Well, let's see....
the name's Zach, go ahead and wear it out if you want. I'm here because, well I'm a nerd. I like anime, video games, movies, the whole
lot. I'm not the founder of Scully Nerd
Reviews, but I am running the site at the moment. I have a decent collection of anime, movies,
and games. I was practically raised by
Toonami, and that's what I rushed my chores in order to sit down and watch it growing
up. I collect anime, games, and movies,
I also have a few books laying around too.
I just love good stories with compelling characters, so all of these
genres fill that gap quite well for me.
Some of my favorite anime shows include: Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, Darker than Black, Ghost in the Shell, Ao no
Exorcist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Code Geass. Games include titles such as: DMC 3: Dante's Awakening, Knights of the Old Republic (I AND II), The
Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy (with some I like more than others), and many
more.
Just in Case any of you had a problem with my taste in entertainment.
I'm here because Scully asked me to help him with the
site. At first, it was simply writing a
couple reviews every now and again about the shows I was watching. As I'm sure all of you can attest to; we only
have so many hours in our day, and keeping up with all of our responsibilities
and keeping the site going everyday can be a challenge without a little
help. But that isn't to say I don't
enjoy working on this site. I get to
share the things I love with the people that appreciate it, hopefully. We started this site hoping to spread a
little love for anime primarily, or at least I did. However, we've started branching out, hoping
to appeal to a broader audience. Due to
extenuating circumstances, Scully will be stepping down from the site very
soon, but he has left you all in my semi-competent hands ("semi-competent"
is a generous assessment, but please bear with me).
Anime has had such an impact on me, but it's difficult to
describe it. Still, I'll give it a
go. Anime is such a brilliant medium,
especially for those younger audiences.
If you find the right show, it can hit you in ways you can't entirely
understand. Growing up, I used to stay
up all night just to watch DBZ and Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz on
Toonami. Why? because of the action and
the energy? Well... duh. However, it
also appealed to that deeper part of me.
Scenes like Gohan and his transformation during his fight with Cell in DBZ really had those deeper emotional and philosophical
elements to it. Learning that sometimes
you have to just let go of what holds you down in order to move forward, even
if it's somewhere you don't want to go; these themes drove that scene home. Tom from Toonami had motivational videos
about how learning to accept and control your inner darkness could make you
stronger, but losing control made you weak.
These types of themes are what make anime so compelling for me. In a world that tells you to bend over
backwards to accommodate others, these themes helped reinforce that you should
accept who you really are and stand up for yourself.
OK, so maybe it's not so profound now; but I was 12 when I first saw this, and ya gotta start somewhere, right?
Scenes like this still get me every time.
I don't believe I'm understating this when I say that
Toonami, in many ways, showed me how to live.
In a society that embraces reality television shows about pregnant
teenagers and uneducated people from New Jersey, this meant a lot to me. I realized that good storytelling, with well
imagined characters and strong themes, could be a great benefit for
anyone. People say you can only get that
from books, but I disagree. Any story
can help us grow, and this is where these genres of entertainment fill an
important gap. A picture can be worth a
thousand words, and I don't mind reading a thousand words, but a picture sure
does save a lot of time, doesn't it?
"Believe in yourself, and create your own destiny. Don't fear failure."
I hope to continue to find an interest in these genres and help them grow, and
I hope that all of you that read this will continue to support our site. With the recent return of
Toonami, I hope we can all get behind it and support anime in general. Video games are standing fairly well on their
own, but let's all give them their well-earned love, too. I hope that an appreciation for deeper themes
within the narratives of these stories helps keep these elements of the genres
alive. Let's all work together to keep these stories, and all of their wisdom, alive so that they can continue to help us grow and learn, even it's only
learning how to be ourselves.
"Stay Gold."
-Zach Goodier
P.S.- Questions? Comments? Stuff you want to see on the
site? Just think I'm an awesome guy? Give
a shout out to the new personal email I'm setting up just for you guys: Z.Goodier01@gmail.com