Zero to Hero Day 19: Publish in a New-to-you Format

Today’s assignment: publish a post using a format you’ve never used before.

Kyousougiga

Log Horizon

Nagi no Asukara

Noragami

My usual format consists of at least one picture (around 5 for anime reviews) and mostly text. Since Day 18 of Zero to Hero requests a new format, I thought I’ll try out a gallery. I wasn’t sure what to include in the gallery, so I added my favourite screenshots from some of the anime I’ve reviewed. Most of them are from Noragami because it’s my favourite on-going anime at the moment.

Which reminds me, I haven’t watched Nisekoi episode 2 yet!

Zero to Hero Day 18: Activate a Social Network

Today’s assignment: Explore one or more social networks, and start an account so you can being exploring the possibilities. If you’re already active on a social network, set up Publicize and link the account to your blog, and/or create a strategy for how you’ll use it.

To be honest, I’ll rather not activate a social network for my blog. By doing so, whenever I post something, it will show up on my social network account. I usually use Twitter, but it’s a pretty personal account, with the occasional rants on the anime I’m currently watching. I’ll rather not have tweets posted automatically whenever I publish a post. It might spam my Twitter profile with tweets about my blog which I wouldn’t like. I prefer to keep my personal social networks separate from my blog..

Zero to Hero Day 17: Increase Your Commenting Confidence

Today’s assignment: read six posts written in response to yesterday’s prompt, and leave comments on at least two of them.

(If you didn’t complete yesterday’s task, leave two comments anywhere, and write a new post of your own.)

I wasn’t sure what to write about for the previous assignment at first, so before writing my own response, I read some from my reader. That gave me some ideas on how to approach the task. After reading those responses, I commented on them. Hence, I had already completed the assignment for Day 17.

I was nervous when I first started commenting on other blogs. I was worried that what I said didn’t make sense to the writer. Slowly, I became used to commenting, especially on blogs I visit often. Nowadays, I make it a point to comment on at least two blogs per day if I have the time. That increases my commenting confidence. If you’re nervous about commenting on other blogs, it’s okay! After more commenting, you’ll find out it isn’t that scary at all, and that other bloggers are glad to see your comments!

Zero to Hero Day 16: Personalise a Prompt

Today’s assignment: publish a post based on your own, personalized take on today’s Daily Prompt.

Do you have a reputation? What is it, and where did it come from? Is it accurate? What do you think about it?

I’m a bit late with this assignment, so the Daily Prompt I’ll be tackling is from 17th January. Here’s my take of a free verse poem. I haven’t written any for months, so please excuse me if it’s poorly written. View the original Daily Prompt at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/daily-prompt-you/

A reputation

What would mine be?

It used to be

A girl always with a book.

But now

My library of books sit alone

Untouched

Neglected.

My reputation

What is it now?

Let me return

To the wonderland of books.

I used to love reading books. I once had the reputation of being the girl who always carries a book around. It’s been about five years since then. My current reputation is probably being an anime fan. Yesterday, I found a book I bought a few years ago. It’s Crookedstar’s Promise, a super edition from Warriors by Erin Hunter. Warriors is my favourite series. It’s written in the perspective of forest cats, so it’s very interesting. Warriors is the only series that can leave me reading for hours. It’s that good. After reading Crookedstar’s Promise, I think I’m back to the avid reader I used to be.

Zero to Hero Day 15: Explore Visuals and Content

Today’s assignment: open the Customizer and try out some new fonts and colors (and backgrounds and/or headers, if you’re still undecided).

It seems that my Zero to Hero posts are getting shorter by the day. My regular anime episode reviews take up most of my time so I’m a bit behind my assignments. Nevertheless, here is Day 15.

I tried a few different colour palettes. There were more muted colours like light blue and light grey which fit my theme quite well. The pink backgrounds like nice too, but the font colours that come with it are too light which make the words difficult to read. On the other hand, there are also striking colours. I prefer light colours for my background so that the focus of my blog lies in the actual content instead of my background. One feature I really like about the Customise feature is the fonts. I always find choosing fonts very enjoyable. One of the fonts I found to my liking is Adelle.

I was exploring the different palettes available and I came across the one shown in the screenshot I took. I think that it looks really nice. The white background makes the words clearer and easier to read, while the pink and orange font colours look good together.

It was fun trying out the Customise features. However, I’m sticking to the original look of my blog since I think it’s more pleasant for the eyes. It’s simple but nice. Besides, it’s free.

On a side note, this is my 50th post! Wow!

Zero to Hero Day 14: Blogger’s Choice

For Day 14, there isn’t a specific assignment for Zero to Hero. Participants are given the choice to do what they want. Some suggestions given are more commenting and searching for new topics on the Reader.

It’s become a daily practice for me to check out the Anime and zerotohero topics and comment or like the ones that I find interesting. I agree that blogs get more traffic when bloggers comment on other blogs. For me, I visit the blogs of those who comment on my blog. It’s nice knowing that people actually read what I write so I’m always happy whenever anyone likes or comments on my posts.

Since there isn’t any particular assignment given, I’ll use this post to write about some updates. Here’s what you can expect to see on Otaku Daydreams for this month:

1. Episode reviews for Log Horizon and Noragami  
2. Zero to Hero assignments
3. Weekly round-ups with short reviews for Nagi no Asukara, Nisekoi and Hamatora (I’ll post this around Fridays because all of the new episodes of the anime I’m covering will be aired by then)

I will only post the weekly round-ups if I have the time, but the first two will definitely be posted.

Zero to Hero Day 13: Build a (Better) Blogroll

Today’s Assignment: Create, edit, or expand your blogroll.

I feel that my blog has enough widgets on my sidebar but since it’s an assignment for Zero to Hero, I’ve added my blogroll. I’ve added links to a few blogs that I visit often. For those who are interested in adding a blogroll to your blog, here are the steps:

1. Add your chosen sites in the “Links” tab in your dashboard.
2. Head to Appearance → Widgets and add the “Links” widget into your sidebar or footer.

 

Since there are only a few links now, I’ll leave my blogroll on my sidebar. If I have many links to include in the future, I might create a page for it. So that’s Day 13 of Zero to Hero done!

First Impressions: Nisekoi

Nisekoi was one of the Winter anime I was anticipating for and episode 1 aired last Saturday. I read and commented on a review posted by The Glorio Blog so I’m putting my review for Nisekoi as my task for Zero to Hero Day 12: From Comment to Blog Post – Be Inspired By the Community.

Today’s assignment: write a post that builds on one of the comments you left yesterday. Don’t forget to link to the other blog!

Episode 1: The Promise

Animation-wise, Shaft did a great job with the animation effects and colour contrasts. I like the animation effects at the beginning of the anime when the promise between the main character, Ichijo Raku, and the girl is made. It is funny when Raku announces “Breakfast is ready, you bums!” and gets glared at by a huge group of gangsters before they greeted him with a “Good morning, young master!” It’s interesting how Raku is the sole heir of a Yakuza family but only wants to study hard and enter a good college so that he can get a respectable job in the future.

The middle of the episode was quite bland in my opinion. Transfer students and the main male and female characters hating each other at first is very common and nothing new. I read some comments about how Nisekoi is a great comedy, but it isn’t as humourous as I hoped it would be. Perhaps it’s because I’ve recently been watching Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, which I find is a hilarious and much better romantic comedy.

I was wondering about the reason why Raku and Chitoge had to pretend to be lovers so I was glad I got my answer in the end of the episode. Raku sure is in a weird situation. He has to pretend to be Chitoge’s boyfriend when he likes Onodera.  In addition, Onodera being the girl who made the promise with Raku is a surprise to me. To be honest, I thought it would be Chitoge. Then again, knowing that Onodera was also on the cover of Volume 1 of the Nisekoi manga, she must be an important character instead of merely being someone Raku likes. Even though they were pretty much forced to, what will Onodera do when she hears that Raku and Chitoge are a couple?

On the whole, I’m quite interested in what will happen so I’ll still continue watching Nisekoi. I probably won’t have the time to blog about each episode but I’ll try to write an overall review for the series when it’s completed.

Watch Nisekoi episode 1 at http://www.animeultima.tv/Nisekoi-episode-1/

Zero to Hero Day 11: Leave Comments on Three Blogs

Today’s assignment: leave comments on at least three blogs that you’ve never commented on before.

This post is going to be short. I’ve commented on a few blogs, mostly about anime. (I’m an otaku after all.) I feel really happy whenever people comment on my posts since it’s nice knowing that people actually read what I post. While searching for posts to comment on for this task, I found some new anime blogs to follow. It’s interesting knowing how other bloggers think of the anime I’m currently watching.

Anime blogs I started following:

• Mahou Tofu
• The Glorio Blog
• Jikman’s Anime Zone 

I’ll post about Zero to Hero Day 12 soon together with my review for Nisekoi episode 1.

Zero to Hero Day 10: Dress Up Your Blog With Widgets

Today’s assignment: add and customize two widgets.

I’ve included many widgets to my blog before this assignment was posted and adding any more would make my blog too complicated. Hence, I’ll just leave it as it is and blog about the widgets I have.

Search: I think that it makes me blog look more professional and complete. This is  just my opinion. There are things that I like but lack a proper explanation why.

Text: “About Otaku Daydreams” shows a brief description of my blog.

Archives: This organises my posts according to which month they are posted.

Calendar: This is my favourite widget. When I saw this on some blogs I was visiting, I immediately went to find out how to include it on my blog. I like how it indicates the days when I post.

Recent Posts: This is probably the most basic widget needed for a blog. It’s the first thing I notice when I look at the side bar of a blog I’m visiting.

Categories: If you look at my blog, the first thing you might notice is the menu. I’ve included three categories on it but I actually have six categories at the moment.

• Anime movies/ specials: This refers to my reviews for anime movies and OVAs.
• Anime reviews: This category is for my reviews on completed anime.
• Challenges: This refers to WordPress challenges like Zero to Hero.
• Episode reviews: This is for my reviews on individual anime episodes.
• Favourites: This category includes lists of my favourite anime, manga, opening and ending songs.

Top Posts & Pages: This shows the top 5 posts with the most views. I like how it shows which posts most of my readers have been reading recently.

Tag Cloud: Although it might appear a bit messy, I like how this shows what tags I’ve included in my blog. It’s like a summary of the topics I’ve written about.

Meta: It’s one of the widgets originally included in my blog. It helps to navigate around WordPress.

The assignment for Day 11 is already posted but I think I’ll leave it for tomorrow. Now to catch up on the anime I’ve missed…