General Discussion

Good 'morrow Anime Vice! I hope you are all doing well and had good holidays! I had some good times with the family on Christmas and spent New Years out on the town with friends. Much like my 2010 blog 'My Anime Collection (In Full)', I am using this time to let all of you know just what all I was up to in 2011. I plan on making this a yearly occurrence so I can be a fancy showoff and let all of you feast your eyes on what I bought, wrote, watched, and plan for 2012.

What I Bought

Do any of you remember how I said in the blog linked above that I was going to make manga my priority for 2011? Well even if you don't, you should have no problem believing me when I say that I kept to my word. I ended up with 87 volumes (give or take 1 or 2 as a friend borrowed my volumes of Dorohedoro (Viz Media) and Ultimo (Viz Media)) of manga for the year. Want to see them? Sure you do!

(Almost) all my manga from (and as of) 2011.

I am really proud of my collection. There's still about 20 volumes I haven't read yet though and a couple have missing volumes so I will wait until I get them to continue reading. I also read a ton of manga online, Borrowed some from friends, and continue to read what I don't yet own (yes, they are scans). Anyway, I won't specify volumes as I list what I have but I will state which series are complete. First Row: Lives (Tokyopop), Toradora (Seven Seas), AiO (Tokyopop), Negima! (Del Rey), Soul Eater (Yen Press), Red Hot Chili Samurai (Tokyopop), Butterfly (Tokyopop), Laon (Yen Press), and Maximum Ride (Yen Press). Second Row: Jack Frost (Complete/Yen Presss), Rosario + Vampire and Rosario + Vampire Season 2 (Viz Media), Highschool of the Dead (Yen Press), and Peepo Choo (Complete/Vertical). Third Row: Jormungand (Viz Media) B.Ichi (Complete/Yen Press), and Fairy Tail (Del Rey). Fourth Row: BioMega (Complete/Viz Media) and Cat Paradise (Complete/Yen Press). Fifth Row: Black Lagoon (Viz Media). Sixth Row: Claymore (Viz Media). Seventh Row: Sundome (Complete/Yen Press).

But wait! I still have more!

Light's Death Note beat me to my copies of Bakuman.

There is all 6 volumes of Bakuman ( Viz Media) that are currently available in the US. I love the series so much that after I read Vol. 6 I went online and read up to the most current chapter. I now eagerly wait for a new one each week.

The bulk of the manga came from closing Borders stores as I just couldn't turn down the deals. In one day I went to 4 locations and spent $200 on 20 volumes! I also bought from Walden Books, Barnes & Noble, and RightStuf.

But that's enough about manga; let's get to the anime!

Not my anime! Bad dogs!

None of you can probably tell what the fuck any of those boxsets are except for the orange one. lol I went light on anime purchases this year since they seemed to be pricey when I wanted to buy and cheap when I couldn't. But here's what's lying about the floor: Summer Wars (BD/FUNimation), Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Anime Legends/Bandai), FLCL (BD/FUNimation), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 1 (BD/FUNimation), Demon King Daimao (BD/Sentai Filmworks), Highschool of of the Dead (BD/Sentai FIlmworks), Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone (BD/FUNimation), and Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance (BD/FUNimation). Not a bad haul since only 1 was not a Blu-ray and it was gotten from Best Buy for less than $8 (still in package and brand new). The rest of the sets and movies came from RightStuf and Amazon.

Damnit! I forgot a manga and anime I bought so (for the last time) here you go.

In case users want to complain, I censored the cover for you pussies.

Those there are my Sekirei (FUNimation) boxset and Vol. 1 of Domin-8 Me (Take on Me in Japan/Eros Comix). I was waiting for about 8 months for RightStuf to finally get a new shipment of the hentai manga in. FoxxFireArt and I are big fans of the franchise and hope the 2nd volume comes to the US soon. Sekirei needs no introduction.

What I Wrote

I'm not going to go into a bunch of detail with this one as I having linked what I've done numerous times throughout the year. But 2011 was a big year as I started a new blog segment titled 'Dunce Cap'. I moved away from home so I lost my co-host but I have delightedly gotten Superevil225, Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto, and the upcoming sickVisionz to help me out with some episodes. I also look forward to random blogs about what I bought and newsworthy stories and my new segment 'Sotyfan16 Says'!

I also wrote a handful of Guides. I have a lot of fun writing them and look forward to providing all you Vicers with another one soon. In addition to the Guides, I wrote a couple editorial articles on some random stuff. My other big contributions to AV in written form are my editorial segments 'More Than a Laugh' and 'Epic Moments of Anime'. I have a lot of fun writing all this stuff for users to enjoy and once I get everything situated (again) I plan to get back into writing and blogging weekly or bi-weekly.

What I Watched

It feels like I've watched more anime than ever before this year. And the worst part is that I have not even finished up with 2011's shows! I'm still way back in Summer! I'll catch up eventually but I'm enjoying the ride since I got burned out pretty easy with anime last year. I have liked a lot of anime so far and can't wait to watch some more as i journey further and further into otakudom.

2011 in a Nutshell and 2012 Plans

The funny thing is, I had a lot of financial and job trouble last year. I think I'll cut back on manga purchases for 2012 but look forward to a whole bunch of new purchases to be shown from this year! Other users have shown interest in helping me host an episode of Dunce Cap and I plan to bring them in for what should be a great year of uncensored, and sometimes unedited, reviews of anime and manga. I also hope to submit plenty more editorials and Guides. I have a lot of ideas floating around. Let's not forget all the anime coming out! I am hoping to at least get to only being a season behind so I can stay up-to-date and enjoy what everyone else is enjoying without sounding like an old record.

But my biggest, and most recent, plan for 2012 is attending the San Diego Comic Con! I'm crunching some details right now but if things work out at least sort of how I need/want them to then I will be out in California for the first time only to take all SDCC12 has to offer so I can share it with all of you. If I am able to work out the trip, I will work on seeing if the AV/Whiskey Media Staff will allow me to help bring some good professional content from one of the year's biggest events to your computer screens! I hope that sounds good because I will sure as hell try (if I go, that is).

Oh, before I forget! I want to thank all you Vicers, the AV and Whiskey Media Staff, and Mods who supported me in 2011 and I look forward to your care in 2012. (I said that because I feel there are too many members to thank by writing their usernames out)

But I've went on long enough. Be sure to leave your thoughts and such in the comments below!

Want to guest-host an episode of Dunce Cap? Go here!

-Will McQuigg ( sotyfan16) is your everyday anime/manga enthusiast. You can also find him on Twitter ( bildo_88).

Man, you're way better at arranging stuff to look nice. Specifically the staircase. That is a mindboggling amount of manga.

None of you can probably tell what the fuck any of those boxsets are except for the orange one.

Really! I came close. So close. I couldn't recognize Geass and Summer Wars.

I need to buy Maximum Ride for my little sister who loves the author, James Patterson. She didn't like the art style for Daniel X. Plus, I need to find Ultimo vol. 4 and above since the library doesn't have them. (Got to save money). I loved how you used the stairs to display your manga. Did you make it a like tier doll set, Hinamatsuri? (like your most favorite manga is on top and then descends in each level.)

I'm always behind in new anime and manga. There's plenty time to read and watch them but too much to juggle with school or work.

@sickVisionz:

lol Thanks. I was having trouble figuring out how I was going to fit all my manga and anime into a picture while still having me in it but I couldn't do it by myself. I also took the pictures with my computer. Was kind of tough to get the dogs to stay put.

Good job in figuring out most of what they were.

@The_Desert_Tiger:

Yes, yes it is.

@takashichea:

Maximum Ride is ok. I haven't read the books but I don't plan on getting any more of the series. You should be able to find Ultimo in a bookstore but if not then get it on RightStuf for cheaper than retail (free shipping over $50). There is still a lot of manga I want to buy and many more that I want but are not licensed in the US.

There is no method to how I stacked the manga though. I just took them all and went in order of how many volumes I have. So the bottom ones I have one or two volumes of and the top ones I have 8 volumes or more.

@Newten said:

I started watching Sekirei myself for the hell of it, dubbed no less. At first I couldn't tell if I was genuinely enjoying it or ironically, but seeing as I'm now nearing the end of Pure Judgement I guess I'm just enjoying it for what it is.

You mean Pure Engagement? haha

The dub is alright for the show but I prefer the sub. Yes, there is a bunch of nudity and fanservice in the show but there is an exciting action story going on that get a lot more attention in the second season. I hope there is at least going to be another season. I've been reading up a bit on the manga as well.

But another reason I can't leave the manga out like that is because the dogs would trample them and that would be no good. Everything is back on the shelf and floor as I do not have enough shelf space to occupy all my manga, anime, movies, books, and games.

@sotyfan16:

I'll try Rightstuf. I used Ebay a bit to get Fairy Tail volumes.

Question: How do you feel about the whole graphic novel transferring over to the Ipad, Kindle, Nook mediums?

@takashichea:

I don't care for it. I do watch and read a lot of stuff online but that is only to see if I want to buy it or only like it enough to watch when I'm bored. It's kind of strange as I don't get much physical media music anymore but prefer movies and books in that format. I like being able to hold the manga in my hands and read as I please. Yes, going digital would save a lot of space but just like a new car I love the smell of a new volume.