Dagger

Watching: I'm (re)watching the second arc of [b]Mononoke[/b]. I can't believe this show--it pushes anime (hell, animation or even film in general) to a whole different level. It's definitely the best thing airing at the moment. I haven't touched much anime at all lately, so I'm stuck in catch-up mode, but Mononoke remains a priority. ~Dagger~

Wow. Episode 5 was a tour de force. I hadn't realized that the medicine seller had so many more tricks left up his sleeve after the first arc. His other form & the release-of-the-sword sequence were [I]so[/I] damn cool. Oh man. One of my favorite little touches, though, was the ambiguity about Genkei's appearance. [spoiler]In his quasi-flashbacks, he looks like a younger clone of his current (rather hideous) self. I suppose that was meant to reflect the ugliness of his heart & his inner thoughts.[/spoiler] Yet at the end, it's revealed that [spoiler]he was actually a rather beautiful young man... and his sister's incestuous longing[/spoiler] starts to make a little more sense, haha. ~Dagger~

Looks like the last arc--if it can be called that--will be three episodes (23, 24, 25). Very cool episode titles, too. Sadly, though, the main reason I'm excited about episode 22 is because November 11 gets a black suit. XD ~Dagger~

Episode 20 gives us room for a lot of speculation about the end. I guess I'll throw a few possibilities out there: - [spoiler]Juliet dies/is reborn as the second Escalus. Romeo takes on Ophelia's role for the next generation.[/spoiler] (Does that even make sense? I can't remember Ophelia saying what she really is or where she came from...) - [spoiler]Both Juliet and Romeo turn into trees.[/spoiler] Very Grecian. - [spoiler]Romeo finds a way to save Juliet at his own expense.[/spoiler] - Or everyone lives happily ever after. :p ~Dagger~

I just ordered this. I think I'm going to make it my winter game, though--right now I'm giving Odin Sphere a whirl. Persona 3 shares quite a few actors with the Tales of the Abyss dub, which I enjoyed, so I'm looking forward to that aspect of it. ~Dagger~

My answer to this depends on the meaning of control freak, I suppose. I like to do what I want when I want, but I never try to force others to join me. ~Dagger~

After finding out that it's going to air in the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noitamina][u]Noitamina[/u][/url] timeslot, I'm suddenly interested in [b]KimiKiss Pure Rouge[/b]. It's based on a ren'ai PS2 game with a lot of famous seiyuu (Rie Tanaka, Ami Koshimizu, Ryou Hirohashi, Mamiko Noto, etc). It didn't sound particularly interesting to me when I first heard about it, but maybe the director (who also worked on Honey & Clover and Nodame Cantabile) will be able to make something special out of it. ~Dagger~

Nah. Basically, shoujo/shounen and josei/seinen are based on the target audience of the anthology magazine a manga runs in (or the imprint that publishes a novel series, or occasionally the time slot an anime airs in). Of course, this can get tricky when the anime is the original work... For instance, anyway, the Japanese Shounen Jump is marketed toward males, but it has an enormous female audience. The Pretty Cure anime is marketed toward little girls, but it has an enormous male otaku fanbase. The intended demographic might not even end up being the largest audience. ~Dagger~

Utena remixes shoujo archetypes just as Eva plays with mecha anime conventions. Basically everything in it can be traced back to classic shoujo series like Rose of Versailles, Princess Knight and Oniisama E (Brother, Dear Brother). Kunihiko Ikuhara, Utena's director, also directed the later seasons of Sailor Moon. In making Utena, he got to play around with some of the story ideas he never got to use in Sailor Moon S. "Shoujo" and "shounen" have little to do with who can or cannot enjoy a particular series. Many shoujo and shounen series have strong crossover audiences. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Blitz_Kid']Tales of the Abyss, i saw that game at the store, but i never played it before. I haver played Tales of Legendia and that was a good game. The Tales of Legendia has anime cut-scene which was awesome to the game.[/QUOTE] Abyss is generally considered to be superior to Legendia. It also has occasional anime cut-scenes, so I imagine you would probably like it. I loved the comedy & the chemistry between the characters. The battle system becomes deeper & more interesting as you progress in the game. By the end, I was excited about the idea of playing it again with clear-file upgrades and at different difficulty levels. ~Dagger~

Has Haruhi been 100% confirmed for winter? I'll be surprised if Clannad isn't at least a 2-cour show... ~Dagger~

It warmed my heart to read that post. :catgirl: Re: the movie, one thing you should know going into it is that there's an unresolved debate about whether it's a sequel or a retelling. I won't say more on the topic for now, but get ready to draw your own conclusions. It's also visually ravishing--very luscious. Enjoy. ~Dagger~

I'm currently playing [b][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togainu_no_Chi]Togainu no Chi[/url][/b] (which I already [url=http://www.myotaku.com/users/dagger_ix1/posts/1202394][u]raved about[/u][/url] at myO). I have two routes left (Keisuke and Nano). When I finish, I'm going to tackle [b]Lamento - Beyond the Void[/b], Nitro+ CHiRAL's second BL game. My favorite end so far is Shiki's true ending, although it left me feeling pretty down until I listened to the Shiki drama CD. Out of the other two Shiki endings, one is somewhat disturbing but still compelling, and the other is just hugely disturbing (and, even worse, totally plausible). :animedepr ~Dagger~

I'm immensely looking forward to three shows, which (in order) are: 1. Clannad 2. Gundam 00 3. ef - a tale of memories I liked Kanon 2006 and adored AIR. To say that I'm excited about Clannad would probably be an understatement. Gundam 00 has Kouga Yun (Loveless, Earthian) character designs. That by itself is enough of a hook for me, but with direction by Seiji Mizushima (FMA), music by L'Arc-en-Ciel and Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell), and Mamoru Miyano (Light in Death Note) playing the main character, it seems like this would be pretty hard to screw up. ef is based on a game I very much enjoyed, and the promos so far have been promising. I'm also interested in Nogami Neuro and Ghost Hound. The Aria OVA (Arietta) is a given. ~Dagger~

A little bit more [url=http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=53632][u]here[/u][/url], including a color pic. [SIZE="1"]Rei + lance = instant win.[/SIZE] I'm neutral on the art. Could be worse. (That said, the school uniforms are pretty bad.) ~Dagger~

Do you mean... 1) A game that's based on an already existing anime or that has an anime based on it 2) A game with anime-style character designs 3) Or either one of those? ~Dagger~

Currently watching: Nothing. :animeswea Currently reading: [b]Nanairo Sekai[/b] by Mizu Sahara (aka Sumomo Yumeka). Her English-released works are [url=http://www.amazon.com/Voices-Distant-Star-Hoshi-Koe/dp/1598165291/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/102-4768142-6212910?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188241667&sr=8-3][u]Voices of a Distant Star[/u][/url] (based on the OVA), [url=http://www.amazon.com/Day-I-Became-Butterfly-Yaoi/dp/156970869X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4768142-6212910?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188241708&sr=1-1][u]The Day I Became a Butterfly[/u][/url] (a mix of het, BL & possibly yuri stories), and [url=http://www.amazon.com/Same-Cell-Organism-Sumomo-Yumeka/dp/1569709262/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4768142-6212910?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188241761&sr=1-1][u]Same Cell Organism[/u][/url] (a BL anthology). Translations for Nanairo & some of her other unlicensed works are available online. Nanairo Sekai is a series of unrelated stories centered around the themes of colors & the days of the week. The first is het & about high schoolers; the second is BL & about university students; the third is het & about middle schoolers. Yumeka's strengths are her ethereal art and her stunning ability to create reader sympathy & evoke close-to-home emotions with a minimal number of pages. It's practically impossible not to identify with her characters' insecurities & longings. Each story left me with a huge smile on my face, but the most skillfully done was probably the third. She absolutely nails the awkwardness & denial involved in young crushes. ~Dagger~

:love: Kaworu's sword is [i]so[/i] CLAMP. And yeah, more often than not, Asuka series do have a lot of BL innuendo. I hope the writing is better than in the Angelic Days manga... Oh, who am I kidding. Give me some cool action (and don't leave the girls out!!), and I'll be happy. Those angel wings & shades kind of make me want to claw my eyes out, though. ~Dagger~

[url=http://stage6.divx.com/user/Malleus1984/video/1514091/Trailer-Rebuild-2][u]Yet another trailer[/u][/url]. Approximately an even mix of new & old shots. You can find it at YouTube as well, but the Stage6 version is waaaay better looking. ~Dagger~

Wow! Very impressive post. I don't have the time to read everything carefully right now (I'm packing to move out, heh), but I've been meaning to get into Touhou for a [I]long[/I] time, and this is going to make it so much easier. Thanks! :catgirl: ~Dagger~

Ahaha. Surprisingly enough, it's real--the inmates of the same prison were previously forced to learn Michael Jackson's Thriller. ~Dagger~

[url=http://www.ef-memo.com/][u]Official site[/u][/url] ef is an upcoming project from [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=677][u]Shaft[/u][/url]. It's based on a recent ero-game whose opening sequence was animated by [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makoto_Shinkai][u]Makoto Shinkai[/u][/url]. The character designs are by [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=15661][u]Naru Nanao[/u][/url], who also did the original designs for Sola. [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=14455][u]Tenmon[/u][/url] (the composer for all of Shinkai's independent works) is responsible for the soundtrack. You can see the demo movie for the game--which includes Shinkai's stunning OP--[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvNlpnM79n4&mode=related&search=][u]here[/u][/url]. I've played the game (the first half of it, at any rate; they decided to split it across two discs, and the second has yet to be released). Unlike every other eroge out there, ef completely avoids feeling like a harem story. Instead of focusing on one protagonist who has to choose between a bunch of girls, it's an anthology that tells the stories of several different young couples. Although it's mostly realistic, there are hints of the supernatural. One thing I liked about the game is that the protagonists all have some kind of intense aspiration. (The person who initially plays the role of "carefree best friend/comedic relief" turns out to be seriously dedicated to his dream of becoming a filmmaker.) The TV show's [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMQMCXXUDzY][u]prologue[/u][/url] just came out on DVD. It includes the new OP, which--while nowhere near Shinkai's level--is quite impressive in its own right. I might be jumping the gun, considering that a tale of memories won't air until October, but I loved the game and am very psyched about this new adaptation. ~Dagger~

[quote name='ShinigamiNoMiko']So... I sunk to a horrible low and did something I vowed I would NEVER do... I bought Gravitation EX >< The saddest part... there are some things I really hate about it, but for the most part, I'm enjoying it >

Yeah, it plays out really well in English (although nothing can quite match the Japanese version of Dutch's "Amen, hallelujah, peanut butter"). Balalaika's actress uses a slight Russian accent--[i]very[/i] sexy & sharp. I think Shenhua will be the biggest challenge, though, so it'll be interesting to see how she turns out. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Kanji'] [spoiler] I wonder if the minstrel in Umibozu will possess similar characteristics.[/spoiler][/QUOTE] [spoiler]He came off more as comic relief in episode 4. I loved how they didn't show what his illusion was--the movements and facial expressions got the gist across quite clearly.[/spoiler] Midway through the Umibouzu arc, Mononoke keeps churning out startling new images. It would be hard to list everything that made an impression on me, but I couldn't forget [spoiler]the vomiting & giving birth to fish scenes[/spoiler] even if I wanted to. Yeesh. :animeswea I was not expecting the medicine seller to be questioned as well. It was awesome how he accepted it so calmly. I can't wait until Bakeneko comes out on DVD... ~Dagger~