Oh? What’s this?: Mystery Blogger Award

Let’s start the year off with something positive – an award!

Although I’m quite late with this one (when am I not late with awards/tags, though?), I thought it’d be a nice thing to do to start the year! I want to thank Annie from annime for nominating me for the Mystery Blogger Award!

I’ve never done this award before, so it’s safe to say I’m quite excited to get stuck in! The award was made by Okoto Enigma as a way of recognising bloggers and helping them in their blogging journey.

Let’s have a look at the rules and get started, shall we?

Rules

• Put the award logo/image on your blog.
• List the rules.
• Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well.
• Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
• You have to nominate 10 – 20 people.
• Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog.
• Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question.
• Share a link to your best post(s)

Three Things About Myself

i can play a couple of instruments!

Being involved with music was a big part of my school life, and that’s probably why I love shows such as Kono Oto Tomare! and Your Lie in April. From the age of 8, I’ve been learning how to play instruments. I picked up the violin and played it until high school, mostly because my teacher wouldn’t allow me to go for my first grade examination, despite being more than ready. Another reason, however, was because I had found another instrument that took my fancy – the keyboard. I had keyboard lessons every week after school and these eventually developed into piano lessons. I also had lessons in guitar and vocals as well. During my GCSEs, we had to form bands and performed several times a year in front of the public. It was so much fun and I would give anything to go back in time and relive it all again.

I love Languages.

Ever since I had my first French lesson at the age of eleven, I’ve been in love with learning languages. I’m only fluent in English, sure, but there’s something about learning languages I absolutely love. I took my French to AS level (first year at college) before failing it, but I’ve also dabbled in learning basic Dutch, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin during my time at university. I really want to start learning a language properly now, though, but I don’t really know which one to settle on…

My Happy Place is a library

The library on my university campus is where I’m the happiest. Even now, as a graduate, I sometimes visit and hang out at the library with a coffee and a panini. I have so many positive memories there scattered amongst the stresses of student life, but it’s where I’m the happiest, and where I feel like I’m the safest. My local library at home is also a happy place for me, but that’s mostly due to the amount of volunteering I did last year there. Libraries mean so much to me and, without them, I’d be completely lost. I really should pay a visit to libraries more.

Answering Annie’s Questions

Who are your favourite characters in anime and why?

There are a lot of characters that I really like, so this is quite a hard question. I’m going to stick with my top three, though, and I’m firstly going to mention Koushi Sugawara from Haikyuu!!. What an absolute sweetheart this boy is. I’ve loved Suga from when I first watched Haikyuu!! all those years ago, but now that I’m finally watching the third season (in time for the fourth season this month) I’ve been reminded of what a loveable squish he is. He’s always supporting his teammates and he’s like the mother figure of the group. Everyone needs a friend like Suga.

Next, I’m going to say Riza Hawkeye. As much as I love Roy Mustang, I think Riza takes the top spot in terms of character. Not only is she badass, but she has a gentle side to her too which makes her an all-rounder in terms of what-Amelia-likes-in-characters.Her loyalty is certainly one that cannot be disputed and, hey, she has a cute dog too. What is there not to like about Riza? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Again, I’ve liked Riza from when I first watched Fullmetal Alchemist, but having completed Brotherhood last year, I can safely say that she’s certainly one of my favourite characters from that franchise.

I can’t really talk about favourite characters without talking about Kyouya Ootori from Ouran High School Host Club, either. He was my first anime crush and has remained on my favourite character lists ever since. Sure, he’s smug and scheming at times, but he’s also very loyal to his friends.I think, really, what you can gather from this list is that I like supportive characters and those who are loyal to their friends.

What is your make it or break it criterion in anime?

What makes a good anime, for me, is a good story, good character development or good world development. Of course, this is hitting the ‘masterpiece’-worthy titles and I don’t exactly watch many of them when it comes to seasonal anime! If the anime isn’t great in terms of story, honestly? I just want good characters. To be honest, if the anime is poor in every other aspect (animation, plot etc.), if the characters are some I take a likening to, I’ll probably finish the show. If the characters are poorly written, it’s probably certain I’m going to drop the show even after giving the show a fair chance… (Yes, I’m looking at you, Try Knights.)

How’d you get into anime?

I’ve definitely spoken about this before, but I’ll quickly tell the story again. Basically, I had a friend in high school who was obsessed with Chobits. I had no idea what Chobits was or even what this ‘anime’ thing was. I literally typed the word ‘anime’ into YouTube and ended up watching Highschool of the Dead, Ah! My Goddess Season 2 and Gunslinger Girl before saying ‘no thanks’ to it all. A couple of years later, I had a recommendation in my YouTube sidebar – Ouran Highschool Host Club. That was in 2012. The rest is history.

If you could live in any anime world, which would it be and why?

If I’m honest, the majority of ‘worlds’ in the anime I watch tend to be some variation of modern day Japan. As much as I would love to live in Japan, I’m sure you would want a more creative answer. I’m a bit of a history nerd, so a setting such as Edo period Japan (as conveyed by Blade of the Immortal) would be pretty interesting to me. There’s just something so intriguing about that time period and I do think you learn best by experiencing things. What a way to learn about Japanese history!

if you were a pokemon, What Pokemon would you be and why?

My favourite Pokémon is Piplup, so I would obviously say that I want to be a Piplup, but I’m probably more like Rockruff or Lillipup. For the sake of this question, I’ll pick the latter. Much of the Pokédex entries for Lillipup are descriptions that I can strongly relate to. Just like how Lillipup can flee from battle once it has established its opponment’s strength, I also evaluate myself to others and avoid confrontation if I know full well that the other person is stronger in some way. Apparently, Lillipup doesn’t yelp much either, which is another similarity, for I’m not exactly the noisiest person. In fact, I can be quite shy, thus I do think I would be more like Lilliput than a Piplup. Maybe I could befriend a Piplup, though? That works out too.

Sharing my three best posts

I shared my most popular posts of 2019 in a recent reflection post, but I wouldn’t necessarily say they were my best. Review-wise, I would say that my review of Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni was my best. Written in 2017, I’m placing this one here because it was, firstly, a watching experience that I’m yet to experience again. Everything about the film was beautiful. The post itself, however, was probably my first experience of success on the blog. That review is still responsible for giving me the most views in a single day.

A rather personal post that I think is also one of my best is my post on ‘How Anime Has Helped Me‘. This post meant a lot for me to write and I truly think I managed to make the post in a way that resonated with a lot of people. It breaks down how anime really has helped me through the years and all of it remains true to this day.

Finally, I would argue that my analysis on Tokyo Godfathers is one of my best posts as well. Analysis posts are quite rare on A Girl & Her Anime, as I always feel like I’m lacking on theory to be able to do more of them, but I can remember very vividly how much fun I had writing this one for the #12DaysOfAnime in 2017.

Nominations & Questions

Otoko Enigma originally made this tag to help people discover new bloggers. Luckily for me, I’ve managed to discover some new bloggers myself over the festive period, so I’ll be nominating a bunch of them to do the Mystery Blogger Award as well!

• Ethan from Anime as a cup of tea
• Erika from Meriendeato
• Inskidee from Inskime
• Joshua from A Certain Dazed Producer
• GeatsxShogun from Fortress William
• Le Fenette from AniCourses
• Ellie from Religiously Nerdy
• Mia from 9 Tailed Kitsune
• Keni from Crackerzheads Anime Blog
• Tiger from TigerAnime

Of course, as always, don’t feel obliged to participate if you don’t want to! I just wanted to tag you guys as you’re some of the amazing blogs I’ve discovered recently and I want to encourage you to keep it up! Not only that, but tags and awards serve as an amazing way to get to know other members of the blogging community!

So, let’s see… what shall we ask you?

1. You’re sitting down to write a new blog post. What snacks/drinks do you have on hand?
2. If you could be an animal, what animal would you be and why?
3. Congratulations! You’ve enrolled in U.A. High School! What’s your Quirk?
4. What anime are you looking forward to the most this year?
5. What inspired you to start blogging?

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So, that’s my Mystery Blogger Award tag done! I want to thank Annine once again for nominating me and I hope those of you nominated have fun completing the tag as well – if you choose to do it, of course!

Until next time!

– Amelia xo