Category: Projects

Giveaway + Otaku no Video: Messages from the Past

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hisuiconEvery year Otaku no Video is used to kick off Otakon. It has had that spot on the programming schedule ever year since 1994 because it was one of the first and most well know anime that looks into the heart of otaku culture. It encapsulates the spirit of any anime convention and the otaku lifestyle. It simultaneously sings the praises of the otaku while hanging its head in shame at the same time. Otaku no Video does this dichotomy in storytelling with two different narratives taking place. One story is told with animation and one story is told through a live action mockumentary. Each path takes its own look at anime fandom and pushes past is logical extreme for comedic effect. In between these two extremes is where Gainax and maybe even anime fandom’s true opinion of itself lies.

Otaku no Video is a show that I remember from my early fandom. I don’t know how it is exactly, probably just the internet, but it seems as soon as you start watching anime, as soon as you enter fandom, you find out about the word “otaku.” It is like magically you just know this word and whether you use it right or wrong, and who says what the right and wrong is, becomes a part of your fandom. Nowadays you can find any number of shows featuring otaku, but when Otaku no Video hit the streets it wasn’t often otaku were main characters. But despite the prevalence of such things now, Otaku no Video is still a unique work without equal.

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POLL: Do you like the new multi-post convention reports?

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So you may have noticed that we have been breaking the convention reports into multiple and shorter posts. This was done in the hopes of making them more readable plus release them faster and selfishly so they were a less daunting task for us. For us, it has been a great change and one we hope everyone else likes so please let us know what you think!

Happy 3rd Birthday Reverse Thieves Giveaway!

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And so our 4th year of blogging begins! It is a bit hard to believe, it has gone by in a flash, and there are no plans to slow down. And instead of expecting gifts, we are giving a big pile of stuff away in celebration of our birthday! The site got a bit of a update to its look and layout, nothing too drastic but I wanted to do make it spiffy for the coming year.

hisuiconThe third year for the Reverse Thieves comes to a close which is apparently some sort of a milestone in the anime blogging community, the three year mark is a stabilizer. I’m always a little relieved whenever I cross one of those threshold dates. I use our birthday post as a chance to reflect on what we have done over the course of the year. The most significant project we accomplished was without a doubt the Otaku Diaries, 11 posts over the course of the year that were very well received by people in the community and I hope gave the some insight. We also also changed where we were hosted so the site is much more stable than it was before. The upside is we don’t have to worry about the site going down once a week. The downside is that I can’t install cute little WordPress plug-ins anymore. At the beginning of 2010, we started the Speakeasy podcast which now not only makes us anime and manga blogger but also anime and manga podcasters. That is like twice the otaku capital. All that is left is for one of us to get some sort of paid writing position for us to complete the hat trick. Another new addition in 2010 was putting manga of the month on hiatus which was apparently a slightly unpopular decision despite the fact that I never received any feedback on it until it was gone but our rants as part of the Final Denouement have gone over well enough to make up for that loss. I am glad to see the site continually changing for the better. I have enjoyed writing for the site more and more as the months have gone on and I hope you have all enjoyed reading it as much. Just remember people only with YOUR support can this become the #1 Saber and Galaxy Angel themed blog on the Internet.

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