So what's so great about this anime stuff anyway?

So if I had to explain why it is exactly that I enjoy anime so much, I guess it would have to be that I don't see them as being any different from the movies coming out of Hollywood other than the fact that they happen to be animated rather than live-action film.

I mean, I guess I can sort of understand why people in this country automatically associate animation with kids' fare considering what its history has been, but I think if people could see what the Japanese have managed to do with it, they'd be surprised (if not shocked) at its range.

Now I'm not saying that anime is this artsy-fartsy entertainment medium. Just like how in Hollywood for every The Pianist there are dozens of wastes of celluloid like Just Married, there are some anime worth seeing and others that are a complete waste of time.

Anime. The entertainment medium that combines the broad scope of Hollywood storylines with the world of animated storytelling. Within the world of anime (short for Japanese animation), you will find movies with as much action as Aliens, TV shows with more romantic angst (and cheesiness) than your average soap opera, and direct-to-video releases that are actually worth watching.

Although I fell in love with Robotech (well, actually just the first part which was taken from the Japanese series Superdimensional Fortress Macross) and watched Voltron and other anime shows dubbed into English, I didn't truly "get into anime" until I went to a showing put on by Animania, the University of Michigan's anime club, back in 1994.

Since then, I've had the opportunity to watch great shows like Gundam 0080 and Maison Ikkoku. I've enjoyed the wacky humor of Koko wa Greenwood and Dragon Half. I've watched perennial fan favorites like Ranma 1/2 and Kimagure Orange Road. I've amassed a collection of anime CDs from a nice variety of shows. I've built up a tape library of shows I like. In short, I've spent a lot of money on this hobby called anime.

What I'm watching these days:

Maison Ikkoku
A romantic comedy from the creator of Ranma 1/2. Godai is a student who for various reasons keeps failing his college entrance exams. Fed up with the living situation at the apartment complex he's at, he's about to move out when he meets the new manager, a beautiful young widow. Hilarity ensues.
Released in the U.S. by Viz Entertainment.

Initial D
The story of a tofu delivery boy who has developed extraordinary driving skills while driving his dad's old Toyota Trueno (Toyota Corolla GT-S in the U.S.). It's pretty cheesy, but I like it anyway.
Released in the U.S. by TOKYOPOP.

Here is Greenwood
A wild and zany 6-episode original video animation (OVA) series about the whacked-out residents of a school dorm in Tokyo. Based on a manga (comic book series) by Yukie Nasu.
Released in the U.S. by Media-Blasters.