Guests' Web Picks

When I was asked to write guest picks, I was honoured. Why? Well, it's kind of cool to have been nominated and accepted for such an honour. At least, I feel it's an honour. I've been an anime fan for a long, long time, but it has only been the past three or four years in which I have broken free of the watching-of-only-badly -dubbed anime and have been exploring new terrain. It has only been recently, in the past year, where the focus of my labours have centred around serial experiments lain, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. In fact, I am astonished at the number of people who have visited my page, Angel Eyes :: the Ayanami Rei Shrine, in the past year (over 25,000). I have recently delved into deeper exploration of the "anime culture" by attending conventions, and appearing at public forums for discussion. I've even sought out and attended local anime club meetings.

So, what really began this new-found fascination? Many factors. As a child, I had discovered the goodness which was Astro Boy. In the same era were delightful shows such as Transformers, Speed Racer, and Voltron! What hardcore television watching eighties child wouldn't've seen Voltron? ;) Soon after came Dragonball, DBZ, Samurai Pizza Cats, and Sailor Moon. Not very much to start with, but there was something about these cartoons which captivated my wandering young mind and made me crave more. I admit that being a fan of such anime and of the badly dubbed and edited versions didn't exactly classify me as an Otaku, but what can I say? There's got to be a gateway drug to open the doors to better things, don't you think? ^_^

Anyway, in 1995, I discovered a vast and wonderous thing: the Internet. I learned that there was more to these cartoons then what was being shown in North America. I was being pulled deeper and deeper into the clutch of the delictably and controversial flood known as anime, and I loved it. It was in November of 1996, however, that I got my own computer, and began researching more and more into this. I admit, I was still a hardcore DiC Sailor Moon fan, but that didn't matter. In fact, I believe that it was my liking to Sailor Jupiter which earned me the nickname, Jupe. In April of 1997. I started my first page: Sailor Solar's Spectacular Sailor Scout Shrine. Try saying that five times fast. It was a disgrace. I could go into it, and the following pages, but I'll spare everyone the gory details. I decided, after researching Sailormoon to the extent that I had been researching it, that other anime were probably just as good, if not better than Sailormoon. Boy, was I ever right.

I met an online friend of mine, Serena (known to many anime chatters from the late WBS as Tuger Loly) and she introduced me to more. More, better, amazing! Titles such as Dragon Half, Yuna, Cutey Honey, Sakura Wars, Kodomo no Omocha (!!!!!) and so on. It was only a few months after that when I picked up on Neon Genesis Evangelion. Well, good-bye Sailormoon, hello Eva! Never in my life had I ever imagined a series which would yank me from everything I had ever seen in my entire life and change my perspective and morals about television. (I admit, lain also did the same to me, which is why I have started my own lain page: "and you don't seem to understand" It should be completed in a couple of months, since it will be mostly done in Flash 4.)

But I'm getting off topic here. I should be talking about my favourite pages. Well, there are a few of them. I go to a lot of pages quite frequently, actually. One of the pages I frequent very often is TheFoodCourt. See, normally I go to a website and like it if it has design, content, and originality, but there are exceptions to most rules. I love TFC with all my heart, but it is a long loader. I shouldn't talk though. AE has some long loading parts too. Anyway, if you're looking for humour and basic making-fun-of real world stuff, Disney, etc, then you'll love TheFoodCourt. The guy who makes this page is just phenomenal with graphics.

Another site I frequent is The Utena Network. I admit that I have never seen Utena, but I gather that it is an excellent series. The pages in this collective are absolutely gorgeous and jam-packed with information. Michiru.com is also a beautifully sculpted website with many gorgeous shrines and captivating info.

Seeing that I've been recently obsessed with the entire concept of cosplay and conventions, I should add a few links to my favourite sites regarding cosplay and conventions. Firstly, is the Anime Weekend Atlanta page (temporarily offline. has basic info right now). It contains all the info you need about one of the best conventions. For cosplay, the one and only link you will ever need is Cosplay/Anime Costuming and Masquarading Links. This covers most conventions as well, and reports who wins in cosplay contests and what they win, etcetera.Genrou.net is a link which features convention craziness such as "ORGY-CON". My final, and one of my most important, cosplay links is the link to A Fan's View. If you can't make it to the convention, the closest you will ever get to the action is Fansview.

Although I'm no longer a Sailormoon fan, I always check back to see how the Amazon Quartet's page is. (The Worst Sailormoon Webpages Ever) They're always in for a good laugh: be it from their reviews, their rantings, or the lemures files that were submitted. Even if you don't like Sailormoon, it's worth checking out. Finally, one of the links which has really helped me, beyond explanation, is Sailor Bacon's Anime Song Lyrics Headquarters. This guy has more lyrics than I have ever seen. Over 1900 altogether, and if he doesn't have what you want, all you need to ask, and he'll do his best to get the lyrics up for you.

These are just a couple of the pages that I visit often. There are more, but I don't want to keep you all here while I write about them. I love making webpages, and I love watching anime, but most of all, I love sharing my love for anime with everyone around me by expressing my views in a, I think, well-designed and informative webpage. Thanks to everyone who reads this, and thank you, Jei, for inviting me to do these picks. Thanks for the visits.. heck, thanks for everything! I hope to see some of you at Anime Central and Otakon, not to mention AWA. If you ever wish to chat, just drop by the messageboard on my website. I'm always happy to talk!

Ja ne!

--Jupe