Evaluating 2008 Predictions and Resolutions

Image drawn by pixiv user リヨ

It’s the final day of two thousand and eight — time to see how well my prognostications fared and how poorly I stuck to my self-pledges. (Here are my rationalizations from early January.)

2008 Predictions:

1) The next season of Haruhi will feature a J-Pop dancy opening or closing song, akin to Hare Hare Yukai or Motteke Sailor Fuku. #

INDETERMINATE: I wasn’t aware that Clannad After Story would begin in October when I made this prediction. Now I suppose the 2nd season of Haruhi might begin in fall 2009. Maybe. The Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san web shorts are certainly going to debut this year and those two seem more likely than the original series to have a bouncy theme song.

2) A Japanese studio will release English-subbed episodes online near-simultaneously with the airing of episodes on Japanese TV, perhaps using torrents. #

CORRECT: I initially called pegged this a “crazy failure” in the making but as the year went on, it turned out to be fairly prescient.

March saw Gonzo GDH put Tower of Druaga and Blassreiter onto YouTube, Crunchyroll, and BOST and follow that up with Strike Witches in June and Linebarrels of Iron in October. FUNimation launched fall anime Shikabane Hime: Aka onto a variety of sites in October, Viz announced a month later that they would offer newly aired Naruto Shippuden episodes in January, and Crunchyroll attracted TV Tokyo (e.g. Eyeshield 21), Toei Animation (Pretty Cure, Slam Dunk), and other companies to start uploading shows next month when they scorch their user-submitted episodes.

3) Another studio will take over some of Geneon’s “on hiatus” licenses. #

CORRECT: This was a no brainer at the time because of the fan demand. FUNimation took over the bulk of them in early July while Media Blasters assumed Moribito in March and got it onto Adult Swim. Also, the majority of FUNi’s New Show A-Go-Go licenses were former Geneon series – Ikki Tousen, Gad Guard, Vandread, Last Exile, Gankutsuou (rechristened Count of Monte Cristo), Gungrave, and Samurai Champloo.

4) There will be more “subtitled only” DVD releases, notably from studios other than Media Blasters or RightStuf. #

CORRECT: Bandai released Gurren Lagann in subtitle-only releases over the summer; the Toward the Terra TV series in July, September, and December; and a Rocket Girls collection in October. Media Blasters released without a dub Girl’s High, Strawberry Panic!, Kirameki Project, Otoboku, Night Head Genesis, Dokuro-chan, and Magical Witch Punie-chan. Nozomi (TRSI’s production division) let loose both seasons of Victorian Romance Emma, the first season of Maria Watches Over Us, the Toward the Terra movie, and Aria the Animation.

5) Another Japanese food will rise to meme/fan favorite status due to a premiering anime. #

PUSH/LEAN INCORRECT: I had to ask for help on this one as I could only think of apples from Spice and Wolf. Thankfully, lelangir reminded me about Tsugumi’s fried eggs and vegetables from Kannagi and Rainbow Pan from Clannad/Clannad ~After Story~. But those still seem a little lackluster so I am calling this one a push leaning into incorrect territory.

While doing some slap-dash research last night, I discovered the following: double’s disappointment when sampling melonpan last December, food screencaps by Author, Baka-Raptor’s complaint about anime setting unreasonable standards on food, SDShamshel pondering what a hot dog-focused manga would be like, biankita made some Soul Eater cookies (and later made Code Geass and Animal Yokocho versions), DS finally consumed some dango, and Hyvanian’s mention of tomato juice appearing in sola in a list of memorable anime food.

2008 Resolutions:

1) I will draw/sketch more in this year. #

FAILED: Not even close. I have given up on this one.

2) I will devise more creative ways to review series. #

MINOR FAILURE: I was overly ambitious in early January. I rediscovered my discomfort regarding self-filming and didn’t take many creative routes like Riex did with the first Naruto Shippuden movie. Still, I started a segment called “Burning Through The Backlog” (the only entry so far) and intend to soon introduce a see-for-myself segment for reviewing widely-adored series like Aria and the Key/KyoAni trilogy as well as divisive series like Kaiba.

3) I will create at least one AMV during 2008. #

FAILED: Like #1, I am retiring this one but I have hope for 2009 as I intend to buy Vegas 9 next week. I requested and received materials for the AMVJ X’amd/BOOM BOOM SATELLITES contest (link) but Windows Movie Maker can’t import Quicktime files, thus further my need to obtain Vegas.

4) I will get a damn job. #

FAILED: I applied for part-time work this fall at Costco and Safeway and had interviews at each but neither ended up hiring me.

5) I will seriously get going on my backlog, especially the box sets. #

FAILED: I don’t feel like I completed many unfinished series. Let’s see, I watched DNA^2 in August and I think that was really it in terms of progress in backlog elimination. In the meantime, I didn’t make a good dent in the ones I wanted to finish this year and picked many fall series that I should be able to finish over the next month. This battle will be continue to fought so it would be cheap of me to rehash it as a 2009 resolution.

So I got 3 predictions right while pushing on the other two and did a bellyflop regarding fulfilling resolutions. I will post my predictions and resolutions for 2009 sometime tomorrow (New Year’s Day) or soon after.

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• Assessing 2007 Predictions and Resolutions (2)
• 2009 Predictions and Resolutions: A Week Late Like 2008 (1)