Just a month ago, I shared my opinions about the never-ending debate regarding Episodic vs Editorial blogs in a recent editorial. Since then, a fellow blogger named Foxy Lady Ayame started a project for bloggers to share their thoughts about a specific topic in the Anime Fandom. For this one, it’s focused on reflections on Animanga blogs. Since it’s closely related to what I have talked about a month ago, it shouldn’t hurt to talk about it from a different perspective. (Image Source)
What I like to read and why?
Just recently, I have gotten lazy, so I haven’t been reading other people’s post on a constant basis. However, it doesn’t deter me from subscribing to other blogs. I subscribe to various reviews, editorial and episodic blogs that has interesting content. If you see my blog roll, it should give you a good idea of what blogs I follow although some of them are link backs.
So, why do I read Anime Blogs? I like to see everyone’s perspective on things and any interesting content they might have. I think editorial blogs tend to do this a lot easier since authors can go outside the box and cover various topics regarding anime and its fandom. Still, I don’t discriminate since people will have different interpretations on what they see. Reading them will greatly vary on what shows I watch at a given moment.
What I do when I come across a new blog?
It’s pretty simple! If I like the content and it doesn’t have apparent writing quality issues, I will subscribe to that person in my RSS reader. It’s simple as that.
What must a good animanga blog have and do?
It’s tough to make a good blog since Sturgeon’s Law states that 90% of all things are crud. However, views on what makes a good Anime/Manga blog is going to depend on the person. For me, I consider the following:
Stays on topic 99% of the time: Most often than not, there are a few Anime Blogs out there that goes off topic, which might hurt an author’s credibility. It’s okay to write about other stuff like birthday celebrations, anything related to Anime Blogging, and life issues that might affect one’s ability to update. However, posting stuff like artwork only, ranting about technology and personal stuff is a big no-no in my view. If I see stuff like that on a blog, it instantly turns me off. If you want to share personal stuff or just artwork, one should do it on a side blog or a tumblr, not on an Anime blog. However, video game let’s play/reviews are okay as long they have an anime adaptation of some sort (e.g.: Pokémon, The Idolmaster, etc). Also, I’m fine with visual novels as well. (TL;DR: Writing about Anime, Manga, Visual Novels, Japanese Games, Japanese culture, blog related and personal stuff that affects update frequency is okay, but blogging about your smartphone is not, unless it’s related to the topics I mentioned.)
Sharing thoughts/analysis instead of summarizing: As I said several times before, summarizing in episodic posts are largely pointless since people have access to Crunchyroll and Fansubs usually come out in a few days. Instead, people should share what they liked about the episode and/or analyze scenes that are particularly interesting. That way, people can see what your think about the episode and point out moments that the viewer might not have caught while watching the episode for the first time.
Have personality and Interact with others: Aside from the content, people tend to like writing that is filled with personality. This is important since this is the voice for your writing. Having a dull voice can drive people away from reading your posts because they will find the content boring. Also, interaction is very important since it gives incentives for people to leave comments again, especially if they took the time to write it. Not only that, you can make friends with other people if you comment on their blogs while having a free promotion.
What blogging behaviors annoy us (anonymously of course)?
- Going off topic from Anime, Manga, Visual Novels or anything related to Japanese Culture on a frequent basis (Use a Tumblr or make a separate side blog if you need to go off topic)
- Sharing just Artwork or grid of screenshots without any text and meaninglessly (Using only screenshots to sum up your thoughts for an episode is okay)
- Unreadable text (ex. Grey on a Black background)
- Lack of spell check (This is self-explanatory. Having a few grammar mistakes is okay, as long it doesn’t affect the understanding of your content.)
- Infrequent Updates (Less than two updates a month) or constantly going on hiatus
- Pretentiousness (Anime blogging is a casual medium, so don’t use difficult vocabulary.)
This wraps up my thoughts about the whole Anime/Manga blog thing and I hope everyone enjoyed what I had to say. I know that people will have different views, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. For those who blog, keep on writing and have fun!
Also, I encourage you to check out other people’s reflections on AniManga blogs:
- The Beautiful World
- KANPAII
- Anime B&B
- The G-Empire
- Moe Sucks
- deluscar
- Draggle’s Anime Blog
- The Kotatsu
- aloe~ dream
- Canne’s anime review blog
- Kuuki no Puraido
- flomu
- ZakuAbumi’s Anime Blog
- Traveler on Revenge
- Shinde Iie Anime Blog & Review
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“Lack of spell check”
Yep, that is a pet peeve. At least go over a post once or twice and make sure the words are spelled right. There can still be errors and all in a post, but a lot of them just shows you didn’t really care about writing a good post.
“Infrequent Updates (Less than two updates a month) or constantly going on hiatus”
I mean, it’s not like a blogger’s Yoshihiro Togashi or someone like that :3 (Yes, I had to make a Togashi joke)
Anyways, solid post man.
Yeah, spell check is even built into WordPress if you install the Jetpack plugin, so there isn’t really any excuse. But yeah, it’s kind of annoying to see a word that is right, but isn’t the right one.
“Sharing just Artwork or grid of screenshots without any text and meaninglessly (Using only screenshots to sum up your thoughts for an episode is okay)”
Lmao, I did this countless times during festivals. I think during festivals, my thoughts are like this “Hey it’s festivals, let’s just loosen up my brain cells for once” and just post random anime pics accordingly to the festival (christmas, new year). But I swear! I rarely even do those!
Nah, I wasn’t referring to adding random pics to posts just to spruce up posts… I meant something like just posting artwork and nothing else… Christmas and New Year posts would be considered productive since it’s a blog update. Of course, I do add anime pics on my update posts that isn’t related to what I’m talking about… That is okay in my view, but the following isn’t:
I won’t name blogs, but here is the type of post I’m talking about. If one wants to share only artwork with no update, they should do it in a tumblr, not an Anime Blog. Anime Blogs aren’t picture sharing blogs.