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by Charles Tan When I said in an editorial at the start of the year that anime was getting popular, I didn't realize it was going to get this big (on a side note, if you'll take a look at the second paragraph, last sentence of the editorial, you'll see that I knew there was going to be an anime convention ^_^). Upon looking at what's available now, both domestically and in the United States, it's easy to see a connection between the two. For instance… Es-ca-flow-ne!!! Before AnimeVillage and FOX TV could show the English dub, we already had it here in the Philippines! Yes, can I dare say that the anime fans here are ahead of their time, or at least compared to their Western counterparts. Even before then, as early as the 1990s, Filipinos were entreated to popular shows such as Sailormoon and Dragonball Z, a series which caught up in America at a much later date. However, it is worthy to note that in the case of Dragonball, it took quite awhile before the saga would be continued here in the Philippines whereas it enjoyed a continuous and popular run abroad. Sailormoon, on the other hand, may have been delayed but it enjoyed a good run until reaching Sailormoon S, without the editing of Haruka (Sailor Uranus) and Michiru's (Sailor Neptune) relationship. Perhaps the greatest star to shine at all is Cartoon Network's Gundam Wing. Way back in January of 1999, Filipinos had their first taste of a Gundam fiesta. The malls were suddenly flooded with Gundam Wing model kits and kids everywhere, both boys and girls, were clamoring for the show. Now, the same opportunity was given to American viewers courtesy of Cartoon Network (and an unedited version during the evenings!) and guess what, it's a huge phenomenon there as well! It's really amazing to see what we anime fans have in common with others as well. It shows that despite coming from different backgrounds, we can enjoy and share in the same shows and same hobbies. It's also interesting how our location puts us in a place that enables us to preview popular anime shows before they become popular elsewhere (except Japan). It's worth mentioning that the Filipino audience has been used as a testbed for what shows might succeed in America. For example, Sony released Rurouni Kenshin here as Samurai X before they made an official domestic release in America. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the same case with Escaflowne and Bandai. All in all, this is another anime-moment we Filipinos can be proud of. We're ahead of our time baby! And guess what, the generally unknown show entitled Super Boink here in the Philippines (a.k.a. Tonde Burin) will be shown in the U.S. as Super Pig!
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