My 12 moments of anime for 2013

Credit to linked pixiv user

As I’ve been doing since 2009, I’m once again participating in the anime blogsphere’s “12 Moments of Anime” project where we post our personal twelve biggest anime-related moments of the year throughout the month of December. As always due to lack of time, I’ll be posting my 12 moments all on one post here…


#12: Studying for/taking the JLPT N3

Since I became an anime fan in the early 2000s, anime has got me interested in learning Japanese, which I’ve discussed quite a bit about on the blog over the years. The JLPT stands for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, a test that’s given once a year at various locations throughout the world where people can take a test and, if they pass, get a certificate that proves that they know Japanese up to that level (which is good for certain jobs). I took (and passed) the easiest two levels of the JLPT back in 2006 and 2007, but I didn’t take it again until this year. I really should have taken it earlier, especially in 2009 when I had just graduated from college and returned from a trip to Japan, when my Japanese was at a peaking point. But I was caught up in other things, had issues getting transportation to the test site, and would sometimes forget about the test and miss the deadline. After getting my current job in mid-2012, I hardly did any Japanese self-study for the next year…until I got motivated to take the N3 (middle) level of this year’s JLPT kinda last minute. So throughout November I had to rush through several Japanese self-study cram sessions where I made a ton of new kanji flashcards, completely perused the N3 section of this great JLPT study guide, brought my flashcards to work and studied them on my lunch breaks, and re-studied a few of my old textbooks. I learned more kanji and vocab in that month than I had in the past two years combined XD Despite that, the test seemed more difficult than I expected as I ran out of time on the grammar section and was doubtful on some of my answers for the vocab section. I won’t get my test results until February…but here’s hoping I passed even if not with flying colors XD


#11: Harvest Moon: A New Beginning

Since in Japan the term “anime” encompasses all forms of animation, including cartoon-style video games, I guess a Harvest Moon game counts for the list :3 I love the Harvest Moon series, though this one, A New Beginning, on the 3DS is only the fourth one I’ve played. However, it’s the first one I’ve played on a handheld console (the other three I have are on GameCube and Wii) and I got totally hooked on it when I bought it back in July. I hadn’t been that addicted to a game in a while and I spent almost all of my free time (until Pokemon XY came out) playing it and doing my best to complete the main storyline. For those of you who’ve played a HM game before, you know that it’s essential to plan ahead to get the items you’ll need later in the game in order to complete the main story in the shortest length of time possible. Using this helpful guide I planned out everything as I played and made my way through the game pretty fast. I was really hoping to beat it before Pokemon XY came out but I didn’t quite get there due to a slight miscalculation. As of now I’m about 85% done with the main story and plan to play it again later when I get my fill of Pokemon. It’s probably my 2nd favorite HM game out of the four I’ve played =) Oh, and if you want a chuckle, here’s two pictures of my wedding in the game XD


#10: Finishing OreImo

After I first watched OreImo back when season 1 aired in 2010, I always wanted to see the “real” ending. While not a big favorite of mine or anything, I did like the series a lot despite having some problems with it. It inspired a couple of good posts from me when it came out and I bought ADV’s limited edition DVD set release of season 1 plus the first four OVA episodes. And finally I got to see the true ending this year with season 2 and its accompanying four episodes that wrapped up the story. A couple of things I really wanted to see after watching season 1 was exactly why Kirino grew to hate Kyousuke so much…and more background on Saori. I got both of these in season 2, so that was satisfying. As for how satisfying the end of the series as a whole was, I already talked about it here, but from what I’ve seen I actually liked the ending more than most fans. But anyway, I’m glad I got to see how this perverse yet interesting series ended without having to read the novels.


#9: Finishing Bakuman

Ever since the first season aired in 2010, Bakuman has been one of the best anime I’ve seen in a while, especially in terms of (non-action/fantasy oriented) shonen titles. I liked learning about the manga industry through the series, I liked the characters, I liked how events in the story played out, and the series always had me in suspense, which is pretty good for a 75 episode story. After three seasons, Bakuman finally ended in March, and as I expected, I was satisfied with it =) Not sure if it’s something I’ll be rewatching anytime soon, since 75 episodes is a big commitment. But I can recommend in thoroughly as one of the better anime I’ve seen in the past several years.

Credit to linked pixiv user
#8: Attack on Titan

After Madoka in 2011, I was waiting to see what the next huge anime hit would be. Sword Art Online from last year was extremely popular with the general fandom, but mostly frowned upon by the more scrutinizing fans. However, this year we had Attack on Titan, arguably the biggest anime to hit the air waves since Madoka, and like Madoka, it became a major hit with all kinds of fans. I’ve already written my review of it here about why I personally think it’s a great series deserving of the praise it gets. While I didn’t jump on the “catch up with the manga” bandwagon a lot of people did when the series first started airing, and likely never will, I’m content to wait until we get our next season. I’m sure it will be soon enough and I’m definitely looking forward to it =)


#7: Going to Pokemon TCG leagues again

It’s no secret that I’ve been a huge fan of Pokemon since I first played Red version in 1999, and I’ve mentioned numerous times on the blog that I used to go to Pokemon Trading Card Game leagues when I was a kid and avidly collected the cards. Sometime in 2001 I stopped going to the TCG leagues because the one I was attending closed and I wasn’t sure if there were any others in the area. I was also becoming an anime fan around that time and busy watching lots of anime, starting my web site, and going to high school followed by college, so I just sort of put it out of my mind. I also stopped collecting the cards around this time too (though I continued to play all the new video games and watch the anime). I never thought I’d play the Pokemon TCG or buy any Pokemon cards again…until this year. A while back one of my friends who used to go with me to the old leagues got me back into the Pokemon TCG. The majority of cards I had from the late 90s/early 2000s were obsolete and no longer allowed in official play, so I bought a bunch of booster packs for the new cards and put together a couple of new decks. And even better, this past September I discovered that there are still some Pokemon TCG leagues going on in my area! I attended one that was close by and enjoyed it very much, my first Pokemon league in over 10 years! XD Unfortunately it’s only held on Sunday, a day I usually work, but I manged to go a handful of times. I ended up shelling out a good amount of money to buy certain cards and make an even better deck that managed to win against some very hardcore competitive players, so that was rewarding =) I got a new badge book, free badge case with one badge so far, made a Play! Pokemon account, and got many free booster packs for attending/winning. Sadly I haven’t been able to go back to the league for a while now due to always working on Sunday, but I hope to eventually. People there also play the Pokemon video games, so I want to play against them with XY too =) So yeah, getting back into the Pokemon TCG this year was fun, though I definitely don’t plan on collecting all the cards. I’ll just blow some money once in a while to buy cards for a new deck and play at the league or with friends when I have a chance. That’s good enough for me ;)


#6: Evangelion 3.3

After watching Evangelion 2.2 in 2010, I’ve been eagerly waiting for the day when I could see the next movie, 3.3. And obviously that finally happened this year when the BD/DVD of the movie came out in Japan and I tracked down a fansub. I thought it was quite good, as expected of Evangelion. Even though Asuka has always been my favorite character and we don’t see much of her in 3.3, I enjoyed seeing a lot more of Kaworu in this movie. Since he was only in one episode of the original TV series, I was glad they decided to expand on his character with the new movies. 3.3 ended at an interesting point and I can’t wait to see what happens next! Let the next 3-year wait begin XD


#5: English release of Haruhi novels 10-11

The official English release of Haruhi novels 10-11 is special because they’re not only the current novels in Japan as well, meaning that the English release has caught up, but they’re also the novels I helped fan-translate back when they came out in Japan in 2011. So it was really awesome reading the official translation of something I had made amateur translations of a couple of years before. Yen Press released the two novels as one big volume (since they’re part of the same story, The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya) and I read through it within a few days. It was fun, but also bittersweet since now there won’t be anymore Haruhi releases for me to look forward to until Tanigawa decides to release novel 12…well, except for the recently announced anime adaptation of Disappearance of Yuki Nagato, but it’s a spin-off story and not part of the main canon, so I’m not that excited. I am a little excited though since it proves the Haruhi franchise isn’t totally forgotten yet ;) ::keeps fingers crossed for new Haruhi anime/novel release announcement after last episode of spin-off series::

Credit to linked pixiv user
#4: Madoka Magica movie 3 LA premiere

I talked about my experience seeing the 3rd Madoka movie in theaters a couple of weeks ago, so I won’t go into detail here. But yeah, like last year, the event was awesome and the movie was great yet ambiguous XD Though I am a bit sad that in all likelihood I won’t be having a Madoka movie event among my anime moments next year, if ever again.


#3: Anime Expo 2013

Another big event that always makes it onto my list is attending the biggest anime con in the US, Anime Expo. I did tons of fun stuff at this year’s con, as I detailed in my coverage. Probably my main highlight was being the very last person at the con to get Noizi Itou’s autograph (the free ones anyway). I’ll never forget that XD

Credit to linked pixiv user
#2: Becoming a pegasister

Technically My Little Pony is considered “anime” in Japan, so I’m counting it as such here XD Earlier this year I wrote a post about how I decided to take the plunge into the fandom of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and ended up really loving it, becoming a fan myself (“pegasister” is the fan term for a female brony). Even though I started watching the show last year, I didn’t actually get into it until this year. And boy did I get into it. For the first 6 months of this year my mind was consumed by ponies! I plowed through all the episodes and watched my favorites many times, and I spent tons of money on MLP merchandise, particularly the trading cards. That explosion of fan passion finally died down a little while after I went to Equestria LA, but I’m definitely still a fan. I still watch the show and buy merchandise for it (enjoying the currently airing 4th season :3) It’s been many years since any one particular show/franchise stole my heart so hard and fast, so becoming a pegasister was certainly a big thing for me this year =)

Credit to linked pixiv user
#1: Pokemon XY

This is the second time a Pokemon game has been #1 on my list of moments (the first being Pokemon Black & White in 2010). But what can you do when you’re such a big fan of Pokemon games? =P XY seemed to bring back a lot of past Pokemon players who skipped the 5th generation games, or just haven’t played Pokemon since the early Game Boy days. As I described in my review of the games, it’s not hard to see why as the games have something for every kind of Pokemon fan. It’s been over two months since the games’ release and I’m still hooked. There’s just so much you can do in the game! I’ve spent weeks simply raising/training new pokemon and battling and trading with other players over Wi-fi. I’ve already clocked in about 150 hours of gameplay on my copy of Pokemon X and am still not ready to stop :3 Pokemon XY are definitely the biggest highlights of the year for any Pokemon fan!

—–

I won’t be posting again until after Christmas so I hope you all have a very merry one =) In the coming weeks I’ll be reviewing the completed seasonal anime I’ve been watching (Coppelion, Kyoukai no Kanata, Galilei Donna, Monogatari Second Season, and Gingitsune) as well as posting my top 5 favorite anime of the year. Not sure on the exact order I’ll be posting all this but I’ll figure it out by then ;) That is, assuming the current illness I have doesn’t decide to flare up again. I’ve had this awful nasal cough since mid-November that’s been a total nightmare; I’ve had to go through Thanksgiving, the JLPT, the Madoka movie, and many hours of work hacking away and feeling like I’m underwater >_< Just when I thought I was getting better last week, it got bad again, giving me a fever to boot and I finally decided to see a doctor and take a few days off from work. I'm better today though thanks to some new medicine. Here's hoping it's finally on its way out because after a month of this I am so sick of being sick! Anyway, happy holidays and see you all soon ;)

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Kai says:

    I did not know about the disappearance anime until now. That’s good enough news to consider a Christmas gift. Thanks :) And happy holidays to you too!

    • Yumeka says:

      Yeah, it’s certainly good news for Haruhi fans as it shows that the franchise isn’t totally forgotten yet. I do hope it signifies more Haruhi releases to follow, but not sure. I don’t even think it’s been announced what studio will be producing this Disappearance of Nagato anime…doubtful it’ll be KyoAni. But we’ll just have to wait with our fingers crossed and see ;)

  2. Amy says:

    Have a wonderful Christmas – and get well soon, Yumeka!!

    (As usual, a nice variety of 12 moments from you. Very cool! I probably won’t even attempt to do a set of these.)

  3. chikorita157 says:

    I agree that Pokemon X and Y is probably the most fun I’ve seen from a Pokemon thus far as I was kind of disappointed with Generation 5 for the fact that none of my favorites were in the first game (such as Eevee). But still, I wonder how interesting the game will get once Pokebank is finally release to the public…

    Also, I am wondering, have you watched Pokemon Origins yet? I wrote a review of it and it was pretty good although rushed. But aside from that, I hope you have a happy holidays.

    • Yumeka says:

      After XY came out, I was surprised at how many people I came across who bought XY but never played through the 5th generation games, claiming they just couldn’t “get into” them. The fact that Black and White only had new pokemon available during the storyline could be to blame as you said, or perhaps the games’ emphasis on plot rather than just running around and catching/battling pokemon wasn’t appealing to people. But I’m glad these people came back to the franchise with XY and are enjoying it ;)

      I did watch Pokemon Origins and might say something about it in my upcoming seasonal anime reviews.

  4. Rioraku says:

    Nice last! I definitely had some good moments (anime and otherwise) this year as well. Chuunibyou was probably the biggest one for me this year (I know it came out last year but I just saw it this summer) and I’m excited for the next season this January. Pokemon Origins is a closed second. And while I’m not a fan of MLP, the Western Animation that did get me excited again was the 2nd season of Avatar: Legend of Korra, pretty much the only “regular cartoon” series I still watch. Going to an anime convention (any one) is on my bucket list for sure though!

    Hope you keep feeling better!! And have a great Christmas!

    • Yumeka says:

      I liked Chuunibyou when I watched it too :3 Not as much as you seem to like it, but I would say I liked it the most out of all the shows Kyoto Animation has put out over the past few years. Looking forward to season 2 as well.

      I forgot, did you finally get a 3DS with XY? I’ve exchanged so many friend codes with people the past few weeks I can’t remember everyone I have XD We should battle/trade sometime.

      Watching Avatar is something I hope to do one of these days XD

      Thanks for the well wishes and merry Christmas to you too~!

      • Rioraku says:

        Unfortunately no! By the time I get a 3DS everyone will have moved on to another game haha!
        And indeed, I definitely recommend Avatar, specifically the original series.

  5. Adziu says:

    I didn’t know you helped with the fan-translations of the Haruhi novels. That’s pretty awesome! ;)

    • Yumeka says:

      Yeah, I just helped with the translations of novels 10-11 (the light novel translation group Baka-Tsuki did 1-9). I did editing on a few of the chapters and fully translated the Final Chapter in novel 11. It was a tedious task for someone not totally fluent in Japanese, but rewarding at the same time =) Now that I’ve read the official translations, I’m glad to see that I only mistranslated one or two things.

  6. Kal says:

    Other than watching anime, I have not had many more activities related to anime though… Oh! I did get 2 Weiβ Schwarz booster packs my sister mailed to me for Christmas :) Last time I was in the US, I was not able to get any (all out of stock! just my luck). So she remembered, and sent me a SOA and Madoka booster packs :)

    I hope you feel better, and merry Christmas! I work Sundays as well, so I know how you feel (at work today). So rest well, and have a happy holiday!

    • Yumeka says:

      That’s cool that you got some Weiss Schwarz booster packs =D If you get more, or a trail deck, you’ll have what you need to play. Or you can just collect them :3

      Merry Christmas to you too! And thanks for the well wishes ^_^ I’m feeling better today.

  7. Justin says:

    Hey, hope you had a very, merry Christmas day! And didn’t exactly stuff yourself too much with Christmas Dinner!

    Well hey, there can always be more people jumping on the Titan reading bandwagon. I think. Or probably! So get ta reading xD

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks, hope you had a great Xmas too =)

      LOL, I highly doubt I’ll ever get up the motivation to read the Titan manga. I can patiently wait for the next anime season ;)

  8. TheHoudhini says:

    “Pegasister” – What? You are a girl!??
    I am sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude but for some reason I had always assumed you were a guy (maybe because I am a guy). Stupid me. I guess I missed the hints in your earlier posts (I have only started visiting your blog for a year or so, and I haven’t exactly read every post). Oh well, now I know…

    • Yumeka says:

      Heh, you’re not the only one who couldn’t tell my gender just from my writing XD I tend to like the anime that’s more popular with guys, and maybe just my writing style and things I say don’t easily give it away. But now you know :3

Leave a Comment

*