So I’ve been watching Anime News Network’s gradual expansion of coverage which may or many not have coincided somewhat with aO’s launch with quite a bit of interest, and today I noticed a couple of things about their coverage of Odex’s Haruhi subs. First, they’re only two days later than the rest of us, and second, they actually cited a blog– the same one I did! This rare occasion must call for some kind of celebration. Huzzah! Next thing you know they’ll actually cite competitors on occa– well, maybe I shouldn’t go crazy here.

(All in good fun, kids, all in good fun. ANN does some excellent work and, yes, has cited blogs AND competitors in the past. The Internet is serious business, etc.)

True to form, ANN has announced that they’re gonna do a video podcast long after everyone else did (I kid).

…But, hey, they’re looking for on-air talent. They list it as a staff posting. Does that mean it pays?

It should be interesting to see what they do. I have yet to be impressed with any video podcast, really. As far as anime-related vidcasts go, the only really significant one is AnimeTV, which…well, I was underwhelmed by. It needs a bit more structure, IMO, and also needed to build up the credibility of its commenters a bit. That said, what can ANN do that AnimeTV isn’t doing? Well, that’s easy– if they have brains at all they’ll do commentary on the news rather than the shows, since as far as I can tell people visit ANN more for the news and forums than the reviews.

What do you guys think? Heaven or hell?