Congratulations, friends! We have at long last completed another year at EZIYODA. As my writing and editing career would shift into my major source of income in 2023, the stories slowed down in year two, and yet we somehow saw more growth than ever.

By September, the website garnered more individual visitors in 2023 than it had overall views in roughly the same span of time the previous year, and the major traffic sources really shook things up. Truth be told, the godforsaken April O’Neil boobs post remained the top dog, but Feline Friday — an ongoing column that absolutely bombed in 2022 — suddenly and randomly took off this year.

EZIYODA added another 41 posts in 2023 (only a smidgen above half the amount of articles from 2022), with several new authors including podcast collaborator Lady Valiant, the always delightful Jeff Pennington (who also provided the artwork for our brand new website banner), and a bevy of talented writers as part of Resident Evil week.

We were onsite once again for PAX Australia, and through that, conducted our first interview with the wonderful and gracious team behind Copycat, the upcoming indie game from Spoonful of Wonder.

Though the game of the year title was played for laughs in 2022, this year would see the triumphant Resident Evil 4 emerge as the champion, narrowly edging out the fascinating, cosy Coffee Talk 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly — the latter also serving as one of our first official reviews.

On the anime front, Blue Lock held the crowning position for the longest time, until it was pipped to the post by the Fall lineup in the waning months. The irony of an anime all about winning at whatever cost being surpassed in the final hour is not lost on me, particularly when the eventual winner was the completely unserious madness of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You.

Overall, it was a quieter year for EZIYODA, and yet a much more lucrative one all the same. Boasting a fresh redesign that makes the website finally look presentable and a clearer, less laissez faire approach, things are absolutely on the right track for my little internet darling.

With all that said, let’s take one last look at the leading articles for 2023.

1. Feline Friday: 808 (Hi-Fi Rush)

First posted 27 January 2023

As indicated above, Feline Friday really came into its own in 2023, and the floodgates opened early with this quick little summation of the robotic kitty companion from Hi-Fi Rush.

In all honesty, I cobbled this one together in quite the rush (no pun intended), as the game had only just been announced shortly beforehand and information on 808 was fairly limited. Without much knowledge to go on, I kind of just reeled off what little facts I knew and clicked publish.

Even to this day, stories surrounding Chai’s chum are far and few between, so the article remains quite visible when one considers this site’s limited reach. Not bad for something I just kind of blurted out one January afternoon, and it would set a precedent for the new heights that were to come.

2. Feline Friday: Amanojaku (Ghost Stories)

First posted 10 March 2023

Continuing on the same theme, Feline Friday took the silver medal as well, albeit with an entry that was not topical or relevant in any way, shape or form.

Amanojaku — the sinister demon turned snarky cat — is from an anime that is over two decades old, and one that I wouldn’t have known about had it not been for a Facebook reel doing the rounds. Once I found out about the bizarre, irreverent and completely inappropriate English dub for Ghost Stories, I knew that I had to talk about it as soon as possible.

Whether others had discovered it in a similar timeframe or anime-centric cat stuff just happens to be performing well (2022’s Neferpitou traffic increased by more than 3,200% in 2023), its reception has been rather stunning. Maybe by the end of next year, this website will only consist of articles about Feline Friday and the size of fictional breasts.

3. GENSHIN IMPACT IS — AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN — JUST THE WORST

First posted 31 March 2023

Unlike last year, I haven’t been sharing my work on social media sites in 2023. If I had been, even I am not ballsy enough to have done this one.

Genshin Impact could best be described as divisive, though the overwhelming passion it receives was bound to garner a few extra clicks on name recognition alone. As you can tell just by looking at the title of the article, my viewpoint is not nearly as glowing as some others.

Transparently, the nature of my work as a video game journalist means that the same rotation of games pop up on my radar with infuriating frequency, and I was just so sick of godawful Genshin I felt an overwhelming urge to vent my fury. It wasn’t exactly cathartic to write, but I hope someone at least got something out of reading it.

4. I fucking love Kit Fisto

First posted 30 January 2023

Uhh, if it isn’t apparent from the headline, I wasn’t exactly trying my hardest with this one, and didn’t really anticipate it would be one of my best performing pieces for the year. The only logical answer I can conclude from its success is that other people also fucking love Kit Fisto.

As obscure as the Nautolan Jedi may be to your average moviegoer, he’s popular enough to Star Wars fans for my article to be buried in the search algorithm unless you literally search “I love Kit Fisto”. The specificity of this means that it’s not really likely… so what other explanation could there be?

It perhaps indicates that I should consider adding more Star Wars pieces to the repertoire, but as confessed, I am little more than a passer-by to the franchise with affinity reserved for just one character. The only other talking point I feel quite so vociferous about is Jake Lloyd, but that won’t be a fun conversation for anyone involved.

5. 10 shonen anime moments I can’t stop watching

First posted 27 February 2023

Unlike the preceding article, this was one that I had hoped would do well. Although its presence in the top 10 is satisfying, the fact that Kit Fisto is still smugly grinning ahead of it is somewhat irksome.

Anime pieces are proving to be quite a boon for EZIYODA, and that works out well for me, as they are my absolute favourite to write. That being said, the bulk of those articles will of course go to Crunchyroll, where they will find a wider audience and remuneration on my part.

For more self-indulgent stories, however, they always have a home here. Shonen anime is a white hot subject, and any article with Gon Freecss as the featured image is sure to attract attention. I’ve actually got a few more similar stories in the pipeline I’m hoping to write someday, if only I could find the time.

6. This is how Fire Emblem Engage’s chapter 13 ruined my perfect run (and my imperfect life)

First posted 5 May 2023

A bit of a slow burn, this one. You could practically hear the crickets in response to its sluggish start upon publishing, sandwiched in between two more organically interesting articles in a busy start to the month of May.

While I had basically written it off as a flop, it turns out that it had more legs than it first seemed. As I had initially hoped, I suppose people really were as curious as I was about Fire Emblem Engage’s thirteenth chapter and the doomed village therein.

It’s probably my personal favourite story of 2023; there are times when your writing just flows onto the page, and this was absolutely one of them. It’ll probably become a highlight of my portfolio for years to come, unless I ever deign to return to the miserable world of B2B (pause for laughter).

7. Mobian Memory Lane – An Archie Sonic Retrospective

First posted 4 May 2023

As if on cue, here’s one of those aforementioned pieces to kick off May, coming courtesy of Jeff Pennington.

Very early on upon launching EZIYODA, I had ambitions of the website acting as a hub for feature writers, only to find that a lack of reach and available funds has stunted the process for the most part. With that being said, I couldn’t have asked for a better addition than this.

As a longtime Sonic stan and on-off Archie Comics reader myself, to get this in-depth look at its loose interpretation of the hedgehog canon is intoxicating. I’m thankful and proud to have it featured here on the site, and I urge you to read it if you haven’t already!

8. WORLD OF HORROR review – total eldritch of the heart

First posted 21 October 2023

Another non-Tony piece lands on the top 10, this time from Boopee herself, Lady Valiant (of Golly! A Podcast! fame).

Reviews are always a steep task for me. I try to go in with as objective a stance as possible, though I sometimes suspect that my emotions get the better of me. This is especially true for indie passion projects like WORLD OF HORROR, a game after my own heart.

Luckily, the good Lady was on-hand to explore the nuances and peculiarities on EZIYODA’s behalf, and she did such a good job, she has automatically become the preferred go-to for review pieces. I haven’t told her that yet, but maybe she’ll read this and find out at the same time you do.

9. Feline Friday: Kyubey (Madoka Magica)

First posted 9 June 2023

The third and final Feline Friday piece on this list. Once I had finished watching Madoka Magica for the first time, I simply had to discuss it in some way. The internet is flooded with a deluge of fantastic thought pieces on the symbolism and subverted expectations of this fabulous anime, so I went down a different route.

It’s encouraging to see that my look at the enigmatic Kyubey did so well, and despite the site’s fledgling significance, this article ranks comparatively well in Google searches. Again, this really fuels my passion for this particular column — if I keep adding more, the cross searches will skyrocket, surely?

Pardon my ambition. I must be channelling my inner Kyubey with such calculated pragmatism.

10. Resident Evil: Death Island is a bit of a wank, & I love it for that

First posted 19 July 2023

It brings me great joy to cap off this list with a Resident Evil story. A sizeable percentage of those clicks were probably my own, but fuck it, we’ll take whatever wins we’re given.

Much like last year’s 20th anniversary celebration of Resident Evil Remake (a piece I like to link as much as humanly possible), I sought to get my thoughts out on Death Island in a hurry, so as not to get buried by bigger outlets.

As it turns out, my fears were well-founded, because my review would tumble down the rankings over the coming weeks and months. Sure, I’m no authority on the matter, though it does pain me to get trumped by later takes as if my article means nothing.

But hey, we’re getting there. Maybe someday this will be the website that Google favours for articles beyond who’s evil in Smash Bros and the size of an imaginary newscaster’s bust.

Once again, I’d like to thank everyone who pitched in to make EZIYODA what it was this year. I had so much fun putting these pieces together, and I hope you had fun reading them, too.

Rest assured, Ezi, Sami, and Faye will have much more in store for 2024. I have an unfounded amount of optimism, primarily because 4 is my favourite number and I’m weird like that.

Stay happy, stay hungry, stay healthy. Peace!