As I mentioned in our last article, the 10th anniversary of Zimmerit’s first post is this month. Specifically, it’s today, September 9th. It seems like a long time ago at this point, but we officially launched with The Secret History of Gainax and have been writing about lesser-known Japanese subculture topics ever since.
I don’t think I ever intended for Zimmerit to last as long as it did (and to be clear, it’s not going anywhere–this isn’t a goodbye post!) but I’m happy it did. As someone who grew up scouring a relatively new world wide web for anime fan sites and then spent a lot of time reading anime blogs during the blog boom of the late 2000s, the death of the independent site and blog in favor of social media has always bummed me out. But hey, there’s never been a better time to jump back on that wagon.
Over the last ten years I’ve been lucky enough to meet and connect with a huge number of incredible folks who supported and appreciated the site and I’m very thankful for that. Whether it’s on Patreon, via ‘zine sales, or just sharing a link, folks who get excited about the niche stuff we cover is what keeps this thing going.
There’s also a lot of folks who have directly contributed to the site and helped make it what it’s become. Special thanks to all the translators who have worked with the weird shit I’ve sent their way over the years. Also, to the writers like Matt, Renzo, Tom, Heng, Brian, Coop, Ian, Dawn, Evie, Stephen, Ian (F), Kevin, Joel, Rishi, Mike, A La Mort, and Grant for adding their own voices to this site. Also thanks to Jan for creating some awesome artwork for us over the years, including the piece at the top of this article. And, of course, thanks to all of your folks who keep reading.
Before I end this, a couple of plugs: If you’d like to write something for Zimmerit, check out our guidelines and send us a pitch. If you’d like to support us directly, consider signing up for our Patreon or grabbing some of our ‘zines from garagekit.club.