What is anime, you ask? Well, it's Japanese animation, that's what, and manga is Japanese comics. This is what I spent a lot of time and money envolved with. I love it - I was a couch potato for years watching american shows, and realized somewhere along the way that American TV studios couldn't make a decent show if it bit them on the ass! (I admit there are exceptions to this, such as X-Files, Law & Order, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and South Park.)

I stumbled onto Japanese Animation and was amazed - the stories are incredible, the animation is unreal, and in Japan, anime is given respect as a form of communication and an aspect of society. Here, talk to joe-schmuck on the street about animation and they go, "Animation? Oh, you mean like those Disney kiddie cartoon, right?!" Ugh. I'll go throw up now.

I found Anime way back in my early days with Speed Racer and Ultra-Man (a live action japanese show). I loved Saturday moring cartoons, and everything animated. Then years later (right around '87) I was introduced to Star Blazers. Actually, I was introduced to the original Japanese Space Cruiser Yamato on an nth generation tape, with no translated script. After that, I didn't do a whole lot. I kinda floated a bit, watching this and reading that; not really paying any attention.

Along the way, I got a friend completely hooked on Anime - David Lauder aka Flipper. Little did I know - he would be a saving grace.

By the summer of 1994, I had been exposed to various Anime shows - Ranma 1/2, the Pinesalad Dirty Pair Parodies, and Bubblegum Crisis, but I still wasn't really paying anyattention. Then for some really weird reason, which I still haven't figured out, I wanted to see more Ranma 1/2. So I borrowed a bunch of tapes from another friend, Joe Leitsch, and the chaos began. I was hooked.

I started to talk to Dave (remember Flipper?) about various titles, shows, seiyuu, artists, cons, *EVERYTHING*. He had a lot of answer for me... most of which ended up being "I don't know, go look it up!" Which I did.

...and I learned.

(don't get me wrong - Flip knows his stuff, I just wasn't asking anything that was in his field of study.) ;)

So, now, I'm hooked - a full blown Otaku. Give it a shot, go watch some of the shows I talk about and see if you're not amazed.

l8r!
Gopher

The only link that you really need to visit is The Anime Turnpike

But I like to have my own collection of links... so here ya go!

Handy links for my favorite anime/manga My Favorites My Magic Knights Rayearth Card Scans Soundbytes from Pinesalad Parodies' Dirty Pair Soundbytes from Ranma 1/3: Notes from the Closet My anime picture archive