I usually lead my entries with a youtube video of some sort.  They’re relevant most of the time.  This time, it’s CRITICAL that you watch the video.   CosplayJP, I know you’re reading this too, so you better pay attention.  Go ahead, watch the video.  I’ll wait.

Did you watch it?  Good.  What did you see?  A bunny girl flying around on a sword beating up various contemporary sci-fi entities?  Good.  If you look a bit deeper you’d see just how the depth of the madness.  You see, the video was created for the 1983 Osaka Sci-Fi convention, nicknamed “Daicon IV”.  And it was created by a bunch of otaku working out of their basements and garages.  They weren’t doing it for the fame, rather, they were doing it ‘cuz they loved being an otaku.  And I’m sure that they had fun doing it.

What happened to those guys that made that video?  Did they live happily ever after?  Sort of.  They went on to form a certain animation studio.  I don’t know if you’ve heard of ’em….they’re called Studio GAINAX.

Time and time again, Studio Gainax would reference their Daicon IV video in all their subsequent works.  Hell, even Haruko yells out “DAICON V”.  On top of all this, Studio GAINAX has a reputation for being the most hospitable to the otaku, since well…they are too.

Now back to the original point of this entry.  When I first created Team Mixed Nuts 4 years ago, I had no idea what I’d be in for.  I saw the Daicon IV video and got inspired by it all.  I got even more inspired after I learned the backstory and how Studio GAINAX got formed.  Now….here I am.  Surrounded by a crack team of creative minds that refuse to do anything less than epic.  I know that if it wasn’t for them, and numerous other people, I wouldn’t be here, still working on my webmangazine.  You can’t be doing this stuff because you want to be famous.  If it’s good, that’ll come on its own.  Along with the money.

I’m working on this webmangazine because I genuinely love being a geek.  It’s fun!  And I know everyone else on the team feels the same way.

-Francis