blog

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Bring it on, 2016

Posted by

38

Helloooo everyone, so it’s like 4 AM and the only other person awake in the blogosphere right now is freakin’ mirrorpurple. Figures, right? Anyway, it’s been a long festive day, but the party never stops because HAPPY NEW YEAR, minna!!! If this post doesn’t show my dedication to blogging then I don’t know what will.

I thought I’d keep this short and sweet because ultimately I’ll be another “2015 Year In” post cluttering your reader, and you’ll be like “Dammit Takuto, I can’t even close the lid on this stupid reader.” We’re all thinking it, no need to sugarcoat it (even though that’s all I do in this café).

I just wanna shout THANK YOU from the top of my lungs to all of my café-goers, those quiet and those constantly keeping my mouth running!! I honestly can’t write. I have no experience with it, and I doubt my future occupation (whatever it may be) will involve writing. All I can do, and have been doing, is utilizing the skills I’ve learned through school, working and coping with what I’ve got in hopes that my façade as a “brilliant blogger” holds up and I can contribute to the anime community and chat with all you wonderful people. Also, a café isn’t very fun without visitors, is it? YOU have all been my spark for blogging, and though it’s only been what, a year and a half, my friendships with you (Especially you, yeah, you. You know whom I’m talking about) is priceless.

So why the late post? Well, I didn’t want to wish everyone a happy new year just in case the apocalypse came early, because I got lazy, and because I wanted to be the last aniblogger you heard from. With that, “Happy New Year!”

I have no New Year’s resolution because I think I swallowed it when I downed a dozen mini-red-velvet and buttercream-frosted cupcakes and Oreo truffles that I made with my sister. If that didn’t do it, then the five glasses of sparkling grape juice certainly did.

It’s been a rough year for finding my writing voice, particularly with my reviews, and the hunt is still ongoing. This year, I’d like to find it, so I suppose that would be one resolution. Please excuse the different formats and such. Your feedback fuels my drive, you know?

I don’t want to compile a list of all of my active followers because YOU ALL drop in quite often, and I yearn for every new conversation I can have with all of my dearest friends. To my newest followers and viewers, I am delighted and gracious that you have decided to stick around (I must be doing something right)!! To you, I am Takuto, your host at my anime café. It’s just another tiny nook in the interwebs where I can serve you digital drinks and cakes as my thoughts for what we love – Anime. I would cry, but then I wouldn’t be able to differentiate the cause: My overflowing emotions for all of you or the damn brightness of this laptop screen. Probably both.

Have the Happiest of New Years! I have a strong feeling that 2016 will be a good ‘un!! Let’s aim for a year full of hearty conversations and memorable moments in this little café of mine 🙂 AS ALWAYS, happy Friday, and until next time, I cherish you all more than words can express!! Good night!

– Takuto, your host

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys have apparently prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog. Check out my stats if you would like! They may be small compared to others, but I don’t care. I’m hella proud of what we’ve done here 😀 CELEBRATE ~!

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,700 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Ray of Sunshine! (Sunshine Award)

Posted by

8

Just yesterday morning I woke up to a normal, hot summer day, that is, until I found out that I’ve been nominated again, but this time, for the Sunshine Award!! I can’t say anything else, however, until I extend my thanks to Shiroyuni over at “thelimitlessimagination.” She’s not only a great blogger friend but she writes very, very interesting posts, so please check out “thelimitlessimagination” if you haven’t already!

Paraphrased from Shiroyuni herself, the Sunshine Blog Award is given to those who exhibit positive attitude and “creatively influence” other bloggers. To the questions!

  1. Do you think you’ll ever stop blogging? If yes, why and if no, why not?

Ooh, this is a hard one to answer, considering that I do not know what the future holds in store for me. While I can’t give a straight answer, I can confirm that I’m not going anywhere for the time being. In fact, it’s summer – I should be blogging more!

  1. How do you juggle between real life and blogging commitments?

I don’t, haha. I’ve always lived by “work first, play later,” so that’s what I do. I’m not sure if I would call that juggling real life or squeezing in whatever free time I can for blogging, well, that and anime >.< I won’t lie, it’s a pretty hard task, and that’s why these awards are such a good idea – let peoples’ work get noticed and the appreciation they deserve! Go anibloggers!!

  1. Do you let people you know in real life read your blog? If yes, why and if no, why not?

My blog is one of my most heavily guarded secrets known only to those dwelling on the interwebs, haha! Even though it will probably never happen, I want one of my friends to be on the web, find my blog and go, “Woah, this is pretty neat,” cause then I could say, “Hah, I am Takuto, and welcome to my cafe!” (*sigh* I’ll probably just tell them in a couple months or something)

  1. What anime / manga / movie / TV series character do you resemble the most, in terms of personality?

This right here was easily the hardest question. I want to say Oreki from Hyouka, as I’ve heard about his personality, but I’ve never watched the anime so I can’t confirm that 😦 If I had to pick, though, I’d go with Mikoto Misaka from A Certain Scientific Railgun. Even though she’s a girl, we both have this facade of being high class and pretentious when we’re actually down to Earth and relatable. Misaka is unyielding to challenges and always performs tasks with such unwavering dignity. She’s kind, a bit selfish at times, but is always looking out for others. We also both have secret hobbies (fu fu fu :3)

  1. What is the biggest concern you have right now?

My biggest concern right now is my future career. I don’t really know what I want to do yet, and I’m crunching down on time. Yeesh, scary! I need to get a job . . .

  1. Name one virtue/value that you think is extremely important and why.

To me, honoring integrity is incredibly important. I was once told that if someone was to describe another with only one word, “integrity” was the best thing they could say. It’s one of the heaviest values and it encompasses other virtues like honesty and uprightness/dignity. Truly an honorable value!

And now for a few people whom I nominate, as they are all great, positive influences in the anime blogging community:

Shay-shay’s Anime Blog – not only super nice, but she posts great questions where she always responds, we have great conversations

ZeAnime – they haven’t posted in a while, but the content that’s there is amazing, pleasant to talk to as well

LitaKino Anime Reviews – literally the funniest aniblogger that I know, a ray of positivity who also has a YouTube account you should check out

The Huge Anime Fan (Cassandra) – a great blogger friend who enjoys writing about the anime in season as well as being extremely fun to talk to

The Otaku Judge – the definitive place to find constructive criticism on anime/games, very supportive of other anibloggers and myself as well

Let’s Talk Anime (tcondon1) – another blogger buddy who always answers my dorky questions (go ask some yourself) 🙂 , I appreciate all of the replies and everything that they post

Rocco’s Anime Journal – a long-standing blogger friend if I do say so myself, posts in-depth episode-by-episode reviews as well as supports my own blog with anime-related knowledge

***If you’ve already been nominated and you’re on the list, no problem, just comment below with a link to your Sunshine Award Nomination post because I want to read it! If there is a question here that you feel the need to answer, feel free – comment away! 🙂 Thanks and Congrats ~

Questions for my nominees (again, you can simply comment below with an answer to one if you have already been nominated):

  1. Do you prefer anime films or series?
  2. Why do you write on your blog?
  3. Gun fights or sword showdowns?
  4. What was the last anime character that you related deeply to, if any?
  5. What’s your opinion on this spring anime season – simulcasts?
  6. I liked Shiroyuni’s question so here’s “ How do you juggle between real life and blogging commitments?”
  7. At this exact moment, what anime and episode are you on/watching, if any?

Official Rules of the Sunshine Award:

If you have been nominated for The Sunshine Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Sunshine award in which you:

  • Thank the person who nominated you.
  • Answer the questions from the person who nominated you.
  • Nominate a few other bloggers.
  • Write the same amount of questions for the bloggers you nominated.
  • Notify the bloggers on their blog.
  • Put the award button on your blog.

Ahh, such a long post to write, so many interesting blogs! Each of you write such positive things that honestly, everyone deserves the Sunshine award! I had tons of fun writing this and answering Shiroyuni’s questions – thanks again for the nomination! Can’t wait to read your responses and until next time, this has been

– Takuto, your host