MAL SECRET SANTA THE GREAT REVEAL! First of all, A BIG THANK YOU to all of our SECRET SANTAS. After confirmations, we had: ♫ 609 total Secret Santas for the Rec Edition; ♫ 290 total Secret Santas for the Image Edition; ♫ 109 Secret Santas that participated in both events; ♫ 790 unique Secret Santas; ♫ 1,047 Secret Santa match-ups (including those who requested both anime/manga); and, ♫ 196 backup gifts created by our elves, for users who needed a bit more help or no-shows. These outstanding numbers break last year's record with 542 more unique participants, 426 more Rec Edition Santas, and 182 more Image Edition Santas. With this significant increase, I hope you all can understand why the event was quite hectic and chaotic this year! Thank you to everyone who participated for the fourth year in a row and to all of the new faces. Second of all, please take the time to give A BIG THANK YOU to all of our ELVES. ♫ tingy—My right-hand (and possibly left, too) whom we could not have done without. ♫ Dancho—Our only returning elf from previous years ;_; ♫ -clover- ♫ alexrayosz ♫ Angelblade20 ♫ Ayyrin ♫ chitochito ♫ Conde_Mohr ♫ Courtney ♫ Feecof ♫ FireFractal ♫ Goddess ♫ Glacialis ♫ gnerkus ♫ Greed ♫ HallowsIvy ♫ Hinaaa ♫ Mirorin ♫ Mishukax ♫ Nate ♫ Nexu ♫ Oliemaar ♫ Pyrii ♫ Ray_Light ♫ Sazerlim ♫ semperdickus ♫ Shuuka ♫ SoulEaterQUEEN ♫ straysocks ♫ Zeaboo And wonderful staff members who allowed themselves to be abused: ♫ Ana ♫ Ardanaz ♫ Jicetus ♫ neekoneko ♫ yahzee Our elves took the time to compile all of the lists, randomise them, send hundreds of PMs, organise all the gifts, send hundreds more PMs, give advice on images, write backup recs, quality check and improve gifts where necessary, and generally suffer through the chaos created by running an event of this size on such a short time limit. Without all of them, we would have gone stark-raving crazy trying to put this together. A few users also graciously helped created a backup gifts last minute. You'll find their names as Santas in the following lists. Finally, please be sure to: ♫ Pass your Secret Santa(s) a big thank you, and possibly, some feedback on your rec/image. Please remember that it's near impossible to get a gift 100% to your liking from a person who knows nothing about you; I'm sure your Santa tried his best! ♫ Post in this thread, telling us what you thought of the event! And how we possibly could improve it for 2017. See You All Next Year~ |
KinetaJan 2, 2018 1:10 PM
| Awesome work elves!! *bows* A very warm thank you to @Jewgeni for your wonderful recommendation, I finished the rec in one day. :D And you @Nate, I love the profile pic you made for me! And it is sorta funny since I was planning on making a Revy avatar myself; I was very surprised when I received it! :3 |
JicetusDec 30, 2016 8:39 PM
 Forum set made by my secret santa, Nate! |
| @Greed Thanks for the profile picture dude! Too bad commenting is disabled for your profile. Still wanted to say thanks for your effort ^^ |
| @notmydivision thanks for the picture! I am using it now and have been lately! |
| This event was, as always, amazing and that is in no small thanks to the staff, volunteers and participants. I have enjoyed this event since the first time I took part in it and I will continue to do so for as long as it runs. In terms of feedback I've never had any trouble in this event aside from perhaps tricky match ups, but that was always resolved with a little hard work on my part. This year I recieved a recipient whose criteria were particularly difficult for me. While I can imagine the tremendous effort it takes to match everyone up, I feel that if in future events the hard-working (or overworked?) elves could pay a little more attention to the matches in respects to ensuring that the Secret Santa can actually provide series in the genres that recipients ask for. A small issue and one that I know is a difficult to do when the participant numbers only increase but it would really help to make gifts that extra bit better. Thanks also to my Santa's; @ScarletDragon and @Stijn_king for your effort and gifts. I found something in each of your recommendations that I know I will enjoy. (: |
| Thanks to @Aynee-chan for the recommendation. I haven't gotten around to watching it yet, but I've meaning to watch it for a while. |
| @avory Thank you for the anime recommendation! I had a good time watching it. I really didn't know what I was to expect. I couldn't tell whether it would take a serious story or just an everyday life story. I really liked the ending :) Thank you to everyone who everyone who made this event possible! |
| Now that the secret Santas have been revealed, I can thank you, Nissy, for the recommendation. At first Paranoia Agent seemed pretty creepy but still enjoyable but later it started to make sense. Every character was so interesting despite their differences. This is definitely something I plan to re-watch. Thank You. Also, thank you elves for your work. Being my first time, this turned out to be a very fun event. Happy new year! |
| @KilluaSensei thank you so much for the anime rec! I really enjoyed White Album 2, mainly for its music soundtrack, etc., and it is one of my current favorites! :) Thanks and happy holidays @Foov thanks for the manga recs! I read Taiyou no Ie and I really enjoyed it. The romance was great and not too drawn out. I finished it in a day and I really hope they'll make an anime adaptation of it one day :P Thanks again and happy holidays |
| A salute to the staff and elves that made this fun event possible. It must've been hard ta slave over doing a lot of stuff here in MAL especially in holiday season. Amazing work~ Oh. Wouldn't it be funny to send those naughty no-shows a stocking full of coal? They made our adorable elves' workload inconveniently increase, after all :3 Here're some cookies on the house: @Bogdan47xD @neekoneko Now, you two deserve a hug ❤ Thank you very much for spendin' your time and effort into makin' my lovely Emilia-tan~ I'll make sure ta use her well! |
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| thank you @AnimeRat @Gwathgor for your recommendations. feedback: pretty awesome, it was a shame for the image recommendation the amount of people that dropped out without saying much.... providing backup presents early on can fix this but I know that's an effort... The other thing, I have seen some people's recommendation and some people clearly haven't been reading what the person dislikes, only the likes.... (e.g. some people ignoring the top 50 or top 100 dislike) |
| My hot seat: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1582823 watch me be a huge noob: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vav-Cb1biI megaminx+pyraminx :) |
| Phew, busy busy, but I can rest now. Sorry to any users that got multiple messages from the Elves regarding the reveal. There was a little confusion and we realised late into starting that images/recs might overlap etc. I do want to point out that I did notice that some notes sent with images may have been lost/clipped, I know this happened with my own submission to @Aria . @Taz_ : Thanks for the Manga rec, I've already read 4-5 volumes now and totally love it. I even got down the Anime to watch once I finish. it's very quickly becoming one of my favourites, just a shame it's out of print now. @Aria : I hope you enjoy what I made, I spent a whole day on it in the end. If you want any modifications let me know, I kept all the original files. @shakerek + @SoulEaterQUEEN : I'm still unsure who did my profile picture, I have a feeling it was the elf. Thank you though, you locked onto my love of androids and while I've never played any Persona games, I do like Aegis as a character. Thank you. |
PyriiDec 31, 2016 2:43 AM
| @kamisama751 thanks for the rec, it was an interesting movie. :) @Eyesofastranger @Dalceridae & @dreamerofpluto - I was the elf who wrote your recs after you PMed (my name isn't on the list for you two since it was after the gifts were sent out, so it was kinda off the records lol). But I would love to know how you found the recs!! :DD Feedback: Would be nice to have a way to deal with MIA Secret Santas in the future, since it's a lot of extra time consuming work for the elves and it's unfair since they receive their recs but don't give a proper one... ><" ~Everyone in Santa's workshop, good work this year!~ |
MirorinDec 31, 2016 1:06 PM
| Thanh for the reccomendations @_NightWing_, I'll definitely finish them! And thank you elves too! You did a hard job and spent your time on us. Happy new year everybody! |
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| The whole event was just great! Thank you Elves for your hard work, and for making this event a success. I really appreciate it, and Happy New Year Everyone~ |
| Thank you to the elves that filled in for both of my original secret santas! I'm really enjoying Aria and Amanchu so far, so thank you for the recs @Conde_Mohr! The bee set also made me laugh, so thank you @Dancho c: @Sharorara pls forgive me for my noobish photoshop skills, I know it wasn't as cool as your DP :c I hope you still liked the forum set though! Also I don't know if you ever got my rec @ziggy_Z, but I definitely did write one... PM me if you didn't get it ;-; |
conceitDec 30, 2016 11:10 PM
| @Pyro Looking through your list I can understand why that was the anime you chose. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but thanks anyway and I will still watch it. |
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| Thank you all the elves for this amazing event. It was soo much fun. Also big thanks to @redizdeadnow, @ANNightmare and @tingy for amazing reccomendations, i'll be make sure to check them out soon as i get time♥ Happy New Year Everyone! |
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| This was the first went I ever participated in on MAL, and I really enjoyed it. I hope to be apart of this event and future events when the time comes. Happy holidays everyone |
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| > Reads PM about reveal > Gets excited > Reads "Unknown Elf :(" > .-. ELF-SAN, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, PLEASE TELL ME WHO YOU ARE SO I CAN GIVE YOU SOME LOVE @okies Thank you very much for your gift <3 I'll be using it for a long while C: Also, I love your editing style! I kind of stalked your post in the sign-up thread The way you mix elements together are much better than anything I can do, so give yourself some credit! |
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| @Emmer Thanks for your manga recommendation! I really enjoyed Orange Marmalade, I finished it in about 3 days so it fit my likes pretty well. It had it's ups and downs, but every series does. Despite that, I really enjoyed it and I only wish there was more to the series. Thanks again <3 |
FoovDec 30, 2016 11:45 PM
| @siberdude eccentric family isn't my cup of tea but i might give a second go sometime in the future thanks for the effort @mguy thanks for the manga recs i haven't tried them all yet, but i'm loving your My Girl recommendation https://myanimelist.net/manga/6164/My_Girl?q=my%20girl It doesn't seem very popular but it's a great read and very heart warming. thanks again to you both happy holidays/ new year |
Sharorara said: > Reads PM about reveal > Gets excited > Reads "Unknown Elf :(" > .-. ELF-SAN, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, PLEASE TELL ME WHO YOU ARE SO I CAN GIVE YOU SOME LOVE @okies Thank you very much for your gift <3 I'll be using it for a long while C: Also, I love your editing style! I kind of stalked your post in the sign-up thread The way you mix elements together are much better than anything I can do, so give yourself some credit! hehe, that "unknown elf" would be me :> I really hope you liked what I made! I just went crazy when I saw victuuri in your current obsessions and I had to >< @PinkieBarto lol thanks a lot for the dp! Not really was what I was looking for, but it looked cute, so thanks! I really appreciate it :) @Nipoking thanks a lot for the manga rec! I'm still reading it and its honestly pretty good. One of the chapters had such a soothing forest scene, I loved that one! That forest art was incredible! Thank you ^^ |
 set by secret santa ; thank you! ily ♥️ |
| That was my first time participation in such event. Wanna try something new and result was incredible. Feel apathy to all anime and just wait for recommendation. Big thanks to @meganecraz and @tingy for Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji. Thought it got me 6 attempts and 1 hour to get throught 1st episode. Development wasn't so good but some interesting moments got my attention. Thanks a lot to all elfs and organization staff! Happy Holidays! |
| Thank you for the fun event! :) I will be sure to participate again next year! :D |
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Mayumi said: hehe, that "unknown elf" would be me :> I really hope you liked what I made! I just went crazy when I saw victuuri in your current obsessions and I had to >< Thank you so much for going out of your way and making the profile picture <3 Oh girl, you don't even know. I audibly gasped when I first saw it xD wasn't expecting something so spicy I kind of feel bad for unknowingly giving you extra work, but if it's an edit out of sudden passion, I totally relate to that feeling :^) |
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XFalc0mX said: Thank you so much for recommending me Sora no Woto. Watched 5 episodes so far and am surprisingly liking this anime. Probably should've put "did not want to watch K-ON 2.0" since I didn't feel like it. Also felt like this isn't better than K-On itself. But it's still a good anime nonetheless. Also great work from the elves themselves. You guys should pat yourselves on the back cause no way was that easy. Maybe next time, try improving the matchmaking. I found it difficult to recommend an anime. I'm glad you liked the anime. I didn't like it as much as K-On! either, but I thought you would enjoy similar shows. Next time, you can be more specific in your likes if you want, I didn't know what you would enjoy based on the few anime and no specifications. Luckily, it turned out well. okies said: Thank you to the elves that filled in for both of my original secret santas! I'm really enjoying Aria and Amanchu so far, so thank you for the recs @Conde_Mohr! Your rec was not as difficult to me as some others, because you asked for a Slice of Life, which is my favourite genre. Aria is in my top 2 favourite anime, and Amanchu was the anime I liked the most this season, so it seems that I did the right thing going for them :D |
Conde_MohrDec 31, 2016 3:29 AM
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Sharorara said: Thank you so much for going out of your way and making the profile picture <3 Oh girl, you don't even know. I audibly gasped when I first saw it xD wasn't expecting something so spicy I kind of feel bad for unknowingly giving you extra work, but if it's an edit out of sudden passion, I totally relate to that feeling :^) it was most definitely an edit out of sudden passion ;> Like they are so hot lol. Though I was not impressed with how it came out tbh, so I thought I'd make you another, much better version. With a bit heavier editing. Its your choice if you wanna use it or not ;x I'm gonna PM you about it c: |
TinniDec 31, 2016 1:47 AM
set by secret santa ; thank you! ily ♥️ |
| Thank you for the recommendation! @Frey I realized a bit late that what I was looking for simply didn't exist, so I hope you didn't worry too much about it! I'm actually really enjoying your recommendation and reading it every night in bed, I'm on chapter 42/53 right now and will definitely finish it tonight. Thanks again, hope you enjoyed your recommendations as well! And thank you to the elves as well! Also, screw all the people who disappeared after signing up for the event. You're all assholes. Unless you got ran over by a car or got so sick you had to go to the hospital or something. |
Awesome Forum Set by @SenpieX  |
| @RazielzEU thanks a lot for the rec! You really nailed it with the drop on the first 3 chapters,the first time i saw it i dropped it in the 1 chapter,and now that i'm watching it i just can't stop,i have watched 15 chapters so far and i'm loving it ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ I hope you received good gifts too and happy holidays ｡◕‿◕｡ (*^｡^*)Rise (*^o^*)And ＼(*^0^*)／Shineｰ!! @Elinahh i'm not that fond of the image but thanks for the effort,i hope you received good gifts too ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ |
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| I spent like an hour or two helping the elves and holy shit you guys did so much! You deserve a big hug and thanks for all your hard work and effort <3 I had a good time with this event and hope to participate again next year ^^  |
Aw.... how come? @Rimazu thanks for the anime recc. It's definitely outside more normal viewing wheelhouse but I can't wait to give it a shot. @Luzius thanks for the manga reccs. Slam Dunk's been sitting on my backburner for a while and I'm glad to have a reason to get around to it. The rest of your reccs all look really interesting so I hope I have time to get around to all of them. Mod Edit: Merged double post. |
KinetaDec 31, 2016 10:55 AM
| Thank you for the hardworks guys! ^^ Back to my lonely life :( |
"Signature removed"   |
Red_Ranger_Wien said: @Rimazu thanks for the anime recc. It's definitely outside more normal viewing wheelhouse but I can't wait to give it a shot. You're welcome ^^ |
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| @Randy I loved the gift, you have no idea how happy I was after receiving it. Thank you. Happy New Year ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @SweetShepherd I’wanted to apologize for giving you a bad gift. I feel bad you didn't like the gift, but I would like to reward you somehow. I hope that you will accept my apologies. Happy New Year ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Sorry for any mistakes. English is not my native language- |
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