500 Follower Appreciation Post + Random Anime Reveal

I thought I timed it so that 500 followers and the blog’s third anniversary should happen at about the same time, but looks like we hit the milestone early. Well, you people really rock! I’m still a bit jet-lagged as I write this, so please pardon any less coherent bits.

Starting this blog might be one of the best choices I’ve made in the last three years. I recently remembered about this reflection post I wrote at the end of 2017, in which I talked about my blog’s origins and established a few naive blogging and life goals: The Moyatorium: A Brief Existence that Hopes to Stick Around. This blog has only churned out regular content for the first half of 2018, but it has made me happy and that’s what matters, according to my lax blogging philosophy. I love collaborations and occasionally reviewing seasonals, which create a pattern for my blog, but I’m also quite content with putting out random content whenever.

This Blog and Its Readers

In other words, my blogging isn’t all that reader-centric. Weird thing to say in a post celebrating readers –  like the awesome someone scrolling through this post – but I’ll try to explain. Of course, reader interactions inform how I blog and tend to make my day a little to a lot brighter, and I do often wonder how specific bloggers might think about a topic I discussed as I put out a post. It’s just that I’m not ambitious enough to build a blog that people regularly turn to for information and/or opinions, but I’m sufficiently confident that if I put out a post, someone somewhere in the world will read it and have thoughts. I’m confident about at least that, but I never stop feeling astonished when the blog gets strangely specific search terms that align perfectly with certain posts.

But the satisfaction of creating content is hardly what made this blog a good decision, because I don’t in fact make that much content after all (this is my 163th post, reblogs inclusive). The most immeasurable outcome is the community I managed to stumble into. You might dismiss this as a generic thing to say for a follower celebration post, and I’m aware that I often sound unconvincing when I tell others how great the people online are, but I find it hard to tone down my enthusiasm on this point.

I was going to write a piece on blogging communities when I worked for a non-profit e-zine, but for various reasons related to the organization’s internal management, that project was aborted. If you’re curious, you can find the pitch here, and read what other bloggers’ contributions were to the subject. Perhaps due to my disbelief at being absorbed into this circle so naturally, I’ve always been curious about how it works. (Honestly, I’m not sure the term “this circle” works, because it’s not like there’s an exclusive club that you join, and people do in fact form unique friend groups, but hopefully you get the idea.)

First it was the blog, and then it was Twitter and sometimes Discord. This platform-linking was definitely something I never anticipated when starting the blog. Before long, I was surrounded by a bunch of people I like, who shortened my name to “Moya” without asking, and could decide what colour I vibe. It was when “Moya” became a name rather than an alias that I truly appreciated what it meant.

I’m awfully introverted in real life, as it seems like many (if not most) bloggers are, so to be able to have so many people to care about and have niche and intimate exchanges with is nothing short of mind-blowing. Perhaps certain online interactions can feel superficial, and maybe that person who’s first to comment vague praise under a fresh post didn’t actually read that far or that closely, but behind every blog or account is some desire for connection, and I appreciate that. Even if people’s personas differ from who they are offline, I think you can say that they’re authentic in their own contexts.

So again, thank you all for being a part of the journey, and I hope to explore much more on this platform and on others with all of you.

The Random Anime Reveal…

Now, it was purposeful that I left off with the idea of a “journey.” Can you guess?

Below is the list of the 28 anime entries that I’ve received based on last post‘s call for recommendations:

1. Excel Saga (26)
2. Soul Eater (51)
3. Soul Eater (51)
4. Sarazanmai (11)
5. Inari, Konkon (10)
6. Haibane Renmei (13)
7. Gankutsuou (24)
8. Rick and Morty (41)
9. Clannad (23)
10. Yosuga no Sora (12)
11. Shinsekai Yori (25)
12. Tsuritama (12)
13. Paradise Kiss (12)
14. Devil is a Part-timer (13)
15. Mawaru Penguindrum (24)
16. Mawaru Penguindrum (24)
17. Plastic Neesan (12)
18. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (26)
19. Vinland Saga (24)
20. Sunday Without God (12)
21. Arte (12)
22. Alice to Zouroku (12)
23. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens (12)
24. Koufuku Graffiti (12)
25. Re:Creators (22)
26. Kino’s Journey (13)
27. Flip Flappers (13)
28. A Place Further than the Universe (12)

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The holy Random Number Generator has spoken:

And so, I shall be watching and reviewing Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World, submitted by Fred @ This is my place.! This is one series that I’ve heard about for a long time and have indeed wanted to try, so thank you, Fred!

Thank you once again to all those who recommended series that they enjoyed or thought I would enjoy. Though I’m going with one for this watch, I do hope to check out many of the titles that you’ve kindly chosen for me.

What You Can Expect from the Moyatorium

Erm, nothing. Aside from the last episode of Anime x Lit Crit: Toradora! with NegativePrimes or my reviews on Kino’s Journey, please don’t be prepared to expect anything. Not that I won’t post, just that I won’t know when or what I’ll end up posting until I get there.

You may continue expecting me on Twitter and Discord and sometimes Pinterest (where I actually only pin pretty food). To tell you a secret, I’m a DMs-never-not-open person, so even if I can be shy about initiating, I’m excited to talk about just about anything.

Thank you once again for supporting The Moyatorium, and feel free to drop by once in a while for surprise unscheduled content!