With summer coming to an end soon, the fall season is finally here. It’s time to focus on what I plan to watch this season.
Also, I want to share my thoughts on the state of the blog as I am still not happy with where things are going, especially with the number of comments. This list should stay the same, unless there are delays.
Ochikobore Fruit Tart
Air Date: October 12, 2020
Studio: feel.
As expected, this show originally supposed to air in the summer. Due to Covid19, it got pushed back with quite a couple of shows. My original thoughts are below. This delay makes Fall 2019 having two Manga Time Kirara adaptations with Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? Bloom being the second.
Believe it or not, I reviewed the first volume last year when the title received an anime adaptation announcement. Yes, the same author who created Hanayamata also made this title. From reading the manga, it’s a funny comedy of Ino joining an idol unit to save a dormitory. Not only that, there is some yuri pairing potential.
Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? BLOOM
Air Date: October 10, 2020
Studio: Encourage Films
It has been a while since the 2nd season aired 5 years ago. Since then, there is two OVAs, Dear My Sister, which I reviewed in 2018 and Sing for You, which I have yet to watch. As expected, since this is the third season, I expect the same funny, cute and heartwarming moments from the previous seasons as always.
Assault Lily: Bouquet
Air Date: October 2, 2020
Studio: Studio Shaft
This is another anticipated series that faced delays due to Covid19. The premise of this show is teenage girls who are viewed as “lilies.” Lillies are heroes that fight gigantic creatures using special weapons. With the talk of lilies and gardens, which makes me wonder about the pairings. Still, seeing cute girls beating the crap out of huge monsters should be exciting and interesting.
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
Air Date: October 7, 2020
Studio: EMT Squared
It’s obvious that some people want to spend time playing video games all day. Believe it or not, a teenaged girl named Yuna prefers playing a VR MMORPG. Eventually, she receives an overpowered outfit and suddenly gets transferred into the world inside the game where she faces monsters that look so real.
As expected, this kind of feels like one of those imaginary world types of stories, but in a video game. It’s not too surprising since it’s virtual reality. Not only that, she befriends some girls in the world, which makes me wonder the pairing potential. Also, the bear outfit that Yuna wears reminds me of Peco from the second season of New Game.
State of the Blog
As expected, the Covid19 pandemic has took a toll on my motivation to blog. Sure, things got a little bit better with mostly all the shows being delayed. This led to fewer things to cover and a huge decline in comments.
This aspect is very frustrating since I rely on comments not only ideas for future posts, but also reading different viewpoints. After all, people’s opinions on topical issues or even what they think about an episode. Also, comments are a reliable indicator that people read my posts. After all, you can simply click the like button without reading, which some people tend to do.
What is frustrating is that the amount of comments I received is way below compared to last year. Granted, we didn’t have a pandemic last year and there are still a few shows to cover in spring despite being a lackluster season.
Still, the last two editorials I wrote did very poorly receiving no comments at all. Usually, they generate some discussion, but this is what really demotivates me. Why would I spend hours writing an editorial when I receive no comments in the end seeing other people share their opinions or add more to the post?
To me, likes for these posts are completely useless since it doesn’t give me different viewpoints. This is very frustrating since other blogs who write similar editorial posts gets tens of comments or more, even on episodic posts. I don’t like how I am receiving fewer comments but a lot of likes, which is very counterproductive.
I feel that likes are mostly useless on blogs as it’s a social media thing. Sadly, I can’t prevent people from liking posts. Sure, you can hide them in your posts, but people can still like posts in the WordPress Reader.
Either way, I hope that the comments situation will turn around. I hope that with the busier fall season that the comment section won’t be so empty and possibly reach close to 300 comments by the end of this year. At the time of writing this post, we are currently sitting at 193 comments for this year, which is way below compared to last year. If you want to support this blog, please don’t be shy and share your thoughts instead of just leaving a like. It would be a big help.
If things don’t improve, I will eventually face the same situation where I almost face burnout and about to give up. It would be a shame since I spent 11 years blogging non-stop without a hiatus of any sort.
With that, feel free to share what you are planning to watch this fall in the comments.
It’s a shame that you do have great articles on yuri anime.
Yes, things are difficult thanks to all the delays, but thanks for the continued support.
As usual we’ll be watching many of the same shows. Hyped for all of them. Assault Lily Bouquet is the most intriguing of the four currently.
There are also shows that are currently not on this list, mostly since I won’t have time to cover them. Still, this season would at least be a big improvement compared to the last two seasons, which are barren.
I do read everything I like (especially editorials you linked me to) but often can’t comment since I usually get caught doing something else or hard to do on my phone. I do tend to forget when I get near a laptop and should strongly consider bringing with me on my commute. With what is going now, I lost some of my motivation a few months ago that is thankfully coming back. Once I start writing more, I will comment more as well. It just feels weird after being away for a while and have forgotten most of the people I use to read from. Since I won’t be able to work for awhile it will be something to help keep my mind off of other things.
As for anime, since last year, I have given up trying to keep up with the seasonal stuff and usually wait until the middle of next season to start them. As of this moment, I going through series I put off. In general, this whole year hasn’t had anything too interesting I cared to watch yet.
Thanks. This year seems strange as I seem to have too much time now that I don’t have to do the 45 minute commute to and from Washington DC. I have been working from home for months now. I usually use that time to catch up on stuff, including blog posts on my phone. But, hopefully you will get back to the grove of things after taking a break for a while. Also, there was a good number of comments I missed last fall due to be driving back and fourth looking for a new house/townhouse since I finally got a new job, that I started February of this year.
But it’s not too surprising since there hasn’t been much of anything in terms of anime, especially during the Spring when Covid19 really took a big hit. Hopefully by now, with the new normal, hopefully delays won’t be as bad as studios and recording studios are taking measures to keep people safe and remote work.
Yeah, it has been a rollercoaster ride that seems to get crazier by the second. Then again, it has been great for allowing me to do things I wouldn’t have the time for and still take care of my responsibilities, so I can’t complain all that much. Blogging will just take some time to get used to again. I remember you mentioning the new position and not sure if I said it already, but congratulations! I knew you been looking for a long time and happy for you. I just hope it doesn’t stress you out terribly as mine does since part it deals with disgruntled clients.
I was expecting to hear about some delays for the Summer season, but as you stated, I think they already had seen the worse during the Spring and found ways to work around it. However, as long as the staff are safe, healthy, and not at risk, I would not mind any delays.
Anyway, I hope you are safe as well and do not to get discouraged with the site. Enjoy having you around and your input on things!
Thanks. Actually, my new job that is in the IRS/Department of Treasury is actually better than my first job at the Navy since it better fits my skillset and my education since it focuses mostly on System Administration. My last job wasn’t a great fit since I didn’t fit in well and the work focused on data warehouse, which I haven’t receive much education and they didn’t train me well. Either way, the quality of life is an improvement, especially after the grueling 3 year job search. Also receiving some training as well, although I do some on my homelab environment.
But yes, COVID among various things make 2020 a very strange year. Besides the fall, which looks very promising, hopefully 2021 won’t be as bad.
Of all the sites I check (about 400 every week), only a handful generate any significant number of comments. Those would be sites like I Drink and Watch Anime, Random Curiosity, Mechanical Anime Reviews, and a handful of others. I’d say at least 380 sites generate from zero to 5 comments per post.
This post, for example, has 3 comments before I posted. That’s edging you towards the cutoff!
I sometimes wonder if I should gather more stats just to quantify where things stand. Not sure I have that kind of time, though…
I read somewhere that WordPress noticed a 20% or so drop in blog engagement, and that’s why they pushed Gutenberg onto the bloggers before they were ready for it. WordPress was desperate to turn the numbers around. That’s conjecture, but the point is that a reduction in comments isn’t the only indicator of how “well” you’re doing.
How’s your traffic? Engagement? Your comment that you’ve gone “11 years blogging non-stop without a hiatus of any sort” is interesting. That’s an objective accomplishment!
I can’t really help if you consider comments an indication of success — which is probably why I mentioned other metrics!
Looking at the traffic, it has been pretty much stagnant in the past few years, but thankfully not declining, although it went down in 2015-2017 due to Google Search algorithm changes, which took two years to recover from 2015. But it hasn’t always been this way. In the past few years, total amount of comments has always been above 300 or very close to it.
Yes, the big drop off is due to Covid19 with anime getting delayed left and right, not that many people are talking about it or off doing other things. Given that I spend time at home 100% of the time, despite being an introvert, being alone without being able to interact with anyone, even in the comments can get very lonely after a while. It’s a big difference compared to last year since I always have my little sister or parents to talk to any time. If this was a normal year, maybe it wouldn’t be this a huge issue since the commenting rate would mostly be what I consider normal.
On the other hand, there are some metrics that are really bad. Advertisements took a really big hit this year. Last year, I would probably get $1-4 a month, but it’s below $1. Thank goodness I do not depend on any form of monetization to cover my living expenses since I prefer stability of a 9-5 job. On the bright side, the hits from WordPress reader saw a increase thanks to the Jetpack plan. Yes, 570 hits so far this year so far compared to 605 for the whole year last year with a good increase of subscribers, so that is a good step in the direction. However, it hasn’t translated in any increase of engagement, especially comments sadly. ?
Yes, forcing Gutenberg on everyone is not too surprising. As much I hate it and will probably not use it since it breaks my workflow as I use Microsoft Word to write and edit posts, it’s obvious that WordPress wants to compete with those page builder sites such as Wix and Squarespace where you can drag and drop blocks to build a page. WordPress eventually wants to do the same thing with themes eventually in a sense you don’t need to install and build your own themes with PHP and CSS. Still, I find Gutenberg out of place with something like WordPress, which is known as a blogging platform instead of a page builder. Yes, you can use WordPress as a page builder, which I do for my website that hosts my open source macOS/iOS apps, but not so much for blogging. The block editor is too cumbersome to use when the Classic Editor is a lot easier for me to use.
Still, 2020 is not over yet and maybe things will turn around in the fall, but I am not too confident given how terrible this year is, but at least I have a job, which I am grateful for which allows me to invest some money back into my hobbies.
I checked I Drink and Watch Anime’s latest editorial post (https://drunkenanimeblog.com/2020/09/23/the-importance-of-relatability-in-anime-for-me-as-seen-through-my-appreciations-of-sound-euphonium-and-free/) and it got 21 comments the last time I checked. I wonder what am I doing wrong to have absolutely no comments on my recent editorials as I checked my writing, made sure paragraphs aren’t too long and added images between paragraphs. This has been the most frustrating aspect given that it hasn’t always been this way as I managed to get at least a handful.