Japan

I've been trying to avoid this thread, but oh well. The temptation was too great. My screen name is rather very simple to understand. Japan....the country of Japan I've seen tons of anime and I couldn't choose on just one anime to have my screen name be after. So....Japan I choose. Not only do I love anime, but I love everything else about Japan. The language, food, culture, you name it. the "_86" was just to personalize the "Japan" and the 86 stands for 1986. Eversince I joined back in 2001, I never went through any screen name changes. I never have, and I don't plan on starting anytime soon. Japan_86 is here to stay.

What is your meaning of cool? Do I have to be an athlete? Do I have to have a crowd of 'popular people' following me around every single second? If that's what your meaning is, then I am not popular. I try my hardest not to be popular. Though I do have a small group of friends. I just don't want to be a cheerleader and have a bunch of people follow me and act like they are my friends. When, in truth, they want to be just as popular as me. I hate that. For one, they aren't my true friends. Two, I am a shy person, and I hate large crowds. Three, I like to be unique. I rather have my individualism than be the same as everyone else. So, popular, I am not. I am rather a computer, and anime geek with my own style. I busy myself with learning all I can about things that matter to me. I would rather continue to snowboard, roller blade, and rock climb than join any school sport. I am not popular and I am glad.

[QUOTE=ScirosDarkblade]I haven't really seen or read any shonen-ai or shojo-ai, except for the one Revolutionary Girl Utena film I was forced to watch in a class and it was torture. I'm not sure just how completely that falls under shojo-ai, even. Not much I'd think, although there are sexual innuendoes all over the place. Is there any particular manga you guys would recommend? I don't want something I'd be embarrassed to buy at Barnes & Noble, mind you. I want something with cool characters who I [i]wouldn't mind[/i] being involved romantically. But I don't want that as a main focus; it's just my personal taste. Also, I'd prefer shojo-ai just because I'm a guy ;) .[/QUOTE] I would recommend Gravitation. I think that it is funny and cute at times. though you are a guy, you may not enjoy it too much. It is a shonen-ai. I've seen and read a lot of the anime and manga. I like it very much.

Some people stick with their own opinions because they are afraid of change, or afraid of what they don't know. People just want to cover up their insecurities so that they don't appear weak. As for those people who label everything anime as hentai, are close minded. You need to keep an open mind for many things to be able to understand them fully. I love anime and American cartoons. There are some anime titles I don't like, and there are American cartoon titles I don't like. There are awesome titles and not so awesome titles in each category. Every person is different in stuff that they like.

[QUOTE=Desbreko][color=indigo]Yes, the image tags used in quiz results wouldn't be counted as part of the character limit if it was done how I suggested, but that's why I also suggested a limit on the number of images allowed. That way people wouldn't be able to have a really huge intro filled with a ton of text or filled with tons of images, but people would still be free to use other types of HTML and stuff that takes a large number of characters yet is small on the page (such as my Midi Archive). But like I said, "if it's possible." I really don't know if there's a way to limit just the number of tags and no others.[/color][/QUOTE] What about people with like three rows of buttons? That doesn't take too much space. Yet, if you limit to only to three or four images, then all of those other buttons would be lost.

[QUOTE=Juuthena][color=deeppink][size=1]*bows to Dessy* Well said. >>; But then, there's that issue where rather than introductions being cluttered with text, usually (from what I've seen, at least), it's like, twenty/thirty quiz results. But wouldn't those end up being counted as html, too? *scratches head* For my intro, I had to go back and shorten all my filenames and take off the " " 's and /'s in links and such. [/color][/size][/QUOTE] Now I have absolutely no introduction period. I can't do anything with the 600 character limit. What I had before was three rows of buttons, my midi archive, another site button, and my three lain buttons. With the character limit in place, I could only go as far as my three buttons, my now playing midi, and half of the code for James button. My intro wasn't cluttered at all. Maybe you could do something with the code to not allow the quizzes in the intro?

For me, it can either be Lain from Serial Experiments, or jiro from kikaider. I am like Lain because I am anti-social a lot, and quiet. I am like Jiro because I love my friends and family, and I want to make sure that they are happy and content...no matter how I am feeling in the process.

When it comes to personal space, it all depends on the situation, and the people I'm with. When it is my friends, whom, I am not necessarily tight with, I don't like them touching me in any personal way. Poking me, tapping me on the shoulder, and standing right by me is alright. Though, I get really nervous if someone I don't know and trust very well hugs me. In fact, I hate it. When someone hugs me, and when I don't like the person, they know it. Not that I hurt them or anything. I just get this look on my face saying, "What the heck are you doing?" I also don't hug back. That's for both guys and girls. With guys or gals that I am close to hug me or what not, I don't mind. They can get as close as they want, as long as they don't get too personal. That goes for my guy friends. If guys get to close to me for comfort, I can make them stop real easily. >_> I get really nervous when someone tries to kiss me, whether they are close to me or not. I am just that way I guess. Since I am mostly a shy person in real life, I usually have a huge personal space for complete strangers. I just get really nervous when they get to close to me. If they get to close, I have to back away, or go straight to where a really close friend is.

Wow! The ways you guys find out were rather odd. Me, well, I found out in the 5th grade at school. So yeah...nothing too drastic. Though I knew a lot of this before because of my curiosity around the house, and my mom telling.

I love Rammstein. I first heard them when I was bumming on a vacation in Germany. They were on the radio. I love every single song of theirs. I only have one cd of theirs. It is the cd that has Du Hast on it. I listen to them more than usual. I guess I am one of those, 'I miss Europe' moods. heh They are an excellent band. As far as translation goes, I only can understand, 1, 2, 3.....and so on. lol

I can only think of a couple of them. For one, when I am in a large group, I tend to shy away and become anti-social. Another one is that I get really nervous and clumsy when I am around guys whom I somewhat like more than a friend. For example when I was in the seventh grade. There was this one guy I had a huge crush on. When I tried to talk to him, I'd always stutter and trip when I walk past him. When ever he walked by me after a few embaressing instances, I hid from him, and admired him from afar. I did that until I moved back to the US. (I was living in the UK at the time.) I'll add more if I can think of them. EDIT: I just thought of another quirk. I can't stand to use any mouse except an optical mouse with a little scrolling thing. I can't stand any other kind of mouse. I especially despise those old Macintosh mouses. You know, the little circular ones that are too small for your hands? I hate those. Also, I tend to move my head from side to side every five minutes to get the kinks out when I am on the computer Also, when I am alone, I tend to act very silly, but when I am talking to anyone in real life and lots of times when I interact with people online, I tend to be very serious. Only a few of my online friends seen me act silly. When I sit in my chair, I always have to slouch and cross my legs...with one foot over the other. I always have to lean back too. I also can't stand shorts or too revealing clothing. I always have to have my legs covered. I must always wear baggy jeans, or lose clothing. I tend to get too clasterphobic in tight clothing, and I feel like I am a slut or something. I dunno...I guess it is a bit weird to feel that way, but I always do. One last one. I promise. I also can't stand to have my hair down. I must always have it tied back. Phew! That was a big edit.

The books that I like mostly consist of historical fiction (mostly Asian historical fiction, exp. Samurai's and geisha's), some science fiction, fantasy, and action/adventure. I love Asian historical fictions like, [i]Shougun[/i] and [i]Tai-Pan[/i] by James Clavell, and [i]Cloud of Sparrows[/i] by Tasaki Masukoka. These novels are entertaining and you learn a lot from them too. Unlike others who are into Knights in shining armor, kings, queens and princesses, I am into the Samurai and Geishas. I like vampires, dragons, space, and other sci-fi and fantasy characters, beasts, and robots. I love clingons (sp?) from star Trek. >_> I also love the [i]Last Vampire Series[/i] Why wouldn't anyone like action and adventure? I love the explosions, the guns, and the bloodshed it is very interesting. That is pretty much it. Though I do love some non-fiction. I like to read countless books on geology. You know, rocks, fossils, volcanoes and earthquakes. I also like to read about war and deadly viruses. [i]War and Peace[/i] was somewhat interesting. I also loved the book, [i]The Hot Zone.[/i] The author slipped my mind, but it was a good book. [SPOILER]It was all about the Ebola (a deadly virus) outbreak in Africa and in Washington DC during the late 80's and early 90's.[/SPOILER]

I really liked that Charles. That last story was very touching. It was very nice. For this story, I would like to thank PT, Charles, syk3 and James for their help. [b]One more thing...it is PG13 because of a few bad words. So watch out.[/b] [SIZE=3] [b]The Chase[/b][/SIZE] The wind blew through the teenager's hair, ruffling it slightly. The young man could see for forever, it seemed, from his vantage point high atop a high-rise office building. The ocean stretched out into infinity, toward the horizon, where the edge met a setting sun. The sea was on fire, sending vivid streams of light into his eyes. He squinted his eyes, but was ever watchful for something that might breach the water. Though he was unsure of what, he was certain something would happen sometime soon. Minutes passed as if they were hours. The boy sighed and turned. He began to walk away from the building's edge. A great rumble blasted from the ocean and the boy's heart swelled with joy and he faced it again. The water rippled, the only sign of a submerged behemoth. What sea creature surfaced, he could not tell. He slowly sat down near the exit to the stairs. It must have been a whale he thought, only a whale. He chuckled. There were only whales in the sea. He sighed. Only a fool expects something more in these waters. Strange winds began to swirl, his shirt flapping, buffeted by tiny whirlwinds. He felt something peculiar in the air, as if something or someone were watching him. "Hello, Mr. Martin?" "What?! Who said that?!?" "I've wanted to speak with you for some time now, Mr. Martin." "Who the hell are you?" "Now, now, Mr. Martin, there is no need for that. There are important matters to discuss, matters that affect your very life. I am here to save you, Mr. Martin." "Yeah? Who the hell are you? Who sent you," the boy replied. "My name is inconsequential. All you need to know is that your life is in danger and I have been assigned to escort you to a safe location, where you will be fully updated." "What the hell?" The boy turned in the direction in which he thought the exit to the stairs was located. ?Where do you think you are going, Mr. Martin?? ?Away from you, whom ever the hell you are.? ?I am afraid you can?t really do that, Mr. Martin. You can?t get rid of me that easily.? ?Well, I am going to leave no matter what. You can?t make me stay. It is a free country.? With that last comment, he flicked off the air from which the voice came and started to walk toward the exit. The strange winds picked up yet again, but they were a lot stronger this time. The wind was so strong that it pushed the seventeen-year-old boy closer to the edge. He tripped on the ledge and started to fall. The boy sat up quickly, perspiration soaking his t-shirt all the way through. There were beads of sweat resting on his face. He was breathing rather hard. ?What the hell?? he told himself. ?That was some messed up dream.? He pulled off the covers and walked across the bedroom. The bedroom was dark; the only light seeping through the cracks of the blinds. The boy pulled up his baggy pants hastily and buttoned them up. He pulled off his wet shirt and tossed in the hamper full of dirty clothes. He grabbed his towel that was lying on his doorknob. He dried himself off and put on another clean t-shirt, from his closet. He snatched his jacket and went out the door without saying a word. He met up with a few of his friends at the arcade. Upon arriving there, the boy noticed an extremely beautiful, yet mysterious woman in a black leather trench coat leaning against the wall. He paid no attention to the woman for a while as he and his friends played a few video games. After a round of Dance Dance Revolution, the boy noticed the woman staring directly at him. She started to leave the arcade. The boy followed her. He didn?t seem to notice his friends calling after him to come back as the woman elegantly walked out the door and down the busy sidewalk. The boy could not keep his gaze off her. It seemed like he was afraid to lose sight of her and never see her again. All the while, he kept on bumping into other pedestrians and hot dog stands; he even knocked an old man down to the ground! But that didn?t stop him, and he continued on. The woman crossed the street and walked through the door of a big office building. The boy launched into a run. A car or two almost ran over him, stopping abruptly to let him pass and honking their horns in protest. He rushed into the office building, but once inside, he looked everywhere nervously for a trace of the mysterious woman. Right then, he heard the elevator door open. He turned his head toward the sound. There, right in front of the elevator, now stepping into it was the woman! He ran toward the elevator at full speed. The door to the elevator closed. He banged angrily on the door. The boy pushed the elevator button several times (like once wasn't enough?) Finally the door opened and he rushed in. He pushed the button for the upper-most floor and waited, as the elevator music playing gaily. The door opened and he rushed up the last flight of stairs and on to the roof. He just had a feeling that the mysterious woman would be up there. Sure enough, there she was. She was standing on the ledge and it seemed as though she was calmly waiting for something. She leaned over the edge and fell off the building. ?WAIT!? The boy yelled to the woman loudly. He ran toward the ledge and jumped off the building. She disappeared. The wailing of the ambulance could be heard as the paramedics rushed through the anxious and shocked crowd. ?Excuse me! Paramedics here are trying to get through. Out of the way please,? said a policeman who seemed to be on duty at the time. The crowd quickly broke apart to let them through. ?Can someone please tell me how the hell this kid die?? asked the policemen. A small girl about the age of six pointed to one of the office buildings, and answered, ?He jumped off of that big building? The policeman turned around and looked up to where the girl pointed. He shaded his eyes from the bright sun. Another policeman walked up to the officer who was already there. ?How do you think it happened?? asked the second policeman. ?I don?t really know actually,? replied the first, ?It seems that this is little more than a simple suicide. There is no other answer. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed across the sky. The lightning illuminated the desolate sky. Millions upon millions of red liquid-filled pods appeared. People of all ages became distinguishable in the pods. All of them seemed to be in a deep hibernation. Though, in reality, they were trapped in the Matrix. In a nearby pod, bubbles started to ascend from beneath the surface of the liquid within. The body bolted all of a sudden. It seemed to snap out of its deep trance. The hands started to detach all of the wires that were connected to him. The body seemed to be frantically trying to escape. More and more bubbles surfaced. The body began to move freely now, with an awareness lacking in the countless other neighboring vessels. Finally the last wire was removed. The individual opened his eyes. His body and soul were now withdrawn from the Matrix. The boy was free.

How long have you been using my otaku? [COLOR=Navy]I've been one of the first to sign up. I joined MyOtaku on the 31st of July of 2003.[/COLOR] How frequently do you work with my otaku? [COLOR=Navy]I work with my MyOtaku page just about every other day. It could be changing my quote, adding buttons to my introduction, adding a life post, or just changing my Midi.[/COLOR] What all of you do with my otaku? [COLOR=Navy]I just post things I feel like saying. I also add buttons of friends too and other things. I even made a midi archive for my MyOtaku. Other than my site, I often visit all of my friends' MyOtaku pages very frequently. I read their life posts, listen to their music, listen to their rants, (I'm looking at you Shinmaru, Desbreko, and OtakuSennen ;) lol), and most importantly, comment to what my friends have to say. MyOtaku is just a lot of fun for me.[/COLOR]

For a girl, I am rather....well odd with the way I spend my money when it comes to my appearence. I don't wear any make-up at all. I usually get my hair cut once a year or every two years. Even then, I mostly wear my hair up in a pony tail from a day to day basis. Last time I bought nail polish was three years ago. It is black nail polish that I wear every so often. It only costed me thirty cents. When it comes to clothes, I wear my jeans until they get a hole in them. I have only three pairs of jeans, and I had them for like five months now. T-shirts, I have a bunch of Hawaiian, Asian, Old Navy, extreme sport companies, Christian, and GAP t-shirts that are real cheap. Even then, I don't buy my t-shirts, or my jeans or even my shoes. My mom buys them for me still. heh. My shoes are just male style New Balance all terrain shoes. I only own those a pair of flip flops. That is all. I don't have much else. I am not poor or anything, I just don't like to waste my money on things that I don't really need. Though I do have one weak point. I love hooded sweatshirts. They are my most favorite kind of clothing article. I have about eight in total, and I wear them just about everyday.

I love dark imagery!!! It's so dark! lol I can't wait till your band adds music to this. I so want to hear it being sung...and with guitar and bass playing a tune along with it no less. I noticed how it was talking about romance. Pretty interesting. I like how it how flows nicely, and how it is short and to the point.

I've noticed. You have your sign's description in a bright red color, and in a big font no less. I don't belive what my horoscopes say, or what the description of cancer says. When it says that I am good at nuturing people...well, that description fits a vast majority of the earth's population. They don't necessarily have to be a cancer. Another thing. I feel that horoscopes are not true, and a waste of money and time. Sure, I admit to reading my horoscope a couple a times. I tell you what. Every single horoscope for cancer I read was false. I don't think that stars can predict your future. They can't exactly say when you are going to get a boyfriend, they can't tell you when you are going to die or how. They are just words on paper that psychics write down. Sorry if I have offended you. I just know this from experience, and this is what I believe.

My friend told me about this con. The Sukura con is in the seattle area at the airport. They are going to have a wide range of guests. Fred Gallagher, the artist of MegaTokyo, the creators of Penny Arcade, several voice actors of popular anime, Japanese singer, Hiro, a few anime artists, and Hiroki Kikuta, the composer for many Final Fantasy games are some of the guests coming to this con. It is on April 23 to April 25, and it is going to be a lot of fun. So, is anyone going to the con? If you are, are you going to cosplay?

I stoppd watching Toonami a long long time ago. I barely watch Cartoon Network period. I watch other channels that air anime, though I don't watch tv at all much. I only watch TechTV's animeunleashed, and Adult Swim when I get the chance too.

[quote name='Angel_Kagome_2'] Kikyo should not try and break them up. Even though she wants Inuyasha to be with her. Kikyo doesn't desurve Inuyasha. How Kagome can cope with Kikyo being on Inuyasha's mind all the time is beyond me. They are the perfect couple, Inuyasha and Kagome. :love:[/quote] Well, if you remember right, [spoiler]Naraku betrayed both Inuyasha and Kikyo 50 years ago. Kikyo died.[/spoiler] Saying that kikyo should not break Kagome and Inuyasha up, and also saying that she doesn't deserve him is a bit harsh. Don't you think? Inuyasha is torn between the two. [spoiler]Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo, you know.[/spoiler] He finds so many similarities between the two, but also many differences as well.

[QUOTE=Verykawaiineko] Love Hina-OK somepople might not agree w/ me but I though there was no point to this show waht so ever..you couldnt even go an episode with or a bath scence or Keitaro getting his face stuck in Naru's chest- I guess Im a little bit biased because I dislike most shounen romance animes like Video Girl Ai and Oh my Goddess..but this was just really bad.[/QUOTE] How many episodes did you actually watch? Keitaro getting beat up is just a bit of humor. Also, it shows how the interaction of the characters develop and it reveals more and more of the character's personalities. If you watched the entire series, or read all of the manga, then you would understand what the purpose is, and everything. [QUOTE]Evangelion- so this is the "classic" anime...>.> call me shallow but I did not understand this anime at all..it was so pointless and Shiji made me want to poke out my eyes with a fork..the ending was very horrible too exspecially the TV version the movie was Ok.[/QUOTE] Again with the question, how many episodes did you watch of this anime? If you only watch one episode, yes it would be a bit hard to understand. Though the truth is, the more episodes you watch, the easier the pieces fit together. It is not very hard to understand this anime. I would understand you not being able to understand an anime like Serial Experiments Lain, but not with this anime. The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion is pretty straight forward. The only anime that I can think of at the moment that isn't really good is SD Gundam. I feel that it makes the other Gundam series out there look bad. Though it is funny at some parts, it doesn't really make me want to watch it again and again, or not even to go as far as to obsess over.

I am sick right now. I just pretty much stay on the computer as long as I can, lay on the couch and watch anime dvd and videos, or other videos I feel like watching. I hate to sleep. I only sleep when I absolutely have to, or when I absolutely need to.

I only played DDR like four times. Last time I played, I was at the mall yesterday with a friend. We played for like an hour. The version that we used was DDR 5th Mix, or something like that. Since he never played before, and I'm still a beginner, we kept on doing the song, "Pi Kara" by Captain Jack. We played that for like an hour. We successfully beak the song "1,2,3...." We almost beat the long version of "Oops, I did it again." DDR is a lot of fun, plus, it is addicting.

I first came to TheOtaku looking for Gundam Wing and DBZ pictures and other info. I was obsessed with those anime back then. I found a link to the boards up at the top of the page. I looked around the site and I thought it was cool. I joined right away. I posted several newbie-like posts in the Gundam forum and what not. When the time came for the next version to come around, it took forever for the site to upgrade. I forgot about the boards for like two years almost. Then, I finally noticed the link to the boards one day in late last June in my many list of saved links. I came back, and made a couple friends. I guess, as stupid and idiotic as it sounds, my first purpose here, or rather goal, was to make friends with all the staff. Now, up to date, I pretty much achieved that goal. (This goal was sort of shallow on my part) Right now though, I am friends with a lot of the staff. They are awesome friends. Next, I wanted to meet as many people as I could. I wanted to try to be everyone's friend. My next purpose was to try to be friends with everyone, and to nice and caring to all. That is still my purpose here today. My other purpose is to post intelligently in the Anime Lounge, and Otaku Lounge. I post in the other forums when I can. I want to try and write posts to the best of my writing ability, and the best of my knowledge about the thread I'm posting in.

Well, if you are old enough, you could ask your parents for some money. You could take the city bus to catch a movie, or hang out at the mall. Another thing that you can do is turn your favorite radio station up really loud in the house and dance to that. You could also do some reading. There are quite a few good books out there. You may also enjoy spending several hours on the computer doing stuff. Like posting here and what not. You could also draw or start a new hobby. When I was bored two summers ago, I was in the same situation as you. I taught myself how to make websites. Web design is pretty fun, and it is time consuming. If you are like me, you enjoy a few sports. If you have a soccer ball, a tennis racket, and tennis ball, or a basket ball, you can play with those. You don't have a tennis court or a basketball court? So what, You can just dribble the ball back and forth. You can also, use your tennis racket and ball the same way you do for racket ball. It is fun. What I am trying to say is, make up some games that'll keep you busy. If your friends are not available, look for someone in your neighborhood to play with. They don't necessarily have to be your age, or go to your school. If you have a little kid for a neighbor, play with them. That way, you both can be happy, and have some fun. I hope that those suggestions helped.