A Good Start To The Year!: The Blogger Recognition Award

I’m a little late to post something about this, admittedly, and I apologise for that, but I thought this would be a great post to help kickstart the beginning of 2017. 

Upon creating this madness that is A Girl & Her Anime, I never really knew how many visitors it would get, never mind someone really recognising the work I’ve put into it – even if I have been absent whilst I juggled university work around. So, a special thank you to Yahari Bento for nominating me for The Blogger Recognition Award – this was honestly completely unexpected.

 

 

(Honestly, I don’t think you realise how happy this makes me feel. ^-^)

 

 

To complement the award, I’ve to write a fair bit on how the blog started, give some advice for any new bloggers and nominate fifteen other blogs to receive the same award. Crikey.

Where It All Began
The idea of creating a blog where all I do is rant, fangirl and chat about anime, manga and anything else came to me during the summer holidays in 2016. I was just leaving behind my first year at university where I had joined an Anime Society – a society where a bunch of us just watch and discuss anime. Yes, it’s as nerdy as it sounds. It came to the point where I was just not enjoying much of the anime at all. I became quite opinionated, to the point where people were finding it absolutely hilarious to ‘trigger’ me with questions about the shows at hand, particularly JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Come the summer, I decided that enough was enough – I didn’t want to be known as the one person who was constantly shouting about everyone’s “shitty taste” in anime and being without justification for my rants. Reviewing shows, I thought, meant that I had to actually think about why I liked a show, why I disliked a show and there’s no need to shout about it constantly. It’s much more nicer for both sides involved: those in the society and me. The blog is still sort of a work-in-progress, and probably will be for a long time, but it’s definitely a project that I’m happy with and, hopefully, things will go a lot better for it in 2017.

Advice to New Bloggers
I’m hardly an expert blogger. That’s the first thing you need to realise when reading this advice. I’ve had several blogs in the past that haven’t come to anything and, I suppose, that’s my first piece of advice: blogging is all about trial and error. If something doesn’t work, don’t get worked up over it – try something a little different, experiment… you never know how things are going to turn out unless you do. Secondly, come up with a posting schedule that suits your needs. There’s no need to post daily unless you’re absolutely certain that 1) you can manage it and 2) the quality of your writing isn’t affected. Sure, I’m not the best writer out there, but even I know that rushing a blog post isn’t too fun to work with. Take my “Funniest Love Live! Cover Ever?” post, for example. As much as I hate that post, I’m not going to delete it from my blog. Why? It serves as a reminder to me to not rush things. I try to post things every three days as I find that that is a more manageable posting routine for me, but I’ve recently come to realise that it doesn’t matter if you’re a day late or if, for whatever reason, you can’t post at all. There’s no need to panic about justifying it to your readers, either – they should know that you have a life outside of blogging and sometimes, that gets in the way. That’s OK. Of course it is. At the end of the day: do what’s best for you. It’s your blog after all. It’s not mine, it’s not little Timmy’s, it’s yours and you really should prioritize #1.

Nominations
Now, this is where I’ve hit a dead-end. I don’t communicate with many of the WordPress community that much. It’s really something I want to change in 2017. However, I can’t just not nominate no-one, that’s not fair. These nominations have either come from my own favourite blogs that I’ve been following for a while or they’re blogs that have come from looking at others’ nominations lists that I will be following over the next year. (I’m using it as my first step to get into the community! ^^”) Also, if you’ve been nominated, don’t panic! I understand that some of you have been nominated for this award multiple times already, so don’t feel as if you need to do the same process yet again. ^^”

1. mirrorpurple
   I know you’ve already received an award, but how could I not give you my first nomination? One of my many inspirations out here in the blogging world. I’m aware of you going on hiatus and, like I mentioned above, that’s okay! Hope everything settles down for you soon. Best wishes!
   
2. Raistlin0903
   This guys is perhaps one of the friendliest bloggers out there. His content ranges from reviewing anime, to TV series, to Korean Dramas… Is there anything this guy doesn’t do? Posts are always a joy to read. (Hey, there’s no need to be stunned by the amount of nominations you’re getting, alright? You deserve them!)
3. In the Cubbyhole
   Posting about anime and video-games, this guy is one funny writer. His humour is clearly seen in his titles, featured images and in his unique weekly anecdotes that consist of “Funny Anime Quote of the Week”. If you like episode-by-episode reviews, this is definitely a blogger to follow!
4. Inkling Infornography
   I have an inkling you’ll want to follow this one! (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself…) If you’re interested in all things anime, film, gaming and books, this is the one blogger you should definitely follow! I’m only a recent follower myself, but their content is definitely worth reading!
5. Anime Girls NYC
   This is a blog I’ve been a very silent stalker of for a very long time, now. Of course, if you’re in the Anime Blogging World, you’ll have probably already heard of them, but I personally think they deserve a nomination for how dedicated they are to their blog and how excited they get me feeling for various different anime.
6. 100WordAnime
   Again, another blog I’ve been a silent stalker of for quite a while. ^^” Even as a reviewer myself, I understand that sometimes you just want someone to get to the point. 100WordAnime do exactly that. Posts are short and sweet, which is something that I find quite hard to achieve! If you like episode-by-episode reviews, this is another blogger you simply have to follow!
7. Risembool Ranger Anime Reviews
   Admittedly, this blog has just been brought to my attention buuuut I regret not searching for it ages ago. If you want a unique breakdown to what violence, nudity and even the theology involved in a series, this is the blog you need to follow. This is probably going to be a life-saver for me, personally, so I thought you guys might appreciate it too! Definitely recommend it if you’re just starting out on your anime journey.
8. Still into Anime and Manga
   Again, a new discovery on my behalf, and it seems to be quite the hidden gem! Their posts are entertaining and cover both anime and manga in what seems to be an equally divided way. If you like Gundam, their episode-by-episode review of the Iron-Blood Orphans series may be up your street!
9. Cherry Blossom Cosplay
   A shoutout to one of the new kids on the block now! If you’re anything like me and get excited when you see someone else’s cosplay or convention experiences, this blog might be worth a follow. They’re new, so not much content is available just yet, but hopefully they’ll be continuing their cosplay-blog journey and sharing it with us!
10. Genshiken Dropout
    This next nomination is for a blog that initiates great discussion. Although the genre of yaoi doesn’t necessarily appeal to me, personally, I find the posts on this blog really well-written and thought-provoking, my favourite so far being one written about the animation in Yuri!! On Ice. This blog is honestly one of the most thought-provoking anime blogs I’ve come across – it’s definitely one to follow.
11.  Funny Anime Pics
    How have I only recently just stumbled upon this beauty? No reviews here, just all the anime memes you can wish for. Definitely one to follow for some hilarious stuff to be delivered straight to your inbox!
12. My Brain Is Completely Empty
    Another new blog on the scene for you guys to check out! This time, it’s one that’s taken the more analytical approach. Influenced by an anime reviewer on YouTube, this new blogger has already made some interesting posts about harems and I’m interested to see what they write about next.
13. Wulf Space
    Here’s one that I’ve stumbled across whilst writing this post, but it’s definitely worth a mention. I was captivated reading their post “Wulfy’s Year in Anime 2016” and even more so when I checked out their blog itself. This is a well-designed blog with well-written posts covering various different subject areas that are brilliantly honest. I am new follower and you should be one too.
14. Kaleidoscope Anime 
    Admittedly one that I know of from Yahari Bento’s own nominations, this blogger not only has a cute blog design, their content is engaging and insightful, my favourite post of theirs being one about the upcoming influx of second seasons. Oh, and their current countdown of their favourite anime of 2016 is something I’m definitely looking forward to! (I like those sort of posts, it seems…)
15. Truly Trash Media
    And last but not least, I present to you the best name for an anime blog I’ve seen in a while – Truly Trash Media. Not only do they have a great name, they have a great blog design and their content is superb with great, in-depth reviews (that aren’t ‘trash’ like they claim) of popular series being available for you to read.

I think that’s enough for one post, don’t you think? If you haven’t already, I do recommend you check out the blogs I’ve mentioned up above, especially if you’re new to the anime blogging community or new to the world of anime and manga itself. We all share the same interests, so they won’t bite if you have any questions to ask, I’m sure. Unless they’re hungry. In that case, I can’t promise anything, I’m afraid.

As for this blog, well, looking at everyone else’s hard work, I’ve now been influenced to work even harder on it. (After university work, of course…) Perhaps there’ll be some design changes, some new content, who knows? All I know is that 2017 is going to be a great year with many more reviews to come.

 

EDIT: Fixed a tiny little grammar mistake. Thanks for pointing it out, mum.