As some on Twitter may recall, December marked my official one-year anniversary as a manga reviewer. I’ve been blogging about manga since late 2007, but it was December of 2008 when Kate Dacey e-mailed me to ask if I’d be interested in joining the crew at Manga Recon. Having declared several times before then that “I don’t write reviews!” I was not especially confident, but I plowed in anyway and it’s been a fantastic year. My first review subject was volume thirteen of Claymore for the December 8th Manga Minis column. I’d like to think I’ve come a ways since then.
An old entry that springs to mind is one called Life of Me, posted on January 1st of last year, in which I included a photo of the desk where I write. I think you’ll notice the most significant change over the course of the year:
Oh, what a year can bring. Happy New Year, everyone! It’s been a pleasure getting to know you.
Jan klump says
Awwwwww.
Melinda Beasi says
I suspect that “Awwwww” is for the Dorrie background? :)
Jan klump says
And I thought the whole corner looked great!
Kris says
HOLY COW that’s a lot of manga. I’ve got a handful of shelves full of it (a couple are doubled up too), but…. Anyway, wow. And good titles, too, which isn’t always the case in absurdly large collections. :)
But are they seriously in alphabetical order? I’ve been thinking of doing the same, but you’d have to rearrange everything for a new volume. I think things would end up just piling up for me.
And is that a new computer? Or just a monitor expansion?
And I guess someone really like Bleach and CLAMP. Where did you pick up your Mokonas, and for how much? I’ve been thinking of hunting down one for myself.
Melinda Beasi says
I’m embarrassed to say, that’s not even all of it. That shelf just houses long series, I have two smaller bookshelves in another room. Yaoi is behind the monitor with a few shorter series as well. And those piles are all waiting for review. The big shelf *is* in alphabetical order, though the bottom shelf (not visible) houses taller books (manhwa, Viz signature), also in alphabetical order but separate from the rest.
I didn’t get a new computer, but my G5’s video card died, so right now I’m using my laptop hooked up to the monitor you see there.
I think the photo overplays the Bleach collection, just because it’s so easily visible. Heh. I ordered that Mokona backpack online, but I don’t remember where… the little white one I bought at a con. Sadly, I don’t remember the prices.
Kris says
Well, it was the Bleach figures that led me to say that.
I was going to say my collection is pitifully small in comparison, but I just now looked down at the floor at my four stuffed-to-the-brim short comic book boxes (for American comics). I’m about to buy a fifth. What I need are long boxes, but there isn’t room for them, and I wouldn’t be able to lift them up anyway.
Honestly speaking, although we have little shelf space at our apartment, it’s mostly stuffed full of my manga and anime. It’s starting to encroach on my precious novels. When I need more room, I box up my hubbie’s books and fill the space with my manga, lol. I’m lucky he loves me so much.
Melinda Beasi says
Ah! I think my husband actually picked up most of those, but we’re both fans. :)
Kris says
I think the only manga my husband has read is Love Hina. Maybe FLCL too. But I think that’s it. So…it’s all mine. As is the anime. He and I share some similar interests, but I have LOTS of free time, and he has very little, so we spend it in different ways. He’s not exactly a shojo person either, which makes up the bulk of my manga collection.
Melinda Beasi says
My husband is a bigger anime fan than he is a manga fan, but he has read quite a bit of it. The series’ we are able to enjoy most together are those that have both. The tables are reversed at our house—he has a lot of free time and I have very little. But he’s able to fill up most of his with his *real* passion, Euro board games.
Ken H. says
:O
I’m amazed at how organized that all is. Wow! I’m a bit envious at all the straight runs. Wow!
Melinda Beasi says
A lot of the runs are incomplete, but I try to collect as best I can! The organization is just… well, it looks pretty. I like it when it looks pretty. :)
Katherine Dacey says
“Not a reviewer” my foot—in just a year’s time, your site has evolved from a personal blog to a full-blown resource for manga and manhwa lovers. Congrats on a boffo year in blogging, Melinda, and here’s to many, many more!
Melinda Beasi says
Thanks, Kate! It’s all thanks to you and Michelle!