Category: Miscellaneous

Communication bouys down….rerouting power to emergency comms system. Establishing link with remote server…link established. Cleaning up external noise. Boosting signal strength to acceptable levels…

Asobi here. Apologies for the late update. My sad attempt at an excuse for being the last of the new guys to go is that the Reaper invasion has been relentless and all my resources (ie. my computer) were devoted to gathering support. Ahem. Progressing with status report.

It’s a funny feeling, writing this introductory post. If you had asked me anytime before this last week, I never could’ve imagined myself contributing as an anime blogger, much less on a site with as much recognition in the community as Random Curiosity. So it is with trepidation that I step off at this stop, filling shoes that I’m unsure I can step into. I’ve been an on/off lurker on RC for some time now, checking in after episodes of the shows I was following to read up on the posts and comments, but this marks my first real involvement with the people on the site. As they would say in Japan, よろしくおねがいします。(Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu; I’m in your care.)

More after the jump…

Wow.

To say the least, I’ve been dreaming of this moment for years. But now that I’m actually here, I can’t remember what I was going to say at all! I suppose it’s true what people say: “There just ain’t nothing like the real thing.” Still, if there are some things I know for sure, it’s how grateful I am to Divine for giving me this opportunity and how I look forward to interacting with all you readers out there, whose expectations I hope to both meet and ultimately exceed.

My anime background, I reckon, probably started similar to a lot of you guys out there, especially if you were born and raised in the states. Saturday morning cartoons (Pokemon, Digimon) and Toonami over on Cartoon Network (Mobile Suit Gundam, Ronin Warriors) were my only source for a long while, and heck, the latter was only available when I’d sneak over to my parents’ office to leech the cable TV! As such, I didn’t get into anime until the late 90’s, when I finally could afford cable TV at home and had an internet connection other than AOL and NetZero. Ah… the good times where a call would disconnect my internet, the sweet sound of the connection and the “You’ve got mail!”… Ahem* Anyway, I eventually caught a peek of Gundam Wing, which was the first anime I watched in its entirety, binging all 50 or so episodes in the span of 2 days. Looking back, it probably wasn’t the greatest idea though, as I got quite the migraine afterwards.

More after the jump…

Hey guys and gals! Looks like I’m going to be one of the new contributors starting this spring! You may or may not know me from somewhere around the web since I go pretty much universally by “Moomba” these days. If not, hopefully this introduction will give you some ideas of what kind of person I am!

Jumping right in, the first anime I can remember watching with the knowledge of what constituted an anime was Escaflowne. Before this time, I’d watched Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon and all the other mainstream anime aired in the UK that all young boys were expected to have watched to be considered “cool”. Of course, at that time, I didn’t even know they were anime, so I don’t really consider them what drew me in.

Escaflowne was a starting point, but it wasn’t until Code Geass that I became completely hooked on anime (and discovered Random Curiosity in the process!) Did I know, almost six years ago (apparently – wow, time flies), that I’d one day be contributing directly to the site? No, I doubt the idea even crossed my mind!

So why did I decide to apply? It’s simple really; for years now, I’ve read almost every blog post on the site, keeping up with all the anime I watch. Many times now, Random Curiosity has been the driving force which pushed me to watch certain anime which I’ve then proceeded to become hooked on! The insights provided over the year have given me new ways to look at what I watch, and I hope my insights might be able to do the same for someone else!

More after the jump…

Hello world! Stepping outside the ‘frozen foods’ section in local grocery stores, I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance.

So what prompted the sudden change of habitat? RC, of course! As a lurker, when Divine opened applications for new writers, I applied since it’d give me an opportunity to combine the two greatest love affairs of my life: anime and writing.

As far as my anime watching habits go, I definitely don’t watch as much as others, but I’m always up for suggestions – so if you have any good recommendations, please let me know! I’d love to have more series to sink my teeth into. This season I’ve been keeping up with Aquarion EVOL, Chihayafuru, Guilty Crown, NichiBros (did they ever come up with a proper abbreviation for it?), Mirai Nikki, Another, Brave 10, Black Rock Shooter and Inu x Boku SS. Technically, that last one’s been sitting in my hard drive, but it will be watched soon enough! There’s more info in My Anime List, but it is a little lacking… And um, please disregard the huge time gap between the series that are listed on there – there were a couple of years when I was forced to contend with shows airing in YTV’s Bionix block.

More after the jump…

So I guess it’s my turn to add to the long list of new writers joining RandomC! I’m going to skip all the praise and history of how I stumbled onto RC, however I do want to especially thank Divine for giving me the opportunity to blog for a site that I highly respect and love. I’ve been visiting the blog regularly since… 2006 and thought that now’s a good a time as any to be more vocal and active around here.

With that said, my history of anime is pretty mundane. I started watching Pokemon and Dragon Ball with my best friend years ago, not really knowing the differences between American and Japanese cartoons. To us, they were just TV shows. Sometime in high school (when I got bored of American TV shows), I went looking up old anime shows I loved. It started with Cardcaptor Sakura, followed by Inuyasha and Fullmetal Alchemist. Before I knew it, I was hooked. When university came along (with download speeds of 2MB/sec and unlimited bandwidth?!), I went crazy. All I would do is procrastinate, watch anime, eat a lot and sleep. I am not even lying, my first two years of university are the reason I keep up with shows now.

More after the jump…

tssk…at first I was going to write my introduction as a bunch of lyrics mimicking COOLISH WALK (Working!!’ OP), but then I realized it was already midnight. I’ll spare the awkwardness for another time…another post :3.

‘so, I am Zanibas, one of the new writers! Some of you may recognize me, as I’ve been on and off of RandomC for years now, all the way back to when Omni was writing. Random Curiosity may be full of history, but I particularly remember Jaalin’s posts, whose semi-silly examinations of anime aspects were appealing (perhaps you’ll see a similar style in some of my future posts…). To be part of the blog that has introduced me to great anime is a HUGE honor, so let me say, “I am in your care, dear reader!” ^^’…please don’t hurt me >_< .

Coobie’s contract says I shall be a “specialty writer” who focuses on Romantic Comedies and obscure shows. Heard of Taishou Yakyuu Musume? Obscure and light on comedic romance, it’s one of the shows I often recommend. However, popular or obscure, you’ll see me hanging around these genres. As my first assignment, I will be covering the rest of Amagami SS+, starting with the 2nd half of Sae’s arc, and then most likely pick up a romantic comedy for the spring. Comment if you have a recommendation!

Post expansion after the jump!

Quite a weird title for an introduction post I know, but I thought it’d be nice to use a line from Stereoman, a song by ELLEGARDEN and also the name I’ll be using here on Random Curiosity, so hello everyone, Stereoman is now a part of RC!

So why did I throw myself into this? – Simple, I love this site. I’ve been following this blog since 2006, making this site one of my daily visits; however, I haven’t really written much in the comments section. I’ve also been around the IRC channel as a quiet stalker.

When Divine decided to bring in some new writers, I felt like I just had to apply. To be able to contribute to one of my favorite sites pleases me very much and I hope my writing will appeal to you.

You won’t have to wait for the Spring shows to see some of my posts because I’ll be covering the remaining episodes of Senki Zesshou Symphogear starting with the 10th episode.

As for my taste in anime, it’s quite diverse. I usually watch 15 shows every season even though I try to convince myself to watch less. My favorite shows are mostly shounen and josei but I do watch a lot of shoujo and seinen too. You can check out my anime list to find out more about my preferences.

More after the jump…