Sunday Spotlight [4/10]

Yet another Sunday, yet another Sunday Spotlight. In wake of the recent announcements at the Tokyo Animation Fair about Cartoon Network and Production IG's joint-production, the timing couldn't be more ripe for an interview with Toonami producer, the one and only Sean Akins. This week's feature also includes an interview with Koge Donbo, creator of immensely cute titles like Di Gi Charat, A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, and Pita Ten. Of course, there's plenty of other stars deserving of a bright spotlight. One of these is Kumi Koda, the voice behind the original Japanese versions of "Real Emotion" and "1000 no Kotoba" (1000 Words). Also on the stage is Ben Dunn, creator of the manga-styled comic Ninja High School, published by Antarctic Press.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we only have four interviews this week, but we're pretty sure you'll like them. Heck, we like them, and we're pretty hard to please.

Sean Akins Who he is: Toonami producer, scriptwriter, licensing guru What he's done: English script: IGPX (2003) Producer: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki (Toonami Version), Tenchi Muyo! The Night Before The Carnival (Toonami Version) Producer: American television's most watched anime block Quotable: "We're sort of a crazy network, and I hope we stay crazy. And as far as that direction goes, I'm two thumbs up for crazy, and I think Cartoon Network should hold onto those crazy roots forever."

Koge Donbo Who she is: Creator What she's done: Story: Di Gi Charat (manga), Kamichama Karin (manga), Pita-Ten Original Creator: Di Gi Charat, Di Gi Charat Nyo, Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat, Sugar: A Little Snow Fairy, Pita-Ten Quotable: "When I would get work from a publisher, older publishers would say things like 'I'm tired nyo.' I think all the Broccoli staff does."

Kumi Koda Who she is: Japanese pop singer What she's done: Theme songs: Final Fantasy X-2, Cutie Honey movie, Re: Cutie Honey Quotable: "Once, right when I was about to go on stage, I didn't see the step and I fell! There was no time to do anything, so I had to perform with my knee bleeding."

Ben Dunn Who he is: Comics creator, and one of the authors of the popular How to Draw Manga books What he's done: Creator: Ninja High School, Quagmire USA, Heaven Sent Quotable: "I worked for other people, and I decided that comics was the best way for me to try to make a living without taking orders from other. So I thought, 'Maybe I have a talent people will spend money on.'"