Yuko: I knew since I was a kid and my dad was crossing his fingers through my entire childhood that I'd change my mind. I made comics all through high school but assumed it could never be made into a career. I majored in animation in college and figured I would get a storyboarding job or something to support myself so I could do comics in my free time. But then half way through my senior year I was hired to illustrate a comic and it snowballed from there. After college, I've managed to almost exclusively do comics, illustration, and design work.

Ananth: Hey Scott! I worked a full-time job as a designer for two years, and when I left I had an idea it might be the end of my traditional career path. I had been working on comics since sophomore year of college and that had continued through graduation and my dayjob. During my two years as a staff designer, I was basically working two jobs at once-- designer during the day, comics at night. I saved as much money as I could during this two-year period, I think partly because I knew I was going to try something dumb, and partly because I was working so much that I barely had time to go out and spend money anyway. In any case, the cushion helped me land on my feet. If you have a nontraditional dream you want to follow, planning for it financially goes a long way. It's a boring, practical and unsexy answer, but it's the realest advice I can give. 

I should mention, my idea of making it as an artist is getting to a point where we can just be making art, expanding to work with others, and handling less and less aspects of running a business. With that in mind, I'll be honest: I don't know if we've made it! I feel like we're getting close. We really want to make more work for you guys, you're the best, and your support keeps us striving to do more.

Hi Yuko and Ananth!

Hi Strea! Anime! Hmm. Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon-- Yuko's a big fan of Tokyo Godfathers... I really like all the surreal imagery in Paprika. We loved Wolf Children. Dennou Coil was great until the last few episodes. A recent favorite was My Eccentric Family. We also fell into the deep end with HunterxHunter earlier this year. I have to admit, it's hard for me to cite favorites! Our tastes have changed so much in the past few years. We've most recently been enjoying My Love Story, it's cute.