Shinmaru

[quote name='2007DigitalBoy'][COLOR="DarkOrange"]I don't fully trust anyone who watches Naruto O_o[/COLOR][/QUOTE] What about people who read it? :p

Damn Fullmetal Alchemist question prevented me from bragging about my victory in the previous round. :| Anyway... 1. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2. Ouran High School Host Club 3. Fruits Basket 4. Sailor Moon

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman'][color=#9933ff][font=lucida calligraphy]How do you get Dick out of Richard anyway? [/color][/font][/QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/177.jpg[/IMG][/center]

[quote name='Kei'][size=1][spoiler]I agree that Itachi must die. (I also assume that there's some form of doujinshi, strip or fanfiction by that name on the Internet somewhere.)[/spoiler][/size][/quote] [url=http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2847269/1/][b]Itachi Must Die! (a 20-chapter series of random Itachi deaths)[/b][/url] Oh, the power of Google. I also found an "Itachi Must Die!" poem, but the page wouldn't load. :( [quote][spoiler][size=1]What would be amazingly awesome is if Naruto and Sasuke did it together. Of course, Sasuke would likely then turn on Naruto for getting involved in the fight and they would battle to the death. XD[/size][/spoiler][/quote] Ha, yeah. [spoiler]I find it unlikely Naruto will be in the neighborhood when Itachi and Sasuke fight, at least not until near the end. Sasuke would throw a hissy fit were Naruto to interfere with his revenge.[/spoiler]

I'm proud of the fact that I spent the last twenty minutes thinking about whether the upcoming [spoiler]Itachi/Sasuke battle in Naruto[/spoiler] will end in a stalemate. Wait, no I'm not.

This week's chapter was pretty good. Not too much action but it's a solid setup for all the craziness that's sure to come after. [quote name='Ikillion'][COLOR=#001824][SIZE="1"][FONT="Trebuchet MS"]Whew. Well I can safely say my head exploded. While there was a lack in fighting and such at least we get to know who Naruto's [spoiler]parents[/spoiler] are. Anyone else surprised at the revelation? [/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Actually, not really. Comparisons between [spoiler]Naruto and the Fourth Hokage[/spoiler] are made so frequently that I suspected they were [spoiler]father and son[/spoiler] for a while now. [spoiler]Plus, they [i]do[/i] look quite a bit alike.[/spoiler] :p Still, it's nice to have it confirmed. I'm wondering how many people [spoiler]actually know Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage, though. You'd think people wouldn't be such ******** to the offspring of the guy who saved their village, haha.[/spoiler] Anyway, more [spoiler]see you in the afterlife dialogue from Jiraiya. He's laying it on pretty thick, so I'm wondering if that's just to throw people off, but I still think he's going to the big hot spring in the sky. Good to know Pein thinks of Jiraiya as someone who is dangerous; hopefully, that's a guarantee that we'll witness a truly epic battle. The unnamed member of Akatsuki is there, as well, but I'm hoping she won't get involved in the Pein/Jiraiya fight. I want to see what she can do, and it [i]would[/i] make Jiraiya look plenty tough to need two Akatsuki to take him down. However, it would really make Mr. I've Never Lost A Battle look like a complete douchebag if he needed help. Maybe the nameless one will keep Jiraiya's rescue party busy while Pein takes care of business. And then there's Itachi and Sasuke ... to be honest, I was surprised when Itachi made the challenge to Sasuke. Maybe he really does think Sasuke is strong enough to take him on, though I wouldn't be shocked if Itachi has something else up his sleeve. I'm eager to see how Sasuke stacks up to Itachi now - after all, Sasuke himself said he wasn't strong enough to take on Itachi alone, which is why he gathered all his nutball buddies. Sasuke looked impressive enough beating the crap out of Itachi's illusion (he seemed to impress Itachi anyway lol), but it's pretty obvious Itachi did jack **** so he could see what Sasuke could actually do. So, how do you guys and gals think the battle will go? I'm not too sure, myself, which is how I like it. I'm not even certain the battle will have an actual end, although if it takes place after the Jiraiya/Pein battle and its aftermath, then there's a stronger possibility of a decisive ending. As for who wins ... my gut says Sasuke, if only because having Sasuke killed right now makes pretty much everything he's done post-time skip a bit of a waste, and not in an awesome, literary way. Then again, it would make Naruto go nuts (can you imagine having Jiraiya [i]and[/i] Sasuke killed within a few chapters of each other??), and it will show even more that obsessive revenge = no. Plus, once Itachi dies, Sasuke basically loses everything that makes him at all interesting. It's too early for that, unless the series is coming to an end soon (which it could be for all I know lol). So, uh ... stalemate, then? Bah, I'm confusing myself even more now, haha. :P The only thing I know for sure is there's no way in hell Itachi is surviving this series. Either Sasuke or Naruto is going to kill him.[/spoiler] EDIT: [spoiler]Forgot to mention I'm also looking forward to the Itachi/Sasuke fight because we might finally get some answers concerning what the hell is in the Uchiha clan's secret hideout.[/spoiler]

1. Ouran High School Host Club (Hunny and Mori are great fighters but they don't have superpowers :P) 2. Azumanga Daioh 3. Haibane Renmei 4. The Prince of Tennis 5. Pokemon (I guess) 6. Rurouni Kenshin 7. Fruits Basket (I suppose the curse doesn't fall under the broad umbrella of "superpowers" ...) This was hard.

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink]Q: Why can't Hellen Keller drive? A: Because she's a woman![/color][/QUOTE] This is still by far the funniest joke in the thread. I've been trying to find some good, old-fashioned necrophilia jokes, but I can't find any funny enough to bother posting. Maybe I should just post links to all the necrophilia-related Sexy Losers comics; I don't suppose you can get any better than those, haha. Necrophilia humor is so much fun. :)

1) I have short hair. I'm pretty sure I'd look like a ****ing idiot with long hair. 2) A very sexy black. 3) Never dyed it - you can't improve upon perfection. 4) n/a 5) I can lie and say it depends, but really, I think short-to-mediumish length hair is pretty friggin hot when it works. I'll admit to liking a bit of androgyny. Just a bit. :P

[quote name='Lunox'][font="trebuchet ms"]But anyways, I have a question. Do colleges care about AP exam scores? I've heard they do, and I've heard they couldn't give a rat's *** about them. [/font][/QUOTE] It depends, really. From my experience, if colleges accept the scores, then they'll most likely translate them into elective credit rather than credit for a specific course. An exception at my school is AP English Literature, which can be translated into credit for the basic freshman English course (which is much easier than AP English Lit, haha). I think they give actual credit for the AP Government exam, too. Again, though, it probably varies from school to school. Anyway, uh, no specific homework trouble for me, except that I've had to go in to school a month early because we're working on a redesign for the ol' college newspaper. I should not be on campus a month before the quarter starts. This is unnatural. :|

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]I don't know, [spoiler]maybe it's that Jiraiya is possibly my favourite character in the whole series and I don't want to see him die. But didn't Itachi, who I'd consider to be probably one of the most powerful Akatsuki say that even with Kisame, their best outcome in a fight with Jiraiya would be to both die but take him with them ? I suppose though, the fact that Pein was the figurehead leader of Akatsuki does give some indication of his power. I just hope Jiraiya doesn't get poisoned again, if he dies, he needs to go out in a way that makes it something to exceed Sarutobi's death.[/spoiler][/SIZE][/quote] Yeah, but power rankings in Naruto aren't as simple as that. For example, [spoiler]Itachi does consider Jiraiya to be a real threat to him (before the time skip, mind; who knows what a matchup between the two would be like now), but he was able to hold off Oorchimaru with little trouble, while from what we've seen so far in the series, Oorchimaru was more than a match for Jiraiya. Plus, we know for a fact ninja of a certain nature have advantages over others (Kakashi had a natural advantage over one of Kakuzu's hearts, for instance, but that advantage didn't carry over to the other hearts). Different ninja will have different advantages and disadvantages against each other. Perhaps Pein will be one of those fighters against whom Jiraiya will be at a disadvantage. At any rate, I definitely agree with you that should Jiraiya die, he needs to go out during a battle that at least rivals the death of the Third Hokage. It would be ridiculous if Pein were to crush Jiraiya within a chapter or two, especially given how much Jiraiya's fighting ability has been built up during the series. The battle should be an all-out war between the two, and Jiraiya should hurt Pein quite a bit, but at the same time, I think Pein should emerge as the clear victor.[/spoiler]

*decides to finally jump in on the discussion after having been caught up since the second battle against Hidan and Kakuzu* :p Personally, the part of the chapter that most interested me wasn't [spoiler]Itachi speaking with Naruto[/spoiler] or [spoiler]Itachi confronting Sasuke[/spoiler] - it was Jiraiya's talk with Tsunade. After I thought about it a bit, it seems to me that there's some heavy foreshadowing within Jiraiya's mini-speech; if that's true, then I think [spoiler]Jiraiya won't be surviving his trip to the Village Hidden in the Rain, and it's going to be Pein who will kill him.[/spoiler] I'm of two minds about that. [spoiler]I like Jiraiya a lot (easily my favorite of the Legendary Sannin and maybe a top five character for me), but I wouldn't know of a better way to establish Pein as a serious threat than having him kill Jiraiya, or at least beating the bloody hell out of him and winning a battle by a convincing margin. Akatsuki needs another serious victory, because Konoha and Sasuke have really beaten the crap out of them since Shippuden began. But whatever happens, I'd definitely look forward to an all-out battle between Jiraiya and Pein - I'm curious about what Pein can do, and I [i]really[/i] want to see Jiraiya fight at full strength.[/spoiler] [quote name='Dbzman26][spoiler']Anyway's, chapter 366 was awesome, to say the least. It wasn't so much the bout between Naruto and Itachi that did it for me though. It was rather the confrontation of Sasuke and Itachi again. Although I actually can't bring myself to believing it, it just seems to me that this isn't quite what it looks like. What do you guys think?[/spoiler][/quote] [spoiler]I think the Itachi confronting Sasuke right now is another illusion. Itachi's MO is not to deliberately pick a fight with Sasuke himself, at least not one where he'd have to actually exert himself until he was sure it would be worth it. On the day Itachi murdered the Uchiha clan, he left Sasuke alive because he saw in him the potential to acquire the Mangekyo Sharingan - Sasuke is meant to be another measuring stick for Itachi (I think, anyway, because without knowing the details of the Uchiha clan's secret, there's obviously no way to know how much that influenced Itachi's decision to let Sasuke live, or if it even changed Itachi's reasoning). Itachi told Sasuke to hunt him down when Sasuke got the MS; otherwise, Itachi is not interested in battling him (pretty obvious considering Itachi's reaction to Sasuke attacking him and Kisame when they came to Konoha). However, I think Itachi has grown curious about Sasuke's newly-acquired abilities, especially after he heard about Sasuke's battle with Deidara and later realized Sasuke survived the fight. He still wants Sasuke to come to him, but I don't think he sees any harm in sending an illusion to gauge Sasuke's current ability. I doubt there's any way Kishimoto gives away the Sasuke/Itachi fight without at least a little buildup lol.[/spoiler] [quote name='Kei'][size=1][spoiler]By the way, since I couldn't say it before (as I was about 13 chapters behind), Tobi = ...What. I know I've heard the name Masara Uchiha before, but I can't place it. Any help?[/size][/spoiler][/QUOTE] [spoiler]The Nine-Tailed Fox mentioned Madara Uchiha when Sasuke infiltrated Naruto's mind. I believe he said something like Sasuke had an even more sinister chakra than Madara, whose chakra was more evil than the Fox's chakra.[/spoiler] EDIT: Wikipedia is much faster than me. :P

I'm partial to the living, but there are exceptions to everything in this crazy world. After all, as Martha Stewart would most definitely say, a little roll in the grave every once in a while is a good thing.

[quote name='2007DigitalBoy'][COLOR="DarkOrange"]Also, [B]Clurr[/B], I'm petty sure [B]SC4 [/B]is a [B]Wii [/B]exclusive.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] You're thinking of Soul Calibur Legends, the adventure game spin-off of the Soul Calibur series. Soul Calibur IV isn't going to be released on the Wii as far as I know.

[quote name='Konata']Well, there hasn't been any official updates regarding what the season is about, I don't think. But I think it's highly likely that it will be The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Basically, it's about how Kyon discovers one day that Haruhi is no longer sitting behind his desk, and no one in his school except him remembers her. Not even Mikuru or Yuki, who don't even remember Kyon. Itsuki has also disappeared, and Yuki's not her usual self. What happened to Miss Suzumiya? Where did Itsuki go? Why is Yuki not Yuki? Why is Shamisen normal? Can Kyon escape from this and return back to the real world where Haruhi exists? Or is this really the real world? And why is [b]She[/b] here... Just of bad synopsis of the DoHS that I wrote very quickly. Of course, like the tMoHS, there's probably going to be several in-between episodes that cover some of the side stories. I'm 99% sure the episode Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody will be there because not only did they show a live-action version of it on the main SuzuHaru website during the day of Tanabata, but it is also an important episode that needs to be seen in order to understand a lot of Haruhi material.[/QUOTE] Yeah, after reading all of the Suzumiya light novels this week, I think it's a sure thing that [i]Disappearance[/i] will be the main story this season. The only other feasible option would be [i]The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya[/i], but [i]Disappearance[/i] is a better story in every way and [i]Sigh[/i] is slightly redundant because "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00" was shown last season (though I wouldn't be surprised if [i]Sigh[/i] was adapted into a one- or two-part episode because it is still pretty fun and explains a lot of stuff about the movie, such as the talking cat, the problems with Mikuru's first Mikuru Beam, etc.). Trust me, nobody will be disappointed with [i]Disappearance[/i] as the main plotline. The story is interesting and exciting, Kyon gets to shine even more than he did in [i]Melancholy[/i], there's some great stuff done with Yuki, the climax is awesome, and the ending really puts a smile on your face. [i]Disappearance[/i] rocks.

Eh, I'm in Southern California, so I haven't had anything bad or isolating or whatever happen to me because I like anime. Actually, a surprising amount of people I knew enjoyed anime (or at least watched a few episodes of Dragon Ball Z or something like that). The only "bad" experience was when one of my high school English teachers said my Dragon Ball Z manga was a sleazy story, which I found more hilarious than distressing considering some of the conversations we had. :p

[quote name='celestialcharm'][FONT="Book Antiqua"][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]I forcedmy sister to take this on my birthday. [IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c147/celestialcharm/July2030.jpg[/IMG][/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE] You look nice and all, but wow, I still cannot get over how *** ugly that cover for [i]Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[/i] is. It's like someone was drawing a MAD Magazine cover and suffered crippling brain damage halfway through.

Hm, well, the most interesting thing I've done today is read about all of your wonderful lives, so I'm sure everyone can imagine the exciting life of wonder and whimsy I must surely lead.

[quote name='Sirius'][IMG]http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/6734/barss3.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE] You'd think that International Relations figure would be much lower. I sure can't think of any better way of fostering connections between nations. And I guess the figure for communications students is so miniscule that it isn't even placed on the graph. What a surprise. :(

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink]So I have my IQ to blame? YES! Scape goat![/color][/QUOTE] Score! Or not.

You are a wonderful person. I love the twinkly stars you added to the banner image, haha. :)

I finally watched Ouran recently, and it is quite the fun series, as expected. I like most of the characters in this a lot, but I have to say I have a special place in my heart for the Zuka Club. Their episodes (9 and 19) were my favorites. The Zuka Club's invasion of the Host Club in episode 9 is fantastic (their grand musical introduction in particular is wonderful); that one also has two of the funniest moments in the entire show ([spoiler]the Zuka Club's Nazi salute[/spoiler] and [spoiler]the Host Club's bizarre crossdressing parody of the Zuka Club[/spoiler]). Episode 19 is a ton of fun because it's awesome to see the Zuka Club strut around like rock stars at St. Lobelia. I also love [spoiler]Haruhi's dad taking the lead in the plot to rescue Haruhi from the clutches of the Zuka Club[/spoiler], [spoiler]Haruhi's terrible singing/acting skills[/spoiler], and, of course, all the raving fangirls at St. Lobelia. As for the Host Club members, themselves... on a comedic level, I think the twins and Tamaki are the funniest, but I like Haruhi, Mori and Kyouya the most as characters. Maybe I'd include Kaoru in there, too, since he gets much more thoughtful as the series progresses. Hunny is in the middle with me; he's funny, and I certainly don't hate the little guy, but he's not one of my favorites.

Yes, I've finally caught up with the rest of the anime community by watching Ouran High School Host Club, and I must say that I have fallen madly in love with the Zuka Club. However, because I am clearly a lower lifeform, I am unable to make a banner/avatar set to display my dedication. Thus, I would be most grateful if someone could whip one up for me. :) For the avatar, I would prefer this image to be used: [center][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/ouran09-4.jpg[/IMG][/center] You don't have to add text to it at all - I'd just like it avatar size with a nice border around it (and, hopefully, keeping the same image quality; it'd be completely screwed up if I were to do this, haha). Alternatively, if there were some way to make the symbol in the image below into an avatar (without the members of the Zuka Club blocking it), then I'm pretty sure I'd had to worship whoever pulled that off. For the banner, I want this image to be used: [center][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/oh09-01.jpg[/IMG][/center] Obviously the whole thing won't fit onto a banner, so cutting off everything above the three members of the Zuka Club is fine; after all, it is the salute I am most interested in here! On the lower left hand side, I want it to say "Heil Zuka Bu!" I'm not sure if any font in particular screams Nazi parody to anyone, but use whatever font you think suits it best. Thanks in advance to whoever fulfills my many rambling demands. :)

Here are a couple of photos from my recent excursion to Disneyland: [url=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/?action=view¤t=IMG_0131.jpg][b]Possibly the least threatening pirate in recent history[/b][/url] [url=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/?action=view¤t=IMG_0132.jpg][b]...until you get to this picture, that is.[/b][/url] What can I say - definitely not as good as the legendary [url=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/?action=view¤t=DSCN0127.jpg][b]pirate[/b][/url] [url=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/?action=view¤t=DSCN0132.jpg][b]pimp[/b][/url] photos, but you people will take what you can get and like it.

About [spoiler]Lupin and Tonks dying, I knew it was coming when Lupin made Harry the godfather of his child. The clear lesson here is you should never make anyone the godfather of your child(ren), nor should you ever become a godfather yourself. Harry only made it because he's The Boy Who Lived.[/spoiler] So, now that a good amount of people are finished with the series, how do you rank the individual installments of the series? Here's my list: 1) [i]Deathly Hallows[/i] 2) [i]Prisoner of Azkaban[/i] 3) [i]Half-Blood Prince[/i] 4) [i]Order of the Phoenix[/i] 5) [i]Goblet of Fire[/i] 6) [i]Chamber of Secrets[/i] 7) [i]Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone[/i] [i]Prisoner of Azkaban[/i] was my favorite for the longest time (it was the first book in the series I read, and the story as a whole connects wonderfully and ends on such an exciting note), but [i]Deathly Hallows[/i] is too good an ending for the series for me not to put it in first.