Figuratively Speaking Celebrates Its First Year!

On Friday February 19th, Figuratively Speaking turned 1! 🎊 🎉 That’s right, I’ve been blogging about figures, otome games, plushies, and several fun events for 1 full year, and it’s been an amazing ride.

To everyone who has stopped by, whether it be regularly or to check out a post dealing with a particular topic of your interest, thank you for reading. 🙆 When I first started this blog a year ago, I wasn’t in a very good place emotionally. 2015 was a year filled with many misfortunes that I had to push through; it wasn’t pleasant. I kept myself occupied with various activities, but what I had really wanted to do is create a space to write about my hobbies. After some hesitation and some convincing by my boyfriend, Kenji, I decided to go through with it!

My initial goal was just to simply talk about figures I’ve acquired and really liked, figure releases that I’m really excited for, plushies (namely Gift plushies), and on my growing love for otome games. I didn’t think it would become the place that it is now. The more I wrote in this blog, the more people I talked to that have the same love and passion for this hobby as I do, and I think that’s truly beautiful! Figuratively Speaking has allowed me to meet so many great and wonderful people that I talk to regularly, and I’m eternally grateful for that. 💕 Getting to talk about the hobbies I love while getting to talk to people with that same love gave me the energy to get through 2015 and opened a lot of doors of opportunities to venture into. Thank you, my fellow readers and friends, for your support and words of encouragement. Here’s to many more years! 🍻

So…what’s next for Figuratively Speaking?

• More Special Events Coverage!
  

  GSC 500 Nendoroid gallery!

  

  Little Witch Academia cutout stands!

  If I’m able to attend more special events like conventions, Japanese and game music concerts and perhaps more press events, you will get all the juicy details about them! Probably one of my most popular posts is the Anime Expo & Their Exclusives guide to aid attendees keep track of exclusive merchandise and other handy info. I’m planning on doing the same for this year’s Anime Expo and any other convention I get to attend. Along with those guides, I will also post about the events themselves in my convention reports (much like the Anime Expo ones).

• More Reviews!
  
  

  Oh my… 💦💦

  

  Otome games here, there, EVERYWHERE! 😄

  I’ll be more active in posting more reviews on figures, otome games, plushies and other goods I get in the mail or at events. I’m planning on reviewing more mobile otome games along with reviewing more otome games that are currently available on Steam.

• More Themed Posts!
  Want to find out how bootlegs affects the figure industry? Want a handy guide on where to buy Japanese media, figures and other goods? Want to be featured on Figuratively Speaking’s Otome Gamer Showcase posts? Those will all be coming soon!

• Brand-New Podcast Series: Tokimeki Radio!
  

  

  Otome games are certainly gaining more traction in the West and getting more attention than before. However, there aren’t that many podcasts focusing on otome games; the only one I know of is the Cherry Blossom-Heroines podcast. I also want to join in the conversation of what makes otome games so enjoyable to play! I, along with my partner in crime, VerdelishJP, will be talking about anything relating to otome games, which includes release dates for otome games around the world, along with any crowd-funding campaigns going on at the time, to what we’re playing and enjoying at the moment, and much more! There might be the possibility of including some BL games depending how we’re doing. Please look forward to this new and exciting project! ✨

There’s A LOT planned for Figuratively Speaking in 2016, so I really hope you all enjoy the slew of new content that’s going to appear relatively soon!

To celebrate Figuratively Speaking’s first year, I started a giveaway on February 19th:

This giveaway closes on February 21st at 2pm EST, and is open to U.S. residents only, due to international shipping hurting my wallet. But worry not! I have other giveaways planned after this, including several Steam games, so keep an eye out for those by keeping tabs on my Twitter account!

As a final note, I’ve created a Support page. If you’ve been enjoying all the content on Figuratively Speaking and wish to support the creation of a ton more, please check out the Support page to see how you can help out! All funds earned through donations and affiliated shopping will go towards creating more good stuff for you all to enjoy.

Once again, thank you all so much for stopping by to read, taking part in the conversation by commenting or tweeting at me, and for your loving support. The fact that you all have been enjoying what I’m doing makes me incredibly happy, so I will keep doing my best to write more enjoyable and informative posts! Please look forward to an amazing 2016.

Until next time, happy collecting and happy gaming! 💖

Omake:

Author: Elly

Hello, I'm Elly! I really love and enjoy figure collecting, anime, manga and videogames! I write about my love for my hobbies. Thanks for visiting! View all posts by Elly