OtakuSennen

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1] OtakuSennen, tell me the last time you saw a girl with a body like the one shown in WETA's depiction of Ray. She's not ******* fat. In fact, she's not even particularly muscular. It disgusts me that people are judging these drawings by anime standards of beauty... the real actresses could look quite different, but I'll guarantee you now that none of them will be as slender as the animated girls.[/QUOTE][color=navy]I'm not saying that WETA's concept art of Rei is too fat, or muscular. The proportions of what the animated Rei depicted in comparison to this is the problem. Yoshiyuki Sadaomoto's Rei Ayanami was depicted as a petite, fragile girl, reflecting her introverted predisposition. What WETA has put down on paper does not reflect that accurately. Of course no human could naturally replicate what was seen in Rei, Asuka and Misato in the Evangelion anime. Their torsos are inhumanly thin. But that isn't the point. Many aspects of Evangelion, and anime in general, are extrmely difficult to translate to live-action film. Hair color, proportions, many action scenes, and mechs.. It takes a good balance between innovation and devotion to the original work to keep everyone happy. However, you are correct when you say that the concept art bears very little relevance to what the actual actor will look like. There are plenty of actresses who could easily match the look of Asuka, or Rei. Some may be big-time A-list actors, or they may be unknowns. We'll just have to wait and see. Plus, if they could make fictitious species such as elves become so real in the Lord of the Rings films, who's to say that anime-esque physiques can't have a realistic interpretation as well?[/color] [QUOTE=ScirosDarkblade] Also, the only reason Weta did a decent job with LotR is that they had Alan Lee work on set design, and he's the one that illustrated LotR back when Tolkien was still alive (I could be wrong, but that's how I remember it). Anyway, his designs were pretty darn good, and that's why the LotR world was so beautiful and rich in the films. If Industrial Light and Magic did the effects rather than Weta the only difference is that "slightly more fake-looking orcs and ents" would have been there, but at least the backgrounds wouldn't have looked so fake that I could've drawn them myself. [/quote][color=navy]It's true, Alan Lee and that other artist were very important to WETA when they were planning the Lord of the Rings films. However, those were simply one artist's interpretations, based on what they read in a book that contained vivid details of what scenery looked like. Here with Evangelion, we have direct, visible evidence of what the world of Evangelion was intended to be. In my eyes, there is very little difference between a detailed novel describing scenery and actual images. So if some artist can make paintings Middle Earth, why can't another one make their interpretations of Tokyo 3 known to the public through films?[/color] [QUOTE=UltimateX] Hey well I totally disagree with those people making a live Eva movie because it will basically come out to be crap. The reason I just said that is because it is crap, look at what they did to the live gundam movie, they didn't even mention the name gundam in it for god's sake(for those who saw G-Savior). I totally diagree that they have to change the setting to NY city because its not suppose to be in NY and the characters does not look rite and they are the ugliest actors I've seen in my whole god damn life. But it isn't so bad to watch it in the theaters or buy the DVD if the story is good. If not than I'll just say that its CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [/QUOTE][color=navy]G-Savior didn't exactly have an all-star team behind it. It's rather difficult to compare such a small movie without a major theatrical release to what seems to be turning out to be a movie with a relatively heft budget and a highly acclaimed design team working on it. Besides, who said that they're changing the location to New York City? Perhaps you misinterpreted my post, but I said that the WETA people were calling Tokyo 3 simply "New City." That has nothing to do with New York.[/color] [color=#000080]EDIT: Also, I don't think there's that much they can do about Asuka and Rei looking so old. It's not exactly legal or ethical for fourteen-year-old girls to be parading about in skin-tight rubber outfits in a movie. Just thought I'd mention that.[/color]

[color=navy]Early last February, ADV put out a new Evangelion DVD which contained a partially redone Disc Seven, along with some new footage created by Hideaki Anno himself. I purchased the DVD the third day after it came out, not necessarily for the new footage (It wasn't great stuff anyway), but for the interview with some fellows from WETA Workshop, the company that is designing just about everything for the Live Action Eva project. For the most part, the two guys were rambling on about how they came across Eva, how ADV approached them to do a movie about it, and so on. This, too, was rather boring, but instead of showing the two guys talking onscreen the entire time, a good portion of the footage was of WETA's official concept art. This why I thought the DVD was worth it. Yes, the WETA people are planning on heavily "Westernizing" Evangelion, which made me rather irked. The names have all been changed, costumes have been altered, and so on. It is rather irritating to myself, as an avid fan of the original Gainax work. Not to mention, the two head WETA people are pronouncing Eva as "Ee-vuh", and they seem to have rather limited knowledge of the series. I doubt that they were telling the truth when they said that they have each watched the entire series all the way through. I took screenshots of some of the highlights back when I first got the DVD, preparing for a thread just like this one. Too bad you beat me to it, Sciros. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-00.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-01.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-02.png[/img][/center] As you can see, they have changed the design of the Evas, somewhat. From the Eva 01 picture you can see that the giants now have a lot more organic look to them. I, personally, don't think that is such a bad thing, [spoiler]As the Evas aren't really true mechanical robots anyway.[/spoiler] [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Angel-Diamond.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Angel-Drill.png[/img][/center] And here we have a couple of the Angels. Again, I like what they did here. The old design for the diamond angel (I'm sorry I forgot the name) did seem rather plain to me, and this makes for a more vibrant and interesting design. The "Drill" Angel is nice as well, but I don't think of it as anything special. I can't wait to see what they do with Sachiel. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-Asuka.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-Misato.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-Rei.png[/img][/center] These, however, leave me rather peeved. They changed Asuka's name to "Kate Rose", Misato's to "Susan Whitnell", and Rei is now "Ray." I don't mind the changes to the Plug Suits much, but Misato's outfit makes me want to fly to New Zealand and throw things at WETA. She looks like a common footsoldier, and somewhat seems to give off a stereotypical tomboy feel.. However, even with the second portion of the WETA interview on the even more recent Eva DVD there is no information on Shinji. I don't know quite why, but my brain keeps saying that they'll change Shinji to "Scott." (Plus: Their Ray needs to go to Jenny Craig) [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-NERV.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-NERV2.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-Nerv3.png[/img][/center] And what they did to NERV is.. Interesting, to say the least. It certainly feels more like an American military base, with all of the helmets and Science-Fiction-esque visors. The new battle hologram is pretty complex, and certainly more entertaining than the grid seen in the anime. But the guy sitting in the third image looks almost as if he has his hands placed like Gendo's.. And, to boot, he looks bald. That would make Gendo even weirder than he is now, but in a bad way. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-Tokyo3-2.png[/img] [img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/LA-Eva-Tokyo3.png[/img][/center] They're pointing Tokyo 3 into a new direction which I personally don't like. Apparently, Tokyo 3 has been changed to "New City." Oh, how I pray that this new name is tentative, because New City sounds like something out of a 4Kids-dubbed kiddy show. Also, in WETA's interpretation of "New City" we have a city hidden in a bay in the side of an island, which has been built over the ruins of the "Old City." There are lots of frames of old skyscrapers around the new stuff. WETA says it's symbolism, but it sounds like they're just trying to "add" to the symbolism of Eva, though it seems like it would hurt the series. As for my thoughts on the movie, I plan on keeping an open mind until the very end. After all, how many people said that a Lord of the Rings movie would suck? Look where the films are now- Eleven Academy Awards this past year, and even more before that. And, with the same design team working on the Eva movie, who knows how things may turn out? As for all of Evangelion fitting into one movie.. Let us keep in mind that many of the earlier examples were "filler", somewhat, just to introduce characters and so on. One could easily find a way around a lot of this, if the script was altered. And after all, if Gainax made Death And Rebirth, a summary of the Eva series along with part of Evangelion, fit into less than two hours, imagine what they can do with a live-action movie of three hours or so. They plan on keeping the script "Open for sequels", however, which makes you wonder how much we'll see of Kaworu and End of Evangelion. I personally see no point in complaining until we see an actual movie trailer, or the film itself. Just be patient, and hopefully ADV or Gainax will step in and make some changes.[/color]

[font=Times New Roman][color=navy][font=Tahoma]This one is rather easy for me. Ever since I was five, I've wanted to be an astronaut or scientist. Every year from preschool up to post-kindergarten we were asked by our teachers what we wanted to be when we grew up. I believe that most students wanted to be president, or a race car driver most of the time. I had the same teacher three or four times before I was in second grade, however, so she sort of just gave up on asking me because she knew what I was going to say.[/font] A year or two ago I subconsciously began to go through a bit of a "maturing" phase, one might say, about my future career. To be an astronaut, one has to be in top physical condition, and I despise exercise. Plus, the isolation of being up in a ship miles above your family and planet for months at a time must be rather crippling. However, after the Space Shuttle Columbia the thought of becoming an astronaut never crossed my mind ever again. It was a big reality check for me when I went downstairs to watch Saturday Morning Cartoons and saw breaking news footage of a space shuttle burning up, killing everyone onboard. Recently, though, I haven't been 100% sure about what I want to be, professionally. I do like teaching, and good learning environments, so one option is to become a high school teacher, or a college professor, in the best case scenario. Being a professional comic book artist would be nice. I wouldn't like to come up with a poor story, though- I'd only publish a good story, nothing with shallow plot that just seems to be stealing manga techniques as a hook to get money.. Fred Gallagher basically examplifies what I aim to do with MegaTokyo- It doesn't seem like an American comic, necessarily. In fact, it sort of seems like Love Hina. I wasn't too surprised when I saw MegaTokyo on the manga shelf of Suncoast. It feels that authentic. My art teacher has said that my ideas seem rather complex, even by manga standards. Perhaps it would be best if I were to just become a novelist, or maybe just a writer for some animation company. I just want to do something creative with my life. I don't want to be stuck behind a desk from 9 to 5, doing the same old routine, running on the hamster wheel of Corporate America.[/color] [/font]

[quote name='Semjaza Azazel']I'm finding this slightly confusing due to the whole Ronald and Roland thing. Especially since you've spelled the title differently in your post and the thread title itself.[/quote] [color=navy]Damn, I was hoping nobody would notice. It was rather late when I was writing this, and I tried to fix all of the names, but I didn't do a perfect job. Roland was the name of the original story's main character, and we had to change it to something else.. I suppose Roland and Ronald look too similar, heh. I will be fixing this issue.[/color]

[color=navy]I'm really not angered by Toonami's move to Saturday nights. Ever since Toonami, originally an action-oriented block, started showing Hamtaro, I knew it was over. I began to drift away from afternoon television programming around that time, anyway, other than when Toonami was going through their YuYu Hakusho / Rurouni Kenshin phase. Okay, let's look at it this way: Toonami was showing reruns of the same old shows for the majority of the year in 2003. Now, if you've seen these before, and they're just killing one of your favorite shows (Let's use G Gundam for an example. Good series? More or less. Good after seeing the same episode twenty times? No.), is there really much purpose in having five days of the same old stuff every week? Now, when you have less episodes airing a year you get a more prolonged new episode season. If a non-manga based anime, or any other 26 or 13-episode long series were to be aired five days a week, the series would be over in less than a month and a half at most. Then, through reruns, a perfectly fine series may be ruined because it was re-showed too many times because of its schedule. Okay, so the lineup that you like has been replaced by a more child-oriented programming block with an even more unpleasant name. So, do what Sara said. During that time that you used to spend watching Toonami, just do your homework or read a book. Then you'll have the rest of the night free to do whatever else. So now, those of you who were complaining about shows like SD Gundam being on Toonami have no reason to complain about childish programming. All of that mindless garbage that used to clutter this lineup is now gone, and space is left free for better, more mature shows. [/color] [quote] I'm just looking forward to Rave Masters and Megas XLR (which, if I remember correctly, used to be titled LowBrow).[/quote][color=navy] Wait.. Wasn't LowBrow the name of one of those Cartoon Cartoon shorts that was released the same year as the Kids Next Door pilot? If that's right, I'll be watching all of the new Toonami. That pilot rocked. EDIT: Heh, I just realized, Miguzi sort of looks like Mizugi, which means swimsuit. That may explain the rumor Heezay mentioned about the underwater environment. But, with Japanese pronunciation, "Miguzi" would have to be "Miguji", because of a lack of "zi" in most Japanese.[/color]

[color=navy]This was actually a homework assignment that I took a bit too far. You see, we were sorted into groups and told to read a story from our Social Studies books and adapt it so that it fit into modern times. Of course, my group was of no help, and I ended up writing three pages of crap all by myself last night. Shin said to post it, so here it is: [i]Roland![/i] The Semi-Musical! --- [font=Franklin Gothic Medium][i]Years ago, back when Hippies freely roamed the lands and the bellbottoms were mass-produced like wine, there was a family of young performers who were on the rise. They were known as the Stonelys, a group of five siblings who sang and danced. Jack O. Stonely was the eldest and most talented of the group. However, unlike most he-devas, he was not entirely self-absorbed. He cared very deeply for his younger sister, Janette. She had a beautiful singing voice (for one so young), a pretty smile, and obviously possessed potential as a performer. He believed that, with his influence, he could persuade her to marry some A-list movie star and get another couple hundred thousand dollars on his pile. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]However, Janette had a different agenda. She planned on marrying a childhood friend of hers whom she felt for deeply. Despite Jack O.?s protest, Janette married her friend in secret in a little chapel in Las Vegas. When Jack O. heard of this, he drove Janette away from the Stonely Five, forced Entertainment Weekly to make numerous jokes about their "sham marriage", and made sure that neither of the two newlyweds ever worked in Hollywood again. Now, Janette and her husband Roger Sandler were in a dreadful situation. They had no jobs, they had no talent out of reciting lines, they could not even get a job at McMeaty?s Burger Joint, and worst of all they could not make the largest payments on their gold encased portable Jacuzzi/spa for quite some time. It was not soon after all of this that Janette bore a son, whom the out-of-work stars named Roland. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]Despite some of the paparazzi?s kindness, they knew that they could not stay in Hollywood anymore. Conan O?Brien would not stop making cracks about Jack O. going wacko, [i]Variety[/i] was running out of catchy headlines regarding the issue, and even Janette?s one-time fans were ridiculing her on the streets. Thus, to get out of the public eye, the Sandler family moved to a small, secluded city that nobody knew or cared about- Reno, Nevada. On their way there, Janette Stonely-Sandler faced many hardships, the worst of which being the loss of her husband. After a small conflict with Roger, the two decided to separate (The marriage had only lasted 10 months.. That?s quite long in celebrity circles). [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]Ronald grew up to be a fine young lad- He had eyes like Jack O.?s, and a finesse in his dancing and singing that was eerily reminiscent of his famous yet evil uncle?s. He even became the lead player in the Junior Reno Actors? Guild. However, at about the same time Ronald was born, Janette?s brother Tito fathered a child whom he named Jermaine. Like Janette, Tito fled to Reno to avoid the public eye. Jermaine and Ronald were nearly identical in every aspect- They were both great actors, had beautiful singing voices, and they posessed a school boy-ish charm that contrasted with their wild sides. In theory, they were two boy bands all in one. The duo were extremely competetive, and at one point Jermaine questioned Ronald?s authority as their Acting Guild?s lead player. The two were to settle the issue in a dance-off, the most common way of settling celebrity bouts, outside of court. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]Many of the citezens of Reno turned out for the event, and somehow Janette and Tito heard nothing about it. At high noon, just as the clock struck twelve, the sound of disco began to fill the ears of the shouting crowd. Jermaine started first, warming up with some John Travolta-esque moves, and Ronald retorted with some particularly fancy footwork. The two fought back and forth, and had to cycle through their combined 8-track tape collections four times, and by that point the sun had almost set. The two competing cousins, though extremely boogied out, showed no sign of stopping, until those who were watching wanted to go home and watch Starsky and Hutch. "Give it up, man! You, like, just aren?t getting much done if you?re gonna, like, kill yourselves by dancing too much, and stuff!" [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]Even as the scary hippie man spoke, the two persisted, but suddenly, with a twist, Roland burst out in a final crazy-cool move that created enough force to knock Jermaine down. "Stop!" Cried the loser. "I give up, man! You are the groovier dancer, and our leader!" [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]"No, man," said Roland. "It was the over-puffiness of my ?fro that knocked you over, by chance. You and me?ll lead the Performing Troop side by side." Some of the audience let out a half-hearted "Groovy!", but most of the crowd had lost interest and were already at home watching Starsky?s car drive off of a ramp on television. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]Now by this point, Roland was ten (And still unaware that he was related to the great Stonely Five), and Jack O. had released a multi-platinum solo record. He decided to run a nation-wide "Just Jack O" tour, and one of the main stops was in Reno. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]Luckily, the Junior Reno Actors? Guild, or J-RAD, had been able to score front-row tickets to one of the two performances. Ronald, who was standing up in his seat, thought that he saw Jack O. give him a kindly smile. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]After the show, the entire Troop went to Ronald?s house for juice boxes and pizza. "Hey, Mom," said young Ronald, "I saw Jack O. in person, and he seemed to look at me like he knew me, man! He?s the most friendly celebrity in the world, man! I wouldn?t mind being a roadie on his tour."[/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]And his mother replied, in a low voice, "He really does have all the moves, but he can be cruel, unjust and self-centered." [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]"But Mom, you told me that my dad was an A-list actor and put out an album at one point. Why shouldn?t I tell Jack O. about my genes and ask him if I can at least carry his bags? Then, maybe, he?ll see my sweet moves and tell a record label about me."[/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]Yet Janette persisted. "Listen, boy. You are quite the performer for your age. Now there?s something I have to tell you. But you have to keep it a secret, boy!" Ronald nodded eagerly, and leaned forward in his seat. His mother then told him about her being one of the Stonely Five, how he was directly related to Jack O, and how she was disowned by the touring pop idol. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]By this point Ronald?s face was extremely red with anger. "I bet he?s sitting in his royal suite right now, while we sit here and starve. Well, Momma, don?t you worry. I?m gonna get you a good meal right now." And with that the young boy stomped into the ball room of the Five Star Hotel in which Jack O. was staying. He walked into the center of the room, right in front of Jack O.?s table, and said aloud, "My momma?s starving right now, and it ain?t right for you to have so much when she has so little." And with that, he took a few plates of food and a glass of wine off the table, and left. Just about everyone in the hall had too many drinks that night to have really noticed the kid. However, two of the bouncers who did not drink noticed the lad, and decided to follow him because he seemed rather shady. And eventually they came to the tiny Reno apartment, and saw the young boy urging his mother to eat the food (Though they had no clue who she was). [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]When Ronald noticed the two large men with sunglasses looking through their window, they both explained that they worked for Jack O., and that they meant no harm to either of the two "Ghetto Superstars." They then took the frightened family to Jack O., and when he saw that it was truly his sister in front of him, he showed great joy and happiness. Truthfully, he could have cared less about seeing either of them, but he needed an opening act for the rest of his tour. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]After his first show as his uncle?s opening act, a Hollywood agent contacted him and submitted a demo to a record label. After his first multi-platinum single, Ronald Stonely became a household name. As for his mother and uncle, the two of them never really were on good terms again. They merely seemed to enjoy each other?s company for the press. [/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]---[/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium]I'm well aware that it's not Shakespeare. In fact, even by my standards this is an awful story. It just seemed to have a few bits of humor in it, so I thought I'd post it.[/font] [font=Franklin Gothic Medium][size=1]Note: It's a Semi-Musical because it was originally intended to have song and (more) dance, but I was too lazy to do anything of the sort.[/i][/size][/font] [/color]

[color=navy]Ah, Shippo, your work is always fun to look at. [b]Di Gi Charat--[/b] This one, I really like. The image you used is great for the banner, and it's high quality. The design you used in the background, coupled with the text, makes a very nice effect in this image. I honestly can't think of anything wrong with it. [b]9.8/10[/b] [b]Sasuke--[/b] This one isn't quite as good. Sasuke's hair's crop looks rather grainy, and he seems a little too bright. However, the background is quite nice. It works well with the pattern and text that you used. [b]8.2/10[/b] [b]Kakashi--[/b] Well, you used the same basic pattern and color scheme as the Sasuke banner with this one. Did you intend for them to be part of a Naruto set, or do you just like the blue abstract backgrounds? I noticed you used a similar style for your animated Naota banner. If I were you, I would look into a little more variety. The sprite is very cute, however the Kakashi to the right is of rather low quality. I suppose that can't be helped with a .GIF, though. [b]8.6/10[/b] Nice job, but you should strive for variance.[/color]

[color=navy]Yes, at first I was really disappointed by this game. Normally the deal is, between my younger brother and myself, that I always play through one player mode for a while so he knows what to do, regardless of the game. Well, that did not work well with this game. The single player, I thought, was very dull. Multiplayer, as others have addressed, is much more enjoyable. It feels as if it's some sort of Massive Multiplayer Online RPG, in a sense. You have to communicate with your team mates, and a lot more strategy has to be used when you have three or four people working together. You may have one or two characters (Lilties and Clavats, I would assume) doing most of the damage- one might cover the other when he's charging up for a focus attack-, a Yuke will be doing some magicite-based damage, as well as healing party members, and a fourth may act as a distraction (while carrying the chalice, perhaps) to the enemies. There's more methods with more players than with just yourself and Mog. There is a bit of a problem with a thick plot being in FF:CC, though. If you only have a couple people playing in a cooperative file, you are most likely going to have those two people cycling between a few characters, so that they have a well-balanced team that is prepared for any occasion. Now, if you come across some sort of major plot twist with one set of characters, another set would be left out. Now, having those left out just being "informed" by one of the characters who witnessed the event would be sort of be a cheap excuse, correct? Plus, you're creating your own story, which is chronicled (No pun intended) in your diary. If you read that, you have a half-feasible plot. It's certainly not as deep as FFVII or FFX, I know, but it's still there. If you want the plot and graphics, then you should stick with the PlayStation Final Fantasy games. They seem to emphasize on turn-based, "traditional" Role Playing Games, whereas Square Enix seems to use Nintendo for changes of pace as of late- Crystal Chronicles and FF: Tactics Advance being the two examples. [/color]

[color=navy]Well, from what I've heard, [u]Shounen Sunday[/u] is supposed to appeal to both male and female demographics. I mean, Love Hina and Inuyasha were published in it, and those have a pretty wide range of fans, correct? Technically, Shueisha's [u]Ribbon[/u] is their equivalent to a "Shoujo Jump." It is, like Jump and Sunday, a weekly anthology, and is immensely popular. I can't think of any popular titles that were published in Ribbon off the top of my head, though. I may check the official site later on tonight to check. Lady Katana hit the major points that I agree with, though. Raijin Comics is published weekly, I believe, and it is a thin magazine. It doesn't quite give off the allure of a thick Shonen Jump, I imagine, to a new reader. 450 pages look a lot more cost-effective than a thin little weekly book, even though there technically are about as many Jump pages to Raijin pages by an end-of-month total. I can imagine an American Ribbon, Shounen Sunday or Shoujo Jump coming to America eventually, but it would probably be in Viz's best interests to hold off for a while until their current Jump gains a bit more popularity, and romance manga isn't bunched together with action titles by the majority of the girls of the nation.[/color]

[font=Times New Roman][color=navy][font=Arial]Yes, I'm very familiar with this sort of thing. Earlier this year, a friend of mine shouted something at a group of more athletic people (As in the bad kind of athletic people; i.e. annoying jocks). It was not meant in any way to be offensive to those people. In fact, he was really just trying to get them to talk to one of their acquaintances. They, however, took it as some sort of threat, and ended up confronting him. [/font] [font=Arial]For my friend, talking didn?t help. The more he talked, the more they pushed his back against the brick wall. Eventually, some school faculty came over and got them off of him, but those people are still very bitter to this day.[/font] [font=Arial]Similar situations have occurred with my group of friends, as they are non-conformist, short, and outspoken a lot of the time. Thus, because they are different, they are harassed by those of physical superiority.[/font] [font=Arial]I suppose that a psychologist major could explain why people do this. Heck, maybe anyone with common sense could make a decent theory or idea about it. I would imagine that these people, who are considered popular by most of the students, believe that certain things are expected of them. Or more likely it?s just that they feel insecure about themselves.. And pushing others down to feel superior would be considered the "easiest" way to gain some self-esteem. And who would want to go around picking on the largest, most bully-ish person in the school? They want to go for the smaller, probably more introverted people. Or at least the people who slouch or have glasses.[/font] [font=Arial]I?ve learned to just avoid these people. Keep a low profile, or tell a counselor if you disagree, but logic and discussion won?t work with idiots.[/font] [font=Arial]In a way, however, I?d advise against taking my advice. I?m a 13-year-old sociophobe who just ignores the annoying people. There must be something I?m not doing right.[/font][/color][/font]

[quote name='Inuyashas#1girl']U also can get a metal dance pad for afound 199$ or it my be a lower price i am not excact if that is the price.[/quote] [color=navy]You can also get the Ignition 2 Pad for only $100. I'm surprised it's not more than that, though. You see, it has this really strong grip material on the bottom so the pad won't slide easily, and it has a really thick foam insert that you stick into the pad. The steps are raised up, and they light up when tapped. It's pretty awesome, if you have the cash (I personally don't own it; I just saw it at a friend's house). I see no real need to spend $100 more on a metal pad when you can get the Ignition 2. I mean, this thing is lighter, and more portable, and it works on most carpet, in theory. If you are an [i]extreme[/i] DDR Freak, a metal pad would be choice, and it makes for a good conversation piece, but the foam insert pad with solid grip works just about as well.[/color]

[color=navy]Time to take a stroll down memory lane. [b]What was your first anime that you ever watched?[/b] Technically, for me, it was the original Speed Racer back when it aired sort of late at night, but I never really got into it. That was back when I was five or six, I think, and I didn't think much of it. About a year later came the invasion of Pokemon. I used to try and get up early to watch the Pokemon anime back when it was on UPN, though the only episode I remember seeing all the way through was when Pikachu found that big herd of other Pikachu and Raichu.. You'll never hear me divulge that thought ever again. Heh. [b]Do you feel that time has made you more picky about which titles you watch/buy?[/b] Of course! My tastes have certainly changed since the early Pokemon era. I've jumped from Pokemon and Digimon to Evangelion and .hack//SIGN. Nowadays, I utterly despise poor dubs and shallow plotlines, and focus more on the symbolism and psychology of deeper, more complex shows. I'd rather blow my brains out than watch Plus, these days I have to spread my money out between video games, anime DVDs and arcade scourgings, so I sort of have to be more picky about which titles I buy. And, at the same time, I see more and more series coming out that look very fun and interesting. So many titles, so little cash. [b]If you had watched some of your current favorite shows when you first got into anime, would you have been able to appreciate them as much as you do now?[/b] Oh, I seriously doubt that. Though I maybe would have enjoyed exposing my little seven-year-old brain to Eva-versus-Angel fights in Evangelion, I could certainly not appreciate the art or depth of the character development at the level that I do today. And as for .hack//SIGN.. Well, let's say that I would have given up after the first episode. My little brain needed some sort of action (even if it was poorly animated cute-demon-monsters hitting each other with bubbles), and the dialogue would have bored me to tears. [/color]

[color=navy]Ah, I see you've finally decided to post it, PT. I like the idea of a Resident Evil-based Simpsons game, and you displayed it quite well in this drawing. Of course, some of the character models are off. Bart's face is too stretched out vertically, and Lisa's eyes are somewhat eliptical, but it's not like this is a recent drawing or anything, so I can't entirely blame the PT we know today. I like the zombie Moe most. He's the most authentic-looking of the characters in this drawing, and the expression is nice, too. Plus, you have to love the logo. [b]7.8/10[/b] Pretty nice. I'd like to see some of the other work you've told me about.[/color]

[color=navy]Ah, Dance Dance Revolution. It's such a refreshing break from the traditional fighters and shooters of the arcade. I've been playing the game for about five months, I'd say, in waves of can't-stop-going-to-the-arcade followed by a period of being too broke to really put out any more quarters. I normally play standard mode on Extreme (It's the only version available in this town, other than the Korean Mix, but I honestly don't know where that one is). I really haven't played much in a while, so my poor, formerly DDR-sculpted legs couldn't keep up with the music. Also, as far as tips go, I have one that I had to learn the hard way:[/color] [b][color=navy]If you're not confident in your skills, [i]never[/i] play with someone you don't know.[/color][/b] [color=navy]Basically, I learned this after watching this one person do a lot of freestyle in front of his friends. That same guy is in the arcade a lot, playing either standard-level freestyling, with a lot of steps hit with the knee or the hand, or he plays heavy-level songs with extra steps he adds and lots of flashy techniques with freeze arrows (I saw him hit two freezes like they were constant sixty-fourth notes, and he still got O.K.'s on them- He's that light on his feet), and eventually he and his gaggle of fans left.[/color] [color=navy]Just as I was about to play, they suddenly came back, put in two quarters (he was nice about asking if he could play too; he seems nice overall), and ended up choosing all the songs. I had to go through hell with Max 300 and Afronova, as I was too stupid or worried about credability to lower my level to light mode for the songs, and did horribly. It was quite the embarrasing experience, and I have not played in public since.[/color] [quote][i]Maladjusted originally wrote:[/i] [color=#b22222][color=darkred]What else did you expect? Lol. It'd be cool if you could put in your songs...somehow..O_o. *shrugs*[/color] [/color][color=black][/quote][/color] [color=navy]Well, at least with Karaoke Revolution for the PlayStation 2, people can use their PS2 Online Accounts to download new songs. Given, they are rather poor American songs for the most part, but the same method is used in Xbox's DDR Ultra Mix, if I have my stories straight. This is another reason why I need a PlayStation 2. EDIT: Okay, Kazuko informed me that there are little packs one can buy for DDR Ultra Mix with four or five songs on them (for five dollars), and one does not download new songs for UltraMix off Xbox Live.[/color]

[color=navy]There are a lot of programs out there, I suppose (I even found one designed specifically for colorizing manga and anime-based fanart one time), but most people tend to use either Paint Shop Pro or PhotoShop. When we got our scanner, I invested in a copy of Paint Shop Pro 8. It is certainly a wonderful program, and it was very user friendly. The only experience I had with digital editing on the computer before I got PSP8 was MSPaint, and it didn't take me long to learn the basics of this much better program. It has a lot of nice textures for the fill option that, when properly used, make a good substitute for screentones if you are into making manga. Plus, it's only 99 dollars at Best Buy, and you get a $20 rebate via mail. It's worth the investment, considering that it's almost equivalent to PhotoShop, which is a $300 program, if I remember correctly. PhotoShop is a lot more professional, however, but it isn't as user-friendly. I remember first using it and being so frustrated without the "Paste As A New Image" option that PSP had. I think I am getting the hang of it, though. I really haven't done too much in PhotoShop yet, but I think I have the basics. If you just toy around with it, you eventually start to understand stuff. The text features on PS are much better than PSP, though. I'm not sure why, but Paint Shop Pro really is not good with text. Anything under 24-point font looks awful and near impossible to read, but PhotoShop doesn't have that problem as much. Those are the two programs that most people use, but there are a lot of others out there. I think Baron Samedi uses something that I've never really heard of other than from him, but he works wonders with it. I say that you should just start with Paint Shop Pro 8 once you have the money, and eventually work your way up.[/color]

[color=navy]You know, I brought an old issue of Shonen Jump to school one time and left it out on my desk.. One of my classmates picked it up and started reading from the back cover, as if it was written in American fasion. It's pretty funny to watch, if you know SJ is printed right-to-left, "as the writers originally intended it". Honestly, I don't care if the manga is printed right to left, left to right, or in any other manner. As long as I get the storyline that was originally intended by the mangaka, and the "mirror" image created for a left-to-right format doesn't have a lot of Roman letters flipped backwards, I'm fine with it. I do, however, think that a hardcore manga fan would want to own something as close to its original design as possible. For example, I enjoy the Excel Saga manga's Japanese sound effects. When I'm really bored and have nothing else to do, sometimes I'll sit down with a volume of ES (Or any manga that I own other than Eva, because I have the left-to-right edition) and just go through the sound effects, and guess what they mean without looking at the guide in the back. Plus, Viz's English sound effects are sort of.. Strange. I don't know why, but they just bother me. Maybe some manga newbies would be scared away by something like right-to-left comics. But, at the same time, that classmate of mine who picked up the Shonen Jump was intrigued at reading something in a different way. He enjoyed the variance, as if it were some sort of interesting gimmick from the manga industry. Besides, it's not like it takes too long to get used to reading the opposite way. Sure, back with Shonen Jump's first issue I flipped to a page I had already read on occasion because it was a reflex to turn pages in a left-to-right fashion, but I got the hang of it after a short while. But Viz, Darkhorse, Tokyopop and the rest can do what they want. I'll still be reading their products, regardless of how they print my favorite titles. I'm sure that "reading backwards" won't keep that many people away from manga.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was the first Role Playing Game I ever got into to the slightest degree. Before that, all I really played was platformers and the occasional racing game, and I thought that SMRPG was the greatest game in existence. Oh, I was such a foolish seven-year-old child.. I did not know it at the time, considering I was a total newbie to RPGs and gaming in general, but Legend of the Seven Stars has a very generic, oftentimes overused Battle System- The turn based, go-first-if-you're-fastest system. SMRPG certainly pulled it off well enough, but nowadays I need something innovative, something more fresh in a battle system and new to keep me really interested. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga really fit my criteria. I had never played a game with such an intriguing yet simple Battle System before.. When I first heard about the concept I thought that it was [i]too[/i] simple, and really had no desire to buy Mario and Luigi. A week after it came out, however, my friend bought the game and would not stop talking it. At one point he "accidentally" left the cartridge at my house, and I ended up playing that game non-stop so that I would have it done by the time he realised he was missing the game. It was a rather dull system at first, back when you could only jump, but once you got the [spoiler]fire and electricity[/spoiler] abilities things really got fun. Jumping to avoid enemies seemed like a rather stupid idea to me (outside of the realm of platformers), because it sounded rather easy, but every enemy has two or three different speeds or movements in which they attack, and the only way to tell what they are planning ahead of time is to watch every little detail of their movements. It's good, challenging stuff late in the game. I haven't played many Real-Time RPGs, but the bits and pieces of the .hack games I have played were pretty fun and exciting. The high-octane thrills of an action/adventure game combined with the variety in attacks and techniques of various characters with traditional, turn-based RPGs makes for a fun experience.[/color]

[color=navy]Yes, I think WHR being on Adult Swim is a very wise move. It has a feel to it that would come from an Adult Swim front-runner in the making. The series has an interesting, original premise that it's particularly individual in the anime realm. Sure, there have been vampire anime, but very rarely does one hear about a dark, occult witchcraft-based series (And by this I mean that Shoujo manga with magical girls that sometimes have cute poses with witch costumes on do not count). Though the animation is very fluid and stylistic, I am not a fan of the character designs. The noses and mouths really bother me, but that's just a pet peeve of an Evangelion purist such as myself. I have had the first DVD for over two months now, which came with the box (with limited edition styrofoam where the rest of the series will go) and quite a few other goodies. Disc one, "Arrival", contains the first five episodes in the series. There wasn't any particular episode I liked most, each and every one of them is pretty solid for stand-alone eps, but I do think the first episode moved rather slowly. But hey, if I endured .hack//SIGN without thinking it was moving slowly at all, I can get through the slow, earlier portion of Witch Hunter Robin, right? But yes, when I have the money I plan on expanding my Witch Hunter Robin DVD collection, considering having a box for an anime series with only one DVD in my posession is stupid, and I'm too lazy to set my VCR to record the Adult Swim showings (Sennen wants his Tivo). Most of the reviews on Amazon.com are saying that "Arrival" and the earlier part of the second disc are filler episodes used to introduce characters, but WHR really picks up by the end of DVD two.[/color]

[color=navy]Yes, with a new OB version comes a new banner and avatar from OtakuSennen. After being heavily inspired by Kinetic's new banner, I decided to toy around with Paint Shop Pro for a while. I then came across various patterns and designs that can be placed into a work. One happened to be this swirly, liquid-ish design that appealed to me. I then decided to make a banner out of this. The Change-to-Target tool once again was a godsend, and I made both orange and blue versions. After deciding that I could not decide between the two, blue and orange were then fused together into one wonderfully swirly banner. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/Fire-n-ice-JPG.jpg[/img][/center] I really do like this one, and my only problem with it is the text. I just can never get text to work properly.. It must be a curse. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/Fire-and-ice-ava.jpg[/img][/center] Again, here is another avatar to throw on the pile of poorly done ones. I have never, and I mean [i]never[/i] made a half-decent avatar. They're all just poorly done crop-jobs or something that would have looked better if it were well-done. Yeah, I'm going to go kill my computer for crashing on me three times before I had the oppurtunity to save these images.[/color]

[color=navy]A friend introduced me to this band not too long ago, actually. The only thing I really had heard from them before was a thirty second long sound byte of Chic 'N' Stu, but I borrowed one of my friends' SOAD CDs (I believe it was Steal This Album, but I'm not sure. Funny thing, though- It was a burned disc made up of Kazaa-loaded MP3s) to get more familiar with their music. I suppose, for one such as myself who's more into Japanese Pop and 70's Rock, this is rather refreshing to listen to. It is, in a way, exhilirating to listen to, but I'm sure there are better bands of the genre out there. I just haven't taken the time to really look into it. Chic 'N' Stu is still my favorite, though. SOAD just has some sort of intriguing quality about them, and this song exemplifies it. There's just something about it that appeals to me; I can't think of a decent way to describe it. The lead vocalist's performances are rather irritating, in my opinion. I sort of just drown him out, and listen to the actual melody nowadays. But I would say that SOAD is a decent band- Not the greatest in existence, but they certainly fun to listen to on occasion.[/color]

[color=navy]I don't know if I've ever actually posted in one of your threads, Kinetic, but I must say that I absolutely love each and every one of your banners. This one keeps the consistency of what I have seen of your banners- It's semi-abstract with vibrant, eye-catching colors and a tone that seems to just make one say "Yeah, I can tell that's a Kinetic banner". The yelow really works with this one. My only gripe is the yellow "euphOria". It certainly deserves to be there, of course, but the "eu" is too bright, and difficult to read. I know that anyone with half a brain could make the connection between the white euphOria and the yellow ph0ria, but it's just a personal preference of mine to have that more visible. Besides, I have to make constructive criticism, and that's all I can come up with when it comes to this banner. [b]9.3/10[/b] Bravo.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Hooray, I can complain about what I don't have yet. I'm going to enjoy this. [b]Witch Hunter Robin Volume Two and Up-- [/b] I received the limited edition Volume One last December, but didn't get quite what I was expecting. It moved slowly and the episodes were rather boring, but I may as well get the rest of the series somebody paid money for the box. Not to mention the series is supposed to pick up in Disc Two. [b]FLCL Volume Three--[/b] I bought the first two discs a while ago, but have not had the oppurtunity to purchase the third. I know I have seen all of the series (Except for the first few minutes of episode 6), but it is something I loved to buy. [b]Excel Saga Volumes Three through Seven--[/b] This is another series that I haven't entirely finished off. Normally, if a title is available in both manga and anime forms, I spring for the cheap one. The Excel Saga manga and anime, however, are very little alike. And I believe the anime is funnier, though a bit more random and not as well-animated. [b].hack//Legend of Twilight--[/b] This one won't be out until summer (unless Bandai holds it back), but I am already anticipating this one. The .hack//LoT manga was very good, and I want to see how well it translated into an animated form. And, as a .hack devotee, I feel an obligation to purchase all thirteen episodes. [b]Grave of Fireflies--[/b] I have heard nothing but applause for this movie, so I plan on buying it whenever I have the extra money (Which may be never, but we'll see..). I think I may spread out my funds too much. Perhaps I should finish off one series, then move on to the next.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]For the moment, there are no plans, or even a hint of one, for a new .hack game. From what Bandai and the creators of Project .hack have stated, it seems that this franchise is basically wrapped up in Japan. .hack//DUSK is said to be the finale to it all, and it has been completed. But think about it. [spoiler]By the end of .hack//Quarantine, the major issues of .hack will have been solved. And do you want the series to be ruined by a second, more stale, most likely unoriginal plotline?[/spoiler] I suppose that soon enough a new franchise will come here to the US that is similar in style to .hack that we all may love. Let's just keep it all short and sweet before it gets tired and repetitive.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]I have seen bits and pieces of Cyborg 009, as is the case with most anime Toonami runs these days, just to see if it's worth watching. From what I saw, I wasn't totally thrilled. I never have been fond of the "retro anime" look, but it can't be helped with this series. After all, the manga was originally published way back in the sixties, and most anime looked like Osamu Tezuka's work back then. The anime that is airing on Toonami is a twenty-first century remake of the outdated Cyborg 009 animation that was popular in Japan back in the 70's. I can see why this series was so popular back in the olden days- The setup is pretty original, even to today's standards in some ways. Some of the battle sequences are pretty sweet as well. Still, though, I really don't watch this show anymore. It's just not my kind of show, and the dubbing is bothersome. The manga may be worth checking out, though.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Yes, I was very bored tonight, and decided that my Johnny the Homicidal Maniac theme had run its course. I then thought that creating a set of Witch Hunter Robin banners (plus an avatar to match) would be worth it, if done well. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/WHR-banner.png[/img][/center] This is the first one I made, and is in my opinion the best one. I took a screen shot from the opening Witch Hunter Robin sequence, added the logo, and put in a second screen. It worked out rather nicely. The logo is sort of scratchy looking.. It pasted in and kept part of the border, which made a bad effect. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/WHR-banner2.png[/img][/center] The second Witch Hunter Robin banner. It doesn't have a border, and I know I'll be scorned for that (particularly by AzureWolf and Kazuko), but it would have looked too closed in if it had such a thing around it. This one took the shortest amount of time to make, probably because I didn't do the black background with feathering of the image. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/WHR-banner3.png[/img][/center] I like how this one seems very solemn and dark. The image alone was very dramatic, but adding the black border and lightening the background behind Robin's back added to the feel. This one is certainly good. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/WHR-OB-ava.jpg[/img][/center] Oh, what a poor job I did on this one. I resized my current MyOtaku icon, and it did not turn out well. It's far too small to read the logo and the quality got smashed when it went from .PNG to .JPG. [center][img]http://otakusennen.250free.com/WHR-OB-ava2.jpg[/img][/center] I then made this one. Its dark blue and gray hues match the banners more than the bright orange in the other avatar, plus it seems to be of higher quality anyway. I added a regular 2-pixel black border, and decided to leave it alone. Adding any text would clutter it some. So there you have it, the three banners I will have circulating in my signature (In a random image PHP file, of course), my new avatar, and a reject ava that shall never see the light of day again.[/color]