The Geekly Grind - A Year In Review
By: Mithrandiel
Well, 2018 is over, and it's the time of year when folks are looking back and reflecting on what they've accomplished, as well as setting targets for the new year. Diet plans for the first half of January are planned, lofty goals set...you know the drill.
For our little corner of the internet, it was an eventful and wonderful year. We attended 16 conventions, including New York Comic Con for the first time ever (with a generous sponsorship from VRV). We covered Crunchyroll Expo, had conversations with fantastic talent like voice actors Sean Schemmel and Justin Briner, as well as the legendary Yuji Horii of Dragon Quest fame. We hit the majority of the PAX circuit, spotlighting some promising indie titles and interviewing some of the best and brightest indie devs out there. Of course, no convention season is complete without attending the comic-centric shows WonderCon and San Diego Comic Con.
We played a LOT of video games - marveling at PS4's stunning exclusive lineup, including our choice for game of the year - God of War. Indie games took a lot of our time as well, with games like Dead Cells and Return of the Obra Dinn earning high marks with our contributors.
When it comes to movies, there were so many blockbusters it doesn't possibly seem like they all came out in the same year. Black Panther made some serious waves, followed closely by the penultimate Avengers film. There was also a later entry that shook up the comic book movie genre, as Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse amazed fans and newcomers alike.
There was a lot of anime this year, and it ran the gamut from amazing to amazingly disappointing. From My Hero Academia's triumphant continuation, to the slow build of Black Clover into a more popular series, there was a lot to celebrate on the shonen scene. Megalobox was another big hit (no pun intended), with a classic aesthetic and underdog story that captured viewers' attention from the start. Oh, and the music was amazing.
One of the biggest triumphs of the year was one that may have slipped under the radar: A Place Further Than The Universe. An emotionally affective tale of youth, ambition, friendship, and much more - we definitely enjoyed it.
On the flip side, TRIGGER's Darling in the FranXX had a decent run, until it went completely off the rails in the final episodes and cemented itself in 2018's memory as one of the biggest disappointments of the year. Thankfully, TRIGGER's follow-up project, SSSS.Gridman, managed to capture the thrill and wonder of classic mech vs. kaiju battles, all while spinning in reflections on mortality, ethics, reality, and much more.
Besides those series, there was also Cells At Work, Goblin Slayer, That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, Zombieland SAGA, and many others. There was a lot to keep our eyes on for sure!
Of course, we can't forget about the tabletop and board game scene. Illusion got his hands on quite a few excellent board games throughout the year, and we were able to attend Kingdom Con and Gen Con to preview some promising games to come in 2019.
All in all, we had some fantastic experiences throughout 2018, and we've got plans in 2019 to help make the site even better!
We will continue to offer extensive convention coverage, starting with PAX South coming up in a few weeks. Our full convention schedule should be up shortly. We'll have more manga reviews, courtesy of VIZ. We've got plans for more content around western comics from publishers like Dark Horse, IDW and Image Comics as well. There are lots of fantastic video games coming out this year, with Kingdom Hearts III (finally) just a few weeks away!
We hope that you'll continue to stop by The Geekly Grind as part of your daily internet routine! Thanks for being here with us - if you have any content you'd like to see specifically, feel free to let us know in the comments, or hop on our Discord server!
