Voice pitch connotes so much, transcending language itself to add levels of personality and meaning to speech. And the near gluttonous employment in anime of the whine as a heightened form of communication serves as an intriguing foundation for this month's live action anime experiment. Akadot has asked correspondent Shawna James to explore the live action potential of whining:

"Why would it be beneficial to know how whining like an anime character works in reality?" I ask my editor sheepishly, a single sweat drop hovering over left temple. "That is what you been commissioned to discover. Perhaps it's a way for the human psyche to alleviate tensions and therefore could be a way to world peace." Who can argue with world peace? Establishing that as my hypothesis, I began.

Presented with the opportunity to unlock a path to universal harmony, I dove into my assignment, viewing some of the most whine-infested anime ever created. Titles such as "Tenchi Universe," "Amazing Nurse Nanako," "Urusei Yatsura" and "Lost Universe" served as my training ground and, before too long, I grasped a preliminary understanding of the "anime whine." I documented three main reasons that characters whine in anime:

1. because they are afraid of something
2. because they don't want to do something but are forced to anyway, and
3. because they have made a mistake and fear repercussions.

This experiment is far from simple, however, since I am not afraid of anything, nor do I ever make mistakes. However, I am always forced to do things I don't want to do, so I decided I would start to whine in those situations (I would create a control environment to provoke fear and elicit mistakes later). To conclude my preparation for the experiment I practiced my whining voice, getting it to the perfect high-pitched, shoulder raising, eyebrow-squinching level sure to exacerbate in that characteristic anime way as to make any animator proud.

Day 1: Work, 9:34am; Subject (1) approached and asked me to file some reports. "I don't want to file reports. Can't someone else do it? I'm no good at filing reports. Please don't make me do it," I whined in my most abrasive voice. Subject (1) curled into a fetal position. I recorded it for data and then moved to help subject (1) to his feet.

I didn't see how reducing someone into a fetal position could help with world peace, so I decided to lighten up a bit on my whine. Subsequent whining effects varied from a slight paralysis of the subject's left leg to spasmodic shaking to a general muscle tightness that eased quickly once whining had ceased.

When I whined, "You always pick on me. Why do you always pick on me? You always pick on me. Why do you always pick on me? You always pick on me. Why do you always pick on me?" to subject (4) after he asked me to close the door when I leave, I believe I found the optimum response as his entire muscle system tightened at once.