| Hey. As you can see in the title, the club Critics and Connoisseurs is finally coming to an end. So me and Unowen wanted to explain some things and commemorate the club as a whole in one final message to those who care. While I have only been around since 2016 and an admin since mid 2019 I got to know a lot of people from this club who I consider good friends now. Since I became admin a lot happened with the club, as well as internally between admins. Over the last few years a lot of admins have left, mostly for personal reasons that don't have much to do with the club itself and things generally got slow. For a while now I kinda took the lead with @Unowen, with @Zaitengrate still helping whenever needed, thanks for that. Although they left a while ago already I also want to thank @Suna_Kujira and @Lindle for having helped the last few years and @ladyxzeus for...emotional support. Most of all admins have been inactive for more than a year already. There has been a time in the past where the club has almost died through sheer negligence of some admins but thanks to @Lightfellow this was prevented at the time. Due to the club becoming slower I wanted to try something to maybe get it back to livelier activity and make it easier to manage. So at the start of the year I wrote a short document summarizing the changes I wanted to see with the ultimatum that if the changes won't have a positive effect on liveliness then we will shut it all down at the end of the year. Then I sent the proposition to Unowen and he confirmed it. So that's where we are now. While we gathered a lot of new members over the year, many more than any of the years before, liveliness didn't really improve. While some people went in with noticeable enthusiasm it was always a bit sad to see how it wasn't reciprocated which I assume resulted in that motivation dying off pretty fast. Discussing something but not getting a response is pretty pointless after all. This is due to many different factors, for one, a lot of the members of the club have been around for a while already and have either gone mostly inactive or merely voted for the monthly, in the past weekly, spotlights and just made it a routine without much more. Secondly, forum structure like MAL is just not very good to lead discussions, so even with active members the only discussions you would end up finding were held on the discord server. And lastly, the anime. Most shows which people like to discuss have already been spotlighted a decade ago. And seasonals have been so unexciting over the last few years that they could barely fill more than one or two spotlights a year, and even with just monthly voting it barely helped bring back some sort of activity. It's no surprise that "Resurrected You Decides" ended up getting the most votes. Due to these reasons the whole point of the club has arguably been lost for a while already, even longer than just the last few years. So we all kind of felt like the club has served its purpose and it's probably a good time to move on. I'm sure there are a lot of things we could've done better along the way but no point in thinking about it now. So that's it. The relation list as you see it now is the final one. We will obviously keep the club page up as a sort of archive as I think there's still some value to be had with it. And we'd also like to commemorate it with graphics over the next few days. If somebody here is good with image editing and would actually like to help just contact either me or Unowen on discord or MAL, we would appreciate it. The discord will also still be up for the foreseeable future, one of the motivations of keeping the club alive has actually been keeping the discord alive as well, so feel free to join and interact. Thanks for reading this far. |
HiroM_Jan 9, 2023 3:02 AM
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| Also I quite literally posted this on New Years where I am now so Happy New CnC-less Year. |
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| I thought this was meant to be an EoE reference when I read the title. I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped run this club, your work didn't go unappreciated |
 _______I like rocks__  |
| It's unfortunate to see the club slowly shed once highly noticable and participated aspects of itself such as TheCriticsClub, and that any and all new and continued ideas haven't really managed to keep things too afloat. Then again, it seems that as of the past half a decade, only the most dedicated and populated of clubs have any real survival nowadays. Still, it was fun while it lasted. RIP 2020-2021 awards tho. Can't wait for the Rebuild in 10 years. |
| Being wrong is just an occupational hazard. Follow me on twitter. I have an anitube channel so feel free to check it out and subscribe if you like what you see. |
| All good things must come to an end. Thanks to everyone who helped to keep this club alive. The admins now and the former ones. I also feel old and tired. (come and joins us at the CnC discord) |
| Well it definitely is a EoE reference :> Would like to add that all things end up running its course and perhaps this club already did a good while ago. Really want to emphazise the heroics that Lightfellow pulled back in 2016 when he found himself being the only active admin after the 2 lead admins at the time seemingly disappeared on the same week, and the few others with more limited roles were virtually unable to help. And it was a weekly update back then. Virtually everything after that point can be considered the club living through an overtime, although ironically ended up being better run than before, with no pending votes to be counted, no more outdated Old Spotlights... I had a bit of a mental debate on whether finishing club activities altogether was the best decision. When we made the club changes last year with Hiro it really seemed the best approach if we didn't perceive any substancial improvements in activity after a year. But passing the torch to new people also felt unfair to them and the club itself in a way. The feeling of closure is definitely there. In regards to the graphics Hiro mentions, we have envisioned them as potentially Recommendation charts, one of course including Inducted titles, but potentially we could highlight previously inducted titles and Blue Ns in another. Well, definitely the club will stand for archival purposes so making those will always remain a possibility. |
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| Its been a great run. Thanks to everyone who went through the effort of running the club and to the legends who kept voting you decides. |
| After 9 years as a club member starting on September 7th 2012, over 7 of those as an admin, first to manually sends the weekly mails and after that to check the people wanting to enter the club, I can honestly say CnC played a pretty big role at a crucial time in my life. It's the reason why I grew to like anime even more and also why I kept on watching, knowing there was always a fun community that I shared a connection with, even if only an online one. I know I've been less active here for some time now, but many of you were there when my irl friends were not there, or even non-existent. Maybe this send-off was long overdue, but I'm still a little touched to see it finally go. Thank you for being a part of it. |
| Thank you for running the club while I have never been super active here, and don't have nearly as much history as some others in the thread who have been here for many years I enjoyed being a part of the club. The club itself got me to join the discord server which is where I have a lot of my most fulfilling online connections. |
| I watched a lot of interesting anime only thanks to you. Thank you so much for this and for allowing me to be a part of this journey. |
| That's such a shame, I've been in this club for only a few months now. CnC has been a great source for finding anime close to my preferences as a young anime fan, so I'd like to express my gratitude and admiration to all of the members over the years. |
| Can't believe that it has had to come to this, but now looking back, it shouldn't be surprising considering the club really hasn't been that lively (because of members like me). Anyways, happy new year! Hope this year will be off to a great start for you guys |
| Oof sad new year |
| Hottest Take Ever, fite me: Fairy Tail is better than Seiya, Bungou Stray and Hitman Reborn |
| I feel a bit guilty in that I was a member who was enthused after the changes earlier this year and I was once a very active member of the Discord, but I've been dealing with a lot as of late that made me just completely lose my focus on anime discussion, as well as the fact that I've been switching Discord accounts like they're dispensable for the past few years (the one I'm using now isn't in the Discord, but I might have to join back). I don't watch this stuff as much as I used to, but I was happy to be a small part of it. I think about you guys a lot, you've helped me shape my own taste in media in general when I was still a teenager, and, apologies for getting a bit personal, but some of you looked out for me when I wasn't well, or helped me out with my reviews. The admins were like family to me when I was still active around here -- in fact, they still are -- and though I'm still a socially awkward mess, I owe you guys one. Thank you. It's sad it ended under these circumstances but all good things come to an end. I'll always remember C&C for all the fun I've had with you guys over the years. |
| If you want to see some real critics (and connoisseurs too), just join the Discord. We don't have silent votings, but we sure have people ripping LoGH a new one. |
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| Press F to pay respects. Goodbye legendary club |
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| Thank you so much for your hard work over the years. Really appreciate it. Great that you leave this as an archive of sorts The Discord format doesn't really work for me so I wish you all the best of luck in your future discussions. |
| "Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov |
| Thanks for the warm messages, they're very much appreciated. Would also like to thank here everybody who has participated throughout the years, both admins and members alike, it's been a ride and certainly part of why I've come to appreciate the medium to a greater extent. |
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| I was only involved with C&C for a little more than a year, which is just a small portion of its lifespan. I even remember applying a little too early before I met the 100 anime requirement and then reapplied later when I was around 150. Things ending are hard for me. Just the general concept isn't something I like. But as far as ends go, I feel a little more content than usual about this and am glad that C&C didn't because of any drama or bad feelings but maybe more like a reflection and completion. That's how I'll remember this at least. I have a huge appreciation for everyone who put time and effort into coordinating and checking the Spotlights and You Decides; the MAL and Discord group administration and moderation; and everyone who was able to elevate the club to such a respected status. C&C will be remain in my resources for finding new favorites and recommending new shows to friends. Thank you all. |
| It's weird seeing this club end. I wasn't all that active in this club, but it inspired me to start my own club where we vote on stuff. That club has been a big part of my life since then. So, C&C had an effect on me despite me not participating that much. I was definitely one of those enthusiastic newbies who lost interest rather quickly. It makes me feel a little guilty, but all things have to come to an end. I wish you all the best. |
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| I was never the most active in the club, voting for things I had watched/read when they came around but not much else, and not doing much recently as I got busy with other clubs and things. But I appreciate the effort you all put into this club. I'm most happy that you guys can take a rest, as I'm sure it was taxing running a club with such low enthusiasm at times - I know that feeling. Thank you for keeping it up as an archive. |
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| I wasn't an active member outside the votes, but I agree with many of the points you said. It's clear that the main core of titles for this club were already decided long ago, and maybe for us to vote wasn't a hassle, but I can understand that it could be disenchanting for the ones who rule the club. Happy new year with a week delay to everyone who was part of this! |
| Thanks and good luck to everyone here - see you, space cowboys! |
| I really wish I could have been more active in the group, sadly real life complications and stresses kept me occupied. That said I still want to thank the group and the admins for the experience, and for introducing me to so many great series. Godspeed. |
"Most anime makers are basically autistic" - Hideaki Anno |
| This club helped me get really into anime back when I started out and I had a great time with it for many years. It's kinda weird to see the club go but also very understandable. Thanks to all admins for the hard work throughout the years. Love you all! PS: Glad I also found a mention somewhere :^) |
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