As we unveil the first issue of EX, I can already hear one question echoing over and over again like the rabbits in URUSEI YATSURA '87 (Inaba the Dream Maker). I will not address this question directly; rather, it is my hope that you will extrapolate the meaning behind the moniker from the rest of this editorial.
"Ex nihilo nihil fit"Many of us come from the online publication AMPLUS, which excited the anime community and garnered a reputation for excellence during its short run. Indeed, its popularity exceeded our expectations, and promulgated an excessive amount of positive reader response. Unfortunately, AMPLUS is now on permanent hiatus, so after a brief period of introspection and exploration, several of us decided to apply our experience and expertise and venture forth on a new publication which would continue to extol the praises of anime.
(Nothing comes from nothing)
Anime is still considered by many to be
something exotic; while we agree, we don't necessarily find this
statement to be an egregious. Random House defines exotic as
"introduced from abroad, but not fully naturalized or acclimatized."
Surely fans of anime agree that we don't want our anime to be exact
equivalents of American animation. And, if we are covering the genre of
anime and manga, should we not expect to be somewhat exotic
ourselves?We promise to do our best to excel and try
to exceed the exceptionally high standards that we have set for
ourselves and the expectations that you, our readers, are sure to
acquire once you see our extensive and expansive coverage of anime and
manga. For our premier issue, we have an article on GUNDAM
X by Gundam expert Mark Simmons, and an exclusive interview with Scott
Frazier, an American "expatriate" who has been involved in the anime
industry in Japan for many years.We are not exaggerating when we say that we
have put endless hours into this project--it was far from
extemporaneous. We have experienced exasperation and we are all
exhausted, yet, somehow, we are still exhilarated. So join us for our
exuberant first issue; we hope that you will exit with a sense of
excitement and anticipation of what's to come in future issues.Please excuse me for my exorbitant use of
ex's, but, after all, that's who we are.And since EXCELSIOR is
taken, I'll close with
Ex animo,
(Sincerely)
Charles McCarter
Publisher/Editor in Chief
Look for us at Anime Expo 96!
PUBLISHER / EDITOR IN CHIEF
Charles McCarter
DESIGN EDITOR / ASST. PUBLISHER
Keith Rhee
ORGANIZATIONAL CONSULTANT
Chad Kime
COPY EDITORS
Peter Cahill
Roderick Lee
Charles McCarter
STAFF WRITERS
Ken Cho
Eri Izawa
Mark Johnson
Chad Kime
Roderick Lee
Charles McCarter
Maria Munoz
Keith Rhee
Orin Starchaser
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Eugene Cheng
David Ho
Mark Simmons
Dave Van Cleef
SPJA SITE ADMINISTRATOR
Eric "Scanner" Luce
Special thanks to The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) and Objective Consulting Inc. for donating server space and making this issue possible.
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
EX: The Online World of
