I started blogging way back in May of 2008, mostly as a lark. Janette, the same one who commented above, introduced me to it as she had just started recently as well. The blog she joined still needed more writers and I figured, “Well, why the hell not?” I submitted a review on King of Bandit Jing (which I now feel was very underwhelming), got accepted, and there I was. I had no experience in the aniblogsphere, except that I could write at a proficient English level.

I am one of those bloggers that fizzled out quickly. Nice to meet you. Part of that I might attribute to my poor choice of series. I picked up Wagaya no Oinari-sama, which I ended up dropping after six episodes because I just couldn’t bear to watch anymore. I also picked up Himitsu, which had a train-wreck of a sub release schedule. So, I found myself just starting out with nothing to write. I tried to keep it going with various posts, convention reports and the like, but I just couldn’t do it.

Besides that though, my life really opened up right after I began blogging. I started really getting out there in the world and having new experiences. Some of that was great: I got into wakeboarding, met many new people, and found my first job. In other aspects, well, people change and personalities clash. And sometimes, you end up getting news that you never thought you’d hear in a million years, and I mean that in a bad way.

Combined, it killed me as a blogger. Sure, I still posted on occasion, but I hardly call making a post once every two weeks to a month as “active”. I became complacent, figuring that other writers still contributed to the blog, so I didn’t need to devote the time to it.

Well, sometimes life throws you a curveball, and events suddenly left me needing to step up to the task. I started by completely overhauling the blogs organization system. I found I enjoyed the task, as mind numbing as it was. I then resolved that I’d take a series or two and stick through it for the entire run. We’re now at the start of week 7 this season and I’ve managed to keep up that resolve. I also actually started reading other blogs, though only two so far, this and BnB.

Whereas before it felt like a chore, now I’m actually enjoying myself. I find writing to be a cathartic process too. I don’t see it as a rebirth, but rather, as starting completely from the beginning. I ran two panels on blogging at Ohayocon a few weeks ago with my team leader, and in that interim I already feel woefully under qualified for the task. I’ve actually thought about the future, and how long I could keep going. If nothing else, I would like to at least find one series to follow and blog each season.

I’m not entirely sure where I was going with this wall of text. Perhaps it’s just a view of the whole process. Someone who has been around, someone who has fizzled, and someone who just started, all wrapped into one weird package. I hope it’s at least been interesting.

Start off by reading blogs before writing your self, although 4 years is probably procrastinating a bit too long.

Haha, i wouldn’t put it as procastination. When I started, there wasn’t wordpress and everyone who blogged probably wrote in raw HTML and updated their frontpages manually. It was only after the start of blogging platforms did I feel like doing one. I started on blogspot.com before moving to Animeblogger.net courtesy of Maestro.

I actu ally know who all these people are thanks to my research ing for this post. Learn ing about his tor ical fig­ures in the anib log sphere, bizarre really

Oh wow, now you’re making me feel really old with those lines.

So you’ve been around 8+ years? Holy shit, although that’s probably what more bloggers should do anyway. Start off by reading blogs before writing yourself, although 4 years is probably procrastinating a bit too long.

hayama, Jef­flawson, Momotato

I actually know who all these people are thanks to my researching for this post. Learning about historical figures in the aniblogsphere, bizarre really

@Shance

I don’t entirely agree with that. Trying to stay alive when you don’t have the enthusiasm anymore just results in some sort of half-arsed blog that never updates. If you reach that stage I’d say the best option is to die extravegantly and then follow a few blogs and just be a commenter. There’s a certain appeal to just being a commenter and you contrinute far more than having a dead blog would

The reason I’ve lasted so long is probably because blogging and anime are embellished very closely in my mind. When i started in to anime around 2000, I was closely following the first-ever crop of anime bloggers, such as hayama, Jefflawson, Momotato and so on that the act of watching anime meant I would be also reading the blogger’s writings about it and learning new things that I wouldn’t have noticed at just one watch.

As time passed and I started my own blog at 2005, it’s gone from “reading about anime” to “writing about anime” and as I slowly grew to felt comfortable about blogging, it’s pretty much become a habit i cannot kill off.

I shan’t make any promises, but I do hope to go on blogging for as long as I can watch anime and are willing to go to the hassle of doing a post. I still think it’s a chore to do a post everytime, but hey, it’s because of that I really appreciate the comments I get in return.

Seriously? You’ve only been around 3 months longer than I have. See, it’s things like that that got me to start writing this post. There’s barely anyone whose been around longer than that

@Mike

Your first comment can be summed up in one word: Ambition. It’s how many people get relaxed in one spot and get dissilusioned when things move on. However the real-life contacts is something I’ve never seen before in anime blogs. Actually Novajinx mentioned meeting other bloggers helped fuel his ambition to continue on. Hmmm…maybe I should meet up with some english bloggers sometime

@digitalboy

Meh, so long as awesome blogs like Unmei Kaihen and Mecha Guignol keep appearing I’ll be happy even if blogs like Ogiue Maniax die…oh shit, I’ve jinxed it now!

It’s true, I think anime blogs die in waves. I’ve only been around since the beginning of 2007 as well, but I don’t intent to go anywhere. As they say, ‘I’m a ten year man.’

I’d say, though, that an even bigger reason is that we’re not just an anime blog writing about episodes or editorials. The podcast is as old as the site itself, and is tons of fun to record. The convention reporting is something that we do which relatively few other bloggers do, as well as the panels we’ve helped run in the past couple of years. A lot of those activities keep us producing stuff even if most of us aren’t exactly in the mood to blog about a particular show; it helps keep us connected to fan culture not just online but also in meatspace.

In fact, this year we want to expand even more and think about ways to earn some change in the process. Anime blogs don’t have to be only about one thing, and I’m really looking forward to the future of Anime Diet.