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To be otaku, one has to be more than just an anime freak. No, the otaku's life embodies anime. For the otaku, anime is as necessary as air and water. After speaking with Ron I realized that being a true anime fan involves more than just skipping down to your local comic shop, buying everything inside and binging on all-night viewings of "Kenshin." All the videotapes, action figures, trading cards - all are meaningless, unless the fan has embraced anime. Ron knows. He can quote chapter and verse from "Macross" to "Pokéman." He knows the characters and the storylines. Everyday hundreds of people feed off his self-created website for the what's hot and what's not in the anime world. When asked if he profits from his web site, he proudly replies, "No, it's simply a way to share the information." What was the anime that first got you hooked? Ron Ferrara: I can remember watching anime before I even knew it was anime. I remember watching "Robotech" and "Transformers" on TV before I knew that they had come from Japan. I remember the first time I watched a dubbed copy of "Akira" I had gotten from a friend and the first manga I've ever read, "Battle Angel Alita." I can't name the exact anime that really got me into it, but I can remember watching dubbed "Ranma ˝" and being really into it, and later seeing some Japanese with English subtitled "Slayers" and "Saber Marionette J," both of which still remain on my top ten list just for dragging me into this hobby and never letting go.
What is your favorite anime?
RF: Wow, that's a hard one. I couldn't just blatantly pick just one anime out of everything I've seen, because it really depends on my mood. If I want to see mecha, I'll watch "Gundam" or something retro like "Getta Robo." If I want to see humor, "Slayers" is always good or something from the same universe ("Lost Universe," "Tri-Zenon"). For pure crack-ness, "Kodomo no Omocha," "Dragon Half" or Gainax's recent "FLCL." Or for something just short and cool, I'll watch "Gunbuster" or "Kishin Corps." Then there is the hentai, of which "F3" has to be the funniest thing I've ever seen, while "Cool Devices" is just really sick and perverted with a quasi-sensical plot inserted somewhere per episode. Indeed I watch everything, from magical girls to magical girls being attacked by hentacles (hentai tentacles) and everything in between. Even my friends have to call the line somewhere, but I'm usually open to all forms of anime.
If you had the opportunity to meet any anime artist, who would it be? RF: That would have to be Shiro Masamune, the guy does some incredible work and I love flipping through his art books. As far as a Director, it would be Yoshiyuki Tomino, the director of "Mobile Suit Gundam" and many of its sequels. Tomino is just ahead of his time and set a mecha revolution when "Gundam" first aired back in 1979. My favorite seiyuus are Megumi Hayashibara and Hikaru Midorikawa, probably both very popular choices with Japanese anime fans.
Do you prefer dubs or subs and why? RF: Subtitles, and here's why. Most Japanese seiyuu's (voice actors) can sing. Most American voice actors cannot. In fact, many main and sometimes secondary characters from anime will sing songs in their character's voices. These are called "image songs." You'll sometimes hear them in the anime itself, but mostly they're something extra to throw on the OST's. I watched the semi-recent animated movie, "The Road to El Dorado." There were three musical numbers sung in the movie by the main characters. And this movie was a good dub. Why? Because they can sing. I believe that if someone has the ability to sing, then their voice must be well-tuned and therefore they have a good voice and one suitable for voice acting.
How has your social life been affected by your affinity for anime? RF: I find myself being friends more with other fans of anime than people who have no idea of what anime is. I mean, I certainly get along with my old high school buddies who know I'm a Japanese culture nut, but I really can't expect them to understand the entire reason why I would watch cartoons from another country, never mind in a language I couldn't understand without subtitles.
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