The State of the Academy

[ShinoMatrix]

Ok, so forgive me if there has been this 2 year or so gap since I could recall still being very active here and I'm not sure if this is a topic that has been brought up in recent times. But I'm curious to know, how is AA fairing? Have the forums continued in this slump in membership/activity or has there been a revival of sorts recently? Have certain sections become stale? Has the website itself and the reviews had some sort of rejuvenation in their numbers and are there plans or things in motion for more varied material to read there?

Anime Academy is still in my links bar on Firefox, but sometimes it's almost out of habit that I click on it. It's probably only recently, with my revitalised interest in ongoing discussions of series that I actually entered the threads themselves (because of anime that I was actually very excited about), for which I'm grateful that quite a few of the bunch which I always thought were worth a read were still posting.

As a side question, is there perhaps a correlation between how good the anime season is sometimes to the activity in these forums?

[Barrelhaven]

Has the website itself and the reviews had some sort of rejuvenation in their numbers and are there plans or things in motion for more varied material to read there?

Reviews? It's funny because that's what originally lured me in here in the first place. It's unfortunate that the frequency of them have dropped off over time though. They used to be my first "go-to" place to find out about a series I was interested in, but other sites/blogs have taken that role since. The forum still remains interesting place to gather opinions though, even though it isn't exactly booming with activity.

You were obviously here longer than I, so I can't say how the place has changed over that lengthy of a span, but to me, things seem to have remained the same over the last year or so.

[General Suburbia]

I rarely watch anime anymore, but this forum is always a great place to find good discussions in general. AA's not growing any quicker than when you left, but by no means does it mean it's dying.

[Pachinko]

I rarely watch anime anymore, but this forum is always a great place to find good discussions in general. AA's not growing any quicker than when you left, but by no means does it mean it's dying.

I feel the same.

Anime, for me, is at a standstill, & although I love it astoundingly, I have little to no time for it at the moment. Hopefully that'll change soon; but I do love AA for the fact that it does have other realms of opportunity for some enjoyable convo, like in Music and Misc. I still find my rare visits fun and worthwhile. :]

[Illjwamh]

I miss the reviews. Sometimes I think the profs only want to do brand new shows/movies or whatever, but I can think of plenty older titles that haven't been reviewed, both mainstream and obscure.

The forums seem as alive as ever, though.

[Barrelhaven]

I miss the reviews.

Hmm...if only there were more professors here. *hint*hint*

But seriously though, there's plenty of good prospects in the student reviews section. Maybe it's time for some of those postdocs to move up in the ranks?

[ShinoMatrix]

I feel the same.

Anime, for me, is at a standstill, & although I love it astoundingly, I have little to no time for it at the moment. Hopefully that'll change soon; but I do love AA for the fact that it does have other realms of opportunity for some enjoyable convo, like in Music and Misc. I still find my rare visits fun and worthwhile. :]

See, in the past couple of years, anime too was slightly put on hold for me as the other sorry side of this fandom (organising a convention) took centrestage and I forgot that I was actually here for the anime. When I quit the committee and am my own man again, my love for anime was rekindled and which is what prompted me to return to a more regular appearance here, so maybe it's not a case of the anime season being good, but of life giving people time to watch instead?

[isolatedotaku]

I miss the reviews. Sometimes I think the profs only want to do brand new shows/movies or whatever, but I can think of plenty older titles that haven't been reviewed, both mainstream and obscure.

The forums seem as alive as ever, though.

This is my sentiment as well. It is really nice that they produce a review of a show I just finished watching from the most recent anime season, but it is even better when they produce a review that actually makes me want to watch something that wasn't released in the last 5 years.

[KiraraKim]

I think there is definitely less activity compared to when I first joined but about the same as a year ago. There are always high and low points in activity depending on how good the anime season is. The fall and winter was a really slow time for anime so there wasn't a lot of posts. Last spring Gurren Lagann aired so there was a lot more activity. I think it all depends on what new shows are out.


I do miss the reviews on the first page. Like others that is how I originally found this site. And for awhile I depended on AA for what shows to check out that weren't airing on TV. I don't think that is the case anymore though since I am a lot more knowledgeable about anime than I was when I first joined.

[Erigion]

I love the current state of the AA forums because less forum activity means less mod work.

What? We have a front page? With reviews? I dun believe.

[Kavik Ryx]

You know I was looking through the archives last night and it occurred to me that except for Taleweaver and Two Twenty, review on AA see to come far and few. It's not as motivating to go to the same site over and over and only see the same old same old to be perfectly honest. It would be crass of me to ask what gives, but it does seem kinda odd unless everyone of the professors is working on their dissertation or something like that.

[LakiDash]

Site's hibernating, Forum's alive, IRC is dead dead dead. (Why?????)

[animanic_critic]

Hmm...if only there were more professors here. *hint*hint*

But seriously though, there's plenty of good prospects in the student reviews section. Maybe it's time for some of those postdocs to move up in the ranks?
Nah, it's not the question on the quantity of professors; they have more than enough. I just wish to see them write more.

A funny incident happened when I was in camp this afternoon. When I tried to log in to AA through a shared computer at camp, one of my colleague sniggered behind my back about how I'm into something like anime just by seeing me logging into here. I couldn't entertain him more.

They don't know that AA is more than just about anime and that's what I love about it so much that it's still making me come back. Only those who bother to find out about AA would know how good it actually is.