Anime

The first anime I ever saw was Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro. This was back when I was in middle or high school. I really didn't get into anime until my first year of college. The first anime I ever saw in college was Lain. I have been following the industry since 1999. A lot has changed. It was really cool to see how a lot of people were getting exposed to anime and buying it. The last couple of years has seen many American anime distributors go out of business. There are only a couple of major companies around. The most recognizable is Funimation. ADV used to be a force. So was Geneon. Here is a current list.

Why Am I Into Anime?
I see anime as animation taken to the next level. Anime is a medium. There are genres of anime. There are movies and TV shows. Here is a list of the genres. Just like movies, anime also have great directors which have their own unique style. The following are a list of my favorite anime directors:

Mamoru Oshii - My favorite director. I like most of his work.
Satoshi Kon - My favorite movie of his is Paprika.
Hayao Miyazaki - A living legend. My favorite movie of his is Spirited Away.
Hideaki Anno - Neon Genesis Evangelion. N'uff said.
Shinichirō Watanabe - Famous for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. He loves mixing music and animation.
Katsuhiro Otomo - Famous for Akira.
Rintaro - I love his work on Metropolis.
Shinji Aramaki - Appleseed Deus Ex Machina is the coolest adult CG movie I have ever seen.
Kenji Kamiyama - Great writer and director on the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series and Eden of the East.
Osamu Tezuka - If it wasn't for this gentleman, there would be no anime industry.
Isao Takahata - He directed Grave of the Fireflies. The only anime that has ever made me weep.
Mahiro Maeda - He directed Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. This is the most visually stunning anime I had the pleasure of viewing.

My favorite Anime of All Time
Favorite Series: Patlabor
This series is the most humanized mecha series I have ever seen. All of the characters are developed and they all are great. The English dub sucks.

Movie: This is hard to pick. I'd have to go with one of Oshii's movies. Some are better than others. I'd have to pick between GitS2: Innocence, Patlabor 2, and Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer.

Recent Anime
I really like Kyoto Animation's work. Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star are favs of mine. I haven't seen K-On!.

Of the current season, Fall 2010, I've been following three series: Bakuman, Otome Yokai Zakuro, and The World God Only Knows.