Welcome one and all, for today is my blog's THIRD anniversary!
Seriously, three years I've been running this site already? Where does that time go...?
Three years of themediamanblog, and I've covered A LOT of topics here, haven't I? From reviews to Top 10 lists to essays and so much more, this blog has been a pleasure to run since day one, and the fact I seem to have a decent number of people who follow it makes it even better. While some posts inevitably get more views than others and some are lucky if they even get more than 10 views, every post I've produced in these three years has been a lot of fun to write and I'm glad I have all of you checking them out week-after-week as I make them.
So, to celebrate my blog's third year anniversary, I have the PERFECT post in mind. For this post, I'll be counting down my Top 10 Favourite Blog Posts I've written for this blog. It might sound a big egotistical and self-aggrandizing to do so, but I see it as me celebrating how far I've come by talking about my favourite posts I've created.
So without further ado, let's cut into themediamanblog's birthday cake and celebrate its third birthday by counting down my Top 10 Favourite Blog Posts...
Number 10: Lillie's Family vs. the Agreste Family
Of all the Vs. essays I've done so far, this is easily my favourite one due to being the most interesting subject matter for a Vs. essay in my eyes.
This post came to me out of the blue somewhere when I suddenly realized that Lillie's family from Pokémon Sun and Moon and the Agreste family from Miraculous Ladybug surprisingly have a lot in common. Given Thomas Astruc's (ridiculous) hatred of Pokémon, you'd think he'd have noticed too. XD Funny enough, Sun and Moon came out a year after Miraculous Ladybug did, so you really have to ask if either side ripped each other off or not.
But in all seriousness, once I noticed all the similarities these families had, I knew I had to do a comparison piece about them. I enjoyed this post not only because the idea was too good to pass up, but it was also one of my most original posts I've done so far. Nobody else has done a comparison piece like this, so this is one of those very few posts that feels like it's genuinely my own idea and not anyone else's. I also feel I did a great job comparing both sides and why Lillie's family were the superior characters to the Agreste family. Lillie is better handled than Adrien, Lusamine is a more competently written villain than Gabriel is and Lillie has a more positive impact on the people around her while also being positively impacted by them, while Adrien more negatively impacts those around him and in turn, they negatively impact him. Oh and Lillie doesn't have some dumb twist about her being a Sentimonster either, that helps too. I feel I explained my points very well here and I don't think I sounded biased during this entire post. I really do feel like I was talking objectively why one side's better than the other and made points that would be hard to disagree with.
In any case, this is my favourite Vs. post I've ever written for the blog. The idea was unique, I made a comparison piece nobody else has done and I feel I illustrated perfectly why one family worked and the other didn't. Easily deserves a spot on this list in my eyes.
Number 9: My 10 Favourite Nice Girls
This I feel was one of my most pleasant and wholesome posts I've written, so I naturally have a soft spot for it.
As you know, I love girls and I love kind people, so naturally I love girls who are kind. This list was so wholesome to write as it was me getting to gush about why I love these characters so much and why their kindness and nice nature makes them so appealing. I said in the post itself that kindness is an undervalued trait in this miserable world we live in today, so that only made the post feel that more important to write about. Kindness should be celebrated, not looked down upon, so making a post talking about characters who are nice and why their nice nature makes them as lovable as they are really did feel like I was offering a breath of fresh air for everybody. If you found solace in this list after reading it and got the warm and fuzzies as a result, I'm happy to hear that and glad I could make something that could have that kind of effect on you. ^^
I also enjoyed picking and choosing which girls to put on the list and I think I made a lot of great choices. Liko, Kiki, Mrs. Brisby and Wonder Woman are specially the best examples I could've put on the list since their kindness is one of their biggest primary traits, and also likely a reason why these characters are so beloved, and not just by me too.
I loved making this post and had a really sweet time making it. It made me feel good and I hope everyone who read it felt good too. Remember folks, it never hurts to be kind, so follow these girl's examples and be nice to others...within reason of course.
Number 8: The Discourse Around Liko
This is an essay I feel very proud of because of the fact I feel I articulated to perfection why the discourse around Liko was ridiculous and showed a very basic lack of media literacy from the naysayers.
While the discourse around Liko nowadays has changed to how much she sucks as a trainer because she's always getting her ass kicked (thanks for nothing Terastal Training arc!) and thus this post might seem a little dated now, I do think it still holds up for how well I did at dissecting all the criticisms she was getting back then and pointing out how she actually impacts the story more than people gave her credit for. Throughout the post, I feel I covered every part of the discussion very well from how people thought she was too passive or how she had no arc or goal and how she didn't impact the story and basically tore apart those ridiculous criticisms. Anyone who has actually seen Pokémon Horizons can tell you those criticisms were complete bunk. The naysayers were either misinformed or deliberately misinterpreting the source material just so they could make Liko look bad, and by extension the show as well. I especially find it so funny how people complained that "Liko has no arc or goal" and then the episode where she and Roy battle Kabu came out and basically told everyone "Duh, that's the point!" and since then, Liko now DOES have an arc and a goal. Goes to show why we shouldn't judge until a story is finished, eh? You can't always tell how a story will go until you've seen it to the end after all.
This post was great for me to write as it felt a little cathartic tearing down these dumb arguments about Liko in the show's early days and I hope this essay at least caused people to revaluate how they looked at the character or at least saw her in a new light. At least these discussions have long since died down as the show has continued and people are able to see that Liko isn't so passive after all and that she DOES have an arc. This post may be a little dated now, but I still think it's one of my best discussion pieces and a whole lot of fun to write too.
Number 7: The Robot Wars Career Of Essays
I can't pick just one of these for it's a series of essays I love doing in general, so the entire series gets a mention here. This series is basically me recapping the career of a certain robot that has competed in Robot Wars.
As of this post, I have covered:
And you BETTER believe I have plenty more in-store going forward!
As a die-hard, lifelong Robot Wars fan, I naturally love writing these posts. It's just so fun getting to recap the history of these famous machines with the occasional funny commentary and joke I slip in here and there to make them more entertaining. The fact these posts tend to get more views than the average only makes it better. I guess the internet has more Robot Wars fans than I gave it credit for. One of my proudest moments of running this blog is when I actually got a Facebook comment from Dave Young, the captain of the Apollo team himself, on my Apollo essay.
As a Robot Wars fan, what could be a prouder moment for me? ^^
I love writing these essays and I intend to write many more in the future. There's still plenty of robots to cover after all. And we're not done yet, for I have another Robot Wars post that makes the countdown...
Number 6: Robot Wars at Christmas
I hold this post in high regard precisely for one big reason: it's my most original piece of content I've ever produced for the blog. No other internet content creator has EVER done anything like this, so I truly do have a piece of content on this site that is truly an original idea I came up with myself. That alone makes it pretty special to me.
This was just a fun idea for a post, me essentially recapping all the times Robot Wars did a Christmas special (kind of) and offering my opinions on each episode as I covered them. It was such a unique idea for a Christmas related post too, which showed some creativity on my part and since no one else has ever done a post like this on the internet, I feel like I've truly come up with a piece of content that's wholly unique to me specifically. How could I not enjoy it for that? It also helps that Robot Wars and Christmas are two things that really don't go together, so such an idea is just pretty funny to cover. It's like "What? Robot Wars at Christmas? How does that work?", which adds a bit of humour to the idea in my eyes.
This post is among my favourite posts ever for the sheer creativity behind it and how it's such a unique piece of content that you won't find anywhere else. I'm so glad I thought of it and I'll treasure it always as my most unique idea yet...
Number 5: Why Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V Failed
This was a post in where writing about the media was more fun than actually watching the media in question. Seriously, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V was trash and I regret ever watching it. It's so bad that I've sworn off of ever watching any more Yu-Gi-Oh! anime that's come out after the original series because no matter which one I watch, it never lives up to the original. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's was close, but then that stupid, stupid second half happened that ruined it...
Anyway, this post was a lot of fun to write from how I went over the problems Arc-V had to how I suggested it could be improved. Arc-V just had SO many problems that it gave me a lot of material to work with, which only made the post all the more fun to write for me. Some of my favourite parts of the essay include going over the characters who could've (and should've) been dropped and which ones should've been used more, covering why Leo Akaba is an absolute moron and my quick little re-write at the end where I suggested how the show should've been done. Oh and I thought my little wisecrack about how the most positive thing the show ever did for me was make me want to buy Radiraptors and Frightfurs was pretty funny too. XD Both are good archetypes by the way. I also thought writing that bit where I yell "LEO AKABA IS AN IMBECILE!" was pretty funny too.
This post I feel was one of my best examples of critical thinking and being constructive in how this show could've been improved, and was one of the most fun times I've had thinking things over in regards to media and how to improve it. I may have hated watching Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, but I loved writing this essay. I wonder how many Yu-Gi-Oh! fans found this an interesting read, if they read it at all that is.
Number 4: Re-writing Pokémon Horizons Season 3
My first attempt at a re-write essay, and I feel it turned out great.
I cannot stress enough how much of a frustrating mess of an arc Terastal Debut was. It absolutely had NO business being as bad as it was. It shouldn't have treated Liko like crap, it should've involved Ann more, it should've written the battles better instead of making them one-sided and boring, it should've done better with the Explorers and most importantly, it should've ended with Liko winning instead of Roy. So one reason why this post is among my favourites I've created for this blog is largely down to the catharsis factor I felt when making it. Writing how I would've handled this series and fix all the annoying flaws it had really did feel like stress relief for me and felt like a much healthier way to deal with my frustration towards this arc instead of just writing an angry review, y'know? People should do that more often if you ask me, do re-write essays about how to improve something instead of just being angry and saying "THIS SUCKS!" or "THIS MEDIA IS WORSE THAN HITLER AND EVERYBODY WHO MADE IT DESERVES TO DIE!" Seriously people, never say things like that, that's not constructive or helpful and is just horrible...
I really had a lot of fun with this post from detailing how I would've had each episode play out to changing the outcomes of the battles to make them better (and also allow Liko to win more often) and also how I would handle the characters. The way I managed to fit Ann into the story and give her an arc was especially fun for me and I'm rather pleased with how I fit it in this re-write. I'm also glad I didn't let my biases get in the way of the re-write and I managed to give Liko, Roy and Dot equal treatment when I could've easily given Liko all the glory. Remember, I think Roy is a useless spare part and the show would've genuinely been better without him, yet I didn't make him useless or make Liko better than him just because I could. No, my re-write let them both have their times to shine and when it came to adapting Liko vs. Roy at the end of the arc, I feel I had the best compromise I could've given by having it so the fight got interrupted by the Explorers attacking the school, hence there's no winner. It would've been SO easy to make Liko win, but I had to think about what would please everybody, not just myself, so having it end with no actual winner was the better option (and what the writers should've done instead).
This re-write was genuinely great work on my part and I'm so proud of how it came out. I was constructive, creative and didn't let my biases effect the story-telling. For any Horizons fans out here, I'd genuinely love to know if you liked my re-write and if you agree that Terastal debut would've been better if it was done my way or not...
Number 3: The Wildebeest Stampede Shot-By-Shot
You have NO idea how ridiculously fun this post was to write!
Talking about a movie is one thing, but analysing a scene from a movie shot-by-shot and talking about why it's so good is a special kind of enjoyable. It was also my first time writing such an essay, so that made it a fun challenge for me and a chance to try something new. Truth be told, the idea for this was inspired by MrTARDISReviews when he did a video-essay where he analysed the episode "Dalek" shot-by-shot while also getting some behind-the-scenes info from the episode's director, Joe Ahearne. If you're interested, check it out here.
While I'm not sure if I did my shot-by-shot essay as well as he did, I still have an enjoyable time making this post. The fact I made this essay last year, which was The Lion King's 30th anniversary, made it even better, even if this wasn't uploaded on the actual anniversary itself. Still, making this post in the year where The Lion King turned 30 just made it feel more special to me and felt like I was celebrating its anniversary in one of the best ways possible, by talking about why one of its scenes was so great. I really enjoyed watching the scene again and thinking about what to say for each respective shot and really breaking down why this scene was so incredible. Shot-by-shot essays aren't easy, but they're a lot of fun to do, let me tell you.
This post was so enjoyable from beginning to end. Getting to gush about my favourite scene from my favourite movie and break down why it was so great? How could I not have enjoyed this one? It's easy to see why this is among my favourite posts I've ever done...
Number 2: Why Injustice Superman Fails As A Villain
I'm so glad to see this is one of my most viewed posts out there, for I put a lot of work into this essay and am quite proud of it.
Ever since playing the Injustice games, I've always had a bone to pick with Superman and I felt an essay detailing why he's such a terrible villain was a post that had to be made. That and I feel too many people overlook Superman's flaws just so they can bash Batman. Seriously, you hear some people talk, you'd think Injustice Batman was the greater of two evils here when that couldn't be further from the truth! So I felt it was about time we had a piece of content really breaking down Superman's failed attempt at being a compelling villain and why the writing for him just doesn't work. I feel I broke it down so beautifully here by first covering his constant hypocrisies to how he's too evil to be sympathetic and how the character just doesn't work in general because he's based on a concept that has lost any chance it once had of being interesting. Seriously writers, the evil Superman trope is NOT cool, interesting or thought-provoking anymore, it's tired, cliched and boring, SO STOP USING IT!
My favourite part of the essay is especially THIS part for how viciously I tear Superman apart for his disgusting hypocrisy:
This all boils up to the most hypocritical piece of filth that comes out of this monster's mouth:
"How many more innocent people die before you accept that some lives need to be taken?!" - Injustice Superman, Injustice 2 2017
Oh really Superman? Now you suddenly care about "innocent people" at this point? You're the same asshole who recruits mass murderers as members of the regime, kills people for disagreeing with you and you decided to flatten Metropolis and Gotham, which no doubt would've killed millions of innocent people, just because they were rightfully afraid and upset at what you're doing with the world. You even threatened to do the same to the parallel world where the other Justice League came from just because they got involved! You concocted a scheme that would've slaughtered millions, if not BILLIONS of innocent people because you're a whiny baby who can't accept the fact that you're no better than the criminals you claim to be better than! Don't you give me any crap about "innocent people" you sanctimonious sack of garbage!
I really couldn't have said that any better. :D
This is a post I will always look back on fondly for the work I put into it and how I single-handedly destroyed this pathetic excuse for a character. I like the Injustice games, don't get me wrong, but I HATE their version of Superman and with this post, I demonstrated so well why that is...
And my Number 1 Favourite Blog Post is...The History of Thomas the Tank Engine series
I'm convinced no matter how many blog posts I create for this site, nothing will EVER top the brilliant work I did on my history essay series on the history of Tomas the Tank Engine.
It's a four part essay and each part covers a different aspect of the franchise's history. You can read them all down below:
This series of essays is my best work I've ever produced for this blog, and that's why it's also my favourite too. Not only is it a history essay, but it was one I had a lot of fun putting together and doing research for and I also had a lot of fun sprinkling in little jokes here and there to make them more entertaining to read. My favourite joke from the series I did is this picture I coined up to sum up Thomas and the Magic Railroad's reception and box office performance:
I'm really proud of that one, let me tell you. :D
This essay was a great time for me as I found out so many interesting facts about the franchise, and I hope with these essays, I managed to convey them in an interesting and entertaining way. I also liked paying tribute to some of the deceased names who were involved with this franchise such as the author himself, Wilbert W. Awdry, and Michael Angelis, the UK narrator for the TV show. To think it would only be a few years after I wrote these essays when Britt Allcroft herself would pass away. :(
Nevertheless, The History of Thomas the Tank Engine is my favourite blog post, or should I say blog posts, for a myriad of reasons. I enjoyed making them, I enjoyed the research I put into them, I enjoyed putting in little jokes every now and then and I feel it's my best work so far and that I doubt I can ever top these posts. All four posts were a great time for me when making them and I'll always look back on them fondly.
All of that is why these history essays are my Number 1 Favourite Blog Posts of all time...
And that's it for this celebration post. I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to share your own comments below. What are YOUR favourite blog posts I've created for this site?
Happy anniversary to my blog everybody! I hope to keep entertaining you all for many more years to come. Take care everyone and I'll see you again on Friday for my next post!
Those are great posts you picked as your best ones you enjoy doing most. I also like the one when you did Top 10 Favorite Disney Movies, Top 8 Freedom Planet Characters, and your collabs with RM Walls. :)
My own favorites is when me & THomas did our Redeemed Villains, our collab on a Goofy Movie and my History with Sonic. :)