MAL hasn't changed much since I last actively used it. Still the same community, the same look & feel, etc. Custom styling profiles is still a thing and forums are still a thing, even though reddit and other social media have taken over a lot now (though I am noticing that MAL attracts a much younger crowd than what I'm now used to).
I used MAL during a time when smartphones weren't a huge thing yet, so it's cool to see apps to update your watch/read progress and other fun additions like blogging, social media, etc.
It's also become way more accessible to watch anime - at least streaming in low quality. Torrenting is not as necessary anymore, which is great. Even some licensing companies like FUNimation have allowed people to watch dubbed or subbed anime on their website. Obviously DVDs aren't really a thing anymore, so this is how they fare now.
The advances with manga are huge. I remember each scanlation group would post on their own website, and often times the links would go down. Nowadays big league sites like MangaFox, MangaStream, etc. host all these scans and for some reason they are not getting told to take them all down. Even Viz started posting manga online for free viewing - I guess they understand the situation they're in.
Scanlation groups were scarce, too, and many interesting manga wouldn't get translated for a couple days or weeks after the raw came out. Actually, it's still sort of like this for some shoujo manga, since there tends to be less interest for them.
Although I'm getting a bit old, I'm not going to say that I'm over anime & manga. There are still a ton for me to watch and ponder over, at least the ones with stronger characters and themes. I've grown up and away from series set in high school or middle school.
I do remember watching new anime as they came out per season, I can't imagine doing that anymore. There are too many to keep track of, and looking back at my watchlist - wow, there are so many titles that I barely remember watching.
I recently cleaned up my profile a bit, starting with the favourites - which were from 2009. To think that I was up to date on Bleach since episode 1 (which started back in 2004), and the manga is still on going due to how short the chapters are.. it's really crazy how long some manga series take to complete!
I also cleaned up the look of my lists. I even had to update my signature because it was using an old BBCode style.
I've decided that it's better for me to focus on finishing up classics, or at least movies as they are easier to remember. Glad to have anime & manga back as my hobby :)
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