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What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.

They say, "Write what you know" and these days my primary interest is Japanese animation. So here, forthwith, are shows that are well worth watching:

Mouretsu Pirates (released in the US under the name Bodacious Space Pirates): SF title placed about a thousand years from now. Marika is a first-year high school student at Hakuoh Academy, on the planet Uminoakehoshi ("Sea of the Morning Star") orbiting Tau Ceti. At the end of her first term, two strangers show up and inform her single-mother Ririka that Marika's father has died. Marika never knew her father, and in fact didn't even know his name. She is astounded to find out that he was the captain of the space pirate ship Bentenmaru, which is actually a privateer, having a Letter of Marque. For complicated legal reasons (which are explained in the show) Marika is the only person who can take over as captain of the ship, and the two strangers are there to recruit her. The series covers a period of roughly two calendar years, during which time Marika does decide to become the captain, and becomes a very good one. It's not a fan-service show, by the way, and Marika doesn't have any romantic interest. The 26-episode show was a commercial success and a movie sequel hit theaters in February 2014.

If you're a member, or if you're willing to put up with ads, you can watch this on Crunchyroll. Well, you could anyway; they deleted it. If you do torrents, here's one.


Girls und Panzer: is proof that a competent director can make an outstanding show out of even the strangest concept. In this case, the idea is tank combat as a varsity sport for high school girls. It's called senshadou which roughly means "The Way of the Tank". (dou is a Taoist concept about study and mastery.) Our protagonist is Miho, who is a second year high school student at Ooarai Academy. She just transferred in, and chose the school because it didn't have a senshadou program. But then she finds out that they're beginning a new one, and the president of the student body specifically comes into her classroom and orders her to join the team. This 12-episode show was the break-out hit of 2012 in Japan. A typical successful show sells about 5,000 copies of each two-episode BD. Girls und Panzer sold about 30,000 copies each, making it one of the best selling shows of all time -- much to everyone's surprise. It was expected to be a niche title (it's sometimes referred to as "World of Tanks, the anime"). Why was it so successful? In a word, characterization. It's a huge cast, but the five characters at the core of the show are so well conceived and so well acted that it's impossible not to get hooked by them. I should also mention that the tanks are extremely well rendered, and the battles are brilliantly choreographed, and the deep story being told (about Miho, and about the school) also is very gripping, but in the end it's just a pleasure to spend time with these girls. It's available now in North America.

This one also doesn't have much in the way of fan service. It's on Crunchyroll.

If it matters to you, both of these shows easily pass the Bechdel test.


So there you are with your guild, fighting a swarm of orcs with your wonderful +1 sword and having a tough time of it, and you think, "This would be easy if I had a machine gun, you know that?" If you've ever thought that, then GATE is the show for you.

One bright day, a strange stone arch appears in the middle of Ginza in Tokyo. After it finishes materializing, suddenly a medieval fantasy army charges through it, complete with dragon riders and auxiliary units of trolls and ogres. They slaughter anyone in their path, and it's pretty bad for the civilians until the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force finally shows up, after which it's really bad for the invaders. Most of them end up dead; thousands are captured. A few hundred escape back through the arch. It becomes known as "GATE". Our protagonist is Itami Youji, a 33 year old lieutenant in the JGSDF who was on leave that day. He was there to visit Comiket in order to buy doujinshi because he's a hard core otaku.

Three months later, the JSDF has put together a counter attack plan, and a large force goes through the GATE to the other side to establish a permanent base. There they find elves, harpies, dwarves, dragons, wizards, and everything else you'd find in a D&D game. Fortunately, their weapons work perfectly and after two major battles (in which the opposing fantasy forces get annihilated) the area becomes peaceful. Itami is put in command of Recon 3, a scouting unit sent out into the countryside to try to make friendly contact with the locals and to get some idea of where they are and what else is going on.

The story is made more complex by the fact that the entire area was conquered by and is under the political control of The Empire, which looks a lot like Imperial Rome.

This show isn't perfect, by any means. It's based on a set of five books, and the original author (a veteran) allows himself to express grudges about his own service a couple of times. But for the most part the characters are well conceived and varied and fun to spend time with.

Be warned: there is a lot of combat and a lot of people die, some rather graphically. (When you have a Roman Legion marching in shield-lock and they get hosed by a .50 cal machine gun, you're going to get a lot of deaths.)

But overall, the story is well told and interesting.