Back in the early 1990s, Anime in the United States was extremely rare, and when I was able to catch glimpses of Japanese Animation (Anime), I was entranced with it and searched for more. It was definitely restricted to the underground or abroad.

When two shows Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball were syndicated for U.S. television, I instantly became attached to them. My Anime craze started March 1996, shortly before the rest of the U.S. nerds caught on. I recorded every episode on those old things we used to call VHS players. Nowadays you can buy the entire series on DVD/Blu-ray.

But there was more to Anime besides the mainstreamers. I searched around to see what else was out there, soon discovering the (original) Dirty Pair. I met friends that shared their digs with Anime and happily let me borrow many series, such as Saber Marionette J, Visions of Escaflowne, Those Who Hunt Elves, Jubei-Chan, Kenshin, Video Girl AI, Cowboy Bebop, and others.

Most Anime fans prefer "subbed" format (Japanese dialogue with English sub-titles) as opposed to "dubbed" English dialogue, since the latter tends to be abhorrent with bad voice acting and politically-correct inaccuracy (read: censorship) of what they're REALLY saying. It depends on the series, but I tend to pick dubbed over subbed, only because trying to read subtitles distracts from the on-screen action. Turning on both dubbed voices with english subtitles make it rather comical to see the vast difference between the (sometimes crude) Japanese translation vs. the direction the American dub takes. If the dubbed voices are really bad/annoying, I'll watch the sub.

I prefer the 1990s style of Anime, probably since that's what I'm used to. The whole Anime culture has exploded since those days, but alas I seem to have left that phase behind and stopped watching. What glimpses of modern anime series I've seen just doesn't do anything for me. I may bust out something from my old collection once in a while for a quick binge, but dedicating a part of my life to watching an entire series is long gone.

Head on over to the Legacy Anime Arena for pages I used to maintain back in the day. They look nicer than they used to but are all retired as shrines and will be left to age gracefully.