Category: Ask John

Question: Why isn’t Toei’s anime adaptation of Kanon least successful and not faithful to the original PC game?

Question: Why don’t American anime publishers keep the openings/endings “authentic?” Do you think this is entirely a product of budget issues or might there be some other explanation

Question: Is Tokusatsu for everyone?

Question: Why are dogs portrayed with feline features in anime? Do the Japanese really think dogs are cats?

Question: From the viewpoint of execution (writing, art, animation), what, in your opinion, are the worst hentai series ever?

Question: Do you think the anime industry will bounce back from the recent drop in anime in America?

Question: Why do most anime always “tell and not show”? In western film school, we’re told to show the viewer the story, not tell them, but most anime

Question: What was the first shounen fighting anime? Nowdays, we pretty much take drawn-out, passionate, martial arts fighting anime like Bleach, Naruto, and D Gray Man as an

Question: I can’t help but notice that nearly for every anime or manga series that have Shinigami, there is a different kind of Shinigami. Full Moon wo Sagashite,

Question: ShoPro and Viz merged back in 2005, but does that mean that Viz has actually licensed the shows that ShoPro has? There are a small number of

Question: What are “MAD” video parodies? I see them on fan video streaming sites but have no idea what they are or who makes them.

Question: I have heard that production values change over the course of a series but I have never really noticed until now. For example, Macross Frontier is one

Question: What is the motivation for the Japanese anime industry to broadcast series like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Rental Magica out of chronological order? Do these

Question: What do you think of live action adaptations of manga and anime series? For you, what is the most successful adaptation of a manga or anime series

Question: Why are anime not episodic like American TV shows? Wouldn’t standalone episodes create a more inclusive viewing environment and encourage these newcomers to keep watching?