“How did you get into Anime?”  Here’s the “all anime” podcast session that Sid, Dave, and Teresa had after the official one wrapped. We ramble on for 2.5 hours about our introduction to Japanese animation and subsequent experiences with it. For the nerdiest of nerds! Recorded November 18, 2013.

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SHOW NOTES

SID

• Age 7-8: Force Five: Dangard Ace, Starvengers, Gaiking, Grandizer, Spaceketeers; Star Blazers
• Mr Big Toyland Commercial
• Robotech – scifi series dubbed for American audiences in the 1980s from three separate Japanese sources
• 1989: Feature-length Akira animation (English-dub trailer)
• Laserdisc bootlegs: Supernatural Beast City (NSFW), Crying Freeman, Yotoden, etc
• First legit purchase: Bubble Gum Crisis – Singers by day, power armor wearing vigilante heroes by night
• Ghost in the Shell (movie version) – cyborg special forces maintain order in a politically-complex geopolitical stage
• Ninja Scroll – Samurai versus highly-skilled demon ninjas
• High School of the Dead (warning: bizarre titillating fan service)
• Sid’s Plastic Erotica toy photography series influenced by fan service
• Art Anime: Robot Carnival (trailer) – Cloud (segment)
• Plastic Little (pervy!)
• Golden Boy (pervy!)
• Cowboy Bebop – a highly-regarded sci-fi character driven television series
• music composer Yoko Kanno (sampler)
• The disappointment of anime after Cowboy Bebop: Escaflowne, Trigun, Last Exile
• Macross Plus – two companies pit their top test pilots, friends from youth, against each other in high-stakes transforming space fighter trials.
• My Neighbor Totoro

TERESA

• Early years: G-Force opening, Samurai Pizza Cats opening
• Japanese voice actor Koyasu Takehito, who voiced one of the Samurai Pizza Cats
• InuYasha
• Rurouni Kenshin
• US OVA (Original Video Animation) versions InaYasha,  Trust & Betrayal
• Favorite! Revolutionary Girl Utena (opening)
• Dragon Half – a short-lived series cancelled when its creators were jailed for drug use
• Saiyuki – (Opening sequence)
• Saiyuki English Dub w/ voice actor Vic Mignogna; sample reading of The Gospel of John; Vic singing as Dark Mousy
• Prince of Tennis opening; live action musical version!
• The disappointment of Howl’s Moving Castle, because of deviations from the original book plot. The ending song, Promise of the World, she likes, though!
• Cromarty High School – comedy anime about a high school full of delinquents
• Favorite! Revolutionary Girl Utena (series opening)
• Fushigi Yuugi (YouTube playlist)
• Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
• Princess Jellyfish (episode 1)

DAVE

• Pre-Anime influences in US: Bugs Bunny, Speed Racer Race for Revenge episode with robot car
• Early Anime influences after moving to Taiwan: Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, which was known as Ke Xue Xiao Fei Xia (“Scientific Flying Fantasy Warriors”) in Taiwan where I first saw it, and is still popular there (here’s more news footage of a 30-year anniversary event in Taiwan). Mazinger-Z in Mandarin, Space Battleship Yamato in Mandarin.
• Spaceships influences: Terran Trade Authority books, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Dave’s spaceship drawings.
• Robotech opening, Macross opening (compare!)
• First comic book in college: Appleseed by Masamune Shirow
• Best anime from college era: Dagger of Kamui (Ninja epic set in Japan and America), Wings of Honneamise (ragtag disrespected space agency attempts to launch spaceship), Lupin III: Cagliostro Castle (heist movie set in 1960s)
• Big influence: Macross 1984 movie Do You Remember Love final battle song, favorite cheesy ending credit song Tenshi No Enogu
• TV/OVAs: Dirty Pair, Fist of the North Star (Warning: Gory!)
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – a strong-willed girl creates a high school club to investigate paranormal activities
• Yakitate!! Japan – an idealistic boy strives to create a bread to represent Japan, battling opponent after opponent in baking competitions
• Samurai Champloo – from the creators of Cowboy Bebop, a girl is helped by two rival swordsmen to find the samurai who smells like sunflowers.
• Favorite song: One Summer’s Day from the Hayao Miyazaki movie Spirited Away
• Joe Hisaishi orchestral concert Live at Budokan 25 Years Concert…awesome!
• Miyazaki film: Porco Rosso and a favorite ending credit song
• Favorite! Space Battleship Yamato 2199
• Full Metal Alchemist – one of the better series we’ve seen
• Favorite! Giant Robo (remake) – two worldwide organizations battle each other over control of the world with giant robots and highly-trained operatives
• Favorite! Nodame Cantabile – two students with very different attitudes at a music school find their path toward music excellence and a destiny together
• Favorite! Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – television series that is more true to Masamune Shirow’s original manga.
• Favorite! Avatar: The Last Airbender (though not Japanese)

OTHER TOPICS

• Translation companies: ADV (defunct), AnimEigo, Streamline Pictures (defunct), Manga Entertainment, Funimation
• Humanity and Machines, e.g. Chobits – by CLAMP (opening sequence)
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (snippet) OAV
• Rachel Leigh Cook “This is your brain on drugs“
• Magazine: Animerica (defunct)
• Disney releases of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies (trailers)
• We all love Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service
• New Miyazaki film: The Wind Rises
• Where to watch anime online: KissAnime (fansubs), CrunchyRoll (licensed and available soon after airing in Japan)
• Not anime, but weird and interesting: Train Man: Densha Otaku (movie) (television series)