A Milestone, a Reading, a Few Shoutouts, and Other Recent Happenings

Or, if you want to look at it another way, a list of N things that probably don’t relate to each other.

1. We’ve finally passed the 100-review mark!
That’s certainly a milestone if there ever was one.

Yes, we did just get through our two-year anniversary almost two months ago, but I think the 100-soundtrack review mark is just slightly more important because it gives us that psychological edge and confidence to surge onwards. It’s never easy driving oneself to write in such a narrow niche, but I’m optimistic about how things will turn out since the reception that this site has gotten has been really positive, and I look forward to interacting with readers old and new over this subject that I love so much. Heck, if I can get people to take heed of the BGM which often flies under the radar in anime, that’s all I can really ask for.

A big shoutout goes to Jen, who, despite joining in October of last year, has managed to provide roughly 10% of the reviews as well as an awesome concert report that I really wish I could have attended!

2. I get to look at the past, and what a frightening past it is.
Milestones are fun, looking back is also fun even if it can be totally embarrassing at times. A few weeks ago, Pontifus and I decided to plot out a way to relive the days of yore by having anime bloggers read each other’s posts. Out loud. As a recording.

Omisyth drew my name, and after long last, provided this gem of a reading of the post that announced my addition to the Nihon Review writing staff.

It really is kind of funny to look back upon this because, well, it feels almost… childish in the way I gushed out like that? And I don’t really do that a lot. Also, the way the relationship evolved has been odd too. I did post a blurb of my Ghost Hound review once, but that never happened again. The reason for that was because I felt kind of silly cross-posting; it never sat well with me, and so, I stopped. For that matter, I never posted another anime review here since then. I figured that if I was going to aim for a niche, I might as well go all in. No sense in splitting this blog’s focus to review anime and music when I can submit to whichever place is more suitable for such an item. In the long run, it works better with this arrangement.

Shoutouts in the post title is plural, so this one goes out to the Nihon Review staff for supporting me in this endeavor and with Shadowmage’s contribution in the form of Darker than Black 2’s OST which delivered some really enjoyable techno fare. I can’t say techno is ever at the top of my list of preferred listens, but that soundtrack nailed pretty much what I was hoping for: creative trance/techno, which is, unfortunately, still a rarity.

3. VGMdb is up, and running, and looking strong.
I’ve groused about how disorganized the anime music community seems to be. We can’t seem to get all the facts straight. My point of comparison? The video game music community.

Sure, the two are joined together by the fact that both are nerdy pursuits, both have some crossovers (Disgaea, Devil May Cry, Tales series), and some people engage in both. When you look at the music front, the video game music community is way ahead. When new game albums come out, there always seems to be a decent translation of the track titles, composer info, arrangers, and performers. When new anime albums come out, it’s a bit of a crapshoot. I’ve had to deal with my fair share of incorrect track titles (the Paprika soundtrack is but one notorious example) and composer credits, especially when two composers work on the same anime.

With VGMdb now well-prepared to take on anime albums, I’m hoping to see that gap bridged. Already, the site has seen quite a stream of submissions, from the likes of me tossing in the Angel Beats! music to others making sure that well-known stuff like the soundtracks for Fullmetal Alchemist are well-accounted for.

As someone who has this OCD-ish tendency to make sure that information is correct and organized well, I look forward to seeing the database grow further. MyAnimeList, for all its faults, has been incredibly useful and the same goes to Anime News Network’s database. An anime music equivalent that allows people to search out album information in a language they can read and understand while allowing them to organize their anime/game music collection is something I’ve been hoping to see, so the progress that’s been made on that front has me pretty excited.

They could always use more help though, so if you’ve spare time, do contribute!

4. T.H.A.T. Anime Blog manages to frag us in the Anime Blog Tourney about a week ago.
There was a surprise, but the result of that matchup wasn’t one of them. I did absolutely no campaigning and figured to partake on a passive level. As for T.H.A.T., they certainly deserve the win since Impz has done a great job organizing his team and keep abreast of the new and old anime by providing a comprehensive level of coverage that’s only equaled by the likes of Sea Slugs, Tenka Seiha, Star-Crossed, and Random Curiosity. Their content is also not limited to just episodics, and so, there’s something in it for everyone to read and enjoy. Before I go on about what I thought was a surprise, I just want to wish all remaining competitors well and that I’ll still pull for Baka-Raptor to win it all.

So what was a surprise as far as this blog is concerned? Probably how positive the responses were to the content on here. I guess I had expected more ambivalent responses, so seeing that people were pretty enthusiastic about this particular corner of the anime fandom does give me the motivation and energy to keep this up. Last shoutout, then, goes to all of those who read this site and have given their support. Thanks for making this journey such an enjoyable one!