Here at EX, we like to publish some of our mail so that our readers can see what our other readers are saying to us. Usually the comments are positive. If they're not, they're at least usually intelligent comments with recommendations for improvement. However, sometimes we get people who seem to be barely able to form coherent sentences. And in the interest of being honest with ourselves and our readers, I've thrown a couple of those into this letter column.

From: GenjuroURA@aol.com (GenjuroURA@aol.com) as stated YOU SUCK. I just love getting mail like this. Because it proves that if this is the best a human being can do at communicating, those monkeys working at the typewriters will no doubt come up with HAMLET any day now. How do you answer e-mail like this? I could take the childish way out and respond with something equally infantile, but I like to think that I'm above that sort of thing. And since you took such great time and care to construct a well-crafted, well-thought out reply, I owe you some sort of response that has taken an equal amount of time and analyses, but I'm afraid that if I did that, I would have stopped this reply after addressing you by your account name (since you were not so bold as to sign your real name). From: Ayeka21@aol.com (Ayeka21@aol.com) Why are you putting down the series? It's good, I don't care if you think its Sh--t, then don't advertise it! have a nice day Okay, there are several issues here. 1. What are you talking about? You don't tell us to which series you are referring, and your subject (which was, and I quote, "??????"), was hardly enlightening. 2. EX is a magazine. We review things, which, by nature, means that we give opinions. Maybe you agree with them, and maybe you don't. That's fine. However, getting upset with us expressing our opinion is not going to change anything. 3. We don't advertise in EX. They are reviews (see #2 above). 4. Obviously, you do care if we think it's crap, because otherwise you wouldn't have written us. You have a nice day too. From: Casey Lau (casey@comicplanet.com) Hi, Gotta say that I love the mag. I especially like it that you allow your readers the option of downloading the whole thing for offline viewing. I didn't get a chance to attend the Expo this year ( hopefully next year) but your coverage was great and almost made me feel like I was there. Hopefully your team is putting together some more pictures of the crowds and the showrooms. The interviews were great, and you still had time to do reviews?! How many readers do you have hitting your site? I'm a big Evangelion fan, and was wondering if you were planning to do a spotlight on the mecha designs? You've done some interviews with chara designers, I would like to see some schematics and the behind the scenes input into creating these robots. Even the mecha designs of other shows like Gundam and Macross would be cool. Anyways, that's it, just wanted to say 'keep up the great work!' Thanks, Casey Lau Managing Director Thanks for the kind words. When doing convention coverage, we have to walk a fine line between being informative and making it sound like "Nyaah nyaah! We were there; look what you missed." Plus, there's only so many times you can mention that the dealer's room has cool stuff or that they showed trailers for the next big movie or whatever. So we try and concentrate on talking with some of the guests who we otherwise would probably not be able to speak with quite as easily. We still have time to do reviews because I am a very mean Editor in Chief and make the staff work long, hard hours;if not, I threaten them with BUCHIGIRI Part 4 (see this issue's BEYOND TV SAFETY to find out more). The summer is hard on us because it is the convention season, and as a result, all the companies are pushing their latest titles and merchandise, so we have to try and keep in step. Be sure to watch for the next issue, which will be highlighting this summer's anime movies, including the much-talked-about END OF EVANGELION. I'll try and see if I can dig up a mecha designer to interview for a future issue because, after all, you are right, we haven't interviewed a mecha designer yet. I'll see what we can do. From: Taro Nobusawa (taro@gte.net) Hi to everyone at Ex, First off, let me commend you on the excellent job on the online anime magazine. You've done a first rate job on it. The format is clear, easy to understand, easy to navigate, and easy to find pertinent information quickly. The search is also very useful. The articles are timely and rivals, if not surpasses much of what's found in the English language print media magazines. The industry insider angle is interesting, informative, revealing, and humorous. I may not agree entirely with all the reviews, but I do find them informative and a helpful gauge on if I will enjoy a title. The reviews of import music CD's are likewise helpful, my comprehension of kanji being next to nill making deciphering contents next to impossible. Knowing what types of tracks, like how many drama, vocals, BGM are on a disc really help in a descision before plunking down, or mail ordering, hard earned LD money (two CD's or one LD, two CD's or one LD, what, fix that dangling muffler? naw, that clanging is the only way I can tell the car's moving, one CD two manga or a LD, hmmm. Between myself and my fellow anime crazed buddy, LD is the new currency denomination. I'm beginning to wonder about my purchase of a multi-player that handles DVD, I only have one U.S. release, and the country coding of the DVD's looks like the Japanese release DVD's are going to be useless for me, sigh) for the exorbitant prices demanded. The writing level throughout the magazine is intelligent, and witty. I can't really think of much to improve. The first things I check for are reviews of US release anime that I don't have, next will be a search for import anime reviews of titles that I'm interested in. Next will be a look at CD titles and manga that I might find interesting. I'm not much into gaming and will skip that section unless there's something that catches my eye. When I have time to read more, I'll look at the interviews and other columns. Really the only section I usually skip is stuff on fighting games and reviews on titles I already own, though if I have time, I do read those to see what the reviewer has to say about them. Keep up the awesome work! What? You don't read the fighting game reviews? Oh my god. But seriously, thanks for your letter. It's nice to be appreciated. As for the DVD subject you raised, I personally am not willing to sink my money into such a system just yet. Having just bought an LD player a year and a half ago, I'm not willing to scrap it just yet. I think the price of the equipment will keep this out of the hands of the average public for a while, despite the fact that you can get DVD movies for approximately the same price as video tapes. But hey, that's just my two cents. (And do I really want DVD just for TOSHINDEN? I don't think so.) As for the country codes and lockouts, I'm sure that someone will find a way to defeat it, as they have with just about everything else (PlayStation, Sega Saturn, etc.) And anyways, the DVD pickings in Japan are still nowhere comparable to LD. From: Zamparo@on.infoshare.ca (Zamparo@on.infoshare.ca) Dear EX: Just a few days ago, I was perusing your article concerning why anime isn't nearly as popular in the U.S and Canada as it is in Japan and Asia. I thought to myself, 'It is very strange indeed....'. So I dwelled on the matter for quite some time (about 3 seconds), and came up with what I call 'culture-comfort-upbringing-syndrome', or ccus for short. Let me explain my reasoning. North-American people have always had 'Hollywood,' a large and powerful and influential film icon that is the figurehead of a large powerful industry in North America. Little Americans and Canadians grew up watching people acting in movies such as GONE WITH THE WIND and CASABLANCA, or more recently STAR WARS, etc. North American kids could often identify with famous characters, and they became role-models (Luke Skywalker, Captain Kirk, Rhett Butler, and any character played by Humphrey Bogart). Cartoons were always watched by children, but never would they take the place of live actors, as icons or role-models. To the extent of my knowledge, the Japanese people have been fairly isolated during their evolution. They never had a very powerful or influential film industry. (Or maybe they did. I truly don't know.) Regardless, Japanese people need entertainment just as much as North American people. Maybe more. To try and compete with such a large and powerful film industry would be foolish, so the Japanese came up with Anime to fill the void. As did the Hollywood, the Animation industry grew in Japan and is now immensely popular. It dominates television, video games, manga, etc.. And it has also influenced their culture. Japanese kids have grown up watching MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, and such (I don't know any really old Anime). They have their own icons and role-models. In short, American kids have grown comfortable with real people, while Japanese kids are more comfortable with animation. There has been some advancement of anime into the American market, but very little. Culture, custom and evolution are to blame. But hey, aren't they always ? That's my two cents. Z. P.S Keep up the great work guys, I really enjoy your magazine. And take this with a grain of salt, since I gave it minimal thought. It's an interesting idea, but I think the focus on why things are the way they are lies more with the adults that with the children. As you say, Americans are used to big-budget films, and are also firmly entrenched in the notion that animation is for children. (Even Disney, the U.S. animation giant, keeps its films G-rated for a reason). However, with the advent of the next generation of adults, more and more anime and its influence is being seen. I know for a fact that several big Hollywood directors are anime fans, and indeed many people in the entertainment industry are now discovering the phenomenon that fans have followed so long now. So children in the U.S. are going to grow up with a wider variety of choices. Think about it - SAILOR MOON is an animated series that was aimed primarily at preteen girls. When was the last time an animated show like that was made specifically for an audience? And more importantly, when was the last time one was a hit? The Japanese have had, since the postwar period, a steady influx of American popular culture in the form of movies and television. And it is perhaps because of this that they can accept some things without being bothered while Americans are unable to do the very same thing. Food for thought.

Our Mail Policy:

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.
All letters sent to EX (or any of its staff regarding the magazine) are eligible for inclusion in the letter column. Letters may be edited for clarity and brevity. If you don't want your e-mail address printed, please tell us. If you would prefer that your letter not be published at all, please inform us of this as well.
By the way, we here at EX try to keep things on a mature, intelligent level. This includes the publishing of our mail. The following are sure-fire ways to disqualify your response from being printed in the letter column...

• WRITE IN UPPER CASE. This will guarantee immediate rejection.
  
• fail to use capital letters at the start of sentences or when using words like ranma and macross.
  
• Use inane words and phrases such as 'Ranma sucks' or 'Robotech rocks'.
  
• Use punctuation in an inappropriate and outlandish fashion !!!!??????
  
• Profanity and personal attacks will also wind up in the trashcan.