JulyReply is an annual “challenge” created by Robert Birming. It’s simple: You read a blog post and then write a response on your blog. The response post is titled like...

June is done and Junited 2026 wrapped up. Now it's time for JulyReply, the third edition of this blog connecting event where bloggers reply to each other's posts throughout July.

Why willn't thine bubble pop sooner (Photo unrelated)

metablogging isn't bad! unless...

I read piimyon's post about why we write in public, and it made me reflect on why journaling alone has never worked for me.

This is a response to James Zhan’s blog post about pros and cons of having a comment section on a personal blog. The purpose of your blogHaving a comment section...

Dude have I mentioned how much I love doing dishes now

Laura Cameron at The Well-Apportioned Desk is wrote a post titled Journal Prompt July. She decided to tackle July journal prompts compiled at the BaronFig blog in 2024. While I do not have a journal, this struck me as promising JulyReply material, so I looked at the five prompts she singled out as interesting examples...

This is a response to Popcar’s blog post about PlayStation’s announcement that they’ll stop producing discs for new games in January 2028. These are the main benefits of ownership that...

Creating a dedicated post type for replying to other bloggers

Laura Cameron at _The Well-Apportioned Desk_ is wrote a post titled _Journal Prompt July_. She decided to tackle July journal prompts compiled at the BaronFig blog in 2024. While I do not have a journal, this struck me as promising JulyReply material, so I looked at the five prompts she singled out as interesting examples and noted “What is your favorite summer song and why?” As I have noted in NLJ articles on the ending song in season one of The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten and my interview with Victor V. Gurbo, I am not a “music guy” by any stretch of the imagination. But I do have some takes on anime and game music, so I can come up with (channeling LeBron James’ 2011 arrival in South Beach) not one, not two, but three summer songs. For context on what I am looking for, not my interest from my review of a 2006 anime localized in English as Living for the Day After Tomorrow in capturing the aesthetics of seasons. 1. 5 Centimeters Per Second is my favorite anime movie (granting I am more of a TV anime guy than a movie guy). The movie takes place in three acts, and I will venture that it is best known for its cherry blossom motifs and the winter-dominated act one. However, the most technically impressive act (in my humble opinion), act two, takes place entirely in the summer. It is from here I draw my first summer song. The movie’s sixth track, Kanae’s Feelings, is a summer-y take on the anime’s melancholy second track (used in the trailer and act one), Distant Every Day Memories. Both are among my two favorite anime OST, but I dare say my opinion on which is better has evolved and now leans very slightly toward the more down-to-Earth Kanae’s Feelings. (Listen: Original Track on YouTube; (better) Eminence Symphony Orchestra version.) 2. I watched the 2005 anime adaptation of Key’s Air. I have yet to play the visual novel (on my to-do list). While I cannot say I am a big fan of the Air anime (unlike the 2006-07 adaptation of Kanon, which is a personal favorite anime of mine), it did have what I would rate as an all-timer OST. Natsukage, localized as Summer Lights, distills “summer” into a short OST. (Listen: Visual Novel version (official).) 3. From 2021-2024, I played, reviewed, and discussed 31 freeware visual novel localizations that had all been translated from Japanese to English from 2005-08 (see my al|together collection). My favorite of these 31 visual novels, all of which remain free to download and read/play, is May Sky, which I wrote enough about to have a collection hub on the subject. May Sky stands out for his spring descriptions of May, but there is a summer component to it as well. This novel has what I would describe as the best overall soundtrack of the 31 novels I reviewed for the project, and the best of its songs happens to relate to the “summer” part of the piece. When I hear An Intermezzo, I find myself thinking that the novel’s maladjusted main couple will be alright. (Listen: An Intermezzo.) I am sure I could come up with some more songs, but I am satisified with my three selections, which cover movies, anime, and games. You can reply to this article from your own site by sending a Webmention.

I participated in Robert Birming’s Junited 2026 and JulyReply 2026. Here on NLJ, I recap all of my posts from those projects and the links I shared.

Recapping my 2026 Junited and JulyReply posts from Emu Cafe Social, all in one post on The New Leaf Journal.

On drafts and being okay with them

A few questions have come up about JulyReply, so here are quick answers on joining, posting, and what counts.

Joshua Maynard talked about wanting to write more so I wrote some unsolicited advice

per your last post...

Note of 2026 by Kristof Zerbe

Let's do some Julyreply shall we??