Third time’s the charm for Aniblogger Interrogation Game

Time to get my Typing Sword out~ Do you really know me? Let’s find out, shall we?

Another aniblogger tag thing but hey, we do it because its entertaining. Things were started by Iso of Nabe, with a rule of tagging 5 anibloggers further and I think it’s about time for me post mine as I’ve already been tagged thrice and feeling the burnt of many eyes expecting some answers. So, let me prattle off to Iso’s, foomafoo and Yippy’s questions along with my own tagging in the end.

Game Rules:Show ▼

1) What is/are your favourite anime(s)? Why?

Okay, seriously, I think readers of Metanorn already got this covered with Kara no Kyoukai being my all time favourite. But, along with it, I have a special fondness towards Tatami Galaxy, Bake/Nisemonogatari, Durarara!!, Ultimate Hellsing and recently Fate/Zero.

2) What is/are your favourite anisongs?

It’s be very difficult to list all but here’s some of them in no particular order:

• Bakemonogatari – Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari
• Cowboy Bebop – Tank
• Kara no Kyoukai – Oblivious
• FMA:  Brotherhood – Let it all out
• Durarara!! – Uragiri no Yuuyake
• Arakawa Under the Bridge – Venus to Jesus
• K-On! – Don’t say lazy
• Eden of the East – Falling Down, etc.

3) Do you like Vocaloid? If so, who is/are your favourites? And your favourite song(s) is/are? If not, why?

I haven’t been into them and just never got onto the bandwagon. But I did like some of the songs Miyu and Kara recommended to me.

4) Have you ever been to Japan? If yes, please share your experience. If no, where would you go if you had a chance to visit Japan?

I haven’t but I’d really like to some time in near future!

5) What are your hobbies outside of anything related to anime, manga, visual novels and blogging?

Hang out with friends and close cousins whenever I get the chance. The family factor has really gone over the max quotient since I moved back home. In between my busy schedule, if I do get time, I stay up to date about the changes in Digital Marketing/Production and the arena of social media communication.

1) Out of all the comments from all the posts in your blog, which one is your favorite and why. Name the person responsible for the comment of course.

This is a very hard question to answer because Metanorn has evolved through the years so much along with its readers. Honourable mentions go out to our top 15 commentors on the sidebar, who have stuck around through the years and have commented regularly. Their activity on site is what keeps us going after all. Though, personally, I got really fond of a recent comment left by Demented-P on a two-year-old post of Kara no Kyoukai (oh yeah, you should know, my love for this title would never fade). What I liked most about him is the fact that he revisited the page after more than a year just to say, how his rewatches of the series made him realize some observations and such. This is one of those comments, which can motivate me to write on any given day.

2) Name a trope that you wish you would hardly ever see again (or at least in lesser amount) in an anime. Why?

I like good romance stories and even if its not my most preferred genre, if it’s good; I’ll follow it till the end. However, there are many Slice of Life, Comedy and School centered anime that are riddled with the trope Will They or Won’t They. This is most annoying when you have a certain preference to character-pairing and they don’t end up together in the end. School Rumble, Honey & Clover and recent Chihayafuru comes to mind but there are many (oh, so many!) out there. Whenever I see this, I just sigh derisively to myself. Please stop this overuse…!

3) If ever an opportunity shows up where you’re asked to blog, and at the same time, earn something from it in exchange of doing posts about merchandise, would you do it? Why?

Depends on the merchandise really. I’ve tried my best to keep Metanorn ads free and even when approached multiple times about it, I’ve refused till now. The only condition or possibility that I can think of is if Type-Moon gives away some rare collector’s item by Nasu or Takeuchi in exchange of blog posts on it. I’d do it in a heart beat.

4) Tell all, if not, some of the fandoms you think you’re quite into compared to an average viewer, anime or not.

Everything Type-Moon (Light Novels, Visual Novels, Games, Manga, doujins, etc.); it has an anime or not, you’d still find me going crazy over them (reminds me of my obsession over Mahoyo and the wait of its translation). Also, Natsume Yuujinchou, Kimi ni Todoke, Tatami Galaxy, Fullmetal Alchemist, GTO, Gintama, Yankee-kun to Megane-chan, Durarara!!, etc.

5) Your favorite DEAD character and why.

It’s a spoiler. So, if you have watched TTGL then read on. Show ▼

1) Why are you still into anime/manga after all these year(s)? What keeps you interested in this mode of entertainment?

After two and a half years of active blogging and more than seven years of watching it, I don’t think I would ever get bored of it. Sure, there might be some ups and downs in terms of involvement or a mild hiatus but I won’t be throwing my towel any time soon. What keeps me interested is the ever evolving stories. In the end, most of the them are recirculation of old stuff but then you find gems among them that blow your mind. These are the things that keep me going and one of my character trait is ‘curiosity’ so even if my eyes don’t shine like Chitanda every time I say, “I’m curious!”, I pretty much am and when I get a good story, I’m latched on till the ends.

2) If you could only visit/revisit one anime/manga series before you er…kick the bucket, what would it be? *(Wildcard-tell something interesting about yourself)*

I might rewatch Gintama or finally finish some GTO episodes. When it’s time to kick the bucket per se, I’d rather go down laughing than shedding emotional tears.

Something interesting about me is the fact that I can speak four languages (English, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali) fluently, while four more (Sindhi, Punjabi, Arabic, Japanese) partially. I’d like to learn at least two more to make it a good rounded ten.

3) Who is your idol in the animanga industry? Be it a visionary director, a skilled seiyuu or even an animator, who is it?

I follow a lot of seiyuu. You can even call me a seiyuu fag for the lack of a better term because it’s gotten so bad that I recognize most of the voice actors without even seeing the credits. Recently, I was delighted by Hyouka’s guest appearance list when I heard Junichi Suwabe, Hirakawa Daisuke, Fukuyama Jun and even Tomokazu Sugita chiming in for a few minutes. It would be tough for me to pinpoint people I follow because they are MANY but some of the prominent ones from the top of my head are Maaya Sakamoto, Hiroshi Kamiya, Ono Daisuke, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Takahiro Sakurai, YUI, ryo, Shinbou, Omori, Nasu, Takeuchi, Redjuice, etc.

4) If you could have a chat with any fictional animanga character, who would it be?

This is a difficult one but it would be nice taking a tea break with Kokutou Mikiya at Ahnenerbe or a lazy afternoon stroll with Gintoki.

5) What’s the most important advice you’d give to a person who’s interested in writing as an aniblogger?

Write about something that you are passionate about and have more than just a passing interest on. Anime blogging is completely different from other genre of blogging because there’s really no set rule to it. Episodic blogs usually get pointed at like criminals as if we are the bad guys who started it all but let me assure you, episodic blogging will continue on till the end because anime won’t stop airing (at least for the next five years), and enthusiasts would always lurk around looking for a place of discussion.

I’ve seen aniblogging interest wane with time and most of the times, it’s because an anime series didn’t go the way you expected in the beginning. [C], Occult Academy, Ookami-san Guilty Crown, Sword Art Online and Fractale come to mind for this topic because some of them just failed while some at least exceeded some expectations. Picking a series is literally gambling at the beginning of every season but make sure you stick around it, even if it isn’t liked by all. There’s always a niche for every series. In short my sermon of wisdom boils down to:

• Choose a topic you like
• Be creative
• Don’t stick to one format alone and experiment
• Challenge yourself sometimes with different things if you are feeling bored
• HAVE FUN because the day you stop is the day you should quit honestly speaking

I wanted to tag Hana, Verdant, Ness, Fosh and Jrow but as I’m already pretty late, I’ll leave it to the answers alone and you can always choose to reply to this post (the following questions are open to all commentors as well). I’m cheating in a way but no one can blame me as I at least tried to get an extension. Also, I’m tagging back Iso, foomafoo and Yippy for good measure! shakesfists

1) Being an aniblogger/anime watcher, what in your life has changed, something that might have not been there if you didn’t pick up this hobby?

At least I still write! I used to write short stories and some random stuff till I was in Uni but after I joined the work drones, I just couldn’t go on. Aniblogging for me was that ray of bright light, an extension of that writing if you will, which I always enjoyed and still love. I’m just glad, I still do it.

2) How were you in your highschool days? What’s the difference in your personality now? *

I was a complete tomboy, honestly. Used to stand up on my desk for water bottle fights and quarrel with boys (sometimes even fist fights yeah!). It was fun and I don’t regret one moment of it! If you’d see me now, you can’t even imagine that this girlie yet corporate looking person used to be so tomboyish. :3

3) The worst anime(s) ever.

School Days, Vampire Bund, the Boku no Pico series, ’nuff said.

4) A series that you thought would be shit but was brilliant.

Kurenai. I honestly started this series expecting some shitty pedoism but it actually turned out pretty decent. I liked the characters and the MC could actually become badass when he wanted to rather than whining (we usually get a slew of whiny MCs so understand my delight). An overall good watch that I can even rate over A certain Magical Index or even Yozakura Quartet OVAs.

5) Your hardest aniblogging assignment till now? (Change of questions for commentors: Your hardest anime watch ever?)*

Natsuyuki Rendezvous… You see, I’ve stopped covering it episodically because I just couldn’t go on. I don’t know who to blame but this story is just is and growing on me with its progression like a creeping plant (remember Houtarou covered in Chitanda’s hair in Hyouka’s first episode? I have the same feeling about Natsuyuki). There’s no explanation required rather than touching on raw emotions that are embroiled with love, longing, loss, memories, nostalgia, wishes, dreams, promises, infatuation, flowers, unsaid words, fairy tales, unarranged bouquets, sorrow and so much FEELINGS. It’s a situational dilemma of relationship as I’m just not experienced enough that it seems laughable to me to say anything about this except for defining love at its core. If you ask me I’d genuinely fall for Ryusuke and try to bury my past with Atsushi if I was Rokka but I’m not and I don’t have the heart to cover this regularly; rather would write an Editorial on it when it ends. I haven’t lost hope though, so no worries!

Anyways, I hope this was an interesting read for some people out there, specifically Iso, Foo and Yippy who tagged me. I’m sure if the deadline allowed, I would have told you some more saucy details about me but oh well…  go blame Iso for not extending the deadline and making more anibloggers suffer. Though, don’t forget to answer my five questions as I genuinely want to know! Ja ne~

About Kyokai

The Boss lady of Metanorn, who makes it all happen. An animanga enthusiast, who watches/reads almost anything that strikes her fancy. Just beware of her Death Perception and always keep her happy. Regularly found at @KyokaiTM & #[email protected].