The Name Syndrome most often occurs in a "touching scene" in which two characters (often, but not always, of the opposite sex) gaze into each other's huge eyes, jittering with deep emotion, and say each other's name. This establishes an inextricable link between the two - of love, of friendship, of live-in domestic partner. This archetypal exchange, no matter how many times it's used as a melodramatic device, never fails to yank the heartstrings of an anime fan. And the Name Syndrome always occurs in exactly the same sequence:

1. Cut to the first character

2. Close up on face

3. "(Insert second character's name here)"

4. Cut to the second character

5. Close up on face

6. "(Insert first character's name here)"

Key examples of the Name Syndrome invade exchanges between Heero and Relena of "Gundam Wing." "Heero." "Relena." Every episode. This show has a heavy case of Name Syndrome. And let's not forget Utena and Anthy from "Revolutionary Girl Utena." "Anthy!" "Utena-sama!" And while we're at it, does anyone else attack their TV during "Flame of Recca?" "Hime!" "Recca-kun …" Recca-kun, Recca-kun … say that name just one more time, honey, and see what happens!

So here's the question: does this technique have a place in every-day conversation, and if so, what effect does it have on others?

In order to answer this question, I assembled a team of hand-picked Gamma Semi-Morons to test unwitting subjects. Team Gamma Semi-Moron consisted of myself, Katie (aka "Dr. Ikari"), Jai the Little Asian Girl, Evan the Abnormally Large, Josh the Incompetent Camera Man, and Adrienne of the Exceptionally Large Boobs.

Simply put, we ran around re-creating these "touching moments" of anime and then tried to coax the name syndrome out of our subjects, with some interesting results.

The Name Syndrome often takes different forms. We tested three specific cases.

Case #1: Ah, L'amour

For our first Kodak moment, I used an established couple, Adrienne and Jeevun. Adrienne was our Semi-Moron, and Jeevun the unwitting test bunny, minus floppy ears (however replete with fuzzy tail). We expected that since Jeevun is an avid "Gundam Wing" freak, he would respond instinctually to the prompting. Plus, who wouldn't want to say Adrienne's pretty, pretty name? Adrienne tried this twice.

Adrienne: Jeevun!

Jeevun: (strange look)

Adrienne: Jeevun!

Jeevun: What, Adrienne?

Yes, the experiment was a success. He responded with her name. Except, we don't think it really counts, since there was no tenderness, no quivering eyes, no touching anime moment.