Another site we’ve had our eye on that’s been brewing behind the scenes for several months has finally come online: Akibanana. It opened last week around the same time as the new English Akiba Blog, and already has a decent body of a dozen or so posts online on topics ranging from Lucky Star and Haruhi to cat cafes and robot soccer. With the field of English language news and coverage of Akihabara-related events becoming more crowded I’m not sure where Akibanana will find their niche, but I wish them the best – those seeking a more detailed primer on the site can find it over at The FØØL’s Progress. (no more)
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Checked it out. As it’s still very new, it’s hard to really sink your teeth into, but if they tighten it up a bit they’ll come up with a pleasant style, I’d say.
I also think it’s still too early to pass judgement yet, but I do think it’ll take a while for the place to grow on me. I still will come here first! ^_^
Doesn’t hurt to have a few more competitors, does it Shingo? ^^
I thought it looked cool. The layout is neat and uncluttered, and the news and blog entries are very readable.
The best bits are probably the on-site locale reviews. It doesn’t hurt that they have some cute gaijin ‘mascots’ too.
Competition? Nah, the world’s growing otaku community will only embrace more sites like akibanana.
I… need… to… visit… the… cat… cafe…
This is the future. As “peer-to-peer” information exchange further encroaches upon “top-down” information broadcast (big-business broadcasting), it’s only natural that community and culture consolidation sites such as HD and Danny Choo will rise among the blogosphere and take the lead. Blogs that only talk about themselves and their friends, or only advertise products don’t do so well. They need to deliver content, which takes the form of updates in otaku culture.
I’ve reached a point where I am loathe to buy print magazines anymore. Why, when the internet provides the free avenue for you to judge who keeps their content fresh? This goes for all media and information, not just anime-related. There is no such thing as ‘unbiased opinion’ anyway.. (*cough NY Times, Washington Post).
>> DaFool
I somewhat agree with you about print media going the way of the dinosaurs.
It will only become a reality when the those born before public internet (me included) dies off. Then it will definitely be sayonara for the prints. As of now, there are those (my parents, uncles, aunts, me etc) that still read print. Also, tech-wise, we are not there yet. (I’m not about to read the daily news on my laptop or handphone while taking my morning break in the gents…) Imagine what happens if you drop it in the bowl… 8/
But I definitely agree that p2p info exchange is the way to go. Even our paternalistic govt acknowledges that there’s no way for them to control the internet traffic anymore. (e.g. Porn is officially banned in Singapore. But hell, even 14 year old school kids are viewing the latest scandal of HK Edison Chan nude pictures on their handphones.)
p.s. No, I don’t approve of minors viewing porn, but that’s a parental duty, not something for the govt to get their knickers into a twist about. 8)