Thank you to everyone who voted in the Awards this year! We had a much higher turnout this year, although next year promises to be even better. Many of the winners in these categories only won by a single vote, so if you ever had any doubts about your opinion not making a difference, well, the results are pretty clear about the difference even just one vote makes.
The award winners are listed below. In the case of a tie–and there were several!–we’ve marked the blogs as occupying two spots instead of sharing one place. It’s a little different from how we handled ties last year, but this way we’re not listing tons and tons of blogs who tied for third after some other ties (although… it did come to that, in one case…).
The IW Awards Team–Henkka, Amy, and myself (pengie)–would like to thank everyone who contributed to this process, all the voters, and–most importantly–all the nominees. Even if you didn’t snatch that coveted 1st place spot, or even make it to the final nominees, I mean it when I say that you are all winners in IW’s book. Having said that, if there’s anything you’d like to suggest for next year’s Awards, or if you have any questions or concerns about the process, please e-mail us at awards@intlwota.com and we’ll be sure to get back to you immediately.
And now… the winners!
General Awards
Best Blog (New):
- 1st: Wotaku Now!
- 2nd/3rd (tie): Merry Go Round / Stardust
Best Blog (Established):
- 1st: Hello!Blog
- 2nd: unchained
- 3rd/4th (tie): MorningBerryz’s Blog / Raid My Minibar
Best Group Blog:
- 1st: Channel-Ai Community Blog
- 2nd: Hello! Island / There is never a wrong thread to post a Risako.
- 3rd: Your Opinion Doesn’t Count
NOTE: Tsuugaku Vector ☂ was withdrawn as a winner at the discretion of its lead blogger.
Best Eyecandy or “Worship” Blog:
- 1st: Tsuugaku Vector ☂
- 2nd: Bananas for JunJun
- 3rd: guycandy
Best News Source:
- 1st: Hello!Online
- 2nd: Tokyograph
- 3rd: Stardust
Best Blog Series:
- 1st: Top 5 Series – H!P Opinions of a Metalhead
- 2nd: Meet the Eggs – Bikkuri Project
- 3rd/4th/5th (tie): Berikyuu Idol – MorningBerryz’s Blog / Memorable Snippets – fields of maiZe and berryZ / Was Haromoni@ Worth Watching? – True Life Seek
Best Single Entry:
- 1st: Idols Are Not Human – American Wota
- 2nd: 2008 in a Nutshell – Soap Bubble
- 3rd: THIS IS NOT A REVIEW. – *MINI MONI MANIA*
Best Non-Textual Content:
- 1st: K!Mixed and DJ Kirarin☆Snow ☃’s Audio Repository
- 2nd: unchained radio
- 3rd: P-chu Piano Labs
Genre-Specific Awards
Best H!P Blog:
- 1st: Hello!Blog
- 2nd/3rd (tie): MorningBerryz’s Blog / Wotaku Now!
Best AKB48 Blog:
- 1st: Aitakatta!
- 2nd: Chuo Dori
- 3rd: no akb no life
Best Jrock or Visual Kei Blog:
- 1st: jrocknyc
- 2nd: Rock Japan Elec-tric
- 3rd: Rockerica
NOTE: unchained was withdrawn as a winner at the discretion of its author.
Best Miscellaneous Blog:
- 1st: KAT-TUN 2 Me
- 2nd: (the) Road to the Deep East
- 3rd: Acchi Muite Pie!!!
Judge’s Choice:
- 1st: Raid My Minibar — congrats, Raid, all your posts are good!
- 2nd/3rd (tie): stylejapan — your blog looks superb! / True Life Seek — we miss you, broomie!
