What a long, strange and utterly incredible ride it’s been.
This month marks the fifteenth year since I started writing about anime and the start of AnimeOnDVD.com itself. Originally starting it up on some personal space back on an old Netcom account, we migrated to our own domain name in 1998 and proceeded to write about and review anime up through 2008. It was at that time, during a certain economic collapse many of us may actually remember, that I took advantage of an offer that was too good to refuse and became a part of Mania.com. We worked there through 2011 before starting off on our own again, this time with The Fandom Post. And we’re just about two months shy of our two year anniversary here, which has been just as amazing overall.
Back in 1998, there was a lot of talk about how DVD was just a passing fad, no better than LaserDisc, and it wasn’t worth investing in for any number of reasons, both for fans and companies alike. I had been drawn into the format in 1997 during its launch and followed it closely, having been a LaserDisc fan (primarily because of Pioneer and their move into anime in the North American market) and was a fairly early adopter once the hardware became available. Those who had the heavy, massive and quality of weight Sony machines certainly remember what that time was like. But because of the high cost of entry and the lack of anime overall outside of a few Pioneer discs, there was practically no coverage of it. So I opted to try my hand at writing about it, and one thing lead to another and here I am fifteen years later.
1998 was a crazy time for me as a young man. That March, I was a few months away from getting married. I had just left the job I had for ten years as a programmer for a microfim company and was moving to Fidelity Investments. I was two years away from the birth of my first child, who is just turning thirteen this month and is an avid fan of comics, manga, anime, movies and at the moment, most importantly to her, Dr. Who. All of these things we cover have been a big part of my life and those around me. And once we moved to our own domain and as more companies started releasing anime on DVD and we became the gathering ground for the early adopter crowd that wanted information, the more exciting it became. In 2004, I left Fidelity Investments and made the site my full time job to provide coverage throughout the day. Something that only became busier as the years went on with as many releases as there are, and the advent of simulcasts.
Here’s how the front page of the site look back in 1998;
And from our time in 2004, when we were covering quite a lot of hentai it seems…
Fifteen years is an eternity when it comes to Internet time and it’s been fascinating to be a part of this scene for as long as I have. It’s something that I feel definitely keeps me young and vibrant since there’s always so much to discover. Along the way I made numerous friends, many of which from those old 1998 days are still around and are even easier to connect with thanks to social media. Many of these friends have gone on to relationships themselves, some of which were made through the site, and lives have certainly changed. One of the biggest things I was involved in was being a part of that early group that ended up forming the Anime Boston convention, which is now a massive undertaking that just boggles my mind year after year with what they do. Having just the slimmest of involvement in it back in the day, and having it such a place where so many friends came to meet and has impacted so many lives and businesses ever since just makes it clear to me the power of involvement. Making connections, befriending people of shared interests and taking chances. They may not be apparent at times, but they’ve been there behind the scenes and I’m continually staggered by what I see and am loving every minute of it life goes on.
The first ten years with AnimeOnDVD.com was amazing. I learned so much, made so many friendships and gained a lot of knowledge and education. Similar happened at my time at Mania where I broadened what I could become involved in and watched the real start of the social media twist in the Internet. With The Fandom Post, I’ve brought so many of the things together that I’m passionate about, and have been working with such an engaged and amazing group of people who write for the site, that it’s continuing to take on a life of its own. Anime is of course the big part of my life, but as I’ve said, man cannot live on anime alone. And we’re enjoying being able to touch on other subjects and share our passions there with those that do engage in multiple forms of entertainment. We’ve made new friends, reinforced friendships with older ones and connected with so many people that it is, once again, just boggling to know the kind of impact that can be had.
To you, the readers, you have my eternal thanks for what you’ve brought into my life and made possible.
We’ve also had a wonderful relationship across the years that’s just as important with the various publishers and studios, in the US, Japan and elsewhere overseas. Some of those early days where we’d learn how Japanese studios were reading our site to see what kind of interest there was in DVD and how it impacted licensing was fascinating. The interaction between industry and fan was a big part of the early life and it helped to shape a lot of things in how anime was released and licensed. Most importantly, fans learned that those that work at the various studios and publishers were just as much a fan of what they did as everyone else. Anime and manga in particular is an industry where if you don’t have the passion for it, you’re likely not going to produce a great product. And everyone that I’ve met over the years, from companies still with us to those that we’ve sadly lost, have had such a passion that it was truly inspiring. And made working on these things every day a real pleasure.
So, once again, thank you for the last fifteen years that you have given me with AnimeOnDVD and The Fandom Post. You’ve shaped my world far more than most of you will ever know and it’s something that I – and my family – will be eternally grateful for. Here’s to the next fifteen!
If you have a retrospective you’d like to add to below, send us an email at [email protected]
Retrospectives By Friends
Luis Cruz, Reviewer
So, I did the math… I have watched 5,269 minutes of Inu Yasha to review if for Anime on DVD and its predecessors. That’s roughly 88 hours or four days spent slogging through a series aptly summed up by a webcomic as “Freakin’ DBZ for girls”. While I do not hate the series, you might be asking “Why then, Luis, did you put yourself through this?” Simple… Without having accepted Chris’ call for reviewers and endured that marathon, I would have missed out on him introducing me to titles that I rank among my all time favorites.
It is difficult to picture the industry without Chris. He started a site that grew into a community; that community and Chris’ interaction between it and the industry helped fuel its growth, not just in sales but in delivering what the consumers wanted. It is equally difficult to look at my shelf of DVDs and not see his influence.
Kaleido Star… Would have passed this up if it were not on the review pile. It is now one of the titles I foist on anyone who has a passing curiosity in anime. I absolutely adore this series and have Chris to thank for that.
Project ARMS… A horribly mismarketed title; would have passed this one up simply based on the back cover blurbs for the discs. Again, taking a shot at reviewing it showed that it was an entertaining mix of action and conspiracy theory.
Gilgamesh, Blue Gender, Golden Boy… I could go on and on with titles that are dear to me because of Chris’ influence. When it comes to anime, and now other media, his opinion is one of the few I trust. Much like a Roger Ebert review, I know that 90% of the time, if Chris likes it, I’ll like it also.
So take a minute, pour yourself a drink in your limited edition Witch Hunter Robin “beverage” glass, hold your favorite DVD, and toast 15 years of reporting, reviews, and influence. It doesn’t hurt to e-mail him pictures of King’s nads either.
Here’s to you Chris!
Mark Thomas, Reviewer
Prior to joining AnimeonDVD.com, I was a broke college student; for the first few years of being involved, I was a broke adult. I found AnimeonDVD.com in the early 2000s when I couldn’t afford much and needed to maximize my purchases, and I quickly discovered that Chris and I seemed to have similar opinions on titles. It didn’t take long to figure out that if he liked something, then there would be a good chance that I would enjoy it too. I might not have always agreed with his other writers, but they were always fair to the material and always explained their opinions well. AnimeonDVD.com quickly became my goto site for anime news and information.
So after a few years, when Chris sent out the Batsignal looking for writers, I signed up, hoping I could live up to the high quality I’d been reading for years. I started writing for him in 2007, in what was quickly to become the latter days of the site. Chris was gracious enough to not blame the fall on me and invited me along in the Mania merger a year later and then again in the transition to FandomPost a couple of years ago. To say that he and everybody here have had a tremendous influence on my anime fandom would be an understatement.
In just the time writing for Chris, I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing some unbelievable titles, starting with my first review, Divergence Eve, and including Gantz, Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, Ghost in the Shell: SAC/2nd Gig, Kanon, and Clannad/Clannad After Story. Since the transition to FandomPost, I’ve even been given the opportunity to spread my wings to books, comics, and video games.
Writing for Chris has also given me constant opportunity to hone my writing abilities, helping me complete an MFA in Creative Writing and find plenty of other professional writing opportunities. I signed on in the hopes I’d get to watch plenty of great anime; what I’ve gotten was so much more. I’ve always appreciated the opportunity he has given me. We’ve grown exponentially in the six years I’ve been involved—here’s to another 15 years as great as the first 15.
Maria Selke, Columnist
I’ve known Chris for… well… a heck of a long time. It may be hard for folks playing graphics intensive online roleplaying games to believe, but we became friends back in the heyday of the text based online gaming systems. I vividly remember going on quests and getting knocked off because the text was scrolling too quickly for our measly little 4800 baud modem to manage. Yes, we had to type, “go north” to move from room to room – and we liked it!
Chris also shared his love for anime with my husband and I by sending us VHS tapes of some of his favorites – like Tenchi. He went easy on us and made sure to introduce us to some of the milder flavors, I’m sure. Though I do distinctly recall watching one that included significant tentacle action.
When our online game disappeared, we kept in touch a little through email and our social networks, but it was connecting through Facebook and Twitter that really brought us back together. Chris noticed that I was posting Star Wars things each Thursday on Facebook, and asked me if I’d like to have a wider audience. At that point, I was not blogging at all – and I was only lurking on Twitter. His nudge gave me the courage to write for a larger audience, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I even have my own blog now for sharing my insights on teaching, reading, and life in general. He also convinced me to try my hand at writing reviews for Fandom Post. While I’m not as active on that end as I have been in the past, I appreciate the chance to share my thoughts about books and comics with his readers.
I’m not quite sure how he manages to watch, read, and write about so much every day. Does he ever sleep? Thanks, Chris. Thanks for being my friend, and thanks for giving me the courage to get myself out there. Here’s to many more years of success for you and your endeavors! *
Thomas Zoth, Reviewer
I think the single biggest thing that’s changed in anime during the time I’ve been a fan is just the amount of information available. I remember reading guides from Helen McCarthy and Trish Ledoux and Doug Ranney that I’d buy from bookstores to find out the “latest” about anime, and just get an idea about what was out there. The internet changed the amount of information available about releases in a big way, and one of the important sources I settled on for news and reviews was AnimeOnDVD. By the time I got a DVD player, I finally had a steady source of income to actually collect anime, rather than just renting it, and the amount of titles AnimeOnDVD was able to review was just astounding. I credit Chris and the site community with my checking out a lot of titles I wouldn’t have otherwise, from the more obscure Devil Lady and Princess Nine, to big stuff like FLCL and Read or Die the TV, and even current things like Shiki and Occult Academy.
The amount of anime bloggers and reviewers has increased exponentially, but with the advent of simulcasting, so has the amount of anime to pore through. Fandom Post is still an invaluable resource for me due to the breadth of material being considered. I’ve gone from reviewing manga at the tail end of the bubble to reviewing some of the simulcasts that come out each season, and I hope in some way I can point out great series to fans the way Chris was able to point out some underappreciated gems to me. If only I had listened to the warnings about Secret of Blue Water…
