Woohoo! One year! :D
Last summer I decided to take a blogging class. I figured that since most of my journalism professors were crying over the upcoming death of print media, I should become more familiar with this blogging stuff that was going to pretty much take over print media. When the class started, the professor told us to make a blog. I made this one.
In one year I’ve managed to write over 100 posts, get over 700 comments (OK, half of those are probably mine, but still not too shabby!), been on more than a few podcasts, people who know me and my blog when we meet and more hits that I could have ever dreamed of when I first started this blog.
Here are some highlights of the past year…
The top 20 posts:
- Ten REALLY GOOD Ways to Buy and Not Steal Manga (It’s fitting that this is the top post. ^_^)
- Why is Manhwa not as popular as Manga? (I really wish this post wasn’t so popular…I’ve since changed my views on manhwa A LOT)
- Comics & Girls: We want to kick ass (One of two posts with the most comments for this blog! Also my first troll!)
- Interning in the Manga Industry: My Advice (So happy this one is in the top five! I’m so proud of this post.)
- The Great Manga Gift Guide: SHOJO STYLE! (One of the posts that started getting me recognized by others.)
- Anime Expo: Day One (Admittedly, this post is probably only popular because it was posted on the AX forums…)
- Causing the Death of an Industry (Yes, this post is alarmist, but it’s a good way to imagine the what ifs.)
- Jews in Anime and Manga (What happened when I answered one of my own questions…)
- Layoffs for Viz; Death Rattle for Go!Comi (One of the saddest posts I’ve written after the one on CMX’s demise.)
- Scott Pilgrim/Mighty Fine T-Shirt Contest (My first contest! It was so much fun and I can’t wait to do more!)
- The Manga Cliche Review: Musical Talent Part 2 (An old review concept… I’m not sure why this one is so popular. o_0)
- Gakuen Alice on the Fast Track (Thank you to Marco for giving me this inside tip.)
- Osaka Considering the Regulation of Female-Oriented Manga (I still don’t fully understand why Osaka didn’t target ecchi manga too, a real headshaker.)
- Hetalia: You Should Read This Manga Even If You Don’t Want To (Yes, I am not above shameless self-promotion. I worked hard on that manga!)
- Fandom Hierarchy: Should We Be Allowed to Hate? (Sparked by an intense Twitter discussion.)
- 10 Years of Lovin’ Manga (My 10th anniversary as a manga fan, followed by everyone sharing their own manga stories.)
- Prostitution in Manga (Probably one of the hardest posts I’ve had to write. I wish I could develop this into a real research project.)
- Discussion: Why Do Readers Shun Shoujo? (I was beginning to realize how I could create more discussion on the blog. It worked!)
- Comic Book Movies: Astro Boy (Another old post that’s popular for reasons I don’t understand. I guess it’s not a bad post, but I wish this post was more popular. I never saw the movie in the end.)
- Manhwa Controversy (My response to the outrage at my first post on manhwa… Yeah, I was totally wrong.)
I’ve pretty much figured out that opinion, not reviews, is my strong point, but maybe in the future I can work on that a little more or bring someone on with me to do reviews. (Anyone interested?) I’d also like to make a little money off of ads or book referrals, but I haven’t figured out the best way to do that yet. There’s still so much I don’t know about blogging! (There’s still so much I don’t know about other stuff either…)
After I finished my first internship at TOKYOPOP and started this blog, I realized something that had been stirring in the back of my mind– I really did not want to be a journalist. At the time, it was an enormous problem for me. If I didn’t want to do journalism and if this whole manga editing thing didn’t work out, what was I going to do for a living? And while this blog doesn’t make me any money, it’s certainly helped me build my reputation up more and allowed me to make so many friends. This blog kept my head above water when I was drowning in uncertainty and lead me to a island that I might be able to call paradise.
In the mean time, I’m going to continue doing this blog, continue editing manga for a living and maybe some day in the future I hope to open up my own business. Maybe a publishing company, maybe a bookstore, I’m not sure yet.
Thank you, everyone, for what you’ve given me over the past year. You’re the ones who’ve made me and this blog a success.
So much love,
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber
All About Manga 