Steve Regina knows his stuff when it comes to animation.

He owns a comic book/Japanese animation store, Joy's Japanamation on South Main Street, in Greensburg, which will mark its ninth anniversary in October.

Besides, the Greensburg man has been in love with comic books and the products they spawn since he was in third grade.

	V.W.H. Campbell, Post-Gazette Steve Regina, owner of Joy's Japanimation store in Greensburg. Click photo for larger image.

So when he says the subset of comic book fans who are big on Japanese animation is loyal, believe him.

"There's a huge teen and college-age following," Mr. Regina, 27, said.

From a mere trickle of films, at best, in the 1970s to the full-blown Pokemon fad of a few years ago, Japanese animation, or anime, as it is known, has become popular with a segment of the population age 10 through high school and college, who mostly learned about it from peers.

Older fans might have started with the "Robo Tech" science-fiction cartoon series in the 1980s, while younger ones became fans with the "Sailor Moon" series, featuring magical school girls, who were introduced in the 1990s.

As many girls as boys like anime, Mr. Regina said.

And if you're over 30, you probably are pretty much clueless as to why they do.

"Parents come in here and say, 'I don't get it but [my child] loves it,' " Mr. Regina said.

For him, it's not such a mystery.

Japanese animators are sort of the rock stars of filmmaking in their country, and their film studios are willing to spend far more money on an animated feature than any U.S. studio would, he said.

"Animation isn't looked at as a kids' art form," he said. The story lines are complex and sophisticated, he said.

There are lots of fantastic tales with witches and wizards and animals with superhuman qualities. People and objects morph into different characters with girls and boys exhibiting a wide range of characteristics, both brave and flawed.

If "The Matrix" movie had been made in Japan, it would have been animated, Mr. Regina said.

This isn't your father's Woody Woodpecker cartoon mindset.

Probably the best known creator of anime is Hayao Miyazaki, 65, whose film, "Spirited Away," won this country's Best Animated Feature Academy Award in 2002.

"He's sort of the Walt Disney of Japan," Mr. Regina said.

Some of the best full-length animated features were done by this creator, he said. Mr. Miyazaki's films are prime examples of the cultural differences apparent in animated products from Japan.

In "Spirited Away," a young girl whose parents are turned into pigs must learn life's lessons through humbling experiences.

Anime fans can whet their appetites at small movie houses in the Pittsburgh area such as The Oaks in Oakmont and Pittsburgh Filmmakers, which have shown full-length Japanese animated features, and The Cartoon Network broadcasts the occasional short. But for many, anime rental is the way to go, at least in Greensburg.

Mr. Regina said his shop has 3,000 titles for rent and racks upon racks of DVDs in the genre for sale.

Alvin Kunselman, owner for the past 24 years of Infinity Music and More in Murrysville, said Mr. Regina's shop is the place to go for Japanese animation in the area.

But he's not a fan himself.

Mr. Kunselman's shop is stocked with other comics, products, games and music, but his anime selection is limited because his customer base for that product is small. Besides, he thinks most of it is overrated and repetitious, pointing to the squat-looking characters with big eyes and exaggerated limbs featured in many cartoons by different creators.

"They all go to the same art school," he said.

Mr. Regina, though, remains convinced the animated fantasy stories created in Japan are an art form worthy of the dedicated fan base.

After all, Joy's Japanamation was opened by the previous owners just because there was nothing like it in the Pittsburgh area, Mr. Regina said.

"We have extremely loyal customers," he said.