Nate "Real Folk Blues" Shannon

Hey hey! Guess this is my little corner to do a speal about myself... I go by my real name on the net, "Nate" for almost all my screen names, so yes you can call me that and not have to guess whether it's the real thing or not ~.^ I'm 17 years old, and like Botan and the others here, my general hobbies are watching anime and reading manga. I also really enjoy electrical engineering, computer programming, playing certain video games (cheers for Chrono Trigger and Xenogears :D), and long-distance running. I currently attend high school in New Hampshire, and have also attended a summer "Advanced Studies Program" that has taught me some beginner's Japanese.

I got into anime myself about 2 years ago with, *shudders*, Dragonball Z when it  came on cartoon network with a new season. The next Christmas, I was so into it and Tenchi Muyo! that I decided to expand my experience to a new show, Cowboy Bebop, by getting it on DVD that holiday. Needless to say, that one DVD has turned me not only away from both Tenchi and DBZ, but has spawned a anime collection of almost 100 VHS's and 200 DVDs. I am fairly "new" to manga, as I currently only have about 10 or so series on hand, and most of them I haven't finished. Gomensai ;.; BUT I've really got into these manga series a lot, particularly Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Kosuke Fujishima's Ah! My Goddess, and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira (the movie is so-so but the manga is GREAT! :D).

As for anime, I am currently still obsessed with Cowboy Bebop, as well as Tenkyuu no Escaflowne, and Shin Seiki Evangelion. Other wise known as "The Vision of Escaflowne" and "Neon Genesis Evangelion." I've enjoyed numerious Studio Gainax, Gonzo, and Ghibli releases as well, and my current favorite anime movie is Ah! My Goddess The Movie. And if you were to ask me what my real life favorite movies are, I'd have to say Saving Private Ryan and Memento are up there.

It should also be noted that I am an AVID Yoko Kanno and Yatsunori Mitsuda fan, and it's no wonder I'm a huge fan of almost every production they've done music for (Kanno has done anime like Bebop, where as Mitsuda is more of a video-games composer). Mitsuda-san did the music for Xenogears, Xenosaga, Chrono Trigger, and Chrono Cross....and it's no wonder all are some of my favorite games of all time.

If you want to chat with me, I'm usually on AIM as NateRFB. Also my e-mail is nateshannon@hotmail.com . Drop me a line! I'm always open to talk about ReikiTantei, Jaganzoku, anime, manga, or whatever else... so don't hesitate to stop by to say 'hi' or anything!