Dagger

I use Firefox, primarily because I'm a tab whore; I don't really take advantage of any of its other features. Most of the time when I'm online, I have at least eight or more tabs open. But I sometimes stick an IE window on my secondary (and significantly worse) monitor, so I can check how things display and so forth. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Aaryanna][COLOR=SeaGreen] For starters, how about some actual statistics on how each show makes their money? Show?s like Stargate often get their money from advertising when the show actually airs. I?m assuming it works in a similar manner over in Japan. But unlike Stargate I doubt that DNAngel gets the same amount of air time. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] My understanding of it is that in Japan, most anime series turn a profit (if they turn a profit at all, that is) through DVD and merchandise sales. However, that doesn't really affect prices over here. In fact, American anime prices are incredibly low compared to Japanese anime prices. Most anime are released in North America by domestically based licensees who have to pay a licensing fee for the North American home video and/or broadcast rights for the series, movie or OVA in question. Some Japanese companies (most notoriously, Toei) have tried to release their own anime here by themselves, without licensing it out to anyone else, but fans tend to regard these efforts with extreme trepidation. Perhaps the most successful example of a Japanese company skipping the licensing process is Bandai Visual (not to be confused with Bandai Entertainment). Unfortunately, "successful" in this context only means that they have put out incredibly high-quality products. So far, they've produced North American re-releases of the first two Patlabor movies, each of which was given a regular edition and a fancy-schmancy limited edition (the individual LEs cost about $80, by the way). Patlabor is not exactly a rip-roaring franchise in the North American anime market, so although they did a great job on the two films, the fact that they priced them as they would price similar items in Japan and still expected them to sell is worrisome for people who want to see the company do well over here. Obviously, licensing costs money. Dubbing and localization in general also cost money. Add to this the fact that anime is at best a niche market, and you can start to see why prices have remained fairly high. Still, I don't have [i]that[/i] much sympathy for those who complain about anime prices. Use Netflix. Wait for the big online sales run by stores like TRSI, DDD, DVD Pacific and DVD Planet. Try eBay--if you're confident that you're smart enough to avoid getting burned by a bootleg. Wait for the cheap thinpaks or economy sets. With patience and comparison shopping, you can get many full series for under $30--the normal MSRP for a single DVD! For that matter, make sure never to buy at full MSRP. I know people who have a policy of not buying anything anime-related unless it's over 40% off; keep an eye on online sales, and you can make that happen for you as well. Frankly, it'll be immeasurably harder to find decent deals if you can't or don't wish to make your purchases online. But even if you stick to Best Buy, you don't have to get ripped off. Again, patience is key. EDIT: To take a look at the OP's example, DNAngel doesn't have to cost $80. If you got it during one of TRSI's ADV sales (and if you [i]didn't[/i] have a Got Anime membership, which gets you extra savings), it would be around $54. If you got it during DDD's 20% off sale, it would be around $43. Moreover, cheap sets like the Wolf's Rain one you mentioned are not a new trend. They've been around for a while now and increase in number every month. ~Dagger~

Don't feed the troll, guys. :animesigh Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=vegeta rocker] Keira did terrible whenever she had to carry a scene and she was just overall a letdown. Her character was inconsistent if you compare the two movies.[/QUOTE] But what specifically didn't you like about her performance? One of the things I particularly enjoyed about DMC was how the script followed up on the aspects of Elizabeth's character that were only touched on briefly and comedically in the first movie (i.e. the infamous rum scene). So I don't see the inconsistency there. If anything, they spoon-fed it to the viewer a little too heavily: "Hay guyz, WILL taught me SWORD FIGHTING," etc. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Delta][COLOR=#656446']BUMP![/COLOR][/quote]Ditto. But it's still on the first page, so I think it's game. :catgirl: For me, story and characters are, by far, the most important elements of a game. My ideal game would be an RPG with the complexity and character development of a great visual novel. And yeah, I could just go play a visual novel if I wanted that, and you don't exactly need a battle system for a romance title. But when it comes to stories that involve violence, war, whatever, sometimes it's more fun to be personally involved in the action, instead of just reading about it and looking at pretty CGs. Even if a game has other elements that attract me, I won't want to keep playing it if I find the characters irritating or the story too hard to buy into. FFX is a good example of this; I thought the whole sphere thing was pretty boss, and the graphics were lovely, but the characters & plot bothered me to the point that I eventually decided to cut my losses and move on. Voice acting is also important to me. I haven't played that many games to begin with, but my limited experience has taught me that I prefer games without voice acting. If the characters are going to speak, though, they need to sound good. And length is another thing that I take into consideration; I'd rather not spend my money on a game if it's only going to last me for a few weeks, especially since I'm not that inclined to replay stuff. ~Dagger~

I just started playing FFVIII, and while I'm still at a very early point in the game, I'm loving it. Squall is already challenging Zidane for his (somewhat) exalted position as my favorite FF hero, simply because he's such a jerk that it's hilarious. I can't even dislike him for it--the guy is a humor machine. Well, not really; I just find his bitter, biting inner thoughts to be a nearly endless source of amusement. The funny thing is that going into FFVIII, I thought Seifer would be this ultra-obnoxious rival type and that he and Squall would constantly be at loggerheads, so I crack up just about every time they agree with one another (which is really pretty often; needless to say, I had no idea that they were going to start off as pals). Okay, so this whole post sounds weird, but in all seriousness, I'm enjoying the game so far. Although obviously I haven't gotten the chance to really exploit the junction system, it seems like a lot of fun and is actually pretty intuitive once you get past the way they use the word "junction," haha. I absolutely love the fact that you stock spells instead of having MP. Getting to draw from just about every kind of enemy is cool in and of itself, but it's especially suited to my tastes because I tend to be very stingy with MP. In the other RPGs that I've played, I tended to avoid using magic and instead relied on strength (as much as I could, that is). Doing it this way encourages me to use magic much more often than I normally would. I also like the flexibility it entails. Plus, I love how you can use GFs as much or as little as you want (again, without losing MP). I usually shy away from summoning, but I've been using it almost wantonly in FFVIII. What fun. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=liveinmybubble] Oh the bitter not so ever sweet torture of it all!!!!! :catgirl: ( Behind this smile is a sigh of horror and sheer terror.)[/QUOTE] What a poetic turn of phrase. And how aptly it describes my reaction to your post quality. :) Half-kidding aside, there's a lonely [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=43848][u]Rave Master thread[/u][/url] sitting over here, just waiting to be posted in. In the Anime Lounge, we try to stick to one thread for each series, movie or OVA, which helps prevent clutter. I would also suggest that, in future discourse, you modulate your tone a little--even if you feel like Rave Master's theme song is the aural equivalent of being stabbed all over with a million knives, people aren't really going to pay much attention if that's your main complaint about the show. Speaking (well, writing) reasonably, with a lot more commas and fewer exclamation points, will probably get you more/better responses. (Or maybe I'm doing this to get [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=735248#post735248][u]revenge[/u][/url] on you. Dun dun dun...) Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[quote name='SunfallE][COLOR=RoyalBlue']Actually it would be interesting to see if there was actually someone out there who had siblings who weren?t annoying/stupid, etc. [/COLOR][/quote] That would be me, heh. I'm the obnoxious one in the family; my sister (four years younger) is among the most mature & intelligent people that I have ever met. We get along quite well, because we know when to leave each other alone--I may push the envelope a little from time to time, but she's gotten good at ignoring me. We haven't fought since I was in elementary school. I guess you could say that we just understand each other really well. However, we're much too different to be close, emotionally speaking, despite that understanding. So that courteous distance between us could contribute to the fact that we don't get into arguments. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=silver_blade] [size=1]For my serious, real opinion regarding all PotC fictional romance, no one seems like they should be paired with anyone. [/SIZE][/QUOTE] Why, but there's an obvious solution to this conundrum... and it even includes a dash of yaoi. Ménage à trois for the win! :animenose [spoiler]And I'm only half-kidding...[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=BlackTigerGurl][FONT=Arial][COLOR=Indigo][CENTER] Now back what I was saying the other day. Of course I had a few problems with the movie here and there. Like one scene I didn't really fancy:[spoiler]Where Elizabeth kissed Capt. Jack Sparrow then cuffed him to the ship. Afterwards, she looked like she was all the depressed even though she told him it was for the better. I'm confused. Does she have feelings for him?[/spoiler][/CENTER][/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE] Gee, I wonder. :rolleyes: Seriously, though, [spoiler]the movie probably spent more time than it needed to in establishing the fact that she has feelings for both Will and the Captain. But ignoring all of the unresolved sexual tension and so forth, there's also some fairly concrete evidence in the form of the compass and her exaggerated dismay about where it keeps pointing.[/spoiler] [spoiler]Basically, she cares about the Captain, but she also judges that they'll all die if he comes with them. She kissed him to distract him (although she obviously enjoyed it too, haha) so she could handcuff him and thereby offer him up as a sacrifice. It [I]was[/I] for the better, considering how many lives would have been lost otherwise, but that didn't mean it couldn't have been painful for her. Especially since she was the only one who knew that his remaining behind wasn't voluntary.[/spoiler] Anyway, I hope that helps clear up some of your confusion. :) ~Dagger~

[quote name='Nekova]Lastly, at the end of the episode he [spoiler]says that he is going to tell Haruhi about aliens, time travellers, and ESPers[/spoiler], which I understood to mean that he was going to tell her the truth about [spoiler]Yuki, Mikuru, and Koizumi[/spoiler'] but in the later episodes she doesn't appear to know anything about them at all. Did anyone else notice that? Or was I just missing signs that were there all along...[/quote] This confused me as well, but ultimately I took it to mean that he [spoiler]told her about aliens, time travelers and espers in general, without "outing" any of the other club members.[/spoiler] I would have liked to see the actual conversation (although it wouldn't have fit at the end of the episode, so that was still a pretty good stopping point). EDIT: As for his feelings for Haruhi and vice versa, I'm inclined to think that episode 9/14 is a little more suggestive. If I remember correctly, in the baseball episode Itsuki makes a crack about Kyon [spoiler]curing Haruhi's boredom the same way he did last time, which just leaves Kyon irritated.[/spoiler] To me, this implies that [spoiler]he kissed her more because it would save the world than because he personally really wanted to, although I'm sure it was a mix of the two.[/spoiler] Haruhi also believes [spoiler]that what happened in the closed space was a dream, so that's another factor keeping her from being more open about her emotions[/spoiler] in the episodes which come later, chronologically speaking. And Kyon is just inclined to be passive. ~Dagger~

A new week, a new recommendation... :catgirl: [b]Fantastic Children:[/b] An intriguing show with an incredibly well-crafted storyline. It also has beautiful, careful animation, should you choose to look past (or embrace) the somewhat retro character designs. The title refers to the Children of Befort, a group of white-haired children who are reincarnated periodically throughout history and only live to be 11 years old each time. They seem to be searching for a woman (with a regular lifespan) who has also been reincarnated several times and who, regardless of her name or the family she is born into, is compelled to create mysterious drawings or paintings of a fantastical, faraway place. ~Dagger~

I started watching the OVA recently, and although I didn't really enjoy the first two episodes very much, I was able to get more involved in the story from that point onward. But the way the story is structured and paced remains my main complaint--I really did not like the in medias res beginning. I'm also skeptical about whether they can flesh out the world satisfactorily in the remaining six episodes. Even so, it's a very beautiful and well-animated piece of work. I had no idea that Yutaka Izubuchi did the character designs until I saw his name in the credits--and it really surprised me, because I'm mostly familiar with him through his mecha and costume designs. I think it's a shame that he hasn't done any character designs for other anime, since the art style of Lodoss is amazingly lovely. ~Dagger~

[spoiler]Gluttony ate her before she finished performing her transmutation. Even hand-clap transmutations take a second or two, and Gluttony can be [i]very[/i] fast when he's hungry.[/spoiler] Slight movie spoiler: [spoiler]This is basically confirmed during the movie, as Gluttony is shown to be alive.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

[size=1][b]#3[/b] [i]Some people don't like using me, they have their own way of getting what I provide. Regardless, I am there always... and with just one click you can be hearing what I have to say.[/i][/size] Hm... I think I'm going to go with [b]Threaded Mode[/b]. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Sojiro47']I'm not to far into the series, but this is a spoiler request! Can anyone who has seen the whole series tell me what happens to Mustang! I hear stuff, but I can't find it![/quote] It's a little hard to tell what you mean by what happens to Mustang. I mean, a lot "happens" to every character in the series. If you just want to know his status at the end of the TV show, [spoiler]he's alive, but his left eye has been lost or badly injured.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

Ah, forget editing. This movie deserves its own post.

I laugh in the face of bad reviews; I'll be seeing Dead Man's Chest at midnight. If it's basically The Jack Sparrow Show plus extra-loud explosions and bonus sword fights, so much the better. The first film was just great dumb fun to begin with, anyway. Okay, okay, I'll be honest... the real reason I'm psyched about it is because [spoiler]Keira Knightley cross-dressing is going to be the hottest thing ever.[/spoiler] That, along with some nice buttered popcorn and peanut M&Ms, is all I'll need to enjoy the heck out of this movie. I'll probably edit in some comments--coherent or otherwise--when I get back. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Sangome']While we're at it, can someone tell me what happened in episode 12? I was forced to miss it. D:[/quote] Despite having watched it all of two days ago, I probably won't be able to give a very coherent summary, haha. But here are some highlights. [spoiler]The episode begins with a swift recap of Anemone's attack on the Nirvash. As she attempts to take them out, the Nirvash has an incredible reaction to Renton's emotions, and Anemone, Eureka and Renton are all plunged into a bizarre nightmare (although it mainly follows Renton's point of view). From that point onward, the episode cuts between scenes from the nightmare and scenes of the two ships battling outside the Coralion (Corallion?). Dominic dislikes the idea of a head-on fight and would prefer that his ship stay back to support Anemone, but he gets overruled. In the end, the government ship and the Gekko sustain the same amount of damage. Eureka, who has been chasing Renton through his dream, finally manages to catch up with him. The Coralion vanishes, and the Nirvash and Anemone's mech end up next to each other at the epicenter of the resulting devastation. The preview voice-over talks about Renton meeting Dominic and how each of them wants to protect someone who is important to him.[/spoiler] My favorite parts of the dream sequence were [spoiler]shark-Anemone, Renton getting flushed down a toilet, and the scene in which he opened a refrigerator door and found Anemone curled up inside, naked.[/spoiler] It sounds silly, but they actually made it quite creepy. ~Dagger~

The Utena TV show is my all-time favorite anime series. The Utena manga is... vastly inferior. I would recommend buying/Netflixing the anime if you can. You would have to purchase it in box sets with thirteen episodes each (the first one comes with the movie as well), since the singles are either out of print or quickly heading that way. On the bright side, each set is only $39 before discounts. The movie by itself may seem like an easier alternative, but it runs the risk of being totally incomprehensible to those who aren't familiar with the TV series characters, even though it's [spoiler]supposedly[/spoiler] a re-telling. Its lavish visual beauty and somewhat more blatant yuri content is a nice treat after finishing the TV series. I would suggest watching it last. That having been said, I do know people who saw the movie first and still enjoyed the show, so it's not like that's a hard-and-fast rule. Either way, the manga really lacks the atmosphere, style and sophistication of the TV series and movie. ~Dagger~

Episode 1 thoughts: Yeah, I don't really care what anyone says, I loved it. The style of humor is different--the overall style is quite different, obviously--but the fourth wall breaking and [spoiler]ice cream time-outs[/spoiler] were more than enough to satisfy me. I also had to dig the full-length transformation sequences, although I hope they shorten them in future episodes. The animation was quite good throughout, despite the fact that the battle scenes aren't at the level of, say, Pretty Cure's--but I wasn't expecting super-amazing martial arts from this to begin with. There were some interesting differences in the origin story, too. There were two things I disliked, one of which is the fact that the series focuses more on Blossom than the original. The other, which bothered me more, is Bubbles' casting and general persona--she has a [i]lower[/i] voice than Blossom, which is more than a little weird, and the ojou-sama vibe they gave her doesn't suit her in the slightest. The Bubbles I know would never say "Gokigenyo." On the plus side, most of that can probably be fixed simply by watching it in English, assuming that the dub uses the same actresses as the original series. ~Dagger~

Wow. I got the voice actresses for Eureka and Anemone mixed up. Curses! But anyway, yeah, you're right. And now I can feel somewhat less delusional about recognizing her voice. :animeswea ~Dagger~

Man, I'm disappointed in you guys. Two episodes full of everything that people have been waiting for--trippiness, Anemone, action, some blood and stuff--and no comments! Okay, I'm not at all in a position to talk, given that I didn't even bother watching my tape until just now. But I thought the past two episodes were rather spectacular in comparison to what came before them (and especially the dream sequence in the most recent one). How do y'all feel about Anemone's English voice actress? I don't remember Anemone's seiyuu well enough to compare them, but I thought the English VA did a rather good job. Her voice sounded really familiar to me, but when I looked her up, it turned out that she hasn't had many big roles in the past, which is kind of neat. On a related note, I find it interesting that Anemone's name, like Eureka's, is given the Japanese pronunciation in the dub. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Fasteriskhead]There is a period of about six to seven minutes in episode 12 (no idea what it is on Haruhi's count) which is pretty much the single greatest thing the series has pulled off so far. It is absolute poetry, folks. I won't spoil it for anyone - I'll only say that I did [I]not[/I] expect Haruhi to [spoiler]sing alto[/spoiler'].[/quote] Firmly agreed. I blew my mind by watching episodes 12 and 13 back-to-back. Episode 12, in addition to being incredible (due to the scene you mentioned), made me wish I were a more literate person so that I could have recognized the [I]Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead[/I] scene on my own (much like episode 8 made me wish I owned a DS, so I could play Phoenix Wright). [i]Futari ni God Bless...[/i] ~Dagger~

Well, funny coincidence... you might actually be in (some) luck, because Seven Seas just announced that they have the license to [b]Kashimashi ~ Girl Meets Girl[/b]. There's a lot to like about Kashimashi. Even though it starts off with the lame gimmick of [spoiler]the main character being a boy who gets turned into a girl,[/spoiler] it moves past that to develop an excellent three-girl love triangle. ~Dagger~