Yo! Welcome to my info page. First, we'll start off with a little something about me. As of this writing, I am a 5th-year senior (Super Senior!) attending the University of California, Davis. I will be graduating (hopefully!) this March with a Bachelor's in Computer Science. At the moment I have no immediate job or career path lined up, as I see no need to rush into things. Besides, work sucks. =) I am excited about going to London for a week in April to visit my sister who will be spending that semester there studying abroad.

       Let's see, what else... I just turned 23 a few days ago (Christmas Eve) and I'm feeling very, very old. Music I knew and loved as a kid now plays on the "classic rock" stations, and I even heard a favorite Billy Joel song on an "oldies" station! Kids these days have no idea who He-Man is, have never heard of Fat Albert, and have only the very vaguest notion of a what a Smurf is. They never play My Little Pony or Rainbow Brite with their little sisters, and Strawberry Shortcake is only something to eat. <sigh> You know, it sucks getting old. ^_^

       Okay, enough lamentation. You're probably not here to read about my nostalgia but rather to see what I'm like so that you know how I scored the anime in relation to my other reviewers (let's face it.. why else would you want to know about me?!) With that being said, I'll give a brief history of how I got into anime and how KIDS came about: One day in my sophomore year, as I was sitting outside of a classroom waiting for my 6:00pm Calculus discussion section to start, I noticed Akito-sama walking down the hall. When I asked him where he was going, he told me he was headed for our anime club meeting and invited me to come. I didn't really want to go, but I told him I'd drop by after my class was over. After giving me the room number and wishing me luck with my calculus, he went to the meeting and I went to class. After class I dropped by the meeting to see what it was like, though I didn't expect to stay. As I walked in, the second episode of Birdy the Mighty was just starting. One quick look up at the screen and that was it, I was hooked. I was transfixed. I didn't even sit down for five minutes or so, I just stood there staring in awe! Needless to say, I stayed there that night until the meeting ended at around 11:00 or so. Ah, what a night. Episodes of Saber Marionette J, Hyper Police, and Magic Knights Rayearth, as well as a Slayers movie, followed Birdy the Mighty. During the next anime meeting, I asked Akito-sama where I could buy or rent the first episode of Birdy the Mighty (since I missed it) and he told me that these tapes were not for sale or rent. After he quickly explained the idea of fansubs to me, I biked home and eagerly scoured the web for these so called "fansubs." Sure enough, there it was... Birdy the Mighty. I couldn't believe how great the people were to offer this service, and I told myself that if I ever had enough tapes, someday I would do the same as a way of returning the favor. My first anime request followed shortly after, and then another, and another, and pretty soon I had enough tapes to fulfill my oath. So I went down to the GoodGuys and bought two 4-head HiFi VCRs and opened KIDS on May 25, 1998. Over the next three years I attended the anime meetings regularly and enjoyed such gems as Blue Green Years, Kodomo no Omocha, Video Girl Ai, ShinKOR, DNA², and so many others that I can't even begin to enumerate them. Many of them I picked up so that I could distribute them, as well as enjoy them again from home. This last year, as graduation looms ever closer, I have stopped attending our anime meetings, but it's not really any big loss as my library contains virtually everything they are showing. KIDS has come a long way since that day in May 1998, as we now have SVHS decks, carry quite a few SVHS tapes and even some SVHS masters, and even have a video encoder for putting anime onto CD-ROM for viewing on your computer! I've seen a lot of fansub distribution sites come and go, even good ones, but I hope to stick it out and stay around awhile. I guess only time will tell.

       Well, okay, perhaps that wasn't quite as "brief" a history as I had planned, but it sounds good so I'll keep it. But, now let's cut to the chase... What kind of anime do I like? Well, basically I like good anime because good anime is... well... good! But what do I consider good anime? Personally, I enjoy character depth and storyline more than anything else in the anime. Great characters make great anime. Notice I say character depth and not character growth. Both can make for some wonderful anime viewing, but character growth means very little if the characters are empty and shallow. Remember, ten times more than zilch is still zilch! I also find that good artistry can play a major role in the atmosphere and aura of the anime, but a good storyline with good, well-developed characters can make up for a lot. Some of the anime that I have enjoyed the most had very simplistic (yet detailed) artistry; take Whisper of the Heart as a case in point. Action scenes mean nothing to me without good characters and an interesting, fresh plot. I also really like series/movies in which there is some character romance, but there is a fine line between a good, romantic piece and a bad one. Setting, character personalities, and style all play a part in this distinction. Personally I find the romance in titles such as Kimagure Orange Road (ESPECIALLY ShinKOR!) and Video Girl Ai (LOVED it!) especially well done because of the realism and depth which the characters exude, whereas I dislike the "generic, stereotypical" feel of I'll Make a Habit of It. Maybe your tastes are different than mine, and that's cool too. One last note... I am not particularly fond of Mecha-based anime as such, but a good storyline and character development (as in Nadesico or even Gundam) can easily make up for this.

       Well, you've probably learned more about me than you ever wanted or will ever want to know. Hopefully you have found some of it useful and perhaps you may have even found some of it interesting! But anyhoo, thanks for taking the time to look around my site and read this page, I really do appreciate it. You think I typed all this just for fun? Heh. And if you'd ever like to leave a comment about my site, suggest some anime titles for me to carry, argue over I'll Make a Habit of It (or any other anime title), or just talk, then please feel free to email me at mdkaskey@yahoo.com. I must warn you, however, that I am notoriously bad at replying to emails on time. <grin> 

       And may the Anime be with you always.

            - Kiwi
            January 3, 2001