Your comments are the best indicator of our performance, so we here at EX urge you to keep that e-mail coming. Rest assured that we do read all the mail that we get.

	From: Blanca Mendez Chang (bmendez@pucp.edu.pe) Dear EX friends, Hello!!! Just wrote to say "Congratulations and thanks" for the great mag you've got!!! I'm pleased with the serious and interesting articles of anime because there's not much place where we can find anything this quality easily. I wish you lotsa success. I can't wait for No. 5!!! Lots of friendship :) Keep animeing!!!!
	Blanca, Wow. Peru. I think this is the first time we've ever gotten e-mail from South America! Sometimes it really is interesting to see how far across the globe anime fans (and our readers) are spread. Thanks for the kind words.
	From: Thai Vo (tvo@ece.utexas.edu) I love EX!! I've read every issue, and I will continue to do so for as long as you publish it. I don't know how often you get messages of thanks or of appreciation so here is one now. I find EX very informative as well as much more accurate than other magazines, Animerica to name one. Thank you for creating such a cool mag, and keep up the good work!
	Thai, Thanks for the passionate response. We do our best to stay on top of things, although sometimes it isn't easy. And you may want to get your eyes checked to make sure they're in good shape, because we plan on being around for a very, very long time.
	From: John Wilkerson (jwilkerson@n-link.com) Re: The Dodo Excellent, well written article. I must applaud you for your un-biased presentation of the facts. As a fan, I know how difficult expressing facts about a topic you feel so passionately about can be. Keep up the good work and buy subtitled!
	John, Chad went through a lot to make his article as accurate and objective as possible. Check out some of the people's responses to our "sub versus dub" question elsewhere in this issue.
	From: Josh Travinski (travinjj@craft.camp.clarkson.edu) Dear EX, I have been an avid reader, since the first issue appeared. I really like how EX has evolved over the last few months. The content is definitely top quality and deserves praise. Anyway, down to business, I would like to see more Anime soundtrack reviews. There aren't many sources of info on Anime CD's out there and I depend on EX's reviews to lead me in the right direction. Also, I think that if you included some MPEG audio samples from the CD's, your reviews would be the best on the Internet. Readers would be able to hear the parts of the CDs that caused you to write such an enthusiastic review. Adding audio clips to the CD review section would be a very effective and beneficial improvement to your magazine. Thanks for your time,
	Josh, As an avid CD enthusiast myself, I couldn't agree with you more about the lack of available information on anime CD's. And when you have to spend over $30 for one CD, caution is certainly in order. Expanding the CD review section is something that may be possible in the future; we will look into this. However, at this point, I'm afraid that downloadable music files would be nigh impossible. The biggest obstacle is one of copyrights--including selections from CDS would be a severe copyright violation. And I doubt that we would be able to get permission from the Japanese distributors to include music clips. Nevertheless, we'll look into your request and see if we can accommodate you in some way.
	From: Marci Clark (clark@escape.ca) Hey guys great stuff! Love everything, editorial direction, content and layout! You guy review everything; shows, production houses, artists, Manga, Anime, CD's, software... etc. So why not merchandise, specifically the TOYS and MODELS! I would love to see reviews of the latest Gundam models, or see what new Macross toys are available. Thanx a lot!
	Marci, Your suggestion is an interesting one; I have discussed this with some of our staffers, and we will try to add a "Collectibles" section early next year. Of course, we'll have to try and find stuff that's worthy of mentioning, as it's going to be really difficult to say anything about the new series of Saint Tail pencilboards. But this idea is a good one and we will certainly follow up. Keep reading!
	From: Tony Ferralli (Tferralli@aol.com) Congratulations! I have been looking for a site like this for a long time. I do have a question though. I have just read your article on Gundam X, which I thought was well done. Is this going to be available in the US? I saw part of V-Gundam a few years ago and fell in love with it. I have also read the Mobile Suit Gundam books. Is there a source for subtitled Gundam anime? I would love to find it, especially the original story, I believe it is "the One Year War". If you can answer any of these questions or at least point me in the right direction I would be most grateful. Keep up the great work!
	Tony, Indeed, none of the Gundam series are commercially available in the United States. Nor has any company announced that it will be releasing them any time in the near future. Thus, if you are interested in obtaining copies of Gundam series, you have several choices: (1) visit your local anime club and see if they can help you out; (2) take a trip to your local Japanese video store, if you're lucky enough to live in an area that has one, or (3) knuckle down and buy the import laser disks (which is pricey, to say the least). Unfortunately, there are not many other options available, as the show is not being distributed in the United States by anyone at this time.
	From: Ryan Matthews (mathews1@ix.netcom.com) Re: Chad Kime's article on subs I don't dispute Chad Kime's facts, but I do quibble at his conclusions. If, as he predicts, large Hollywood corporations become involved in anime, and they put profit first, they're only going to be interested in guaranteed sellers. Let's take a look at some of those big-sellers: My Neighbor Totoro, Ghost in the Shell, Fist of the North Star, M.D. Geist, Street Fighter II, Ninja Scroll. Notice anything in common? With only a few exceptions, the best-selling anime are single-part stories, either movies or one-shot OVAs. The American video business is geared this way; ask any anime company how difficult it is to get stores and rental outlets to stock series. Since the Japanese anime industry still revolves around the six-episode OVA series, there will only be a few mega-selling one-shots in any given year. The existing anime distributors will not have to fight amongst themselves for "scraps and pornography", as Chad puts it, rather, they will have a wealth of OVA series to choose from, as they do now. Only the violent one-shot of the year will be out of reach. (I also have to wonder about Chad's comment that Tenchi Muyo is a poor seller. I think Pioneer would dispute that.)
	This one, I'll turn over to Chad for a response. When considering successful titles, let us not forget a few more big sellers: DRAGONBALL, SAILOR MOON, and TEKKAMAN BLADE (TEKNOMAN). The willingness of stores to stock anime series depends upon the video series. If the first volume generated only lukewarm interest or was actually a bomb then, yes, it is extremely difficult to interest retail stores in additional volumes. However, popular series such as RANMA 1/2 or ROBOTECH are popular enough not to have a real problem. UROTSUKIDOJI also provides a good example. The first two movies were so successful in both Japan and the USA that, so far, a four episode OVA series and a three episode OVA series have also been released (UROTSUKIDOJI III and IV). As long as these videos continue to sell, the video stores will always have room for more volumes. It seems to me that 25% of Anime is the big one shot movies or OVA series, and that another 50% to 60% of Anime is television series. A few high profile series have been picked up for the US market, but since it is difficult for the US Anime companies to get these shows on television it is rather difficult to get these series to pay off. But if Disney decided to pick up ESCAFLOWNE, what would stop them from putting it on ABC? After all, they own the network. For that matter, if they feel that an OVA series has enough potential, they may decide to pick it up just as an experiment. Take Iria for example. Suppose that the US rights for Iria were still available and that someone at Miramax (owned by Disney) found the series interesting. There would be nothing to stop that person from buying the rights for the series, editing it into a movie and releasing it on 1,000 screens in the USA. If the series performed well, then Miramax would be able to release the uncut series, fund the movie or television series sequel, etc. My point is that most projects that are of interest to Anime fans would also be of interest to major studios which can easily out bid any US company. The rights to a short OVA series may not be that valuable, but anything successful can spawn a TV series or a movie, or even a feature length OVA. Disney is showing their faith in the direct to video market with their ALADDIN franchise, now on OVA #2. While there is no real imminent danger of the market being gobbled up, this is one possible and logical possibility if we examine the current trends taken to an extreme. For example, have you ever wondered who has the right to the GATCHAMAN OVA's or TEKKAMAN 2 OVA's? You probably guessed it: Saban. Although they don't own the rights, they just have an option that prevents anyone else from bidding on them... TEKNOMAN movie anyone? Regarding TENCHI MUYO, I don't think Pioneer could ever admit that their best selling title is not a success, however it is also a matter of perspective. My sources tell me that none of Pioneers titles have sold much more than 5,000 units. Now, I have not been able to clarify if this includes both dubbed, subbed and laser disks, or separately. I would have to assume that this number is for each separate video type and volume and estimate that this translates to 5,000 dub and 2,500 subtitled. Just considering the video sales alone, 7,500 is a very small number, and compared to the rest of the industry, not a very good number either. KABUTO 7,000+ units (subtitled only) BURN-UP 25,000+ units GUYVER (USR) 20,000+ units each, Volumes 1-4   15,000+ units each, Volumes 5,6 MACROSS II OVA 20,000+ units each, Vol. 1-3 PROJECT A-KO 30,000+ units AKIRA 45,000+ units GHOST IN THE SHELL 100,000+ units TOTORO 300,000+ units How do you think Pioneer really feels TENCHI MUYO is that successful? Or perhaps Pioneer keeps releasing the volumes because they already own them and are hoping that it will eventually catch on big? If my sources are truly accurate, you have to wonder.

Letter Contest

Keep that e-mail coming. We still have a lot of DRAGONBALL Z cards to give away! These cards were donated by Books Nippan and are special hologram cards mounted on a cardboard backing. These cards are unavailable for purchase in the United States, so these are truly unique items.
Keep in mind that "best" is a subjective thing, and totally subject to the whims of the Editors. Flattery will not necessarily make you a winner. I can't give you specifics as to what will make you a winner, but I can share with you the sure-fire ways to get disqualified:

• 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 !!!!??????
  
• one-liners such as "Your mag rocks, gimme the cards!" will be disqualified immediately.
  
• Profanity and personal attacks will also wind up in the trashcan.

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.