2015 in the Rear View Mirror (plus the Holiday Giveaway Winner!)

2015 has been a busy year for me.  It's not just the fact that I was able to get through the year without any major hiatuses, though that's a pretty good feeling.  It's not just the fact that I got a reviewed quoted by FREAKING VERTICAL, although that still continues to blow my mind a little.  It's certainly been a good year for manga, if this last month is any indicator.  Normally I try to spread things out not only in regards to the publishers featured, but also by ratings so it doesn't get too positive or too negative.  Yet this year's holiday reviews were probably one of the greenest I've done, which is a testament to the strong showing from most of the major publishers.  Even though I missed a few (espeically A Silent Voice, as many of your comments reminded me), this has been a great year for manga readers and it's only going to get more epic in 2016.

It's also been busy for me because I've been busy with projects for Infinite Rainy Day.  I've done podcasts talking about CLAMP, a romance between a Santa and her reindeer, loli butts, the craziest deaths outside of Final Destination, Satoshi Kon, a reverse harem of train stations, and yet more CLAMP.  I've written reviews about The Ancient Magus' Bride, the Phantom Blood arc of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Black Rose Alice, Yukarism, and The Man of Tango.  I even wrote an article on the El Hazard franchise, one of my favorite old OVAs.  The thing I'm most proud of, though, is the Crunchyroll Manga Sampler.  I've done three installments so far, and I've even started to branch it out to cover other digital manga sites.  I'm really happy with the reaction to it so far, and I absolutely plan to continue it and expand it to show off just how many legal options there are for digital manga as well as what they have to offer.

Before we wrap things up for 2015, it's time to announce the winner of this year's Holiday Giveaway.  The winner is....Yumeko!

This is hard... I'd have to say the best manga I read is Yukarism. I'm a big Chika Shiomi fan, and this series doesn't disappoint. The time-traveling aspect is interesting, and I love the relationships between the three main characters. I haven't read the final volume yet, but I'm really looking forward to it.

It's nice to see that I wasn't the only one who appreciated that series, and I'm looking forward to the conclusion as well.  Yumeko, if you can please get in touch with me either through the site email (mangatestdrive@gmail.com) or through my personal Twitter (@brainchild129) so you can claim your prize!

Well, it's time to relax a little, enjoy a well-earned mimosa, and then get back to work.  After all, I've got another year of reviews, opinion pieces, Manga Samplers, and podcasts to do.   I hope that those of you have been follow either site continue to enjoy my work, and I hope to see even more of you in this coming  year.