Aniblog Tourney Feedback

Zoom in for our feedback of Aniblog Tourney. (Art by Kagati_49)

Hello readers, finally I AM posting something relevant to Metanorn and Aniblog Tourney rather than featuring other blogs. It was a mutual team decision that we would do it all fair and square, depending on our readers’ support alone. So, if you like what we do, show your support on our round two live poll (to be closed on 8pm GMT on 6th May, 2012).

I will also take this opportunity to answer the feedback we have received till now along with the comments from Tourney I, even when I was not responsible then. As I said earlier, I came to know about AniTourney, way later the polls closure and as Metanorn was going through the shift of owners, this literally went under the rug. Though, now that it’s going down again, why not see what people thought of us before and now?

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Tourney I: Vs Oishii

  • Omisyth: REALLY tough to decide between Metanorn and Oishii. Oishii’s got a great layout and the content’s interesting, but Metanorn is (was?) like the bubbliest pop blog ever. Would be voting on nostalgia for the latter though…
  • Baka-Raptor: Oishii Anime has 365 days of anime characters. Metanorn has 365 screenshots of every episode it blogs. Tough call…
  • Scamp: The other one is bloody difficult though. I think I’ll go for Metenorn though for their super early and uber-detailed season previews
  • zzeroparticle: As for the second, chii gets my vote for the content since metanorn is kinda messy as far as their layout goes…
  • Taka: Oishii and Metanorn is a tough decision for me. I have had Metanorn bookmarked for a long time but never visited it too often. I like it for it’s posts with the Oricon charts and music posts. I also enjoyed Anime’s Next Top Model or w/e it was. That was fun to follow. Oishii looks like something I might add to my reader. I really like the interesting and dynamic layout which it manages without an ungodly load time. So I’m gonna give my vote to Oishii.
  • mefloraine: Metanorn vs. Oishii is one of the easiest decisions I’ve made…I do not like Metanorn (their layout kills me, for one), and I do like Chii’s 365 days of characters series. Soooo~
  • Ruby: First one was really easy, I like Fuzakenna and second one I was going to vote for Metanorn but Oishii is pretty good too, hmm I dunno..
  • Mint: As for the second matchup, I really can’t decide. I actually really like Metanorn’s layout, haha. And Oishii’s 365 Days of Anime Characters feature is pretty awesome.

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Tourney II: Vs Kotatsu

  • TofuOh gosh where do I begin with this!? Bobbierob is an amazing guy who is a big fan of K-On like me plus, I really love his writing and his ability clearly shows being in the Anicorpse, tackling the first episode of Nazo no Kanojo X. But Metanorn and Sekijitsu are practically bro’s and I owe a lot to Metanorn as it was the site that started everything for me. I’ve followed them much longer than any other site and I continue to because of their fun and awesomely diverse team, their innovative ideas that just keep coming and coming (I swear, when are you gonna run out of ideas Kyo!? LOLS) and well… you get the picture. This is THE HARDEST choice I’ve ever made in the Tourney but I’m really gonna have to give it to Metanorn.
  • Baka raptor: Metanorn: Gotta give them tons of credit for not only surviving the retirement of their first-generation bloggers but growing even bigger afterwards.
  • Spiral: The Kotatsu’s not that bad at all. It’s just against METANORN.
  • glothelegend: Metanorn vs The Kotatsu was tough, but in the end, it was the fact that Metanorn has more yuri that swung my vote in it’s direction. I mean, that and the fact that Metanorn was one of the first blogs I knew of/followed.
  • Reiseng: Note: I have a bit of a bias towards Metanorn because I am Twitter buddies with Foshizzel, Aanaga and Kyokai as well. When it comes to Metanorn, I’d really like to congratulate Boss Lady. She keeps the blog running and is honestly one of the best team blog administrators I know. Content wise, Metanorn covers a good deal of anime, and is a good source for episodics. I haven’t visited enough (mostly because I don’t visit blogs often these days), but you folk have most of the bases covered. A few improvements if I will: I am pretty neutral about the design, but I do have a few nitpicks. The colorful author avatars scattered throughout the posts are pretty much a trademark sign of Metanorn, and I guess that’s good, but at the same time, it can be a bit distracting. It’s hard to read a post while your eyes are seeing so much contrast (black, white, green, etc…). Also, larger fonts please! I am going blind in my old age. As far as improving as a team blog goes, I get the impression that not all the members know each other that well. I don’t know why I get that impression, but for some reason I do. I haven’t read enough to be sure, but are you guys unintentionally forming sub-cliques? It’s not a big deal, but it is one area almost all team blogs can improve in (don’t worry, you are much better than a lot of team blogs). If you want an example of team members who understand one another well, take a look at THAT Anime blog (not 100% sure if this is true for the newer staff, but definitely true for the older staff).

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You can’t make everyone happy so there’s no point of me commenting over the unhappy folks but for the constructive ones, here goes:

  • As Baka-Raptor said, we have come a long way in the last four years and do not plan on stopping. If you have been with us for some time, you already know a lot of changes happened design and content-wise (domain, hosting, layout, team, variety; what not), and we are nowhere near perfect. We are continuously trying harder to bring entertaining content to our readers as our only aim.
  • Personally, the previous two columned layout was pretty busy (not to mention bandwidth sucker, our server crashed twice due to it). After the domain move, we tried our best to make it lighter but don’t ask me to make it a bland white themed blog. Black is our thing and the techno background suits our variety nicely. I’ll see if a larger font would even work with the design but hey, I’ll try the improvement.
  • For the coloured highlights on posts, that is only relevant for our season previews and tag team first impressions. There’s no extra neon colours in the regular posts at all.
  • I swear I didn’t bribe any Tourney staff to put Metanorn on Round 1! We ideally should have been seeded and our opponent should have been a team blog rather than a solo blogger, but we are here to play along, and as nicely as possible.
  • Sub-cliques is the least of my problems. Let me tell you, METANORN TEAM TALKS TOO MUCH. Of course, for a new reader, the only conversation visible is on twitter and posts but oh the things that happen on emails, forums, skype and IRC…. It’s a compliment to be compared with THAT team and I am literally blessed by an amazing team of writers (you know it). Seriously, I rabu them.
  • I’m also very thankful to our increasing regulars (anibloggers/readers/lurkers), who have supported us throughout the years.

Overall, we have things covered and will continue to weed out the old bad habits of too many screens and even sometimes words. So, you can ask, “Kyokai, pray tell, what is constant for you guys if you are always on the move?” Well, to put it simply, “CHANGE is what’s constant for us and we have become okay with it. The good and excellent are still in process!”

Thank you, for your continued support. Can I hear some Aye for Metanorn Team?! 

About

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].
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52 Responses to “Aniblog Tourney Feedback”

  1. feal87 says:

    I have a problem with Metanorn atm. Kyokai still hasn’t signed a contract with me…:(

  2. foomafoo says:

    Keep it up guys! You have my support 😉

  3. BlackBriar says:

    Well, there’s no guarantee of moving forward without a little criticism happening every now and then. I enjoy commenting on this blog. I’ve been with you all for some time and I can’t believe I’ve been visiting since November 2010. Oh, how time flies. You guys have a knack for getting out of tight spots, especially the boss lady Kyokai. Particularly the domain move.

    Thanks for the shout out about being regulars. Keep it up guys! You have my support. Aye!!

    • Foshizzel says:

      True that BB I like to find out what people think about us or even how each of our styles work. Whoa it is hard to imagine you have been commenting here since 2010! I know I always grin whenever you comments, but I am sure others feel the same so thank you!

      AYE!! Woooooooo!

    • Kyokai says:

      Hahaa, we’ve been on many spots for sure with multiple hosting switch but thanks to Will, things got around well. Thanks for sticking with us BB! Also, join us on IRC sometime. 😉

  4. Joojoobees says:

    Metanorn is clearly the best Beyblader Anime Blog around. I’m looking forward to seeing you guys take the cup.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Thanks Joojoobees! I can’t wait to see how things go with round three and so on, but even if we don’t make it far I will say it was fun trying our best and also thank you to the voters of course.

  5. Baka-Raptor says:

    The way Round 2 is going, I have a feeling you’ll be getting some interesting feedback in Round 3…

    • Foshizzel says:

      Ahahah yeah I am looking forward to round three! Things should get really interesting with that round.

    • Kyokai says:

      Now I want to get over round 2 just so I can see this: “Metanorn is the worst blog ever!”

  6. Tofu says:

    Aye Aye Sir!! Metanorn and the wonderful Team will continue to have my support throughout the tournament of course! >;D

    • Overcooled says:

      Thanks, Tofu! We’ll keep supporting Sekijitsu as well. Not just because you’re our buddy site, but because you guys are awesome =w=

    • Foshizzel says:

      Thanks Tofu! I agree 100% with OC on her comment <3

  7. Overcooled says:

    It’s nice to see feedback about Metanorn! We all talk together through e-mail about posts and plans for the site, but I really only know and regularly talk with a few members. :B I’m guilty.

    The tournament is inspiring me to be a better blogger. Reading all of these amazing posts from other blogs fires me up!

    Oh, and thanks to everyone who is supporting Metanorn! I’ll do my best to make sure we’ve earned your vote. =w=

    • Foshizzel says:

      Yeah it is nice to hear back from the usual readers and a few new ones on how they feel about Metanorn! Yeah we have skype, msn, IRC and of course the king of quick chats Twitter.

      Yeah I feel the same way.

      YARRR THANKS READERS AND VOTERS/Supporters we <3 you!

  8. I don’t think that complaint I made 2 years ago really applies now since this site’s done a great job of giving itself a shot in the arm in terms of writers and content. Best of luck in the tourney and I certainly am curious to see what Baka-Raptor has to say about you guys being the worst blog ever 😉

  9. Justin says:

    Ah…you know how things change as time goes on! 😀

  10. Ceyrai says:

    I don’t know about the feedback you’ve addressed, but right now Metanorn is perfect as it is, in my humble opinion at least. 😀 Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be too coddling, haha. Keep improving, guys! When I’m old and my iPad’s holographic, I want to still be following you. 😀

    • Foshizzel says:

      awwww thanks Ceyrai! I think so too ahahahah

      LOL Awesome <3

    • Joojoobees says:

      Yeah, don’t coddle them too much. I want them to stay lean and hungry. Why stop at best blog in the Aniblogisphere? Next step, greatest blog ever. After that Emperor of the World!

    • Kyokai says:

      When I’m old and my iPad’s holographic, I want to still be following you.

      DAWWWW, Ceyrai! That is one of the most sweetest thing a reader has said to us! Thank you and we’ll try to stick around to be ancient. :3

      @JJB, Oh you! ^^

  11. anaaga says:

    It’s always nice to see feedbacks like this since they usually fire me up. The Tourney gave me a little push to be a better writer

    It’s a fact that I’m doing all of this mostly because of Kyokai. She always helps me every time I’m not in my best condition… uguu i-it’s not like I rabu Kyo or anything like that!

    The rest of the team are fun too. They’re so easy to talk with. I’m feeling guilty though because I’m barely around now because of my busy flights-er, schedule ='(

    • Kyokai says:

      Oh definitely anaaga, feedback is necessary after all.

      And daawwwww! I appreciate that even with the whole traveling scene, you keep updated with us most of us and even meta work too. <3

  12. Gecko says:

    Just went ahead and voted for you guys again. 🙂 I’m always happy to support Metanorn.
    I have noticed one thing that’s a bit different about Metanorn compared to some of the other blogs: you guys don’t do some kind of rating system. It’s just impressions/episodics. I’m not saying you guys should add them in, but it’s something I’ve noticed.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Ahahah thanks for all the support Gecko <3

      Right I think we should use those on the final wrap up of a series, but yeah you are right we don't really need that kind of rating system right now.

  13. Rakuen says:

    There’s no such thing as too much communication in a team blog. The team that talks together not only works better together, they stay together. Best of luck!

    • Foshizzel says:

      Truth! Whenever we get together on a project it seems we all bring something different to the table so that is always a good thing and yep communication is important for any team blog.

  14. akagami says:

    Yay yay! Thanks from a happy lurker (who for some reason decided to stop being an anonymous lurker to a named lurker ^^ ) and keep up the fun!

  15. kluxorious says:

    AYE!

  16. Another aniblog tourney! Have at ya! :DDD

  17. Hoshi says:

    ~Really interesting to read people’s feedback from the tourney. I didn’t know so many people disliked the layout lol. I must confess I haven’t been able to talk with my team members more due to college and the on-going amount of work that’s taking time for me to get used to, but whenever I do get the chance it’s always really fun ヽ(´・ω・`)ノ

    Definitely inspired to do better on my episodics, especially with cutting down on screencaps and the summary |’D

    • Kyokai says:

      Seems like the design part is what has stuck around in both the tourneys rather than content but feedback is always welcome to make us better. :3

      I’ve learned that gaining experience matters more and all of us have definitely been on the learning curve so communication and experimenting with format is all good.

  18. SPIRAL says:

    your blog sucks ;P

  19. Shey says:

    “It’s a compliment to be compared with THAT team”

    I feel really noobish asking this, but who or what is THAT team?

    And yeah, Metanorn owns. You got my vote! 😀

  20. Youkai says:

    Yey for Metanorn! I like this blog, it’s funny and pretty. XD

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