I sat here for days trying to figure out what to type here in my little space and for all those days, I sat with nothing but a blank screen. It's not the first time that I couldn't figure out what to write here, but then I started thinking about the contents for this month's issue. I found so many little coincidences that it made me think of an old song, all based around one little word.

Ironic.

Most of you will know the song I'm referring to. Alanis Morissette had a lot of things right in that song. And as I go down the list of stuff this month, there are a bunch of little ironies throughout. Some of this is going to be kinda cryptic unless you've read thorugh the rest of the issue, but it'll give you a reason to come back here and see if my babbling made any sense. :)

First off, we have James' colmun this month. It's all about one little word. Otaku. The word otaku and why its meaning here in U.S. fandom is a bit off base from the real meaning. We put our own meaning to the term and it can put you into a really bad situation if you were to say it to a Japanese person that only knows the Japanese meaning of the word. Where's the irony? Pages further down we have an interview with the director of Otaku Unite!, an example of the exact thing that James is talking about.

Second, speaking of single words, James' column and this editorial both ended up being about one little word. How ironic? :)

Fianlly, this month we take a look at the first of the two Evangelion movies, Death and Rebirth. That in an of itself is good stuff, but I can make wonderful parallels between D&R and what's happened here in @anime! editorial country. @anime! had it's own little "Death and Rebirth" here these last few months. It's like our own personal SEELE agents barged in, pulled out their little semi-automatic weapons and hosed everything down... Some of us survived the "cleansing" and the new folks are here as part of the rebuliding after our own little "Third Impact."

And no, I'm not Gendo. (Though some people think I am... A story for another time perhaps.) :P

Yeah. Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

Thanks Alanis. We'll see you next month.