Epic Win Reloaded
Posted by 0rion on July 15th, 2010 - 11:02 pm
It’s been quite a while indeed since my last post here, hasn’t it? To be honest, I had more or less given up on this whole blogging thing and considered closing up shop, leaving only the archives for the occasional Google visitor to peruse.
Fortunately, I decided not to throw in the towel just yet, and instead have cooked up several new and (hopefully) interesting posts that will be going up in the near future. Before I go any farther, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a big shout out to my friend ghostlightning, whose continual pestering and seemingly boundless creative energy was in large part what motivated me to start writing for Epic Win again. In between yelling in all caps about the outcome of the latest UFC event, or waxing eloquent about Rafael Nadal, he managed to infect me with his enthusiasm for blogging, and anime in general.
Also, for all of you who e-mailed asking about the blog, thank you so much for taking the time to contact me, and I apologize I wasn’t able to respond to all of you. I was genuinely surprised at the number of people who apparently enjoyed reading the content on this site and were willing to write up an e-mail asking us to come back.
To be fair, things have been pretty hectic this year with quite a few major transitions for me, and a few of them are worth mentioning.
First and foremost, I’d like to congratulate my erstwhile co-blogger Guff for receiving his TEFL credentials and having been accepted into the JET program as a teacher. In a few weeks he’ll be shipping out to Tokyo for orientation, before moving on to his new residence in Hokkaido, where he’ll be teaching at a number of different schools in the region. Speaking as someone who previously taught English in Japan, I’m incredibly excited for him, as this is will no doubt be a very enriching and challenging once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Second, although I previously posted about taking the JLPT level 2 exam this last December, I never got around to posting about the follow up results. I’m happy to say I passed with flying colors, doing especially well on the grammar and listening comprehension sections, so now all that remains is the final examination level – the daunting JLPT1. I’m under no illusions that I’ll be able to pass the level 1 test this coming December, but I am continuing to study when time allows, and hopefully can make a good attempt at it next year.
Finally, I had the chance to take another sightseeing trip in Japan this spring during the height of the sakura bloom, and I was able to visit some really interesting off-the-beaten-path locales that I’d love to post about when time allows. Most notably, I spent 3 days on Yakushima, a nearly uninhabited island several hours off the southern coast of Japan, which boasts some of the world’s most ancient and unspoiled cedar forests. As a photographer it was a dream come true, and once I finish sifting through the roughly 80 gigabytes of photos I took during my time there, I’ll definitely have one or more posts up recounting my experiences on the island.
(click for slightly larger version)
Well, if you’re still here reading this, thank you very much for hanging around and still visiting this site even after so long. It really means a lot to me, and I hope I can return the favor by bringing you guys some good new content in the coming weeks. Thanks again to the many readers who wrote me and to ghostlightning for the encouragement and much needed kick in the pants.
…and yes, I realize the second Matrix film was a disappointment. Hopefully referencing it in the title of this post won’t jinx me.
Welcome back.
=)
Welcome back, man. Hiatus bug gets to the best of us (…I should know). Congrats to Guff too. =D
Can’t wait to read about your trip to Yakushima. Photography and your trips around Japan were some of my favorite things about the blog.
I’m very curious to find out what you’ve been watching lately.
Welcome home.
And you immediately kick it off with a Mushishi pic.
Beautiful.
well-nigh uninhabited islands are the best. I’d totally visit Japan if I had a guarantee that I’d be able to avoid all things metropolitan. Though this summer I’m gonna play safe and go to Siberia.
And *wow* Guff is really living the life.
(Oh and reloading epicwin is just fine :p Just don’t start revolutions, things are fine the way they are now :p)
Welcome back and congrats to both of you for your respective achievements – it’s a shame that Real Life has prevented me from catching up with you guys over Google Chat for the shortest time before having to zoom off and do something else.
I got bitten by the bug in a big way after my quick trip to Japan last year so at the top of my to-do list is to arrange a return visit sometime in 2011. As always, recommendations for places to visit will be most welcome. Can’t wait to see any pics you’ve uploaded from your recent excursions too!
So yeah, good to know you two gents are doing well and that you have every intention of bringing this ol’ blog back into the land of the living. Keep up the good work and hopefully we’ll get a proper chance to catch up sometime soon. ^_^
I knew there was a reason I kept Epic Win on my bloglines feed list. Glad to see you back.
Keep reloading, 0rion. Keep reloading. :3
Welcome back!
I’ll look forward to some fun posts.
Glad to hear that you’re back! And congratulations on Orion passing JLPT2 and Guff’s acceptance to JET. Looking forward to reading some new entries soon!
Woo hoo! Welcome back! I had a feeling you stopped blogging because you bombed that test or something (it was your latest post for the past year… I could only assume!
). Glad you passed and congrats!
Hmm, that reminds me… that Aria fanart… Expect it this Christmas!
^ See guys? You know your pen strokes are missed when JESUS HIMSELF rejoices at your return.
well… thank god… I was hoping you’d pick this up again…
& grats on the jlpt pass.
tell gail I say hi if you see her ok?
Yes! More Epic Win! Excellent to see you back, I really enjoy your writing and had resigned myself to slowly trawling through your archives when I was bored if you never posted again…
Epic Win, get yer ass back here. I was hoping for new shit when you posted this.
They’re building tension. They are geniuses.
@Amerowolf
The next new post will go up this weekend. I didn’t want to run myself out of material too quickly, so I scheduled my pre-written articles to go live once a month. If I have time to write other new posts, I’ll put them up whenever, but so far I haven’t had a lot of time.
In retrospect, I probably should have had one other new post go up immediately after my “I’m back” post. Oh well.
Don’t worry, there will be new content. It’ll just be somewhat thinly spaced.
Epic Win once a month is better than no Epic Win at all, I suppose.
*poke poke*
(Month is finishing!)
*hides*
*cough*
>_>
So…
About that Epic Win? Lol
Welcome back, guys. Let’s rock n roll
What this?! To quote you:
And yet I see none in months! ME IS DISSAPOINT! Come on dude, you’ve come so far and now you just give up? This blog is one of the best Anime Blogs I’ve seen, actually now that I think of it I can’t name a better one straighthanded. So don’t let us all your fans down now!
I’m especially keen on the Seasonal Anime Summaries you’ve put out. Marvellous stuff since I harly ever find trustworthy articles about “Watchable Anime”
MegaDaijoubu 3.40: Neko Quest: Return from the Dead…
……
It’s just common for this to happen, because there is not incentive to keep blogging. You spend so much time coming up with content for your blog, and for what? Just a bit of fun… but no money.
I say that all small anime bloggers should join their talents and time somehow, and create a huge authority site on all things anime, cosplay, games and Japan… a la Danny Choo. Then, they would monetize the site with ads and affiliate sales, and share the profits. Like everything really worth it in life, it sounds crazy, but it’s possible.
I wish you success mr. admin. Expand your horizons and use your blogging experience to create a true epic win!!
I loved your blog. The only reason why I’m posting that now is because as I’m sure you already know, Kaiji Season 2 is out. I feel like an idiot, I didn’t even know you didn’t finish commenting on Kaiji Season 1 because its been so long since I visited your website. Watching Kaiji 2 wanted me to visit your blog again.
Anyway I hope your trips to Japan are still happening. If you want a Japanese conversation partner please feel free. Iroiro ganbatte kudasai ne!
Baby.
Come back.
I need you in my life. D: