Hey Readers and Listeners, Drew here from Akihabara Renditions. It’s a New Year; Happy 2017, everyone! Wait, whaddaya mean 2017?!? Our last post was from 2011?!?!

There’s been a ton going on with our motley crew of podcasters in the last six years – perhaps the single biggest among everyone was getting SeishunCon up and off the ground. Marc and friend of the show Taylor are taking care of that now, while Richard and I are taking some time out. Richard and I will be back hosting shows, hopefully more regularly, and we’ll be sure to have Marc  (who’s seat is still permanent), Taylor and many of the other fine folks from SeishunCon back on the show. お楽しみにしてください Please look forward to it!

Why duck out of podcasting? Well, to be honest, when it came down to running a convention, in addition to a day job and a little bit of a social life to keep sane, podcasting just never got the time it deserved – whether it was the necessities like editing or the prep work (like ya know, watching anime).

There was another factor that anime podcasting, which seemed like it exploded when we were doing the first rounds of AkibaRen, faded off. It seems like fans weren’t tuning into podcasts for niche products/media (like anime), which we still think is one of the best places to connect with others. However, even as Big(ger) Media has embraced the podcast format, it seems like a renaissance of podcasting has begun with niches returning to the format. So, too, returns AkibaRen.

We’ll be back soon with a new episode, ready to yammer about cartoons, comics and fandom. Hope you keep coming back!