Rants & Raves

Something I've come across quite frequently in anime fandom nowadays is what I consider "anime fan guilt", wherein a fan of anime, so insecure over the fact that he is a fan of foreign cartoons, completely overcompensates by condemning Japanese things. It's an interesting phenomenon that at first I was unable to grasp, as I thought at first that it was legitimate criticism of the Japanese culture given by people who were otherwise fans of their animation, reasonable people who liked anime, but weren't into all things Japanese. However, I soon discovered that this wasn't the case.

With the Audio:English series, PenguinTruth takes a critical look at the English
dubs which grace some of anime's most defining series in North America.

There isn't a group of animated programs that dominate the world of entertainment for me quite as much as the Gundam franchise. What started as a passing interest in Gundam Wing's hamfisted philosophical debates and cool mecha evolved into an obsession, much as man is meant to evolve into the Newtype. (Or maybe not. Don't even ask Yoshiyuki Tomino about that one. He doesn't know.) What are essentially elaborate (some more than others) robot toy commercials have so my anime fandom that I've forgotten what life was like before Gundam. Did I dream? Did I breathe? Now I have several DVDs of Gundam material and a mind filled with useless trivia. And I'm not even the biggest Gundam geek. I'll save that honor for the guys who can give you the exact specs of the engines of a Zaku II.

Spike Spencer (still) as Shinji Ikari
Brina Palencia (still) as Rei Ayanami
Allison Keith (still) as Misato Katsuragi
Tiffany Grant (reprises her role) as Asuka Lagely Shikinami
Trina Nishimura as Mari Makinami Illustrious
Colleen Clinkenbeard (still) as Ritsuko Agaki
J. Michael Tatum as Ryoji Kaiji