Welcome to Party Chat, the question and answer post where the Girls on Games team address the pressing (and not so pressing) how, when, why and what-if’s of gaming culture.
And in the spirit of Otakuthon, this week’s question is: What is your favorite anime?
Simon:
“The only anime that got my attention and that actually keep me coming back for more was Dragon Ball Z. I had read all the manga before watching the series on YTV. It was more of “manly” series and I guess that’s why I liked it! Lots of action and fight scenes without ever getting boring. I still remember the first time Goku went Super Saiyan on Namek, gave me the biggest nerd chills. Who would have thought the story of fighting space monkeys was going to be so interesting! Even to this day, I keep up to date with new development on the franchise, even though I don’t follow it as closely as I used too.”
Leah:
“My favourite anime of all time (and this was hard to choose) is Fushigi Yuugi. It’s a show that I was introduced to with fan subs back before we could stream shows on the internet. DVDs were super rare for anime and all we could get our hands on were these old VHS tapes that we bought on ebay. It was the first anime that I watched from start to finish and would often do so in sleep over marathons over the weekend with a bunch of my friends. I got truly obsessed with the show, often found listening to the multiple OST that I had burned on CDs while I drew fan art of the many characters. Just remembering the songs now is making me go to youtube and listen while I type. If you haven’t yet, you have to check it out.”
Nicholas:
“I never really got into anime apart from the suggestions other people gave me so my intake was limited to Dragon Ball and Pokemon, which were staples of my childhood. That being said, one day I watched the movie Akira and was blown away. Later I found out the movie was only about half of a series of mangas which set me off to try and find and collect all the issues. Everyone needs to do themselves a favor and check out Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo.”
Catherine Smith-Desbiens:
“Everyone knows of my undying love for Sailor Moon but there’s an anime that is just as dear to my heart: The Slayers. I got the first season on VHS through a Columbia House membership. My parents had signed me up for an Anime account and thus began my long love story with Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev. It was the first anime that I truly collected; I would go each year to Anime North with a wad of cash just hunting for the perfect deal on the box sets and OVAs. To this day, I still have all my DVDs, I only parted way with the first season because my VHS player died.
Pierre-Olivier:
“Choosing a favorite anime is hard since I have around 15 who could fit that role. But in honor of Koyama-san being at Otakuthon this year, and because he voices Mamoru Takamura (one of my favorite characters), for this edition of party chat I have chosen Hajime No Ippo as my potentially favorite series.
So what is Hajime No Ippo? I figure most people reading this might have never heard of it. It’s an obscure title even amongst big anime fans, and this is most likely due to it being an anime about boxing. Yes, boxing. Now I boxed myself for a few years and it is during those years that I first discovered this anime, but before you brush it off as just being ‘another’ sports anime I have to say this; it’s not just another sports anime, it’s THE sports anime. It’s widely considered to be the best in its class, it has a fantastic cast of characters, some you can relate to and others you can’t (like Takamura, for example, who is nearly inhuman), and the show is blessed with truly spectacular in-ring action. It also has the illusion of a love story, and the illusion is strong enough for you to believe that there’s actually something going on there until you’ve been reading the manga for ten years and realize “Wait a minute, this is totally going nowhere.” Hajime No Ippo is truly all about the boxing, and it’s never been more apparent now that the manga is nearing its 26th year of publication. The anime had a first run of 75 episodes in the early 2000’s, and since then they’ve been releasing a new season or some new OVA’s every couple of years to keep the story moving along. Right now the anime is up to chapter 500 of 1080 of the manga.