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Even now, the time I’ve spent blogging at RC feels surreal. |
On behalf of myself and all the writers at Random Curiosity, I’d like to wish you all a Happy Holidays. I hope you’re all able to spend the day with loved ones. Admittedly, I was hesitant to write this final Twelve Days of Anime post since I felt the “honor” should go to one of the active writers, but Cherrie and Stilts somehow managed to coax me into doing so. I wasn’t sure what to write about at first, but after juggling around several ideas and remembering that the holiday season is about reflection and appreciation, I decided to tell a story about myself and the site. And in keeping with the holiday spirit, I also decided to tell it in a Charles Dickens-inspired way with the Spirits of RC Past, RC Present, and RC Future.
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Spirit of RC Past |
As some of you may recall from my introduction post back in April 2008, I was first exposed to anime in the early 1990s, long before the high-speed home Internet era. It was a time when dial-up connections had just started to become popular in homes and anime outside of Japan was only really available on VHS tapes in some specialty rental stores. Through a friend of my sister’s, I got my hands on one of the Dragon Ball films and then later the extremely graphic Akira movie, and was immediately hooked by how much better they were than the cartoons on TV. They were miles apart in terms of art style, animation, and story, which sparked a growing interest in anime that was not realized until a few years later in high school. That’s when my brother found a local anime shop that rented out fansubbed VHS tapes and I discovered series like DNA², Gundam, Evangelion, Record of Lodoss War, Rurouni Kenshin and yes, even Golden Boy.
At that point, I not only diversified my tastes, but also garnered a newfound interest in the Japanese language, culture, and video games that never made it overseas. I taught myself the two kana alphabets and became quite skilled at the Super Robot Wars games. However, I still lacked the Japanese proficiency required to watch anime in its native tongue, which severely limited what I could watch. Many series that I started I never finished, simply because VHS fansubs took an extraordinary amount of time and effort to produce. There was no telling when the next episode of a series would be released (if at all). As the days became weeks and the weeks became months while I waited for the next episode of a given series, I started watching other series until I ran into the same problem with them too. As a result, it was hard to stay hyped about anime — even with the help of the dubbed version of Sailor Moon on TV to tide me over (which I did enjoy) — so my interest in anime naturally waned until I completely lost interest. It wasn’t until several years later during university that my interest in anime was rejuvenated by episodes of Naruto that my friends showed me.
I had entered the high-speed Internet era. Fansubs of anime currently airing on Japanese TV were readily “available”, plus a plethora of fansubs for completed series in years prior. I started taking notice of seiyuu and used my interest in Kawasumi Ayako’s performances as a means to discover other series. With literally hundreds of series and thousands of episodes within my reach, I finally got to do what I wanted to back in high school: I watched everything that I wanted to. Having grown wiser with age, I also picked up my studies in Japanese again and self-taught myself enough grammar and vocabulary to understand most anime verbatim. All this time, I was still oblivious to the online anime community that existed and only stumbled upon Random Curiosity, an anime blog that I visited now and then because of the timely posts and well-written impressions. As someone who prided himself on having good English writing skills in a field of study that typically does not (i.e. engineering), I felt like I could contribute to the site while maintaining the status quo, but I never once thought about actually doing so.
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Spirit of RC Present |
Well, it’s funny how things turn out sometimes, as the hundred or so comments that I left over the four-month timespan since I discovered RC led to one comment where I joked about helping Omni blog some series. Little did I know he’d actually email me later asking how serious I was about that remark. I hummed and hawed a lot before coming to a decision, because I saw it both as a worthwhile opportunity to share my old-school perspective with a fairly large community of anime fans, and as a huge commitment that would eat up all of my free time. However, I eventually decided to give it a go, as I had just gotten out of a World of Warcraft phase (where I had no life and grinded to High Warlord -_-;) and saw blogging as something constructive to do with my new abundance of free time. If nothing else, I figured it would improve my English writing and Japanese comprehension.
It may seem odd for me to refer to the start of my time at RC “the present”, but these past 4.5 years that I’ve been with the site (2.5 of which I’ve inherited it for) still very much feel like the “here and now”. I was definitely a bit ambitious the first season I started contributing the site — blogging Nabari no Ou, Special A, Allison & Lillia, Kanokon, kurenai, To LOVE-Ru, and Wagaya no Oinari-sama — but I did (and still do) find it a rewarding endeavor. Sure there were days that I questioned why I was going to the extent that I did to write thorough posts and get them out quickly — especially for very unpopular shows and while I was on vacation in Japan — but the desire to consistently churn out posts that are worth reading kept me going. Of course, it never hurts when RC’s community cares so much about the site, always emailing me about when the next post of series X will be posted, and is so supportive of its contributors — so much so that when I went on a short hiatus and eventually the current hiatus, everyone was nothing but understanding of my personal situation. I truly believe that RC’s readers are its “lifeline”, seeing as all the current writers were once readers (myself included). Even during a time when interest in anime seems to have taken a downturn, Random Curiosity and its community aren’t fazed and continue to share and discuss about a mutual interest like we always have.
The new writers have been fantastic additions to the site, continuing RC’s episodic-style posts and adding new ones like these Twelves Days of Anime — so much so that even Omni messaged me commending them on their work. It’s always good to know that the work you do and the hardships you go through are appreciated by others, but it’s even better when they want to help out any way they can to keep a great thing going. For that, I’m thankful. This is the Random Curiosity of the present — a Random Curoisity that embodies the essence of the original site and continues to grow and evolve with the support of its readers.
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Spirit of RC Future |
It’s impossible to know what the future holds for Random Curiosity, but with the recently achieved milestone of 100 million visits, I’m hopeful that it will continue to be a cornerstone of the English-speaking anime community for many years to come. There’s a brand-new season around the corner and much like our readers have come to expect, the site will preview, introduce, and cover the new shows like it always has. I continue to encourage all the writers to find new ways to express their views on anime, be it personalized columns or podcasts, so there’s always potential growth in terms of “how” anime is blogged. And who knows, one day RC may evolve into a full-fledged anime community site with personal logins, forums, and all. As ambitious as that sounds, it is something that’s crossed my mind several times, as it would provide the community with a means of being more actively involved with the content on the site; however, the need to migrate off WordPress and build a custom infrastructure is preventing me from going that route anytime soon. Still, I’d love to see a site-wide transformation happen one day — and be actively involved in it.
As for the near future, real-life priorities prevent me from returning to active blogging next season like I originally wanted to, but I do plan to continue being involved with the site in some form, even if it’s just as a site administrator and an information resource to the active writers. While I anticipate writers to come and go over the seasons, given their real-life priorities and the amount of time and dedication required to contribute on a regular basis, so long as the RC community’s mutual interest in anime carries on, “Random Curiosity” will continue to exist.
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Happy Holidays from Random Curiosity! |
Great Pleasure, Divine; I Miss your post a think this blog need you so much!!; I following this blog since Omni! Saludos desde Mexico
Here is also another Mexican randomc faithful follower, is magnificent Divine read you again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Merry christmas and happy new year to all writers of randomc
Wow, I like you way too much. I was about to go to sleep but then I saw this post and postponed my sleep for a good 5 minutes to read it. Merry xmas.
Happy holidays Divine, I don’t come here as often as I used to when you and Omni were running the show (nor do I have much time for anime since I got a serious job) but I do hope for the best since you two were pretty good old school bloggers. Peace and happy holidays!
Thank you very much Divine for keeping RC running and all the writers for their hard work.
Although I am not one to comment often on these posts, I truly appreciate the effort you guys put into this site, as I’ve read every post since Omni time.
I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 😀
Yay Divine. Happy Holidays and yes those first few months of you blogging. I remember them very well and I remember nagging you to slow down cos you noted that were sick then. Ah I hope that you are doing well and is taking care of yourself.
Now a toast to RC continuing on into the future!!!
Merry Christmas! for you Divine and all the RC writers
Brilliant read, RC will continue to grow and I am sure of it. Been following this site since 2007~ and I have always loved how this site does it’s blogging.
To Divine, Omni, RC writers past and present, I wish you guys a very Merry X’mas and Happy New Year!
Truthfully speaking, among all of the anime blogs I’ve visited, RC is one that I truly love. From its objective unbiased posts to comprehensive episodic reviews. And above all, the way the content is organised. Don’t get me wrong but there are other unbiased and objective blogs out there. Its just that, RC’s the one that I started with and from day one, it’s not failed me. Keep up with the excellent work RC writers of the present. I’m looking forward to more posts and new stuff from this site.
Regardless of what the post is about(which I’ll read later after I finish opening a certain gift), Merry Christmas minna~! May you have a festive holiday *__*
So the surprise really was Divine. It’s nice to see that you’re still watching over the site even if you don’t have the time for active writing anymore. I first came while you were leading RC and it was really incredible how you’d always have fast posts for so many series. I hope you’re doing well in your new job as well now that you’ve been able to take the time to come back here even if it’s only for this post.
Merry Christmas Divine, other RC writers and anyone else reading this.
Past – Innocent Goku
Present – Dirty Thoughts
Future – Boobs and skimpy costumes.
Yeah, Anime’s tendency (as with the viewers) goes very downhill in these years, even if is not totally unredeemable.
These articles were great and I enjoyed reading them each day!
Merry Christmas everyone and to all great pantsu shots in the many years to follow!!!
Merry Christmas Divine, and to all the RC Writers. I’ve been with this site since Omni and I will continue to follow as long as the site lives.
There really is a Santa, and he made my wish of making Divine post on the 25th as seen HERE come true!!! Yay!!! Now I’ll just have to wait for all of Divine’s collection and I’m all happy!!! THANK YOU SANTA!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone!!!
Divine no forums pls >.<
Would never have guessed Divine is an engineer, one would think all engineers TYPE LIKE THIS. Merry Christmas to all the people I will never meet, yet probably understand my passion better than anyone I know in real life. Internet is a wonderful thing. *Sniffle*
He needs it(engineer) so that he can repair his robotic self.
😛
On the contrary engineers should be at least good at writing, especially with all the effin project reports.
finally i get to see the GUNDAMOTAKU blog again, even if its just for a few. 😀
Kami has graced us with his presence.
I had guessed that Divine would type the #1 post and I would’ve been extremely disappointed if it was any other way.
Merry Christmas RC and pray to the heavens Omni comes back till the new year with urged to write awesome anime blogs. You guys keep the light burning strong for other anime blogs and passion to watch anime every friggin day.
Btw Divine, I’m not sure if you were planning to or not, but it’d be amazing if you contributed or wrote the Best of Anime 2012 post. Of anyone I respect your taste the most so I’d like to see what you thought of this years anime.
Like this if you agree?
He hasn’t had much time to watch anime in general sadly, so a couple of the writers are combo-ing up for that post in his stead.
So is this “Omni” person completely retired from anime world and not involved in RC any shape or form? He/she is the original founder of this site, right? I don’t think I remember seeing a single comment/post from him/her in the past year or so.
your too young my son hehe, RC has been here for years omni is the god and creater we are his childrene hehe
It would be interesting to see how many of the current active users (i.e. the ones who spend any time in comments) remember the Omni era.
great nostalgia post for real. i’ve been here since the omni era, but i didn’t start commenting until much later. i don’t remember how the hell i found this site though, but i started visiting because omni would have posts up almost right after the raws for the show i was watching came out, and i’m the type of guy that doesn’t mind spoilers. i think it was gundam seed destiny.
but i totally remember that feeling of the first day i unpacked my stuff into my dorm room back in 2003. the first thing i did was watch the last episode of gundam seed because it finished downloading on my dial up the night before after HOURS, but i couldn’t watch it cause i was moving. right after i finished i was like: now i have t1 and can download all the anime i want!!! the next week i dl’d the first bones version of full metal alchemist.
i remember when omni made the announcement he was retiring in 2008 and wondering where i’d go. then divine announced the site would go on and i was definitely grateful and also to all theh new writers as well, it’s been awesome being able to visit this place for so long.
man i guess i’m part of the 2nd gen of anime fans, i started in the early 90s with robotech and voltron as a kid. mid 90s my aunt, who married a japanese guy and currently lives in tokyo, sent us VHS of subbed sailor moon episodes R through super S, and a few dragon ball movies. being from san diego, a good amount of the kids were into anime as well, so there were actually stores that sold dragon ball/gundam/sailor moon/eva cards and rented out subbed VHS too. i also recall, back in middle school our money, my sister and i would pool and go to the comic book store to buy ramna 1/2 tapes. i don’t think i’ve ever stopped watching despite now being 27 and finishing up my last year of law school. definitely hats off again to all the writers here, this site and the community definitely keep me coming back. i’m always waiting for the season previews and love reading everyone’s reactions and thoughts on episodes.
anime sure has changed. but war…war never changes.
my bad, omni retired around 2009. i should have put it in spoiler tags also because it’s a major plot point.
I don’t think Omni retired from anime. He has an animesuki account that’s not…very active. I do wish he would come back since his views on anime were pretty close to my view.
Would love to see divine in best of 2012!
I would like to take this opportunity to suggest something about the upvote and downvote system. I suggest adding a similar function as the reply link, so if anyone wants to upvote or downvote someone, they need to write their name and leave an e-mail and then say their reason for the downvote or upvote before their vote can be seen, this will prevent hatevotes that some people are experiencing because most of the downvoters are the ones who don’t write comments here.
Thank You Divine for making my wish come true, and I’ll just have to accept your games and console collections if you don’t have that much anime, manga and figurine collections. XD
Again Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone!!!
I concur thus I’, upvoting your comment
I’d love a community site for RandomC with a forum. It’d be a great addition.
Louise!
I miss her.
I know! So much nostalgia ;_;
I feel bad not knowing this, but what anime is she from?
There’s something about the Louise banner that really shouts RC at you.
Oh that banner.
Nice to see Divine around for holidays. One thing I can say is that no matter how diverse the community is we can all come together and say we love anime and Christmas. That’s a good thing.
Merry Christmas to the whole of RC staff!
As a gift, here’s an adorable carol courtesy of Red Saber.
omg divine its been so long,, glad to see the community still has you, its great that despite your real world priorities you can still throw in a holiday special post. I hope this community continues to grow and diversify. I too have been here since the days of omni and have watched RC grow into the gem of the anime community it is today. This site has driven me to love and watch anime i would never have touched otherwise and im proud to say im a very small part of it 🙂
I was never an active member of the site, but I’ve been following it way back since Omni reigned =P Its funny, even though I was basically not part of the community, just seeing a post by you, and mentioning Omni gave a sense of nostalgia. I remember I first found the blog when I was looking for new anime to watch, and saw that Omni’s taste coincided with many of the anime I enjoyed watching. Anyway, Have a happy holiday, everyone =)
Hi Divine! Great to hear from you again. I’m from the Philippines and we really love RandomC here! Just a suggestion. Maybe you could just blog one series? Would at least love you to be there for the epic Spring 2013 Season. Anyway, more power to you, the writers, the readers, and Random Curiousity!
P.S.: Hope you’re there for the Best of 2012 post! 🙂
Happy Holidays, RC! Been reading this site daily since Omni was around. I don’t know what I’d do without my weekly screen captures and thoughts about the latest anime episodes. Thanks for continuing this awesome website, Divine!
Happy Holidays !!!!!
Such a gift! Divine post. I don’t post anymore and sure miss you and Omni. The past sure is the winner. As for the future … ’nuff said.
Visiting RC always helps me spark my interest in Anime, so cheers to that and I wish all the RC staff to have an awesome Christmas.
Happy holidays to all 🙂 RandomC banzai! I bet Divine is just waiting still for someone to come along with a God/Divine-related persona/avatar to pass the Reins on to (Omni->Divine->???). Anyway, I love RC then and now… and forever!
Always happy to see that picture of Louise. She’s like the site’s mascot for me, and I really associate this particular picture with it.
Happy Holidays.
Where is the picture of Louise?
Cheers and Happy Holidays!
When it’s time to create that custom site infrastructure, count me in! 😉
^ I say that, but WordPress is very hard to beat as a CMS.
I was thinking custom RC theme… But I never thought Divine would go as far as a new infrastructure. WordPress based, maybe?
Happy holidays, Divine and all the hard working active writers of RC!!!
I feel like I haven’t comment here for quite a while… but regardless of how RC evolves in the future, I believe this site will always be part of my (and many others’) daily life! You guys rock! xD
What an amazing post. Have a fantastic Christmas. Happy New Years. 🙂
Great post there, Divine!
Merry Christmas to you and the Random Curiosity staff!
I’ve been following RC for years now. Thank you for all the hardwork.
Btw, I’m actually a web developer and loves open source software. If you need help with your grand plans you can shoot me an email and I could share my thoughts 🙂
Merry Christmas to the RC community!
Man, this is a pleasant surprise. I’ve been here for a long ass time, and it’s always good to see some like you writing something again (like when Jaalin came back for those 2 posts). Congratulations on 100 million views, and merry Christmas.
Best wishes, mate.
100 millions visits eh …
you know, even in france we’re reading you 🙂
Wow, what a treat! Hello Divine! Welp, after this can I come out and say that I’m equally interested in the bloggers of RC and the actual content of the posts. Why you guys gotta be such cool people?
Ok I’m not a big creep, I swear :[ haha. Merry Chrismtas to everyone at RC!
I found RC in Winter 2008, and the first post I read was the Winter 2008 Season Preview.
For me, finding RC was the reason why I discovered online manga. To this day, I still don’t remember how exactly I found RC in the first place, even if I remember the first post that I read.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! and CONGRATULATIONS on 100 million visits.
Omni and Divine are basicly THE reason I became interested in reading anime blogs. Far too often blogs were just random thoughts (pun intended) and poorly explained opinions about a particular show. RC was where I first encountered a more ‘structured’ post: Screen Caps – Summary – Reaction. And now it’s pretty much standard on blogs to do it that way. RC was/is very innovative and that why we love it. As long as you have bloggers that write what they feel and actually explain WHY you won’t ever have to worry about lack of readers 🙂
Are we still having RC anime awards?
Thanks to all RC writers for their contribution to the anime community. Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!
They will come out as usual, have no fear : )
Cheers Divine and to the rest of the writers from Singapore. Merry chirstmas and happy holidays – guys have been my go-to site for awhile, you guys deserve anything and everything – stay awesome.
Thank you for taking the time to write this Divine! As a slightly newer (post Omni-era) reader I never really knew how deep the roots were for this site, so this was quite educational! Also I just like to hear from you in general :D.
Merry Christmas Divine (and everyone)!
Great to hear from you, Divine…and Merry Christmas to you and all the writers at Random Curiosity.
Frickin INORI is the spirit of Christmas Future?
Why not Zessica or Madoka or, you know, a character with merit and personality?
*Croos covers Da5id mouth before the LORD himself gives punishment.*
Inori = GC = Show that had a lot of potential = RC’s future holds a lot of it.
MMMPHH MPH MMPH MMMMPH
*gasps for air*
Well, let’s hope it actually lives up to at least some of it, unlike this ghost.
Absolutely.
This inconsistent doll of a character represents all that is bad with animu, FUCK DAT SHIT.
First off, Happy Holidays to Divine (Omni even), the writers, and the community!
It’s great to see that you’re still around and (semi) active Divine. What a way to end the 12 Days of Xmas by touching on the Past, Present and Future on RC itself. Even though 4.5 years does not sound like a very long time in the real world, the same can’t be said in the world of anime, or aniblogging for that matter. Throughout these 4.5 years we’ve seen people/writers/(seiyuu even) come and go, the anime landscape slowly but surely change. This post does indeed bring up some nostalgia for long(er)-time readers such as myself.
That being said, congrats on 100 mil hits! That is certainly a very remarkable achievement and hopefully that number will continue to steadily increase no matter what the future may hold. The present does indeed look stable with the additional wave of new writers, props to them for doing an awesome job thus far, even going as far as to introduce new content such as podcasts, columns, OST reviews etc.
As for the future, I personally believe that it is just a matter of time before the site becomes a full-fledged site with a caveat – it is all about finding the right people. The site is continuing to grow in readership as anime is slowly becoming more widely accepted, eventually the time will come where a structural change of some form is needed. I think it isn’t too much of me to say that the community here has helpful people from all walks of life, with some of them having connections or expertise in a certain area. What I’m trying to say is, whenever RC decides it is time to “evolve”, just say the word and I’m sure there will be people who are willing to lend a helping hand.
For me, I haven’t really been active on the site lately due to the dreaded word known as “real-life priorities”, but I will continue to drop by and comment once in awhile (while idling on IRC). Lastly I would like to take this opportunity to once again wish everyone happy holidays and continue keeping up the good work! (Be it writing or the continued readership) RC BANZAI!
Hi Divine!
Happy Holidays to all.
My first ever post in RC, been a lurker here for the longest time (Omni! Hope you are having a good time too)
Just want to thank you for everything, recruiting new writers, keeping this blog up and running, the season previews and write ups.
Life wouldn’t be complete without RC.
A toast to more good years to come,
Sincerely,
Xavier
I wish that this website will still be similar concept in the future without dramatic changes. Happy to hear from you Divine with New Year coming up. Just hoping that there are polls and Divine coming up for the Best Of Anime. Thank you to all the writers of RC and Happy New Year to everyone else. My fingers will always pressed to randomc.net every time I am on the internet…
Only found this site in the spring of this year , but that doesn’t make me admire it any less.
Merry Xmas to all RandomC staff 🙂 Thanks for making such an enjoyable blog .
Is there any masterpiece anime this year?
Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream.
Great post! Still can’t believe that it’s almost been a year since you announced your hiatus… makes me feel kind of old. Then again, thinking how omni has retired for nearly 3 years, and that jaalin has disappeared for… who knows how long, it is seriously quite sad 🙁
In any case, here’s to hoping that you’ll be writing for us again one day. Merry Christmas to all RC members of the past and present, and everyone else who reads this post!
Divine, did the other writers force you to write again. >:D
Will there be an Anime of the year post?
refer to this
https://randomc.net/2012/12/24/twelve-days-of-anime-12-the-rc-journey-past-present-future/comment-page-1/#comment-917400
The actual truth of “Spirit of RC Present” in Divine’s post.
Show Spoiler ▼
Happy holidays everyone!!
I consider Divine’s post as a Xmas gift to me(everyone). It’s nice to know u still up n kickin’ Divine.
I remember when saw Omni post preview of upcoming season it was like Christmas present of list anime i should find and watch. I’m happy that tradition still continue today.
I to was sad when Omni decide to retire but relive that Divine continue the tradition.
I don’t always comment but every week I check in and every new season I make sure to see the season preview of upcoming animes.
I wish all a merry Xmas and happy new year!
i know i’m supposed to comment about the post, but ahh, since i cant find for an avenue where I can post random questions, I’ll just ask them here.
Does anyone know of which animes will be going on official breaks (not the review break, the airing break), how many weeks and when will it air back? I heard from some people that for example, Psycho Pass will only come back after 2 weeks, then someone mentioned that it’s only on break for 1 week. So I’m kinda curious as to which animes that I will be missing for the next 2 weeks or so? Can someone fill me in on the details? >< onegai~
I believe it would do you more good to search for your answers on ANN and/or MAL. Everyone’s probably too busy drinking, dancing on tables and celebrating Divine’s presence to think about such things now.
well sorry if I’m just curious. Like I mentioned, there isn’t anywhere else I can ask in RC and reviewers here seem to be more in tune with what is happening with the anime productions so I thought they would be the best to ask. I guess you must be thinking that I wasnt bothered AT ALL with a special post by Divine just because I asked that question. Please, I’m not that low.
Zetsuen and Shin Sekai–> 1/4
Little Busters –> 1/5
Magi –> 1/6
Sakurasou –> 1/7
Robotics;Notes –> 1/8
Psycho-Pass –> 1/10
We were just about to stuff this on the sidebar actually. 😛
Just saw the sidebar announcement. 😀 Thank you, Zephyr!
Happy Holidays to all. I remember that Zero no Tsukaima banner. It was such a long time ago. I hope Omni’s doing fine and all. I still check this blog from time to time when I can to check the good anime now and then especially the previews. Keep up the good work.
deja vu on that header lol
awesome to see a post again from Divine(hope things are working out for u in the real):D
Merry Christmas to all Everyone (reads and writers alike)
I’ve got so many good things to say about this post, the bloggers and the RC i know that I really don’t know where to start. So I decided to toss that idea aside and figure out another way to let this pride I have for RC out. And then I was hit with a vision:
RandomCon: Random Curiosity’s very own anime convention.
And so I stood in my spot, stunned for at least a minute or so. I do hope this thought leaves an impression on the readers here. If we’re gonna dream of the future, I believe we should dream big.
Takii is already starting that.
Heh. Theoretically a few of our writers here have started that. Pondered some panels to do at some conventions too. Zanibas and Xumbra for the West Coast conventions, maybe myself and a few others from my other site I work for NYCC on the East Coast. Shrug* We shall see!
Is there anyone in the middle-ish? AZ has a pretty hot (pun intended) anime community, with at least five or six conventions (Taiyou, Saboten, and Kaigi in Phx, Con-Nichiwa and TuCon in Tucson, plus Phoenix Comicon… though that one is dropping a lot of anime content) every year. 😛
Merry Christmas folks at RC. Seeing as how this is a Dickensian post, I might as well post one about my RC Experience of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
If you do not find this post to your liking, I sincerely hope this will be the last one of mine you will ever downvote (at least for this year).
Similarly, if you like this post, I sincerely thank you and hope you will continue to give me encouragement in the future as I would any good posts of yours.
RC Experience Christmas Past: Omni calling the shots, all was good.
RC Experience Christmas Past 2: Divine taking over, making site even better by recruiting more writers.
RC Experience Christmas Present: Divine takes back seat, introduces annoying voting system often open to abuse, writers don’t commit to post as much as they used to. (Cough*Hyouka*Cough)
RC Experience Christmas Future (my hopes): Voting system is either scrapped or greatly improved (namely removal of downvoting or hiding the score away altogether), writers achieve better balance between RL and blogging commitment.
At the risk of sounding like a complete ass, I’ll say this: if you feel that strongly about the downvoting system, comment somewhere else. MAL and AnimeSuki don’t have such a system in place, and I’m sure there are plenty of other places you could go to that doesn’t have such an “annoying voting system often open to abuse”.
But if for some reason you have to post on RC, deal with it. People get downvoted all the time. Things aren’t so easily manipulated that an entire feature will get removed just because one person is complaining about it.
Yeah, you do sound like a compete ass, BakaMochi. There was no risk since you clearly intended to be so in this particular post with your tone. Nor am I particularly interested in defending “Kinny Riddle” as he also takes some general swooping cheap shots in his post.
What’s so sacrilegious about this voting thing anyway? I don’t care either way, really. A mere mention of for or against this “recently added minor feature” brings out such uncivil reactions. C’mon, folks, this voting stuff is nothing worth defending or attacking for the site as a whole.
I agree with FED. Personally I think it’s a nice feature. Something not to be taken too seriously but highlights some really great comments. It gets abused sometimes but it doesn’t affect much. At least I think so.. I enjoy reading Kinny Riddle’s comments. I notice that Kinny Riddle comments on a lot of the series I follow here and I actually look forward to seeing them. I notice a bunch of other people coming back episode after episode to share their opinion, highlight their favorite part, or share a hilarious link to something and that’s one of my favorite things about RC.
“Comment somewhere else” you say, then may I suggest WHERE? If not at an end of year review post, you suggest I should go off-topic and ruin everyone else’s episode discussion experience elsewhere?
Please don’t patronise me with the usual “deal with it”. I see it as a problem, I raise a concern, I give suggestion for how it could be improved, simple as that.
FED, how is my post taking cheap shots anyway? I was complimenting the site and despite its current flaws, making wishes for how RC could be better. I am disappointed that you would interpret my post that way.
Now now, let’s settle down for a bit.
Regarding the voting system and the problems you have with it:
https://randomc.net/2012/12/24/twelve-days-of-anime-12-the-rc-journey-past-present-future/comment-page-1/#comment-917764
The thing is that Mochi has pointed out to me that you have posted this same complaint on multiple topics before (I see a few in PSYCHO-PASS and SAO for instance, also I see your posts as “Anonymous” as well), which is why Mochi posted the comment she did above, because she’s frustrated at seeing the same complaint over and over in posts that aren’t meant for it.
But whatever, what’s said is said, so there’s no point revisiting that.
The basic thing I wanted to say is: for future reference, if you feel strongly about something re: the site, there is contact information on the right side bar for you to send an email or tweet or something if you need it. Or you can hit up one of the writers in a PM on IRC to discuss this too.
Merry Christmas everyone!
About the votingsystem:
You might want to make it more fine grained and not just black and white (or greenred, likedislike). Maybe something like:
spam/trol/non-informative oneliner/flame = -1
not related to the post/anime/manga but in some way better than ^ = 0
on-topic but just a few lines = 1
A nice well written comment = 2
Just an idea though. (a)
YES, THANK YOU Ghehe! For articulating what I’ve been trying to say!
Right now the voting system is just too black and white. It doesn’t distinguish well between trolls and people voicing dissenting opinions.
Take for example my post simply raising the concern (aka moaning) about voting system above, 5 upvotes and 7 downvotes gives an aggregate of minus 2, which to someone not familiar to a system, make me look like a minor troll, which I am not.
If you don’t want to scrap the voting system, that is fine, that is not what I’m solely advocating.
HOWEVER, please do modify it. Look at YouTube, there’s still the thumbs up and thumbs down button, but no longer can each user see how many votes he has received, unless it goes through a certain threshold, like “over +10” for good posts, “over +20” for great posts (which also receive a highlight) and “over -10” for bad comments (which automatically collapses as a “troll post”)
@Kinny Riddle:
I get your concerns regarding the voting system, but the basic thing is that no matter what, these systems will be open to some kind of abuse (regardless of how you allot the points or the upvotes), because there will always be people who will try to vote you down for one reason or another (whether it’s a valid one or not).
It’s an imperfect system, but it works extremely well for the purpose it is intended, which is to hide blatantly trolling posts that get downvoted into oblivion.
What you say would make sense normally, but I think a vast majority of viewers at RC here know that just because you’re slightly more negative than positive, that it does not mean you’re a troller. Troller’s are the ones whose posts get completely hidden.
Going back to my point from above, there is just no way to change the system to prevent this from happening. If people are downvoting you now, they’re going to downvote you again later even if you use different criteria. The important thing is that you know you’re not a troller and then you trust the other viewers to have a sound enough judgment to read your post and give it a chance.
As long as your posts aren’t being hidden, then that’s all that matters in this context. People don’t really care whether you have a few more negatives than positives. If your post isn’t a troll, it’ll balance out in the long run. The only way you’d be considered a troll is if your entire post gets downvoted into oblivion and hidden, and in that way, the system works quite well.
I understand how you seem to perceive that having a slightly negative aggregate count on your post is negative to your reputation and your post, but I feel like the ACTUAL negativity is much less than you think it is. Furthermore, the system is going to be open to the same abuse no matter what, as long as you’re using some kind of points or voting system. Unless you can provide a comprehensive solution that can’t be abused similarly AND works extremely well against trollers, there’s not much we can do theoretically, aside from taking out the system whole, which would then make it impossible for people to hide posts from actual trollers and thus wouldn’t work well either.
Awesome article DIVINE . Its great for you to be part of the team, Random Curiosity. A lot of devotion and writing Iv’e seen from you and the team :). Also Happy Holidays!!! And hope to see more articles and blog posts in the future from you 😀
Happy Xmas and happy new years to you guys too. And WTH is with the downvotes!? I too agree tht the up/downvote system needs to be scrapped…. Or add more improvement to it…. Like only logged in user can give up/downvotes like the one DISQUS is using….
Hey there, Divine. Thk for all the hard work maintaining RC and hope you stay strong and healthy. Also I did a double take on the old header lol.
Just seeing that old header image brought chills and a tear down my eye. I hope Omni is doing alright, and DIVINE, I’m there with ya. I’ve been lurking for the longest of times, and while I don’t have, well, I would call the pedigree or writing skills, I’ve always wanted to give back.
Maybe next time.
Thinking back, it’s kind of remarkable to see how far RC has come, simply because my anime-watching experience would be incomplete without you guys. Random Curiosity was one of the first anime blogs I frequented starting back during the days of Gundam SEED, and since then it’s been a roller coaster ride of awesomeness with the very best anime companion I can ask for. Congratulations on hitting the 100 million milestone, that’s a very respectable achievement and surely well deserved. Hope to see you returning to active blogging soon Divine, and keep up the good work Team RC. I LOVE you guys, have a great holiday! Maru maru maru maruuu~!
Iv been checking RC on a daily basis since 2008 when I was just starting to get into Anime. Watched afew oldies on Toonami (Tenchi series, Gundam, DBZ)
I have always been into art but mostly dark and gothic type, low and behold I came across Suigintou (Goth-Lolita Queen) and was just like ‘…woow’ searched deep into it..learned it was an anime/manga, found other pictures of the characters, again..like ‘wow’ watched the series, loved it..watched others right after, (Code Geass, Zero no Tsukie, SnS, Omamori-H) Just love it all.
Dont really have any friends who share my interest unfortuntly and some just take the mick out of it 🙁
Atleast I have RC though 🙂
great to read another article from you, divine!!!(it’s always nice to have u back)…compared to u guys, i’m fairly new to Randomc (i only realized the site’s existence while i was checkin’ out the best anime of 2011, i was looking for series to watch actually), and i only started visiting the website on a regular basis throughout your coverage of Fate/Zero s1 (ash, those good old times, every week your post is always awaited Omni!!)..it was quite sad when u took your leave, but gratefully the quality of the posts of the site was still retained by superb replacement writers (Stilts and Moomba are especially my favorite writers, but it’s not like the others are bad though…), i initially took the post as a sign of your return but i guess it’s gonna take a while longer before it truly happens….
Anyway, can’t wait for my first vote best anime of the year feature….
Just wannna say thanks Divine and all the writers of RandomCuriosity! I’ve been a lurker for years even before Omni retired. The moment i discovered RC I’ve never stopped coming, my interest in Manga, Anime and all Japan has been further reinforced thanks to you guys 🙂
I’m not really sure why, but I’ve got tears in my eyes. Nostalgia perhaps? No matter.
Anyways, thank you very much for writing this post and, of course, you’ve been missed (as well as Omni).
Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and to us all.
I don’t usually comment, but I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! It’s nice to hear back from you Divine and know you’re still going well. I remember omni. I started reading RC when he was covering GSD (I feel old now.) This place certainly has gotten far since then! I hope to read more from you guys next year!
Been a lurker since maybe before RandomC and Omni. Think I used to go to novastorm and jumped to here when that went down and been a happy reader since. Thanks so much for all you do Divine and staff!
yay I also recalled Omni hope he’s doing fine. I missed his writting
good to read you Divine
merry christmas to everyone 🙂
specialy the rc staff…
have a good day
When I read ‘Divine’, a smile appeared on my face. Great to hear from you again! Merry Christmas to you Divine, and offcourse to all the RC writers and readers 🙂
Happy Holidays Divine! We’ved Missed you so!
Merry Christmas Divine and the rest of the RC staff! 😀
Merry Christmas to all of those at RC as well! Love what you guys did to this site, and will always keep reading your blogs.
Always a pleasure to read your blogs as well Divine, really miss your weekly posts.
I still remember very clearly the first time I came over RC seven years ago. I was looking for info about FMP! The 2nd Raid and Google-san drop me off here back in September 2005 when Onmi still was around. At that time I was able to get my own ADSL-internet connection at home, no more college-internet or e-coffee to support my needs. It was thanks to this site that I was able to immerse myself again in the passion that still moves me on; although I’ve lost some many things along the way, this place is one of the few things that remind within my reach.
That’s why I’m really grateful to all the people how supported Onmi after his stepping down, especially you DVINE. We’re people who share something in common, our passion and interest in this genre of entertainment and I’m very grateful for all the effort and enthusiasm to keep going against all odds.
Sure, we don’t know what the future will holds for everyone, as for now the only thing I can say for sure is this: I’m glad for having the chance to meet people like you, Onmi and everyone else here in RC.
Happy Holidays for you and all the staff, members and fellow readers like me. The Mayans let us live another era, so let’s enjoy it to the fullest.
I know it’s a day late from my place but Merry Christmas Divine and co.
I can remember first landing on Random Curiosity during my college years. I lurked for, 2 years at least, before started actively replying. I remember my first posts was when during Negima and Hayate no Gotoku, if my memory served right. I loved reading posts here for reviews before actually start following the shows and leaving replies, sometimes under different names for different shows.
Years later and I’m still here, LOL. I’ve seen tons of changes from the looks, the url, the people, the trolls to the bloggers, but the core that made Randomc fun for me is still there.
Good luck to life Divine and Merry Christmas.
aw, i loved that banner
omni i will never forget you !!!
Random Curiosity, to me is one of the main reasons I even found myself truly getting into anime and viewing it as something more than just a bunch of cartoons to occupy my time when nothing else was on. Right after the number one reason being that my elder sister was so immersed in it and had a closet equivalent of what you’d see from Kirino. 🙂
This site really made me want to take my adoration for the few series I had seen on television a step further though and has profoundly changed my life and the way I look at it (Sometimes for better and other times .. not lol). It’s always a surreal feeling to realize how lucky I was to look over my sister’s shoulder one night to see the Louise banner and wonder what she was reading. It was definitely the writers here, past and present, that inspire me to write and enjoy anime as much as I do.
I realize it’s a day late but I hope the writers here and all other members of the RC community had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful new year. And as always, thank you for taking time out of your lives to do what you do here. I’m looking forward to the future of Random Curiosity with much excitement.
Random Curiosity introduced me to the world of anime.
I used to frequent this site just for Divine’s posts. Even though I didn’t watch much anime then, I loved reading his posts. I cannot even remember when or what brought me to RC. But reading the posts here made me fall in love with anime. The animation, the soundtracks, the plot, the characters. So I started watching anime.
Afterwards, I developed other interests and stopped watching anime or even visiting RC. About a year ago, I joined back RC. I still didn’t watch any anime but reading the posts was a joy for me. When Divine went on hiatus, I was really sad but it’s nice seeing so many new writers stepping up to help maintain RC.
Recently, few months back, I started watching anime again. I’m glad that RC blogs the anime I watch and introduces me new anime. I would like to thank every single member of RC, especially the writers, be it past or present. Most importantly, thank you Divine, for all your amazing posts and also for continuing RC after omni left.
man, this post really takes me back. i can’t believe i’ve been following RC for this long now that we’re almost in 2013. thinking back on it, it was really a good thing Divine took that forward step and became a writer. More so than helping us readers, it probably was life changing for him as a writer himself. everyone could say things like “oh, i could’ve write that”, but who could actually dedicate themselves long term to writing blogs? For that, I’d have to applause the dedication. It’s wonderful to see you’re doing well and good luck in your future endeavors Divine.
I love RC so glad I discovered this site. Know its late but Merry Christmas Divine.
How to achieve godly status, call yourself divine and be godly 🙂
Happy 2013
I LOVE YOU DIVINE!! (no homo)
Always wanted to say that! 🙂
I miss you and Omni dearly, and enjoy your well-earned break from the blog and hopefully you’ll come back soon!
DIVINE. when will you be back in blogging. i already miss your posts..