study of anime digest

Since this site has been around a few years, it's racked up a few posts that have gone largely unnoticed, despite the fact that I enjoyed writing and sharing them with the general audience (blame my lack of comprehension on social media at the time). So, after looking through my archives, I've decided to post a "digest" of five previous articles that have some meaning to me, and want to share.

This first round all comes from those first three months here at Study of Anime, when I was still searching for a voice and a topic to blog about. Back in 2009 I was still trying to stick to my "Three Posts a Week" mentality, and as you can see, these are often short bursts. Looking back on them, I can smile at where I came from versus what I am now. Like my AMA reflection from two weeks ago, these are a tie to my past in the fandom, when I was still overcoming misconceptions and taking a serious look at myself.

Mission Statement: My first ever post on this site. I don't think anybody out there recalls the horrid orange and white motif this site first had back in October 2009, before Aleks hijacked it and made it less a burden on the eyes. I wrote this in about 20 minutes, and it's as close to a statement of purpose as I could ever get. Back then I called the site "Animology," and the tag line was "I'm not Japanese, but I pretend to be on weekends." Wow, how far I've come from that.

Con Advice: One of the earliest themes I ever tried for this site was con advice. These little nuggets presented here came from a congoer I met at AMA 2009, and eventually found their way into my first panel on Con Culture. All of this is still sound advice, even after the shifting dynamic of the modern anime con.

Con-Ventional Wisdom: Let the puns commence. This was another set of advice provided by an old con friend of mine at Otakon 2009. Again, still very solid and appropriate for the modern congoer. This might be one of the earliest examples of a regret post I ever made- I wish more people had seen this when it was new.

Best Con Story Ever: Yeah, I pimped this on twitter last week, but it's still one of my favorite con stories. I will never stop telling this one. Ever.

Friendships: Aside from advice, I also love writing about friendship and bonds between congoers, created and strengthened by the event. This is sort of about that, but more of an early example of ruminations and ramblings that show up time and again these days. Its blissfully short, though, unlike the 6 pages of wayward ideas I wrote about Chronicle.