I can't believe Anime Dream has been around for ten years. On a personal level, what that means most poignantly is that I'm an old man.

My association with Anime Dream begins and ends with RPGFan. At one time, Anime Dream was a sister site / offspring of RPGFan. It was put together by the same staff, and operated by the same staff, in its formative years. Eventually, the two sites split ways.

During my most active AD years, as a teen, I wrote primarily about anime soundtracks that had some relation to a video game. I reviewed the Final Fantasy anime soundtracks (not Unlimited, but the one that is a sequel to FFV). I reviewed the Wild Arms Twilight Venom soundtrack. I also took on some soundtracks for anime I was really into, including Evangelion, Key: The Metal Idol, Sailor Moon, and Princess Mononoke.

It's amazing just how much anime has proliferated in American culture in the last decade. I first discovered anime by watching Sci-Fi's Saturday morning anime. The first one I ever saw was Vampire Hunter D. Not long after, I discovered the big anime of the 90s: Eva, DBZ, Gundam, Lodoss, etc.

Anime has changed a lot over the years. Most TV anime I simply cannot keep up with. My anime diet mostly consists of Miyazaki films and some other artsy stuff (Tekkon Kinkreet was weird...but at least it was on Blu-Ray). I also wrote a review of Interstella 5555 for Anime Dream a while ago. Somehow that one slipped by me, even with its promotion on Toonami. Galaxy Express 999-style art with Daft Punk music? That's an instant winner.

I hope that Anime Dream continues to exist as a site that caters to an audience of thoughtful readers. Too many sites have ravenous fans who don't really care for critique or analysis. That's something that we've all had to develop as we grow up, and I've seen it in spades at AD.

- Patrick Gann