OtakuSennen

[color=midnightblue]I don't honestly remember directly writing a report about anime, but I draw manga all the time in Art Class (And I have an A in the class!). My art teacher used to be an animator for Disney, so he likes how several students in the class, including myself, are rather gifted with anime-influenced drawings. He has most of the class doing random assignments, like making landscapes or designing a product box, but our art teacher has two or three of my peers and I designing our own manga: Writing out the script, then creating an outline, followed by a minor storyboard and then the actual comic. He's having us work rather professionally about it, taking all those steps and then actually creating the comic. For a while Mr. Chisholm (The teacher) had us trying to stay away from the style of anime- He wanted us to have a wide array of styles under our belts, and he wanted us to use them. Then he learned that we're only good at drawing manga, and he gave that ideal up. I'd like to do a report on anime or manga, but I have never really had an oppurtunity to do such a thing. All of my reports in the past have been very straight-forward and limited, each with a set subject that we couldn't change. That may change, though, now that I have such flexible teachers this year.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]My dear friend Syk3 officially dubbed this banner, and I quote, "****ING A" via AOL Instant Messenger. I think he may be right, this may be my best banner ever. [center][img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=541755[/img][/center] The first took a picture of a couple of cooling towers at a power plant from Google, then I made the entire image either orange or black. It took me a while to find the fill tool's proper tolerance level, but it was worth it. I then did the same thing to a couple pictures of clouds, and added them to a few paint brush strokes to give off the effect of smoke exiting the cooling tower. I added in some water, softened it, then added in the word "Industrialization" in a second layer in a nice, new font that I downloaded off some web site just for the occasion. There's a radioactive symbol on the cooling tower, but the text basically covers it all. That may be a good thing; I kind of ruined it after a little accident with some paint brushes that Paint Shop Pro wouldn't let me reverse. Actually, I was being lazy when I pasted in the text with it set so that white would be invisible. The gray-ish stuff you see around the text is actually leftover blurred background that wasn't quite white enough to be erased. Syk and I think it actually turned out to be a good thing, though. Enjoy.[/color]

[url=http://www.konami.com/ddrextreme/#]Official Page[/url] [quote] [i]From DDRFreak.com:[/i] [b]Jan 9, 2004 - DDR Extreme US release announced for this fall![/b] Konami has released a web site and details on DDR Extreme for the US PS2 today. This release promises, "over 100 minutes of dance music plus brand new game modes." In addition, IGN has announced further details including the mention of a brand-new "Mission Mode" where players have to complete special tasks to pass a song. A screen capture on IGN's site shows four songs: A Stupid Barber, CSFIL ~Speed Mix~, Mobo Moga, and Sweet Sweet (Heart) Magic. More details will be announced as they are released.[/quote] [color=midnightblue]At last, Dance Dance Revolution Extreme is coming to a home console. Now I don't have to go to the mall and waste pounds upon pounds of quarters on the "DDR Medley." The concept of a Mission Mode peaks my interest; a sort of Weapon Master mode for Dance Dance Revolution should be very interesting. The additions of extra modes makes this version seem to be more of a different game, not just the same thing with different songs. According to one of the images on the offical site, (which I was going to put in this post, but the images are bitmaps that don't have usable URLs for image tags) there is going to be a very large number of selectable characters that you can use, though most of them look like you need to unlock most of them. The grid shows 21 squares by three, but one is a random selector and the center one looks like it's not usable. That makes a total of sixty-one selectable characters for Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. I have never had the privilege of owning a PlayStation, one or two, but DDR has always been near the top of my Most Wanted Sony Games list. And, now that I finally am getting close to purchasing a PS2, I'm thinking that this is going to be the game I am going to buy along with the console and a thick foam pad. Here's to Konami for producing what is shaping up to be another great Bemani mix.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Heh, Azure, I didn't know you played DDR. I first played the arcade version, specifically Max 2, of DanceDance Revolution in our local mall's arcade maybe seven months ago, and I have heavily enjoyed starting. The only reason I regret it is because of the vast amount of money that I have pumped into that machine that could have been put towards an actual PlayStation 2, the home game and a metal pad, or something. I have played a lot, and I normally play three of my set of six songs that I tend to play at our mall's DDR Extreme on standard mode. 1. Fantasy by Melissa-- My "required" song that I have to play a set of three songs. This has become my favorite and best choice of song, and I tend to get A's on it. The other day I got AA. 2. Butterfly by Smile.DK-- I normally play this song either when I'm warming up, I can't think of a better one to play or if there are a lot of people watching, and I feel like I need to play something I'm good at. 3. Nori Nori Nori by Judy Crystal-- This song is a rather easy one, but it's just fun to do. The melody's extremely upbeat and catchy, and the animations are interesting, to say the least. I was once put to shame when a fellow Standard player unexpectedly played this song on Heavy, and still doing better than me at it. 4. Candy (Star) by Luv Unlimited-- This is another song with a good beat, and is fun to play, but the 8th notes during the bridge really throw me off. I don't play this one as often as I would like to, but practice makes perfect. 5. We Will Rock You by House Boyz-- The only slower beat song I frequently play, because I am familiar with how it goes. Plus, the steps are on pretty obvious places in the music. The entire thing is basically hitting two steps, occasionally the same one, and then a left/right step jump. It's really an easy one, but fun nonetheless. 6. Paranoia by (I forgot and am too lazy to check DDRfreak.com)-- Normally to impress people I'll play this song with someone else. It's not like I get a very good grade on this one; it's just a good finisher that I can squeak a C by on, if I'm really warmed up. Also, Konami recently launched a page for [url=http://www.konami.com/ddrextreme/#]DanceDance Revolution Extreme for PlayStation 2,[/url] and it certainly looks promising. Thought I'd toss that out.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Yeah, I remember this show from its syndication on Cartoon Network a while back (Ah, the disadvantages of youth..), but I still remember Captain Planet rather vividly. It was one of my first shows that I absolutely had to watch every time it was on, even if I had seen it a hundred times, and annoy the sanity out of my parents with the theme song as I repeatedly sung the bridge over and over for hours on end. I remember the plot well, and the characters remain vivid in my mind. Except for their names. Those weren't very original, anyway. There was the outgoing, leader-esque fire character, red hair, with one of those strange, optimistic/can accomplish anything voices reminiscent from cartoons of the era. The wind character was a blonde, foreign female with a funny accent, wasn't she? They all kind of were poorly constructed characters, design-wise and mentally, but plot wasn't the strong point of this show. The morals that were held within were the point. I don't know how many people were actually affected by Captain Planet, and it may not have saved the human race from its inevitable suicide, but it captured the hearts of a generation, which I think deserves some recognition. Here's to you, Captain Planet. You taught us that the power is ours.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Don't you just love these .hack//SIGN theory threads? 1) Well, regarding Tsukasa's father, [spoiler]it's not truly known if our protagonist's father was always a drunken wreck, or if he just got that way when Tsukasa's mother died. Either way, Tsukasa's dad is negligent and abusive, and Tsukasa became an extremely introverted child by the age of eight because of her dad.[/spoiler] 2) I'm not sure about that one. Quite honestly, I didn't notice it, though if I must guess, I would assume that one, if not both, of [spoiler]Sora's parents either doesn't live with him or his folks aren't around much. That may explain how a ten-year-old could get away with being in an online game so much.[/spoiler] 3) The voice that speaks to Tsukasa is known as Morganna. It is generally thought that she is [spoiler]A program of strange properties inserted into The World by Harold, a sort of "copy" of his beloved but gone Emma, not a wife, but just a friend. That's where the girl, Aura, came from as well. She is a "tangible form" of Harold's love for Emma, what he thought a child of theirs would be like. She, along with Morganna, were meant to bring a new and prosperous age to The World.[/spoiler] But one of two things happened that were rather strange: 1. Their purpose was twisted and they became "evil." Or, at least, Morganna did. 2. The evil intentions Morganna had were supposed to happen in the first place. [spoiler]After all, by the time .hack//Legend of Twilight comes around, The World is quite prosperous and full of cheer.[/spoiler] And those are some of my thoughts, revised after watching the series another time through.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Yeah, DW's too good to take the time to go through the horribly painful process of darkening the colors via Paint Shop Pro. :p But yeah, this is certainly a great piece of work, Gavynn. I think that your hand-written comics are better than most of your recent Disasterpiece movies. I dunno, I guess they just have sort of lost their luster. They're still great, and they have some really funny stuff, but this is just.. New and improved, in my eyes. I like the style you used in drawing Skaterman. It really fits his skateboard-obsessive, "Sk8tr speak" persona that he so perfectle emenates. I enjoy where you're going with this, and I truly hope to see a lot more of your hand-drawn comics in the future. [b]Part One grade: 8.8[/b] Just put a little more effort into the drawings. It'll be worth it, I'm sure.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]1. Cropping can simply be done by creating a Point-To-Point selection, copying, and pasting as a new image. That may not be the simplest way to do it, but that is what I tend to do with my work. 2. This one took me a while to figure out as well. Transparency is referred to as opacity in Paint Shop Pro. To make any fill, paint brush effect, or nearly any tool partially see-through, all you have to do is alter the opacity rating on your tool bar. The lower the number, the more transparent the item is. And if you want to make an actual image transparent, you have to create a new raster layer, change that layer's opacity rating, then paste it in. 3. Tips? The only helpful information I can give to you is to practice. Toy around, and make a lot of little experimental images. It's a fun creative outlet for me. Editing images and making poor attempts at making them funny is a delightful pastime. If you have any more questions I would be glad to help, either through PM or this thread.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Well, it is true that [spoiler]Asuka seemed to die because of her "final battle" in that movie.. I'm not quite sure where I heard it, though I thought it was here on OtakuBoards a while back, but someone told me that the Asuka we see at the end of EoE was a mix of Asuka, Rei, and Misato. If I recall, Asuka's eyes at the end were not her normal blue. Perhaps they were red?[/spoiler] I don't know why, but End of Evangelion really didn't confuse me. Maybe it's because I have thoroughly read a thousand spoiler sites, or maybe because Syk "knew I wanted him to" explain parts of it to me, but I enjoyed this ending to the series. It seemed to fit, unlike endings to some other series I know which have totally out of place, dumb methods of resolvement. Maybe I just looked at it all on a superficial level, but I'm pretty sure that's not it. This is, by far, my favorite anime movie of all time, not just because it's related to Evangelion, but its script, message and overall execution was so well-done. Here's to you, Gainax, for another great work.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mei [/i] [B][color=lightblue]I like, Sen, I like.^^ I think it's adorable, though simple, which fits into the theme of the Harvest Moon games. Living a simple life, on a farm, trying to get a girl.Oo Anyways, I love the sheep in the background, and the texture, though you said you had nothing to do with it, fits well with the banner. The only thing bothering me is the kanji. For one thing, it's brown, which doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the colors. Another thing, it's right in front of the cute lil guy, and you just can't have that.^~ Overall, it's a nice banner, as are many of your others/[/color] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=midnightblue]Well, if you look at the original [url=http://www.rpgamer.com/games/harvest/hmawl/art/hmawl005.jpg]image,[/url] I just moved the Kanji over and resized it. I suppose it looked better when you could see the swirling wood effect, but by that point I was tired and wanted to get making the banner over with. Hm, maybe I should have listened to Maladjusted. She insisted I put the kanji between the HM: 64 guy and the HM: IWF (It's a Wonder Life abbreviation?) people, so it covered that one sheep. --- [center][img]http://otakuboards.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=539923[/img][/center] This is what I would consider to be my first actual humorous banner, I suppose, even though it's a rather dry in-joke. First off, for those of you who don't know my name is Nick, and I just went from there. Some rather weak inspiration struck while I was doing homework, which led to this. I guess my mind will do anything to get out of group project assignments I'm doing all alone because of incompetent team mates. This took me five minutes, and I really don't expect any praise for it, but Charles, Syk3 and AzureWolf thought it was funny enough to post. So [i]this[/i] is what I get for going to Final Fantasy sites and reading all of the fine print at the bottom of the home page..[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Yes, everyone here is correct, this is one of the best banners I've seen in a while, from most members. It really caught my eye from the moment I opened this thread. You cropped the image of Subaru extremely well, though I [i]do[/i] think I spot a little bit of everyone's favorite banner shortcut: you kind of blurred or highlighted parts of her hair in some of the choppier parts. :p Maybe you didn't do it for that reason, but from my experience that's why people do that. Either way, you can barely notice it and it is a well-fitting effect. Yeah, I think the font could be a little better. Perhaps you should make "Sign" bold and then put it in all caps, so it's more like the official logo. Or maybe you could try putting in the real .hack logo. There's screens of it from the .hack//SIGN opening all over the internet. And, more than anything else about the text, make the . more of a hexagon. It's what seemed the most "off" to me. I really do like what you did with the binary code in the background. I've seen it attempted many times (Mostly in Matrix banners), but rarely quite this well. [b]8.7/10[/b] Absolutely wonderful work, Conna.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]But then, let's remember, MetalSonic, many people may not know every single title owned by Viz. I mean, I know quite a few, but it's not like I can automatically know if it's Viz-owned or not off the top of my head. Thus that may lead to a lot of threads in the wrong places, which means a lot of moving threads for moderators. It might be a little bit of a hassle because of that broad range of topics.[/color] [quote] [i]DeathBug originally wrote:[/i] [b]For that matter, why have DBZ, YGO, YYH, etc, forums when they could fall under the Anime forum?[/b] [/quote] [color=midnightblue]Those series are very long and popular among mainstream anime fans, plus a broad range of topics could stem from one of those shows. These factors show that many people would know the series and be able to hold intelligent conversations about the titles. Besides, OtakuBoards is essentially about anime (Though it seems a lot of members could care less about the anime forums, judging by how few people are actually voting for the corresponding categories in the Otaku Awards), and having just one forum dedicated to anime seems a little odd, don't you think? I personally feel that there is no need for a manga forum, because most popular manga are turned into anime anyway, correct? Plus, I have noticed a few manga threads in the Anime Lounge that had no corresponding animated version, and nobody really noticed or cared. Manga could be considered a sub-topic to anime, and I see no need for a manga sub-forum either. If anything needs to be changed, I think a Manga/Anime hybrid forum would be best. I would keep the title of Anime Lounge, and just change the description includes manga. ..But that's just me.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]When you submit a piece of fan art to TheOtaku.com, it first has to be approved by Adam (Or, if Adam is away, James) so that no suggestive materials are found on the site. I have submitted two pages in the past, and each was loaded onto TheOtaku's fan art section within twenty-four hours. And links to your fan art will be displayed at the bottom of your myOtaku page once it is accepted. You just have to check maybe once a day, and with time the art will most likely be accepted.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Well, aside from .hack, considering it [i]is[/i] a fictional video game (and real, too, but I won't get in to that).. Noir may make a good game. The series has nice plot, good animation, pleasant character designs, among other pros. But at the same time, it would be a pretty short game (Unless you had to play through it as multiple characters). Evangelion has already produced quite a few good games, particularly Iron Maiden 1 and 2, plus the brand-new Playstation 2 game. Maybe a small fighting game might be good- You could select between the five Evas and the Angels [spoiler](Other than Kaworu, maybe..)[/spoiler]. Then perhaps it could be in third-person perspective, and play like Virtual On, if anybody remembers that game. And.. Well, that's all I can think of right now off the top of my head. Plus I'm being kicked off my my parents. I may add more later.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by AzureWolf [/i] [B]I thought we were over this EVA thing before... ;) Who is the guy in the back, and what does he have to do with the banner? That's all I'm wondering. Also, I think it'd be cool if you made that glow you had on Shinji more like spikes on a hedgehog. Not greatly, just subtely. It would put more emphasis on the words, you know? Besides that (and it suffering from Shy Syndrome), it's just like the rest of your cooly-styled banners. [/B][/QUOTE] [color=midnightblue]I thought you said you saw Eva, Azure. That's Shinji's dad, Gendou. He is a major part of Shinji's Hedgehog Dilemma. After all, a very young Shinji was basically disowned by his father, setting Shinji's opinion about the world and himself for the rest of his life (i.e. life isn't worth it, but what's even more worthless is himself). [center][img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=538541[/img][/center] Here's a new banner, inspired by a nice Harvest Moon picture I found earlier today. This one really didn't take me long at all. It's just a crop-job with a thick border and the kanji moved over to the side. I had nothing to do with that texture thing. So there you go. Shroom is saying it "****ing owns" every banner I've ever made. Go figure.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Normally I just buy one DVD at a time, get broke, come up with another thirty dollars somewhere in one or two months, and buy the next volume of the series. The only time I haven't done this, however, was with the Neon Genesis Evangelion box set. I saved up for a little over a year, waited a few months to get on the good side of my brother so I could take some of his money, and proudly bought the coveted eight discs all at once last September in our local Best Buy. I planned on sitting there all day in a dark, damp basement with a bowl of popcorn and some Doritos hunched over a small, portable DVD player taking in all of the subtitles. However, my parents highly disapproved, and I ended up watching the discs after school over a two-month period. I suppose that I took in most of the information I needed, and I understood things pretty well, though I re-watched all twenty-six episodes when I was done. I caught a lot of symbolism I didn't notice the first time around. I suppose watching an entire series in one sitting would make a pleasant experience with a rather short or simple series, but watching something with a lot of depth and character development without break.. Would probably give you a nice hefty headache for a little while if you hadn't seen the series before or didn't know much about it. But then, I suppose if you spent $160 on a batch of DVDs and finished it off in a day you might feel that you sort of wasted some cash.. "Wait. I just spent that much money on this boxset and I'm already done with it?!" Then, yes, watching one DVD several times, waiting a week to absorb all of the information, and then repeating the process with the next disc also works well, particularly with a complex and/or long series. I could go either way, though. If I had the time and money, I'd probably buy a lot more anime DVDs and watch them a lot more often. But I don't, so I tend to spend about two months watching a series.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Death and Rebirth is considered to be the first Evangelion movie, even though I see it a little more like a clip show and an extended trailer for End of Evangelion. That was one DVD purchase I look back on and kind of frown upon.. But anyway, the Asuka battle is about halfway through End of Evangelion or so, then the whole [spoiler]crazy giant nude Rei apocalyptic[/spoiler] starts going.. Buying EoE is certainly worth it, if you like the Evangelion franchise at all.[/color] [quote] [i]maladjusted originally wrote:[/i] [b]But anyways, I have a question myself. [spoiler]When Ritsuko's mother is choking Rei I, there's an extremely fast show of Kaworu's face during the whole thing. I was wondering why it happened/why it was placed in during that scene.[/spoiler][/b] [/quote] [color=midnightblue]Well,[/color][spoiler]Kaworu, the final angel, was supposed to be the angel of free will, correct? And that may very well be why he looks just like a human-- Many people believe that free will is what seperates humans from the rest of the earth's species. And, by her own free will, Ritsuko's mother murdered Rei I.[/spoiler] [color=midnightblue]That's just something that popped into my head a few seconds ago. Hope I helped.[/color]

[color=midnightblue][b][u]General Awards[/b][/u] [b]Overall Member of the Year: James[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Shinmaru (Come on, he went from newbie to mod in less than a year)[/size] [b]Male Otaku of the Year: Syk3[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: AzureWolf[/size] [b]Female Otaku of the Year: Raiha[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Terra[/size] [b]Staff Member of the Year: Semjaza Azazel[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Shinmaru[/size] [b]Funniest Member: Wrist Cutter[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: PoisonTongue[/size] [b]Most Opinionated Otaku: DeathKnight[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: PoisonTongue[/size] [b]Member most likely to be here in two years: James[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Queen Asuka[/size] [b]Best Newbie: Junior Shroom[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Best Oldie: Raiha[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Most likely to become a Staff Member: AzureWolf[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: [/color][color=white]o.o'[/color][/size][color=midnightblue] [b]Favorite Banned Member: Tayor Hewitt all the way. [/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Most improved Member of the Year:[/b] Vicky [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Thread of the Year: Premarital Sex (This thread really freaked me out when I was new, but it now has a place in my heart)[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Silliest Thread of the Year: Taylor Hewitt's suicide thread(s)[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b][u]Random Awards[/u][/b] [b]Avatar Award: (Best Avatars Overall) Charles[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Signature Award (Best Signatures Overall): James'. I mean, look at that. It's just so awesome.[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Best Location: (Best Specific Location)[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Best Otaku Couple: Syk3 and Mei[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Queen Asuka and Piro[/size] [b]Best looking Otaku: KarmaOfChaos[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: KittyLyn[/size] [b]Otaku clique of the Year: The Happy Organization of Really Nerdy Youths[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Geeks Got Game[/size] [b]Best MyOtaku: James[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Shy[/size] [b][u]Otaku Writers[/u][/b] [b]Poet Laureate:[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Writer of the Year: Mitch[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: PoisonTongue[/size] [b]Orginal Story of the Year: OtakuBoards: Enter the Net[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Role-Player of the Year:[/b] Terra [size=1]Honorable Mention: Raiha[/size] [b]Brawler of the Year (sparring):[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Role-Playing Game of the Year:[/b] Kill Adam [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b][u]Social Otakus[/u][/b] [b]Otaku Social member of the year:[/b] Japan_86 [size=1]Honorable Mention: DeathKnight[/size] [b]Entertainment Otaku of the Year:[/b] DragonWarrior [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b][u]Anime Otakus[/u][/b] [b]Otaku of the Year: (Best Anime member overall): Shy[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: [/size] [b].hack//SIGN Member of the Year: AzureWolf[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Black_Phoenix[/size] [b]DragonBall Guru: PiroMunkie[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Digipeep of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Gundam Member of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Yu-Gi-Oh Member of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Least Disappointing Yu Yu Hakusho Member: Yuyu Hakusho![/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b][u]Otaku Gamers[/u][/b] [b]Gamer of the Year: James[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Desbreko[/size] [b]Nintendo "Mario" Award: Shinmaru[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: James[/size] [b]The Sony Award: Junior Shroom[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Xbox Gamer of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]PC Gamer of the Year: DeathKnight[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b][u]Otaku Artists[/u][/b] [b]Best Graphic Designer (Banners, wallpapers, etc.): Syk3[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Baron Samdei[/size] [b]Best "Traditional" Artist (Drawings, paintings, etc.): Maladjusted[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: KlinAnime1[/size] [b]Best Spriter: Kazuko[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b][u]Series Otakus[/u][/b] [b]Series Otaku Member of the Year: Desbreko (When in doubt, vote for the corresponding moderator)[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Square/Enix Member of the Year:[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]PokéPlaque (Pokemon):[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]The Triforce Award (Zelda): Shinmaru[/b] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Mei[/size] Yes, there are my picks. And PoisonTongue, don't kill me. You know I'm your biggest fan. [/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Hack Helba [/i] [B][size=1]Why dont you increase your banner sizes? just wondering. Maybe 400x70 would even look better, I dont know I just dont like them so small and tiny.[/size] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=midnightblue]With my banners, I see no purpose in creating a larger banner now. Everything I need to be in there can fit, and with my kind of banner (Normally cropping jobs with some color changes, I'm sad to say) extra space would be irrelevant. Okay, I made this banner a couple weeks ago as well, but was too lazy to post it up until this point. Yes, with every previous banner I have made I had somebody at least advise me on the text.. But this time, though, this was all on my own, and the only thing Syk had to say about it was that it had a hidden meaning, with no real critiques (That I paid attention to). [center][img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=537103[/img][/center] The quote "Hedgehog's Dilemma" comes from what Ritsuko mentions in Evangelion rather early on. It's about how a male hedgehog wants to get close to a female hedgehog, but he really can't because of the fact that the spikes on hedgehogs' backs are painful. In a sense, the same goes for Shinji, who is afraid to get close to anyone in fear that he will get emotionally hurt. I just thought this phrase fit the first Evangelion graphic novel cover, so I made this.[/color]

[color=midnightblue]Oh my, I've had to bring this thread back from the second page of the forum two times now. I feel bad. Well, I made this banner maybe two weeks ago, and have spent a lot of time revising and changing things around.. And I've been busy, so I haven't bothered posting it. I enjoyed making this one quite a bit. I found this picture of Rei (with brown hair, [spoiler]So it might even be, perhaps, Yui)[/spoiler] on TheOtaku's Evangelion site, liked how it was drawn (In a non-perverted way), and happened to be fooling around with different paint brushes and colors at the time in Paint Shop Pro. The background I was making seemed to fit the image some, and I decided to make a cool banner from it. The fruits of my labor are sweet indeed. I find Continuum to be my select Evangelion font.. It just seems to fit the series. By the way, it says "Rei Concept" because that image was supposed to be some sort of early version of Rei in her plug suit.[/color] [center][img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=535961[/img][/center]

[color=midnightblue]Honestly, I forgot that kid existed. I never liked him, I never liked a boy band, and I most certainly never cared. Is he still alive? If you think you're better than him, go ahead and try out for the next Kid Idol or whatever. Otherwise I really don't see purpose in going on about how he's dated famous girls (most likely out of convenience or for the sake of publicity stunts) that you are infatuated with.. And, considering this person is still a minor, his parents would have rights to his money, correct? I'm not very in to reading about such things, so I don't know, but that's what information I have gathered with with my feeble intellect. [/color]

[color=midnightblue]I got the limited edition first DVD for my birthday last Wednesday, heavily anticipating a great series with a ton of character development and action, with great character design to match. I found that it somewhat fulfilled my hunger, but it's not my favorite series of all time (At least, from what I've seen). I mean, I got really hyped up about it at the 2003 Anime Expo in Anaheim, and the video they presented there in the Bandai booth showed a ton of amazing action-packed scenes.. Plus I think they put something in the Witch Hunter Robin T-shirts they were giving out had some sort of propaganda that made people want to buy the DVDs. I popped in the disc, and felt that it didn't quite meet what I was anticipating. The character design (particularly the faces) tend to bother me. The way their mouths are drawn just irritates me for some reason. I guess I'm just not used to it. I may have to lay of the Sadomoto art for a while to adapt to anything else without Eva-esque art. The first three episodes seemed a little slow and dull, though. At episode four things started to pick up, and I now enjoy the series pretty well. Of course I shall persist and buy the entire series whether I like it or not (I bought the box that fits the whole series in it, after all) and I'm pretty sure I'll be satisfied. By the way, who sang the opening theme, Shell? It kind of sounds like something Do As Infinity would perform, in my opinion..[/color]

[color=midnightblue]I'm pretty sure Rei Izumi (the artist who wrote .hack//LEGEND OF TWILIGHT), who is rather playful in her art, put in random characters from SIGN and the games just because she felt it would be interesting to have them pop up out of nowhere.. Either that or she ran out of character design ideas for background characters. Heh. Plus we have to remember the ever-magical-similar-character-designs-but-different-characters factor that is always present in .hack.. It may be the same issue as with Blackrose and Mimiru, or Tsukasa and Elk. Personally, I didn't even notice the characters in the background, but I think it could be one of any of these three theories. [spoiler]Oh, and Ginkan (Silver Knight) makes an appearance in the third volume of .hack//LOT, if I'm correct)[/spoiler][/color]

[color=midnightblue]I have not had the pleasure of being in such a relationship yet.. Of course, I'm only thirteen, so it's not like I'm horribly "behind schedule" or anything. I [i]have[/i] gotten rather close to a real kiss, though. I mean, I was kissed once.. But that was in kindergarden by some female friend of mine. Neither of us felt any romantic emotions from it, and as violated as I felt, she giggled like an idiot about it for two years. But in a more romantic sense, I have come close on two occasions. On the last day of sixth grade I stayed by the trailers with my pseudo-girlfriend.. We had agreed that we would at least try to kiss goodbye before summer vacation. Of course, because of both of our horrible introversion, as close as we got was her friend pushing me against her.. But I still didn't technically touch her at all. I held out my arm to hold myself away. Then also, about a month before that, our class went to the skating rink for an annual end-of-the-year field trip. And they threw out a much unexpected couples skate.. I was standing by the very same pseudo-girlfriend at the time, and her friends sort of pushed us together (They do that a lot, come to think of it..) and we went around the rink a few times. My friends, who all like her as well, decided to ruin the moment by throwing candy wrappers and paper plates at us from the other side of the plexiglass while screaming. The two of us spent the rest of the day together, basically. Heh, that day was pretty memorable.. And I'm still kind of in a relationship with this girl, and I feel rather strong urges to kiss her soon, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to get used to talking to her [i]in person[/i] more than online if we're going to get anywhere with this. Yes, that was a pitiful post indeed.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by AzureWolf [/i] [B]Haha, you don't have to give me any credit: I just got rid of the debris that came with scanning - nothing special. Anyway, this is one of your better works, IMO. The picture is nice, and you captured the essential parts that give the pic it's essence. Love the border (not as much as my rainbow borders, though). ;) You should be creative like this more often. [/B][/QUOTE] [color=midnightblue]Yes, but what [i]is[/i] my best banner yet? We must figure this out soon. Here is another banner.. It isn't as good as I hoped it would be, but I did not know what else to do with it. After finding an archive of nice CG pictures such as this, I decided to modify the hue some and add a home-made sunburst-ish effect.. I then added a transparent black border, intentionally thicker on the top and bottom for a sense of a kind of cinematic widescreen effect. Rather dull and poorly done, I know, but the picture made Azure and I go "Aww..!" enough to put it up. Enjoy.[/color]