One-Year Anniversary of ai blog

Two birthdays in one article? What is this, a celebration of Matsumoto and Ishinomori?

Well, I dunno about you...

This article will go out on my 22nd birthday. What will I be doing that day? Not sure. Probably just going to be drinking or watching cartoons. Local cinema has a "free birthday popcorn" offer I could bite. Could get a birthday joint from a dispo. Maybe I'll stay home. I don't know right now. But what I do know is that ai blog turned one a few days ago (coinciding with the inauguration of whom will likely go down as the worst president we've ever had, but this isn't really the point), and that I'm still quite proud of what I've been able to put out as stuff to read and share.

This last age might have been one of my weirdest and almost worst on record, with the loss of my friend, some missed opportunities and stress with family, and, just last week, the loss of my grandfather. I've called for absence on work and school to help with that, so there might be something related to that soon. Having to deal with all of these things in between turning 21 to turning 22 is not something anyone my age should be going through, nor should anybody.

Going to be a bit short, this one, but I'd like to give some thanks to those who read in the blog's inaugural year. To my longtime internet pals, my irl friends who have shared their thoughts, my professors who had read some of my work and graded one of these articles (my longest so far!), some named readers of note including Steve Stanchfield of Thunderbean, Larry Hama, and the subject of my first interview, Gary Hallgren (both of the, at least how I'd put it, creators of Mort the Dead Teenager, having read my work is a true honor to me), and, of course, you!!

Also of thanks is the domain registration company for taking my hard-earned money and letting me have the site name at a reasonable annual price. Really couldn't have done it without them.

Up on the docket for this year will be my first feature on the blog, an overview of the 1996 Kochikame anime (which will likely take me many years and rewrites due to how the series was officially released last year on YouTube, initially in single episodes, but then in compilation bulk of ten per video, removing credits and other stuff I'd have liked to have on me for "auteur theory" bullshit). I'm not sure about how often I could get a release schedule for it up, but just assume the Linkara work ethic of "it'll be out when it's out".

Also, I'm considering an episode-by-episode analysis of the 1988 Osomatsu-kun series, one of my favorite anime shows of all time. I can guarantee that one of these first five articles will have analysis on the early scenario draft version of the episode in question, along with a translated version for you to read at home. I don't have it on me currently, but when I'll be visiting family over this next week, I'll swing on by to pick it up. Expect some dives into not just the production and staff of the series itself, but also how it ties into the manga and the various other series that came of this Fujio Akatsuka renaissance of the late 80s.

That's it for now. Maybe I'll finish that "Apple Paperback Movies" article (detailing the overlap between 90s kids' lit and the "family movies" of that era), but I still don't know right now. Eternal backburner?