Dagger

[QUOTE=xyzxzy]hello everyone. I just got into reading Yaoi and Shonen Ai lately. I really loved it. I'm currently looking for good Y/SA manga. Do you guys have any recommendation for me. These are the type I'm into. [B]RIN! Satoru Kannagi & Yukine Honami Bukiyou na Silent - Hinako Takanaga Desire - Maki Kazumi & Yukine Honami Legal Drug - CLAMP Tokyo Babylon - CLAMP[/B] I tried to search online for Yaoi/shonen ai, however, I ended up looking at some hard-yaoi manga which I'm totally not into it. Also, I checked out [b]Loveless[/b] at the Bookstore. Was it just my eyes or they changed the main character into a girl. May be I have to check it out again.[/QUOTE] Are you talking about the character design? Either way, no, they didn't change him into a girl. You might like Tenohira no Seiza (which has art by Yukine Honami). I'd also recommend works by Yoshinaga Fumi. But her stories do get somewhat explicit at times, so I don't know how comfortable you'd be with them. Try Ichigenme wa Yaruki no Minpou or Solfege. Gerard et Jacques is better than both of those, but it's also a lot more... blatant, so you'd probably be better off avoiding it. Or, for a completely "safe" series, you could look at Antique Bakery, which is also by her. It's not BL, strictly speaking, but it offers a good example of her style, and one of the main characters is gay. So far, Demian Syndrome is completely free of explicit content, and it's also quite good. You might enjoy Komatta Toki ni wa Hoshi ni Kike by Abe Miyuki (which is actually more about a "romantic friendship" type of thing; as was mentioned a bit earlier in this thread, it appears that the relationship never becomes clearly romantic). Breakfast Club by Akemi Takaido is well worth a read, and any questionable stuff in it is largely comedic, if I remember correctly. Mister Mermaid, by Mizushiro Setona, is really beautiful and bittersweet. What else... Kokoro Kikai, Dousaibou Seibutsu ("Same Cell Organism") and Soshite Koi ga Hajimaru (all by Sumomo Yumeka). La Esperanca recently started coming out from DMP. They have some upcoming titles to keep an eye on as well--you might want to consider Dear Myself and Il Gato Sul G (G-Senjou no Neko). For series from other companies, there's also Earthian and Shout Out Loud (Sakende Yaruze). The latter won't be released till April. I barely remember Menkui, which will be coming out even later, but it could be worthwhile. Of course, if you haven't read Only the Ring Finger Knows yet, that's an obvious choice. EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention Silence... which does have sex scenes, although they're not especially radical or anything. But I'll be damned if it isn't one of the best BL manga I've read, and that's only a few chapters in. And a few others--Tsuki to Mizu no Yoru, Color, various titles by Hotaru Odagiri... ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Tatsubei Yagyu][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS] Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist Vs. Harry Potter (Philosopher's Stone...Socreror's Stone...same difference.)[/FONT] [/COLOR][/QUOTE] I don't suppose you've seen [url=http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=168][u]this[/u][/url]? (Ed would own Harry, as far as I'm concerned.) I'd like to see Jon Stewart versus Bill O'Reilly. I know they've already taken each other on verbally, but I want to witness them [i]really[/i] going at it. ~Dagger~

Welcome to OB, kingfirewolf. While browsing here, you'll probably find that we place an emphasis on post quality. This means that whether you're posting in a favorites thread, a versus topic (such as this one), or whatever else, we ask you to explain your choices a little. Yes, she may be hotter (Rie [i]who[/i]? :p), but it wouldn't be a bad idea to elaborate. You aren't required to write an entire novel. However, as the thread starter, you are expected to set a decent example for other posters--by using complete sentences, proper English, etc. This really does help cut down on spam. If you have any questions, you're welcome to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks! Thread closed. ~Dagger~

I think the numbering is helpful. The little zoom-in-flash thing (sorry, I can't think of how to describe it) that happens at the end of each sequence is a bit much, though. It would be better if you had each hiragana gently fade back to gray before starting with the first stroke again. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Shi no Tenshi'](what is it with blood related anime characters yelling out BROTHER or SISTER to gain their attention? come on, he has a name... even if I never caught it XD)[/quote] This is a cultural thing. In Japan (and in other quite a few other Asian countries), siblings call one another "Brother" or "Sister." That tends to carry over even when the show is set elsewhere. Translating it that way in English may sound strange, but I also believe that good VAs can pull it off. It does irritate me a bit when subtitle tracks replace "onii-san" or whatever with the character's name, though. ~Dagger~

While Tenchi Universe's dub hasn't aged very well, Petrea Burchard is the one & only Ryoko for me. That's partly nostalgia talking--but I really do love her voice. It's too bad she isn't in the third OVA. This is always a dicey thing to bring up, but I have seen a few dubs that (in my opinion) surpassed the Japanese version. Koi Kaze comes to mind first. Even though Koshiro's seiyuu had an interesting quality to his voice that I liked a lot, the English performances for all the characters were consistently amazing. It's possibly the best dub I've ever heard. I don't think Fullmetal Alchemist is necessarily [i]better[/i] dubbed... but although I've been watching the DVDs subbed, I find myself enjoying the English vocals more. Of course, it helps that the show plays out like a veritable who's who of English dubbing. Dubbing tends to be a regional thing, but FMA brought together prominent voice actors from pretty much every part of the country. If I remember rightly, there's one episode in which both Johnny Yong Bosch (Kiba in Wolf's Rain, etc.) and Carrie Savage had cameos. It was really awesome to hear such recognizable California actors in a FUNimation dub. Kodocha is another recent & excellent Funi dub. All of you who profess to like Fruits Basket should give it a try. Not only is it from the same director, but the female and male lead characters are played by the same dub actors who played Tohru and Kyo in Fruits Basket! ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Ramen_Mido]The new opening is great. I love the song I must have listned to it 100 times. The animation looks great to. Yesterdays episode was great but is Wrath [spoiler] really dead I mean it happened so fast[/spoiler].[/QUOTE] For the moment, I'm going to bet [spoiler]that he isn't. After all, both Lust and Envy have survived much worse. They'd probably make a much bigger deal of it if he really were supposed to be dead.[/spoiler] Having finally watched volume 7, I can say that I also love the third OP sequence (and the song which accompanies it, to boot). [quote name='inuyashagirl_69']who do you think would make the hottest couple of the shows[/quote] No one. That's one of the reasons, along with spoiler paranoia, that I haven't gotten into the FMA fan scene. None of the possible pairings draw me in on anything beyond an aesthetic level. Honestly, I think making some of the relationships romantic would cheapen them and shortchange their complexity. *shrugs* I guess I'd back Mustang/Hawkeye, but not with much enthusiasm. I like them just fine as co-workers. I really dislike the idea of either Elric/Winry. The brother-sister thing they have going is a lot less simplistic and a lot more appealing. No real room for yuri unless you throw in Winry/Sciezka, haha, and the BL stuff out there is a) intensely incestuous or b) not that thrilling (again, in my opinion). That said, I'd root for crazy, sadistic Envy x anyone at all. Throw any of the Homunculi in there, and you'd have an awesomely dysfunctional couple. Mm, Lust/Ed... ;) I read a hysterical (in a good way) Ed/Sciezka fic some time ago. In it, she got him in the mood by reciting passages from alchemy texts... :animesmil ~Dagger~

The video was supposed to have been improved a little, but from what I've read, the difference isn't really that striking. Like you suggested, the sound is better, and there are more extras, but that's about it. No need to spring for this if you have the originals. It's not like Eva Platinum. ~Dagger~

I use AIM... when I remember to come on. Which is more than once a month, I swear! :animeblus I've never used anything else, although I remember having a cursory interest in Trillian. [QUOTE=Raiyuu][font=Trebuchet MS]...though every new version brings with it more pointless bells and whistles I'm never going to use. [/font][/QUOTE] That applies to AIM as well; I wish there were a bare-bones version I could stick with. ~Dagger~

That's the fifth ending song, right? In that case, it should be "I Will" by Sowelu (according to the ANN encyclopedia). Last night's episode sealed it for real: Envy is my favorite Homunculus. His voice actress totally stole the show, as far as I'm concerned. I appreciated her work from the moment she came in, but in the most recent episode, she really managed to sound just like a Japanese seiyuu in terms of how she embodied the character, despite considerations of gender. (I don't mean Envy's seiyuu in particular; I mean female seiyuu who voice not-young-boy male characters in general.) [spoiler]The screaming and the ground-pummeling were just awesome. [/spoiler] Speaking of the others, [spoiler]Lust won major points with me for proving herself to be the eternal rebel...[/spoiler] And in yet other news, I like Sloth's new dress. :animeshy: ~Dagger~

I wouldn't really call it unfair. Speaking for myself, I was kind of startled to learn that any edition of it had subtitles. Even FFVII: Advent Children didn't have subs (although there could have been different market forces at work--who knows). At least the regular edition of the FMA movie is cheap, as far as R2s go... It's unfortunate that you didn't learn about the situation until too late, though. Hopefully Funi will bring over & sub the LE disc extras when they release the movie. :confused: ~Dagger~

Congratulations to all you Canadian fans. ;) Argh, I'm so angry that I missed episode 45. Watching 43 & 44 alone convinced me to order the FMA movie R2... as a pre-birthday present for myself. Well, it's rare enough for an R2 to have English subs, so I guess I might as well take advantage of that. :animeswea Since when did they start using the new OP? It's very slick-looking; I was pleasantly surprised to see it, since they kept saying they'd use Ready Steady Go for the whole series. If anyone can give me a run-down of what happened in episode 45 (which should have been last week's episode), I'd really appreciate it. I glanced through a few episode summaries at other sites, but they were uninformative, and I'd rather not dig too much deeper, for fear of spoilers. ~Dagger~

[size=1] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/karl.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/karl1.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar4.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora & Rosetta [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar5.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar6.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar7.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar11.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar14.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar16.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar17.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Layla [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar18.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar20.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Layla [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar21.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstarxmas.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/kstar221.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Kaleido Star [b]Name:[/b] Sora [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/akiha.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Hikaru no Go [b]Name:[/b] Akira [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Abel [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora5.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Abel [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora6.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Abel [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora8.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Abel [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora9.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Abel [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora10.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Abel [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora12.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Abel [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora14.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Tres [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora15.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Tres [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora16.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Esther [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora4.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Esther [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora17.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Esther [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora18.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Esther [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora19.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Esther [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/tora20.jpg[/IMG] [b]Category:[/b] Trinity Blood [b]Name:[/b] Esther[/size] I don't even [i]like[/i] Trinity Blood... but it certainly has some gorgeous artwork. :animestun ~Dagger~

[b]First:[/b] [QUOTE=The Monster]Kero- And it is time for the next exciting episode of 'Pimp my Sakura' with me Kero and Tomoyo. Tomoyo- Well; I went for Crazy Neons for that really cool look and the bell so that you can hear her coming because I couldn't fit Sub-Woofas anywhere. Sakura- I bought The Stick here. Kero- Good for you; here's a cookie. Tomoyo- You should check out the Hydraulics that I've installed.[/QUOTE] Words cannot describe how hard I laughed at this. [b]Second:[/b] [QUOTE=Lord Dante]Sakura: Uhh... tomoyo, what did you do to my suit? Tomoyo: Just the additions that kero told me that you gave to him. Sakura: what?!?! Kero, what did you tell her? Kero: Myyy preciousssssss.....[/QUOTE] It really does look like he's stroking a ring, doesn't it? [b]Third:[/b] [quote name='Ikillion][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=1][FONT=Comic Sans MS]"Little did Sakura know that kero wasn't the only thing in the forest. For Tomoyo was a stalker...a stalker for yuri. Afterwards lets say that Sakura never stood a chance.."[/FONT][/SIZE'][/COLOR][/quote] Wow. You know, that pretty much captures the essence of Tomoyo's character. :animeswea It's your turn, The Monster. Have at it! ~Dagger~

[quote name='Pixie_rich']I love taking drugs, especially ecstasy, ket, coke, speed and magic monkey juice :D[/quote]..... If it's true, that explains a lot. I kid! (Or do I?) Seriously, though, please don't revive old topics. Thanks in advance. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=DeathKnight][color=crimson] There is, however, some discussion of changing it to otakuboards.deathknight for obvious reasons.[/color][/QUOTE] A most excellent suggestion. ;) And personally, I'm kind of inclined to think that the OP is messing with us. But perhaps I'm just paranoid...? ~Dagger~

The thing is, though, no matter how many people insist on identifying yaoi solely with pornographic material, there will always be others who do the opposite. For example, DMP publishes all of their boys' love manga--including series that contain almost nothing more explicit than wistful glances!--as "yaoi." In my opinion, it's simpler (not to mention more accurate) to concede that sexually explicit anime/manga can and do fall under the umbrella of yaoi/shounen-ai (or yuri/shoujo-ai). Or, better yet, BL, which really does cover everything in terms of male/male stuff. I've seen "girls' love" used as well, but I'm not sure if it's as widely accepted. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Raiyuu][font=Trebuchet MS][color=green] That's unlikely, isn't it? The HiME star [spoiler]actually descends to Earth at the end of HiME, and it doesn't look like a planet - more like a malevolent ball of red with weird bony support structures around it[/spoiler]. [/color][/font][/QUOTE] Oy vey! Right you are; thanks for reminding me. :animeblus Episode 18... [Darth Vader]NOOOOOOOOOO!!!11![/Darth Vader] Seriously, though, I liked this episode a lot, but it's oh so very cruel. Awesome comedic moments aside (Nao and Natsuki need their own show!), it's one of the most nuanced and well-written episodes yet. It contrasts nicely with episode 17. [spoiler]The exchange between Sergei and Nina had some great voice acting on both sides. But the highlight, of course, was Aoi's "death." I actually found it to be a lot more moving than Erstein's death scene. Still, I'm not ready to count Aoi out yet; I'm inclined to be suspicious of long falls from cliffs. But Chie's expression in the next episode preview was foreboding.[/spoiler] Also, the soundtrack leapt to new heights at just the right moments. Three cheers for Yuki Kajiura. It seems that episode 19 might deal with [spoiler]Shizuru and Tomoe.[/spoiler] Its title is highly suggestive--although the big question is whether [spoiler]the 17-year-old mentioned is Midori (haha), Mai or someone else altogether.[/spoiler] Speaking of which, here are the next few episode titles: 19. [spoiler]17 Year Old of Destiny[/spoiler] 20. [spoiler]Don't Call Me Nina![/spoiler] 21. [spoiler]The White Princess Awakens[/spoiler] 22. [spoiler]Song of Destruction[/spoiler] This is probably a good point to mention that I'm actually kind of impressed by how My-Otome is structured. With most of the show having been spent on character establishment and various hijinks, I was starting to get worried about how they'd take care of things in the remaining episodes. If they keep up this new pace, though, it'll be just fine. Better yet, the new pace doesn't feel unnatural. I'm actually pretty confident that the writers will be able to [spoiler]introduce Mai, plus the final two Pillars and any other yet-to-appear characters (human!Mikoto, for example),[/spoiler] keep the plot from falling apart, and still do justice to the entirety of the enormous cast. ~Dagger~

Katamari Nut, when starting/participating in this type of topic, it's important to provide reasons for your choices. That helps stave off spam. Also, feel free to private message me or one of the other moderators if you have any questions. Thanks! Last (but not least), please post in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=709908#post709908][u]official Champloo thread[/u][/url] if you'd like to discuss this further. Of course, everyone already knows that Jin is the best. ;) Thread closed. ~Dagger~

It warms my heart to see more people becoming interested in Mushishi. I do hope you enjoy it. :catgirl: [QUOTE=Lunox][color=darkslateblue] Anywho, I love the subdued mood of the anime. I've never watched Victorian Romance Emma, but I'm willing to give it a shot if it's like this one.[/color][/QUOTE] Well, Emma takes place in a totally different setting and such (but I recommend it anyway!). It's probably the only maid anime in the entire world in which the maids actually wear plain clothes and do unglamorous things like, you know, clean stuff. And it's a lovely period romance, with a surprising level of historical accuracy. The art style and smooth animation in Mushishi was what brought Emma to mind for me. I just watched episode 12, and I think it's one of the best episodes yet. It explains why [spoiler]Ginko looks the way he does, as well as how he got his name and lost his eye.[/spoiler] I'd love to see more episodes featuring [spoiler]Ginko as a (post-Tokoyami/Ginko) child,[/spoiler] but I guess that isn't too likely. Aside from what's mentioned above, the most important thing about this episode is that it lays the groundwork for one of the strongest philosophical elements of Mushishi: the idea that because [spoiler]the Mushi have no ill intent toward humanity, it's best to help people avoid them, instead of attempting to destroy them. Even though Nui taught Ginko that lesson before he lost his memory, I think it must have stayed with him in some way, because it seems to be one of the basic principles by which he lives his life as an adult.[/spoiler] I would be interested in watching an episode about a rogue Mushishi--i.e., one who directly confronts the Mushi, either out of greed (wanting capture them for profit and such) or rage (wanting to eliminate them). That kind of thing might not be up the show's alley, though. One other thing I wanted to mention: if anyone is interested in seeing detailed episode summaries and/or screencaps, Garten from [url=http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/archives/mushishi/index.html][u]Memento[/u][/url] has been doing a fine job of blogging Mushishi. The main page is mostly spoiler-free, but you should watch out for spoilers in the extended entries. ~Dagger~

Haha, okay, I actually laughed out loud while reading "The Chosen One?" Almost to the point of rolling on the floor. Personally, I'd say that's your best yet, although it could just be my sense of humor speaking. The background is a nice touch. ~Dagger~

Just a note: I added spoiler tags to your post. 1. I enjoyed it. There were some weaker portions (such as the [spoiler]zombie[/spoiler] episode), but when Champloo got good, it was [i]really[/i] good. I can see myself separately revisiting all of the multi-episode stories at some point in the future. That said, I still have discs 5 through 7 sitting in a pile; I'm waiting until I slip into the mood to re-watch the rest of the show. 2. I would have liked to see a follow-up on Mugen and Jin's [spoiler]romantic interests--namely, the ninja lady and the prostitute whose name I've unfortunately forgotten.[/spoiler] Or, barring that, a bit of [spoiler]Jin/Fuu, although later parts of the show seemed to point in the opposite direction.[/spoiler] To be honest, though, any pairing involving the main characters would be fine by me (including a threesome!). Jin/Fuu, Mugen/Fuu, Jin/Mugen (I read an awesome doujin about the latter the other day)... it's all good. 3. No, but it was significantly less [spoiler]painful.[/spoiler] 4. Nothing really, although some of the stuff that [spoiler]Jin and Mugen survived[/spoiler] was a bit too incredible. 5. [spoiler]Definitely Jin.[/spoiler] 6. Spike. He could have carried Cowboy Bebop on his own, and he's certainly the "hero" of the show. But I wouldn't call Mugen the hero of Champloo. The three main characters are balanced fairly equally, and singling out Mugen as the most prominent of them is questionable at best. If anyone deserves top billing, it's probably Fuu, and that doesn't make sense either. 7. If you read the insert for volume 7, there's an interview or something with Shinichiro Watanabe in which he mentioned how glad he was that [spoiler]all of the characters managed to survive. It seems that he was determined to not kill any of them off.[/spoiler] This was his way of defying the traditional principles of [spoiler]Bushido--and of samurai-based entertainment[/spoiler]--which is probably as good a reason as any. 8. Yep... friendship, plus the whole idea of "it's more about the journey than the destination." ~Dagger~

[url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=1501][u]Juné press release[/u][/url] Does anyone else think this is kind of odd? I'm not against the idea or anything, but I don't really understand the purpose of it. Especially since what they're basically doing is switching from one outdated word to another, even if they're honestly basing it on the French author instead of the old Japanese June imprint. Which I find a little dubious. If I'm reading it correctly, all of DMP's yaoi/BL titles will now be published under the Juné label. Well, whatever floats their boat, I guess. Aren't Loveless volume 1 and Earthian volume 2 supposed to come out today? I'm hoping to make a run to the bookstore on Thursday or Friday. ~Dagger~

PM'd... In any case, let me know what you think if you ever do end up watching it. :) Episode 11 brought the Mononoke vibe into the forefront. I liked its depiction of [spoiler]guardian spirits,[/spoiler] and it had some very striking visuals. It was particularly interesting for what it suggested about Ginko. I've read that episode 12 is supposed to delve into his past a little, and I'm looking forward to it. I was going to name my favorite episodes, and then I looked back and realized that I had listed virtually all of them, haha. I'm so glad this isn't going to be a half-length series. ~Dagger~

I understand that this can be irritating, but it's not really worth getting worked up over... On the other hand, there have been times when a show's popularity has made it more difficult for me to get into it. It took me multiple attempts to work past the first two episodes of FMA (and I still think they're awful!). It's a lot easier to make snap judgments when you go into something with high expectations, I think. A more recent example of this is Fate/stay night. I watched the first episode, loathed it, and was ready to give up on the show forever--hype be damned. But I'm actually going to stick with Fate/stay night anyway, though that's mainly because I like Archer & Rin and because I want to find out [spoiler]who all the Servants really are[/spoiler] without cheating and reading spoilers. I'm also hoping against hope that Shirou will eventually die the fiery death of a thousand suns. On the off chance that it ever happens, I want to be there to see it. :p ~Dagger~