Anime
My favorite anime series are:
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. It was one of the first anime I watched, the story line is very good, and has two voice actors (seiyuu) that I admire a lot: Ikeda Shuuichi (Quattro Bajina/Char Aznable) and Shimazu Saeko (Four Murasame).
- Urusei Yatsura. A lot of the episodes involve in-jokes based on Japanese culture or wordplay on the language, but for sheer zaniness, you can't beat this series. It has my favorite all-time favorite male voice actor: Kamiya Akira (Mendou Shuutarou).
- Ranma 1/2. Another Takahashi Rumiko creation, and has lots of humor based on Japanese language and culture, but is still enjoyable if you don't understand either of them. The lead character is performed by my all-time favorite female voice actor: Hayashibara Megumi (Saotome Ranma).
- Maison Ikkoku. Also by Takahashi Rumiko, but this series is a mostly serious love story, not a comedy. This series also had an all-star voice acting cast, especially the voice of Shimamoto Sumi (Otonashi Kyoko)
My favorite anime movies are:
- Lupin III: Cagliostro's Castle. A wonderful adventure story, with Lupin rescuing a damsel in distress. This has to be enjoyed in Japanese, the voice acting is that good.
- Wings of Honneamise. One of the first movies from the fledgling studio GAINAX, it's the story of a nation putting its first astronaut into space, and how that astronaut becomes worthy of that distinction.
- All Hayao Miyazaki films. Okay, this is is a bit of a copout, in lumping all of this master's titles together. If I had to be more specific, I'd put Laputa, Kiki, Beni no Buta (Crimson Pig), and Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) at the top, with Nausicaa (only a tiny portion of his massive manga series) and Mononoke as disappointments.
- Project A-Ko. The first movie is the best. Totally wacky, with in-jokes galore.
Anime Expo
For ten years, I was a staff member of Anime Expo, and also staffed its predecessor, AnimeCon.