Dagger

The self-mockery in episode 4 was indeed delightful. I wonder if it'll ever go deeper into Kafuka's [spoiler]KILL KILL KILL[/spoiler] issues. I would also like to mention that I'm going to have nightmares about the [spoiler]wall of tails![/spoiler] :animestun Favorites so far: Kaere, Maria, Matoi, Harumi (gotta give props to the girl who reads One Piece doujinshi [i]in class[/i]) ~Dagger~

Or at least the cat's spoiler-innocence. :animesmil ~Dagger~

It's a little hard to give recommendations to someone whose anime tastes haven't had a chance to form yet (if I'm reading your post correctly, that is). But that just gives us an excuse to go wild with suggestions. Sounds like fun to me. :p [b]Escaflowne[/b]: A fan-favorite fantasy adventure. There have been a lot of anime that revolve around a girl who gets sucked into a parallel world, but this is definitely one of the best. [b]Gungrave[/b]: Focuses on growing up in a corrupt city. It has sci-fi elements, but the main themes are family and Family (as in the Mafia). The first episode can be confusing. [b]Last Exile[/b]: Set in a steampunk world, this show features lovingly rendered aerial battles. It's quite epic, with a large cast and loads of subplots. Some viewers complain about the ending. [b]R.O.D[/b]: Stands for Read or Die. It's only three episodes long, so you can get the whole thing on one disc. The production values are splendid, and the story is off-beat--lots of bizarre superpowers and crazy fight scenes. The main character, for instance, uses paper as her weapon: she can make it hard enough to stop bullets or sharp enough to use as a sword. [size=1]Don't get confused, by the way... there's also an R.O.D TV series.[/size] [b]Samurai Champloo[/b]: A series that's set in historical Japan but includes a lot of amusing anachronisms (from urban graffiti to baseball to beatboxing). The action sequences are a joy to watch, and the episodic format lets it dish out tragedy as well as comedy. [b]Scrapped Princess[/b]: This was animated by the company that made FMA and has a similar proportion of comedy and drama. The protagonist is a princess who was prophesied at her birth to be "the poison that will destroy the world." Not one of my personal favorites, but might be worth checking out. ~Dagger~

Aw, I'm sorry that was spoiled for you. :animedepr With the characters [spoiler]putting on a play[/spoiler] (which looks like it'll also appear in 19), episode 18 is ve~ry meta. In many ways it seems reminiscent of the very earliest episodes, from the quirky style of comedy to the atmosphere of the lovely scene at the end. The animation continues to go back up in quality. Also... [spoiler]so what the heck is with that Mysterious Old Man!?[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwAXyPBMYo8&eurl=][u]More Rebuild footage[/u][/url] You know, I thought the last trailer was pretty good-looking and all, but nothing shocking. This is [i]hot stuff[/i]. Some really appealing character animation. Just look at Rei. ~Dagger~

I don't normally care when companies do that, but in Little Butterfly's case, I feel like their behavior and their moments of immaturity make more sense once you realize that they're younger. The "trying to get away from family" theme carries more weight, too. Dunno if I mentioned [b]Shout Out Loud[/b] yet. It's good, although I have trouble re-reading it because the couple I really liked got a less-than-happy ending. ~Dagger~

I don't know how comfortable you are with explicitness, so here are what should be some "safer" titles. I can't guarantee that any of them are totally clean, though. In fact, they probably aren't. :animeswea [B]Desire[/B]: I didn't love this, but a lot of other people swear by it. High school love triangle. Just one volume long. [B]Rin[/B]: Three volumes long, although the first volume feels like a complete story by itself. Set in high school and revolves around members of the archery club. The main character is very insecure. [B]Little Butterfly[/B]: Incredibly sweet, refreshing, delightful story about first love set against a background of realistic domestic problems. The main characters are in middle school, but they were aged up to high school in the English translation. Three volumes. [B]Il Gato Sul G[/B]: Pretty serious. A love triangle (or quadrangle?) involving a character with multiple personalities. Focuses on the pressure of being a violin prodigy. Two volumes so far. [B]Kissing[/B]: One volume; about the difficulties involved in transitioning from friendship to romance. [B]Seven[/B]: An anthology of three or four linked stories. I fell head over heels for the first story (and the final one, which continues it). I didn't care for the quasi-incest that came in the middle. [B]Same Cell Organism[/B]: Short stories (some related, some not). Very light and ethereal and atmospheric. Might not be satisfying if you're looking for plot. [b]You & Harujion[/b]: One volume; kind of a May-December romance. [b]Little Crybaby[/b]: An anthology from Harujion's manga-ka. Not as insipid as its title made me fear. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Retribution'][font=Arial] I mean essentially your position could be applied to interracial marriage.[/font][/quote] Or to being a pedophile or a psychopath, I guess. I don't know quite where Azure stands, but I think his point is worth considering--why is "It's not a choice!" still used as the first line of defense against homophobia? In some ways it sets a very dangerous precedent, because it implies that while we have the essential right to be what we are (through genes or environment or whatever), we don't have the right to be what we choose to be. What if homosexuality were a choice? So what? It still wouldn't hurt anyone, and homosexuals would still deserve protection from discrimination, just like anyone else. Whether you're choosing who to marry, worship, love or hate, deliberate choices are every bit as valid as the intrinsic qualities you're born with. ~Dagger~

[i]Great[/i] twist at the end. Well, I guess I don't mean so much the twist itself (although it was very fitting) as the way they lightly planted evidence for it earlier in the film, while misleading you to make you think it wouldn't happen. Agatha Christie would have approved. It tested my attention span (and my ability to comprehend technobabble), but that's the case for anything GitS-related. It was worth watching for the set pieces--such as the scene you mentioned in spoiler tags--the eye candy, and of course the superlative dub. I was impressed that they listed the Japanese voice cast on the back of the DVD. I've never seen that done before. ~Dagger~

Oh, how it warms my heart to see this thread resurrected. :catgirl: Hm, suggestions... there's so much BL out there nowadays that it you might want to narrow down the kind of stories you like first. Are you looking for more for comedy or drama? Angst? Sweet romance? ~Dagger~

[quote name='Retribution'][font=Arial]You speak from experience, I presume?[/font][/QUOTE] Like you really had to ask. :p ~Dagger~

Episode 3 was just superb. It's so impressive how this show deftly turns humor into social commentary without backing itself into a set message--it satirizes everything from multiple angles and lets you decide what to make of it. Also, the Death Note homage slew me. :catgirl: ETA: My jaw dropped when I saw the new OP for episode 4. An instant favorite--very provocative and erotic. Itoshiki-sensei is pimpin'. Also, check out the obligatory [url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=_cu6FQnFC44][u]Eva OP diddly[/u][/url]. ~Dagger~

Mm... well, to paint it broadly, Rah is more of a love story than a daddy issues story. I would say that the shows are similar in terms of psychological depth, not psychological themes. Also, Rah doesn't refer to theories like Eva (oral stage, anyone?). ETA: The English-language short story that influenced Rah is "The Dandelion Girl" by Robert F. Young, an obscure sci-fi writer. The full text is available online in multiple places, but don't read it unless you want to be semi-spoiled. ~Dagger~

There are some AMAZING revelations in episode 17. - Regarding Tybalt: [spoiler]He's Montague's son (and therefore Romeo's half-brother) by a now-deceased woman of the Capulet family. Montague wooed her, got her pregnant and then ditched her in favor of Portia. Hence Tybalt's revenge-lust.[/spoiler] - Regarding Montague: [spoiler]He's actually not a Montague at all. He's the son of a Capulet and a prostitute and appears to have been adopted into the Montague family as a young child--after his mother's tragic death--by a Montague pedophile (that's really what it looked like!!) who spotted him on the street. No wonder he hates the world so much.[/spoiler] Let me know if I got any of that wrong... - Additionally, [spoiler]Montague's relationship with Tybalt's mother led him to discover something (?) about Escalus. It's purely visual, so one can only guess as to what it was, but we see him watching Ophelia talk with Juliet's father.[/spoiler] - [spoiler]Titus dies, and very dramatically too.[/spoiler] It'll be fascinating to see what kind of effect this has on Mercutio. [spoiler]Romeo looks and acts more like Portia, while Tybalt takes after his father (the family resemblance is very striking once you see Montague as a child and a younger man).[/spoiler] I admired the [spoiler]wordless parallels between them (i.e. Tybalt starting to turn around, then a cut to Montague turning around menacingly; shots of both of them working themselves into a fury).[/spoiler] The amusing thing is that [spoiler]Tybalt and Juliet could be cousins[/spoiler] after all! Who knew? :p ~Dagger~

I played about 30 hours in the past week. (Me being me, that means I probably didn't get nearly as far as most other people would in the same amount of time...) I love the bite-sized dungeons, the skits, the dubs, the titles, etc. (This is my first Tales game, if that wasn't already obvious.) The battle system is just okay. But then, I'm coming off a game (Valkyrie Profile 2) that had pretty much the perfect action-RPG battle system, as far as I'm concerned. That aside, a more FFXII-esque approach for governing the peripheral party members would have been nice. I'd enjoy having nitty-gritty control over which strike/fonic artes they use under specific circumstances. I understand why a turn-based RPG would ditch enemy health bars... this is more of an action title, though, so they would've been a nice feature. It's funny--I loved Luke from basically the first line onward. The horribleness of his attitude was refreshing, realistic (given his circumstances) and all too understandable. Personally, when it comes to characterization, I'll take lazy, selfish ignorance over self-righteousness any day. Juggling parties is more fun than it has any right to be. I tend to use Luke, Jade and Anise the most, Tear and Natalia evenly and Guy the least. When they make you split into two parties, I've been going with Luke/Jade/Tear and Guy/Anise/Natalia. I kind of feel like there isn't that much room for experimentation, though--you pretty much have to split up Tear and Natalia, and Guy is the most comfortable party leader after Luke (Anise would be another reasonable option, I guess). ~Dagger~

Amber, schamber. The highlight of the 15/16 arc was clearly [spoiler]November 11 taking out that little heterochromatic bastard.[/spoiler] I liked how the [spoiler]'nakama' (comrade) concept appeared in relation to the months. As a matter of fact, Hei and co. could learn a thing or two from their teamwork.[/spoiler] I guess I should also note that [spoiler]July's halting speech when Misaki came to him[/spoiler] brought out my non-existent maternal instincts in full force. I guess [I]moe[/I] might have to be the word for that. :animeswea Anyway, I dig the casual romantic vibe between [spoiler]Nov. and Misaki.[/spoiler] Or is it just me? As for Amber: [spoiler]She can stop time... or does she actually travel through time? Can she see/predict the future?[/spoiler] Not too clear on that, although her renumeration seems obvious enough. New OP: Doesn't hold a candle to Howling. Animation-wise, the better-than-Initial D car fetishization is pretty cool. New ED: Not your usual High and Mighty Color fare. Simple but adorable animation. ~Dagger~

All done! Final time: 4 1/2 hours. Not too shabby. [B][COLOR="Red"]MAJOR SPOILERS[/COLOR][/B], of course. I absolutely loved every aspect of the book up until it became clear that [spoiler]Harry was not going to die.[/spoiler] After that it went a bit downhill for me. Nothing too disappointing, since it was right near the end anyway, but it's depressing to come away from a story I enjoyed so massively without totally digging the final act. The best parts were [spoiler]Snape's past[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Dobby's death.[/spoiler] I'd say more, but I'm a bit burned out at the moment. :animeswea ~Dagger~

[quote name='Konata']I'm going to the Harry Potter event soon. But, I plan to add a little Haruhiism into it ;D.[/QUOTE] A godly combination. Be sure to tell us how it goes! As for me, I'm an 8. Today was my last day of work. Yesterday I got three books with the gift card I received as a going-away present: [url=http://www.amazon.com/Into-Wild-Sarah-Beth-Durst/dp/1595141561/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/104-6239256-5741537?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184974495&sr=8-4][u]Into the Wild[/u][/url], and no, it's not the one by Jon Krakauer; [url=http://www.amazon.com/InterWorld-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0061238961/ref=ed_oe_h/104-6239256-5741537?ie=UTF8&qid=1184974542&sr=1-13][u]InterWorld[/u][/url] by Neil Gaiman, which has one of the best covers I've ever seen; and [url=http://www.amazon.com/Last-Unicorn-Peter-S-Beagle/dp/0451450523/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/104-6239256-5741537?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184974675&sr=1-3][u]The Last Unicorn[/u][/url] (a new hardcover edition, not the one in the link), which for some reason I've never gotten around to reading. I'm really looking forward to starting them, though Harry Potter is first in line. There's been some great anime news today. And I'm about to watch the first four episodes of Mushishi on DVD... ~Dagger~

I shamelessly gank'd it myself, so feel free to share away. ~Dagger~

Oops, yeah, I should've mentioned that it's from episode 2. You'll know [spoiler]who the bed-lurker is[/spoiler] when you watch it. ;) ~Dagger~

Hahaha! Check out the attached screencap. I totally missed this the first time around (okay, and the second time, too). Just stare at it for a while and you'll get it... ~Dagger~

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Weird, I'd have expected more advertising giving it's being almost heralded as the end of a literary era.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] Dude, you think Harry Potter needs [i]advertising[/i]? :p (Or is that another joke? :animeswea I daresay our senses of humor are dangerously incompatible. I shall have to tread carefully.) ~Dagger~

Ouran has been officially licensed by Funi. Whoo! This is such a great day. First the Jing OVA gets licensed, then my Mushishi starter set comes in the mail, and then Funi snags Ouran... but I digress. With their recent track record, I'm sure they'll give it awesome packaging, and I'm looking forward to hearing about the dub cast. ~Dagger~

Oh my gosh! After all this time, ADV actually licensed the Jing OVA! I couldn't be happier. The TV series is dead to me, and I never could get into the manga, but the OVA is just lovely (and worth every penny of the R2 deluxe set). I'll be delighted to own it on R1 DVD. ~Dagger~

I don't have much of an opinion, I guess. I didn't download it because I figured I wouldn't be able to resist reading it if I did. If anything, this is the most benign form of piracy possible--it's obviously not going to cut into sales, after all. I'm just annoyed that it gives people more opportunities to maliciously spread spoilers ahead of time. ~Dagger~