Kai’s Answers To Yumeka’s Questions
Few days ago, Yumeka of AnimeYume made a questionnaire for each of us to know more about our favorite anime, characters and and so on within our anime fandom. It is similar to Ace Railgun’s 50 questions but only that all of these questions will be anime-related.
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.
MAL it is. I don’t think I could type out 300+ of anime.
2. Out of those, which ones would you consider favorites?
Angel Beats, Anohana, Aria, Baka to Test, Bakuman, Black Lagoon, Clannad, Evangelion, Fate/Zero, FMA: Brotherhood, Gintama, Kara no Kyoukai, Monogatari series, Nodame Cantabile, Sakamicho no Apollon, Steins; Gate, To Aru Majutsu no Index and Toradora.
3. What was the first anime you ever watched and what was your first impression?
Akazukin Cha Cha when it aired on Cartoon Network for the first time. I had no idea it was called an “anime” that time until years later. I was amazed at first, looking at “anime’s” distinctive designs compared to cartoons.
4. In what year would you say you became an anime fan?
I first stumbled upon a few shows like Akazukin Cha Cha or Dragon Ball when I was just a kid. However, since I actually didn’t know they were actually called “anime”, it wasn’t only until around 2000 when I started borrowing anime DVDs from my friends, and it’s this period when I watched memorable shows like Shaman King and FMA. It’s only then that I constantly seek out new anime, and it’s only then that I actually become a “true” anime fan.
5. Do you read manga as well as watch anime?
Of cause. Like a mad scientist, I watched anime, read manga, read light novels, play games, and even play visual novels, and all other otaku related medias, but that will be a discussion for another time.
While I haven’t read manga as long as I had watched anime, I had read a considerable amount of manga like Black Cat, Fruits Basket, Flame of Recca, History Strongest Disciple Kenichi, To-Love ru, Liar Game and also read manhwa like Breaker and Ping. Just recently, I also just finished Mx0. I read manga on a more secondary basis though since I tend to prioritize on anime more.
6. What genre of anime usually interests you?
As long as the execution is good, any genres are fine with me, be it, action, romance, slice-of-life, comedy, fantasy, drama etc..
7. What genre of anime least interests you?
As previously mentioned, any kinds of genres are fine with me as long as the execution is decent, but if I were to pick, I would say genres like mecha and sports themes are ones I like least.
8. For your own personal enjoyment, what do you think is the most important factor in an anime?
Subjectively speaking, there are a lot of factors which contribute to the enjoyment of watching anime. Concept, execution and technicality is one. As I’m the marathoning type, I need to choose a perfect time to watch an anime too. If I’m watching new episodes weekly, it gets especially tough when my real life issues get too hectic, and keeping up with new weekly anime above all that, watching anime itself becomes a chore. There’s also the place to consider, while sometimes I may watch one or two shows on the go with my smartphone, I feel the most enjoyable when I watch anime in front of my own computer.
9. Which do you prefer, dub or sub?
Subs mostly. While in the past where it’s harder to gain access to anime, I don’t mind watching anime with awkward dubs in languages of English, Mandarin, Cantonese or even Malay, now, it’s almost unthinkable to watch anime in any languages but Japanese (w/ English subs).
10. Who are some of your favorite Japanese seiyuu?
Rie Kugimiya indefinitely, liking some of her tsundere roles like Shana (SnS) and Taiga (Toradora), to more mellow roles like Alphonose (FMA) and Mizore (Rosario+Vampire). Paku Romi is another excellent female seiyuu who voices characters like Edward (FMA) and Hitsugaya Toshiro (Bleach). Other noteworthy female seiyuu includes Nana Mizuki, Yui Horie and Aya Hirano
For male seiyuu, Tomokazu Sugita takes the top spot in my opinion as I like his rendition of characters like Gintoki (Gintama) and Kyon (Haruhi). Jun Fukuyama comes close to a second, who voiced the one and only Lelouch (Code Geass). He also did voice-overs for “Maou” in G-Senjou no Maou, one of my favorite visual novels of all time! Kazuya Nakai takes the third spot with his husky and tough guy voice, voicing characters like Zoro (One Piece) and Hijikata (Gintama). Other noteworthy male seiyuu includes Takehito Koyasu and Mamoru Miyano.
11. If you watch anime dubs, who are some of your favorite voice actors?
Aforementioned, I didn’t watch dubs as much but if I were to pick, Reuben Langdon and Johnny Yong Bosch.
12. Which anime do you think has the worst English dub? And the best?
From my limited experience with dubbed anime, I think One Piece and Naruto’s dubs are actually one of the worst. For the best, so far, I think I’m only somewhat satisfied with Ghost in the Shell’s dubs.
13. What are your most disliked anime?
Queen’s Blade, Seikon no Qwaser, Togainu no Chi, and among others.
14. Do you ever try to get people interested in anime? If so, what kind of success have you had?
I do not try to get people, and especially those who have zero interest in it, to be more interested in anime. However, I do try to get some of my friends to watch the shows I really like. Some with success, but some, no.
15. Who are your most favorite anime characters?
Zura from Gintama, Revy from Black Lagoon and so on.
16. Who are your least favorite anime characters?
I dislike characters with weak willpower, and inverts to “wimpy mode” in minutes. Characters like Yukiteru (Mirai Nikki) comes to mind. While it’s easy to relate to them since they are the most “human”, it is depressing to see them sulking in a corner, wallowing in self-pity, when they could have use that time sulking and actually do something productive.
I also dislike characters who are a “waste of space”, characters who are does not contribute much to the plot and doesn’t have much impact to the story. Kazumi (Shakugan no Shana) is one, in fact, I can say the same for most “ordinary childhood friend” archetype characters in supernatural series.
17. Who are your favorite “non-human”(animal-like) characters?
Chopper (One Piece), Plue (Rave/Fairy Tail), Baby Bael (Beelzebub) Sadaharu (Gintama), Elizabeth (Gintama) and Jugem-Jugem Poop Throwing Machine Shin-chan’s Day Before Yesterday Underwear Shinpachi’s Life Balmunk Fezarion Isaac Schneider One Thirds Pure Feeling Two Thirds Worried-Over-A-Hangnail Feeling Though Betrayal Knows My Name I Know The Unknown The Cuttlefish Tastes Kind Of Different Than It Did Last Time Because It Was Caught Near The Pond And Served With Oil From A Hoofed Mammal, Pepepepepepepepepepepe Take Care From Here On In Please And Finally The End Bichigu Somaru (Gintama)
18. What are some ways you express your anime fandom? (going to conventions, blogging, reading fanfiction, etc)
Reading fanfiction and blogging are what I usually do, been trying to write a fanfic myself but just couldn’t get a clear idea what to write. Also, since there are no conventions here in my country, I had been planning to go to one somewhere overseas hopefully soon.
19. What kinds of anime products do you usually buy?
Mostly figures, as you can see, but I buy a considerable amount of anime DVDs too. I also buy misc stuffs like gachapon figures, key chains, accessories and so on. Oh that reminds me, I haven’t write a name in my Death Note yet.
20. What are some of your favorite anime songs and soundtracks?
For openings, “My Soul, Your Beats!” from Angel Beats is definitely top favorite, with ELISA’s “God only knows” from The World God Only Knows comes close to a second. Other openings like “No Buts!” (To Aru Majutsu no Index) by Mami Kawada, “Eternal Blaze” (MGLN) by Nana Mizuki are pretty good as well.. basically, anything from Mami Kawada, Nana Mizuki and KOTOKO becomes an instant favorite. Some other rarer favorites include LM.C’s “Boys & Girls” from Hitman Reborn, m.c.A.T’s “Bomb A Head” from Tenjou Tenge.
For endings, again, anything from KOTOKO, Mami Kawada or Nana Mizuki becames an instant favorite. I also like some others like Home Made Kazoku’s “Nagare boshi” from Naruto Shippuuden, Mai Gouto’s “Egao no Chikara” from ef and the different variations of “Fly Me to the Moon” by Evangelion. And of cause, there’s one which deserves an honorable mention, Yoko Hikasa’s epic “Don’t Say Lazy”.
Aria’s soundtracks are always calm and soothing to hear, then recently, we also had Sakamichi no Apollon’s epic soundtracks. I especially like Sentarou and Kaoru duet during the Bunkasai and during the ending. Other soundtracks albums from Kara no Kyoukai, Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Yuki Kajiura ftw), Anohana and Fairy Tail are good to listen to.
(copied slightly from my answers to Ace’s 50 questions)
21. What anime pairings/shippings do you like?
Mostly unofficial yuri pairings like Yui X Azusa/Mio (K-ON), Nanoha X Fate (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha) and so on. But I also ship pairings like Tomoya X Nagisa (Clannad), Sakura X Li Syaoran (Cardcaptor Sakura) and last but not least, Ryuuji X Taiga (Toradora).
22. What medium to you usually use to watch anime? (buy DVDs, streaming, etc)
In the past, my sis used to borrow tapes from her friends, and we used to watch random bits and pieces of Ranma 1/2. I also watch bits and pieces of Dragon Ball and some other random anime which I don’t remember the title on TV. As DVD started emerging into the market, we begun borrowing anime DVDs from our friends to watch. Once we had internet at our time, I started streaming anime with fansubs at first, then afterwards, I prefer downloading, since I can watch in better quality, and it’s also good to keep downloaded anime of my favorite anime, as I can rewatch if needed.
23. What is your favorite anime quote?
Definitely this (by Gintoki of Gintama):
“Listen up! Let’s say you drink too much strawberry milk, and have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, but it’s cold outside your bed. You don’t want to get up, but the urge to urinate is just too strong! You make up your mind to go! You run to the bathroom, stand in front of the toilet, and let loose! You think that all your life has led to this moment! But then you realize. It isn’t the bathroom! You’re still in bed! That feeling of lukewarm wetness spreads like wildfire! But you don’t stop! You can’t stop! That’s what I’m talking about! That’s the truth of the strawberry milk! Do you get it?”
And also, from the same show, Katsura’s signature “It’s not Zura, it’s [insert random name].”
24. What are your favorite anime movies?
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, 5 Centimeters Per Second and most of Studio Ghibli films.
25. What other “geeky,” media-related hobbies besides anime do you have? (video games, Western animation, etc)
Aforementioned, I watch anime, read manga, play games, play visual novels and read light novels like a mad scientist. If you had read my About Me section, I had dabbled in music before so I had also learned guitar covers of one or two video game soundtracks. I also made anime gfx before but these two hobbies are something I haven’t been doing for a long while already. I watch bits and pieces of Western animation from time to time, but nothing major.
26. What is your most favorite anime of all, and why is it your favorite?
Gintama, if that’s not already obvious.
27. What are some anime you haven’t watched but want to someday?
Quite a hell lot in my backlog actually, and there are quite some major anime which I should really find the time to watch it. Revolutionary Girl Utena, Strike Witches, Gunslinger Girl, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Hellsing OVA (about time to watch this since the second last episode was already aired) are among others. I also planned to watch Aquarion Evol hopefully soon.
Here are my answers to these questions. To those of you who haven’t fill in this questionnaire yet, feel free to jump in and have fun!
deluscar 
Thanks for answering the questions ^_^ That’s interesting that we got into anime around the same time, in 2000.
I’ve heard great things about Gintama, though its length is what’s keeping me from starting on it (I’m already watching Naruto and One Piece!) But one day, perhaps when one of the other big shonen series ends, I’ll give it a try.
If I had to pick one of your Plan To Watch series as the first one you should watch, I would say Cowboy Bebop :3
Indeed, and I remember you were watching Pokemon at that time? :D Actually I remembered I was watching a lot of Pokemon at one point when I was a kid too, forgot when was that though, and I think I was watching CD at that time instead of DVD, HEAPS of discs D:
It’s actually completed right now so it’s a good time as any to watch it^^ Naruto and One Piece still looks like the endless shows they are, lol.
Yea, I heard great things about Cowboy Bepop and Revolutionary Girl Utena, definitely going to watch those two soon.
I totally understand your dislike of those characters who don’t contribute to the story, even if I don’t know a whole lot about Yukiteru. It’s just the sort of thing that happens far too often to overlook.
Nice list here. I may look into answering some of these myself pretty soon.
Yukiteru does contribute to the story, but I just dislike him as a character. Can’t say much while risking the possibility of revealing spoilers though.
Looking forward to it as well^^
Man, I need to get back into these “projects” and get myself aware again…
Speaking of which, there had been a lot of “questions” :D
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