For those of you looking at the title of this post and going…. “Huh what?” fear not for I will tell you my title asks a question. For those of you now going “duh… there’s a question mark up there genius” just slow down a little I’m getting to my point. The question in the title is “Who am I?” For those of you who actually speak Japanese and are now thinking to yourself “You’re doing it wrong….” Just go with it (and if I actually got it right then yay me!)

So in case you couldn’t tell this post is all about me. For those of you who do not wish to be traumatized (read: bored) then you can stop here. I will give you fair warning that the remaining subject matter contained within this post may get somewhat deep. For those of you actually interested (or who have absolutely nothing better to do with their time) feel free to keep reading.

For those who haven’t paid attention to our show much (ok I know it doesn’t get said often) my real first name is Ed (actually Edward) and no my last name is not Elric (I’m not that short). My real last name shall remain my dirty little secret. Can’t be too careful, I mean a potential employer might go looking me up some day and god knows I’d be embarrassed to be associated with this lot (stares at Duma, Roundpeg and Slunker). I am 27 years old, will be 28 in 1 month and 3 days (for those 2 lazy 2 do math that’s May 9). I am currently working on a double major at the University of Toledo. What are they you ask? Education with a focus on Language Arts (or in less fancy language Teaching English) and Arts and Sciences with a focus on general writing. What is general writing, why I write all about famous war heroes…. Ok that was lame even for me. General writing is just what it sounds like, a degree in various forms and techniques used for writing… ACK!!! I dropped my beef jerky while typing this hold on…….mmm nom nom. Ok where was I (yes I am actually eating beef jerky while typing, spicy teriyaki if you must know).

After highschool (I graduated in 2000) I spent 2 years as a software programmer for a company that eventually went belly up. Then I spent a year out of work and then worked for 7 years for a wireless phone company doing technical support. Somewhere along those 7 years I decided I had thoroughly had it in putting up with the sheer idiocy of customers (anyone who has worked phone support should know what I mean) and started looking for a new job. Almost everything I was looking at and interested in wanted a degree or certification of some kind. So I decided to bite the bullet as they say and enrolled in college (for the second time, I went for 1 year as an IT major and just couldn’t stick with it). Amidst all that I moved out and back home twice (yes I still live with my parents, laugh it up if ya want, but I count myself lucky). I quit my job at the end of last year so I could focus on going to school full time and somewhere in all of that mess I hooked up with the other three hosts of this show and started recording a podcast.

As far as genres of Anime and anything in general for that matter, I like Sci-Fi and Fantasy the most, quirky funny Anime, slice of life, the downright weird, and the occasional horror themed show. What is my favorite Anime of all time? I really haven’t settled on that question. There are a lot that I like, Slayers, Last Exile, Tri-Gun, Cowboy Bebop, the list goes on but you get the idea. I really enjoy reading (I should hope my choice of major makes that somewhat obvious) and have a penchant for making lame puns and jokes (if you didn’t know this already you clearly haven’t been listening to our show). But is all this really who I am?

This post does tell you a lot about me, but I think just like anyone this is all just the surface of what makes me me. I mean I could go on to tell you I’m slightly fluent in German and American Sign Language (by slightly fluent I mean I know enough that I could get by in a conversation if I had to) although I’d say I’m much more proficient in the latter than the former (sign language for those who get confused by that turn of phrase), but before I get to far off track what does my knowing Sign Language really tell you about me? You might think I am interested in learning about how deaf people communicate. Or about communication in general, and you would be somewhat right on both counts. In reality I enjoy studying the human condition through all forms of media and study be it language, books, movies, TV, Anime or whatever else comes my way. I like to study what makes people who they are, and Language is an intrinsic part of what shapes who we are and how we think. Language is closely intertwined with culture and all those other things that make us tic and teach us about the world around us, and so it is that I have an intense interest in the study of language and its history. But even that is just scratching the surface of Me. In all honesty I think I don’t have enough space to write everything I would need to to be able to give you the complete picture, but at the very least I can sketch a portrait in a somewhat short post

If this post has made you in the least bit curious feel free to send any questions by way of our show’s e-mail or drop me a line in the forums.

I feel mildly obligated to fill in that the  “something about cats” that I reviewed is called Nyan Koi. You can find the wiki article for it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyan_Koi!. The Anime is in production in Japan and the English version of the manga is available through CMX Manga.

So the spring semester at The University of Toledo has finally ended and I am taking a well deserved break. Doing what you ask? Catching up on playing a game that I’ve been wanting to play for awhile, Mana Khemia. It’s a JRPG by Gust in Japan, and released under NIS America, the same people that brought the popular Disgaia series to the USA. It follows the system set down in the somewhat popular Atelier Iris series of RPG’s and is about a group of students learning Alchemy at the prestegious Al Revis Academy. So yeah, I finished a semester of school only to start playing a JRPG where the main character is going to school, silly I know. So far I’m ejoying it, but I must add that I’m glad they included the option to have Japanese voice overs. It’s not that the US voice actors in this one stink. NIS has kept up with their tradition of hiring good voice actors. The problem is the US voice over gips players because it, at least so far, has about 50% less spoken lines than the US voice over. Just for example with the Japanese voice overs all of the shop keepers, very minor characters in the grand scheme of things, get a voice over for their greeting and for when you leave the shop.

As for Anime I’ve been watching a few different series. I’ve been keeping up on the ongoing popular series Naruto Shipuuden and Bleach, meh I’m sure I don’t need to comment on a show that at least 90% of the US Anime watching population is keeping up with. Aside from this I’ve been watching K-On, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Senjou no Valkyria, and another old favorite of mine, the comedy Tsukikage Ran.

For those that might not be familiar with this title, it follows the travels of a wandering female samurai by the name of Ran. She has a love of sake and is followed by the Lady Meow of the Cat Fist style. The series is hilarious and will more than likely be included in our next episode for my review.

Written by skyeline

You know you never really appreciate the ability to breath until it becomes very difficult to do so. For those of you actually listening to our podcast (what I know were small yet… don’t look at me like that guys… um…. uh….) Whew, ok I’m back. Sorry about that odd aside there. I’ve been recovering from temporary insanity as well as a seriously nasty upper respiratory infection so lack of breathing, much coughing, very little talking (lack of voice and all) and now I’m all better… well at least I don’t have an infection any more.

So for these last few weeks I’ve been assuaging my anime needs by watching Dennou Coil, and an old favorite of mine, Tsubasa Chronicle. Both series are very interesting, especially the new to me Dennou Coil. The style of the show really grabbed me with its art which reminds me very much of Hayao Miyazaki’s work. That and the mystery that the show presents as well as with the intriguing virtual world really drew me in from the start. I should have a fairly decent review ready for the next release.