Dragon Ball Z is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. I first experienced it in high school, but if I had been of an elementary school age, I can guarantee that along with pretending to be superheroes and G.I. Joes on the playground during recess, we would have thrown in the Z Fighters. I’d have run around that playground shouting Kamehameha and arguing the effects of my attacks until I was blue in the face. Of course, doing that in high school would have branded me as an even larger nerd than I already was, so it’s probably for the best that I refrained. Read the full story

I moved to California during the summer of 1997, the summer immediately prior to my freshman year of high school. My bedroom was pretty awesome back then, with a built in corner desk for my computer, and a great entertainment area for my TV and consoles. Some of my fondest memories in that room happened when everyone else was asleep, and the lights were off. Yes, a young teenager, alone in a dark room with access to the Internet and a TV. It should be obvious that I did what anyone in my situation would have done: watched TV, hung out on IRC, and played video games. Read the full story

Just moments ago, Adult Swim made an announcement on Twitter. “Attention Toonami Faithful: We heard you. On 05.26.12 #ToonamisBackBitches.” Now, when I glanced at Twitter and saw this news, I absolutely went crazy, as I used to watch Toonami back in its heyday. Finally, another generation of kids and fans will get the chance to watch some of the amazing shows we used to watch when we came home from school. Honestly, who wasn’t a fan of Dragon Ball Z, and the other series that made Toonami great?

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I always find it funny when something becomes popular outside of its place of origin. Hell, people in the US have managed to make some anime so insanely popular when it was pretty darn average in Japan. So turnaround is fair play when it comes to Spider-Man. Marvel’s wallcrawler has a huge fan following in Japan, and it often resulted in very interesting and original interpretations.

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My path into anime and manga fandom was a very twisty one. But if there was one that I had to say was my major push into it, it’d be Yoshiki Takaya’s comic Kyoshoku Soko Guyver or Bio-booter Armor Guyver. This long running comic series (started in 1985 and still ongoing) was a love letter to classic Japanese live action transforming heroes like Kamen Rider and Kikaider, capturing all the drama, horror and action of those in a fresh way. It’s been adapted before as a straight-to-video animated film, a straight-to-video animated series, and two live-action American films. This is the most recent adaption, and is one of my favorites.

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Fairy tales have been around for centuries and, for some of us, are massive parts of our childhoods. With numerous books, movies, and cartoons stocking store shelves it should be no surprise that the fairy tale is back and better than ever.

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I was a child of the arcades. I would spend my time and money gladly and without hesitation at any one of a number of arcades on any one of a number of cabinets. X-Men, Gauntlet, Time Crisis, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more have all played their part in draining me of the limited funds I had in my childhood. One of the games most responsible for my lack of cold hard coinage in my youth was The Simpsons. The first video game ever made for The Simpsons was made as an arcade cabinet by Konami in the first years of the 1990s, a decade very near and dear to my heart. I grew up with The Simpsons, both on TV and in the arcades. Now, it’s made its way to XBLA, and will be coming to PSN this coming Tuesday. Has Konami done the unthinkable and tampered with one of the greatest arcade games ever? Read the full story

Can you sing Soft Kitty? The catchy tune that Sheldon’s mother, and later, Sheldon’s neighbor Penny, would sing to him when he was sick has become yet another in a long line of memorable sitcom songs based on cats, following in the august footsteps of Friends’ quirky ditty, “Smelly Cat,” and…well, there’s probably another weird song about cats from another sitcom. Just because I don’t know about it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist somewhere. Read the full story

I’ve made no secret of my love for the 90′s cartoon Sonic the Hedgehog, know affectionately to most of its fans as Sonic SatAM. And I will consider it one of the finest shows to come out of American animation. But which of the episodes were the best? Welcome to my top 15 countdown of the best Sonic SatAM episodes.

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With the arrival of Spider-Man: Edge of Time next week, as well as the reboot of the film franchise and the next animated series based on and inspired by Ultimate Spider-Man, I think it’s time we looked back at the webslinger’s long animated career. And where better place to start than at the beginning?

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