Shinmaru

[quote name='Allamorph'][kuja]it could be so much worse lol[/kuja][/QUOTE] hawt imo

But is a win a win if one does not know about it? Also, is there anything the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit do not know?

[quote name='Korey'][FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][SIZE="1"][COLOR="Navy"]WHO WINS THIS GAME? JESUS[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE] Could God create a Game that He could not lose? Discuss. (I lost The Game.)

[b]Toradora![/b] and [b]Clannad[/b] are my favorite high school series of the past few years -- [b]Clannad[/b] even stretches on into the characters' adult years, if that interests you. Both are funny series with a great cast of characters and solid drama. But if you watch [b]Clannad[/b], I guess you should know it numbers nearly 50 episodes since it has two seasons. Also, a random thought: Has OB ever had a dedicated anime suggestions thread? I kind of think there [i]has[/i] been one, but I can't remember off the top of my head. But it might be helpful to keep the suggestions in one place, if the mods were so inclined.

After watching [b]Rose of Versailles[/b], I'd have to say that is my favorite old school anime. Absolutely brilliant in every way, and with its complexity in both story and visual style, it could easily be released today, and people would go gaga over it. I know I have.

I've had a soft spot for the Nirvash ever since I watched [b]Eureka Seven[/b]. You can't tell me you wouldn't hop into an air surfing mecha if you had the chance.

[b]Shion no Ou[/b] finished off better than I thought it would. The murderer is not who I originally thought it would be, but it is not exactly a surprise, either; however, the endgame is executed so well and in such a dramatic way, that it did not matter much to me. The final battle between Shion and the murderer is just excellent all around. When the show finished, I wondered how long it would be until I found another series that exciting ... ... and then I started watching [b]Kaiji[/b]. Damn it, I knew I should have watched this when it originally aired! I've got three episodes remaining, and the show has been a consistently fantastic brew of great twists, Kaiji being the best gambler ever and a ****load of intensity. Watching this show each week must have been an insane experience, because it stretches the tension as far as it can possibly go without snapping. What's most amazing is that each arc centers around a simple game -- the first, Rock-Paper-Scissors; the second, walking on a high beam; the third, a game called E-Card; and the fourth, a lottery -- and yet it is not at all ridiculous that they are being taken so seriously. The stakes are so high that the games cannot be viewed as anything but the most serious of business, which is part of the point. Unsurprisingly, as a result of this, [b]Kaiji[/b] casts a rather harsh light on what really drives people, haha. What is most interesting to me about the show is the fine line Kaiji walks between enduring and keeping his humanity, and sinking as low as the people who have forced him into these dangerous gambles. Kaiji does some great things throughout the series, but he also does some crazy *** ****.

I finished [b]Rose of Versailles[/b] and fell completely in love with it -- the series is now sitting comfortably in my all-time top 10. There's so much to love about it: The characters, the style (my god the style

Just a reminder that [b]Monster[/b] is starting its run on SyFy's Ani-Monday block tonight at 11 p.m. EDT. If there ever was a series I would encourage [i]everyone[/i] to watch, this is it, especially the types of viewers who prefer a more "realistic" storyline and setting. (Not that [b]Monster[/b]'s story isn't batcrap insane. It is just logically built and doesn't rely on the supernatural, or anything like that.)

I've watched some first episodes, so I figured I may as well reply to my own thread for once. [b]11eyes[/b]: OK, could have some interesting mystery behind it but also comes off as a bit generic. I was [i]way[/i] more interested/entertained by the horror/mystery bits than the slice-of-life bits. [b]Kampfer[/b]: Totally dumb, trashy show, but it has its own charm somehow. The kind of show I should probably be ashamed to admit to watching, and yet I will continue watching it anyway. [b]Kimi ni Todoke[/b]: Good first episode that is also absolutely gorgeous. The scene where Sawako and Kazehaya first meet under the bloom of the cherry blossoms ... it may be a cliche, but it's a [i]beautiful[/i] cliche. I'm interested in how things will develop from here, because it is clear from the start that Sawako and Kazehaya are completely smitten with each other, and some of Sawako's issues with loneliness are addressed in the opening episode. Tons of people love the manga, though, so I'll trust that it goes good places. [b]Kobato.[/b]: I was all set to hate this in the beginning, just because it is [i]so[/i] over the top with how cute Kobato is, but by the end I completely fell for its charm. Damn it. Not much happens in this episode -- it is mainly a series of common sense tests so that Kobato can be qualified for a tool that will allow her to heal broken hearts -- but it is pretty entertaining. Only thing I ask is that Kobato never sing again, or at least avoid the high notes. [b]Letter Bee[/b]: Definitely surprised me by being pretty good -- or at least showing the potential to go places. Absolutely love the look of this series, too. All the dark blues and purples are rather beautiful in a melancholy sort of way. From what I have read, this first episode is actually a prologue of sorts, so I am interested to see what the story is really about. [b]Sasameki Koto[/b]: Good first episode, although a bit heavier on the drama than I expected. Everyone I know who has experience with the manga says it is mainly lighthearted comedy with sprinkles of drama at the end where they will hit the hardest. This episode maybe goes a bit heavy with the drama from the beginning, although I did not have too much of a problem with that. [b]Seitokai no Ichizon[/b]: Absolutely hated this. I would rather marathon the stupid food conversations in [b]Lucky Star[/b] for 24 hours than watch another episode of this show. [b]Shugo Chara! Dokki Doki[/b]: Hated the live action portion, and actually felt quite dirty after watching five seconds of it. Didn't like the bits focusing only on the Charas either. The main portion of the show is solid, at least. I like the new character, Rikka Hiiragi, and she has an interesting ability that could lead to some good stories later. Best part of this episode is Rima's reaction to being completely ignored by Rikka. [b]The Book of Bantorra[/b]: The story has potential, and some of the characters are interesting, but the storytelling in this first episode is terrible. It's all over the place, and it falls prey to the stupid "throw out a bunch of jargon and talk cryptically about random things to confuse the viewer as much as possible" syndrome that I despise so much. [b]To Aru Kagaku no Railgun[/b]: About what I expected, which is a good thing. Fun, lighthearted and has some great action. I'm really hoping it does not fall prey to the stupid info dumping that plagued [b]To Aru Majutsu no Index[/b]. If it focuses just on Mikoto's everyday life in the city, though, then I think it will be good.

[quote name='Kei'][color=darkblue][size=1]So Madara's plan this whole time was to put everyone under a genjutsu and essentially control the world. From the Moon. (Nice timing, amirite?)[/color][/size][/QUOTE] Link would own that **** in fewer than three days. EDIT: Speaking of, I whipped this up just now ... [center][IMG]http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/3787/lolmoon.jpg[/IMG][/center]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff'][FONT="Trebuchet MS"]I like this idea just a tad better than the other. Though I'd get a kick out of seeing either one. :D[/FONT][/QUOTE] My idea is best because it pisses off Sasuke fantards (who don't want Sasuke beaten up), Naruto fantards (who don't want Naruto to have anything to do with Disney) and Disney fantards (the same, except reversed). A win-win situation for everyone who enjoys a good laugh.

Naruto should team up with Donald and Goofy to beat the **** out of Sasuke. I would watch that. I'd vomit profusely afterward, but I'd watch it ...

Loved both seasons of [b]Natsume Yuujinchou[/b] more than I thought I would. It is paced perfectly for the types of stories it tells, and I am a total Natori fanboy now. Definitely clamoring for a third season! Finished [b]The Daughter of Twenty Faces[/b] recently. It's a good series. The tone and angle of the story changes a [i]lot[/i] throughout, which keeps it interesting, but it does run out of tricks near the end. That is a bit disappointing. Chiko is badass, though. More of Aya Hirano being a badass plz. And I am watching [b]Rose of Versailles[/b] right now. Oscar is fabulously GAR.

Is [b]Monster[/b] really underrated at all? I mean, it is not [b]FMA[/b]/[b]Naruto[/b]/[b]DBZ[/b] levels of popular, true, but it has a fairly sized audience on the 'net, and the people who love it [i]really[/i] love it. (It is the 14th ranked anime at MyAnimeList and with ANN's various weird ranking measures, it is ranked anywhere from 64th to 13th there.) Plus, it will be airing on SyFy soon. It has a pretty good fanbase, I'd say lol. (That said, I love the series, and everyone ever should see it.) This is a tough question for me. Most series I watch are ranked pretty fairly, I think. Maybe enough people don't watch [b]Kemono no Souja Erin[/b]? That is a really good series, and it is gorgeous. [b]Golgo 13[/b] is pretty awesome, too. I believe it has a decent contingent of fans, just because the manga has been around [i]forever[/i], but there are also a good number of people who are put off by the visual style. [b]Kaiji[/b] had the same problem, too, as I recall.

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"][b]Claymore[/b] - Nothing major here, the ending should be changed and the series should've kept going in sync with the manga.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] Agreed. Kind of sucks that the ending is screwed over because Madhouse was so faithful to the manga up to that point, but hey. At least they chose the lesser of two evils regarding the ending. The non-ending it has is much better than a potential [spoiler]Clare somehow defeats Priscilla and Isley[/spoiler] ending would have been.

[quote name='CaNz']Dragon Ball Z. what they should do is EDIT THE CRAP OUT OF IT. 　 Alright all the episodes with action on one side... all the episodes that consist of talking about how there is gonna be action soon on the other side... then delete all the boring episodes. also id cut out half of the in fight talking. 　 After that it might actually deserve half the popularity it has.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10877"][b]Amusingly enough, this is already being done in Japan[/b][/URL]. I would not be at all surprised to see [b]Kai[/b] eventually make its way to the States.

[quote name='Dagger']I started watching Canaan solely because I liked Alphard's psychotic grin in the opening sequence. Her slight ambiguity as a character--is she moderately evil or really, [i]really[/i] evil?--is seasoned by a healthy dose of unflappable coolness, mad combat skillz, and Just As Planned charisma. Too bad no one else in the show is nearly as fascinating. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] After the latest episode, I kind of want Alphard to win. Canaan is kinda dumb, and I have disliked Maria for a good while now. At least Alphard has that The Boss thing going for her. Her ambiguity kind of rubbed me the wrong way at first, but as the series has gone on, she has grown on me a lot more. Anyway, uh, sort of along the same lines as Dilandau, I like Ladd Russo from [b]Baccano![/b] The main draw with him is just that he is so [i]gleeful[/i] about doing what he does best -- killing people. He is always so loud and boisterous when murdering someone. Totally horrible, reprehensible guy -- even among the killers and thieves of the [b]Baccano![/b] cast -- and yet I get a big grin on my face from watching him do his work. Russo just loves his work so much. Don't you wish you could be that happy going to the office every day?

Definitely Dilandau from [b]Vision of Escaflowne[/b]. He spreads mayhem and destruction wherever he goes, is batcrap insane, is horribly vain (his scream of "MY FACE!!!!!!!!!11!!1!! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!!!!!11!1!11!!" when Van scars him is magnificent), treats his subordinates like garbage and has one of the best evil laughs ever. Despite being a thoroughly terrible person who fights simply because he loves making people miserable and mocking his opponents, Dilandau is totally lovable because he is so good at what he does. It helps that Minami Takayama has such a hawt evil voice. [IMG]http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/7938/dilandau.jpg[/IMG] How could you not love a face like that? :love: I am unashamed to have had a total man crush on him from his first appearance in the series.

I need to stop putting these off for so long! Anyway, I think most will agree that the summer season was way better than anyone expected. It was certainly my favorite since last fall. Unfortunately, in comparison, this fall season does not look as great, although I have warmed up to it a bit as the summer has waned. (Plus, you can't really judge anything until you have watched it, after all.) So, hey, once again let us see what we are all interested in watching! For those who need 'em, here are fall previews [url=http://www.seaslugteam.com/archives/2009/08/30/fall-2009/][b]here[/b][/url] and [url=http://hashihime.blogspot.com/2009/09/57-fall-anime-story-staff-cast-trailer.html][b]here[/b][/url] (the latter is well researched). [b]Series I am definitely interested in watching[/b]: -- [b][URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10984"]Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini[/URL][/b]: The first series is good, although the ending is kind of eh and it never really lives up to its enormous potential. (But I cannot speak too ill of any series with November f'n 11 in it.) It has been a while since I watched [b]Darker than Black[/b], so I will inevitably be fuzzy on some details, but I do not think it will cut into my enjoyment too much. Everything will come back to me eventually, haha. But, yes, this should be plenty exciting, and hopefully it will come to a solid conclusion. -- [b][URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10706"]To Aru Kagaku no Railgun[/URL][/b]: [b]To Aru Majutsu no Index[/b] starts off well and kind of falls apart near the end. However, this spinoff immediately has my interest because it stars Misaka, who is one of the best (if not the best) of the [b]To Aru[/b] characters. This could be a solid, fun series if all the stupid info dumping is cut. That is by far the worst part of the first series. -- [b]Shugo Chara Party![/b]: Probably don't even need to bring it up, but eh. It's [b]Shugo Chara![/b]; I am watching. -- [b][URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10625"]Kimi ni Todoke[/URL][/b]: This series is building a lot of buzz. It's an adaptation of a manga that was voted best shoujo manga of 2008, Mamiko Noto is playing the female lead (with Daisuke Namikawa as the male lead), there are other good seiyuu surrounding them (Miyuki Sawashiro, Yuuichi Nakamura, Aya Hirano, etc.), Production I.G. is at the helm and so on. Don't want to put too much pressure on the series, but if it can capture my heart like [b]Toradora![/b] did last year, then I will be quite pleased. -- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10701]Sasameki Koto[/url][/b]: I need some more good yuri after the very good [b]Aoi Hana[/b] (which I am two episodes shy of completing, hooray). [b]Series I am somewhat interested in watching[/b]: -- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10953]Kuuchuu Buranko[/url][/b]: Kind of an interesting premise (neurotics visit and even more neurotic doctor) and a funky art style have me sort of intrigued. -- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10861]Kampfer[/url][/b]: Good cast and lolgenderbending. Could be funny but could also suck pretty hard. -- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10935]11eyes[/url][/b]: The description doesn't really excite me too much, but it could be a solid horror adventure kind of thing. Plus, I like Daisuke Ono. -- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10951]Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra[/url][/b]: People fighting over books is funny. What will everyone else be watching this season?

I'll man up and admit Flay gets a bit better as the series goes along ... well, near the very end she is slightly better. ([spoiler]Great when she dies, though![/spoiler]) Watched [b]Wolf's Rain[/b] recently -- excellent series, love how the wolves' journey to Paradise unfolds, and especially how each of them grows along the way. I love Toboe. ;_; Also watched [b]Natsume Yuujinchou[/b] and have just started its second season. Like that series a lot -- more than I expected, actually. It has the perfect pace for the stories it tells: Nice and easy, but not so slow that it will lull the viewer to sleep. And Natori is awesome. Glad he has already made another appearance only three episodes in to the second season!

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]:animesigh I suppose you're right, the pace of things has picked up a bit since he and [spoiler]Tolle[/spoiler] bit it, again another side character I actually quite liked.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] And yet friggin' [spoiler]Flay[/spoiler] of all people lives until the end of the series. WTF.

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Gundam SEED's [spoiler]Nicol[/spoiler]. God damn it why is it that you seem to have to be a complete asshat to survive one of Sunrise's animes. [/SIZE][/QUOTE] A sad death, and it marks the turning point where [b]Gundam SEED[/b] actually becomes good!

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink]Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is an amazing movie.[/color][/QUOTE] Totally agreed. San Dimas High School football rules!!!!!!!! [b]Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey[/b] is almost as good. I really need to watch both of those again.

lol I fail at keeping up with threads yet again. A brief (yeah, right) overview of what I've watched since I last posted in here ... [b]Azumanga Daioh[/b]: Good series, just as funny as I heard it was. I