An Early 2018 Summer of “Anime” Announcement

Concerning my annual Summer of Anime block that takes place between the first day of June and whenever I finish it (usually late-July, early-August), I’ve kept this in the dark for some time, but I’ve been planning for what to do this year since, well, the last one ended. You could say I’m a plan-addict.

After some time, I decided that it’d be fun to bring back the one-off Summer of Manga year, except expand it and incorporate some updated rules. Henceforth, the 2018 Summer of Anime shall be renamed “The Summer of Manga (2018)” and will feature zero anime outside of ongoing titles.

Here were the rules for the 2015 version:

…Wow, looking back I never really specified them. All I stated was “The same rules will apply” and discredited one-shots and ongoing manga. That’s far too vague for my liking this year. Here are the rules I’ve come up with for this year:

• The allowed manga length will be (roughly) between 500 and 5,000 pages. For example, the minimum could be a twenty-chapter manga consisting of an average of twenty-five pages and the maximum would be a two-hundred-chapter manga with the same average number of pages.
  • I will research each title chosen for the Summer by checking the page counts of a good portion of their chapters to ensure that it’s in the ball park of the minimum/maximum.
• If I exceed ten chapters (or twenty if it’s a single-digit-page 4-koma or something), I will not be allowed to drop the manga.
  • I will be limited to ten drops for the entirety of the Summer. Exhausting all will force me to finish every manga until the end.
• I am allowed to place one manga on-hold and move on to another manga within the aforementioned drop timeframe. However, I cannot place this second manga on-hold, and once I finish/drop it, I am required to go back to the manga placed on-hold.
• A manga must be finished and completely scanlated in order to be selected.
• NO SKIMMING!!! (Personal rule after the last Summer)
• Unlike the Summer of Anime, if a manga has a sequel series, I am not required to read it for a completed tag.
  • I cannot, however, use a sequel series as another spot on the SoM list.
  • If I do choose to read a sequel series, I will note it within the blog entry.
• One-shots and spin-off manga consisting of OVA-like content (obviously) don’t count.
• I cannot re-read manga (unless dictated by my schedule beforehand).
  • Additionally, I am allowed to read ongoing manga on the side.

And I believe that’s everything. Somewhat copy/pasted from the typical rules of the Summer of Anime with a few revised points, but decently strict. One other thing I will mention is that I will also be taking requests prior to the Summer’s arrival, so if you have anything you’d like me to read, I’ll consider adding it! I hope you’ll join me for the event that I’m really looking forward to! (I always say that at first.)

Oh! One more thing: The last Summer of Manga consisted of thirty titles, and had I been completely focused on it, I would’ve finished by the end of July. In response to this, the 2018 year will consist of forty slots. I’ll take this ride to the very end!