Category: Ask John

Question: I’ve seen most of the Evangelion episodes, yet I do not know what they represent or mean. Could you please explain.

Question: I was wondering, what makes anime so unappealing to the everyday American? From a fan’s standpoint, anime is totally logical, even the worst of anime far outweighs

Question: Ever since I unexpectedly ran across anime a few years ago I have become quite transfixed with the medium and seek it out wherever I can. Although

Question: Why aren’t there any anime channels in the US? You know, 24/7 anime non-stop, or at least 12 hours a day of anime programing. Is it because

Question: I have heard from many sources that Evangelion was more “adult oriented” when released in Japan. I’ve heard that some scenes had sexual content, and Shinji even

Question: Why do so many anime girls have animal tails and stuff? For example, Hikaru of Magic Knight Rayearth sometimes has cat ears and a tail. Ryouko from

Question: Why are there so many angel wings in anime? In particular, Card Captor Sakura. Almost everything she owns has a cute little angel wing on it. Why?

Question: Anime movies that are based on a series tend to have little to do with the series. Many times they have a totally different tone altogether, like

Question: Where does the term “anime” come from? Is it derived from the French word for cartoons, which is also “anime,” or is it a shortened form of

Question: There are so many shows where the main character’s mother died while they were an infant/young child. Is there a reason for this?

Question: What exactly are OAVs, and how are they different from anime we see on T.V.?

Question: You said that Evangelion should not be blindly considered the greatest anime of all time [in the Ask John article from Monday, July 20, 2001]. In your

Question: I was wondering, what is the pull of Neon Genesis Evangelion? To me, it merely seems like cross between normal mecha anime and Xenogears. It’s not too

Question: What is your opinion of Agent Aika? Do you think it’s sleazy and/or perverted?

Question: Over time I have seen many cartoons and games come to real life in movies with real actors, including X-men, Tomb Raider & Spider Man, but what