One of the best feelings of this past year of anime has been the general feeling of joining and being a part of the anime community.  Not only has the whole processes been inspirational and motivating, I’ve met so many people with similar passions who express their affection in immeasurable ways and have deepening existing friendships as well.  It is truly one of the best things about anime of this past year.

This past year has been the first year I felt like I’ve been a part of the anime fandom community.  I’ve been following anime since the late 90s when I began buying VHS and DVDs of Toonami anime like Gundam Wing and Outlaw Star and renting from the local video store shows like El Hazard and Tenchi Muyo movies.  But back then I was virtually alone aside from only one other friend and the passion died out when my wallet ran dry.  The passion was reignited in college after some online friends recommended I try to get back into anime but it never really progressed outside my small pocket of friends.  The furor waned after a several bad selections of anime for a few consecutive seasons and my friends began to move on.  I didn’t want to give up on anime again, so I searched around for a few anime sites with reviews to see what others were thinking.  And like a life preserver, I found two blogs which inspired me to enjoy anime all over again: chaostangent and The Cart Driver.  Their amusing and enlightening writing styles, attention to detail, and post selection left an undeniable impression on me but none more important than their best attribute: they loved anime and they let you know it.  Maybe not directly through their skillfully crafted commentaries and perspectives but it was always present in every post, either in front, in the back, or well integrated into their words (you can tell I like them).  From that point on, I began browsing more sites and started to talk about anime with more of my friends.  The excitement and enthusiasm blazed within me until the point where I decided to start a blog.

Roughly a year ago, I decided to start an anime blog to express my opinions and use it as a way to begin arguments conversations with friends about certain aspects of/my thoughts about anime.  Having an overwhelmingly scientific and mathematic background all throughout my schooling life, I also thought I’d use the blog to augment my neglected writing abilities and challenge my creativity and perception.  Those two aspects have gone swimmingly but there was something that happened that I never really anticipated.

People began to connect with me.  People began to comment on my blog about my thoughts and opinions.  And I began to comment back.  And I began to connect with people.  And from those people, I began to connect with other people.  I soon realized that I was being assimilated into a network of anime fans, not just bloggers but everyone who loves anime.  I began to realize there are numerous perspectives and countless ways people express their love for anime and I’ve started to see what a diverse and creative community there is of anime fans.  It was quite overwhelming but equally rewarding to experience this.  And it’s all thanks to our love for anime and I saw it first hand with the 2011 year of anime.  Absolutely one of the greatest feelings of the year for me from anime and earning a spot on my 12 Days of Anime list.  Thank you to everyone who was a part of this and made this possible.

/cheesiness over