After catching up to what’s been going on around the ani-blogosphere, I saw that Yumeka from AnimeYume put together a series of questions (similar to AceRailgun’s 50 Questions a while back) for, well, any anime fan to answer. I’m totally late to the party, but I just love these kinds of questionnaires.

1. What anime have you seen? If you’ve seen too many to type out here, link to any list you may have, such as MAL.

I had a handwritten list for this back then, but stopped when I was nearing 70 or so completed shows. Now I’m at 140+ and you can view my anime list here.

2. Out of those, which ones would you consider favorites?

My top five would be: Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Stay Night (and Zero), Bakemonogatari, Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi, Spice and Wolf, followed by To Aru Majutsu no Index, Durarara!!, Toradora!, and ef – a tale of memories

3. What was the first anime you ever watched and what was your first impression?

This is tough to pinpoint since we had a handful of locally dubbed anime that aired in the mornings back in the day (Doraemon, Crayon Shin-chan and Kuro-chan to name a few), but I’m gonna answer with Voltes V. Since Voltes V was one of the first mecha that I’ve seen (alongside Mazinger Z and Daimos), I was totally immersed in the robot spectacle if you will. I remember wanting to own a Voltes V figure that actually separates it’s parts.

4. In what year would you say you became an anime fan?

Around 2007, when I first attempted to watch an English-subbed, Japanese audio anime. It was the last two episodes of Fate/Stay Night which I had missed when it aired on Animax.

5. Do you read manga as well as watch anime?

Nowadays yes, but not in the same frequency. I still watch more anime than I do read manga. I’ve only recently been a fan of manga, and I’ve finished only a handful so far (notable ones would be Hoshi no Samidare, Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan and Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa). I’m currently following Gamaran, Medaka Box and Nisekoi. So yeah, not as much manga, but I keep up with those three.

6. What genre of anime usually interests you?

Anime tagged with “psychological” usually pique my interest the most because you know that that show is going to try and pull something unexpected off (Madoka and Penguindrum as recent examples). But I’m pretty open to most genres, and I believe I particularly lean towards romance-comedy and slice-of-life. I’d also go for shoujo, as pointed out by a lot of people, lol.

7. What genre of anime least interests you?

Mecha, I believe. Don’t get me wrong though, Voltes V totally made my childhood awesome, and Gundam SEED is a fun ride in of itself. But today’s mecha…I dunno, they just feel different then they did back then. There’s also yuri/yaoi shows, which don’t really sit well with that often. Ecchi is a bit so-so in my opinion – if the show has something else going for it then I don’t mind.

8. For your own personal enjoyment, what do you think is the most important factor in an anime?

I think story trumps almost all other factors involved in anime. Part of the enjoyment I get from anime is watching a well-written story unfold before my eyes. It doesn’t have to be all that deep and emotional (like, say, Steins;Gate) nor does it have to be overly complex (like maybe Evangelion and Utena). Even if it is a teeny bit unoriginal, if a show presents its story well enough, I believe I’d more or less enjoy it.

9. Which do you prefer, dub or sub?

Subbed is the way to go for me. Although saying that, I do like some dubs out there – special mention goes to Fullmetal Alchemist and Baccano! (coincidentally, both shows feature Western naming schemes)

10. Who are some of your favorite Japanese seiyuu?

Let’s see- for female seiyuu there’s the strong voicing of Shizuka Itou (Kanzaki Kaori from Index, Ookami Ryouko from Ookami-san), the ever-lovely deepness in the voice of Sakamoto Maaya (Ryougi Shiki from KnK, Nino from Arakawa Under the Bridge), the unique tone of Sawashiro Miyuki (Celty from DRRR!!, Suruga Kanbaru from Bakemonogatari) and finally the awesomeness that is Hanazawa Kana (Kuroneko from OreImo, Shiina Mayuri from Steins;Gate)

For male seiyuu; the omnipresent (cause he’s like, in the majority of shows that I like) Kamiya Hiroshi (Araragi Koyomi from Bakemonogatari, Orihara Izaya from DRRR!!), the unforgettable voice of Nakamura Yuuichi (Okazaki Tomoya from CLANNAD, Tsutsugami Gai from Guilty Crown), the scheming tone of Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass, Lawrence Kraft from Spice and Wolf) and of course, the epic Miyano Mamoru (Yagami Light from Death Note, Okabe Rintarou from Steins;Gate)

11. If you watch anime dubs, who are some of your favorite voice actors?

Not a whole lot if you’d compare the above, lol, but Vic Mignogna is definitely my favorite dubber because of his voice as Edward Elric of Western FMA fame. Probably Crispin Freeman and Johnny Yong Bosch who both did work on DRRR!! as Heiwajima Shizuo and Orihara Izaya respectively.

12. Which anime do you think has the worst English dub? And the best?

Some of them old dubbed shows like Yu Yu Hakusho and Flame of Recca don’t really fit in my opinion. I’ve heard worse with a few of our local Filipino dubs, but yeah. As for the best I would have to give it to Fullmetal Alchemist. Vic Mignogna just takes being Ed so seriously, that it actually shows in his voice acting. The other characters too have some pretty fitting voices (Roy Mustang and Lust for example) and the dialogue flows naturally thanks to the setting.

13. What are your most disliked anime?

I stop watching a show I know I’m gonna end up hating so there isn’t really a whole lot of ’em. Nabari no Ou is one. I liked their take on modern ninjas and stuff, but it got really really weird towards the end. I mean, really weird. Kamisama no Memochou was a disappointment. I sincerely had high hopes for it, but something went wrong somewhere – maybe J.C. Staff decided to allocate their better resources to another show, maybe it was never meant to have a good adaptation; I dunno.

14. Do you ever try to get people interested in anime? If so, what kind of success have you had?

Not really, no. Most of my friends who I talk to about anime had already been interested beforehand so I never actually had to get their interest with it. The most I do is recommend shows; not necessarily nudging them to watch anime from then on. Like one time I suggested to a friend of mine who likes romances but is not really an anime fan, that she watch 5 cm/s. She said she liked it, and I think she went on and looked for Shinkai’s other stuff, so I guess it was a success.

15. Who are your most favorite anime characters?

To name a few: Saber and Emiya Kiritsugu (from the Fate series) Ryougi Shiki and Kokutou Mikiya (from Kara no Kyoukai) Holo and Lawrence Kraft (from Spice and Wolf) Ookami Ryouko and Morino Ryoushi (from Ookami-san) Orihara Izaya (from DRRR!!) Kuroneko (from OreImo) Takakura Himari (from Penguindrum) Araragi Koyomi and Oshino Shinobu (from the -monogatari series) Accelerator and Shirai Kuroko (from Index)

16. Who are your least favorite anime characters?

The dumbed down version of L (from Death Note), after befriending Yagami Light kinda pissed me off a little so there’s that. I’d punch both Yukiteru’s dad (from Mirai Nikki) and Rea’s dad (from Sankarea) for being total jerks. And for some reason, I really don’t like Sakai Yuji (from Shakugan no Shana).

17. Who are your favorite “non-human”(animal-like) characters?

Not a whole lot, so I’m going to copy my answer the one I had for AceRailgun’s 50 Questions: Mao from Darker than BLACK (if he counts) and Chobi from Final Fantasy Unlimited. I’m also going to add Penguin #’s 1,2 & 3 from Mawaru Penguindrum.

18. What are some ways you express your anime fandom? (going to conventions, blogging, reading fanfiction, etc)

Blogging, yes. I also go onto forums (MAL mostly) and join in on the discussions at times. I used to write fanfiction (you might find my unfinished and very raw fanfic on Fate/Stay Night at fanfiction.net) but nowadays I only read. I listen to some J-music that I discovered through anime like SCANDAL, ClariS, and Kalafina. I’ve only started collecting light novels, but I plan to add more to that. I’ve gone to some local cons here in the Philippines, but I’d love to attend some of the big ones someday.

19. What kinds of anime products do you usually buy?

Hmm, I usually settle for posters and anime magazines. I have a few DVD’s (emphasis on few) and, well, that would be it >.<

20. What are some of your favorite anime songs and soundtracks?

This has been increasing at a speedy rate recently. My all time favorite OP song is tied between “Tori no Uta” by Lia (from Air) and “boys, come back to me” by Etsuko Yakushimaru (from Penguindrum). Runner ups include “No Buts!” by Mami Kawada (from Index II) “disillusion 2010” by Sachi Tainaka (from Fate/Stay Night TV Reproduction) and “Uragiri no Yuuyake” by Theater Brook. My favorite ED  is again a tie between “oblivious” by Kalafina and “Kamisama no Iutoori” by Etsuko Yakushimaru. Runner ups would be “secret base ~10 years after ver,~” by the lead female seiyuus of AnoHana and “Anna ni Issho Datta no ni” by See-Saw (from Gundam SEED), As for OST’s; the entire Sakamichi no Appollon OST, and “Lost my Pieces” from the Toradora! OST.

21. What anime pairings/shippings do you like?

Definitely Holo and Lawrence from Spice and Wolf. Another would be Celty and Shinra from DRRR!!. I prefer mostly canon pairings – except maybe for Shinichirou and Noe from True Tears.

22. What medium to you usually use to watch anime? (buy DVDs, streaming, etc)

Over the years my media has evolved – at first it was through Animax, along with our local TV channels that dubbed anime. I then went on to streaming and buying and/or borrowing DVD’s. Now I just download and watch my anime on either my desktop or my laptop.

23. What is your favorite anime quote?

I actually keep a .txt file for anime quotes, but I think this is my most favorite one –

“If there is a creator, he surely made this world too large.This is inconvenient for us small, fearful humans. For all the world’s vastness, we can’t measure the distance between ourselves. There’s six billion of us, yet still…everyone is all alone. That’s why we’re all frantically searching, for that one person we need no distance from.”

– Ichinomiya Kou/Riku, Arakawa Under the Bridge.

24. What are your favorite anime movies?

The Kara no Kyoukai series, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa, 5 cm/s, The End of Evangelion, The Rebuild of Evangelion series, Summer Wars, Voices of a Distant Star

25. What other “geeky,” media-related hobbies besides anime do you have? (video games, Western animation, etc)

I used to be a hardcore handheld gamer (way back to the GameBoy days!), but the PSP kinda declined at some point in time and, well, yeah. I don’t watch much Western stuff anymore, but I once marathoned (probably within 2-3 days or so) two Nickelodeon shows – Avatar: The Legend of Aang, and Danny Phantom

Also, reading novels doesn’t seem geeky nowadays. Just throwing that out there, lol

26. What is your most favorite anime of all, and why is it your favorite?

Kara no Kyoukai. Can’t really give a definitive answer as to why – I guess it’s just one of those feelings.

27. What are some anime you haven’t watched but want to someday?

A lot, I’m sure. I even have blog posts dedicated to this. But yeah, aside from those I’ve already listed out (Black Cat, ef – a tale of melodies, Romeo X Juliet, Le Chevalier D’Eon, Big Windup! S2, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Seirei no Moribito, and Rose of Versailles) I really, really just want to cross out Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggann from my list, along with Kobato., Kurenai, Chrno Crusade, and some old rom-com’s like Kare Kano, Cross Game, and Lovely Complex.