2001 - A Year in Review: Three Years Already

Wow, has it really been three years already?! How time flies... I still remember the endless hours hunched over a keyboard, writing lines upon lines of HTML code (I always insisted on doing everything by hand, WYSIWYG editors be damned), struggling to pull it all together myself, updating daily and writing in every ounce of my spare time.

It was a very strange time. Back then, the typical anime news sources that we've all come to rely on (ANN included) didn't exist. It was a very hazardous trail to blaze, and I fell into more than a few traps. All in all, I spent just a year and a half writing ANN. It was an experience I'll never forget, and the lessons I learned while writing it will last a lifetime.

Things are very different now. I work at a commercial anime company, and serve working on the upcoming Big Apple Anime Fest, which will be an interesting hybrid of a con and a film festival this fall in Manhattan. I'm still slaving away endless hours on anime-related things. I guess some things never change. (At least now I get paid...)

A lot has happened to ANN since I gave up control over it all those months ago. It's changed ownership not once, but twice, finally landing in the hands of two very talented and determined individuals. Much like I did, they learned by doing, and the ANN you see today is the acme of experience and hard work. I'm very proud of what they've accomplished.

I'd like to thank all the readers of ANN, who, of course, is the whole purpose behind its existence. I'd like to thank everyone who's stuck out the weirdness on the forum long after I jumped ship. Thanks to the writers, who have contributed to make ANN the most comprehensive anime news site on the internet, now long after most other anime web publications have ceased to be. And finally, thanks to our new editors, for keeping a good thing going, and making it great. You've continued where I couldn't, and improved the place beyond my expectations. My hat's off to you.