This year we tried something a little different. We have been doing Anime Secret Santa for long enough that we have the basics down to a science. The real trick at this point is minimizing all the little problems that pop up every year. If the Anime Secret Santa were a marathon, we are in shape enough to finish without breaking a sweat. At this point were trying to get our time down. In that regard, we made two major changes that I think helped a lot.

The first was we broke the list into two groups. Usually we put all the participants names into a hat, and then would pull out names one by one to create the Secret Santa List only throwing names back into the hat if we pulled two people on the same blog one after the other. The main problem with the approach is sometimes a fan would maybe only watched a handful of titles would get someone who has been watching shows non stop for over a decade. This year we placed all the normal fans in one group and all the insane monsters in another. I think this greatly reduced the number of people who were completely lost on what to recommend other people. No more forcing bantamweights to take on heavyweights.

The second change was take have everyone give us two back up titles. It is guaranteed that several people will get recommendations have already seen either because their Secret Santa looked up a title they were suggesting by the wrong name or because the participant just forgot to put a title they had already seen on their list. This simple backup really smoothed over the otherwise hectic scramble to get people their titles in a timely fashion.

Hopefully these changes made everything run a little smother for both sides. We are both curious to see if anyone noticed the changes and how much it helped the participants this year.

• Vincenzo reviewed Girls und Panzer as recommended by Kelloggs
• Emily reviewed XXX as recommended by Vincenzo
• Appropriant reviewed Lovely Complex, Hataraki Man, and Macross Plus as recommended by Emily
• Namhur reviewed Toradora as recommended by Appropriant
• Philip reviewed Crest of the Stars and The Tatami Galaxy as recommended by Namhur
• Lily reviewed XXX as recommended by Philip
• Wendeego reviewed XXX as recommended by Lily
• Iblessall reviewed Un-Go as recommended by Wendeego
• Frank (+podcast) reviewed XXX as recommended by Iblessall
• Steven reviewed XXX as recommended by Frank
• Ink reviewed Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still as recommended by Steven
• Raymond reviewed Your Lie in April as recommended by Ink
• Diego reviewed Steins;gate as recommended by Raymond
• Raven reviewed Memories as recommended by Diego
• Serdar reviewed Time of Eve as recommended by Raven
• Micchy reviewed Fuse: Memoirs of a Hunter Girl as recommended by Serdar
• Fang-tan reviewed Barakamon as recommended by Micchy
• Matty reviewed Show by Rock!! and Shiki as recommended by Fang-tan
• Evan reviewed Samurai Champloo as recommended by Matty
• Chainsaw-Worship reviewed Boogiepop Phantom as recommended by Evan
• Davius reviewed Higurashi no Naku Koro ni as recommended by Chainsaw-Worship
• Reiseng reviewed Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji as recommended by Davius
• Vestenet reviewed XXX as recommended by Reiseng
• Justin reviewed Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha as recommended by Kate
• Foomafoo reviewed Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate as recommended by Justin
• AdamWednesdays reviewed Patema Inverted as recommended by Foomafoo
• Jared reviewed The Tatami Galaxy as recommended by AdamWednesdays
• Drcakey reviewed XXX as recommended by Jared
• Geoff (+The Golden Ani-Versary of Anime) reviewed XXX as recommended by Kate
• Guy reviewed Shiki as recommended by Geoff
• Donald reviewed Psycho-Pass as recommended by Guy
• Kelloggs reviewed Sora no Woto as recommended by Donald
• J reviewed The Legend of Black Heaven as recommended by Vintagecoats
• Jeckyllgeek reviewed Kaiba and Nichijou as recommended by J
• Caraniel reviewed Ergo Proxy as recommended by Jeckyllgeek
• Muse reviewed Moyashimon as recommended by Caraniel
• Stig Høgset reviewed Rideback as recommended by Muse
• Saber Fan #1 reviewed Living for the Day After Tomorrow as recommended by Stig Høgset
• Chii reviewed Princess Nine and Future Boy Conan as recommended by Saber Fan #1
• Miharussh reviewed XXX as recommended by Chii
• Marina reviewed Omoide no Marnie, Tamako Love Story, and No Game No Life as recommended by Miharussh
• Swabl reviewed xxxHOLiC, Seirei no Moribito and Last Exile as recommended by Marina
• Kai reviewed Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 as recommended by Swabl
• L.B. reviewed XXX as recommended by Kai
• Digibro reviewed Petite Princess Yucie, Fate/Stay Night , and Kiniro Mosaic as recommended by L.B.
• Draggle reviewed Millennium Actress as recommended by Digibro
• SDShamshel reviewed Simoun as recommended by Draggle
• Overcooled reviewed Ping Pong as recommended by SDShamshel
• HybridMBL reviewed Paranoia Agent as recommended by Overcooled
• Highway reviewed Kobato as recommended by HybridMBL
• Aeroblip reviewed XXX as recommended by Highway
• Todd reviewed XXX as recommended by Aeroblip
• Deepbluejeer reviewed Akatsuki no Yona as recommended by Todd
• Kory reviewed Mawaru Penguindrum as recommended by Deepbluejeer
• Scamp reviewed Perfect Blue as recommended by Kory
• SeHNNG reviewed XXX as recommended by Scamp
• Vintagecoats reviewed Wolf Children and Mononoke as recommended by SeHNNG