Updating the Anime Tracker Comparison

Earlier this year, I created a blog post comparing a number of different anime tracking websites. I was surprised that this wasn’t a resource available elsewhere, so I put it together myself! In order to try and keep the comparison relevant, I’ve made some updates to the original post. This post just briefly talks about some of the changes which I’ve made.

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Finding A Tasty Adventure in The Snack World

I’ve been enjoying watching The Snack World recently. It’s a show made for children which ties in with Level-5’s (makers of Yokai Watch) latest franchise for Japan. It’s not been licensed by anyone for an English-speaking market, and I don’t believe that there are any plans to do so at present. This is the sort of series I enjoy and so I was watching without subtitles. It has recently been picked up by a fansub group though, and at the time of writing, there are subs for 2 episodes. As it’s now available to a larger audience, I thought I may give a bit of an overview of the series.

Thoughts on Kemono Friends Comic Anthology: Japari Bun Collection

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Kinokuniya store in central Sydney while I was visiting my sister. For my fellow Aussie bloggers in the area, it’s absolutely worth a visit for their huge collection of manga (and their books in general). I was specifically looking for something which I could read in Japanese as I’ve been working hard enough on my studies that I wanted something to try out in the Japanese language, as drills will only go so far. Kinokuniya has heaps of untranslated manga (and also plenty of Japanese books in general, ranging from children’s books to novels), their 日本語 collection is actually bigger than their English manga collection. You can of course order online, but I think that browsing a bookshop can be quite enjoyable and help you spot things you may not have otherwise looked at.

I got a few things, but the first which I’ve had a chance to try out is けものフレンズこっみこあんそろじーじゃぱりまん編 (Kemono Friends Comic Anthology: Japari Bun Collection).

10 Anime I Most Enjoyed

I think that there’s something really special about discussing the things that you like. While I do not find that I always agree with people’s favourites when it comes to anime or other media, there’s something enjoyable about seeing people’s passion when it comes to the things they love. Positivity is such a fantastic force! For some time I found it really difficult to decide on things which I liked the most. Perhaps I felt that by naming something as ‘more enjoyable’ or ‘better’ that I was locked into that decision. I know that there’s other bloggers who have expressed their difficulties in this regard. Still, as I’ve grown to enjoy seeing others share their enthusiasm, I thought I’d share a little of mine regarding the things I like.

The Return of Pasta?

This is a quick post to say hello to my readers after my long absence. I suffer from an as yet undiagnosed chronic illness (I affectionately refer to it as ‘mystery chronic illness’ owing to lack of a better name, although I can tell you a number of things which I do not have) which flared up to the point where I was unable to read any quantity of text from a backlit screen without feeling extremely dizzy for a few weeks. Having my energy levels return to normal (for me) seems to be a pretty slow process, but I’m gradually feeling a bit better and trying to get back into the schedule of things I do regularly to create routine.

One small positive of all this very quiet downtime is I have watched a lot of anime! A lot of anime! I’m excited to be able to hopefully write about some of the series I have seen and and thoughts I have had while lying quietly on the lounge. Content may come out fairly slowly though as I recognise the need to take things easy and not put too much pressure on myself to put content out on a regular basis.

Owing to wanting to take things easy, I’ve decided to stop doing episodic posts for the time being. I enjoy reading other people’s episodic posts (particularly of shows which I know that I won’t care to watch myself but have some level of interest as to how they play out), but owing to the time pressure, or at least the perceived time pressure of needing to have an episodic post out in a timely fashion, I don’t feel that it’s realistic for me to commit to posting. I’d rather use my blogging time to write analytical posts or reviews, both of which I’d been finding more fun to write leading up to my break. I’m still very much feeling things out and trying new things in order to see what works and what doesn’t work for me, so this may be subject to change later on.

Coming up, I’m hoping to do a season preview of the Spring anime season and highlight some shows I’m excited about which are coming up, share a few reviews, hopefully write something about the amazing Kemono Friends, but overall, I’ll just be trying to take things easy. I probably won’t do the crazy thing I did at the end of last season where I tried to push out reviews for all the series I’d watched in the couple of weeks following their conclusion. I have watched a number of shows this season (including a whole pile of shorts), and I do hope to share my thoughts about them on the blog at some point in the future!

I’m planning to spend a bit of time trying to catch up on what other people have been writing, but I feel that getting up to date with everything would be somewhat insurmountable. So, if you saw something which was really good (or you wrote something cool yourself), if you post it in the comments I’d be happy to check it out! I’m hoping to take things slowly but be a bit more on top of everything in the coming weeks.

Versatile Blogger Award and Unique Blogger Award

You people are all lovely and keep nominating me for these blog awards! Thanks so much for the recognition, I must apologise that it’s taken so long to respond.

Anime Tracking Site Comparison

I was surprised to find that there wasn’t any readily available information comparing the different sites you can use in order to keep track of the anime which you have watched. I could find some discussions of what people used, but no real comparisons. This post aims to give a comparison of the different sites available, and look at some of their key features. I’m certain that it won’t be comprehensive, and of course if the sites have any major changes, the information may become outdated, but I’m hoping it will be a somewhat useful resource. As I am mostly using my personal experiences, while I have done my best to test out the different basic features, I may still have missed out on some available functionality. This in itself is perhaps telling because I was unable to find the information. If I’ve missed something important, please let me know! I’ll do my best to try and have accurate information regarding each site, although I may not update this post indefinitely. This post has received an update as of October 2017

For each site I have looked at the ease of importing existing information, how you can score your shows, the options for tracking your titles (e.g. ability to create custom lists or filters), ability to customise your list design, the site UI, ways of interacting with other users (contacting or befriending them), what sort of details may be available in the database for a particular title, and the forum or community aspects of the site. Different people look for different things when it comes to tracking anime, but hopefully these are some of the important key features. I’ve linked to my profile on each site so you can see how it looks live. I have not touched on phone apps which can tie into updating your anime list. I don’t have a phone which would support using apps, so it’s not something which I can really test out for myself. If there was someone who was interested in putting this information together, I’d be interested to see it!

Series Review – Miss Bernard Said.

Miss Bernard Said. (Bernard-jou Iwaku.) is a series of shorts (3 minute episodes) which focus on Mochida Sawako who wishes to be perceived as well-read, and her friends who are genuinely interested in reading.

I think particularly in this day and age with sources of information so readily at our fingertips, there’s plenty of people out there who give off the air of being knowledgeable about a particular subject without having an in-depth knowledge of said subject. There’s a natural desire to want to fit in with those around us, and if our friends or acquaintances are passionate about a particular area of interest, I can understand the desire to feel informed about this area so that you can feel included. Miss Bernard pokes fun at both those who want to absorb the culture of a particular interest without being involved in the interest, and also those who think that only serious fans are true fans of a subject.

Long Riders 10 – Finishing what you start

This week’s episode is a continuation of the Azumi Autumn Ride. Because the girls have been told that they’re running close to the time limit, Ami is really worried that they’re not going to be able to make it in time so she won’t be able to officially finish the event, but fortunately Hinako has a plan.

Nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award (and extra Sunshine)

Apparently people have been noticing me, because all of you lovely people out there keep nominating me for these blogger chain letters awards. Thanks so much! I still have a few more to respond to which I’m hoping to get to in the next few days.

Blogger Recognition Award

I was nominated by Zboudrie at Let’s Talk Anime – Zboudrie is still newish to the blogging scene (okay, their blog has been active longer than mine but they’ve not had a chance to write a lot yet because of tech issues keeping them away from the computer). Their posts are a mixture of reviews, lists, and some general anime thoughts. I’m looking forward to seeing more posts from them!
I was also nominated by Kurumishim – Kurumi’s blog has a mixture of anime, manga, and Asian drama reviews. She brings a lot of enthusiasm to some great spoiler-free reviews of things she has seen.
Thanks again to Zboudrie and Kurumi for the nominations!

Rules for the Nomination
-Thank the blogger who nominated you
-Give a brief history on your blog and how it started
-Give two tips to new bloggers
-Nominate up to 15 fellow bloggers

Starting my blog
While I have been an avid reader almost all my life, and a lover of anime for quite some time, I’ve never really been much of a writer. I’ve never really felt confident in expressing my thoughts on any subjects in text. Writing about factual matter is fine, but writing down my opinions is much more challenging. I decided to start my blog as something to fill my time, and a way of working on my self-expression. While I think that I’ve still got a lot of room for improvement, I do think that organising myself to write on a regular basis has already made a difference just in the couple of months I’ve been writing.

Blogging Tips
I’m still quite new myself, but I can comment on a couple of things I’ve learnt in the short time I’ve been writing.

Just start writing! – Your first few posts will probably not be very good. My first few posts were not very good, but by writing more posts and comparing them with the posts that I had already made, I’ve been able to start developing a style. I still feel like I have room for improvement, but I can see that I have made some progress. While it is worth checking over posts to make sure that you’ve got decent spelling and grammar and some kind of reasonable flow in your post, don’t keep your posts in editing limbo forever because they’re ‘not good enough yet’. If you mess up something trivial like a word choice or spelling, there’s always the all-powerful edit feature so you can hide your errors of the past. Some of the posts which I haven’t felt especially happy with have still got plenty of views and positive feedback. We’re probably all our own worst critics. Get out there and start writing posts!

Interact with others – I think all bloggers love getting likes and comments on their posts, so it’s definitely worth extending the same to others, as they probably feel the same as you. If you see a post you like, why not interact with it? If you see a post where you disagree with what the writer said, why not let them know (politely)? If you see a blog that you think is cool, why not follow it? WordPress will let you search for posts tagged with a particular word, so if you’re not sure where to start, you can always search for posts tagged ‘anime’, ‘manga’, or whatever other things interest you or relate to your blog. Going with that, it’s worth giving your posts some general tags like ‘anime’ or whatever other thing you’re writing about, as that’s a great way for others to find you.

As an extra tip, have fun! – Seriously, unless you’re getting paid to write posts at a certain frequency, this is just a hobby, and I think it’s worthwhile to get involved in leisure activities you enjoy, and not get too bogged down in leisure activities you don’t love. Relax and write about the things you find interesting, even if that means you spend a whole season writing episodic posts nerding out about an anime where cute girls ride surprisingly accurate bikes.

I’ll give a few nominations this time. Please don’t feel any obligation to respond to this if you’re not interested.

Nominations
Golden Realist
Kapodaco
Lethargic Ramblings
Shoujo Thoughts
Lita Kino
Weekend Otaku

Sunshine Blogger Award

Apparently I am bringing more sunshine to people’s lives as I have been nominated for this award again by Kapodaco at Criticism and Thoughts. Kapodaco has a mixture of anime, manga, and video game reviews (including some visual novels) on their blog. They bring a slightly more cynical than average voice to the blogging world, but I think that this is a positive, as it’s refreshing to see a different viewpoint on popular topics. Thank you for the nomination!

Rules
1. Display Award
2. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog. Try to include a little promotion for the person who nominated you.
3. Answer the 11 questions they’ve written for you.
4. Summon 11 bloggers from the magic circle and write them 11 new questions.

How are you today? – Not bad as of the time I am writing this post. We’re having a 18C day after several 36C days, and the fact that the temperature has halved has doubled my happiness. I am not a fan of hot weather, it makes it hard for me to think, but I also get too hot to think to put on the air conditioning.
What is your favorite genre of music? – Musical theatre would be my favourite. I love a good story, and there’s something about a great story set to song that sticks in your head and your heart. I love older musicals (there’s something oddly charming about the light sounds and sometimes politically incorrect lyrics of the shows of the 50s and 60s), but also rock opera, and some more modern pieces. I also have a love for really bad musicals, they’re almost as good as really good ones. Aside from that, I love classical music, easy-listening, some jazz, and I have a guilty fascination with the crazy synthesiser sounds of the 80s.
Do you have any pets? If not, why do you hate animals to the point where you wouldn’t consider adopting one? – I don’t have pets. I honestly have never felt any particular pleasure from interacting with animals. I mean, I’ve looked after people’s pets while they’ve been away on holidays and the responsibility is fine, and I don’t hate it, but I don’t get sufficient joy from the whole experience to want to have my own. I don’t like looking at cute animal pictures or videos on the internet really either. I seem to be devoid of this essential part of humanity.
Have you ever tried to get to the tootsie roll centre of a tootsie pop just by licking? – I don’t think they sell those in Australia unless I went to a specialty lolly shop where they sell imported lollies. So that’s a no.
If anime became more widespread in its popularity, much in the sense that video games have in the last ten years or so, what anime do you think would take the crown as the general public’s favorite? – The general public would definitely not go for the stuff I’m into. They don’t have my finely honed appreciation for cute girls doing cute things (the greatest genre ever to come to anime in my eyes, though I know it’s not everyone’s taste). I can imagine that Attack on Titan would scratch a similar sort of itch to Game of Thrones and may be a general public favourite. I have no interest in either of these series.
Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon? Or Stardew Valley? Or anything like them? – I’ve played Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, although I have not played Harvest Moon. I think that Stardew Valley has more interesting game systems, but the villagers in Animal Crossing are a lot more charming. I just couldn’t find myself warming up to the townspeople in Stardew. There wasn’t someone who I thought was obvious spouse material.
Finances aside, would you rather travel by plane, train, or boat? – Train if I could get to my destination that way. I get a little seasick (it’s not debilitating, but it’s always there slightly, even with seasickness medication), and while short-distance flights are fine, I disliked long-haul flights to the point that I was dreading going home from an overseas holiday because I knew I had 2×10 hour flights to get through. On the train, it’s possible to stretch your legs and they keep the lights up so you can read without being at the mercy of your reading light being at the correct angle.
Do you think the “Eww, gross! Weeaboo!” stigma of anime and manga would translate to that of a standard light novel enthusiast? – If more people knew what Light Novels were, then probably. I think it’s just that Light Novels fly under the radar of the public consciousness so it’s keeping them safe.
Watch any sports? – Not really these days, unless you count being a supportive aunty and going to games that my nieces and nephews play. I used to watch televised cycling when I lived with my parents because my dad is mad about it. Road cycling is quite interesting to watch and the TV commentators (at least on Australian TV) seem to refrain from making the sort of inane remarks which populate the commentary of some other televised sports.
What is a story you’d like to see adapted into anime form? (Whether it be from a novel, movie, video game, or otherwise.) – I’d like to see an anime adaptation of War and Peace (I’d have said Les Miserables but there’s already an adaptation of that I just haven’t seen it yet). An epic story with a great blend of action, interpersonal drama, and philosophy. I think that anime can do really well at telling these sorts of epic tales, plus I’d love to see young Natasha as a cute anime girl and Prince Andrew as a bishounen. It’s probably never going to happen, but a girl can dream, right?
Average hours of sleep you get in a night? – Normally about 11. I have a ‘mystery chronic illness’ (I can tell you a lot of things I don’t have, but my doctor hasn’t been able to give me a diagnosis for what I do have), and I need quite a lot of sleep to be functional. I’m always tired, even when I get plenty of sleep, but if I get less sleep than my 11 hours, it starts to eat into my emotional reserves and can also do some other bad things like throw off my balance or make it hard for me to speak. I’ve pretty much just had to learn what I need to do to be able to manage life, and if I’m on top of things, I cope fairly okay.

No nominations for this one, I’ve got the award before.