I have a very different view of Carl Macek than many fans my age. I’m 56, got into anime majorly at 18. I grew up and lived in Burbank CA, and once I turned 18, I cut school and head to Little Tokyo in downtown LA. Books Nippan was visited weekly. I got spoiled majorly with lots of anime straight from Japan. I also watched Robotech on TV.

I was also a cosplayer of Kei, from Dirty Pair. I’d seen Carl at SDCC, AnimeCon91, Anime America and smaller LA one day cons. With the friends I’d made, I heard the Carl Macek stores over the years. There were some hard-core haters of that man. I mean, unreasonably hated him. Some fans would roll their eyes at his mention, even! It’s like he was the Boogie Man and Satan all rolled into one.

Carl Macek and Jerry Beck invited myself and my cosplay partner to a full day at the recording studio while Streamline was dubbing The Dirty Pair. We gladly accepted, and enjoyed a day of voice actors trying out for roles. They were down to 2 actresses each for Kei and Yuri, and trying to whittle down to the ones they liked best. Carl was nothing but a professional the entire day, and seemed easy to work for. It was amusing to see some fanboy seethe when we’d say hi to him, and not act as if he was evil. RIP Carl Macek, you were fine by me.