The meme is as follows:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I shall respond by asking you a couple of personal questions so I can get to know you better. If I already know you well, expect the questions to be a little more intimate! Perhaps MUCH more intimate!

Nah, just kidding.

3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.


chiave_trust asked me these questions:




Please note: these answers were written with the original asker in mind, so references to "you" and other such things are intended as such.


1. Why Lain?

Ah, you've asked one of the fundamental questions of Nick-kun. Good job.

Basically, my first exposure to anime was Princess Mononoke, which I got to see in its theatrical release. But after that, I wasn't really aware there was anything else like it, or that anime as a concept / art form even existed. It wasn't until a few years later that I started hearing the term being tossed around, and totally by chance, I went to a special presentation (the Marc Davis Lecture on Animation, if you don't know who Marc Davis is, look him up) that featured a sort of retrospective of anime films. That was when I got really into it. But, I still didn't realize that there was such a thing as TV anime (man was I silly back then, huh?), so I basically just focused on films. I did in fact actually rent a television series, the first tape of an illegal fansub copy of The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, for an anime party I was hosting, but things got so chaotic that the tape was only put on for several minutes, and was returned before I had a chance to watch it. So, time passed, and the key knowledge of TV anime continued to elude me. Eventually, I moved to a new house, discovered Megatokyo, and got into it primarily because of the gaming jokes.

Then, one of my (now ex) friends, a girl by the name of Katherine, suggested I check out this "really trippy" anime she had seen. When I asked how long it was (thinking it was a film), she told me it was a TV series. So, with only the knowledge of the title and that it was a show, I went to the video rental store, and ended up bringing home DVD 2 of Serial Experiments Lain, because they didn't have Volume 1. I watched it that night, at 1 a.m.

That's when it happened. My life changed. And I knew this was what I wanted to do.

Back at that point in time, DVD box sets were still a bit of a new innovation, but Lain had the absolute coolest blue plastic box of all time. Looking back on it now, it wasn't actually all that spectacular, but I spent six months tracking it down on eBay (it was out of print by then) and finally got it delivered to Los Angeles. I then spent another six months watching the show, episode by episode, savoring each one, recovering from the emotional after-effects. When I had only one episode left, I waited two whole months to watch it. Then, finally, I sat down late at night, turned it on, watched it, and sobbed. If you see the show, you'll understand.

Without spoiling the ending, suffice to say that I created my Forum username, LainEverliving, as a response to the series. If you have ungodly memory capacity, you may also recall my signature, LainEverliving LainEverloving. At the time I joined the Forums, I saw no better username than that, especially when the prompt told me that I had better chose my name wisely, as I would be "stuck with it forever." So, that's how it all came to be. In a related side note, from early descriptions of the Minstrel even going all the way up until the tC collapse, he was described as having a Lain Braid with the x-shaped hair clip, and in some of my attempts at drawing him for a manga version, he has this hairstyle. He also introduces himself before the Rave Fight as LainEverliving, called The Minstrel of Megatokyo by some.

Lastly, probably my happiest Anime Expo moment was in 2003, when I met yoshitoshi ABe and his producer yasuyuki ueda and got to talk to them in person. To this day, I prize the Lain cels they signed (and wrote humorous messages on). They were also the first people in the anime industry who I talked to about someday working in the business.

2. Is chivalry dead?

Not so long as I'm alive!

Yeah, I know that's a cheap answer, so I'll give an honest response. Really, I don't think it's completely dead, but it's for the most part an unpracticed art. In my own life, I try to hold doors open for both sexes, and I'm usually thanked for my efforts. Also, I've noticed guys from time to time trying tentatively to be courteous, but their attempts are usually scoffed at by the nearby femmes. But, I don't really think that anyone practices my form of chivalry all that much anymore.

By this, I mean the whole chivalrous mindset, the attitude towards the fairer sex, the overall attempts at pleasantness, and the desire to stand up for those you love. Needless to say, you basically know this already, so I won't elaborate beyond this. But in general, I think I was born a few hundred years too late to have these kinds of attitudes. I sometimes think women today are so preoccupied with being 'liberated' that they forget to accept kindness and gratitude from the opposite sex. For me, simply having a woman nearby changes the way I might act, to reflect a more polite and gracious side of myself in order to pay honor to her presence. Women have the power to brighten the mood of whatever place they find themselves in, and the feminine virtues are, in my opinion, the very height of humanity's many accomplishments, so it seems completely natural for me to be on best behavior when a member of the female sex is near. That a woman should want me to act in a less respectful manner that is unbefitting and dishonorable to her presence is a hard notion for me to grasp.

I also think I am too late in my opinions in that I feel the need to protect someone. For me, this someone is a specific Lady, who out of courtesy (and because everyone knows who she is already) I shall refrain from naming. While I think all guys have the sort of raw urge to protect, I feel it very strongly in regards not just to physical dangers, but also to the emotional realm. Maybe this ends up being perceived as love, and maybe to some degree it is, but I more feel it is a debt of honor which I owe to my Lady, and that in serving her, I shall do my best to do her bidding. This is done as a knight would protect his queen, without expectation of reward or equality. It is just done, because it is the right thing to do.

I suppose that, given this interpretation of chivalry, probably I am one of the last who strives to be romantic gentlemen. But, it doesn't make me too sad, since at the very least, I think that so long as I live by an honorable and respectful code, that others will act with honor and respect towards me.

3. What do you consider the worst aspect of your own writing?

That's a rather difficult question to answer, mostly because it's rather hard to identify individual flaws within your own work. Usually, you either universally and unconditionally like it, or universally and unconditionally despise it. I suppose that if I had to pick just one thing that I was displeased with, it would be the naiveté that pervades much of my work. A lot of my writing is supposed to have the tone of the world-weary, but instinctively, I still write everything as though I am seeing it for the first time. Sometimes, I write about things I have never seen or experienced at all, but which are fundamental to the human experience. I often worry then that what I've written rings false to the truly world-weary, and that I'll be discovered as the naive idealist I really am. But, I suppose some people might consider naiveté a strength.

I shall think on this question more, and perhaps in time, I will come up with a less vague answer.

4. Imagine you woke up next morning and were suddenly a girl. (Same height, roughly the same weight/build, same eyes, etc.) How would things change for you, if anything at all?

So now I'm getting the Kashimashi treatment, huh? Oh well, I guess it's not like I haven't asked for it.

How would things change for me? I suppose on the surface they wouldn't change all that much. People mistake me for a girl already from time to time, so now when they called me Miss I wouldn't have to correct them. It's more in the underlying things that I would have to adjust significantly. I think I might have a strong urge to feel myself up (hey, it's not like I've had the chance to feel up anyone else, right?). Definitely, I would spend much more time on my appearance, because as a guy I'm somewhat naturally effeminate, but as a girl I would probably need to put in more effort. I would worry that I might not get the same chances in life as I would if I were still a man; for example, getting a job in the anime business might prove to be more difficult, and working in the film business in general would be a lot tougher. And my views on chivalry might change, too.

In terms of sexual matters, being a girl wouldn't change my preference. Other than a certain select few, guys hold no interest for me in terms of physical beauty, and I have a hard time seeing myself sleeping with one, especially with the knowledge that I was myself once a guy. So, I suppose I would become a lesbian. In terms of remorse for losing the male elements of myself, I hate to admit that I've never found them particularly attractive, nor have I been proud of them, so I would say that I would likely get the better end of the trade. Dealing with periods would be my biggest challenge.

If I was a girl in a relationship with another girl, I would definitely be the more submissive one. While I did say earlier that all guys have the strong urge to protect, I sort of feel as though this urge is imposed on me by my gender, and that I have to live up to it in a way. If I were no longer male, this wouldn't be an issue, and I think I could easily live with that. Even now, there are elements of my personality which are opposed in nature, as I sometimes want to protect and sometimes want to be dominated. Were I female, I suspect that the desire to be weak might win out.

Finally, in terms of clothes, I think I would favor the gothic lolita look as a secret passion. Even as a male I'm fascinated with the frilly dresses and have fought the urge to try one on, so this would be a natural choice for me. When I wasn't living the lolita lifestyle, though, I think I would go for kind of a quiet, bookish look. I also would definitely want a pair of stylish librarian glasses, the kind that supposedly plain-Jane girls hide behind until the glasses come off and the hair comes down and suddenly they're ravishing beauties. And of course, I would have to have a revolutionary flip-up brassiere that works on the principle of the cantilevered bridge. My ideal look would be Nodoka Miyazaki of Negima! mixed with Momoko of Kamikaze Girls.

5. Obligatory film question: Out of the Hitchcock movies that James Stewart has played a role in, in which role do you think James Stewart was most remarkable?

Hmmm. I suppose I would have to pick Vertigo, in that I have not seen the entirety of any of the other four films they collaborated on. Besides, it is hard indeed for me to imagine a better performance than the one Stewart gave as Scottie. I've long been looking forward to watching Rear Window, however. Perhaps we can watch it together sometime...?

Verigo, however, is tied with North by Northwest as my favorite Hitchcock movie.