Dagger

Wow, she's hot. o_O Anyway, this is a great sketch. The shading is very stylish, and the fabric of her shirt actually looks like real fabric. The carefully rendered details (such as the handle of her katana and the smooth-textured pocket on her pants) really add a lot to the overall image. Beautiful work. ~Dagger~

Episode 10 is simply [i]superb[/i]. While I was quite surprised that the scriptwriters chose to introduce the [spoiler]concept of "ki,"[/spoiler] I think this is a good indication that Mugen's future opponents will continue to become more and more interesting. His battles against [spoiler]Shouryuu[/spoiler] were just unbelievable--I love the visual effects the animators used to show them duking it out with [spoiler]ki as well as ordinary weapons.[/spoiler] Those scenes looked classy and were fantastically well choreographed. Poor Jin, haha. Fuu and Mugen just walk all over him, and he takes it without a single complaint. I almost fell out of my chair laughing when Mugen made that comment about Jin acting like his wife. Overall, this is definitely one of the more serious and interesting episodes of the show. Samurai Champloo continues to borrow from older series in the genre while putting its own unique twist on things. Much as I like Mugen, I hope that at least one of the next few episodes focuses on Jin. I'm intrigued by what little we've been told about his past. ~Dagger~

If you know a certain post is bound to be lengthy, just type it up in Notepad. It helps keep things simple. :) ~Dagger~

[quote name='AzureWolf]I mean, everyone with BitTorrent can easily acquire RAWs for any episode on Japanese TV hours after it airs. Certainly, no one in the US and many other countries have use for such untranslated material.[/color'][/font][/quote] I'm really glad you mentioned RAWs, and I'd love to see a deeper exploration of this issue. Some native English speakers feel that downloading RAWs of licensed series (even if they can't understand spoken Japanese) is more ethical than downloading the corresponding fansubs. Does that make any sense, or is it ultimately just an attempt to feel better about their actions? If I recall correctly, the Japanese government has attempted to limit people's access to RAWs by implementing certain controls on HDTV-compatible television sets. I have almost zero familiarity with the technical aspects of creating RAWs, and I don't know how successful such measures have been. All the same, it might be something worthy of discussion. ~Dagger~

Manga sales have increased drastically each year (according to ICv2, English-adapted Asian comics are the fastest-growing sector of the publishing industry). Generally speaking, manga/manwha also receive a lot more recognition than anime--lately I've seen articles about the popularity of shoujo titles in publications ranging from Time Magazine to The Boston Globe. Of course press recognition won't keep anything from just turning into a fad--in fact, it often indicates the opposite. But I don't think demand for manga is about to flag; it's penetrated mainstream bookstores to an extend that's really quite surprising. The [i]perceived[/i] differences between American comics/graphic novels and Asian comics are significantly greater than whatever actually distinguishes them. Likewise, new American manga (or whatever you care to call it--graphic novels styled after manga, but written and drawn by American citizens) from publishers such as DC Comics frequently outsell their more established titles. Anime, meanwhile, is slowly expanding but continues to be more of a niche market. [url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/3006.html][u]Here's[/u][/url] an interesting (if brief) ICv2 article written in the middle of 2003. EVA Unit 100: I think many people's objections to mature anime stem more from the fact that it's shown on Cartoon Network than anything else. They automatically associate the channel with childen (which makes sense, at least to a certain extent). In the end it's more visceral than logical. Speaking of television, here's a question for everyone--how successful do you think ADV's Anime Network will be? FUNimation and Viz have also reportedly been looking into developing their own channels. Is this a good idea? ~Dagger~

Haha, I agree--I think ADV really is trying to trick them. The company is using the manga logo, which is an incredibly obvious tribute to (or rip-off of) the Chrono Trigger logo. On the other hand, it makes sense for the anime and manga to be published with the same title, and I am getting sick of GONZO's Engrish-isms. Pope Joan Paul, anyone? ^_^;; ~Dagger~

[b]Sept. 5, 4:53[/b] Soushi stumbled into Sabre's suite and immediately flung himself to the ground. "I thought the party was [i]today[/i]," he moaned, his voice muffled by the carpet. "And to make things worse, Kiyoshi ate my entire cake." "Tell me about it," Sabre growled, giving the television a murderous glare. "I can't believe this crap! Of all the nerve--" After a moment he realized that Soushi was still lolling about on the floor, muttering unhappily and periodically twitching from what could only be sugar deprivation. "Um, long time no see," he added lamely. They had never been particularly close, but he appreciated the senior for not attempting to kill him and parade his head around on a stick. Indeed, Soushi's attitude was disturbingly friendly; if he were anyone else, Sabre might have suspected him of possessing ulterior motives. Soushi sat up and scooted over to the couch, curiously eyeing the TV screen (which was currently dominated by a hideously made-up blonde). "Hey, what's the show? You know, it looks kind of like--" "DON'T SAY IT!" Sabre bellowed, and that was that. They watched the nameless soap in mutual misery, occasionally making snide remarks about someone's hairstyle or the absurdly predictable script. [b]Sept. 5, 11:00[/b] "Soushi..." "Hm?" The senior rolled over and gave Sabre a pleasant smile, obviously pleased with himself. "Is something wrong?" The werewolf was hovering over his unexpectedly occupied bed, wondering if Soushi did this to everyone. The answer to that, of course, was a resounding yes. "Look, you have a room of your own--and a rather nice one, too. Use it." Soushi's smile widened. "No." "I thought you left four hours ago!" "I did leave. You never said I couldn't come back in through the window." He clutched the blankets protectively to his chest. "I'll take the couch if it bothers you that much. But I really, really don't like sleeping by myself." "What? Are you scared of the dark or something?" Sabre demanded, exasperated. "For heaven's sake..."

This topic is very similar to the "Endings that make you want to strangle the director" thread. I'll give it a few more replies to distinguish itself before I merge them. ~Dagger~

*slaps forehead* Obviously I didn't read that closely enough. Well, maybe I'll just have Soushi show up in costume on DeathBug's doorstep and get really confused when no one else is there. :p ~Dagger~

On a related note, Robotech is the first anime that ADV plans to sell in Hot Topic. I'm not sure if this should be interpreted as progress, though... :p At the moment I can't think of any relevant anime which haven't already been mentioned, except perhaps some of the older Leiji Matsumoto series. So I thought I'd mention that the advent of manga, though quite recent, has really raised awareness of anime and Japanese pop culture in general. Manga is now much closer to going mainstream than anime may ever be, and its popularity is continuing to skyrocket. ~Dagger~

Your comments about sports anime are pretty interesting, Okita. I've always avoided such series, reasoning that while I enjoy playing sports, I have zero interest in attending professional games or watching live-action sports movies. I didn't think anime would be particularly different. Prince of Tennis surprised me because it feels so much like other shounen shows. In certain ways, the matches aren't all that unlike the fights seen in Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho, One Piece and so forth. PoT naturally settles into the tournament-style set-up to which almost every shounen action anime eventually resorts. What do you all think of Sakuno? She bothers me because everything about her screams "token love interest." It's a shame, since Ryoma is quite different from your normal scrappy, hot-headed shounen hero (he actually reminds me of Hunter x Hunter's Killua). I just don't find Sakuno's timidity to be particularly cute. I wish she would stand up for herself more often. ~Dagger~

[quote name='EVA Unit 100]Correction: In any case, at the moment [I]Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, and Trigun are[/I] the only anime[I]s[/I] that draw enough viewers to even dream of competing with Adult Swim's wildly popular original comedy series [I]except for the mega-bomb Brak Show, the seriously underrated Home Movies, and any original that isn't on the weekday strip because Sundays are made for the AS internet geeks while weekdays go mainstream[/I'] (not to mention Family Guy and Futurama).[/quote] I don't want to nitpick, but I feel the need to defend my assertions. I didn't pull that statement out of thin air, after all. I was reading a July 2004 article from Media Life Magazine which focused on how CN executives play down Adult Swim's success with younger demographics. The piece was followed by several tables listing the top 30 programs in broadcast television and basic cable among various age groups; they showed ratings for the week that ended on July 11. Adult Swim comedy series were sprinkled throughout the charts labelled People 12 - 24, Teens 12 - 17 and and Kids 9 - 14. The [I]only[/I] anime which appeared anywhere was [B]Inuyasha[/B], which had the #25 spot for Teens 12 - 17. In case you're curious, its Nielsen rating was 2.4. I'm well aware that Cowboy Bebop, FLCL and Trigun are popular series, but they can't hold a candle to Aqua Teen Hunger Force or Family Guy. While AS certainly is trying to skew older, ATHF and co. perform quite strongly in the 12 - 17 age bracket. Considering that none of the three anime you mentioned are in the top 30 for 18 - 24 or 18 - 34, much less 12 -17, I'm going to stand by what I said about Inuyasha. However, I think your characterization of Toonami's ambitions is absolutely correct. ~Dagger~

Both of the articles you've quoted talk about fansubbing in one breath and bootlegging in the next. Neither practice is legal, but ideally there should be strong distinctions drawn between them. I believe if anime companies are truly concerned about the market in Asia, they should go after bootleggers first and fansubbers second. After all, 90% of CDs and DVDs sold in China are bootlegs (I got that statistic from a recent piece in Time Magazine), and most of the bootlegs listed for sale on English-language websites originate in China, Taiwan or Hong Kong. The first article puzzles me; as far as I know, a majority of bootlegs are created from DVD-rips (as opposed to fansubs), which is why they may have a dub track as well as legible subtitles. I would assume that DVD-rip bootlegs can be made to look and sound relatively legitimate, and I would also assume they'd be more cause for concern than fansubs (which generally don't profit anyone). Putting the fear of God in people who fansub licensed series or make R1 DVD-rips available for download should also be a priority, but eliminating bootlegs ought to come first--for both American and Japanese anime companies. ~Dagger~

ADV recently announced that volume 1 is supposed to come out on September 21. It's funny--I wasn't crazy about CC while it was actually being fansubbed (granted, I never got past episode 5 or so). Now, however, I have a sudden urge to buy the series. I've been told that Chrono Crusade grows increasingly darker and that the ending is very, [i]very[/i] good. As I tend to love anime which follow a similar progression, I'm starting to think I might really like CC once I watch it in its entirety. ~Dagger~

[quote name='G/S/B Master']Jim resigned in the most gruesome way possible. Now EBaums World and everybody can make fun of him. I never heard about him until I saw the news o.O;;;[/quote] I don't understand what about Mr. McGreevey's resignation was "gruesome," not to mention amusing. Could you clarify this, please? ~Dagger~

I really wish I hadn't eaten dinner while watching the first episode of Elfen Lied. That was a rather bad idea, all things considered. Others have said that this series does for shounen romance what Narutaru did for Pokemon, and they're basically right. The main character is a cute guy called Kouta who, together with his equally cute female cousin, encounters a naked, pink-haired girl who looks oddly like a Chobit. She has the requisite catlike ears and can only say "Nyu," so Kouta ends up naming her Nyuu. Unfortunately for him, Nyuu's other personality (Lucy) is a psychotic killer with unfathomable supernatural powers. In certain ways, Elfen Lied feels like a less annoying version of This Ugly and Beautiful World. Despite having [i]much[/i] more nudity, it doesn't exactly reek of fanservice--which could be due to the fact that most of the aforementioned nudity is juxtaposed with scenes of graphic decapitation and disposable characters being snapped in two like sticks. The violence is suitably sickening, but it ends up having a lot less impact than it should. Most of the carnage seems inescapably cartoonish. If its direction demonstrated a greater degree of restraint and its super-bright color palette was toned down, Elfen Lied would be far more disturbing. ~Dagger~

Bishoujo: Beautiful young girl. Bishounen: Beautiful young boy. And this, my dear, is why Google was created. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

That's a fantastic idea for a topic, EVA Unit 100. However, I had to merge it over here because anything related to television line-ups--whether real or hypothetical--should be restricted to this sticky. Hopefully your post will help revitalize the discussion. ^_^ EDIT: And here's my dream Toonami/Adult Swim schedule. Though I've included ADV series as well as unlicensed anime, I am trying to be mildly realistic. Sadly, this means no shoujo. [b]Toonami [Saturday][/b] 8.0: Hunter x Hunter 8.5: Yu Yu Hakusho 9.0: Bleach 9.5: One Piece 10.0: Case Closed 10.5: Inuyasha [b]Adult Swim [Saturday][/b] 11.0: Full Metal Panic! 11.5: The Mars Daybreak 12.0: Chrono Crusade 12.5: Kurau, Phantom Memory 1.0: Samurai Champloo 1.5: Cowboy Bebop [b]Adult Swim [Weekdays][/b] 12.0: Naruto 12.5: Full Metal Alchemist 1.0: Get Backers 1.5: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Please don't take this seriously, folks. I'm worried that someone's going to see the word "Naruto" and automatically go into cardiac arrest. :p ~Dagger~

Soul Taker definitely isn't for everyone. That having been said, I like it, and I'm quite happy I picked up the cheap edition of volume 1. The show looks extraordinarily dynamic and is very visually entertaining; this is offset by a simple (albeit trippy) plot. I can't describe its unusual and occasionally bizarre storytelling style without referencing other anime--certain aspects of Soul Taker remind me strongly of its director's most recent work, Le Portrait de Petit Cossette. I would only recommend Soul Taker to people who love style, even at the expense of emotional poignancy and depth. I actually don't think it's all that difficult to empathize with the main character, however. Soul Taker has a surreal, dreamlike atmosphere which is somewhat reminiscient of Alice in Wonderland. While its dub is quite good, I absolutely love Kyosuke's seiyuu (Mitsuki Saiga) and plan to see the show in both English and Japanese. The whole thing comes across as being rather experimental. Fans of the cute female character designs might want to check out Nurse Witch Kogumi, a radically different spin-off series that revolves around a supporting member of Soul Taker's cast. ~Dagger~

I finally got around to editing the title of the thread, as the original name was way too long and severely restricted the discussion at hand. Let's try to broaden this a bit; it's going to die off pretty quickly if all of the respondents focus solely on one-word labels. ~Dagger~

[quote name='EVA Unit 100'] On the other hand, Cartoon Network and their Toonami and Adult Swim blocks were aiming for variety...[/quote] I can't help but disagree with this, as most of the shows you've listed are primarily comedic action series; just about all of them are shounen or seinen. Neither Witch Hunter Robin nor Wolf's Rain have done particularly well in the ratings, and that's because both are too serious and too slow-paced to attract Adult Swim's core audience. In any case, at the moment Inuyasha is the only anime that draws enough viewers to even dream of competing with Adult Swim's wildly popular original comedy series (not to mention Family Guy and Futurama). I am willing to bet money that CN would never air shows like Fruits Basket or Kodocha, regardless of their merits. Full Metal Alchemist possesses the requisite blend of action and humor to duplicate and possibly outdo Inuyasha's success. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex will probably become a second Cowboy Bebop, given the original movie's popularity in America. You said that AS is striving for "variety," but in my opinion, this is a very limited sort of variety. ~Dagger~

Unless you discover otherwise, it's probably safe to assume that Samurai Champloo will be twenty-six episodes long. Only nine episodes have been fansubbed thus far; more, however, have aired and are available raw. The main man involved in the production of this series is Shinichiro Watanabe, who directed two shorts in The Animatrix ("Detective Story" and "Kid's Story") as well as Cowboy Bebop and the Cowboy Bebop movie. He has also been associated with Macross Plus, Vision of Escaflowne and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. ~Dagger~

[B]Sept. 5, 4:30[/B] If there was one thing Soushi loved, it was a party--and a party was not a party without a grotesquely frilly triple-layer cake. He bustled about the communal kitchen, singing a tune of his own invention and furtively gnawing a tube of purple frosting as he baked. It dangled from his lips rather like an unusually plump cigar. He did not want to frighten those who knew him, so he had decided against dressing up as a member of the Shinsengumi. Since he was not currently in the mood to be molested (much less wear heavy make-up), he also outruled pretending to be a geisha. Given his limited costume-related resources, Soushi's only option was to take the middle road--wear a kimono, and hope enough people of both sexes harbored doubts about his gender to avoid any awkward situations. Soushi paused midway through his attempt to juggle two rolling pins and a bag of powdered sugar. He felt quite certain that someone was standing behind him. Smiling, the senior turned around--and blinked in confusion as he saw his companion. He knew he had glimpsed that face before, but somehow her name had vanished from his memory, just as she now appeared to be sliding in and out of sight. The gray-haired girl cleared her throat. "Treasure those around you, for--" She cut herself off midway through that rather cryptic-sounding sentence, and the mysterious wind obediently stopped as well. Not quite frowning, she coughed lightly before speaking again. "Er, your timbre is still weak--" "Mima-chan!" Soushi yelped happily. His tube of frosting tumbled unceremoniously to the floor. "Now I remember!" She swallowed the suddden and inexplicable urge to mutter something about the world being suffused with sound. "Hello," said Mima Miste.

Kino's Journey is one hell of an amazing show. :) Anyway, your header looks good. I don't really like the juxtaposition of Kino's dark green jacket with various shades of purple, but the text is nicely placed and the background (when taken on its own) is attractive. I love all of the symbolic stock images you have tucked away in there, although the overall atmosphere is a bit too... techy for my tastes. The basic positioning of everything comes across as being very intuitive, and the various elements of the image balance each other out pretty well. I'd tone down the sharpness and brightness of the background--it has a lot of depth, which is good, but I think it would benefit from losing some of the more distracting hard edges. Also, the bottom line of text just seems too clear (particularly when contrasted with all of the words above it). ~Dagger~

I just started watching this Go Nagai series, and so far it has really impressed me. Devil Lady is an incredible bargain: it's possible to find the ADV brick set, which contains all twenty-six episodes, at or below the standard MSRP for a regular three or four episode DVD. Both the Japanese and English casts are absolutely extraordinary--I suggest watching the show in both languages, because while the dub is amazing, Junko Iwao's powerful performance as Devil Lady's main character should not be missed. Devil Lady sometimes goes over-the-top, but for the most part it's a smart and surprisingly un-cheesy horror anime. There is almost no fanservice, and the gore never becomes outrageous. The fast-paced plot revolves around Jun Fudou, a beautiful but melancholy model who is shocked to discover that she possesses the blood of a demonic beast. If you have even a small liking for horror, Devil Lady will almost certainly be worth your money. Its artwork and direction are both very strong, and the animation (the series started airing in 1998) rarely falters. I'm normally a little leery of Go Nagai's work, but this show has a lot of great qualities and is being sold at a ridiculously low price. I strongly recommend it. ~Dagger~