First Interview
Interview by: Email
Site: Ayashi.net
Webmaster: Nekojita
Interviewers:The Double Stars
and JadeDragoNight
Gold Star:
1) Why did you start Ayashi.net?
Gold Star:
2) Were you the founder?
Gold Star:
3) Who did the layout?
Gold Star:
4) Do you have staff members who helped you?
Gold Star: 5) Who helped you with the website?
Gold Star: 6) When and why did you get into Ayashi no Ceres?
Gold Star:
7) How long after you got into Ayashi no Ceres did you start the website?
Gold Star:
8) Are the anime pictures your own, or are they captured by someone/you
from
the site?
Gold Star: 9) How long has the site been up?
Gold Star: 10) How long did it take for you to get the site up?
Silver Star: My turn!
Silver Star: 12) Who's your favorite anime character?
Silver Star: 13) If you were to be in your favorite anime character's shoes, would you
still had started the site?
Silver Star:
14) How much time do you put into your website?
Silver Star:
15) Do you have representatives for your site, because if you do, I'd like
to
meet them....and if you do have representatives, what are they like?
Silver Star:
16) What's your favorite thing to do when you're not updating your site
and
you're online?
Silver Star:
17) When did you start the site?
Silver Star:
18) Where's your main source for your site?
Silver Star:
19) Who's your favorite Ayashi no Ceres character?
Silver Star:
20) Ooooh, here's an easy one! What's your favorite color!
Silver Star:
21) And to round it off, what do you mean by there are a lot more better
sites than yours?!! There's no such thing! I've been to, like, millions of
sites--
Gold Star:
She's lying......she only looks over my shoulder to see a couple
sites.
Silver Star: Gold Star's been to, like, billions of sites and she's always
bookmarking,
and bookmarking, and she says, "It's not just what the site looks like,
but
what keeps people coming to it" and I--
Gold Star: You STOLE that!!
Silver Star: ANYWAYS!! Your site is not only good looking, but offers pretty good
stuff.
Don't sell yourself so short......it's a good site.
Gold Star: Awwww, Silver Star being nice for a change....
Silver Star:
Once a lifetime! Anyhow, you have a good site, and I just wanted to know,
why
are you being so shy for?!
Well, perhaps not much else in AnC-land, but for anime/manga sites in
general... the following come to mind as examples of what I could only
aspire to:
JadeDragoNight: Thank you, Nekojita! You have been a big help for this interview! You can go to Ayashi.net or contact Nekojita.
When I first got into Ayashi no Ceres, there were only about half a dozen
sites for it, and none had much information beyond the first few tankoubon.
The anime didn't exist yet and there were almost no manga translations, so
I started translating it with my then-girlfriend, Mari. I hosted the
translations on my personal miscellany page, but once the translation
project started growing beyond just a few people, I registered Ayashi.net
and started using it as the home for the AnC Translation Project. Nowadays,
the site is no longer just about translations, and has since grown into a
more general series-based site.
Yes, although there were a few people doing AnC translations long before
me.
Ayashi.net's main page has gone through three or four facelifts, and all
of the layouts are by me.
Not with the HTML or site design. There are about 12 different people who
have contributed to the translations.
Aside from myself, the people who contributed to the translation project
include (in no particular order) Mari Hayashi, Tetris no Miko, Joy, Emmy &
Junko Abe, Irene-chan, Michelle Mok, Jasmine, Karen, and Reika.
Very early in 1999. I was just starting to learn Japanese, so I went to
Kinokuniya to pick up some manga to practice my reading with. My favorite
author was always Yuu Watase, and I saw a few volumes of AnC there. I
didn't recognize the series, but her art style is very distinctive, so I
bought them... and became obsessed.
A few months, after I realized that there wasn't much available on the
internet about the series.
The anime images were screencapped by the Japanese webmaster of Damedas. I
wrote to him and requested his permission to repost them, which he granted
on the condition that I not publicize the URL of his site. (He hosts on
XOOM, and if he suddenly took a big leap in traffic, they'd probably delete
his site)
Since early April of 1999.
Only a week or two at first, and most of that was waiting for the domain.
The site didn't spring full-grown into its present state; it has slowly
evolved over the past few years.
11) What's your alltime favorite anime? Weird enough as it is, some
all-on-one anime webmasters like the different anime that's not related to their site. **eeek!** Weird?!
That's honestly difficult to say; my tastes change with the wind. For
drama, AnC fights it out with the Kenshin OVAs, Cowboy Bebop, and Mononoke
Hime. The Angel Sanctuary OVAs are good too, though I cringe to think of
what CPM's translations are going to be like. For pure crack, it's a tie
between Kodocha and Jubei-chan. For yuri and shounen-ai, Oniisama E and
Clamp School are quite sparkly.
I couldn't possibly choose, overall. Much like my tastes in anime, I like
different characters for different reasons (and my voices would never let
me hear the end of it if I played favorites). I have to admit to being very
fond of Setsuna from Angel Sanctuary.
No, I'd be too busy dodging energy blasts and trying to sleep with my
sister.
Not as much as I'd like. I used to work at a callcenter, where I had lots
of free time during the day to fiddle with it. Now I work at Microsoft, and
most of my day is filled with doing "productive" stuff on the computer. So
it's a challenge finding a free day at the same time as inspiration.
Not unless you count the translators in our project.
Chatting with my primary partner and imoutochantachi in IRC, writing
smutty fic, blogging, and reading online comics like User Friendly and The
Thin H Line. And a recent deplorable addiction to playing Diablo II in lieu
of sleeping.
April of 1999
Depends. There are about a dozen different translators who've contributed
to the site. The anime screencaps come from a Japanese website called
Damedas, the manga images are almost all my own scans, and the mpeg
multimedia comes from a variety of sources (most of the MP3s were recorded
by Venkarel). One of my penpals in Japan is a friend of Yuu Watase's, and I
get most of my news from either her or her site, Warau Chourou no Seikatsu.
Of male characters: Alec. Cute geek with long blonde hair and glasses;
yum.
Of female characters: Miori. I have a thing for tragic characters.
Explaining much further about my reasons for liking her would require lots
and lots of spoiler space.
Black, and purplish hues. Kind of like my arm after my friends punish me
for Japanese/English puns.
Seimei's Ignisfatuus
The Housin Net
Niko-niko.net
And, of course, the Anipike.
Anyhow, any humility on my part is likely an attempt to avoid getting a
big head. I've seen way too many people who make a popular site and think
that makes them somehow better than the next person with Notepad and free
time.