Thank You Kyoto Animation

After the horrific tragedy that occurred last July, I knew I needed to write as near a perfect personal tribute to the wonderful people at Kyoto Animation as I am able to before I would even contemplate continuing to write about anime. It seemed like the right and proper thing to do, as well as being the bare minimum I needed to do as so much of the joy that anime has given me in the 15+ years I’ve watched it has been connected to Kyoto Animation.

While the intent as obvious to me, the form of such a tribute alluded me. I almost decided on doing a countdown of my favorite KyoAni works, in part because I’d been thinking of doing one for years now, but realized after further reflection that some clickbaity sounding article was not even close to what Kyoto Animation deserved from me. A better option would have been a long post where I talked about an assorted list of favorites and I almost started blocking such a post out. I realized I still wasn’t happy with this idea since I could really make such a post about any animation studio. As I worked slowly towards the answer, I also realized that I sort of didn’t want to find the answer. Doing so would acknowledge what happened, make it a fact, and remove any space in my brain to retreat to and imagine Schrodinger’s box is still unopened. Incidentally, that’s why I’ve never watched Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue; once I do then there are no more movies of his I can look forward to seeing and I have to acknowledge he’s been gone for 9 years now.

To combat my disinclination to post this, I signed up for this year’s Anime Secret Santa that the website all geek’s considered is continuing from the tradition started by Reverse Thieves. To post my review for that, I need to write this first 🙂 .

And I eventually realized why I’m so uniquely thankful for Kyoto Animation. Episode 0 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina.

The Null Set’s 10th Year Anniversary

Ten years ago, an anime fan suffering through a period of anime burnout decided the smart thing to do was to start a blog mostly about anime with a bit of science fiction thrown in. And so, with little interest in what was currently airing in that Winter 2008 season, The Null Set was born. Writing about anime helped me work through that burned out feeling and somehow it’s now ten years later and I’m still watching anime and still writing (occasionally) about anime.

Nine Years and Counting: The Null Set Keeps Blogging On

A little more than nine years ago – January 21^st of 2008 – saw the first piece of writing published on The Null Set, and, thus, began a slipshod experiment that I’m shocked has continued for as long as it has.

I’ve yet to question my desire to continue blogging because, even in this recent time of diminished output, I still feel like that I get more back from my blog than I put into it. One of the reasons for this comes from the feedback I get from people who take the time to leave comments.

So, to my readers and commenters, Thank you! I want 2017 to be a better year for The Null Set than 2016 was.

The Null Set Is Now 8 Years Old

I must be getting old because it does not seem like a year has passed since writing The Null Set’s seventh anniversary post but the calendar says otherwise. To the frequent readers/commenters, the one-timers, and everyone in between – Thank you! I’d like to promise (and deliver) more content and better content but I am who I am and all I can do is try.

I feel a rambling bit of introspection coming on, so, if reading that doesn’t sound appealing to you then this should be the last sentence you read before going – I don’t mind, you won’t hurt my feelings …incidentally, I’ve often wondered if I’d read my blog if someone else wrote it (look at me stretching this sentence out, anyways 🙂 ) – thanks again for visiting.

Concerning the Lack of Updates

I’ve never gone this long without a post; so, at this point, I think this is owed to those people who come to The Null Set to read my ramblings. If you’re not interested in reading non-content stuff, the long and short of it is that I hope to get back to semi-regular anime with a little SF throw in posting.

Serving on a Jury

Recent readers of The Null Set have probably noted that I’ve mentioned having jury duty for these past two weeks. Since people read this blog from around the world and I’m sure at least some of those countries don’t have jury trials (I’d be interested to hear about which countries do and don’t) and even in countries that have jury trials it’s probably not an everyday occurrence to serve on one, I thought my experience as a juror might be found interesting.