Along with Helen McCarthy, Frederik L. Schodt was one of the first authors I read when I began researching anime and manga over a decade ago. The author of Dreamland Japan and Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, Schodt is also responsible for the first English translation of The Rose of Versailles (『ベルサイユのばら』）, the anime version of which is finally getting an official US release in Dec. 2012.

Today’s fun link is a two-part recent interview that my JetWIT colleague Justin Teldadi conducted with Schodt on the occasion of the publication of his new book Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe. I really enjoyed catching up with Schodt’s current work as well as taking a nice trip down memory lane.

A personal note and a question for our readers: Since his books and partial translation were my first exposure to RoV, Schodt essentially set in motion my professional and personal work in gender studies and pop culture. If you had to name one person’s work as the impetus for your own academic career in Japan studies, whose would it be?