Life can always start anew: 2012 wrap-up and 5th year anniversary!

Life can always start anew. The same goes for anime blogging…right?

2012 is coming to an end. Unfortunately, I cannot end this year of anime blogging on a high note. I have been missing in action for a while due to professional obligations. Now I am back and I feel like I should at least wrap things up before starting fresh next year. So here they are; what I want to say and share with you.

What have I been doing?

I figure I should clear this point quickly since I feel that I own my readers explanation for my brief absence. I have been studying hard for my mid-term board examination. The worst part of it all was that there’s no telling which clinical problem I was going to get in the exam. At first I tried to review all there were to study but that was impossible. I then tried to make sure that I studied all the essentials so that I wouldn’t make glaring mistakes and got myself flunk. After the exam, it was clear to me that all of my month-long struggles did not do much help. Instead, it was my own experience during work that saved me. Anyway, the most important thing is that it’s now over and I will be relatively free until the final exam arrives in June, 2013.

My favorite anime of the year

I did not watch enough titles to compile a list of favorite anime like I used to do last year. Plus, there were several anime that I haven’t posted my review yet and I’d rather not discuss them prematurely here. So I decided to just reveal my favorite title of the year. That anime was Hyouka. I knew that it was not perfect, or even properly concluded. But Hyouka touched me in the ways no other anime did this year. I almost felt that the anime ‘get’ me on so many levels. My position on this may change after I start watching more anime from my backlog. But for now, Hyouka remains my pick of the year.

Which was my most controversial and favorite post of 2012?

Without any doubt, ‘Canne’s Criteria for Identification of True Anime Fan’ was my most controversial post of 2012 and probably of all my posts to date. It was like playing with fire! Some of the best comments I have ever received were in that post and I was really happy about it. As for my favorite post of the year, it was a toss-up between ‘Life lessons from a seven-year-old girl’ and ‘Five things I learned from re-watching Princess Mononoke’. In the end, I chose ‘Life lessons’ because I thought I did satisfactory job both in providing criticism and emphasizing on the show’s overlooked merits. Writing that post was a very enjoyable experience.

Canne’s anime blog turned 5 years old…on November 4!

Yes, you heard it right. I should have done something on November 4 like I did every year. This year, I missed it completely! I was simply too distracted. So yay! Let’s celebrate! Seriously speaking, it’s been more and more difficult to keep things fresh after years of blogging. I felt that being editorial-oriented blogger started to pay off as this particular style went along nicely with the current rhythm of my life. And of course, thanks to you, this blog will continue to participate in our little anime blogging community. Oh, I also forgot to mention my 300,000 visitor milestone but that was hardly any accomplishment compared to other blogs, I supposed.

New Year resolution

Do people still talk about this? My New Year resolution can be divided into 2 categories; anime-related and non-anime related. Anime-related resolutions include clearing my anime backlog (I wanted to watch them all but the more realistic goal was probably about 50% of my backlog). I plan to post at least every 2 weeks or earlier except in May which I will have to get back to my study for final examination. I really need to participate more on other anime blogs. I have not commented anywhere for a while now. As for my non-anime resolutions, I need to finish writing my research paper soon. I have to get pass the exam in June, of course. I will try to eat more healthy food and less coffee. And lastly, I will try (emphasize on ‘try’) to be more sociable and out-going…participate in society, that kind of stuff.

Since the world was supposed to end on December 21, let’s treat every day after this like a gift! Thank you so much for sticking around. My next post will be published after New Year’s holiday. Until then!

Thank you and Happy New Year!