Dagger

[QUOTE=silver_blade] Few teachers have ever mentioned infinitives, gerunds, or proper formation of verb tenses, and if they touched on those subjects it was not at all in-depth.[/QUOTE] In my experience, it's sort of assumed that you'll develop some kind of natural knowledge of grammar. By the time they actually get around to teaching it, most people are beyond hope. Maybe they should introduce some of these concepts at a much younger age, but that would require curriculum changes and a lot of extra work at a time when many school systems are struggling just to stay afloat. I remember what a gerund is, but my sentence-diagramming skills have been completely lost to the sands to time. I still don't have a handle on the who/whom issue, and I only recently realized that I can't simply use [i]which[/i] whenever I feel like it (although I tend to guiltily throw one or two in when my [i]that[/i]s start getting excessive). But in the past, I always scored well on grammar-related stuff, even though I was answering everything with my intuition. I think that's mainly because I grew up as a huge bookworm; seeing grammatical rules in action gave me an ingrained sense of what's grammatically right and wrong. I still make my fair share of mistakes, but I can tell you that the lessons I absorbed unconsciously through reading are what stuck with me, whereas I've been told the who/whom rule countless times and still seem unable to retain it. Sitting down and having grammatical terms & rules methodically banged into one's head is probably a necessary part of the process for adults learning English as a second language. However, I don't think it's particularly effective with English-speaking students, and that type of instruction tends to come too little and too late. So I think it would be most effective to make sure that elementary and middle school teachers are trained in how to deal with struggling readers and to promote a love of reading. As you become comfortable with reading, you become increasingly comfortable with the language, and the essential grammatical rules should unconsciously slip into place. Then teachers can start reinforcing the more esoteric rules at a later age. Of course, that's all very idealistic... and as pedagogy is by no means a subject with which I can claim to have any serious familiarity, I can only hope that what I've said isn't foolish. Lastly, in fairness to President Bush, it's quite possible that his speaking issues may not carry over into his writing. English is my mom's second language, and although she's almost lost her accent, there are times when she still uses the singular when she should use the plural (e.g., saying, "Let's carry in the bag" instead of "Let's carry in the bags"). I've heard it so much that there are times when I make the same type of mistake, but never on paper or in Word. Some people who stutter all over themselves in public can be incredibly eloquent when they write. I'm not saying that President Bush is secretly a master of prose or anything, but the way people speak doesn't always reflect their knowledge of the language. ~Dagger~

When it comes to novels, I believe that a series with four separate books is usually called a quartet. That aside, [url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/8756.html][u]this ICv2 article[/u][/url] touches on why "formidable obstacles actually make an X4 unlikely--at least with the same cast." ~Dagger~

I hate to bring this up, but you do realize that there are two other Utena boxes for the rest of the DVDs, don't you? :animeswea Anyway, yeah, there have been a few occasions upon which I've been a bit silly about packaging. For instance, I bought two copies of R.O.D the TV volume 1 because I wanted the book-style case as well as the regular DVD cover. ~Dagger~

Yeah... getting back on topic, I just finished the game. I'm actually quite happy about it, considering that I almost threw a fit when I realized I was getting toward the end. It appeared to go by a lot quicker than KH, although maybe that's because I played KH over a period of months, a few minutes at a time. In comparison, I pretty much ate up KH2. I'm glad that they emphasized [spoiler]the mutual bond between all three friends rather than anything overtly romantic. I much prefer to see them (Riku included) as pure, innocent kids. Even the suggestion of a kiss would ruin that vibe, but I'm cool with the dynamic the three of them have right now.[/spoiler] And I'll be honest: I cried during [spoiler]Sora, Kairi and Riku's first reunion scene.[/spoiler] Video games seem to reduce me to tears rather easily; perhaps it's just as well that I don't play very many of them. :animedepr My biggest complaint is that [spoiler]giving Kairi a Keyblade and then letting her use it for, oh, all of three seconds was an incredibly cruel tease. Assuming there's another game, she had better be a playable character. For that matter, I was a little disappointed that neither she nor Riku were ever playable characters in this game... I was sort of expecting at least one of them to step up. Well, whatever.[/spoiler] The best twist (not that there were very many of them) was [spoiler]Riku's changed appearance. That took me by surprise. I also like how Kairi was totally unfazed by it, haha.[/spoiler] On the other hand, it was kind of lame that, for all practical purposes, [spoiler]Ansem was the villain AGAIN (yeah, not really Ansem, but you know what I mean).[/spoiler] At least he got a hair upgrade. It's too bad that they didn't show Tifa or Cloud during the ending credits in which practically every other character in the entire game got a second or two of screentime. On a related note, I thought Tifa's voice actress was just awesome; it's too bad that Aerith-sama got completely shafted in comparison. But one thing which pleased me was that Aerith got to show a lot more of her personality this time around. I kept running back to Hollow Bastion just to see her & Tifa say the same lines over and over. I guess that would make me some kind of virtual stalker... :animeswea Also, why is Cloud [i]still[/i] such a huge, honking dork? Two beautiful women in his vincinity and all he can do is make emo faces and mutter stuff about [spoiler]feeling Sephiroth's presence in his heart.[/spoiler] But all of that aside, I'm going to try and get the secret ending. Let me make sure I have this straight--if I'm playing on normal mode, I have to get Jiminy's journal up to 100%, right? Are there any other conditions? ~Dagger~

Ender's Game! It's only one of my favorite books [i]ever[/i]. :catgirl: EDIT: Aaaaand I should've typed this up faster. :p I had a hard time deciding which piece to vote for, as I liked both of them quite a bit. But in the end I think I'm going to vote for [b]r2vq[/b], because the unconventionality of the image made me actually take a moment to look at it from several angles and try reading the text. The bookmark concept is nice, as is the hole effect (although I think it should have been more defined along its upper edge). The placement & angling of the text is also good in how it unobtrusively draws the viewer's attention to the upper part of the image. I admire sakurasuka's vectoring, but I don't think the font suits the final creation. Bonus points for taking full advantage of the limited palette, though. ~Dagger~

Hm, yeah, this was a tough choice. I'm going for [b]Boo[/b], though, because I really love the simplicity of the image. It sort of seems as if it shouldn't be balanced, and yet it's not unbalanced. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the white space works, and I love how "Clockwork" looks squeezed (and yet, uh, not squeezed... I'm not very eloquent today). White, I liked your piece a lot too, but I think you overdid it a bit with the leaves. If you had cut down on the white leaves a little, it would leave a subtler impression on the person looking at it. ~Dagger~

Some FUNimation series have dubtitles along with real subtitles, although they stopped this practice lately, and as far as I know, you shouldn't find dubtitles on the latest discs of FMA. So selecting the right sub track takes a bit of precision, and you might have to do it manually. Ezekiel, it sounds like your Saiyuki Reload set was a bootleg. :confused: Tical, I'm not sure I agree with your characterization of one company or another as including very few extras. For example, while Geneon does tend to go light on the on-disc extras, their physical extras are often stunning. Their episode per disc ratio is about on par with that of other companies, actually (and for the record, Bandai is moving into a twenty-six episodes, seven discs pattern). Also, FMP was released over 7 discs, not 8. I'm not sure whether you're judging the extras or lack thereof by ADV's thinpak sets, but it might be worth mentioning that their thinpaks are deliberately stripped of all extras except previews. Their single disc releases usually come with an ordinary array of extras (indeed, they seem to be piling on more lately, perhaps to give the singles added value when compared to the thinpaks). ~Dagger~

Yeah, I think we need to be careful about distinguishing between regions. For example, Madman practically has a monopoly on the anime market in Australia, but I don't think they release DVDs in the US or the UK. (I'm a US-dweller, so everything I have to say relates to the US branches of the companies in question. For instance, Manga Ent. seems to have a smaller presence in the US than in the UK.) Anyway, the US Big Four are ADV, Bandai, FUNimation and Geneon. Some would argue that it ought to be a Big Five, with Media Blasters rounding out the list. I really like Funi & Geneon and am basically content with ADV & Bandai. One thing that has earned Funi tremendous points in my book is their recent practice of duplicating R2 releases. In a way it's spoiled me, because I've started to expect them to bring us R2 extras. The limited edition version of Funi's Samurai 7 release is a good example of this--the storyboard books are a real treat for some fans, even if they may seem frivolous to others. I find it hard to believe that any other company would have brought them over. It makes me really eager to see how they handle future series like Tsukuyomi ~ Moon Phase and Basilisk. Their treatment of DBZ and Case Closed is much more questionable, but they've changed their ways as far as Case Closed is concerned, and there have been indications that they'll start taking a different approach to DBZ as well. Admittedly, I find it hard to care about the fate Dragonball-related stuff, but I'm trying to be fair. :animeswea Geneon's releases tend to be bare-bones in terms of on-disc extras, but their packaging is almost always gorgeous, and they tend to lavish even minor series with inserts, reversible covers, etc. I have to give them kudos for taking a chance on brilliant but controversial/obscure anime like Koi Kaze. I like ADV well enough, although lately they haven't licensed anything I'm even mildly interested in. Once I'm done with Princess Tutu and Kaleido Star: New Wings, I'll just be getting thinpaks from them. Speaking of which, I'm glad that they've changed their thinpak policy to create longer delays between the final single & the cheap set. That's an acceptable trade-off. When I think about it... of the bigger players (barring obvious examples like 4Kids and whatever), the only company that I really don't care for is Viz. Fifteen discs of FMA is one thing, but they're putting out fifty+ discs of Inuyasha! They don't include song subs despite the fact that every single other company does, and all that aside, they just don't come off as being particularly communicative or fan-friendly. ~Dagger~

Nah, the only part of the rules I didn't skim was the bit about how many sentences voters have to write, so it's my bad. Can I just do the deletion-repost bit on the date in question (June 1)? Or will it be too confusing to have the post there? ~Dagger~

Yep, I agree with both of you. I wish that [spoiler]she had said it in the actual episode, though (unless I'm really missing something). [i]Otsukaresama, Kyon~[/i][/spoiler] Now, there were many reasons that I should've disliked episode 9/14. The obvious cost-cutting scenes used in Evangelion tended to irk me a bit, so I ought to have been bothered when Suzumiya's director did the exact same thing, but for me, the radio broadcast during Yuki's interminable reading scene made all the difference. I managed to catch the Glass Mask, AIR, Detective Conan, Rose of Versailles and Shounen Ace references, but everything else was a complete mystery to me. The zinger, and this is me speaking as an AIR fanatic, was hearing Daisuke Ono (Itsuki; he also plays the narrator in AIR) reprise his cry of "RAMEN SETTO!" Talk about sounding his barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world. ;) The ending was very moving (damn that beautiful piano music!)... and on the whole, it was one of the best slice-of-life episodes I've seen in a while. [spoiler]The ultra-dere expression with which Haruhi offered her umbrella to Kyon just about killed me.[/spoiler] The way in which Yuki's head was used reminded me of Misato's conveniently placed beer can in Evangelion. I'm sure plenty of other shows have used that kind of visual device for comedic purposes, but I guess I just had Eva on the brain, because that's what came to mind first. I assume that the budget conservation measures mean that we'll see some over-the-top scenes in future episodes. Which appears to have been the main point of the episode shuffling--to save the most action-packed parts for the end of the broadcast, that is. But anyway, Nekova, I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility a second season, although it would probably have to come after KyoAni finishes Kanon 2006. EDIT: Hahaha... [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uosR3P4ztk][u]This[/u][/url] is a real gem. Also, the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3DbKgX1kLQ][u]Gundam version[/u][/url] of Bouken Desho Desho? is a must-see. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Apherion']Yeah, I liked how indifference put it, but I find the subtitles are better because practically everything has had it's meaning changed in anime.[/quote] Sure, if you're talking about anime from 4Kids or whatever. Current North American releases in which "practically everything" differs between the raw and the dub can probably be counted on two hands. [QUOTE]For example: Naruto, in Japan a show for teenagers, in USA a show for 12 and under (but the older kids are welcome to see it). That's the thing that bothers me.[/QUOTE] Not so much. "A show for 12 and under (but the older kids are welcome to see it)" accurately describes Naruto's status in Japan as well. Naruto, One Piece and similar series are far more kid-oriented than foreign fans like to think. More to the point, I believe that the uncut Naruto box sets will come with an uncut version of the dub as well as the subtitled version. ~Dagger~

Ha! Last night's episode had one of the funniest hazing scenarios I've seen. It's hard to be annoyed with Renton when his naivete is so extreme. But all that aside, I'm basically just twiddling my thumbs, enjoying the comedy and biding my time until Anemone arrives (which is when--Episode 9? Episode 11?). I'd advise anyone who's on the fence about the series to do the same; one of the random episodes that I saw had her in it, and it was some pretty crazy, messed up ****. And I mean that in a good way. Also, Steve Staley absolutely owned as Moondoggie. The part toward the end when he smoothly spouted off all that slang was just awesome. [QUOTE=Fasteriskhead]6 is the [spoiler]"Eureka's kids screw with Renton"[/spoiler] episode; it also continues the proud mecha anime tradition of having said [spoiler]kids[/spoiler] completely endanger the lives of everyone around them. There's a more in-depth review [URL=http://ktkore.hitori-janai.net/?p=61]here[/URL]. [/QUOTE] Many thanks, good sir. :animesmil ~Dagger~

[quote name='Fasteriskhead']Second, Tamaki's failings are by no means subverting the "genre conventions;" the role he plays is specifically a kind of clown king (the guy who acts noble but comes off as silly and dumb to anyone with eyes to see), and that itself is at least as old as Shakespeare.[/quote] That's fair enough, but if he does fall into that role as well, it's a consequence of his being a prince who doesn't always act like a prince should, ya know? While you talked about this a little more later on, when you mentioned types within types, I think that calling him a clown king character is wandering away from the original joke--because he is still a typical shoujo prince character, but Haruhi (and pretty much Haruhi alone; the twins are just a corollary to that) undoes him. Episode 8 looks at the gender issue in a moderately more serious light, and the outcome is interesting in that both Haruhi and Tamaki score points off each other, so to speak... [spoiler]Haruhi "wins" when Tamaki concedes defeat to her will or self-reliance or whatever, and Tamaki "wins" during the oh-so-shoujo hugging scene, although in another slight twist, it was more of a friendship & learning to seek help from others type of thing than outright romantic, violins and all.[/spoiler] It would have made more sense if Tamaki chastised her for [spoiler]diving into a two-on-one fight without calling for back-up,[/spoiler] but since when has Tamaki ever been especially rational? It was almost as if they were speaking two completely different languages when he yelled at her, haha. It's a good thing Kyouya was there to bridge the gap... Oh, by the way, how'd you like the S&M joke? :animesmil ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Alannie][COLOR=RoyalBlue][SIZE=2][FONT=Comic Sans MS] What u think about these gay anime? [/FONT] [/SIZE] [/COLOR][/QUOTE] Gakuen Heaven and Papa to Kiss are pure unadulterated trash. Honestly, Gakuen Heaven makes Sukisho look like a work of genius, and seeing Papa to Kiss gave me the urge to go wipe my mind with some good old-fashioned hentai. It really was that awful, and I'm not even referring to the lame faux-incest. :animesigh As for Gravitation, I like it well enough, but y'all probably knew that already. ~Dagger~

The season finale can be summed up with a single sentence: [spoiler]Henry is the ******* [I]man[/I].[/spoiler] In all seriousness, though, I just became a ridiculous, irrational, rabid [spoiler]Henry[/spoiler] fangirl. The moment when it became clear that [spoiler]he was the "Him" & the mastermind that all the Others were scared of[/spoiler] was priceless. [spoiler]Odds on survival for Locke, Ecko and Desmond... probably very low, loath though I am to admit it. It would be sad and yet not entirely unfitting for them to die that way. But I would still be awfully depressed. Odds that Michael's boat will either blow up as soon as they reach the horizon or just lead them back to the island... 50/50, I'd say, for the sole reason that now that Penelope seems to be on the right trail, it might actually work for an ex-island character to continue participating in the story.[/spoiler] I'm going to have this funny empty feeling all summer... :confused: ~Dagger~

Oh, wow. As far as I'm concerned, episode 8 might be the best yet. What did you guys think of the resolution to the mystery? I had pretty much figured that [spoiler]it was all a ruse[/spoiler] as soon as I saw the ending of episode 6, and so I had expected episode 8 to be kind of a let-down. Instead, I ended up enjoying how it played out. Okay... this might seem more than a little weird, but did anyone else find episode 8 to be incredibly sexy? I'm specifically referring to the directing style in three scenes: Haruhi & Kyon in the cave, Itsuki & Kyon's conversation in the bedroom, and Itsuki & Kyon's conversation on the boat. Obviously the sexual undertones were more pointed in the cave scene, but I thought the other two scenes were also unexpectedly and almost bizarrely sensual. Anyway, episode 8 served to heighten my love for Yuki, Itsuki and Kyon. Haruhi also acted a little more dere-dere than usual (but not too much, thankfully). Thinking back, there was a lot packed in there for all of those characters. Impressive, really. So it turns out that episode 9 is episode 14 by Haruhi's count. In other words, the last episode? I can no longer help thinking that KyoAni is screwing with [i]just because they can[/i]. I didn't mind the gap between the two-part mystery as much as I had feared I would, though... "FUMOFFU!" ~Dagger~

Assuming you're referring to the first theme song, it's "Days" by FLOW. But in the future, please check ANN's encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Google or the site of your choice before asking forum members this type of question. It's the sort of thing that, once answered, can't really generate any discussion. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=wishful] Not many people are interested or even know about this manga but in my opinion, this is one of the greatest works of Clamp! [/QUOTE] The Case Closed (Detective Conan) manga is by Gosho Aoyama, not CLAMP. Are you by any chance thinking of CLAMP Campus Detectives? ~Dagger~

In addition to Ghibli films, there are quite a few anime movies/OVAs that (quality aside) seem to have crossover appeal with fans of independent movies and/or arty stuff, as well as folks just looking for some blood & action. I'll try to avoid listing too many things that have appeared on AS. With that in mind, I'd suggest Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Millenium Actress, Akira, Steamboy, Blood: The Last Vampire, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ghost in the Shell & Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Grave of the Fireflies, Metropolis, X: The Movie, Escaflowne: The Movie, Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie, Kite (the edited version!!), Mezzo Forte (ditto), Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, End of Evangelion, Jin-Roh, various Patlabor films, various Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo and Cardcaptor Sakura movies, etc. Not all of those are particularly good, but they seem to be staples in the anime sections of most video rental stores. At least in my experience. Anyway, I don't know how much interest there would be in them, but Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days are two excellent anime films that would, if nothing else, get you bonus points for good taste. (Voices is renowned for having been made by a single man working on his computer.) Venturing beyond all that, you'll definitely want to have the Appleseed movie, The Animatrix and FFVII: Advent Children. As for other OVAs & TV series... FLCL: A six episode OVA series spread over three DVDs; it became a bit of a cult hit after airing on Adult Swim. Samurai 7: It's based on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (it throws some sci-fi in the mix and tells the story over twenty-six episodes). R.O.D: All three episodes on one disc. It aired on AS at least once. There's a sequel TV series, but the OVA can stand by itself, and I think it'd be more appealing from a renter's perspective. Le Portrait de Petite Cossette: Another "all three episodes on one disc" deal. It's dark and gothic and really quite gorgeous-looking. It may or may not make sense. Samurai X OVA series: The Samurai X OVAs serve as a prequel & sequel to the Rurouni Kenshin TV series. While the Kenshin series has many fans, the OVAs are more critically acclaimed and are done in a completely different, much more violent & realistic style. The prequel, Trust & Betrayal, is more independent. The sequel, Reflections, requires more foreknowledge of the characters. There are regular & director's cut versions of each. Serial Experiments Lain: I don't actually like Lain very much, but it has a formidable reputation among anime fans. Four discs long. Elfen Lied and Gantz: I'm lumping these together because both are known for their gore and have sold very well. They seem to hold a lot of appeal for casual fans (as much as any non-AS series can hope to, that is). Karas: Only one disc out so far, but it pretty much fits the profile of what you'd want to have on shelves. Lots of action and eye candy. Some other shows: Last Exile, Gankutsuou, Saikano, Gungrave, GunxSword, RahXephon, His & Her Circumstances, Fighting Spirit, Noir, Full Metal Panic, Gunslinger Girl, My-HiME, Initial D, GTO, .hack//whatever. ~Dagger~

[quote name='lcrisler']Not sure why anyone would want this aired in an anime forum, but what they hell. Moderator says, stop, I stop. [/quote] And there you have it. This topic just makes me feel intensely uncomfortable; no matter how cool-headed those on either side behave, it's bound to get ugly, and that's already kind of started happening. Moreover, any advice beyond that which has already been provided is unlikely to help either of you. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Argh! I forgot to watch last night's episode (episode 6). Would anyone care to give me a quick summary? Geez, this is like FMA all over again... it may take a while for me to get back into the habit of turning on the TV at the same time each week. :animesigh ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=hey_love][size=1]After watching the sixth episode, I must say this. I enjoyed reading this part of the story in the manga better than watching it. Don't get me wrong, I still laughed plenty, I'm just a bit more partial to the manga over the anime for this episode. =] [/size][/QUOTE] That's interesting. I've seen conflicting reports--that is, some people liked the manga version of the episode 6 story better, and some thought the anime jazzed it up and made it much more interesting. I (having read very little of the manga) enjoyed it well enough, but on the whole I prefer stories about the host club members to the parts that focus on their clients. Which is why I loved episode 7! The different setting made for a nice change of pace. I also appreciated the fact that it focused on Honey and Mori; I've heard that the manga-ka's favorite couple is Mori/Haruhi... not Tamaki/Haruhi, as some might expect. Episode 7 showed me why that pairing could be intriguing, and of all the ones which have been hinted at so far, I think I may actually like it the best. If you think about it, Mori seems much more compatible with Haruhi than Tamaki or even [spoiler]Hikaru.[/spoiler] I'm looking forward to episode 8, though, because I've developed a sneaking suspicion that I'll end up supporting Kyouya/Haruhi the most. I guess that's partly my fondness for glasses-wearing characters talking, but oh well. Either way, Mori and Kyouya are ahead of Tamaki in my estimation. Which brings me to this: [quote name='あいとゆうきのおとぎばなし][size=1']I want to read Tamaki?s role in this show so badly as like man?s fear of liberated female sexuality choosing a form of sexuality other than patriarichally-mediated heterosexuality. Tamaki, being the king (and is there any better symbol of patriarichal power?), feels like he should (and the genre conventions make it seem like he should) be entitled to Haruhi, but she constantly chooses anyone but him, whether it?s the faux gayness of the twins, the animal sexuality of Mori, the yuri-ness of other girls, and so on. I really like how there?s that gleeful threat. It?s like the exact opposite of the male harem comedy, where female bodies are like commodities. Here, not only is it inverted so that male bodies are the commodities, but the male who normally would get to participate in this practice of acquiring the female bodies/commodities not only does not get to, but is also has his impotence laughed at and humiliated. Not only that, but it feels like anyone could be paired up with anyone across age and sex boundaries.[/size][/quote] While that's probably a textbook case of over-reading, I really want to agree (here's the [url=http://nekketsu.wordpress.com/2006/05/18/ouran-7/][u]full post[/u][/url], by the way). To be honest, even though I'd like the anime to feature an original romantic resolution, it'll probably have a non-ending. Tamaki has gotten the most focus of any of the males (so far), and he [I]is[/I] more or less the romantic lead, even if he isn't able to carry out the role. However, getting together with Haruhi would require a serious attitude adjustment on his part, to the extent that [i]he wouldn't really be "Tamaki" anymore.[/i] Even if he were able to accept Haruhi for the way she is and realize why he's attracted to her, being forced to shed the prince part that he adopts with other girls would probably result in him feeling nervous, impotent and completely out of control. Not a recipe for happiness. That's already started to happen (note his beet-red blushing whenever Haruhi calmly compliments him--adorable though it is, he just doesn't know what to do with himself in those situations). I could be underestimating his adaptability; then again, he's a stock character type in a comedy/parody anime... should he really have any to begin with? That aside, the weird parallels between Ouran and Haruhi Suzumiya continually amaze me. First Itsuki's "Fumoffu!" and now a RahXephon reference? I tell you, it's got to be some kind of conspiracy. ~Dagger~

I'll be honest: The Da Vinci Code entertained me, but that didn't stop me from disliking it. To quote Eugene Robinson, "The writing is so clunky that one suspects Brown pounded away at the keyboard with his elbows." That being said, I also agree with Robinson's observation that the book was pretty much made to become a movie. I'll be quite disappointed if the film really is as boring as the reviews say. ~Dagger~

I got KH2 pretty recently (right now I'm in the PotC world), and it's the first game I've played in a [i]very[/i] long time. So far, I'm finding it to be a lot more enjoyable than KH1. What little I've seen of the story is intriguing, and I absolutely loved playing through the prologue with Roxas. Sora is also significantly less irritating this time around--I may actually end up liking him! And... that's all I really have to say about it so far. I could go on, but I'm not in a position to comment much, given that I haven't gotten very far yet. But yeah, the prologue section was awesome (as was the Timeless River world), and I'm happy that I got to see Aerith & the PotC world so early. Good stuff, at least from my uber-casual gamer perspective. In fact, I think it's time to go play some more now. ;) ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Shy][size=1] On an related note, I have a feeling preparations for Otaku Awards is going to end up delaying "OtakuBoards Yaoi-Fest" once again. Sorry everyone.[/size][/QUOTE] [Vader] NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!11!!!! [/Vader] Seriously, though, I've been lurking in this thread for a little while, and I think it's an interesting idea. I'm still quite skeptical about whether there will be any real diversity as far as the nominees are concerned, but people come and go, and you've already suggested a few measures which will probably help in that regard. Retri: Honestly, that sounds like it would be a huge hassle to keep track of, since the awards would all end up being staggered. Not to mention the fact that forum activity levels are far from static. ~Dagger~