Dagger

"Bart The Barbarian III" is the best of this bunch. The final one-liner cinches it perfectly. Going back in time a little, I also love "Mis-Plunder-Standings." Upon first glancing at "Up A Hill," for some reason I thought they were underwater, heh. It made me chuckle once I did a double-take, though. :) ~Dagger~

Wow, you caught up quickly. :) As for episode 16--new OP alert! And it's awesome. It's very Gundam-esque, actually, both in the way it's composed and the fact that it's full of spoilers. Although I'm sure the actual show will have more nuances than what's shown in just the second OP, haha. Of course, the most important thing is that [spoiler]Mai has been elevated from flaming silhouette status. She's even wearing the Red Scarf of Justice![/spoiler] Ah, HiME nostalgia... So it looks as though the five Pillars are [spoiler]Natsuki, Shizuru, two yet to be introduced characters, and Nao. I have to say that Nao's appointment took me by surprise, although I guess it's partly because I still can't mentally separate Otome Nao from HiME Nao, and they become increasingly different from each other with every new episode. Also, I was kind of hoping that they'd use existing characters for the extra Pillars (I'm quite surprised that Yukariko isn't one--why can she materialize without a master?). I love Nina's Meister robe. Thank goodness they didn't stick her in puffy sleeves. Nao's is a little bizarre; I like the HiME homage, but did they have to make her look like Spiderman? I mean, really.[/spoiler] At the very beginning, before the OP, [spoiler]Arika is shown beating Tomoe, but that's all we see of the battle exam. A Pearl (Chie & Shiho) vs. Coral (Nina & Arika) graduation battle is about to start at the end of the episode, but that gets interrupted. Hopefully we'll get to see Chie and Shiho even after they're sent off to defend their respective countries.[/spoiler] This episode raises some questions... - Which Coral student [spoiler]received the letter? I don't think it's Tomoe, judging by the shape of the hair. I'd have to go back and look at the shadow again, but maybe it's Ers-chan or Irina.[/spoiler] - Why didn't Erstein [spoiler]rat on Tomoe?[/spoiler] - Which side will [spoiler]Mai[/spoiler] be on? - By now, is Tomoe [spoiler]completely irredeemable?[/spoiler] - [spoiler]Will Miya ever return, and if so, is she going to have to smack a *****?[/spoiler] :p And so on and so forth. After seeing the episode 17 preview, I'm praying for a [spoiler]massive battle, complete with Natsuki materializing.[/spoiler] Don't cheat us out of that, Sunrise. ~Dagger~

I concur, and I removed the event in question. In case we weren't clear on this before, it isn't acceptable to use the calendar to advertise one's personal site. ~Dagger~

Just to be contrary: Kanone >> Eyes >>>>> Ayumu. :p Ayumu is not a bad character or anything, but his lack of confidence [i]is[/i] irritating. If it were brilliantly portrayed (a la Shinji's insecurity and weakness in Evangelion), that would be something different. I didn't find Ayumu's inferiority complex to be especially compelling; it was just something he was inevitably going to get over, given time, and they harped on it a little too much. The best part relating to that was how [spoiler]Rio beat him for the first time in the hospital.[/spoiler] It actually made sense that lack of confidence would cause him to make a dire mistake, given his dilemma, and it wasn't just a matter of randomly thrusting "believe in yourself" into the situation. ~Dagger~

Hm... there are a couple of things wrong with this. First of all, we don't really have introduction threads here. You'll find that you can get to know others and make plenty of friends by posting in regular discussions. Additionally, please don't discuss sharing episodes via email or whatnot. It's off-topic, and it skirts dangerously close to providing links for illegal anime downloads, which isn't allowed here. Some threads that you might find helpful, based on what you asked for in your first post: [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=51417][u]Favorite anime[/u][/url] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=51686][u]Favorite anime movie[/u][/url] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=51580][u]What new anime are you looking forward to?[/u][/url] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=51565][u]Show me the ropes[/u][/url] Feel free to PM me or another staff member if you have any questions. Thanks. ~Dagger~

[quote name='shinji172']...Its also probably the closest one to have tenchi drop hints on his favourate girl.[/quote] And for the record, what Tenchi Forever hints at is that he prefers [spoiler]Ryoko.[/spoiler] I have mixed feelings about Tenchi Forever. I love its more mature art style and how [spoiler]Ryoko & Ayeka end up cooperating.[/spoiler] However, that plot development serves mainly to rub in the fact that the relationship between Ryoko and Ayeka is really much more complex & interesting than their respective relationships with Tenchi. ~Dagger~

"And thus were spawned another thousand housewife cosplay yaoi fics. Elsewhere, Quatre weeps." ~Dagger~

I loved the third volume of 2nd Gig. The episode about [spoiler]Motoko's past[/spoiler] was particularly well done (and its artwork was beautiful, too), but everything else on the disc was excellent as well. The [spoiler]mutual decapitation[/spoiler] scene came as a big surprise to me. I think it's a good example of an instance in anime when sparingly used but disturbing violence ends up having far more of an impact than bright red blood & guts spewing everywhere. I can't claim to have much of a handle on the various forces driving the plot. At least I'm not totally lost, haha. And either way, 2nd Gig really is a cut above the first season. Just wondering... what episode is the Adult Swim broadcast up to? ~Dagger~

Tenchi in Tokyo isn't really a continuation of the Tenchi Muyo OVA. It's an AU (alternate universe) series, as is Tenchi Universe. Same characters, different scenario. Of the AU TV shows, Tenchi Universe is more highly regarded among fans than Tenchi in Tokyo. Also, two of the three Tenchi movies--Tenchi Muyo in Love and Tenchi Forever--belong to the Universe continuity. Sakuya is only a character in Tenchi in Tokyo, so she's not a real contender. ~Dagger~

Well, Adam mentioned in his most recent myO post that "deleting unused accounts won't do anything to solve [the server issues]." So I don't think that's going to be the solution. ~Dagger~

So I'm about two-thirds of the way through Sailor Moon S... and holy crap, it's amazing. I recently discovered, to my horror, that both S and Super S had gone out of print. I was kicking myself, of course, but I miraculously managed to find the S thinpak set in stock at Barnes & Noble's online store (of all places!). A little while later, I ran across an auction for the Super S thinpak, and it didn't end up going as high as I'd feared. So I lucked out. Anyway, though, S was worth paying full price for. You can really see Kunihiko Ikuhara's influence in a lot of episodes. The visuals are better, the episode villains are so much more amusing and entertaining, Haruka & Michiru own all of the other characters, and the bad guys are beyond awesome. I particularly like the Professor. There are a lot of nice little touches in terms of how the Death Busters interact; I was tickled the first time a Daimohn showed reluctance to attack Usagi & co., and the novelty still hasn't worn off. The Professor's quirks are deliciously silly, but not silly enough to ruin the lab's atmosphere. I can't wait to finish this and then polish off Super S. I'd heard a lot about this season, but it's so much better than I'd expected. Even its cheesiness has a kind of extra sophistication to it, haha. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Renate] Did anyone else love the music theme that appeared whenever Ayumu would solve a mystery. I

Locked for [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=51417&page=3&pp=15][u]redundance[/u][/url]. Also, please keep in mind that we ask members to explain their choices when replying to a "favorites" topic; that helps keep the discussion from degenerating into spam. Thanks! Thread closed. ~Dagger~

To quote the almighty Desbreko: [quote][color=#4B0082]Sorry, but it's against the site [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?][u]rules[/u][/url] to post links to copyrighted materials such as full anime episodes. So I'm afraid we can't help you.[/color][/quote] That pretty much sums it up. If you have any further questions, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Liam']No, But almost every one of those has something compairable in the anime Genere. LOL. Boondocks doesn't.[/quote] Um, no. They don't. What do those shows have in common with each other that they don't have in common with The Boondocks? Nothing, except for the fact that they come from Japan. And anime isn't a genre. Anime is animation, albeit animation with a specific nation of origin. But in any case, animation is a medium, not a genre. ~Dagger~

Korean comics are called manwha. Chinese comics are called manhua. I won't get into the MIC (manga-influenced comics) vs. OEL manga debate, but I don't think that stuff coming out of countries other than Japan should be labeled manga. Anyway, English-speakers already have a perfectly good term for sequential art. It's not like "comics" is a bad word, regardless of what the more elitist manga fans seem to think. One can't really define anime by "storytelling style." Unimaginable verbal gymnastics would be required to lump Gatchaman, Chibi Maruko-chan, Gravitation, Gankutsuou, etc. in the same category. ~Dagger~

I ended up watching Spiral this past fall. I wish Tokyopop would hurry up and rescue the manga from licensing hell; I really want to know what happens to Kanone later on in the series. He ended up being my favorite character by a ridiculously huge margin. Of the females, I suppose I like Rio the best, although none of them really stood out for me. Not too surprisingly, KanonexEyes is my favorite pairing. Oh the angst. :) ~Dagger~

It's not anime because it's not from Japan. It's American, and it's a damn good example of American animation, as far as I'm concerned. Though its character designs have a certain richness to them that is anime-influenced, as McGruder himself has stated, that doesn't make the series an anime. ~Dagger~

I noticed that you wanted this thread to be resurrected, so... here I am! :animesmil I also loved the ending, so much so that it inspired me to get off my lazy behind and write an article about it. Even though I don't usually say stuff like, "If you didn't appreciate the ending, then you didn't understand the show," I do think that kind of applies to Wolf's Rain. One doesn't have to relish the ending--in fact, it's reasonable for watching those final episodes to be a little excruciating--but it suits the show. I hate [spoiler]reset[/spoiler] endings as a matter of principle, but Wolf's Rain carried it off perfectly. It provides all the closure it needs to, it sheds a new light on the OP animation, and it makes sense. It's a very elegant ending. ~Dagger~

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-1/1135325/arinko.JPG[/img] "Arinko-chan?" On a different note, I wanted to belatedly mention that I loved "Beein' Silly." :) ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=OtakuSennen]I picked up the first volume of Viz's publication and I enjoyed it immensely. But before I buy any more of the books, can anyone tell me, without spoilers, if the series manages to keep its awesomeness throughout? I've started too many series only to get tired of it halfway through.[/QUOTE] That's an issue about which fans' opinions tend to be sharply divided. I would recommend reading up to volume 7 and then deciding whether you still want to continue. It makes a convenient stopping point, because it conclusively ends one pivotal story arc, while offering you a decent taste of the arc that follows it. I think the whole series is worth it. Of course, it's still ongoing, so no one can really tell you if it'll have a good ending or even how long it will be. Anyway... [url=http://www.theotaku.com/news/view/death_note_movies/788/][u]Death Note movies[/u][/url]. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=bellpickle][SIZE=1]I tend to prefer darker rival pairings over fluff, and I dislike pairings that have a Designated Uke. I often avoid reading yaoi fanfiction, because many yaoi fangirls are keen on altering the characters' personalities to their liking, or focus too much on the physical aspects of gay relationships. Character interaction is what I'm interested in, mostly.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] Your post reminded me of something, and I apologize for using it as a bit of a springboard. :animeswea To get to the point, though, I'm going to cheat by copying & pasting something I posted at another forum: [i]I've noticed that I tend to enjoy reading about relationships in which two characters are drawn to each other romantically/sexually, but with undercurrents of hatred, loathing, contempt or just flat-out revulsion (either mutual or one-sided). I don't mean anything seriously abusive, or the sort of relationship in which they yell at each other explosively all the time--what I'm looking for is an atmosphere with romantic/sexual tension, plus hints of those darker & more conflicted feelings simmering under the surface. This kind of thing is fairly easy to find in BL. Actually, some of what goes on in the first volume of La Esperanca isn't that far off the mark, in terms of what I'm looking for. However, I don't think I've ever seen it in het romance, and the only yuri-esque examples that come to mind are one or two of the relationships in Oniisama E.[/i] I didn't think about this in depth until recently, but it really is true that you can find character dynamics in BL that are more or less impossible to find in het anime/manga. I believe there would be more of that darkness in yuri if there were more yuri in general. (Admittedly, this whole post has more to do with manga and fanworks than anime, since the volume of BL anime is small in comparison, and thus has less variety.) ~Dagger~

I'm sorry that you found out about that! I feel really bad now. :animecry: This isn't quite on-topic, but I figure that it's worth bringing up anyway. Has anyone else read/seen Death Note doujinshi? There's quite a lot of it out there, both serious and comedic. Depressingly, I can't remember much of what I've come across, although some of it was surprisingly good. [b]Light Note[/b] is pleasantly funny (and it's done by Taishi Zaou & Eiki Eiki, which nets it extra points). The best part is Daddy Yagami's reactions to [spoiler]L's comic obsession with Light.[/spoiler] Most of the humor is derived from BL innuendo, but that's the case for pretty much every Death Note doujin out there... On that note, my favorite DN doujin is [b]Say My Name[/b], which takes place during the part of the manga when [spoiler]L and Light are handcuffed together.[/spoiler] The LightxL content isn't the main reason I like it, although it does a surprisingly good job of incorporating the nuances of the characters' personalities into something that's so distant from canon. However, what stuck with me was [spoiler]L's strangling dream.[/spoiler] It's not over-played, and it's a very memorable, evocative image. I also liked how the doujin-ka portrayed [spoiler]"good"[/spoiler] Light. ~Dagger~

Try [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=51454][u]this[/u][/url] Manga Workshop thread. Death Note hasn't yet been animated, so a discussion of the series would be somewhat out of place in the anime forum. When you start a new topic, it's generally best to give people an idea of what you're talking about. Not everyone is familiar with Death Note, after all. Of course, that's a moot point at the moment, since there's already a pre-existing Death Note thread. But it's something to keep in mind for the future. If you have any questions, you're welcome to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Right now, I'm really looking forward to [b]Kaleido Star: New Wings[/b], which will start coming out shortly. I was lucky in that I started the first half a little late, so I didn't have to endure a year-long gap between the release of Kaleido Star volume 6 and New Wings volume 1. Nevertheless, it's been at least seven months or so (by my rough estimation) since I finished the first part of the show, and the wait was agonizing. :animedepr ~Dagger~