Dagger

[CENTER][I][B]Round 4, Match 2: Doc vs. Kitty[/B][/I][/CENTER] [B]Date Due:[/B] Saturday, November 26 [B]Dimensions:[/B] 600 x 300 [B]Theme:[/B] Hollywood 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. Good luck! ~Dagger~

[CENTER][B][I]Round 4, Match 1: Retribution vs. Baron Samedi[/I][/B][/CENTER] [B]Date Due: [/B] Saturday, November 26 [B]Dimensions:[/B] 420 x 300 [B]Theme: [/B] Broadway 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. Good luck! ~Dagger~

Welcome to OtakuBoards. Please remember to post your threads in the proper forum or sub-forum. For example, a question like this one would be best suited for Suggestions & Feedback. Also, keep in mind that OB places a strong emphasis on fostering good discussions, so post quality is quite important. Anyway, if you'd like to upload an avatar for use at OB, just glance at the blue navigation bar to your left. Click "Edit Avatar" and scroll down to the box that asks you to upload an avatar from your computer. Don't forget that the maximum size is 150 x 80 pixels or 58.6 KB. If you have any questions, you're welcome to private message me or one of the other moderators. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

I should think it's pretty clear why we don't allow this, lol. There's just way too much potential for abuse. Why would people bother posting anything resembling a dissenting opinion (politely phrased or otherwise) if there was the chance that the OP could just arbitrarily delete it? In fact, why would they bother posting, period? If you feel that you've been verbally attacked by another member, the best course of action is to click the "report bad post" button, as opposed to striking back. Of course, I can't guarantee that staff members will always agree with your assessment. There's a bit of a fine line involved here. :) ~Dagger~

Welcome to OtakuBoards. Please keep in mind that this is a discussion-oriented forum. You can't expect it to move nearly as fast as, say, a chat room. On that note, double-posting isn't permitted; if you need to add new information and no one has yet replied, you can always edit it into your old post. We prefer for new members to introduce themselves through their posts. So feel free to jump in and start participating. Just try to remember that OB places a strong emphasis on post quality. Using proper English and explaining your opinions goes a long way toward preventing spam and facilitating interesting discussions. If you have any questions, you're welcome to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[CENTER]Gemini - 4 Doc - 2 Kitty - 2 Retribution - 1[/CENTER] Doc, Kitty, Retribution and Baron Samedi will proceed to Round 4 (and I'll create the threads for that shortly). Congratulations. [quote name='Boo][size=1']I didn't like this round. The theme water gives you very little space to toy around. You quickly get that people just take a premade background for it. I'm a bit surprised that nobody has done something less serious, like including bubbles or something, but meh. [/size][/quote] Speaking for myself, I was pretty taken aback by the homogeneity of most of the pieces. I'm really quite astonished that no one chose to do something involving the ocean, rain, taking a shower, swimming, thirst, evaporation, water boiling, ice melting, dew, lakes/creeks/etc., floods, waterfalls, splashing in puddles, water fountains (decorative or practical), and so on and so forth. I guess some themes just tend to draw more literal responses than others...? I don't know, haha. ~Dagger~

[quote name='sand dragon 19][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=2][FONT=Times New Roman]Only one word can really sum this up. episode 58=extreme ownage to the max.[/FONT][/SIZE'][/COLOR][/quote] Word. God, was it awesome. :animesmil Ichigo has become even cooler and more hot-blooded! The fight was just... perfect. I'm starting to appreciate Byakuya's seeming lack of personality up till this point. It's normal for villains in situations such as this one to spout things like [spoiler]"Impossible!" and "I'll crush you," etc. But when Byakuya does it, it's so much more meaningful. The tiniest show of emotion from him carries more weight than all the exclamations of so many other shounen-type enemies.[/spoiler] So I thought that aspect of it was handled really well. The animation! The choreography! It just kicked way too much ***. I agree with you about the part when [spoiler]Ichigo goes so fast that Byakuya starts seeing copies;[/spoiler] that's a pretty cliched kind of scene, but I can say honestly that I've never seen it handled better than it was here. And Byakuya's torrents of cherry blossoms just looked so damn cool in every single frame. I loved how Ichigo got [spoiler]a costume change to match Zangetsu.[/spoiler] That was pretty sweet, too. And [spoiler]I like that his bankai design was sort of the opposite of what one might expect--Ichigo being Ichigo, I thought it'd be some huge thing like the fox shinigami's. But actually it's very elegant and refined. I'm also happy that his sword won't eternally be in that clunky Cloud-esque form.[/spoiler] I just hope they saved some money to animate the next episode properly, haha. :animeswea ~Dagger~

[url=http://www.advfilms.com/titles/placepromised/][u]Official site[/u][/url] Makoto Shinkai received a lot of acclaim for his debut OVA, [b]Voices of a Distant Star[/b]. Granted, many people became interested in it simply because it was all but a one-man production (which is rare, if not totally unheard of, in the world of anime). But Voices turned out to be a moving and memorable piece in its own right. [b]The Place Promised in Our Early Days[/b] (original title: Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho) is Shinkai's first full-length theatrical film. This time he put together a small team to help him animate it, and as a result it looks far more polished and complete than Voices. For example, Voices had startlingly beautiful backgrounds, but the backgrounds in Place Promised are nothing short of ravishing. When watching some scenes, you can really see why people call Shinkai extravagent things like "the next Miyazaki" and so forth. (For the record, I don't think that's an especially valid comparison, except insofar as it shows how highly they regard Shinkai's work; what I've seen from him feels markedly unlike what I've seen from Miyazaki.) The first time I watched Place Promised, I was a bit disappointed. But I decided to give it another go later, and I'm very glad I did. Normally I'm skeptical of claims that certain anime come across a lot better on bigger screens--but this is just not the kind of movie you want to watch on your computer, if you can help it. It's a love-and-war story (not terribly unlike Voices of a Distant Star) somewhere in the realm of 90 minutes long. The story requires some careful watching to figure out--and I'm not sure I have it pinned down yet, haha--but overall it does make a fair amount of sense. Kind of funny how I could go from feeling let down by and/or disliking it to really enjoying it... but that's the way the cookie crumbles, I guess. Given how much interest Voices of a Distant Star attracted, I'm curious about what fans here think of Place Promised. (I ran a search but couldn't find any pre-existing threads related to the film. Let me know if you come across one, I guess.) ~Dagger~

Okay, I let the poll run separately for a little while, since it's not possible to add your own poll to a pre-existing topic. (Kakashi won decisively, in case anyone was wondering.) But in the future, I'd appreciated it if y'all saved your Naruto discussions for this thread. Thanks. ~Dagger~

I removed the original link because the image was pretty borderline in terms of what we allow to be shown here. I wouldn't want someone to click on it without knowing what he was getting himself into. In the future, if you're going to link to something that might look questionable, I'd appreciate it if you indicated that in your post. And obviously linking to stuff that's blatantly adult in nature isn't permitted. I'm not sure about bedsheets, but anime body pillowcases might not be too hard to find. They're usually quite expensive, though. ~Dagger~

"In the name of the moon, I'll [strike]punish[/strike] inform you!" There are a lot of conflicting rumors about what happened with Legal Drug, but I believe it goes something like this: Legal Drug was being serialized in the same manga anthology (Asuka) as X/1999. CLAMP and Asuka had a conflict over X/1999's ending; apparently whatever they had planned was too violent for Asuka's tastes. Because they were unable to come to a compromise, production of both CLAMP's current (well, at the time, anyway) Asuka series was eventually halted. I don't think we can expect more Legal Drug or X/1999 until CLAMP works out their issues (mostly legal stuff at this point, I guess) with Asuka. It's a shame, because from what I've read in interviews, they had something pretty cool worked out for Legal Drug (and it could have been rather lengthy, too!). ~Dagger~

It's been fun to follow these developments (especially on the Daily Show, haha), but to me it feels like it's already blowing over. The Alito nomination was a smart choice on the administration's part. What confounds me is how Cheney has been actively lobbying against the anti-torture legislation. He's virtually alone in that, too, which makes it even more bewildering. I'm really surprised that the executive branch hasn't backed off it yet, since there's such strong bi-partisan support for it. It just seems weird for them to take an unpopular position in the midst of their other troubles. Rove needs to go, though, and I hope they realize that soon. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Twilight_Kioku']i need the 4th dvd, must see must see... ^^[/quote] Funi managed to fit it onto three. In other words, there is no fourth DVD. :animeswea Glad you enjoyed it, though. If you want more stories involving the Section 2 girls, there's always the manga (currently being released by ADV's manga division). So far only three volumes are out, if I remember correctly, but even those do go a little beyond what's shown in the anime. And the manga is great in its own right. ~Dagger~

Fanfiction (or original fiction, poetry, etc.) can be posted in [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=87][u]OB Anthology[/u][/url]. Just remember to include a thread rating if you plan to share your stories there. Thanks! Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Sinistra][FONT=Palatino Linotype']For instance, Laura Bailey, the voice of Lust in FMA, has a pretty good voice range. Listen to her as Tohru Honda in Furuba, then go back and listen to her as Lust. I give her a lot of credit for being able to be so...flexible with her voice.[/font][/quote] Slightly off-topic, but she also does an amazing job of playing a hyperactive, singing, rapping eleven-year-old in Kodocha. :animesmil Talk about good timing--the second FMA tin came in a little early for me. It looks a lot better in person, I think. The logo is silver, and since the tin is narrower (sized for four DVDs rather than five), it's smaller and raised a little to be centered. But from an aesthetic standpoint, it looks fine, even when lined up next to the first tin. I hope the third tin showcases the Homunculi, since this one just has the State alchemists plus some other main characters. The second OST's cover is awesome. I'm looking forward to listening to it. ~Dagger~

Yes, Earthian is by the manga-ka of Loveless. Because it's an earlier series, the artwork starts off with more of an old-school feel, but it develops quite a bit as Earthian unfolds. There are definitely laws against child molestation in Japan, haha. The age difference in Loveless actually didn't bother me as much as I had feared it would. While Ritsuka and Soubi's relationship is pretty intense, it's intense in more of an emotional (rather than sexual/physical) sense. I know some people call Loveless shota, but I don't fall into that camp. If you like borderline-BL manga, you might want to try [b]Tokyo Babylon[/b] or [b]Legal Drug[/b] (both from CLAMP). I really recommend [b]Banana Fish[/b] (it's incredibly well written), but not everyone is able to cope with its utilitarian art, so your mileage might vary. [b]Antique Bakery[/b] is a lovely, funny series about the three men (one gay, two straight) who run an unusual bakery. [b]Hands Off![/b] plays out like a higher-quality version of Eerie Queerie, though it's not BL. The main character gets a girlfriend, but the focus remains on the male-male friendships. And I have to plug [b]From Eroica With Love[/b], although its old-fashioned artwork and incorrigibly flamboyant protagonist tend to turn people off. (Anyone who abandoned it early on can rest assured that the insipid Caeser Gabriel and his equally disinteresting friends completely vanish from the series by volume 2. Yasuko-sensei wisely chose to set Klaus up as Dorian's main love interest, and he balances out Dorian perfectly. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, Klaus is the real star of the series.) But really, it baffles me to know that there are people out there who can resist a manga about a Magnum-wielding German major* and a British art thief teaming up to fight Commies. :animesmil *major closet case! Ahahaha.... Yeah, anyway, there's a lot of BL manga out there (even more when you count semi-BL titles like those mentioned above). So have fun reading. ~Dagger~

Wow. Who knew that [spoiler]Lust could be so sympathetic?[/spoiler] For that reason alone, this episode was very necessary and well-timed. If anything, the way the writers [spoiler]suddenly plunged in to show her side of things[/spoiler] was a little abrupt, compared to the image that's been built up for her over so many previous episodes, but it was so well executed that I can't honestly complain. Fullmetal Alchemist gets a lot of praise for its dub acting, but I think the casting also deserves mention. The variety and number of voice actors involved is actually incredible. FUNimation has gotten into the practice of borrowing ADV regulars, but for FMA they brought in actors from multiple other regions--ones who rarely, if ever, appear in Funi or ADV productions. The diversity shown in this episode alone was staggering (with Johnny Yong Bosch voicing [spoiler]the man in love with Lust[/spoiler] and Carrie Savage as his fiancee, in addition to all the regular players). It's as if FMA's creators keep thinking of new ways to be brutal, haha. The [spoiler]disease[/spoiler] was suitably horrific. And three cheers for Bones, for how the show's artwork and animation continue improving. ~Dagger~

Look, there's a reason I merged your original thread with the "On dubbing anime" topic. It's just plain redundant to have two current threads that cover almost exactly the same material. If you'd like to continue this dicussion, please post in "On dubbing anime." And in the future, I'd appreciate it if you didn't reverse a merge by deleting the merged post and re-creating the thread. For a moment I seriously wondered if I were going crazy, haha. Oh, and try not to let the unrelated polls get out of hand. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

A couple things to keep in mind: 1) Please don't attach unrelated images to your posts. 2) Please don't double or triple-post. 3) Please keep in mind that this is a discussion-based forum. It doesn't move nearly as quickly as some other message boards, and it certainly shouldn't be treated like a chat room. It helps to have a little patience when waiting for people to post replies. 4) Post quality is quite important here. Your three posts here could have been condensed into a single and much more cogent paragraph. Try to avoid over-using AIM shortcuts. And remember that, when starting a thread, you should set a decent example for those who will be responding to it. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to send me a private message. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[quote name='SlowChemical']Does anyone know any other manga labels that lincese any shonen-ai/yaoi mangas?[/quote] [url=http://www.yaoi-manga.com/][u][b]DMP[/b][/u][/url] is where it's really at. But it would be unfair to avoid mentioning [url=http://www.bebeautifulmanga.com/][u][b]Be Beautiful[/b][/u][/url] (CPM's BL division), [url=http://www.blumanga.com/index.php][u][b]Blu[/b][/u][/url] (Tokyopop's new BL-only line) or [url=http://www.onedramaqueen.com/index.htm][u][b]DramaQueen[/b][/u][/url] (new & very small company). Blu's first wave of releases consisted of Earthian volume 1, Love Mode volume 1 and Shinobu Kokoro (Hidden Heart) volume 1. All of them came out on November 8. Wild Rock will be released in January, according to their site. If you haven't bought any DMP books, you're in for a treat. They have a really good range of material, though most of their series are on the tame side. Have you read Only the Ring Finger Knows? ~Dagger~

Darn it, now I actually kind of like Soi Fong. All this flip-flopping of mine is starting to get on my nerves, haha. But I guess that's a hallmark of the show's quality. Episode 57 flew by, particularly in comparison to 56. There was a lot going on in the dialogue between Ichigo and Byakuya, and it was fun trying to figure it all out--i.e., was Ichigo deliberately trying to throw Byakuya off-balance or psyche him out, or was he just back to his usual arrogant self? Did Byakuya let Ichigo get to him, or was he only playing into that perception? I actually think he was seriously peeved--not necessarily because Ichigo's words rang uncomfortably true, or anything like that... just because Ichigo was being tediously cocky. On the other hand, even Byakuya has to be a little disturbed by Ichigo's immense improvement. I must say, some of the flashback scenes were quite yuri-rific. Little Soi Fong could have been plucked right out of Maria-sama ga Miteru. :animesmil As for [spoiler]Zangetsu's ability,[/spoiler] it reminds me weirdly of [spoiler]Yusuke's spirit gun.[/spoiler] But I guess we already know that Noriyuki Abe is good at directing those kinds of effects. ~Dagger~

Something like this is best suited for either the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=81][u]Manga Workshop[/u][/url] (if you want to turn your story into a manga and/or are in search of an artist) or [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=87][u]OB Anthology[/u][/url] (if you just want feedback on the basic script). If you do end up posting in OB Anthology, just be sure to rate your thread appropriately. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Astraea]My favourite anime [I]theme[/I'] at the moment is 'Eden', the theme to 'Yami no Matsuei'/Descendants of Darkness. Creepy. Even better alongside the opening credits.[/quote] Right on. Regardless of my quibbles about the show itself, Yami no Matsuei has a smashing opening sequence, and Eden suits it perfectly. Noir's OP theme is done by [b]Ali Project[/b]. I don't exactly worship them or anything, but they've come up with very catchy OPs for a number of series, including Avenger and both seasons of Rozen Maiden. For some reason I tend to mentally associate them with [b]Can/Goo[/b]--maybe because both groups have a pretty unique sound. My favorite Can/Goo songs are Kao and Shirushi, both from Meine Liebe. But I also have a soft spot for Oshieteageru, the Doki Doki School Hours (Sensei no Ojikan) opening. Anyway, if you really love Yuki Kajiura, you might want to watch (or just grab the soundtrack for) [b]Le Portrait de Petite Cossette[/b]. I can't totally vouch for the quality of the OVA itself, but the score she wrote for it is just fantastic. I also recommend [b]My-Otome[/b] (also called My-ZHiME; it's the new My-HiME spin-off). She does some pretty crazy stuff--such as making the battle themes even more overtly operatic than usual. People have said that the My-Otome battle music reminds them of Salva Nos. :) ~Dagger~

Yes, I admit it, I'm a Gilmore Girls fan. I haven't actively watched the show for several seasons, but when I found out that [spoiler]Jess would be making an appearance in tonight's episode,[/spoiler] I flipped out. So I guess I haven't gotten Gilmore Girls out of my system quite yet, haha. I haven't really been following the current Rory storyline (with Logan, DAR, Grandma Gilmore, etc.), but I've heard enough second-hand reports to have an idea of what's going on. Either way, though, [spoiler]Jess' big return[/spoiler] was totally worth sitting down to watch. I was rooting for him and Logan to start actually fighting (c'mon, Logan would've had his *** handed to him)--but alas, I was disappointed. The next episode preview kind of had me rolling my eyes (time to manufacture another crisis!)... although I'll probably end up watching it anyway. I want Luke to turn out to be a murderer or a CIA spy or something. Now [i]that[/i] would justify the melodramatic voice-over. Seriously, though, I'm putting my money on him having a kid from a former relationship. No real reason why--just a hunch. Anyway, do I need to go wallow in guilt for enjoying this show, or are there any other fans around here? (Come wallow with me!) ~Dagger~

In the future, post [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=686984&highlight=hakusho#post686984][u]here[/u][/url] if you'd like to discuss anything related to Yu Yu Hakusho. The links to official series-specific topics can usually be found in the Directory sticky thread. Please also try to keep the importance of good post quality in mind. And as always, you're welcome to private message me or one of the other staff members if you have any questions. Thanks! Thread closed. ~Dagger~