That Dude in the Suede

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"Anime may still be classed in the 'niche' market these days, but it has such variety, such potential, that I'm sure it will make it into the mainstream one day."
That Dude in the Suede, 2008
"ANIME IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD!"[1]
That Dude in the Suede, 2011

William DuFresne is That Dude in the Suede, a laidback, sardonic Otaku in a leather jacket who hails from Christchurch, New Zealand and reviews anime and anime-related things for That Guy With The Glasses. He was one of the first people to join the site, as well as the site's first anime critic.

He left the site for a two-year hiatus in January 2009, in order to do missionary work in Auckland for his Mormon church. His return, which was supposed to occur in January 2011, was pushed back to May, and when he failed to return to the site even then rumors sprang up that he was doubting whether he would return at all--rumors he had no qualms about confirming. In reality, his delayed return was tied to delays in editing TGWTG's third year anniversary special which was meant to provide his He's Back moment. Said moment finally occurred on June 30th, at the end of Suburban Knights part five, shocking everyone who believed the rumors, and pulling off a successful long-term prank.

On July 8, Suede released a trailer announcing that yes, he will indeed return to making video reviews for TGWTG. It shows him wearing his iconic jacket, as well as sporting a Badass Beard, and flanked by the ever-popular pink drapes set to a cover of The Times They Are a-Changin' made by Tomoya Takaishi. He began officially releasing videos again on August 10th, 2011. As of now, the original costume is used only on AMV Heaven and the Video Logs (replaced by more formal attire), his pink drapes replaced by green ones (the result of him moving out of his old home), and "That Dude in the" has been all but eliminated from his name.

Pre-hiatus, he hosted two series--Animenia, where he reviews anime, its tropes and anime culture, and AMV Heaven, where he showcases anime Fan Vids in the style of Masterpiece Theatre. His return added a third, Suede Played, which he describes as being somewhere between a straight-up review and a Let's Play of his favourite (yet silly) games. He also revealed that an episode of Animenia, "Anime Weirdness: Hair", was supposed to be the first in an Anime Weirdness series that was shoved to the side by his more popular shows. Post-hiatus, it's been reinvented as Fandom Stranger.

You can see him on his official blog, Days Of Suede, That Guy With The Glasses, blip.tv, YouTube (he also worked in the videos in these channels, who have a site of theirs.), Twitter, Anime Music Videos, deviantART, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series forums and blogTV.

Suede's shows provide examples of:

Animenia

Suede: "Why Top 11? "Because I want to be as much like That Guy With The Glasses as possible, so that other people will watch me."

Suede: Crawling in my skin. These wounds, they will not heal.


AMV Heaven


Fandom Stranger

Formerly Anime Weirdness.


Suede Played


Other Works/Appearances

  1. OF COURSE!