We池e still here, and we池e slowly recovering from summer convention season. As you can see from this issue痴 coverage, Anime Expo kept us on our toes, and we have been working overtime to get this issue out the door. However, our absence has not gone unnoticed by our readers. Let me assure those of you who have written in asking us what we池e up to that we池e still hard at work.

From: Gary Choi (WngGundam0@aol.com) While I have only been reading your magazine for only a short time, I find it informative and useful to teach my friends about anime. However, one question we have is: why is there a lack of GUNDAM in the US? With the exception of the STARDUST MEMORY frame comic from Viz I have seen absolutely nothing pertaining to GUNDAM anywhere. Is Bandai (or Sunrise) worried that GUNDAM will do badly here? Granted, something like ZETA GUNDAM wouldn't be able to be passed off as your standard Saturday morning cartoon; but GUNDAM X most likely could. And if not on normal television stations, the Sci-Fi channel could definitely run any type of GUNDAM. Any ROBOTECH fans would certainly warm to it. Or perhaps, is it that GUNDAM would not be as marketable here as, for instance, POWER RANGERS or SAILOR MOON? While it is hard to imagine 5-6 year olds building your standard GUNDAM model, it probably wouldn't be hard for Bandai to start producing GUNDAM action figures. Anyway, that's all I have to say, and thanx for reading this! One of the problems with a series as large and expansive as GUNDAM is where to start? Starting at the beginning (with MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM) would be difficult, because the animation is somewhat dated. However, starting anywhere else would lead to problems in story understanding. But this is all just supposition. And it痴 interesting that you mention SAILOR MOON, because that show was not a runaway hit in the United States. In fact, it was canceled after only one season and now runs in reruns on the USA Network. Bandai knows this; perhaps they are just being cautious. However, perhaps the current success of DRAGONBALL Z will convince them that there is a viable market here in North America. Bandai is reportedly keeping an eye on the market here in the United States, so you never know—GUNDAM may be turning up in the United States before you know it. From: Jesse Eisenhower (jerrz@inetworld.net) I would very much like to see a "top ten list" of the best domestic anime titles to buy. Of what is released here in the US, usually about 10% of it all is really worth watching (at least as far as I know). I wouldn't want to miss any little gem that I might otherwise have overlooked on the shelf. A top ten list might not be a bad idea, but what do we base the "top ten" on? Sales? People voting? I知 not sure how EX could determine anything but reader referral top ten. Still, it痴 something we can look into implementing in the future. In the meantime, however, I suggest that you read the reviews in EX, which will give you an idea of whether a particular show is something you may or may not be interested in. From: Nick Carver (madm26@dial.pipex.com) I was knocking around at some Escaflowne page today when I came across a little bit of text (really quite small, quite shy and a very pale shade of...sorry) saying that an Escaflowne Movie will be released in the Summer of 98. Despite my reservations about the dodgy transitions some series' have made from small screen to large I would like to know if there is any info on the film from the best anime ever (no arguments). P.S. I would rather have a whole second series, but if that's all Sunrise will give us then I won't complain. It is true that there will indeed be an ESCAFLOWNE movie. Yuuki Nobuteru confirmed that much at his appearance at Anime Expo earlier this month. He also said that the entire original production staff would be returning to work on the movie, so it will most likely maintain the high quality of the series that resulted in it getting so much attention in the first place. Preproduction is due to start at the end of the summer. With some of the biggest names in anime today—Yuuki Nobuteru, Kawamori Shoji, and Kanno Yoko—how could it possibly fail? From: Caneda (caneda@geocities.com) I have one question. What exactly does the EX stand for? Does it mean something? Or is it just EX? For this, I will have to refer you to the editorial in our premiere issue. And that痴 all I知 going to say about it. Design Editor's Note: Aside from Charles' witty play on the name in our first editorial, EX was actually derived from the first two letters of the words "extraordinary, exceptional, excellent" (at least, that's how it was intended when it was first suggested). These are the qualities that EX does its best to live up to—as to whether we've attained these goals is up to the reader to decide.

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We read all of the mail we receive. Readers who submit mail may receive personal replies via e-mail, a reply in the letter column, or in some instances, both.
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• WRITE IN UPPER CASE. This will guarantee immediate rejection.
  
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• Use punctuation in an inappropriate and outlandish fashion !!!!??????
  
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