Dagger

[QUOTE=freeziepleasy] Besides, what's the difference between shonen-ai and yaoi? I know the Ring Finger volume is yaoi, but i think that ghost is shonen-ai (so I heard). Do you know the difference? :)[/QUOTE] Well, DMP published Ring Finger under their yaoi line. But if you're going to distinguish between yaoi and shounen-ai in the usual sense (that is, with shounen-ai being less explicit), then it would qualify as shounen-ai, as would Eerie Queerie. Interestingly, I've heard that in Japan, shounen-ai has come to mean something more like shota... Some people still insist on only using the term yaoi when referring to boys' love doujinshi. It varies. Among English-speaking fans, however, anyone who attempts to draw a distinction between shounen-ai and yaoi usually means to say that yaoi is sexually explicit, whereas shounen-ai is more tame. Part of what makes it confusing is that the major publishers take different approaches to the whole terminology issue. Tokyopop calls Gravitation & their other BL titles shounen-ai. DMP calls everything yaoi, and I'm pretty sure Be Beautiful does as well. Blu calls everything boys' love. ~Dagger~

Just saw it tonight. Jesus, does this man know how to make movies. The whole thing is incredibly overblown and over-the-top, but not to the point of being nauseating. Hey, why have [spoiler]one Tyrannosaurus Rex[/spoiler] when you can have, like, [i]five[/i]? That scene was just sick, and I mean that in the best way possible. This is the first time in a while that I've heard an audience react audibly again and again--laughter, gasps, cheering, the works. It's amazing how realistic Kong & the other creatures looked... it would not be wholly remiss of me to say that the remake may have the best special effects of any movie I've seen. A little on the long side, but it's a great popcorn flick. Go see it. I'll post more when I'm feeling more coherent; 3+ hours of King Kong followed almost immediately by half an hour of Fullmetal Alchemist would be enough to do anyone in. ~Dagger~

Wasn't Little Butterfly licensed really recently? If so, it's not that abnormal for there to be a delay before actual publication... If you're impatient and you're content to read online scanlations (but still want to support the creators), you could try importing the Japanese tankoubon. On the BL-yet-not-BL front, I got the second volume of Antique Bakery today. A new male character is introduced to the ensemble, and the interaction between him and Ono is beyond hilarious. Ono really does deserve to be called a demon, haha. I recommend this not only for the fact that he gets a lot of the focus, but also because the story in general continues to be extremely good. Ono may be the one known for his surprising charisma, but the new character (Chikage) is charming in his own way. And there are times when I think I like Tachibana better than any of them. (Yeah, I'm still rooting for Tachibana/Ono. So sue me.) ~Dagger~

Yeah, I've been getting that message all afternoon. Oddly, the site backroom works just fine. But I'm going to hold off on making news posts until I can actually see what I'm doing, haha. :animeswea ~Dagger~

Great news. The Saga of the Three Kings box set is scheduled to come out on March 7. I think that's quicker than a lot of people expected. Anyway, I've already placed my order. The retail price is $99, but it only set me back $54, thanks to Right Stuf's FUNimation sale (which lasts until December 18!). I've heard such great things about the final arc. March can't come soon enough. :) ~Dagger~

[quote name='Hiko seijuro 14']what do you think?[/quote] Although I stand by my earlier post (*waves Jin flag*), all of the overt evidence in the show points toward a draw, as you suggested. I will say that I don't think Mugen's unpredictability would offer him an edge, though. In their earlier fights, his stunts just ended up being part of the smooth back-and-forth of it all. There isn't much he could do to really shock Jin--short of crotch-grabbing, a la Kambei from Samurai 7. (There'd be another great set of match-ups: Jin or Mugen versus Kambei or Kyuuzo.) Jin himself isn't totally averse to using semi-dirty tricks, if I remember correctly. I can't cite specific examples off the top of my head. Then again, I think it would be much less likely for him to do that kind of thing in a fight with Mugen (who he respects) than in a fight with a bunch of random goons. ~Dagger~

My custom title is the catch-phrase from a Japanese kids' song, お弁当箱の歌 (The Lunch Box Song). The full lyrics can be found [url=http://members.ecatv.home.ne.jp/tomoyant/asobi/obentou.htm][u]here[/u][/url]. Basically, it's about these animals who get themselves into troublesome situations. As soon as they realize they're in a real pickle, they decide to ignore it, grab their obentou (lunch boxes) and shout "それでおひる" (sorede ohiru), which in context means "Time for lunch!" I very much agree with that philosophy. Hence the title. :animesmil ~Dagger~

[quote name='Hiko seijuro 14']I really dont like the main character shingi(sp). I hate is inability to make up his mind or to actually put his foot down and voice his own opinion...which the anime actually targeted. I think I dont really like him because he is actually apart of us in some way. Meaning we all have that side of us who dont like making up our own mind and sometimes wish people could decide for us.Its our shy side or lonely side that I guess I dont like to show and thats probably why I sont like him too much because he expresses our weaker side of the human emotion or thoughts. ;)[/quote] Quoted for truth. I think you're absolutely right. That's exactly what Shinji is supposed to represent, and that's why he makes people uncomfortable and--at least in some cases--provokes a visceral, almost irrationally strong dislike, something closer to revulsion than annoyance. I also find it impressive that you can admit that while still disliking him; there are fans who hate him so much that they could never ever make that kind of concession. Anyway, I still haven't seen the movies, haha. But I'm hoping to rectify that, come Christmas. :p ~Dagger~

More new licenses... [quote name='Anime on DVD']Managing Editor over at AW Productions was responding to feedback in the manga forum yesterday after we posted the year in review article and he revealed some interesting new license news for 2006. AW Productions has acquired the rights for two Row Takakura titles, "But You're My Teacher" (SEITO NO SHUCHO KYOSHI NO HONBUN) and another "I Can't Stop Loving You" (YANNATCHAUKURAI AISHITERU).[/quote] This should definitely make some fans happy. I'm almost positive I read [B]I Can't Stop Loving You[/B] at some point or another, but I don't remember that much about it, heh. :) [quote name='Remadi']Tenohira no Seiza is drawn by Yukine Honami (also drew Rin and Desire.) I've only read 2 chapters of it so far, but I like it. I like Yukine's art a lot, so I always like to check out series drawn by her.[/quote] I had a couple problems with [b]Rin[/b], despite enjoying most aspects of it. But I'd still buy it if it were licensed. One of her works I loved and wished had been longer is the [b]Kiss Scandal[/b] one-shot. Not only is it fun and amusing to see a manga-ka take on American politics (well, in a roundabout way), but the story & characters also really clicked with me. ~Dagger~

My team (me included) has been slow to post in general, but I greatly prefer the set post order method. It gives things a stronger sense of organization and encourages you to communicate/consult with your fellow RPers before plunging ahead. ~Dagger~

Locked for [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=40657&page=10&pp=15][u]redundancy[/u][/url]. Please also keep in mind that post quality is highly valued here. So it's appreciated if, when starting a thread like this, you do something to encourage a discussion... as opposed to simply setting up a poll and telling people to have at it. Feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members if you have any questions. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

I started watching P9 over Thanksgiving and just finished it today. I got the brick set for $15 during one of ADV's sales, so it wasn't exactly a huge investment on my part. If nothing else, seeing this show proved to me that I have a much higher tolerance for anime which start poorly and end brilliantly than anime which get off to a great start and then gradually start to blow chunks. Unfortunately, P9 proved to be one of the latter. I'm being a little unfair to the show, but that's in part because I thought the beginning was so awesome. The first fourteen episodes were very solid, despite a few minor quibbles. But then there came that horrid [spoiler]scandal[/spoiler] arc, which was followed by [spoiler]the love triangle[/spoiler] kicking into high gear. Those two things--especially the latter--killed the show for me. I just couldn't stand the fact that these amazing, strong, really cool girls [spoiler]started acting like histrionic morons because of Takasugi. Takasugi! Newsflash: he's not all that.[/spoiler] I didn't particularly like any of the males in P9 (well, except the coach, who was cool). Although Seishirou was okay. He put up with a lot more crap than he should have. I felt as though the ending was a bit of a cop-out. Not so much the fact that [spoiler]they lost, which I was okay with... it just bothered me that we never saw them so much as set foot in Koshien. Hell, if they'd shown a five-second flash-foward at the end, I'd have been much happier with it.[/spoiler] For me, the ideal post-credits bit would have been [spoiler]a narrated montage showing the girls making it to the finals in their second year, and having it fade out dramatically as Ryo threw the first pitch of the game.[/spoiler] But whatever. It was a good deal, so I'm pleased. It's amazing how much I soured on the series after [spoiler]that ridiculous drowning children[/spoiler] incident, though. ~Dagger~

[b]Teknon Theos[/b], it's our policy to let old threads stay dead. That particularly applies to inflammatory, circuitous discussions like this one. When topics such as the one at hand fade out, they generally fade out for a reason--i.e., they've run their course, and any further debate would be an exercise in futility. This one ran its course well over half a year ago. In the future, please keep that in mind. If you have any questions, you're welcome to send a private message my way. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Generic NPC #3] I didn't really find any of the CGI to be "laughably bad", but there were many times that it was obviously computer generated. That's true of really 99% of films, though. The make-up and costume effects largely made up for it.[/QUOTE] I actually thought the animals were quite well done (especially Aslan), but the planes at the beginning were... I dunno. They were very "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," I guess. Not really a huge problem, since it's just that one scene, but I found it sort of jarring. ~Dagger~

I saw it last night. To be honest, it came across as being a kiddie version of LotR. It didn't have to feel like that, but the way it was directed & written ended up (deliberately or accidentally) emphasizing certain LotR parallels. I'm not yelling "rip-off" here or anything, but I think there were ways to do this movie that would have made it seem more unique. The opening scene was cringe-inducingly bad (ye gods, what awful CGI), but I actually very much liked everything else that took place in the real world. A lot of what happened in Narnia was pretty good, at least at first. I loved Lucy's initial meeting with Mr. Tumnus and their conversation by the fire. Things just started to degenerate once all four kids entered Narnia, though. I also felt that the pace got rather screwed up--it was nice and deliberate during the first quarter or third of the movie, but events became absurdly compressed in the second half. My main complaint is that things were just too pretty in Narnia. I suppose some of this stems from the fact that they wanted to keep the rating PG, but I never got the sense that there was something truly serious & dire at stake. Moreover, it seemed as though success came to the children much too easily. The [spoiler]"I dub thee Sir Peter etc."[/spoiler] scene was almost laughable because of how easy they made [spoiler]killing the wolf[/spoiler] seem. On the plus side, the little girl who played Lucy totally stole the show. And the melee scenes were surprisingly excellent. To be frank, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is my least favorite Narnia book to begin with. I'd have been much more interested in seeing a movie version of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (or The Silver Chair, or The Horse and His Boy). Assuming they do plan to film all the sequels--and they probably will--I'm curious as to whether they'll go by publication order or chronological order. Well, they've already broken chronological order, but they could do The Magician's Nephew at some later point and keep the rest of the stories chronological. That's what I'd prefer, personally. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=MonkeyOfTheCorn][FONT=Comic Sans MS] [b]Avatar is drawn in the [i]anime[/i] art style, therefore it is an anime.[/b] To say that it is not anime just because it is drawn by someone who isn't Japanese is, in my opinion, pretty stupid. :( It's also kind of racist...[/FONT][/QUOTE] Oh, please. Pulling out the racist card here is just hilariously cliché. It's impossible to come up with a visual/artistic definition for anime that includes every anime ever made. A fair number of anime have certain visual elements in common, which is what gave rise to the whole BESM cliche. But when you get right down to it, [i]there is no one "anime art style."[/i] As far as I'm concerned, anime is animation from Japan. That's it. It doesn't matter if it's about flying pigs from Mars or Japanese schoolgirls. It doesn't matter if it's totally unrelated to Japanese culture, or deeply rooted in it. I don't dispute the right of you or anyone else to disagree with me and go by a visual definition, but I'm not going to sit back and let you wave around the whole racist label, either. A big part of the problem here is fans who act as if the words "anime" and "manga" convey some kind of holy meaning on animation or sequential art that's put under those categories. You can draw something in what you perceive as being an "anime style," and ultimately its quality will be totally unaffected by whether you call it a comic, sequential art, a graphic novel or manga. Animation doesn't have to be called anime to be worth watching. There's an attitude that leads people to act as if the worst and most insulting thing ever is having a foreign-produced, so-called anime/manga-style piece of work be called a graphic novel (or whatever) rather than manga. If anything, that's the attitude which really smacks of elitism. For god's sake, even Korean and Chinese comics aren't called manga. :animesigh ~Dagger~

We allow favorites threads here, but under one important condition. Regardless of what the thread deals with, we require those posting in it to explain their choices. This doesn't have to be long and complicated, although using complete sentences is ideal. The problem is that listing a couple anime titles or character names does almost nothing to encourage a real discussion. Threads structured like that tend to become spammy very quickly. And with that in mind, it really helps when thread creators try to set a good example, in terms of post quality. If you have any questions, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

The short answer: [spoiler]No, although Watanabe tries to fake the viewer out a couple of times.[/spoiler] The slightly longer answer: [spoiler]There are a couple instances in the series, particularly during the final few episodes, when it becomes difficult to suspend your disbelief. I think the writers made the right decision to leave all the main characters alive, and I could buy into the fact that Mugen survived that ridiculous explosion. Anyway, though, your source is somewhat correct in that Jin is the one who (falsely) appears to die most often... if I remember correctly. However, Mugen is the one whose survival ends up looking more far-fetched and improbable.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

Okay, so who's going to see this? *raises hand* It's been a very, very long time since I watched the original film. I can't claim that I remember it too well, although I'm pretty familiar with the story itself. Anyway, things are looking good for Peter Jackson's remake. It's currently got a rating of 94% over at Rotten Tomatoes. The trailers have been fantastic. I was eager to see the new movie before, but all the positive buzz has definitely been encouraging. ~Dagger~

The best way to get to know other members is by posting. It's that simple. While we don't allow introduction threads or "be my friend" threads, that certainly shouldn't prevent you from making friends. Do try to stay on-topic, though; if you just want to chat with someone, it's better to send him or her a PM. Thanks in advance for keeping this in mind. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

I haven't watched that yet, but thanks for sharing. HP shipping wars come quite close to being the funniest thing ever. The huge stink raised by the [spoiler]Harry/Hermione[/spoiler] fans (er, I'm not really sure why I'm spoiler-tagging that... just trying to follow precedent) after the release of Half-Blood Prince kept me grinning & entertained for months. Ah, Fandom Wank, how I love thee. On-topic, I still haven't gone to Goblet of Fire (or Prisoner of Azkaban, for that matter, but I think I'm just going to skip PoA). I do have tentative plans to see it at the National Air & Space Museum's IMAX theater on the day after Christmas. So hopefully that will work out okay. ~Dagger~

There are a couple of reasons that this thread isn't going to work. First of all, it's in the wrong forum ([url=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=70][u]here's[/u][/url] the right one). Secondly, it won't go very far--even if placed in the correct forum--unless the members posting include the actual avatar images to be commented on, critiqued or whatever; a description of the image is less desirable, for a whole variety of reasons. And we place a strong emphasis on post quality, so just having people rattle off character names (as will inevitably happen) won't quite cut it. If you have any questions, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Asking for or sharing links to mp3s, fansubs, scanlations or any other form of illegal material is strictly forbidden at OtakuBoards. I'd appreciate it if you would keep that in mind for the future. If you'd like to discuss Trigun or its music, however, feel free to post [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=30698&page=31&pp=15][u]here[/u][/url]. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[CENTER][I][B]Round 5 [Final]: Retribution vs. Kitty [/B][/I][/CENTER] [B]Date Due:[/B] Wednesday, December 14 [B]Dimensions:[/B] 550 x 700 [B]Theme: [/B] Family Once you have posted your submission (fulfilling the mentioned criteria), other members will vote on your work. We permit those who are participating in the tournament to vote as well. There will be no poll option ? you will be required to post a paragraph at least four sentences in length, explaining why you voted the way you did. If you fail to type a complete paragraph, your vote will not be counted, and you will receive a PM saying so. I will count & tally votes. Thank you very much for participating (I can't believe we've come this far!). Good luck! ~Dagger~

[quote name='Hittokiri Zero']My only other complaint is a very minor one, as while i'm a big fan of the music in the series there was one point in the series in particular where I was getting fed up with the same ONE song played over and over again.[/quote] You're talking about the "Number One" vocal battle theme, right? I have to confess that I like it quite a bit, haha. Somehow it's just cheesy enough to work. I do wish they had something else that sounded a little more badass... Number One always comes in when the hero starts winning, but it'd be cool to have distinct vocal music geared toward general bloodiness & beat-downs. Anyway. Episode 60: HOLY ****. *hyperventilates* Yeah, that was sweet. [spoiler]Aizen & Gin together make much, much better villains than Gin by himself. Even while watching the episode, I was saddened when I contemplated the fact that Aizen will have to lose eventually. He's so dialolical! So remorseless! The best part of it is that he looks ridiculously mild-mannered; it makes the evil facial expressions much more unsettling. I guess I was totally wrong in assuming that Gin wouldn't enjoy being a follower. This new (well, for him it's old) role works very well for him, though. What startled me the most, though, was that the blind vice captain (?) is one of Aizen's cronies. I'd actually had an inkling that Aizen wasn't dead; it hadn't been spoiled outright for me, but I had accidentally read something that hinted at him being evil, so I couldn't help being suspicious. The others--even Kira--came as a surprise to me. (On that note, I want to see more of AmbiguouslyEvil!Kira. Or maybe I just want to [i]hear[/i] more of Takahiro Sakurai, heh.)[/spoiler] This was rather cruel of me, but I was kind of... er, [spoiler]cheering on Hinamori's death. I never got to like her as a character. She was built around Aizen to such a great extent that it became annoying rather than sympathetic.[/spoiler] I've harped on that before, though, so I'll stop now. Moment of silence and all that. It's pretty interesting to go through an entire episode without a glimpse of Ichigo (much less any of the other non-shinigami characters). I guess all that time the series spent building up the various shinigami paid off in a big way, although it made things seem kind of slow toward the beginning of this arc. ~Dagger~