Lets start week three of this interview process. Thanks for showing up and supporting this idea, everyone. So far, this is working out well and I hope that everyone else has gotten something from this as well.
Here is the short survey link if you are interested in joining into this fun: https://forms.gle/WfsoEgv3eGMKUUVF9
But right now, let’s get a word from The Random Editor.
What is your name, the kind of content you create on the internet, and the name of that or those pieces of media?
I’m ThatRandomEditor. Sometimes I’m referred to as Rand to make it shorter especially if you met me before.
I started out as an anime blogger on WordPress. Initially my goal was to review a number of anime I watch then put out my thoughts out there. Started with two series by doing episode reviews but stopped it. Alongside blogging, I draw digital art too. You could also guess my style is also based on anime too but it somewhat differs with the amount of shows. And recently I was even able to get some quick commissions on the side.
When did you first start enjoying the media of which you provide a voice for online?
Before I went to WordPress I used to lurk a lot in r/anime on Reddit. That site is one of the few places where I could freely discuss my likes and dislikes about the medium. Back then it was simply upvoting but down the line I started to comment. At first it was a bit intimidating but then I’ve found my place until I wanted to try other channels to work with.
There are other groups online like in Facebook and Twitter but I never liked getting to spend time with them. You could feel exhausted by how they act based on their online activities and how they treat other people online.
What made you choose the media that you communicate your thoughts online?
Personal reasons. Anime is one of the very few mediums where blurring the line is a thing. If I try live-action, books or even video games, they’re very different to each other. I live in a country where animation from cartoons or anime is considered a niche. And even art, in general, isn’t considered as a normal topic to talk on a daily basis. When I share my own art online I do get different reactions but at least there are people out there who love my work no matter the quality.
Has it been difficult to find a voice in the online fandom?
Yes. The time you spent online determines who you are. I’ve met people in real life who only watches anime only for specific series and that’s it.
Some even are only in it for the memes. Some just simply tried out because it’s a trending topic all of a sudden. It all feels different when you talk to someone who knows what they’re talking about and they reply back to an equal level. Even better if the person is actually interested in learning new information they haven’t seen or heard of before.
In the case of creating art, it’s all in the case of subjectivity. I even started an NSFW art account with muscled men or men, in general, doing suggestive things as the main subjects to see the differences in how people perceive it despite me not doing much for the account due to real-life obligations. I share a number of my art on the main account where the traction varies by each piece and it all depends if the audience wants it.
And don’t get me started on fandom wars. It’s a waste of time and effort especially when a person only likes a series solely for a specific character-relationship dynamic to the overall feel of the said series.
When did you start gathering an audience? (Even a small amount of views or subscribers is an audience.)
From the 2 years of experience on WordPress, it was a rocky start. It’s unsurprising for most people unless if you know how the site works. My audience was slowly building up when I started my seasonal anime impressions in separate posts for each show until I combined them into a general overview. At first reviewing a show individually was nice until it became: “Do you like it or not? Explain why.” An unexciting cycle if you ask me.
Slowly but surely I’m branching out to other approaches and they worked in their own ways. When I was able to interact with other bloggers too it became one of the most important things to do online. When there’s no interaction, you can’t build an audience. Art is another tricky thing to get to as well especially with how social media works.
Once I saw the chance to put my name on TheJCS spearheaded by Jon every now and then I knew that what’s been missing all this time. Selling yourself is a must. But, you can’t rely on your own all the time.
The one thing that does stop me is having the time to work on it. Same goes with creating art you wanted to truly create over something that’s special.
How do handle the online discourse of anything? Media/Social Justice/Fandoms/ETC
Be calm and collected. But if it all spirals downward I would try to mute the conversation entirely. Even if I could always call out at the end of the day there are people out there who just want to make some unnecessary noise.
What are two posts/podcast episodes/pieces of art/etc that you are very proud of?
This sketch of mine: https://www.instagram.com/p/CCdSssmjcZQ/. And for the blog post: https://editorani.wordpress.com/2020/07/19/where-are-the-shoujo-anime/
For the art, I’ve felt at peace when I draw men. But not in a bishounen style or a webtoon style however. In case if you’re asking, yes I can draw women too but there’s this ruggedness only men could get. It was an assignment in drawing class where each student was assigned to draw anatomy and I self-studied more on male anatomy than female anatomy. When the topic of anime art comes into mind at my school women are usually drawn all the time. It led to a point where I only draw female characters if they have any appeal to me. I get it’s been the selling point ever since the birth of the medium but can’t we appreciate the guys too?
In the blog post, it was the most unexpected where I was cited by many other bloggers and it’s gotten the most comments in a single post to date. Funnily enough, it was written at a time where I had a headache and I was so tired. Not kidding! I wrote it because I wanted to write something different for my blog and if I didn’t press publish at the time things may stay the same. Who knows what the fate of the blog could be if that didn’t come. There are other posts that do have the same amount of effort but it didn’t get the treatment I wanted.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!
Thank you. It’s nice of you for having this chance to be myself.
Where can people find you online? (Twitter @/Facebook group/Blog Link/Place to find your podcasts/Patreon/Other Things?)
Main Acc: @RandomEditorAni (https://twitter.com/RandomEditorAni) NSFW Acc: @random_ingel (https://twitter.com/random_ingel)
Pixiv: random•editor (https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/30317246)
Instagram: @thatrandomeditor (https://www.instagram.com/thatrandomeditor/)
Ko-fi: ThatRandomEditor (https://ko-fi.com/thatrandomeditor)
Blog: https://editorani.wordpress.com/
Note: my NSFW will be full of naked men. And dicks. Most people think NSFW is solely for one gender but you can find it easily anywhere else. I just do what I want to do.
A very big thank you to Rand for answer my questions. Certainly a busy person with a lot of cool things going on! 😀
Everyone out there can join in some way. Here is the link if you are interested in joining in the fun 😀 : https://forms.gle/dpGk7TaiQJrBJh5N7
Mechanical Anime Reviews 