Shinmaru

More fun political shenanigans. Now that Celestial Being has put a stop to things in Ireland, will it go after the Middle East next?! lolz Graham has become cooler in these two episodes -- he's my 1b to Lockon's 1a so far. I think watching the sub at the same time as the dub has helped with that. Yuichi Nakamura has such a cool voice. Actually, for the most part I prefer the Japanese cast to the American cast, although they're not light years ahead or anything (except in the case of Graham). The only major exception so far is Tieria; I think his attitude comes across better so far in English. Samuel Vincent was cast very well. Only other thing I have to say is Setsuna is kind of a douche. I vaguely understand [i]why[/i] he's a douche (guy obviously didn't grow up in the best of circumstances), but a douche is a douche. Both Mamoru Miyano and Brad Swalie have fun douchey voices, though, since both have had practice at it (lol [b]Death Note[/b] lol).

So, wow, the story is really moving now, huh? Haha. A few things that are surprising while the episode is in motion but not especially surprising in retrospect: 1) Our friend, the detective, is [spoiler]a Gigalomaniac. I doubt he would have gone as far with his investigation as he has if he were unable to see the things Takumi, Sena, Kozue, et al can see.[/spoiler] Still, that is a neat surprise to open the episode with. 2) Rimi is [spoiler]in cahoots with Shogun. Again, not especially surprising since she was so suspicious of Takumi's relationship with Sena, but it does make me wonder what their ultimate goal is. Even though Rimi apparently needs to eliminate Takumi lest Shogun be destroyed, I am uncertain whether they are good or bad (or either). Methinks they don't have much to do with NOZOMI, at the very least.[/spoiler] We'll see, though. 3) Sena has [spoiler]a personal vendetta against NOZOMI, and against Norose in particular. There's now an origin for her hatred for the Church of the Divine Light, although what exactly that church IS is still unknown. What [i]is[/i] known, though, is that Norose is a douche. How dare he harm Sena like that. :|[/spoiler] So, yes, very enjoyable episode. Loved [spoiler]the Gigalomaniac Trio vs. Norose fight. Good action there, plus the addition of a new member to the gang~ Yay for Ayase![/spoiler] I am intrigued about who the person is at the end of the episode, because there is only one possibility to me ... [spoiler]Nanami. It's either her or Yua, and Yua is running around with the detective in the next episode, apparently, so Nanami is the only logical assumption. The frog is there to throw people off, I think; Nanami had one of those, too, right? She hasn't done anything, so she needs to become involved with the plot somehow. It wouldn't be too surprising to know she has powers similar to Takumi.[/spoiler] EDIT: Also, I must say I lol'd at [spoiler]the music that plays when Ayase shows up during the fight. It's such an amusingly generic "Our party is complete!" tune, haha.[/spoiler]

Ninth episode is one of the funniest in the series yet -- everything from the strange greeting dance Minori and Kitamura do to [spoiler]Minori snapping cell phone photos of a nearly naked Kitamura[/spoiler] is hysterical. I'm glad I watched it when everyone in my house was awake, haha. Then there's a great moment at the end where Ryuji and Minori are talking, and Minori once again subtly reveals just how perceptive she is ... and she also reveals some of the sadness probably lingering deep inside her. [b]Toradora![/b] does things like that [i]so[/i] well. An episode will be cruising along, full of hilarity, and then BAM! Emotional moment, and it's done perfectly. Love this show so much.

[center][URL=http://img392.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chaosheadgigalomaniactruo4.jpg][IMG]http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/656/chaosheadgigalomaniactruo4.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/center] We are ... The Three Amigos~ Haha, I think this is my favorite episode in the series so far. First off, boatloads of Sena.

I like the show just fine so far. After hearing that the first few episodes were slow compared to the later parts of the series, I was satisfied with the amount of action and story in the first couple of episodes. The surface political situation is at least easy to understand and get into for now, although obviously there's going to be a much deeper conflict than that. No real strong opinions on the characters at the moment, although I did enjoy Lockon's cockiness in the first episode, haha. EDIT: I also really like the OP, ED and background music. Very nice.

Another good episode, and judging from the end, I think this is the point where the plot really begins to move. The noise shockwave is a big "WTF?" moment (I had flashbacks to the season two finale of [b]Lost[/b]), and I am endlessly curious about who [spoiler]Yua was talking to on the phone, and who exactly her younger sister might be.[/spoiler] I am also intrigued with the clearly suspicious Rimi -- she definitely did not like what she heard when Takumi told her [spoiler]Ayase has a sword.[/spoiler] The mystery behind Rimi's role in all this grows curiouser and curiouser. On a purely fanboy basis, I loved action!Sena. That fat geek never stood a chance.

[quote name='Shishou'][SIZE="2"][FONT="Arial"]I've been so busy that I haven't had the time to watch much of anything, not to mention it is harder when you are chained into watching it with someone who is on a different schedule you are. Hopefully we can finish up the first arc tonight, it ends at episode twenty-four, correct?[/size][/font][/quote] Yep, there are a couple of short arcs before the second big arc starts in episode 25. You know how good the first big arc is, correct? IMO, this second arc leaves the first one in its dust. It starts a bit slow, but it is so incredible by the end -- I'll probably point them out when you get there (and if I can remember the exact episode in which they happen lol), but there are a couple of moments in particular that always send shivers down my spine when I think of them. [quote][size=2][font="Arial"]Anyhow, I have just finished episode eighteen. Not too much to say about this episode except that I've grown more fond of Nina. [spoiler]I am still unsure of which name to call her by. >>[/spoiler] She is quite the cutie, especially when her hair was tied up.

I might as well keep up with this thread, too. :p Aside from all the fall anime, I am watching [b]Code Geass R2[/b], [b]X[/b] and [b]Yami no Matsuei[/b]. I think now that I have had an extended break from everything [b]Code Geass[/b], I am enjoying R2 a lot more than when I first tried watching it (I got four episodes in and decided to drop it). The series is definitely not perfect -- it is so hilariously goofy in many ways lol -- but that is part of its charm for me. Mostly what I am watching for is the same reason I watched the first season: For loads of insane plot twists. Bring 'em on, I say! [b]Yami no Matsuei[/b] I am not really sure how to judge at the moment. It is just really strange so far. Probably does not help that I only half paid attention to ep3, haha. I am enjoying [b]X[/b] thus far, although I think the main character, Kamui, is kind of a dick (though a bit less of a dick after ep6). My favorite character right now is Sorata; I like his playfulness and the strength with which he faces his fate. He also had a kickass skirmish with Yuto. My biggest problem with the series so far is that the music is hilariously over the top at times. Not every conversation is epic, X. My God.

Aha, so you're almost at the end of the first big arc. Nice. You've got about three or four episodes after that until [spoiler]Roberto, Johan's right hand man, shows up for the first time. He's probably the best villain in the series, after Johan, of course.[/spoiler] As one of the people who prodded Shishou toward [b]Monster[/b], I suppose I should speak up! I am a huge fan of the series -- it has one of the most suspenseful, thrilling plots I've experienced in any medium, and it has my favorite protagonist (Dr. Tenma, of course) and antagonist (Johan) in all of anime. Dr. Tenma, especially, is key to my enjoyment of the series, because without his steadfast moral strength, the show would probably be too depressing to watch, haha. One of the most interesting aspects of [b]Monster[/b], I think, is how it implicitly gets the viewer to root against violence. On the one hand, Dr. Tenma is on a journey to [spoiler]kill Johan.[/spoiler] On the other hand, Tenma is strongly anti-violence -- he believes nobody has the right to take a life. That is one of the most fascinating conflicts in the series. I usually like my characters to kick a certain amount of ***, but whenever Tenma ran into a situation where violence was the most obvious solution to defuse the problem, I begged for him to find an alternate path. And, uh ... maybe I'll continue to comment on other aspects of the series as Shishou posts. Keep haunting the thread, you! :)

Hello, fellow Jimmy Stewart fan. :O! post in the anime lounge btw lol

LOL, Lunox, I could totally see that about Kim Ah Joong after you wrote that. That's amazing. [center][b]Winona Ryder[/b] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/Winona_Ryder_651.jpg[/img][/center] Always had a thing for her. She's not my favorite actress, or even the most beautiful I like, but I dunno. I was always just drawn to her. If only she weren't in so many crappy movies as of late. (Aside from [b]A Scanner Darkly[/b].) [center][b]Cobie Smulders[/b] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/cobie_smulders.jpg[/img][/center] An apt last name, if I do say so myself. She's great on [b]How I Met Your Mother[/b] -- very beautiful but also adept at making her character look like a total fool, especially in flashbacks to her teenage years. Her character also has a crazy, dangerous side that is kind of hot. [center][b]Cate Blanchett[/b] as [b]Irina Spalko[/b] ... [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/CateSpalko.jpg[/img][/center] Depending on the day, she is 75 to 90 percent of the reason why I like the latest Indiana Jones movie. Very good looking, very dangerous and very evil. An excellent combination for sexiness. [center]... and as [b]Katharine Hepburn[/b] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/97125-004-50EACFAA.jpg[/img][/center] This one is a bit weirder. Point 1) I am actually not [i]that[/i] attracted to Cate Blanchett by herself -- think she's a great actor, but I never really thought about her much aside from that. Point 2) I like Katharine Hepburn (love her in dramas [i]and[/i] comedies) but am not really drawn to her either. [i]However[/i], Cate Blanchett [i]playing[/i] Katharine Hepburn? Sign me up. I am still trying to figure this out.

Good episode. I'm not sure which explanation to buy, if any. Takumi is correct when he says all of them are bats--t insane lol. (Of course, that statement does not hold much sway from a guy who is in all likelihood bats--t insane himself.) To be honest, I really don't want to buy any of them, haha. [spoiler]Yua's explanation is a tired cop-out of the worst kind. Sena's explanation is a whole load of techno- and psychobabble. Ayase does not really explain much except to offer up a literal Deus Ex Machina.[/spoiler] I think it is mainly the show (or the game originally, I guess lol) throwing out a bunch of random explanations just to mess with the viewer/player. Still, those scenes gave me more Sena (with random ice cream eating!) and more Ayase (with even more hilarious delusions from Takumi), so it's all good. :) Not really surprised that [spoiler]Shogun is directly involved with the New Gen killings, although whether he is [i]the[/i] killer remains to be seen. I agree that scene is done well, and Takumi does have a great closing line.[/spoiler] I also liked Yua in this episode. [spoiler]There's a great contrast between herself at home, where she is actually nervous (!!!) to send an e-mail to Takumi, and when she is outside interacting with Takumi, where he views her as a honed killer. The scene where she first confronts Takumi and pushes him against the computer sent a jolt through me, haha. The part where all the people join up and chase Takumi is good, too. Reminded me a lot of [i]Night of the Living Dead[/i], or some other great zombie movie.[/spoiler]

[quote name='TimeChaser'][B]A Hard Day's Night[/B] (1964, Richard Lester)[/QUOTE] Haha, I never would have pegged you as a fan of [b]A Hard Day's Night[/b]! Really good movie, though. The Beatles are great in front of the camera (Ringo has a big part!), and the whole thing is filmed with this amazing, exuberant energy and humor. This is one of the movies I'd watch to cheer me up after a lousy day.

[quote name='Katakidoushi']I think Shinmaru just copied and pasted the entire IMDB website in his post, ha.[/QUOTE] lol, you have no idea how tempting it was to take every good movie I have seen and plop it into that post. But then it would have taken me way too long to write. >>

As silly and full of fantards as it is, [url=imdb.com][b]IMDb[/b][/url] is a good source for finding new movies to watch. Check its Top 250 list and the list of top movies by genre. You'll find a bunch of great ones there. I also get a lot of ideas about good movies to watch from Roger Ebert's [url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=REVIEWS08][b]Great Movies page[/b][/url] on his Web site. I don't always agree with the man, but he knows his movies. Anyway, a [strike]few[/strike] crapload of suggestions from me: -- City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931) -- Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933) -- The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, 1940) -- The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940) -- Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) -- The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) -- Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) -- Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) -- Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944) -- The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945) -- The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947) -- The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949) -- Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950) -- Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950) -- Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951) -- High Noon (Fred Zinneman, 1952) -- Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954) -- The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955) -- Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957) -- Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957) -- Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) -- Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) -- Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960) -- Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) -- The Hustler (Robert Rossen, 1961) -- The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962) -- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962) -- Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964) -- My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964) -- A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964) -- For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965) -- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966) -- Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg, 1967) -- Wait Until Dark (Terence Young, 1967) -- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) -- Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968) -- Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968) -- Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968) -- Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970) -- Patton (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1970) -- The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) -- Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973) -- The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973) -- High Plains Drifter (Clint Eastwood, 1973) -- Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974) -- Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974) -- Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975) -- Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976) -- Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) -- Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1978) -- Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980) -- Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) -- Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983) -- Zelig (Woody Allen, 1983) -- Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984) -- Blood Simple. (Joel Coen, 1984) -- Stranger than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1984) -- This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1985) -- Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) -- Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986) -- Evil Dead II (Sam Raimi, 1987) -- The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987) -- Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) -- Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata, 1988) -- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989) -- Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1989) -- Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch, 1989) -- Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990) -- Miller's Crossing (Joel Coen, 1990) -- Barton Fink (Joel Coen, 1991) -- Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992) -- Ed Wood (Tim Burton, 1994) -- Heavenly Creatures (Peter Jackson, 1994) -- Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995) -- Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995) -- Heat (Michael Mann, 1995) -- Fargo (Joel Coen, 1996) -- Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (Hiroyuki Okiura, 1998) -- Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon, 1998) -- Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999) -- Election (Alexander Payne, 1999) -- Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999) -- Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000) -- Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000) -- Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000) -- Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) -- Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001) -- Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001) -- The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) -- The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002) -- The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002) -- Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) -- The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, 2004) -- Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004) -- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) -- The Place Promised in Our Early Days (Makoto Shinkai, 2004) -- Good Night, and Good Luck. (George Clooney, 2005) -- A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005) -- Pride & Prejudice (Joe Wright, 2005) -- The Girl Who Leapt through Time (Mamoru Hosoda, 2006) -- Volver (Pedro Almodovar, 2006) -- 5 Centimeters Per Second (Makoto Shinkai, 2007) -- Atonement (Joe Wright, 2007) -- Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007) -- Gone Baby Gone (Ben Affleck, 2007) -- No Country for Old Men (Joel Coen, 2007) -- There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) Haha, so there are plenty of good movies to put on your plate, buddy. Write about the movies you see every day! :)

Best part is the Wapanese fantard. Love him. "Jounouchi-chan~ ..."

Watched ep6 a couple of days ago, and it astounds me how swiftly [b]Toradora![/b] is moving and how much it has packed into just six episodes. In this one we have Ami [spoiler]making a big leap in her life by trying to throw away the emotional mask she has worn all her life. I loved the part where she stomped the holy hell out of the stalker's camera -- definite shades of Taiga and Ryuji kicking the pole in ep2.[/spoiler] Good stuff. I am looking forward to seeing how these characters evolve after this. On the comedy side, great things happen whenever Taiga and Minori team up. Their "assault" on Ami in the beginning had me dying with laughter. Also enjoyed Taiga being let loose, knowing she didn't have to be embarrassed to screw with Ami since [spoiler]Kitamura gave her the go ahead.[/spoiler]

New harem ftw. I decided to make one dedicated to the current season. Not much variety here, though, since 3/4 of the women come from three shows lol. It was also really difficult to not just throw all the [b]Chaos;Head[/b] girls on there, label it a [b]Chaos;Head[/b] harem and then call it a day. >_> [URL=http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fallseasonharemwq4.png][IMG]http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/6414/fallseasonharemwq4.th.png[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php][IMG]http://img151.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif[/IMG][/URL] -- [b]Sena[/b]: She has not done much yet in [b]Chaos;Head[/b], but she has made a huge impact, at least for me. Sena ran roughshod over Takumi in my favorite delusion of the series thus far, she doesn't take any crap when sleazebags try to take the last ice cream from her and she has that awesome Di-Sword. I can tell I will > -- [b]Taiga[/b]: I like how different she is from most characters of her type. Sure, Aisaka gets mad and rages and moes over her secret love (although her crush on Kitamura really [i]is[/i] adorable), but she is also clever, perceptive and capable of staying her anger if there is no real reason for her to be angry. Taiga is also too fun when Kitamura sneaks up on her and catches her doing something she would rather him not see. -- [b]Minori[/b]: Weirdly enough, Minori actually annoyed me a bit at first. I thought she was fun in small doses, but too much of her energy overwhelmed me. My opinion of her has turned around in the last three eps, though. Minori and Taiga make a great team -- I love how they [spoiler]attack Ami in the beginning of ep6[/spoiler]. It's also hilarious when she does things that are the complete opposite of how she normally acts ([URL="http://randomc.maximum7.net/image/Toradora!/Toradora!%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2019.jpg"][b]such as this lol[/b][/URL]). Plus, she has her own [URL="http://randomc.maximum7.net/image/Toradora!/Toradora!%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2014.jpg"][b]hot chick radar[/b][/URL], and that's just awesome. -- [b]Minato[/b]: Haha, not gonna lie, Minato is here solely because she is really cute. And because of her fish slicing skills. -- [b]Yuuhi[/b]: Yuuhi is also here due to random adorableness. -- [b]Yoriko[/b]: Already have Kanako in a harem, so why not Yoriko? She is possibly crazier than Kanako and is definitely the more obsessive participant in the relationship (Kanako certainly wasn't [spoiler]getting pissed off due to blemishes on her lover's neck[/spoiler]). I think what draws me to her most, though, is that, at heart, she is just a girl who desperately needs to love someone and to be loved in return, even if the love is crazy. -- [b]Kuromitsu[/b]: Look at her -- she's a charmer, though far less evil than she looks (so far in the series, at least). Kuromitsu also has the "dangerous character who could totally kick my ***" field covered. (She is actually [spoiler]hundreds of years old and has amazing fighting and healing abilities, and is like a vampire in that she has to suck human blood to survive.[/spoiler]) The intensity of her relationship with Kurou is also interesting.

[quote name='Matt']Where is that from? I [I]must[/I] read it![/QUOTE] I don't read it, so I can't confirm this, but apparently it is from [b]Air Gear[/b].

Not really a political caption, but it is strange and amusing all the same. [URL=http://img368.imageshack.us/my.php?image=015jn2.jpg][IMG]http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/8941/015jn2.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php][IMG]http://img368.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif[/IMG][/URL]

Right now I can think of something else I have had my "full fill" of.

[URL=http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shinharemofmanlinessnv9.png][IMG]http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8515/shinharemofmanlinessnv9.th.png[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php][IMG]http://img88.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif[/IMG][/URL] I made a harem of men to go along with my women. ... Yes, I am perfectly straight. >> -- [b]Dr. Tenma[/b]: An easy No. 1 -- he is my all-time favorite anime protagonist. His moral strength is inspiring and probably the only thing that kept me sane during [b]Monster[/b], since it is so often a brutally depressing series. He helps so many people throughout the course of the series, and it never feels contrived or obnoxious. People would probably worship Dr. Tenma if he actually existed. -- [b]Spike[/b]: Um, c'mon -- it's Spike. Duh. The guy oozes cool every time he is onscreen. -- [b]Dutch[/b]: Most badass boss ever. Also quite possibly the coolest Christian you are ever likely to meet. An excellent combination. -- [b]Ruka[/b]: Probably half of the [b]Utena[/b] fans are nodding their heads furiously, while the other half are like, "BLASPHEMER," haha. Ruka is a conniving, manipulative son of a ***** for about 95 percent of the time he is in the series, but he has clear motives, and I understood why he approached things the way he did (and it's not as if the recipient was totally undeserving lol). Plus, the guy is just so smooth and cool. -- [b]Kyon[/b]: He's so wonderfully snarky, and he actually does remind me of myself in a lot of ways (most especially in the nonchalant, "I don't really care about that" attitude, when he actually does care about a lot of things). Kyon would be really fun to hang around with if you're in a group of really silly people. -- [b]Holland[/b]: Excellent character development, just like everyone in [b]Eureka Seven[/b]. He is such a jerk in the middle of the series, and I didn't like him much, but once he turns around, he becomes amazing. Like, I was ready to give my life for him by the end of the series lol. Anyone would want a guy like Holland on their side to protect them. -- [b]November 11[/b]: He's a smooth operator. In a series chock full of people with crazy powers, he easily stands out as the coolest (lol) of them all, mainly on the strength of giving off a superb aura of badass whenever he so much as blinks. -- [b]Hatori[/b]: This is mostly for manga Hatori. His story is so heartbreaking, but I always found it inspiring how he weathered on despite that and did not let the experience embitter him, despite having to be reminded of it quite often. Plus, he is always super snarky in his interactions with Shigure, and that is enjoyable.

[quote name='Meggido']The second is [spoiler]The bangle he gets with the fake Di-Sword and gives to his sister. Apart from the fact that it made a deal of because it's kind of a gift from him to his sister I think there is something more to it.[/spoiler] I'm probably overstating things and reading to much into it. However I kind of got the same feeling when reading the manga.[/QUOTE] I had the same thought, actually. [spoiler]If the bangle is not out and out the key to Takumi acquiring his sword, it will least help him on the way to obtaining it.[/spoiler] There was too much attention paid to the bangle for it to be inconsequential.

[center][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/ShinkaiHarem.png[/IMG][/center] I really do not have the words to express how I much I loved watching this. Of course it is visually brilliant -- that is actually an understatement. The sheer amount of detail is mind boggling, and the amazing landscapes and skies had me swooning. For a guy like me who loves the visual quality of space, seeing the starry skies and galaxies is just ... beautiful. Wow. But even that is nothing compared to the story, which is deceptively simple and utterly heartbreaking. The distance Mikako and Noboru feel across the endless distance of space in [b]Voices of a Distant Star[/b] is nothing compared to the emotional distance felt by Takaki as he tries one last time to see Akari before he leaves her life forever. His time on the train is [i]so[/i] painful; as he says, each minute feels like an eternity. The shots of the train stalled in the middle of nowhere amid the cold of the snowstorm are just full of sorrow. All that makes [spoiler]their eventual meeting[/spoiler] all the more wonderful. Seeing [spoiler]Akari slumped in her chair is such a simple image, but it says so much about her loyalty and the strength of her love for Takaki. Their kiss near the end of the first segment brought me to tears -- I think everyone hopes to feel that quality of love at least once in their lives.[/spoiler] But as fantastic as that love felt in the first segment makes you feel, it fills the second segment with an almost unbearable sadness. It's easy to see in the way Takaki carries himself. He goes through the motions of smiling and treating Kanae with kindness, and he values her as a friend, but there is a certain coldness on his side. Not that he hates her, or anything, but he is [spoiler]still carrying the burden of his love for Akari, even though he knows there is no way they can be together again.[/spoiler] It's so sad to see a nice, bright girl like Kanae [spoiler]devote so much love to someone who will never return it.[/spoiler] And the final segment ... wow. It is actually quite shocking at first, because of the harshness of Takaki's words and the bitter tone of his voice. Absolutely amazing voice acting work from Kenji Mizuhashi there. That, combined with the hopelessness of [spoiler]Takaki's adult life[/spoiler] makes the beginning quite depressing. But when the song comes up, man -- it's so emotional and so fantastic. I must have watched/listened to that scene three times this morning. Even though it's open-ended, [spoiler]there is still the hope that Takaki is able to get his life together and finally move on, since Akari has clearly moved on.[/spoiler] Just a wonderful, beautiful movie. :)

OK, after [b]Kannagi[/b]'s excellent fifth episode, this series definitely deserves its own thread. The show follows Nagi, a goddess who attains human form after her spirit is accidentally contained in a sculpture carved from the wood of a sacred tree. Nagi then takes up residence in the house of the sculptor, a high school student named Jin, and proceeds to wreak havoc in his life while also cleansing the impurities of the world. I am sure that description makes this sound like a generic series, and it can be, at times. In fact, through the first four episodes, I classified it as a guilty pleasure -- definitely capable of being funny, with good characters, but if you had to make a choice between this and, say, [b]Toradora![/b], I would advise wholeheartedly to go with the latter. (Well, I still would, but the decision would be much tougher now.) But [b]Kannagi[/b]'s fifth episode, which sees Nagi launch full force into a plan to make Jin's entire high school see her as a human deity, is arguably the funniest single episode I have seen of anything this season. There are [i]so[/i] many inspired jokes and sequences -- [spoiler]the cook-off, Nagi's fansite, the interviews with the message board posters, the Super Mario Bros. reference, etc.[/spoiler] -- and I laughed uproariously from start to finish. It is fantastic to see a series I had low expectations for coming in grow into something wonderfully funny. I know Des has love for this series, too. Anyone else watching it?