Good evening everyone,
The end of the year is upon us, and the final moments of 2025 are quickly slipping away. A stillness lingers in the Rhode Island air, which will soon be broken, as tens of thousands of revelers make their way to party away the evening’s remaining few hours. It’s in these fleeting moments, though, that I find myself growing sentimental.
This year was momentous for us, as Anime Herald celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. Needless to say, we were ready to party. On April 1, we surprised the anime fan community with our first-ever April Fool’s Day gag. For twenty-four hours, our publication became a loving throwback to the turn of the millennium. We offered a faithful recreation of the style of so many Geocities and Angelfire pages that dotted the late ’90s and early 2000s, alongside a series of articles that helped to evoke the feeling of the era.
A month later, we hosted our first-ever online Town Hall, where we revealed what was arguably our biggest project to date. In that presentation, we officially announced that we were working on our first-ever print publication, Anime Herald Magazine. The publication officially launched in the final week of November, with the physical edition shipping a week later.
And, honestly, Anime Herald Magazine is something that I can only describe as “a mad dream,” a publication that celebrates our history, while paying tribute to anime, as a medium and an art form. It’s impossible to express how grateful I am to everyone who helped to make the inaugural issue a success, from our amazing editorial team, to the incredible writers who contributed, to cover artist José Salot and layout designer Katy Castillo. This was a publication that so many people poured their hearts into, and I can’t thank everyone enough for helping to make this dream come true.
Through the year, we were also fortunate enough to be able to raise our rates to $55 per article for our writers and editors, alike, thanks to our amazing Patrons and Ko-fi supporters. They’ve empowered us to keep growing and evolving, and thanks to them, we’ve been able to celebrate our most successful June fundraiser ever. We raised $750 for The Trevor Project. The charity will always be important to us, as a publication that’s run by a queer trans woman, and who works with many LGBTQIA+ people, both on our team and the many writers who contribute to us every week.
I’m truly thankful to our team, whose skills and expertise have continued to help us deliver something truly special to all of you, week after week. Likewise, I’m grateful for our backers, whose faith and support in us continues to inspire us to do our very best.
And I’m thankful to you, dear reader, for your encouragement through all of these years. I’m excited to share the next year with you, and I hope you look forward to everything we’re planning for the coming year.
Happy New Year,
Samantha Ferreira