Dagger

Your first complaint applys far more to fundamentalism than to Christianity as a whole. The church that my family attends is not a part of some extremist sect--our minister recently served as the moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly--but very few of its members believe that only Christians will go to heaven. [quote name='Adahn][b][font=Trebuchet MS][size=2][color=#556b2f]The earth actually is a pretty nice place. It was made for us. The only thing that's wrong with it is that it is filled with those who won't stop sinning.[/color][/size][/font'][/b][/quote] It's impossible to stop sinning altogether. To me it seems as though you're implying otherwise, but perhaps I'm over-reading. [QUOTE=Adahn][b][font=Trebuchet MS][size=2][color=#556b2f]The next two go together. Our souls cannot die, so why do Christians insist that Jesus took death from our spirit, and not from our bodies? Is life such a punishment that we must suffer death to escape it? I believe that Jesus didn't lie when he said he took our sins. Sin and death cannot exist without each other. If Jesus took sin, he took death. If you deny this, then you deny everything he did. God created us in his image. I do not think that the body was meant to be a useless shell that houses the spirit.[/color][/size][/font][/b] [b][font=Trebuchet MS][size=2][color=#556b2f][/color][/size][/font][/b] [b][font=Trebuchet MS][size=2][color=#556b2f]I'm done for now, respond if you so desire.[/color][/size][/font][/b][/QUOTE] You assume that death automatically causes or is somehow equivalent to suffering. Death can be (and often is) peaceful, even welcomed, particularly by those who have lived long and fulfilling lives. Is it wrong for someone who is very old and physically weak to yearn to meet his God? As you near the end of your life, your body does start transforming into a useless shell. The human body, much like human nature, is inherently imperfect--I, for one, certainly wouldn't want to spend eternity as I am now. God may have modeled our capacity to love and care after his, but people all [I]look[/I] very different. So much of the Bible tells us to think not of wordly matters; what could be more worldly than one's own physical form? What could be a better reward for true faith than being allowed to transcend the limitations of that form? The body is not "useless," but it should definitely come second to the soul. What would you tell people who were born (or have become) crippled, or people who hate their bodies for being deformed or unattractive? I'd take eternal life in heaven over eternal life in my earthly body any day. FYI, I'm agnostic. I was raised Christian and still attempt to keep up with church affairs, but it's not something that truly appeals to me in my heart of hearts. ~Dagger~

To expand on the first definition given, the same site lists "to characterize" as: [quote]1. To describe the qualities or peculiarities of: characterized the warden as ruthless. 2. To be a distinctive trait or mark of; distinguish: the rash and high fever that characterize this disease; a region that is characterized by its dikes and canals.[/quote] My answer was based on the idea that characterization is simply how the show in question portrays its characters and develops their personalities. Without even really thinking about it, I started trying to come up with anime that depicted their characters in the most sympathetic and realistic manner possible... so those two adjectives served as my unconscious reference, I guess. [i]Is[/i] there an important literary distinction between "characterization" and "character development"? I often use the two terms interchangeably, heh. ~Dagger~

The second episode of Genshiken can only be described as stunningly funny. It's a rollicking good time--exceptionally well-directed, well-written and packed with anime in-jokes. The comedic timing is immaculate; this anime relies on genuinely clever riffs rather than an excess of super-deformation and yelling. I especially liked how [spoiler]the camera cut back and forth between Saki agonizing over which clothes to buy and Sasahara (that is his name, right?) agonizing over which doujinshi to buy.[/spoiler] Of course, nothing can top Kohsaka. Amusingly enough, this is yet another show wherein Mitsuki Saiga plays my favorite character... Kohsaka is just unbelievable. [spoiler]When he strolled into the club room, obliviously singing that Engrish anime theme song, I nearly had a stroke. I almost--almost!--feel sorry for Saki, haha.[/spoiler] Judging by the newly revealed opening theme, which I find oddly heartwarming, a female cosplayer will eventually join the Genshiken gang. I look forward to finding out what she's like. Oh, and thanks for the points. ^_^ ~Dagger~

I've noticed that watching anime raw is a considerably different experience from watching it subtitled. Subtitles let you know what sort of tone and inflection to "search" for in the character's voice--without them, it can be startlingly difficult to tell which emotion is being conveyed. Without subtitles to focus on, and only a very vague idea of what the characters are saying, I find that the Japanese dialogue invariably sounds a little stilted. It's amazing how knowing precisely what the dialogue means changes my perception of a seiyuu's perfomance... and even then, I feel like I'm unconsciously trying to make his or her voice fit the emotional rise and fall of someone speaking in a Romance language. [quote name='Solo Tremaine][COLOR=#503F86']Generally I'll go for an English dub regardless. I can't understand why people are needlessly damning about them irrespective of whether it's actually good or not.[/COLOR][/quote] Amen. Some dubs are good, some are bad, and some easily surpass the Japanese-language track. I love having the freedom to see two interpretations of the same characters and script. ~Dagger~

I like Cowboy Bebop, but I don't think its characterization is really all that spectacular; there are plenty of anime with realistic dialogue and so forth. Revolutionary Girl Utena deserves kudos for skillfully developing a very large and complex cast--even the much shorter movie packs a serious emotional punch. Its characters exist in a world that operates by its own set of rules and is totally surreal, yet their feelings and desires ring true. The Twelve Kingdoms also has a vast, continually shifting cast. The leads grow and change over time, becoming more or less likeable as they struggle to come to grips with various challenges. The series is exciting and moving thanks in large part to its excellent characterization. What about His and Her Circumstances? You haven't mentioned any non-action anime. And how are the main characters of Evangelion stereotypes? Certainly, Shinji and Misato never once struck me as being stereotypical characters; even Asuka and Ritsuko are quite different from their counterparts in Nadia. RahXephon has wonderful characterization; Haruka could be called a stereotype because of her superficial similarities to Eva's Misato, but (particularly in the RahXephon film) she is unique, flawed and incredibly sympathetic. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=DeathBug]You know what this really comes down to? Would you be willing to pay an additional 25 cents on every chicken product you buy to increase the quality of life for the birds before they're slaughtered? I would, but that's me, personally.[/QUOTE] Thank you for bringing a little sense into this discussion, DeathBug. Your posts are always a breath of fresh air. ^_^ I'm a little surprised that most of the people who've replied to this thread have taken an attitude of absolute indifference. Chickens are certainly a lesser problem than, say, poverty and world hunger, but wanton cruelty toward weaker creatures (no matter how annoying!) reflects rather poorly on human nature. Although I don't find the plight of chickens very emotionally moving, I know I'd be considerably more upset if we replaced the chickens with, say, small yappy dogs--which are frequently no less stupid than farm poultry. If their only fate is to be eaten, even the dumbest, least self-aware animals deserve a quick, clean death. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=EVA Unit 100]My friend Melissa (also an anime fan) once said that Kurama was her soulmate. 2 weeks later she said Shuiichi was her soulmate. Is she the kind who dumps guys easily, or does she have... *DUNDUNDUN!* [SIZE=4]TWO SOULS![/SIZE][/QUOTE] Speaking of things that come in twos, I merged your replies. No double-posting, please. :) Out of idle curiosity, was your fangirl friend referring to Shuichi from Yu Yu Hakusho (who is, arguably, a character unto himself) or some Shuichi from another series (i.e. Gravitation)? Gravitation's Shuichi is entertaining to watch but would make an awful, er, soulmate. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Adahn][b][font=Trebuchet MS][size=2][color=#556b2f]Here are the basic ideas which I have already supported, but will gladly do so again.[/color][/size][/font'][/b][/quote] Holy mother, your posts have an insane amount of formatting. Anyway, thanks again for clarifying that. Some of your ideas are more unorthodox than others, but I don't think any of them are truly outside the bounds of Christianity as an organized religion. Protestantism covers a lot more ground than you might think. So I'd appreciate it if you reiterated your gripes with the institute of the church and/or the religion itself; I suspect that your main mistake lies in assuming most churches and sects approach education, etc. the same way. ~Dagger~

Could you perhaps distill the essence of your philosophy down to, say, several blunt, straightforward sentences (a la the Ten Commandments or whatever)? I'd like to respond, but this thread is so circuitous it makes my head hurt. Although I could critique your original post, I've only been half-heartedly following the discussion and don't know whether or not you've conceded any points since then. Thanks. ~Dagger~

Let's not forget that Fullmetal Alchemist will start airing at [b]midnight EST [I]this [/I]Saturday[/b], and will be immediately followed by Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I strongly, strongly urge everyone who can tape/TiVo/watch these shows to do so. I'll admit that the first episode of FMA isn't exactly the best thing I've ever seen (apparently it gets better later on), but GitS:SAC should be required viewing for anime fans of all stripes. Barring the recent airing of Read or Die, these are the most promising new series Adult Swim has picked up in an extremely long time. ~Dagger~

On the first page of this thread, a lot of people cited the fact that FF:U was cancelled as evidence of how much the series sucked. As far as I know, though, Japanese television ratings have very little to do with an anime's quality. Samurai Champloo, the highly anticipated second series from the creator of Cowboy Bebop, was given a very late timeslot and ended up being cancelled after seventeen episodes. A different channel decided to pick up the remainder of the show and advertise it as a second season, but that must have still been a pretty bad blow for people who expected Champloo to be really popular. Gad Guard, another one of my recent favorite series, was cancelled altogether and had to be completed on DVD. If a show isn't attracting an audience, it may simply be the result of poor marketing or whatnot. So, yeah... just had to get that off my back. That's not to say I have much of an interest in FF:U; a few of the character designs seem cool, but the clumsy-looking CG in the promos made me wince. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Solo Tremaine][COLOR=#503F86']I'm very interested in seeing R.O.D. the TV now, although knowing the UK market it'll never show up. Imported DVDs for me, then...[/COLOR][/quote] Based on your comments about the OVA, I think you probably wouldn't have any trouble getting into R.O.D the TV. Its pacing is somewhat better than that of the OVA, and it introduces a whole new arsenal of great female characters. There are some negatives, though--neither Crispin Freeman nor the actor who played Drake were able to return for the series. Mr. Freeman's replacement sounds fine (if not quite as, er, delicious). I can't exactly [i]object[/i] to the casting choice for Drake's new VA, as his voice suits the character's appearance. At the same time, every one of his lines makes me twitch because I'm so used to the original actor, who really made Drake his own. Other than that, though, the dub is pretty remarkable. There are at least two extremely important school-age characters, both of whom are played by children, and they deliver very believable performances. Additionally, the show's ratio of real accents to fake accents is a good deal better than the OVA's. I'm just a huge fan of this show... it has plot and character development in spades. The storyline is tight without being hard to follow, and ties into the OVA very nicely. The animation is pretty darn good for a TV series. What I found interesting was that the three main characters all have different paper-related powers. [spoiler]Michelle uses paper to create a nifty-looking bow and arrow, Maggie makes giant paper golems and Anita is basically a crazy little paper ninja.[/spoiler] They function very well as a team. There's plenty of action, but since it has more time to work with, R.O.D the TV places more of an emphasis on friendship, loyalty and relationships in general than the OVA. This definitely pays off once the plot twists start hitting (and believe me, there are a ton of them). I could go on about this anime forever, so I'll finish by saying that--at least for me--it managed to hit all of the right spots. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Pumpkin][FONT=Palatino Linotype][SIZE=1] [B]Shannon-Nii/Fulle (Scrapped Princess)[/B] Fulle is a femine kind of cuteness, he kinda reminds me of Seiya from Sailor Moon..but more manly. Shannon-Nii has a priceless personality not to mention is sensitive.. plus..he's hot and every anime fangirl's fantasy. :heart: [B]Akio (Revolutionary Girl Utena)[/B] - He might be evil, but he's so cute how can you ignore him? :love2:[/FONT][/SIZE][/QUOTE] You have some interesting choices. :) Fulle is one of my favorite male characters of all time. He came, he kicked serious ***, [spoiler]departed in a timely manner[/spoiler] and basically rejuvenated the entire series. Although Fulle [spoiler]only appeared for a couple of episodes,[/spoiler] he still received a lot of character development. He proved himself to be very tolerant, dependable and practical, and also [spoiler]turned out to have a delightfully dangerous past[/spoiler]--you simply can't go wrong with guys like that. Akio, however, I would avoid at all costs. Granted, when it comes to Revolutionary Girl Utena (particularly the movie), I'm something of a Touga fan. Akio looks great, but he really gives me the creeps. While I found him mildly less repellent in the movie, and I liked his revamped character design, there are still a whole variety of reasons that I wouldn't give him the time of day. ~Dagger~

[quote name='DeathBug']Kerry today proved himself to be a bigger man than the entire democratic party in '00 put together.[/quote] Yes. That was an excellent speech, and demonstrated just how different Kerry is from Gore (whose "concession" speech was plagued by a sort of snide bitterness). I admire him for showing optimism about America's future under President Bush (even if I can't bring myself to feel the same way), and for admitting defeat without any waffling whatsoever. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Corey][size=1]For those of you that do not know, we have a president. It is George W. Bush. Let the destruction begin...[/size][/QUOTE] At least Kerry has made plans to concede... I'm a little surprised it occurred this quickly (what happened to all those promises about counting every single vote?), but whatever. It would have been pretty bad for the Democratic Party if they tried to drag things out. Congratulations to those of you who voted for Bush. Meanwhile, the rest of us should start thinking up creative ways to drown our collective sorrow. I'm actually far more upset about the Senate than I am about the presidency; the Republicans have pretty much solidified their majority in both branches of Congress. So much for checks and balances... -_- ~Dagger~

[quote name='maladjusted][color=firebrick'] Yeah, I just watched a recap of the Daily Show where they made fun of the mess in 2000. Needless to say I was laughing my head off. :)[/color][/quote] That was awesome! Mr. Stewart and company were in top form last night. Anyway, it looks like the jig is more or less up. Geh, four years is [i]such[/i] a long time... I'll be voting for Alex whenever he turns thirty-five. ^_~ ~Dagger~

[quote name='katana77']If I wanted to watch a lot of romance, I would watch something on teh local channels or pick up a romance novel.[/quote] Well it's not as though there aren't plenty of great romantic anime--for me, Maison Ikkoku is always the first that comes to mind. What I generally don't like is gratuitous romance, which can unfortunately be found in most otherwise decent shounen action anime. On that subject, I have mixed feelings about a lot of the potential pairings in Rurouni Kenshin; Misao/Aoshi is probably the only couple I whole-heartedly support. I'm not at all a fan of Kaoru, so I have a hard time liking the idea of her with Kenshin. Ilovefluffy, please try to keep an eye on your post quality. ~Dagger~

Once I get home, I'm not going to listen to the radio or turn on my TV until 10:00 EST, at which time I plan on hunkering down to watch The Daily Show's special election day broadcast. Depending on whether Jon Stewart is able to get me in a relatively good mood, I may or may not stay up for the later results. Frankly I doubt that the election will be fully resolved as of tomorrow morning. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Afire][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=RED]I'm curious if anyone here at Otaku Boards is, or ever has been involved in a long distance relationship. Have you, or anyone you know met someone online and actually fell in love?[/COLOR][/SIZE'][/FONT][/quote] Not all long-distance relationships require the Internet (as Panda's wonderful success story attests) or even need to begin online. I just found it odd that you drew no distinction between the general category of long-distance relationships and the much more specific category of couples who met and/or fell in love online. My last serious boyfriend went overseas after we'd been dating for about a year. Due to a pathetic lack of effort on both sides, our relationship quickly dried up. Honestly, after a while talking to him simply became too depressing... I truly feel that people must be very optimistic and emotionally resilient to maintain a long-distance relationship. If all you do is think about how much you miss your significant other, eventually you'll start wanting all of your feelings--both good and bad--to go away. ~Dagger~

One of the reasons I try to be open-minded about English dubs is that I don't wholly trust my ability to judge Japanese voice actors and actresses. It's fairly easy to determine when some character is horribly miscast, but I simply don't think I'm capable of picking up on really subtle vocal nuances that might ring false to someone fluent in Japanese. It's my opinion that one will almost always unconsciously be harder on those acting in one's native language than those acting in a foreign language--particularly when that language is structurally different. Do you agree or disagree? Are there any Japanese vocal performances in anime that you would point to as being [I]obviously[/I] bad--or, conversely, obviously excellent? ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=AzureWolf][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]O_o It's a white statue. At least, I'm pretty sure it is... I think - now you've got me confused! Anyway, [spoiler]the perfect white princess, tainted by bloodlust, retains it in a fragile container, which was shattered when Shiki first met Arc and cut her into pieces. It was the first time she was killed, and it made her bloodlust more prominent and hard to control (hence the glass breaking and the blood spilling). The knife is just Shiki (or just his knife, which was used to break the glass). I don't know if the size of stuff has any relevance, but the knife on the blood is important. So that's why the perfectly white statue (which is what Arc was almost like), being spoiled/stained by the red wine (or blood - who cares) is symbolic of her[/spoiler].[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE] Ohhh, that makes much more sense! For some reasons I thought the statue resembled one of the ramune bottles in RahXephon--which seemed rather odd, seeing how as it neatly fits into a wineglass. Thank you so much for explaining the opening. It's very cool how you drew the connection between [spoiler]the shattering glass and what happens to Arcueid in episode 1.[/spoiler] On a different note... I'm surprised I didn't mention this earlier, but the main reason I started watching Detective Academy Q was its peppy, energetic opening. Despite the fact that the OP animation isn't exactly anything to write home about, the song itself just sounds so cheerful that it made me feel excited about the actual show. ~Dagger~

Whoa... episode 4 felt really short. ^_^;; Anyway, Chad is cool. The part where he casually mentioned [spoiler]getting hit first by a steel girder and then by a motorbike[/spoiler] was just hysterical. I'm having a hard time suspending my disbelief with regards to his age (especially in Ichigo's flashback!), but I guess that's part of the humor too. Happily, there were some more great sparkly Rukia moments in the first half of the episode. The [spoiler]cockatiel boy[/spoiler] has a rather cute voice. I wonder if we'll get to see [spoiler]exactly how his mother was killed?[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

[quote name='AzureWolf][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Now, if you want to talk about symbolism, Tsukihime is where to go. The opening has the whole story laid out for you, but it doesn't make a bit of sense until the end. One of my favorite things to do while watching Tsukihime was to watch the opening after every episode and see how much I could piece together. I don't know, the entire opening was stitched in such a fashion that it gave you a feeling it was symbolizing [i]something[/i]. Of course, this experience is something you can only do the first time around, haha.[/color][/size'][/font][/quote] Truthfully, I never really thought about Tsukihime's opening in the context of the overall show. For a while there I just figured it was a bunch of well-timed pictures--the super-dark fansub video didn't help too much in that respect. However, I always did like the choral music and how everything seemed to go along with it so smoothly. Care to explain the significance of the soda bottle? At least, I think it's a soda bottle... you know, the lumpy yellow-white thing. I couldn't for the life of me determine how that fit in, especially since it seemed to somehow represent Arcueid. And every time I saw it land, I started wondering why it made Shiki's knife look so enormous... ^_^;; ~Dagger~

[quote name='Siren']...The n00bs are like junkies, laying on the sidewalk, craving their next hit of Naruto or whatever.[/quote] Alex, I love you. Falling rain and blowing newspapers are alright in my book... I also think Tokyo 3 should be a bit cyberpunk-esque--like something from Ghost in the Shell or Bubblegum Crisis. ~Dagger~

I started buying Gad Guard [i]solely[/i] on the basis of its awesome opening sequence. Fortunately the show itself has turned out to be very good, and successfully maintains the quirky, jazzy atmosphere established by the OP. Texhnolyze and Requiem from the Darkness are two other recent anime whose opening songs alone served to pique my interest. Tsukuyomi ~Moon Phase~ has an amusing OP whose main purpose seems to be showing off the adorable main character, a young female vampire with gratuitous cat ears. Appropriately enough, the vocal track consists mainly of her saying "Neko Mimi Mode!" Without such a light-hearted, silly opening, the series might have come across as being vaguely pretentious. ~Dagger~