Eight years of owning an anime web site (or Anime Yume’s 8th anniversary)

Today, AnimeYume.com turns eight years old. Although the blog here is only about three and a half years old, I’ve been actively running an anime web site since mid-2002. Having my own space on the web to express my love for anime for nearly my entire history as a fan, has certainly been an impacting part of my life…

It was eight years ago today, on June 30th, 2002, during my sophomore year of high school when my anime fandom was starting to kick into full gear, that I decided to buy a domain name and start work on my own anime web site, Anime Yume. Having seen less than 30 anime series at the time, and not knowing anything about web site building besides some basic html, Anime Yume didn’t have much to offer in its early years. Even when it hit its peak popularity in 2005/2006, it never became one of the most famous of the old-school fan sites. But I’ve put many hours of work into it over the years, creating 99% of the content myself, continually updating pages, and keeping the web site open despite the fact that fan sites like Anime Yume have since become obsolete.

In recent years, I’ve been doing most of my work here on the blog (which is still hosted on the AnimeYume.com domain name), but I continue to keep Anime Yume open (with updates once in a while) for anyone still interested. Every now and then I feel like I should take it down and save myself some money each month, but then I feel like it would be a waste – it’s still getting hits, and perhaps one day in the future I’ll want to do more with it.

As someone who has never been very good at expressing herself verbally, working on Anime Yume all these years has allowed me to let my passion grow without the hindrance of being inarticulate. Continually writing prose about something I love for so long has given me an appreciation for writing that I may have never developed. It’s also given me confidence and satisfaction that what I express can affect others. Not to mention all the fascinating people I’ve met and talked to solely because of Anime Yume – many of them have inspired my thoughts or have even become long term friends.

Working on the same domain name all these years, it’s hard to imagine not having my own little space on the web called AnimeYume.com. Anime Yume was there when anime fan sites, freewebs, character shrines, and Anime Web Turnpike flourished, and it’s still here with blogs, Wikipedia, and Twitter. Mainichi Anime Yume is my main focus now, but I don’t want to ever completely close down Anime Yume. Perhaps when I reach a point in my life when I have the time and motivation, I’ll give it a big re-haul; add more, give it a better design, update old pages, etc, and basically take it out of the “time capsule” state it’s been in. Can’t say when this will happen, but I’m always giving it thought.

And of course, I want to thank all visitors of Anime Yume, old and new, for your support. Here’s to more great years of being a part of the wondrous anime online community~

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. 8 YEARS?!?! Damn, that’s older than Sea Slugs! Well, as you said it’s technically 3 and a half years, but that’s still pretty long.

    anime fan sites, freewebs, character shrines, and Anime Web Turnpike flourished

    Ah, The Geocites Era. How I miss thee :( (also, congrats on the milestone!)

  2. Yumeka says:

    @ Jesus159159159

    Thanks! My domain name was originally from Geocities actually, but I later updated it to Yahoo! Hosting. Good thing I did, since Geocities has since kicked the bucket.

  3. Canne says:

    Congratulations on the anniversary :)
    I always get the feeling the the main site looks more ‘personal’ compared to the blog. I have no idea it has been here this long cause I started visiting this blog just late last year.
    Your mentioning anime fansite and character shrine does bring back memory.

  4. Yumeka says:

    @ Canne

    Thanks…I actually intended to make the blog more personal while the main site is more objective. But the fact that you see it opposite must mean that both perspectives have seeped into each one =)

  5. Valence says:

    Woah, 8 years? That’s amazingly long in my opinion. As a reader who comes only once in a while, I’d say that your blog is quite ‘friendly’, in the sense that we can feel your voice; we can feel that sense of ‘personality’ rather than a mere wall of text.

    But whatever it is, happy anniversary =D

  6. chikorita157 says:

    That is a very long time… Congrats on the hard work for 8 years…

    It had been a long time for me ever since I created a fansite… and it was for Pokemon, but I given up years ago. Now I stick with Anime Blogging since that is easier. :p

  7. Rakuen says:

    Wow, supah congrats. 8 years is longer than I’ve even had a presence on the Internet.

    As for the website, so long as it’s not a problem financially, I’d leave it up. It’s always a little frustrating to see a site get entirely wiped off the Internet, especially for those who might visit it regularly.

  8. Yumeka says:

    @ Rakuen

    Yeah, I don’t plan on taking it down anytime soon, but perhaps I can make it smaller and save money on space/bandwidth. After all these years, I can’t imagine not being an anime fan without my web site. As long as I’m not totally desperate, I agree that it’s worth the extra expense. People might still come along and find a web site like that worth their while.

  9. Akikura says:

    8 years? That’s a long time. Cheers! (Or Kanpai!) You’ve put a lot of work into both the main site and the blog. I would never be able to keep it up for so long without losing steam. Congratulations on the anniversary and the astounding result of all that effort!

  10. Hypernova says:

    Just drop by to say congratulation! 8 years is long indeed.

  11. Yumeka says:

    @ everyone!

    Thanks so much for the congrats, compliments, and support~! ~^^~

  12. Glo says:

    DAMN 8 YEARS! I’M GOING TO GO RUN 8 MILES IN CELEBRATION!!

  13. Aaron B. says:

    Big kudos for keeping the faith over the years; you continue to provide a great number of insights and it’s cool to hear you’re just as jazzed about keeping the site/blog (and your thoughts) running full speed. I’ve enjoyed your blog for a while now and do wish you and the site another awesome eight years.

  14. Glo says:

    Just ran 8 miles. I wasn’t joking. I KILLED it too. Ran it so fast that I was outstripping moving vehicles and motorists. Well, not that fast, but I ran it fast. Now I will go to the gym and lift, because I have a lot of pent up energy for some reason.

  15. 8 year? Makes my hub look like a newborn in comparison!

    It’s been great reading those insights and I’ve always found the topics that you cover to be accessible so keep up the good work. May you be able to hit the decade mark!

  16. Mystlord says:

    Ha wow 8 years of work on a site. A very well deserved congratulations! 8 years ago… Uhh… Dear God that was before I really started going onto the internet at all. Makes the accomplishment even more impressive!

  17. Myna says:

    Wow, that’s fantastic! Congratulations!! :DDDD

    I believe I discovered the site back in summer of ’06 xD

  18. Jan Suzukawa says:

    Your blog inspired me to start my own blog. Congrats on eight years of Anime Yume! :)

  19. markushi says:

    Congratulations!! I like your site :P

  20. RP says:

    Wow, 8 years! It’s nothing short of amazing that you’ve been able to continually find interesting things to write about during that time. Is hoping for 8 more a little too ambitious? :-P

  21. Yi says:

    Wow, 8 years. That’s really really very impressive! Congratulations and good luck! Cheers to another 8. ^ ^

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