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Kuroneko Sama (Lord Black Cat)
I haven't watched anime in a very, very long time. I think the first anime I ever watched was a long-running series known as Rurouni Kenshin (Wandering Samurai). Unfortunately I didn't have cable as a child, so no English-dubbed Sailor Moon for me. I think English-dubbing on anything is horrendous, so it was probably a good thing.

But back in high school I saw 3 stand-out anime TV series. The Japanese really know how to make things cooler, so excuse me while my inner anime-lover shows itself.

The first two were both directed by Shinichirō Watanabe: Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. The latter got me into the late great Japanese hip-hop producer Nujabes, who worked on the soundtrack, but that's a whole other story (RIP Nujabes). The third series is Trigun, which features a black cat (seen at left) that makes the most random appearances throughout the show. Lord Black Cat is probably the only reason I watched that one. 


(More on the shoes after the jump.)

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'Samurai Champloo' has the best soundtrack
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'Cowboy Bebop' characters