suggestions over via email if you like….
You can do it anytime!!!!! The old theme is back up and if you want to e-mail me your suggestions that’s fine with me. I should also mention that I also contribute to another site know as Finaly Anime (username-animeremix). I do some post’s from time to time there as well. Here is the link to the site if you are interested. Thanks again.
http://www.finallyanime.com