Howdy!

[JohnnyG]

Hello all! My name is John, though I go by the handle JohnnyG. I'm a happily married 35-year-old with three kids. I've been a Christian for about 19 years, and find that I keep learning new things about God everyday (as it should be ).

I've been a fan of anime since the days when Robotech was still aired on television here in the US.

I love many different shows and genres, though the following would be some of my favorites (in alphabetical order, not order of preference):

Ah! My Goddess (and the Oh! My Goddess manga), Ai Yori Aoshi, Banner of the Stars, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Chobits, Crest of the Stars, Gunslinger Girl, Karin, Kiddy Grade, Martian Successor Nadesico, Naruto, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Noir, Ranma ½, Read or Die, Robotech, Ruin Explorers, Slayers, Tenchi Muyo, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Trigun.

--

I'm also a big fan of video games. Here's a list of some of the ones I enjoy the most:

Final Fantasy series (especially VII, X, X-2, and XII), Grandia 3, Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, Okami, Radiata Stories, Shadow Hearts 1-3, Shadow of the Colossus, Star Wars (various different ones), Starcraft, Tales series (Abyss, Legendia, and Symphonia specifically), Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, Wild Arms 3, and Xenosaga 1-3 (probably my favorite of all time).

--

Up until just recently I was quite involved in the fanfiction scene (as a writer, reader, and proofreader), specifically with the Naruto and Ranma ½ series. However, due to several issues I decided to leave it behind.

The primary issue for me revolved an addiction issue I have regarding escapism, of which fanfiction was by far the worst contributor. It was at the point where it was affecting my relationship with my God, my family, and my job. It had to go. With the help of God and my family, I'm sure that I'll be able to one day get the escapism under control.

The other issue was that I felt I was compromising my standards in what I read and wrote (for some of each, though not all). I was justifying a lot of things and finally had to come to a place where I could just leave it behind.

Anyhow, I am still involved with anime and manga, though I have scaled that back quite a bit (my wife helps me monitor it). As such, I wanted to get involved in a community of believers that also share the same passion that I do for both forms of entertainment. I look forward to getting to know all of you. Perhaps I'll even use my writing skills to help contribute reviews. We'll see.

Best,
~JohnnyG

[Radical Dreamer]

Welcome to CAA!

I have to say, I appreciate your avatar. XD Having taken several art classes, I've had to draw that M.C. Escher piece as practice many, many times. XD Nice!

Anyways, enjoy CAA! See you around the boards!

[goldenspines]

Hello and a very warm welcome to you. I hope you enjoy it here. ^_^

[jon_jinn]

sweet! a fellow Haruhi fan! hello and welcome to CAA. hope you find your time here enjoyable.

[Tenshi no Ai]

Hey thar, and welcome!^^

[~darkelfgirl~]

Hey ^^ Welcome!

[ChristianKitsune]

Heya and welcome to CAA!

I must say that righht now I am working on things that MC Escher was famous for...TESELATIONS! XD they are so hard, and I really admire that artist. Love that avatar.

I hope you enjoy your stay here!

[ADXC]

Well howdy to you too Johnny G! Wow you have a good arangement anime in your arsenal! But I don't see the DBZ series up there, oh well. But I do see you like the same kinds of games I do, more specifically Final Fantasy series, Grandia 3, Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, Radiata Stories, Shadow Hearts 2-3, Tales series and Xenosaga 3. Might I give you suggestions on some others like these? Okay I will they are here as follows:Star Ocean~Till the End of Time, Ar Tonelico, Rogue Galaxy, Dragon Quest VIII, and Growlancer-Heritage of War. And these are all for the PS2, just so you know. To me the PS2 was like the greatest video game system ever made, mainly because it had such an array of interesting video games.

[JohnnyG]

goldenspines, Tenshi no Ai, and darkelfgirl, thanks for the welcome! I appreciate it.

Radical Dreamer and ChristianKitsune, thanks to you as well and I'm glad you like the avatar. I'm actually not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I like the picture because I love to write. The image has always been a special one to me since the first time I saw it.

jon_jinn, it's nice to meet someone who can appreciate the humor in Haruhi. My wife and I have been watching it together over the past week or so and are up to episode 7 I believe (going by chronological order as opposed to the random order they released it in inside Japan). Some of it is over her head, but she does find it amusing (though it's not really her thing). I, personally, love the show.

animedud90, I never really got into DBZ. Maybe if my son ever chooses to watch it I'll sit down with him and do so, but so far it just doesn't seem that interesting to me. Also, thanks for the game suggestions. I actually own Star Ocean~Till the End of Time (I bought it used at Anime North earlier this year), but haven't played it yet. It's on my list. I've also played Ar Tonelico and Dragon Quest VIII, both of which were quite enjoyable (though Ar Tonelico did get a little annoying at times).

I am curious that you mentioned Shadow Hearts 2-3 as games you like, but didn't say anything about the first one. Was that an oversight, or did you not like it?

Anyhow, thanks again to everyone for the warm welcome. I greatly appreciate it!

Best,
~JohnnyG

[mitsuki lover]

Welcome.
So the over 30 brigade grows some more.

Crest/Banner of the Stars are my fourth and fifth favorite animes respectively.My favorite is every time Lafiel calls Jinto 'You Fool!'
because it's her way of saying she loves him.

Who are your favorite VAs?

[JohnnyG]

Welcome.
So the over 30 brigade grows some more.

Crest/Banner of the Stars are my fourth and fifth favorite animes respectively.My favorite is every time Lafiel calls Jinto 'You Fool!'
because it's her way of saying she loves him.

Who are your favorite VAs?

Thanks for the welcome. Yeah, Lafiel is certainly a fun character, and the relationship that she and Jinto share is one of my favorites. That's part of the reason I own all three box sets for the series.

As for VAs, I normally don't pay much attention to them. I am definitely a fan of subbed series and almost always prefer the Japanese VAs, but often it's hard to remember their names.

I will say though, without a doubt, that my favorite is probably Inoue Kikuko. She was the VA for three of my all-time favorite female characters: Belldandy in Ah! My Goddess, Kasumi Tendo in Ranma 1/2, and Mizuho Kazami in Please Teacher! I think that her voice acting is a big part of why I came to like them so much.

Best,
~JohnnyG

[Roy Mustang]

Hello new member of our food supply....uh, I mean! Welcome to the board.

*Hands out Chocolate Pocky and Ramnue Soda to our new member*

If you ever need to talk to someone, just send a pm.

You can call me Bradley or Roy Mustang or just Roy or Mustang


[color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color]

[ADXC]

Well to be truthful I never played the first Shadow hearts partly because I heard it wasn't as great as the second one. I actually played the third one first because I thought the idea was cool and then I figured out there were other ones before it. So I go looking for the second one(The first one had like a rating of 5.0 out of 10 so I didn't want to pick it up.), and then I fell in love with the second one. Man the idea for the ring-type combat(I can't remember the name of it) was really different and good. Though I could have done without the gay pedlers in the games. So is the first one good? Also another reason why I didn't pick up the first was because the rating was M and I wasn't old enough at the time to buy it.

But you should play Star Ocean, I think its really good and long!(For my gaming preferences, longness is essential.) Its even two-disked! You don't come across games with that length very often, in fact the only other ones were Shadow Hearts two and Tales of Symphonia. Anyways the game sorta starts out slow, but most RPGs tend to do that. So don't wimp out. But what am I saying you've played Dragon Quest VIII, so you should have enough time to waste!(But maybe your job might not permit that, sorry if Im assuming.) And Dragon Quest is trully an awesome game, one of my favorites.

Right now Im working on Growlancer-Heritage of War. It just came out the 18th, and I think its really good as well. But it does start slow and may seem hard, but its all good.

Also are there any other RGS you can name that I might like(And please don't say Final Fantasy, because Ive played a few and they are good. But are not quite what Im looking for RPG wise.). I also really liked Radiata Stories! Mainly because you got to recruit many different people and there were certain conditions to such. And I also liked it because it went from day to night and night to day in game type hours(Mind you I didn't say gameplay hours.) Well I hope you enjoy Star Ocean.

[rocklobster]

Cool, another anime fan from the 80's!
Welcome to this little piece of heaven we call CAA.

[mitsuki lover]

Well as far as it goes I started out with the dubs so I am more familiar with the likes of Kelly Sheridan,Moneca Stori,Kari Wahlgren,Wendee Lee,
Michelle Ruff,Lara Jill Miller,etc.although lately I have been watching the
subs.
I would have to say that Megumi Haybashari and Rei Tanaka are so far my favorite Japanese seiyuus.

[JohnnyG]

Thanks to the latest people to have welcomed me. I appreciate it!

animedude90, I actually do recommend playing Shadow Hearts 1. I'm not sure what reviews you were reading, but I think it's on par with 2, both of which I liked better than 3. Of course, that's just my opinion. As for other RPGs, the only ones I can think of at the moment are ones I already mentioned in my original message: Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and Wild Arms 3 (I haven't played the others in the series so I can't comment on them). Also, you only mentioned Xenosaga 3, but have you played the first two? 1 is the best in my opinion, with 3 being second-best, and 2 only being there to fill in the story-line.

Best,
~JohnnyG

[ADXC]

Okay, I'll try to find a copy of Shadow Hearts 1. But I heard that Valkyrie 2 was a button masher game.(I could be wrong.) So is it or not? I did like Xenosaga 3, so if you say the first is the best I'll try to find it. Also did you know there is an anime of Xenosaga? I saw the first episode on a newtype magazine. I think its pretty good.

[JohnnyG]

Okay, I'll try to find a copy of Shadow Hearts 1. But I heard that Valkyrie 2 was a button masher game.(I could be wrong.) So is it or not? I did like Xenosaga 3, so if you say the first is the best I'll try to find it. Also did you know there is an anime of Xenosaga? I saw the first episode on a newtype magazine. I think its pretty good.

I wouldn't call Valkyrie 2 a button-masher. Yes the combat system is fairly simplistic, but the story-line is excellent (as are the graphics, sound, etc.). So, while it won't win any awards for complexity regarding battle, I still have to give the game an 8.5 out of 10. One possibility is to see if you can rent the game for a week. If you have a decent amount of free time you might be able to polish it off.

As for Xenosaga, the first was definitely my favorite. When it was made, they were expecting it to be a six-part series, so they took there time and crafted an engaging tale. The third installment, while also having a good story, felt too rushed so they could close the series out (after the lackluster receiving the second had, they decided for the cutback).

Also, I knew there was an anime, but I haven't watched it yet. Would you say it's worthwhile?

Best,
~JohnnyG

[Cardinalman]

hey welcome

[ADXC]

Yeah, I believe if you really like the Xenosaga series then you should go after the anime. I thought it was good. It doesn't have the best graphics in the world like that of Haruhi(Which has the best animation that Ive seen), but it still is pretty darn good. So I do believe its worth your time, that is if you can get your hands on it in the near future.