Animefringe at One - Omake
E-mails to Animefringe
Compiled by Adam "OMEGA" Arnold

Weird letters and e-mail is just part of being a magazine. But, if you have ever wondered why we don't have a letters section... well, that's a hard question to answer. But instead of answering it with a straight answer, I'm just going to side-step it and say that we once had a sub-section in the Fan Service portion of Animefringe dedicated to all types of letters, comments, confessions, and such. The key to that is 'once had.' Reprinted 'uncensored' for the first time is "Lord Itlan's Sailormoon Confession" which we received back in January 2000 as well as a few other nicer e-mails we just haven't ever printed.

From: Pikachuuuu! "pikachu@tropicalstorm.com"
To: "fringe@hyper-space.com"
Subject: Lord Itlan's Sailormoon Confession
Date: Tuesday, January 04, 2000 9:26 PM

Okay, when I was watching the virgin (non-translated, non-subbed) Sailormoon Super a couple of months ago, two of my friends, one of whom is considered by the general agreement of my local Anime audience to be the non-animated persona of Sailor Moon, and the other being completely taken by the Tuxedo Kamen mentality, began a hot and heavy affair on the floor of the bedroom of a girl who I will call, for the record, Presea-San. The interesting part is that I couldn't tell the difference between the cries of the Sailor Scouts on the TV and the low moaning which filled the room. Now I tease my Sailor Moon friend about how well she imitates the battle noises when she's getting laid.

And the really great part about this embarrassing moment is that I'm going to give her this site's address so that she can read about her first encounter with romance and love (translation: lust and loss of cherry)...along with the other thousands of readers this site will get!

-Lord Itlan
pikachu@tropicalstorm.com

THIS IS A TEST THIS IS ONLY A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM IN CONJUNCTION WITH LOCAL AND FEDERAL AUTHORITIES HAD THIS BEEN A REAL ATOMIC BLAST YOU WOULD NOT BE READING THIS REPEAT THIS IS A TEST THIS IS ONLY A TEST

From: Pikachuuuu! "pikachu@tropicalstorm.com"
To: "fringe@hyper-space.com"
Subject: [no subject]
Date: Tuesday, January 04, 2000 9:48 PM

Hello!
I will state for the record that I am an anime fan. I have seen more hours of Japanese programming (usually in Japanese, I might add) than I have watched American TV. If you name it, I may have seen it, read it, or downloaded it from the internet. I do not claim to know all there is about anime, but I'm learning daily.

There are, that being said, several points I would like to make clear to the anime audience in general. Points which, having been ignored by a majority of people I personally know in the anime community, may have been ignored by a good deal more people than I have met.

Point one: Big eyes in anime. The large eyes are not due to a Freudian Japanese longing for large, freakishly round eyes. Rather, the largeness of eyes in anime is traditionally used to accentuate the iris and pupil, and not the white part, or "sclera." The Japanese eye, far from being slanty or small, is actually given its signature shape by the presence of epicanthic folds, which are found near the nose, and not toward the temples as stereotypes insist. Japanese eyes are dark, and highlights look good on dark eyes. The best way to exaggerate the shining quality of a good, clear eye is to make them appear larger. Americans, however, who have more slant to the eye than Asian people (and this is a proven fact, just ask the local ethnic expert) misinterpret this enlargement as an attempt to seem more caucasian.

Point two: Sexual immorality in anime. The untutored person in America who knows what Anime is will probably assume that the majority of animation in Japane involves one of three things: Sailor Moon, Pokemon, or pornography involving tentacles. As a matter of fact, these kinds are quite popular, although they are only three types of anime in a HUGE and diverse field. There is Shoujo, or girly anime, which includes things like Sailor Moon, Pretty Sammy, Graduation, and a bunch of romantic animes I don't watch because I hate them. There is also monster anime, such as Pokemon, Digimon, Monster Rancher, and Cardcaptor Sakura, which usually involves training monsters to fight, or going on monster-retrieval quests. This anime usually leads to or comes from RPG video gaming, which is popular in Japan. Then there is hentai, or "h" anime. This is the tentacle porn we hear so much about. 1/4 of anime is pornographic or "h" anime in Japan. The bizarre, physically impossible, or painful-as-all-get-out type of pornography (see "Urutsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend) is no big deal considering that you can't do that kind of thing in real life and film it. Tentacles just don't work that way. Actresses would last about as long as the chick in "8MM." The interesting thing is, we don't make any big deal out of maturity when it comes to animation in America. We let all the painful, perverse things which can take place in pornography happen to real people, while our cartoons have to be rated "G" to make any money (see Princess Mononoke to understand why it didn't do as well as it could have. It was a violent and plot-packed story in a country where cartoons haven't yet left the get-the-girl romancy Barbie mentality). This is kind of interesting.

Point three: Nosebleeds and large breasts. Enough said.

This is an excerpt from an essay I wrote once for a college class. I got a B and an admonition not to write about porn anymore. Nothing but the best for my anime friends! Enjoy.

Keeeeeee!

THIS IS A TEST THIS IS ONLY A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM IN CONJUNCTION WITH LOCAL AND FEDERAL AUTHORITIES HAD THIS BEEN A REAL ATOMIC BLAST YOU WOULD NOT BE READING THIS REPEAT THIS IS A TEST THIS IS ONLY A TEST

From: Pikachuuuu! "pikachu@tropicalstorm.com"
To: "fringe@hyper-space.com"
Subject: automated response
Date: Monday, January 17, 2000 9:09 AM

PIKA PI PI PI PIKA, PIKA-CHU!

FACT OF THE WEEK:

In Japan, sleeping on the floor and bathing with friends, as well as picking one's nose, belching, or farting loudly, is a common and accepted practice. Fellow bachelors, let's go to Japan and meet our kindred!

P.S.: CHUUUUUUU!

From: Amanda Zizman "vs_sharon_apple@hotmail.com"
To: "fringe@hyper-space.com"
Subject: Great site!
Date: Monday, January 17, 2000 9:50 AM

Hi!

Great site so far guys! Nice, clean layout, and great stuff to do! I can't wait to see what you have in store for the future!

Anyways, here's some fanart you can use for your page!

Quistis

From: Matthew Anderson "glorynight@yahoo.com"
To: "fringe@hyper-space.com"
Subject: A small fanzine
Date: Monday, January 17, 2000 10:53 PM

Hello,My name is Four, boss of "The Gang of Four".I have to admit, we at Glorynight/XJM/Maxi-Single/GGG are quite impressed with your page. You are an inspiration to us. We would like to submit our magazine Glorynight. We are slowly gaining momentum, and we hope that being associated with your site will help spread the word of anime across the internet.If you would like to check us out, please visit:www.geocities.com/glorynightThanks for your time and effort.Four OverlordAvalonMunihausen

From: Max Howard "boxerperson@earthlink.net"
To: "omega@animefringe.com"
Subject: just a question
Date: Monday, February 28, 2000 8:50 PM

i was lookin at review of a movie(transformers: the movie) and i saw one by a guy with your name.....it said that he wanted to write a screenplay and some other nifty stuff.....just wonderin if youre the same adam arnold as him.....and if you are, did you really write a screenplay? does it have anything to do with the new movie that is supposedly in pre-production? or am i just a nutty TF fan who has an overactive imagination?

From: "jaroch7@xmission.com"
To: "otaku@animefringe.com"
Sent: Saturday, July 08, 2000 12:20 PM
Subject: awsome site!

Great job!
Awsome layout, great articles...decent reviews...what's up with Adam not liking Trigun! hehe...
Keep up the great work!

I'd like to post a link to your page on our anime club webpage, here in Utah....
If its cool, let me know!

-Justin aka Jaroch7
jaroch7@xmission.com

From: "Dianne COWAN" "dianne.cowan@sympatico.ca"
To: "webmaster@animefringe.com"
Sent: Saturday, July 08, 2000 7:18 PM
Subject: REVIEW?????

You should review the excellent Trigun volume 2. As good as the first this is a very funny COMEDY! And does not need to be compared to Cowboy Bebop! A Comedy and Action movie are not supposed to be compared!!! It's like comparing Die Hard to Something About Mary! Both are excellent but you can't compare them!

From: Fred "fredragon@videotron.ca"
To: "wataru@animefringe.com"; "omega@animefringe.com"
Subject: Feedback on Made in Taiwan article
Date: Monday, October 30, 2000 3:15 AM

Hi,

I was reading your article, Made in Taiwan: Son May CDs versus Original Japanese CDs, and a few things occurred to me. (please take these things as constructive criticism, as I'm not trying to attack or flame in any way)

Let me quote a passage of your article, for easy reference:

[--]
Of all the Taiwan companies dealing in Japanese music, SonMay Records LTD is the most recognized and most frequently bashed on newsgroups because of the misconception that it is associated with Piracy. But this is simply not the case. SonMay has been around for longer than 10 years paying royalties and licensing fees to the Japanese companies to gain the rights to release music. If they didn't pay these fees, then it is highly unlikely that they would illegally pirate CDs in a time when large companies are in the public eye.
[--]

Do you have any evidence to back this up? Or are you just inferring that because they're been in business long enough, they're automatically legit? Are you aware of the Berne convention? It's basically an international treaty where signatory countries agree to uphold each other's copyright laws. Taiwan has not signed that treaty, for various reasons. (one of them is that it's not recognized as a country by the UN (anymore) and therefore cannot sign it)

It sounds like you're just assuming that they must be legit. It is in fact not illegal for SonMay to be doing what it's doing, in Taiwan, as there are no copyright laws. But those bootlegs are illegal nearly anywhere else in the world. Apart from the legality, it is morally wrong, as the artists are not compensated in any way, as pirates profit from their work.

If you have any questions about this, do not hesitate to contact me. The other issue I wanted to bring up is that you make a broad statement a bit further into the article:

[--] The biggest clue among all would be the use of Chinese characters on the packages. Although Chinese characters can sometimes be easily mistaken as Kanji used in the Japanese language, they are far more complicated in structure and if your CD happens to be made in Taiwan, there is little doubt that you will find a Taiwan address of that particular company labeled somewhere on the CD, usually on the back side of the CD side slip, or near the edge of the back of the CD case.
[--]

Sorry for the excessive quote, but I didn't want to cut the quote in mid- (run on? ;) sentence. Those chinese characters that you mention are Kanji, the same as the Japanese Kanji, for the most part. Now, your point is still valid, but it should take into account the fact that there are three character sets in japanese, hiragana, katakana and kanji. And while the first two are indeed more simple, japanese kanji is not noticeably simpler than Chinese kanji. So, overall, as you say, it will look more dense and/or complicated. But your statement can also be read to say that Chinese Kanji are "far more complicated" than "Kanji used in the japanese language", which I'm sure you realize is wrong. :-)

Sorry for the rant, and thanks for the good article, with some very good pointers towards making the distinction between the two types of CDs. And the images help. Maybe a contrast with the Japanese imports would have been nice. (Also, you can mention the Japanese CDs have copyright information, that is strangely omitted from the Taiwanese bootlegs)

Thanks again,

Frederic Badin
Montreal, Quebec