Anime Memories 2018

As the year is coming to a close, I decided to ask the staff one simple question – what was your favorite anime related memory from 2018? It could be a convention, discovering your favorite show, or just sharing a moment with a loved one. Below are their responses.

MDMRN

2018 was a big year in anime. A lot of great shows aired. I also read a lot more manga than I did in previous years (see my Anime-Planet profile and challenge progress). It has been a lot of fun to be able to really delve deeper into one of my hobbies, but the actual watching of anime alone isn’t my favorite memory. It has been sharing it with others. It has included things like watching Sanrio Boys in parallel with my son and getting chances to talk to him about masculinity and bullying; snuggling with my youngest daughters and watching Pokemon movies; talking detailed anime talk with coworkers; seeing my oldest daughter beam as she picks out a Bananya backpack for school after watching it with me and her siblings; and sharing my new love of Fist of the North Star here and all over the internet, holding interesting conversations on what it means to us today. For this introvert, 2018 was a year of sharing much more of my love of anime with others and…it’s been great.

TWWK

In college, I remember being gently ridiculed by friends for watching anime. They weren’t interested in watching with me, so I stayed holed up in my room downloading episodes of Trigun and trying to get Toonami’s streaming service to work. It’s usually been like that—I watch anime by myself. But this year, I shared my obsession with friends and family more than ever, which made it all the more fun. It was really neat attending A-Kon in Dallas with Holly, who isn’t just the co-admin for our Instagram account, but a very close family friend. She had a lot of fun and that caused me to enjoy the event. And at home, I watched plenty of anime with family. All four of us watched Chihayafuru, as well as several Ghibli and Hosoda movies, including Mirai on the big screen. And even when I wasn’t there with them, like when my wife and son went to see the My Hero Academia movie or when the rest of the family streams an episode or two of Fairy Tail while I’m doing something else, I’m pleased that they’re finding joy in a hobby and media form that I treasure. Now, if I could only get my wife to watch Attack on Titan…(read on to find someone else having a little better luck in that department)

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thathilomgirl

The Madman Anime Festival at Melbourne is a convention that I’ve regularly attended in my time here in Australia, and this year in particular was very special. At first, I thought it would just be a solo trip for me since most of the friends that would join in were busy elsewhere, but one friend was able to come with me in the end. I also put a lot more effort into cosplaying as well, I went as Paula from The Promised Neverland (absolutely no one recognized me at all though, but it was still all good fun). And last but definitely not the least, I got to watch the Australian premiere for the My Hero Academia: Two Heroes movie! I met Christopher Sabat and managed to let him sign one of the My Hero Academia volumes I owned as well. As for the premiere itself, it was incredible! The movie was a blast the whole way through, and it was just so great to be with so many fans of the series, because it heightened the enjoyment factor to Plus Ultra-levels! Overall, one of the best convention experiences I’ve had so far in my life.

Emdaisy1

I knew, getting married last summer, that my husband wasn’t really a geek. I’d accepted and was totally okay with that. I started slowly introducing him to anime starting end of 2017…. but nothing really stuck for him. Early 2018. however, I introduced him to Attack on Titan (AoT) and My Hero Academia (MHA). I was thrilled that he not only was watching the shows with me but actually enjoying them. I even convinced him to join me at FanExpo Toronto, and he was pointing out MHA cosplays! *shocked face* When we finished MHA season 3, he turned to me and was just like “I really like this show.” I was pumped! We finally started Attack on Titan season 3 the other week, and as we’re still watching through it, we’re now debating and discussing who certain Titans are, or the real roles/motives of characters together! Cuddling up and chatting anime theories? #MarriageGoals ! While I’d given up the idea of a geeky husband, I gotta’ say it’s been pretty exciting dragging him into geekdom this past year!

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stardf29

2018 was the year of the light novel for me. As the strange marriage of my old book-reading self and my current anime fandom, light novels have found a place in my heart as a largely unexplored frontier of otaku fandom. Getting the chance to read the original works of beloved anime like Toradora! and Spice and Wolf, as well as finding new favorites like How A Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom and Infinite Dendrogram was pretty much a constant highlight throughout the year. However, the best part of my year of light novels was being able to share the medium with others through this site’s Light Novel Club series. After all, as has been a common theme here, being able to share what you love with others is something truly special. And now that I will be leading the Light Novel Club from here on out, I hope to make 2019 an even better year for light novels than ever!

 

How about you? What was your favorite anime related memory from 2018?

mdmrn
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16 thoughts on “Anime Memories 2018”

  2. Rewatching Toradora before Advent with my little brother was probably the best, especially as we reached the final episodes. It was a hard time for him, and maybe for me too, in different ways. It resonated deeply with both of us, and it helped me think about heroes, hope, communion and sacrifice.

    1. That’s awesome – both how well the series resonated with you, but that you were able to share this experience with your brother. Being able to connect through anime and share this experience is great, even when hitting us hard emotionally.

  3. Hmm…out of the 33.25 years since I was born, overall 2018 has been quite possibly the best ever. While not the most important factor, anime was certainly part of why the year was good. I learned to accept my nerdiness and openly acknowledge that I like anime, instead of my treating my hobbies like some dark secret (seriously, I’d been watching it for like a year and half before managing to even mention to my parents that I liked it, LOL). I attended a couple of nerd conventions for the first time (both were fairly brief, tentative visits, but the fact that I went at all is kind of amazing compared to my old self). Anime partially helped inspire me to explore a different career direction (it didn’t work out, but I’m still glad that I looked into a path that I never would have considered before). And anime has helped me wrestle with various other challenges in life. Anime also inspired me to take Japanese at the local university, which turned out to be an absolute blast!

    But I suppose my single best anime-related experience of 2018 would have to be discovering BtT. I am so glad this place exists, and I’m grateful to everyone who works to make it possible. Happy new year!

    1. Sounds like anime has been a big inspiration for your year – and that’s great! Also, glad that you discovered us in our little corner of the internet!

    2. And we’re glad that you’ve been such an active participant in our community—something we’re thankful about for 2018!

  4. My favorite anime moment of 2018 was when I watched Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card for the first time. After the first episode, I was immidiately hooked and knew that the series would be just as good as the original. I also enjoyed collecting and reading the Splatoon manga and waiting until the final volume in English comes out in the summer. Finally, I loved playing Katamari Damacy: REROLL on my Nintendo Switch. Though it is not related to any anime, the game sure reminded me of it with it’s overload of Japanese culture. I loved rolling up almost anything possible, from tiny sushi to gigantic octopus! Phew, that was a mouthful! But that was all the anime/manga related things I enjoyed doing in 2018! 🙂

  5. I’d like to say that Violet Evergarden is probably in the top 3 for my favorite animes of all time. This year has been extremely good for anime fans of all varieties. Everybody got something to enjoy this year.

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