j1m0ne’s blog

I just noticed that my last 3 posts all started off with images that featured Mizuki Nana, so I thought I’d continue the trend. No real reason to it except that I’m somewhat excited everytime I think of Nana handing me a heart-shaped lollipop, let’s move along now.

I neglected to celebrate the blog’s first anniversary and the second one is too far away so I thought I might as well celebrate my one and a half-year anniversary (first post – 13 December 2006) instead with a bunch of random thoughts. I’m posting this a half-hour or so early (12 June, 11:30pm) but anyway, 13 June also happens to be National Lobster Day and Kitchen Klutzes Of America Day, or so Google tells me. It’s also Friday the 13th tomorrow -_-;; Watch out for the black cats and ladders, eh?

When I started this blog, I never seriously thought I’d make it past a month, let alone 18 months of regular blogging. So of course I’m surprised I’m still here. I’d like to think that it’s my charm and wit that brings in the readers but… I know. It’s the yuri and boob shots.

Long-time readers might notice that this blog only truly came to life when I abandoned music reviews as they were taking up way too much of my time. With loads of time on my hands I began wondering what to do to fill the void around December ‘07 – I decided at that point to experiment by focusing almost exclusively on seiyuu, and see what the reaction was.

So I started posting crap every other day, and quickly increased my then-average of 7-8 posts per month (I just checked that I had 35 posts in April, wtf). I did start to get more hits around that period I think - I don’t check my stats that often. For too long I’d been planning posts in advance, wondering what my next topic should be about. Nowadays I just write whatever shit crosses my mind, which may or may not be a good thing >_> But I’ve definitely noticed the amount of interaction with my readership improving, especially since I moved away from Blogger.

If anyone’s ever wondered what sort of readership a seiyuu blog gets, the answer is – not a lot compared to the mainstream anime blogs. The tops I got was about 1,700 after bouts of being featured on 2channel threads and a Japanese site, but generally it’s around the 450-500 range per day unless I start posting about yuri or boobs, then I’ll get more traffic coming in. The graph above is from Sitemeter, which is pretty unreliable at times so I supplement it with Counterize II. The lull around mid-May was because I was away in Japan btw.

More than once I’ve considered turning this blog into some seiyuu gossip column and changing my username to Hira Ayano (平 綾乃), digging out all the panty and yuriyuri shots, drawing moustaches on seiyuu images and showing off to the world how idiotic I am ala Perez Hilton. But since seiyuu just aren’t famous enough for that kind of thing I gave up the idea.

I think being a seiyuu is a depressingly shitty, low-paying job so I don’t really bother much with the serious side of it - praising them as being ultra-talented doesn’t take anything away from the fact that it’s probably no better than being a common OL. So I focus on the weird, wacky side of the seiyuu world cos well…I’m weird and wacky. And because I’m a panderer.

Anyway, I tend to define myself as a seiyuu idol fan so I’m likely to have more interest in someone if they have a singing career, which explains why I don’t cover male seiyuu often cos 99% of them can’t sing to save their lives. Except Takahashi Naozumi, but he’s more girly than I am & that makes me queasy.

At this point I’ve like to take the opportunity to talk more about the other seiyuu blogs who’ve come before and after me; blogs every seiyuu fan should read to get a more balanced view of the voice acting world and not just stay in my skewed vision of yuri-idol-land.

Seiyuu3
The pioneers, and the ones capable of bringing you the best & most informative seiyuu news from the land of the rising sun. I eagerly await their event reports, but it’s too bad they’re too busy most of the time and don’t update as often as I’d love them to ~_~ And yes, it’s a seiyuu-idol oriented blog too, there’s a lot of Nana, Minorin & Yukarin coverage, of which I totally approve.

Paranda.net
I’m not a Momoi fan, but Paranda’s dedication to her is indeed something to appreciate given that my own devotion to any seiyuu (apart from Nana) is often fickle and fleeting.

Hashihime
The blog to go to for editorial-style write-ups analysing and appreciating actual voice work, something which I completely fail at since my only two reactions to any type of seiyuu performance are まあ、いいんじゃない (Well that was OK) or 超うぜぇ (Bloody annoying).

Also a Hirano Aya shrine of sorts, but I’ll refrain from posting any more derogatory comments about her in case I get more hate mail. I can say it myself now that I’ve done the deed, but Blogspot is a damn rubbish blogging platform and Hashihime needs to get off it pronto.

Random Seiyuu Fangirling
The title says it all really. It’s good if you’re a fan of male seiyuu who do lots of BL drama CDs – plenty to fangirl over here. I can’t stand BL myself so a lot of this stuff flies over my head, but it does amuse me to read all that OMG! SoooCute!! chat over Hatano Wataru & Suzuki Tatsuhisa. I have that going on in my head sometimes too, but I’m past the squealing teenybopper stage already so I just keep it to myself.

The Livejournal Seiyuu Community
Not a blog per se. These are the crazy people who earnestly follow every single damn thing their fave male seiyuu do; from the BL stuff to the anime to all the live shows, magazines & DVDs. It reminds me of the late 90s boyband boom where teenyboppers shrieked at the slightest glimpse of their squeaky clean-cut heroes. I salute them for their enthusiasm, but the excessive JunJun!! Nontan!! Neko Nyan!! stuff sometimes creeps me out. But if you do want to fangirl over male seiyuu & DL related media this is the way to go.
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Have I missed the existence of any other seiyuu blogs? Do introduce any you know, I’d be glad to expand my horizons. Oh and before I forget to mention it, I did end up as a runner-up in the Blogger’s Choice part of the Anime Blog Awards (Congrats, Hashihime!). I’m still waiting for that blue button from the People’s Choice Award to turn up…

Anyway, in celebration of an oddly numbered anniversary, I’ve picked what I consider to be my 10 best (and also most read) posts as a reminder of what I’m capable of producing, and of what I hope to write more of in the future.
1. The 23 Seiyuu Under the Age of 23 Any l33t Seiyuu Fan Should Know (kinda outdated)
2. The Top 10 ‘I Would So Turn Yuri For’ Female Seiyuu
3. Seiyuu Profile #9: Ito Shizuka the Yuri Pimp
4. Mizuki Nana - GREAT ACTIVITY
5. The Next Big Thing: Ten Young Seiyuu To Look Out For
6. Kitamura Eri and Hirota Shion’s YuriYuri Love Diaries
7. Seiyuu Profile #10: Nakahara Mai
8. The Inaugural j1m0ne Seiyuu Awards 2008
9. Yuri Seiyuu? It’s All Fanservice My Friends
10. Anime Music Pt.3: My Top 10 Favourite Seiyuu Singers (I take back all I said about Hirano Aya. I hadn’t gotten my hearing aid yet at that point)
Most viewed post: Spring 2008 Anime Guide
Most commented post: The 2nd Seiyuu Awards - Results

Here’s a boob shot to round things off (ignore the face):

Er yeah, that’s Ochiai Yurika - one of the seiyuu who seems to like to show off her cleavage (via push-up bra) at any opportunity.

I would also like to share more Minorin pics but my scanner is still not cooperating T_T so you’ll have to settle for a Mikako + Marina (OMG, it seems like ages since I’ve posted anything about her - I FAIL) & more Nana (+ Mamiko). Have I posted that before? My memory is too short for me to recall.

So thanks for coming along for the ride over the last 1.5 years - I’ll try to make sure the next 1.5 years are just as good! *Pops virtual champagne*

Posted on June 12th, 2008 under misc • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback