Shinmaru

Finished [b]Princess Tutu[/b] a few days ago. The first half is OK; I mostly dug the fairy tale angle and the music and whatnot, but it's pretty basic. The second half is where the story starts taking on the [i]really[/i] dark aspects of the fairy tales from which it takes its inspiration, and the story also turns meta in a lot of interesting ways. It gets pretty emotional at the end, too; I liked it a lot. Now I'm watching [b]GaoGaiGar[/b], which is often hailed as [b]Gurren Lagann[/b] before [b]Gurren Lagann[/b]. So far that's a bit inaccurate ... not really because [b]GaoGaiGar[/b] is [i]bad[/i], but more because [b]Gurren Lagann[/b] is a loving tribute/parody to super robot series, while [b]GaoGaiGar[/b] [i]is[/i] a super robot series like those from way back when. It's fun, but also sometimes kind of repetitive and dull. I'm told the second half is where it really shines.

Wait, there was anime talk in here, and I wasn't part of it?? I'm slipping ... [quote name='Gavin' date='24 November 2010 - 12:51 PM' timestamp='1290631882' post='702137'] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Heh, I'm no great fan of the Federation either actually although Unicorn is slowly transforming me into a Neo Zeon fan.[/size][/font] [/quote] If anyone would make you a fan of Neo Zeon, it's [url="http://badenbadenlily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/splendid2.jpg"]Haman Karn[/url]. Watch [b]Zeta Gundam[/b]! It's a great series once you get past all the Tomino silliness (people randomly punching each other, silly Engrish, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGST, etc.).

40 minutes is still a solid length, I think, especially since you and Korey are able to fill the time so well. I think once podcasts start getting past an hour, that's when they're pushing it.

Hahaha, the Gavin part KILLED me. That was great. Then I felt guilty after being name-dropped. I'm sorry, OtakuBoards Podcast! ;-; I want to watch chibi's anime. Get on it so that I can review it for the podcast!

How dare you criticize me! I'm going to run away and never be happy again! Nah, I wasn't totally happy with it; recording stuff is pretty damn hard. I must have messed up with opening lines at least 20 times. It took me forever just to record that 3:00 bit, haha. I thought I sounded too wooden; part of that was inexperience, and part of that was frustration at starting over a million times lol. Ah well. It's tough when you're on your own.

LOL I enjoyed the futering discussion. That's the kind of etymological talk you can only get on the OtakuBoards Podcast! [quote name='chibi-master' date='19 November 2010 - 02:07 PM' timestamp='1290204444' post='701961'] SHINMARU. First of all, happy birthday and WHOA you have a deep, intimidating voice! [/quote] I'm going to scare everyone away from the podcast oh noooooooooo

[quote name='The Professor' date='18 November 2010 - 10:49 PM' timestamp='1290149396' post='701953'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM8V3cHdSC4[/media] [font="Comic Sans MS"]I feel dirty just knowing this exists.[/font] [/quote] GARY OLDMAN WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY

I'm finally bored enough to do this. Current Display Name: Shinmaru Username: Shinmaru Previous Usernames: Shh. Join Date: May 2003 Usual Name IRL: Michael Age: 24, going on 25 this week. Gender: Male Member Picture/Description: Same as my avatar. I don't look much like Mari in actuality, though. Desktop screenshot: Too lazy. Do you play any sports?: Tennis and basketball, once in a blue moon. What do you study?: Uh, anime? I kind of graduated from college already. Job: Copy editor/page designer for a local newspaper. I know, such job security. What languages do you speak/write?: English, and I could order Americanized Mexican food wherever I go! Location: Southern California Religion: None. Opinion on Religions: Don't really believe in a higher power, but I don't have a particular problem with religion itself. Much like most things, it's people who screw things up. Sexuality: Straight. Opinion on homosexuality: I don't even know why I need to have an opinion on it, really lol. People are gay, and they don't hurt me in any way by being gay. That's about it lol. Political opinion: We're fucked. Opinion on Political Opinions: They're fucked. Operating System: Vista. Opinion on Operating Systems: None. Do you text/call while driving?: No. Not just because it's illegal, but also because I would [i]definitely[/i] cause a 10-car wreck. Opinion on Texting/Calling while driving: Please don't do it if you're anywhere near me on the road. Opinion on Evolution Theory: Makes sense to me. Opinion on Tasing: Bzzt. Opinion on Health Care: It's nice. Opinion on Abortions: I'd probably try as much as possible to dissuade against it, but I am pro-choice. Opinion on Euthanasia: Good name for a band. What does your user name/display name mean?: It means I'm a total weeaboo who strings together bits of Japanese without a care about what they actually mean. What members would you like to meet?: Anyone who wouldn't leave me dead in a ditch. OB Family: I don't even know. The family tree is so complicated. Ninjas or Pirates?: Ninjas. Chicken or the Egg?: Chicken. It's more delicious. XL Basic or Wet Paint?: Wet Paint, of course. Only dirty Commies choose Basic. Why did the chicken cross the street?: What are chickens doing on the streets and not on my plate? How wrong was Kanye for disrupting Taylor's MTV Awards moment?: That was hilarious, so he wasn't wrong at all. Are you from 2001-ish?: I have never knowingly taken part in any space odysseys, so no. The Nerdiest Thing You've Ever Done: I was also one of those who camped out for a Wii ... and GameCube. Your celebrity crush: I'm never going to be with any of them, so I won't settle for one. Do you like cooking?: Sure, but I'm not good at it. Do you procastinate much?: Yes. In fact, I'm doing it right now! If you could go back in time five years, what's one thing would you tell yourself?: Stop waffling on joining the paper and do it already. Your worst crime ever: I shoplifted once. Still ducking the police and avoiding death row. What book are you currently reading?: I've had Haruki Murakami's [b]Sputnik Sweetheart[/b] on hold for a while. Best April fools Moment: I don't even remember. Valentine's Day ideas: I have no ideas. What did you get for Christmas?: Too many things to list here. Best birthday gifts you ever received: Life?[/cheesy] Favourite Sandwich: The ol' PB&J standby. Favourite Recipe: I dunno. Favourite Class In School: English Favourite Sock: Warm socks Least Favourite Sock: Cold socks Favourite Band/Musician: Sonic Youth Favourite Song: I could not possibly narrow this down. Your Theme Song: I've been particular to "Ai wo Torimodose" lately. Favourite love songs: I dunno. "Love Song"? Favourite Anime: [b]Revolutionary Girl Utena[/b] Favourite Manga: [b]Monster[/b] Favourite Film: [b]Dr. Strangelove[/b] Favourite TV Show: Right now, [b]Dexter[/b]. All-time, [b]Futurama[/b]. Favourite Actor/Actress: Actor, Paul Newman. Actress, Audrey Tautou. Favourite Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Favourite Video Game: [b]Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past[/b]. Favourite Board Game: Trivial Pursuit. Favourite Game Console: Nintendo DS. Favourite OB Thread: Ultimate OtakuBoards Profile Favourite OB RPG: I don't know. Favourite OB Member: All of you. I love you all. Favourite OB Staff Member: All of you. I love you all. Favourite OB Memory: All of them. I love them all. Favourite OB Version: That one version. Favourite All-time OB Forum: Anime Central Favourite OB Inside Joke: The chatrooms were one big inside joke. Favourite LolCat: None. Favourite Youtube video: Don't know about my favorite, but [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COYoiMHRZJg"][b]this is good for a laugh[/b].[/url] Shameless Plug: I write an [url="http://shinmaru.wordpress.com/"]anime blog[/url]. Other: I'm hungry.

lulz Glad you're enjoying it. I love Krauser, but my favorite character is their manager. She's the greatest.

I wouldn't recommend such a long series if I weren't totally sure about it! Apparently I haven't even approached the [i]really[/i] good stuff yet, either ...

Boo is such a talented impressionist. His Des voice is funny, but I also enjoyed his brief AnimeArchAngel impression, haha. Excellent work. An enjoyable first episode all around, particularly since Boo and Korey have solid chemistry right from the start. That's half the battle! EDIT: Oh yeah, and I'd totally be down for recording a bumper and maybe being a future podcast guest. Would be pretty fun. Where should I direct my shameless shilling after I record it?

Anime on par with [b]Monster[/b] and [b]Baccano![/b]? That's a tall order. Some recommendations from me, though ... (boy, do I love the shared anime feature on MAL!): -- [b]Akagi[/b] and [b]Kaiji[/b]: Both are about gambling and dark underworld settings ... [b]Akagi[/b] is a more straightforward tale of the title character's rise to the top of the underworld through his ruthless mastery of mahjong (sounds silly, but it's really intense). [b]Kaiji[/b] is about a man who desperately tries to pry himself out of debt through life-or-death gambling contests; it's [i]really[/i] dark, and my preferred series of the two because it has more depth, and the story has more clever twists and turns. Both are good, though. -- [b]Detroit Metal City[/b]: 12 episodes of 13 minutes each about a guy who just wants to sing fluffy pop tunes and is instead the leader of Japan's most notorious death metal band. Maybe the funniest anime ever made. -- [b]Kaleido Star[/b]: A young girl climbs to the top of the circus through hard work and guts. Unique in anime in that it emphasizes the hard work just as much as the guts. Plus, Kaleido Stage is a magical setting. -- [b]Kemono no Souja Erin[/b]: Just the type of under the radar anime I think you'd love. A girl with an affinity for animals grows up in a country that is splitting apart due to war. Written by the dude who wrote the [b]Moribito[/b] novels, so you know it's a smart series. -- [b]Legend of the Galactic Heroes[/b]: I'm only 20 episodes in, myself (out of 110), but if you didn't love this, I would be absolutely shocked. It's nothing less than the story of a galactic war between an empire and a group that wishes to secede ... but with neither side totally glorified or made utterly evil. There's an insane range of characters, stories and perspectives, and yet it's surprisingly easy to keep up with given the scope of the whole thing. Now on to what I've watched ... Finished [b]s-CRY-ed[/b] a while back. Pretty much what I expected it to be, which is not to say it wasn't enjoyable. Especially loved the ending because it's so gloriously dumb, awesome and ridiculous. Also watched [b]Welcome to the NHK[/b]. I respect it, but I don't know that I enjoyed it ... I guess I view it in the same way I do a movie like [b]Requiem for a Dream[/b]. It's well made and doesn't glorify its main character at all, and you can appreciate how far into darkness it treads, but I don't know that I'd ever watch it again. Now I'm watching [b]Princess Tutu[/b], but I've been stuck on ep5 for a while lol. Just too many other things distracting me at the moment.

[quote name='AvalonAngel' date='29 October 2010 - 02:19 PM' timestamp='1288387157' post='701383'] [font="Garamond"]Ahem....[/font] [center][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxkezvGwI20[/media][/center] [/quote] YOU WA SHOCK

Oh hey, I don't have to pull the edit/delete post/repost trick again. So I beat Clair on the first try (which shocked me, since I thought she would curb stomp me), but after that the game decided to take me down a page by having the Kimono Girls destroy me. It wasn't even all of them, actually; I never got to Flareon, because Umbreon and Espeon murdered me. After that, I did a crapton of level grinding and glided my way through them earlier today. (Ampharos' Signal Beam against Umbreon works wonders.) Huzzah! Now to Ho-Oh! But I won't actually capture it until after I get home from work tonight, since then I'll have access to the Dusk Balls. :D Current team: Lv. 42 Typhlosion Lv. 43 Ampharos Lv. 41 Alakazam Lv. 43 Golem Lv. 41 Gyarados Lv. 40 Gengar

lol bump Anyway, I barely got this, myself, and I'm in the Ilex Forest right now, after having burned Bugsy's bugs to death and kicked my rival's ass for the second time. Really enjoying the improved graphics and remixed music -- the music in particular sounds really cool. My team at the moment: Lv. 18 Quilava Lv. 15 Flaafy Lv. 14 Geodude Lv. 13 Gastly Lv. 12 Bellsprout Lv. 6 Togepi EDIT: Beat Whitney, yay! Tough battle, though. Her Miltank didn't use Rollout, but it [i]did[/i] Stomp the hell out of me the whole time. Thankfully my Geodude was tough enough to withstand that barrage. Current team: Lv. 20 Quilava Lv. 17 Machop Lv. 17 Flaafy Lv. 16 Geodude Lv. 16 Kadabra Lv. 15 Gastly EDIT: Annnnnnd now Heart Gold has sucked my life away to the point where I'm almost finished with the Johto portion of the game. Just have to kick Team Rocket out of Goldenrod, defeat Clair (which I don't think I ever did in the original game) and take on the Elite Four ... oh, and get Ho-Oh, of course. But that comes a bit later ... Anyway, my team at the moment: Lv. 37 Typhlosion Lv. 36 Kadabra Lv. 35 Ampharos Lv. 33 Gyarados Lv. 32 Graveler Lv. 27 Haunter

[url="http://kalfisquine.redmongoose.net/blog/?p=779"]For the curious, this blog offers a rough translation of the dialogue in the trailer.[/url]

It was only a matter of time before I made contributions of my own to this thread ... [url="http://tubedubber.com/#ueuauKKjPZI:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:0:0:true"]Dr. Strangelove[/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#oyFQVZ2h0V8:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:0:0:true"]Shinji gets congratulations[/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#82wM8s-_2RM:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:0:0:true"]A great soccer celebration deserves great music[/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#8VP5jEAP3K4:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:50:0:true"]The Psycho shower scene[/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#nrQ9evXIIe4:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:234:0:true"]The ending to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest[/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#n-dBJZ0RwDI:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:NaN:0:true"]A certain funeral in Fullmetal Alchemist[/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#XOILKHmZBwc:Ie_R1H9L4eI:100:100:NaN:0:true"]NO ... WIRE ... HANGERS!!!!!![/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#Oc0Hj3h0nNo:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:45:0:true"]The scene from Scanners that everyone remembers[/url] EDIT: I'm never going to stop at this rate: [url="http://tubedubber.com/#RXSMYQAfO8k:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:150:0:true"]"Long live the king."[/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#5KmUZ4nQ-6k:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:240:0:true"]Brooks is released from prison in The Shawshank Redemption[/url] [url="http://tubedubber.com/#fviQygSDYRU:Ie_R1H9L4eI:0:100:120:0:true"]The Nazis get what is coming to them[/url] EDIT2: Also, I should mention that [b]Cuckoo's Nest[/b] and [b]FMA[/b] were Kei's ideas.

Finished [b]Zeta Gundam[/b] a couple of weeks back and enjoyed it much more the second time around . . . you know, since I actually had knowledge of the UC [b]Gundam[/b] time line on this watch. Watching in Japanese with good subtitles helped a lot, too, since the English dub is so awful (and yet I watched that because the subs I had before were somehow [i]more[/i] awful). I'd say [b]Zeta[/b] is the best of the [b]Gundam[/b] series, but it's also the most depressing, haha. That ending, man . . . Also recently went through [b]Moribito[/b] and loved it. Pretty refreshing to see an entire cast comprised of thoughtful characters who actually think through their actions. Ultimately, there isn't even a real villain in the series, although the mikado comes kind of close . . . even then, though, you can kind of see why he acts the way he does if you look at events from his point of view (but he does act fairly douchey). The action parts of the series are pretty awesome -- so many good spear fights! -- and the slice-of-life parts are likewise good, with the exception of maybe one or two episodes. Can't recommend the series enough. Right now I'm going through [b]s-CRY-ed[/b]. Through four episodes, it's basically what I expected it to be -- lots of crazy powers, hot bloodedness, and so on. What is interesting is that there's no clear-cut villain or hero right now. Kazuma is supposed to be sympathetic, of course, but he doesn't act entirely good, and I can actually sympathize with the agents in HOLY who are trying to keep these people with crazy powers from wreaking havoc in the city. (Undoubtedly, though, there are going to be corrupt people in the hierarchy eventually.) And might as well do quick bits on the fall series since I'm too lazy to start a thread: -- [b]Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge[/b]: Best first episode I've seen so far. [b]Arakawa[/b] is as funny as ever. -- [b]Bakuman[/b]: Solid first episode of a show that will probably get a lot better once Takagi and Mashiro start working on their manga. -- [b]Iron Man[/b]: Not bad, although the character designs are uuuuuuuuuuuuugly. Also lol'd at how much Tony Stark loves Japan. -- [b]OreImo[/b]: OK first episode; some decent laughs, and the brother-sister relationship isn't anywhere near as repulsive as it could have been. (But there are still ass shots of the little sister character. Sigh.) -- [b]Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt[/b]: Not entirely sure why so many people are going gaga for this. The look is unique for anime, but meh. First part of the episode is pretty awful, just a bunch of dumb toilet humor, although the transformation sequence is amusing. Second part of the episode is better, though still not hilarious or anything. -- [b]Psychic Detective Yakumo[/b]: Haha, even if I didn't know Bee Train was behind this, that would have been my first guess. First mystery is whatever, but the end does hold promise of a solid overall story. -- [b]Star Driver[/b]: Absolutely ridiculous, and I'll take mecha wherever I can get it, so you know I'm enjoying this.