BAYOG Interviews | Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime

Recently, I thought it would be cool to do a monthly post interviewing some awesome anibloggers. As we become fans of each other’s blogs, we start wondering more about the person behind the blog. I thought it would be cool to start trying to answer some of those questions. The first aniblogger I decided to interview was someone I’ve been a fan of for some time. The title of her blog alone grasped my attention but the personality behind it keeps me around. Welcome to our first BAYOG interview with Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime.

 

Blackatron: Do you remember the first anime you watched?

Irina: The very first anime I remember watching was reruns of Ulysse 31 (I really liked it a lot) but since that’s a French-Japanese collaboration it may not count. If we go for purely anime then it’s the French version of Lady Oscar. It was a confusing and delightful ride for a 4 year old….

Blackatron: What do you think made you fall for anime?

Irina: You know I’ve asked myself that question a lot and I’m still not entirely sure. The colours maybe? Or perhaps the variety. It offered stories which I wasn’t seeing anywhere else. By now there may be some force of habit happening as well.

Blackatron: Do you actually drink and watch anime? Do you feel that it improves the overall watching experience?

Irina:  Sometimes but I watch considerably more anime than I drink. (I would be dead). Let’s face it, some shows do get better with a cloudier mind…

Blackatron: Since there are many different ways to share your opinions on the web like youtube, podcasting, and blogging, what lead you to become a blogger?

Irina: Honestly, it just seemed the easiest and most accessible. I didn’t need to learn editing or get any hardware. I wasn’t really looking for what would net the biggest audience so ease of use was a big seller.

Blackatron: What kind of anime do you think your friends would say is that “Irina show?”

Irina: If they knew me it would be Natsume but as it is, probably Black Butler. My friends don’t watch much anime. I’m sure it looks intimidating to them.

Blackatron: What do you think is the most challenging part of being an anime blogger?

Irina: I think most people will agree with me on this: time. It’s a two-fold hobby. You have to first watch the anime then write about it. Even if you aren’t a reviewer you still need to know the source to discuss it. I think that’s what discourages a lot of bloggers. Their interests in anime wane so they feel like they need to stop blogging as well, which is too bad.

Blackatron: If someone were to ask you to describe your content in three words, what would they be?

Irina: Disorganized, comedic typos

Blackatron: Is there a post you pride yourself in the most?

Irina: There are posts I like a lot but I wouldn’t be able to pick a favorite. I know I’m having a great time with Steins;Gate 0 this season, there’s a few of those episode reviews I liked a lot.

Blackatron: What are your thoughts on the current state of the aniblogging community?

Irina: I still feel like a bit of a newbie. I just got to the one year mark. I can’t yet compare to “how things were before”. I really enjoy the anniblogging community. Whenever someone moves on, we get new blogger to pick up the slack and I think it’s amazing how we can stay so cohesive and just friendly through it all. This is such a kind and welcoming community.

Blackatron: If you were to give someone who is interested in aniblogger (or blogging in general) advice what would it be?

Irina: Go for it. There’s really nothing to lose.

Blackatron: I recently read your post about Daru from Steins;Gate. Is there any other anime character that you loved initially but then thought, “Man if they were real…”

Irina: Izaya. I still do (love him that is), in general I loves me a troll but man it could get annoying in real life.

Blackatron: Due to BAYOG being a team blog, we get kind of competitive at times about our posts and we also look up to one another when someone writes something great. Is there anyone the inspires/pushes you to improve or to write in general?

Irina: EVERYBODY. This isn’t a cop out answer. I read a ton of blogs and there is so much talent out there. I constantly find myself wishing I could write like someone or come up with such creative ideas. More than once I’ve written posts secretly hoping particular bloggers would notice. It’s an endless source of motivation and inspiration.

In fact, I’d like to add to that advice for bloggers answer – Read blogs. You’ll get better at your own that way.

 

I do want to take a moment to thank Irina for being a part of this. She is super nice and very welcoming to these kinds of collaborations. If you haven’t checked out her blog, DO IT! Seriously… What are you doing!? Hopefully, I can do something with her on her blog sometime in the future(if she’s down).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post! If you liked this kind of content, please leave a like or a comment to let us know who you thought about this interview! Hope to have another interview next month, I will keep you guys posted! Have a good rest of your week!