FAQ
So yes, we’ve been approached with a lot of questions lately about the show and it’s about time I sat down and actually got to answering some of these. So here goes.
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Who Are You?
We’re a podcast that covers Japanese Pop Culture (anime, tokusatsu, music, cinema, the works) with healthy doses of convention coverage, news, reviews, occasional guest appearances, music from kickarse indie bands online and much much more.
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Who Do You Serve and Who Do You Trust?
…Damnit I miss Crusade. *flips off TNT*
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Who is that annoying voice I hear in between segments?
…Depending on which series you listen to, that would be my co-host.
From Series 1-3, my co-host was Ai. Following her demise in episode 36 and starting with episode 39, that “Annoying voice” is my new co-host, Sylene. Don’t let her hear you say that, she can turn into a car. Literally.
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What was that song used for the theme in (Insert Episode Here)?!
*sigh* Here we go…
OP THEME 1: Red Mars - Osnoff
OP THEME 2: Prologue - Macross: DYRL OST (Eps 9~11)
OP THEME 3: Loser A Go Go - Benny Bruce (Eps 14~16)
OP THEME 3: Why (Alternative Pop Remix) - Steven Stewart (Eps 22~??)
OP THEME 4: War Zone (Ep 28~29)
OP THEME 5.1: Possession - JYONGRI (Eps 32, 34~35)
OP THEME 5.2: I’m Here - Yuna Ito (Ep 36~3 
OP THEME 6.1: SAVE ME - Aya Ueto (Eps 39~41)
OP THEME 6.2: PariPepo - GReeeN (Ep 42)
OP THEME 6.3: NO END SUMMER - AAA (Ep 43)
OP THEME 7: FREE FREE - Ami Suzuki (Eps 44~47)
OP THEME 8: Potential Break Up Song (Eps 49~Current)
ED THEME 1: Red Mars - Osnoff (Eps 1-14)
ED THEME 2.1: Dear Friend - Daiki and Little Wings (Eps 15~16, 1
ED THEME 2.2: Fight For Love - Steven Stewart (Eps 19~20)
ED THEME 3: Ageha - Daiki and Little Wings (Eps 22~??)
ED THEME 4: A Stellar Dream - President Gas (Ep 28~29)
ED THEME 5.1: Champagne Gold - AAA (Eps 32, 34)
ED THEME 5.2: Musushikippu - HeaRT (Ep 35)
ED THEME 5.3: dolphin (Ep 36)
ED THEME 6.1: Paris - Epik High (Eps 39~40)
ED THEME 6.2: Famous Last Words - My Chemical Romance
ED THEME 6.3: Mata Kimi Ni Aeru - Ketsumeishi (Ep 42)
ED THEME 6.4: SUNSHINE - AAA (Ep 43)
ED THEME 7: Catch Me - JYONGRI (Eps 44~47)
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Why do you say that you’re all for indie music but you play mainstream tracks for opening themes?
Because in either case, I’m all for promotion.
The big thing is that if you play anything that counts under the RIAA, you get in trouble. In this case, I’m playing tracks from other countries so while that does make for a sweet loophole, I’m also letting you guys/gals hear a bit of some awesome groups/artists that you may have never heard of until now.
I think of it as those times when a friend lets you hear what he’s listening to on his walkman/iPod and you like what you hear so much that you want to track down that group’s albums. Only in this case, I do urge you guys to actually buy the CDs and support the artists, whether they be indie or mainstream.
Most of the artists can be found on the R5 Myspace page’s friends list. Go through and check them out.
And if you’re a lawyer or something, don’t go suing us or anything. We’re trying to help you guys out ^_^
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WTF?! YOU SAY YOU’RE A TOKUSATSU PODCAST BUT ONLY TALK ABOUT IT AFTER 15 MINUTES?!
Well y’see, the thing there is that R5 started out headlining tokusatsu, being the first podcast to do so (Insert Bragging Rights Here). After I got more comfortable and learned more tricks, I figured I could cover more stuff like our evolving Asian Film section in the Newsbreak for instance.
The goal here is to inform and entertain here…and not sound like a lone geek in the basement rattling off about my favorite shows like alot of other podcasts out there *coughcough*. There are some good Tokusatsu based podcasts out there though. I recommend Rangercast, No Pink Spandex and the Rammycast.
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WHERE ARE ALL THE EPISODES FROM SERIES 1!?
Y’see, I was going to do a Bittorrent archive back when we were on Blogger. However, I never learned how to work with trackers and all that fun stuff so I never put them back. I tried but then the feed went crazy and I learned quickly that uploading old episodes would screw up the episode order so I quickly put a stop to it.
EDIT: Older episodes are now on the WordPress site, just hit the tabs for each different series of R5 and there ye go.
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Why did you move to WordPress?
The Short Version: Because Blogger became Google’s bitch.
The Long version: Google bought out Blogger.com. That was the start of my problems. I was forced to upgrade to the new system that ruined all the coding for my blogs, making them look like a bad middle school HTML project. The new editor had all the functionality of a bootleg Transformer toy and it started to screw with the show’s feed, burping out random episodes that had already been uploaded and ruining the order for keeps.
After much debating, I finally decided to give Blogger the finger and leave for this place. So far, it hasn’t let me down and it’s ten times more secure than the alternative. No they aren’t paying me, that’s how I really feel.
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Hey! Last/This week’s episode was late!
Every time an episode is late, it is mainly to due with unknown parties hijacking the computer with Sentient Viruses created by Tim Curry. Back in the day, Ai and myself had to go in personally (Our avatars varied, I once had to use a custom Ideon avatar for all three installments of the 2006 Dramatic ACen Trilogy) to clear out the viruses and keep the connection open for the duration of the transfer.
Basically, picture the final battle of the second Digimon Adventure movie happening every other week.
…Whaaat? Oh fine. There’s a little thing called life folks. You should try it sometime, it gets you out of the house 
Only problem is that life tends to get in the way so episode frequency sometimes gets thrown out of whack. Believe me, I want to boost that up too but sometimes it just doesn’t work that way. Just keep subscribed to the feed and one way or another, you’ll get some content.
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What the fsck is the deal with those “Fantasy sequences”?! The writing is so cliche!!
(Slips out of character)
Those “Fantasy sequences” are just something we do here on R5. I’m a bit of an amateur voice actor, having done all sorts of projects online (nowadays I find myself under the employ of Darker Projects Productions, check them out). I also do a bit of production on the side because I love doing audio drama. What started as a “Story arc” back in series 1 has manifested into the bits we do on the show today.
Alot of the complaints are just from people who either can’t get past the mixing (there are some problems…), are expecting too much, or just people who really don’t have much imagination in my opinion. Audio drama is a bit of a fickle medium and if you don’t have the patience for it then it’s really not going to work for you I guess.
I do however, invite you to flip through older episodes and listen for yourself, you just may get a kick out of it.
As for the writing, the cliche nature is on purpose. If you came to the show expecting End of Eva on Ice, you’re in the wrong place.
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OMG! I’VE GOT SOME IDEAS FOR YOUR SHOW!!!
Um…that’s nice. I’m not going to use them.
NO REALLY!! I’VE GOT SOME REALLY GOOD IDEAS! I’LL SEND THEM OVER!!
Okay, I won’t read them though.
BUT WHY-
Listen. It’s nice that you want to help contribute but I’ve got enough story arc plot developments on the backburner to lay waste to a small country. I’m grateful that you like the show enough that you’d want to help but seriously, I’m not going to read your ideas or use them.
B-BUT YOU USED THE IDEA THAT I SENT IN YOUR SHOW! YOU OWE ME!
If it does ever seem like that, it’s a coincidence. Sure that sounds like a lame excuse but if I’m not reading your stuff then you can’t really use that against me now can you? Kthxbye.
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When are the pics from [Insert Convention You Attended Here] coming online?!
With our alliance with Flickr, there still are a few drawbacks. We’re only allowed a certain upload quota a month. Once it’s used up, we have to wait for the next month to upload. And before you say anything, we know there are alternatives but we still find Flickr to be the most versatile. Plus they have that neat flash badge ^_^
Long story short, sit tight after a con. Your pic may or not make it on the site but either way these things take time, especially in our case.
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On that note, what is your gripe with Fangirls?
Listen to episode two of the 2006 Dramatic ACen Trilogy. Our motives will become clear.
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You write for Otaku USA?!?!? HOLY SHIT! CAN YOU GET ME A JOB/PLUG MY WORK!?
Yes to the first, no to the second.
I maintain a column in the Tokyoscope section of Otaku USA Magazine and I’m lucky to have even gotten the gig. However, Glory Hijackers will NOT be tolerated.
Thus, do NOT contact me about “plugging your stuff” to the editor. I’ll give advice but do not expect me to plug your latest fic or band or anything along those lines to me either on HJU, the blogs, or in my email. Extra point deduction if you try to find my AIM screen names or pester me on Google Mail about it. Anything of the sort WILL be ignored and deleted.
In addition, if you wish to try and send a mail to the editors of OUSA, do NOT drop my name in like it’s the End All Reference to get you hired. Simple as that.
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OMG! I COULD SHIT OUT A BETTER PODCAST!
Really?! Do tell me how this is possible as this could save me a bunch of time and effort!
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Hey! You’ve got your AIM address on a forum! Let’s talk!
Um..not to be an ass but no thanks. I’m rather busy half the time so if you want to ask questions about the show, post on the R5 thread on HJU.
Got any questions for us that you’d like answered? Drop us a line at r5central[AT]gmail.com. Replace the [AT] with the proper symbol.
Take care all.
