Dagger

According to the AS site, Adult Swim plans on airing several anime movies in 2005. The titles mentioned include Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (or Knockin' on Heaven's Door, whichever you prefer), Metropolis and the first two Inuyasha films. I'm glad they got the rights to Bebop; that was definitely a smart move. Personally I think Metropolis may be a bit too artsy for AS, and casual viewers will probably find its retro character designs somewhat off-putting, but I wish it the best of luck. I'll most likely watch the Inuyasha movies, so I can finally decide whether or not I want to buy them. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Crucifix][COLOR=SlateGray']Good animes like the others have mentioned here should take a look at Ranma 1/2. Seven seasons and how many OAV/Movies? It never gets boring.[/COLOR][/quote] Yet like Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2 doesn't really go anywhere. That isn't a problem for anime which are primarily comedic, but it's the main reason I stopped watching Inuyasha. I was sick of struggling through annoying filler and repetitive battles; though Inuyasha would have made a fantastic seventy episode show, entire chunks of the series are poorly executed and utterly forgettable. Few anime with over three or four seasons are consistently good. ~Dagger~

The problem with Eva is that ardent fans frequently praise it at the expense of other anime. Eva has some original elements, but people tend to assume it was the first show of its kind--and then go on to disparage newer series (such as Argentosoma and RahXephon) which belong to the same sub-genre. At this point, I almost can't help having a minor fit whenever a show is called an Eva clone. Fans say that Gasaraki, for example, is a lesser show because it has some things in common with Evangelion. I don't really understand this line of reasoning; just about all "thief" anime ever made (including Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Saint Tail and DN Angel) share the same basic premise, not to mention similar relationships and character types. DN Angel isn't automatically worse than Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne simply because it came later. Certain post-Eva mecha anime may owe their [I]commercial[/I] success to Evangelion, but that doesn't automatically negate those shows' positive qualities or artistic accomplishments. ~Dagger~

Vincent has always been a popular character, so I suppose it makes sense that they chose to create a spin-off featuring him. Hopefully the game will be, well, good--I'd [I]like[/I] to think Square isn't just churning out mediocre FFVII-related merchandise to coincide with or follow up on the release of Advent Children. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Monkey_Orange][COLOR=DarkOrange][B]Here is Greenwood OVA[/B] A must! I totally ADORED this OVA so much! So cuute!!! I heard that the manga is also licensed BUT I'm more devoted to purchasing the DVDs *grin* It's not a brand new show BUT it's still good, old school good. Who knows, maybe I [I]will [/I] pick up the manga too! ^^;; I encourage you all to watch it![/I][/COLOR][/QUOTE] I [i]just[/i] bought Here is Greenwood. It's so good! The character designs and animation have aged very well, and it's hysterically funny without ever becoming overly manic. I never saw the old VHS dub, but the new one is quite good. Shun and [spoiler]his little brother[/spoiler] are absolutely adorable. :) The writing is witty and pleasantly over-the-top, and the episodes flow astonishingly well considering how much time passes over the course of the OVA and how much material from the manga was left out. I thought Greenwood was a real treat, and it was gratifying to get the entire OVA in one cheap, nicely produced package. I'm also looking forward to buying Chrono Crusade--I saw a couple of episodes fansubbed but never got around to actually finishing the series. ~Dagger~

Actually, I would strongly encourage respondents to explain [i]why[/i] they want to see or buy the shows they're listing. :) [b]Tsukihime, Lunar Legend:[/b] I finished watching this show when it was being fansubbed, but I'm incredibly excited about the upcoming DVD release. As Tsukihime is only twelve episodes long, it'll be split across three discs. I love elegant, moody vampire anime, and finally finishing the Vampire Princess Miyu OVA has whetted my appetite for Tsukihime. [b]King of Bandit King:[/b] I had a great time with the quirky, beautifully animated King of Bandit Jing OVA (which is currently unlicensed), and am looking forward to watching the television series that preceded it. Plus, one of my favorite seiyuus provided the voice of the titular character. [b]Kurogane Communication:[/b] This anime's box set is astonishingly cheap, and it's received pretty good reviews. Lately I've been in the mood for a heartwarming sort of show (speaking of which, I should have started buying Cardcaptor Sakura months ago, but I can't help wanting to hold out for a box set or cheaper re-release). The trailer I saw also had some very nice artwork--the androids were cleverly designed, and the protagonist was very cute. ~Dagger~

Asking for links to illegal material isn't permitted here at OtakuBoards. To the best of my knowledge, FUNimation (DBZ), Geneon (Trigun) and Media Blasters (Rurouni Kenshin) have never provided streaming episodes. I believe the OVA Dead Leaves will be made available online for a twenty-four hour period sometime this fall, but that's pretty much the only recent example I can come up with of an American anime company offering streaming footage. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

I'm not at all happy about the changes. Nevertheless, it would still be awfully nice to replace my old VHS box set with some shiny widescreen DVDs. I apologize greatly if this question has been asked and answered before, but has Lucas ever tried to explain why he's decided not to release the theatrical version on DVD? I don't really see what the harm would be in packaging the original trilogy along with the director's cut (or whatever one should call it) as part of some deluxe special-edition set. ~Dagger~

In my opinion, FLCL is somewhat overrated. I've watched it several times, and while I appreciated the creative animation, I thought the OVA felt forced and artificial rather than wild and zany or whatever it was trying to be. The characters, while surprisingly well developed, were unsympathetic and at times extremely boring. I loved the dub and the serious sections of the dialogue (particularly Naota's introspective voice-overs); I couldn't stand the anime's bizarre brand of comedy, which did have its moments of brilliance but was mostly shrill and incredibly annoying. Ultimately, I didn't really care about FLCL's attempts at profundity. I sometimes get the sense that people praise it simply because they think it's deep--sure, there's plenty of symbolism, but a lot of fans don't bother to actually pick apart and analyze the show. That doesn't necessarily apply to anyone here, of course; it's just something I started to observe in the months since FLCL first appeared on Adult Swim and became a minor cult hit. Though I'm all for surrealism and hidden depth and what have you, I found myself unable to truly enjoy FLCL. ~Dagger~

It seems as though no one is watching Gad Guard--which is a shame, because it could very well turn out to be one of the best mecha anime in recent years. So far two discs have been released; the third DVD is coming out in October. Fans of Big O would almost certainly enjoy this series. It has a rich, dynamic score composed mostly of playful jazz and dramatic, melancholy classical music with a heavy emphasis on piano and strings. The jazzy OP and quirky ED do an excellent job of kicking off and wrapping up each episode. Gad Guard's visuals are also top-notch. Created by GONZO, it combines gorgeous digital animation with a hint or two of unobtrusive CGI. Gad Guard is not your average mecha series, but its setting and background music immediately bring Big O to mind. The anime takes place in Night Town, a run-down city whose electricity is always turned off at midnight. Almost all of the adult characters are portrayed as sleazy or corrupt: the women are manipulative and promiscuous, the men violent and avaricious. It isn't a coincidence that Gad Guard's mecha-piloting protagonists (Hajiki, Arashi, Takumi and Aiko) are all young, relatively idealistic teenagers. The mechanical designs and (albeit to a lesser extent) the character artwork has a retro look that is attractive, refreshing and surprisingly sleek. Directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori, who also worked on Angelic Layer, Tenshi ni Narumon! and The Melody of Oblivion, Gad Guard is eccentric and somewhat surreal. However, its various elements come together rather nicely. I can't wait to see where this anime is going. ~Dagger~

The only Rumiko Takashi series I plan on trying to collect is Maison Ikkoku. Urusei Yatsura, with nearly 200 episodes, is discouragingly long. However, I'm really interested in the six or seven Urusei Yatsura movies (and possibly the eleven-episode OVA). Several of them have received a lot of praise for really screwing with the viewer's head while continuing to be genuinely funny and clever. Hopefully, if I approach the films after reading up on the TV series and perhaps renting the first season or so (if necessary), I'll be able to appreciate them fully. I'm especially psyched about seeing Beautiful Dreamer and Lum The Forever. ~Dagger~

[quote name='EVA Unit 100']Gundam Wing is actually good but it has several weaknesses that come from trying to use extreme angst at expense of character development (yet another case of trying to imitate EVA without following what made EVA good).[/quote] Um... Gundam Wing started airing several months [I]before[/I] Neon Genesis Evangelion. [quote]Wolf's Rain, Witch Hunter Robin, and Gungrave all fall into the terrible trap of being slow and moody to trick the viewer into thinking the shows are good and dramatic when they barely move anywhere and lack any development or meaning to make the slow ride worthwhile.[/quote] I don't think Witch Hunter Robin "tricked" me into anything (I'd also like to defend Wolf's Rain and Gungrave, but haven't seen enough of either series to engage in a serious discussion of their faults). It's not fast-paced, but the plot is fairly substantial and the middle set of episodes was--at least for me--suspenseful, dramatic and captivating. I don't really understand where you're coming from when you accuse these shows of being overly slow; in terms of pacing, they aren't markedly different from other series with similar thematic material and the same approximate length. Actually, now I'm kind of bewildered that you like .hack//SIGN and Gundam Wing, which have their merits but can hardly be described as fast. ~Dagger~

I figured there would be little point in creating a new thread just for this... so, conversely, which anime end exceptionally well? Although its second arc is at best mediocre, [b]Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water[/b] has one of the most touching and satisfying final episodes I've ever seen. It provides an appropriate amount of closure for every single main character; there's even a brief "where are they now?" segment a little while after the climax. I laughed, I cried and I almost forgave Gainax for completely botching the middle section of the series. [b]Read or Die[/b] has a beautiful, bittersweet sort of ending that stuck with me long after I first watched it. The OVA's creators could have chosen to cop out by letting [spoiler]the original Nancy live.[/spoiler] I'm certainly glad they didn't. ~Dagger~

I honestly have no idea what you just said. o_O The official Shaman King thread is located [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=38212][u]here[/u][/url]. Please check the Directory sticky before creating a new series-specific topic. It might also be helpful if you read OtakuBoards' rules; we place a strong emphasis on clarity and coherency, and your post here simply doesn't meet those standards. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[quote name='youmademebleed][FONT=Arial][FONT=Arial Black][COLOR=Red]OHMG I LOVE INUYASHA HE IS THE BEST[/COLOR][/FONT][/FONT'] :love:[/quote] Welcome to OtakuBoards, youmademebleed. Because your post (quoted above) meets our definition of spam, I deleted it immediately after writing this reply. Please take a good look at OB's Rules and, before you do anything else, stop typing in all-caps. That alone is enough to render a post unacceptable; however, you could also afford to put more time, thought and effort into what you're saying. In the future, rather than just declaring your love for Inuyasha, add a sentence or two explaining why. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or one of the other moderators. Thanks! ~Dagger~

That's a huge generalization. There are plenty of popular anime (such as Case Closed and Azumanga Daioh) which lack an over-arching plot. Additionally, many lengthy series basically "reset" with each new season, so that while the show appears to make progress it never actually gets anywhere. Several Rumiko Takahashi anime are known for having rather circular storylines, although in the past she has devised plots with a definite beginning, middle and end (Maison Ikkoku comes to mind). I'll let other people provide examples of non-episodic American series, since my experience with American animation is less than extensive. ~Dagger~

The thing which annoys me about eBay is that they don't bother to take down anime bootlegs unless an actual licensor (i.e. Bandai or ADV) registers a complaint. Ordinary members' comments are, by and large, swept aside or ignored. If you're familiar with how the site works and know what to avoid, it's not terribly difficult to avoid getting screwed. However, I can't personally justify supporting a company that basically allows huge quantities of bootlegs to slip straight through the cracks. ~Dagger~

I guess my main beef with the war in Iraq is that I don't understand what it has to do with the war on terrorism. I mean, I'll cheer as loudly as anyone else for Saddam being knocked out of the picture--but if, in the end, our reasons for invading turn out to have been purely humanitarian, I'd have a hard time not viewing it has a huge waste of time, lives and money. There are other dictators currently in power who have done absolutely horrible things to their people and deserve to die a slow, painful death. There are countries with weapons which they really shouldn't possess, and apparently Iraq did not number among them. We've been told from the start that the war on terrorism would not be a "traditional" war, that it would involve unorthodox tactical manuvers and could not possibly be compared to a simple clash of countries. So... what gives? Our forces could be rooting out terrorist cells all over the world, and instead they're indefinitely bogged down in Iraq. I live fifteen minutes outside of the nation's capital, and the terror alert level (or whatever it's called nowadays) seems to change frequently with little or no explanation of why. Police are being pulled off the streets to protect important buildings from potential terrorist attacks; meanwhile, no one seems to care about the homicides which occur almost daily in poorer areas of the city--a shocking number of young schoolchildren have been shot during the past year, and these tragic deaths rarely get any press. Politicians keep saying that America is safer. Well, I sure as hell don't feel any safer. The terror alerts we get here in DC are so general that all they end up doing is making people paranoid--if I learned that some group was planning to attack a bridge, I'd stay away from bridges. If they aren't going to offer us that kind of specificity, then I'd rather not be told anything at all. Knowing an attack may occur is totally useless if the information doesn't come with some helpful details. The government bumps up the alert level to orange (the second most dangerous, next to red) and then turns right around to spout some garbage about the Iraq war having ensured America's safety. I'm sick of this cycle, and I hate conflicting messages. And just when I started to seriously think about re-considering the Bush team, Cheney made a speech implying that there would definitely be another attack along the lines of 9/11 if Kerry was elected. I was disgusted and disappointed--yet very unsurprised. ~Dagger~

[quote name='PNK']But I heard 'round the grapevine that Adult Swim is showing a larger, undefined amount of episodes on their second run of the 52 episodes(which is happening now) So by the end of these 52 we should have more coming our way.[/quote] Unfortunately, it appears that CN does not plan on buying the rights to air new episodes--which is a shame, since this show was meant to be seen on TV; I don't think FUNimation will profit much from trying to market what will induitably end up being a truly obscene number of Case Closed DVDs. The show's length should be more than enough to deter many potential purchasers, particularly people who just liked to watch it on Adult Swim from time to time. Personally, I'd jump at the chance to buy a best of Case Closed collection. Hopefully Funi will consider putting together some kind of "most popular episodes" package once the anime has been out for a couple of years. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Sesshomarufan][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue']also some of the manga you guys are talking about dont even come from viz, the manga company that owns the mmagazine.[/COLOR][/quote] Um... you do realize that the titles which have been mentioned (both by me and all of the previous posters) ran or are currently running in the Japanese version of Shonen Jump? Hunter x Hunter, for example, is currently unlicensed--but I'm pretty sure Viz is making an effort to acquire most or all SJ manga that have achieved some kind of success in Japan. It's not like people haven't put some degree of thought into their suggestions. Given time, HxH will almost certainly appear in the American Shonen Jump. Death Note is a bit more iffy--although the series instantly became popular overseas, its storyline and thematic material would certainly not please American parents. The protagonist (Light) is a complete sociopath, and while he's not really presented as a hero, it's quite difficult to avoid rooting for him. So long as DN isn't censored, I don't particularly care whether it shows up in SJ before coming out in graphic novel format; I just want the manga to reach more fans. ~Dagger~

I'd subscribe to Shonen Jump if it started serializing either Hunter x Hunter, Death Note (which is currently running in the Japanese edition of the magazine), or preferably both. I'm not a big fan of manga, but I do love the Hunter x Hunter anime, and Death Note is easily among the most engrossing and intelligently written titles I've ever read. ~Dagger~

[quote name='inu-yasha-sama']well i could only think of the sequal of cowboy beebop nad trigun that will bring me pleasure[/quote] This is spam, dear. Please go re-read the rules, and then start to put a bit more thought and effort into your posts. There's absolutely nothing wrong with short replies--so long as they're coherent, easy to read and actually say something of substance. ~Dagger~

Bandai is releasing a limited edition WHR collection just for the holiday season, but it's pretty pricey. If they re-packaged it as a cheap brick two or three years down the line, I might consider buying that... I want to see the series again, preferably at my own pace and with DVD-quality video. Some shows almost seem to improve when you re-watch them armed with the knowledge of what's going to happen. Perhaps the events in the last part of Witch Hunter Robin were hinted at or at least set up earlier in the anime than I'm able to remember. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic--I [i]really[/i] wanted to love this show's ending as much as I loved the middle arc. However, I am tempted to give it another chance. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Ronin_K']hey, how come my post is all blotched out?[/quote] Because Solo added spoiler tags to protect other members from accidentally stumbling across important plot twists. Just highlight the affected areas in order to see what you said. This is a common practice at many forums and absolutely nothing to be concerned about. To avoid going off topic, please private message me or one of the other moderators the next time you have a question. Thanks! :) ~Dagger~

[quote name='Godelsensei][COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Not to play mod or anything, but I do believe there is an entire thread to do with Yu-Gi-Oh! decks in the Anime Lounge. >_>[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote] Solo closed that a little while back, and in retrospect I think it must have been long overdue for a locking. :p ~Dagger~