Dagger

Right now, what I'm most curious about are "the rules." On a (perhaps not unrelated?) note, I was immensely amused by the Risk game--they said the exact same things my friends and I always say when we're playing. :animesmil Hurley is so right about Australia. The part of the episode that made me facepalm the most was the fact that Ben used Moriarty as his alias. They're usually a [i]tad[/i] subtler about their references. Also gotta say... if Sayid's actor was irritated about what happened to [spoiler]Shannon, he must really have his panties in a bunch right about now. But I guess it would have been crueler to show him and Nadia living their happy newlywed life first and then kill her off afterward.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

I noticed that Johnny Yong Bosch is [url=http://revver.com/video/838819/code-geass-trailer-2/][u]playing the lead[/u][/url] in the dub version... to which I can only laugh. Is it a requirement that he voice the main character in every single Adult Swim anime or something? Oh, Bandai. But ironically, I think he's much better suited to Lulu than, say, Ichigo or Renton. ~Dagger~

So, hey, Shin! Remember what you said at my World a little while ago? [SPOILER]GUESS WHAT. HE [B]IS TOTALLY[/B] A NINJA.[/SPOILER] WTF LOST. (x100000) I nominate this episode for more concrete developments than any other episode in the series so far. ~Dagger~

Manga/anime that are aimed at girls. It's different from how US movies break down into guy films and chick flicks, though. If a manga is called shoujo, it just means that, for whatever reason, it ran in a magazine whose primary audience is female. So there's shoujo romance and shounen romance--and of course shoujo action and shounen action. While shoujo, as you can imagine, is generally more girly, there are endless exceptions. ~Dagger~

Glad I'm not the only one who immediately thought of Totoro... There are plenty of shoujo that feature face-mauling. Dunno if this particular series is going to take them as a role model, though. ~Dagger~

I'd love to believe that this is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but... I guess not, huh. :animedepr ~Dagger~

I'm still reeling from the aftereffects of that... But look on the bright side! [spoiler]A new girl comes[/spoiler] for episodes 27+. ~Dagger~

I'm not too fond of Light, but I think he could definitely take Zero in a brain-fight. He's also a lot crazier, although I don't know if that counts as a benefit or a disadvantage. :animeswea ~Dagger~

The question is, how do you define controversial? If it's by content (as in Elfen Lied's graphic violence), one could name a pretty long list of hentai that might be controversial in the sense that they have the potential to offend a lot of people. In reality, though, they tend not to offend anyone, because people who aren't interested in seeing particular things know to stay away from them. If controversy = infighting among fans, or between fans and the creator(s), or perhaps the presence of the kind of anti-Show X sentiment that stems as much from mob mentality as pro-Show X sentiment, then I guess Evangelion would be pretty high up there. At least in the English-speaking anime fandom. ~Dagger~

[b]xxxHOLiC Kei[/b] - I'll watch the good parts. [b]Soul Eater[/b] - Shounen action with an awesome heroine. Bones seems to be pulling out all the stops animation-wise. [b]Nabari no Ou[/b] - Modern-day ninjas, great fight scene animation (although the character designs are kind of awkward body-wise), very likable characters. Am amused by the protagonist's fake-moe act. Somehow I got a similar vibe from Nabari no Ou, Kurenai and Amatsuki (even though all three are totally different, haha), and I liked this the best. [b]Blassreiter[/b] - I will suffer through all kinds of CG hell for the sake of Urobuchi Gen. But I really do think that the story is going to go some interesting places. Not many anime give their main character maybe 5 total seconds of screentime in the first and second episodes combined... [b]Junjou Romantica[/b] - The thing about this series is that the manga-ka is at her best when portraying characters already in relationships. So she tends to throw couples together really fast--and that's already evident in the first episode, which covers more ground than in 20 frenetic minutes than most romance series do in their entire runs. :animeswea However, Junjou is a lot more self-aware than most other BL and GL anime out there. What got me to give the manga another chance--and what, I think, saves the first episode of the anime--is the self-parodying scene about Usami's upbringing. The serious parts will catch up later on, as they did in the manga. ~Dagger~

You've got a pretty limited selection, unfortunately. Two have been officially released in English: Animamundi, which has both het and BL routes, and Yo-Jin-Bo, which is 100% boyxgirl and thus probably more along the lines of what you're looking for. The company that localized them has gone out of business, however. There's a fan translation project for Princess Nightmare, a cool-looking otome (boyxgirl with a female target audience) game from company that made Animamundi. Dunno how far they've gotten, though. ~Dagger~

@Memphis: KHII is more of the same, so if you totally loved the first one, it would probably be a safer choice. But personally, I would rank TotA over it. Just finished [B]Kikokugai: The Cyber Slayer[/B]. Damn. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but that sure wasn't it. Granted, even for a visual novel, this is pretty far from qualifying as a traditional game... it's a linear story with no choices or player interaction. I think that was the right way to go, though--I wasn't totally happy with the ending, but it would have been weakened if there were any alternatives. Kikokugai does offer a remarkably poignant and thought-provoking look at the question of what constitutes a human being (as opposed to, say, a robot). That's pretty impressive in itself, given how much that's been hashed over in literature as well as in TV shows, anime/manga and games. ~Dagger~

[b]Vampire Knight 1[/b]: wtf. I was prepared for something of a letdown, but that really sucked. Granted, I'm probably approaching this show a lot more critically because I enjoy the manga because of certain very specific qualities, all of which were lost in the transition to anime. The gorgeous art... well, it's not that it's completely gone, but the cheapish production values give off a totally different feel from the lavishly drawn, luxurious-looking manga. That's a pretty heavy blow for a series that one should be able to enjoy solely on the base of art alone. And there isn't a drop of the suppressed eroticism of the manga--derived from the sublime combination of that art + the vampires--to be found in the anime. Anyway, where did all that lame humor come from?? The only good thing that the anime brings are the seiyuu, particularly Yui Horie as Yuuki and Mamoru Miyano as Zero. Still debating whether I want to stick with it just for my seasonal dose of Miyano acting angsty... ~Dagger~

Still hitting up the new season, a couple episodes at a time. Watched so far: Allison & Lilia (as mentioned previously), Itazura na Kiss (not so much watched as dropped like a hot potato), Kurenai, xxxHOLiC Kei, Blassreiter, Nabari no Ou. Out of those, I'll be keeping [B]xxxHOLiC[/B], though I don't know if I'll watch every single episode... I'll at least make sure to see the ones that are based on chapters from the manga that I liked. Also [B]Blassreiter[/B], which sports some pretty horrific CG, but I think the story is going to be a winner. It's amusing to see people assume the worst of the plot already; it would hardly do for them to explain everything in the first episode, would it? [B]Nabari no Ou[/B] wasn't on my radar at all until, like, half an hour ago, but I totally dug episode 1. The bony character designs are super awkward in regular animation, but the fight scenes are actually pretty awesome. I love the seiyuu and the main character. Modern-day ninjas for the win. Will give Kurenai another episode before I decide. Am avoiding Code Geass R2 (there's no way I could go back to Geass after Gundam 00) and the sudden rash of furry-moe shows. Spice and Wolf was enough to satisfy me in that department. Am up to episode 26 of [b]Shugo Chara[/b]. Is this a 52-episode show, or does it not have a predetermined cut-off point? Well, either way, we're clearly at a turning point. I hear there's going to be a new OP for ep. 27. ~Dagger~

Watched the first episode of [b]Allison & Lilia[/b], but I don't think I'm going to stick with it. The direction just feels kind of pedestrian and old-fashioned, which is fine when I'm watching an older show, but not so thrilling when it comes to brand new series. It didn't hook me, I guess... normally I'd stick with it simply because it's from the guy who wrote the Kino's Journey novels, but there are so many interesting-looking shows starting this season that I don't feel motivated to keep this on my plate. ~Dagger~

Apparently Moribito [url=http://giapet.net/2008/03/31/seirei-no-moribito-to-air-on-cn-mb-has-2-more-geneon-titles/]is going to air on CN after all[/url]. While this news is of course full of blazing win, I have to wonder how viewers will receive it... the action and visuals are gorgeous, but it's also a very talky/thoughtful show. ~Dagger~

The end of the promo says they're still in production, so I'm guessing not. Maybe summer or fall? Although it's true that they don't seem to have a spring anime lined up yet... ~Dagger~

DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE. Seriously, don't do it. I liked the AIR movie, but the Toei Clannad contains all the material from the KyoAni TV series plus the game After Story in, like, an hour and a half. It's so compact that ultimately it feels like reading a bunch of major spoilers from the game, and that's no fun. It's not that the story presented isn't very powerful, because it is, but I think that the KyoAni After Story is bound to have more impact, and you'll probably want to see it that way first. Just my two cents. ~Dagger~

I think Air will always be my favorite... the fact that it's not in a school setting like Clannad or Kanon gets big bonus points from me, heh. However, the After Story has the potential to be something incredibly special. I look forward to seeing how KyoAni handles it. :catgirl: ~Dagger~

Oh man... being able to embed videos adds a whole new dimension of awesome to this thread. [youtube=Air Limited Edition OP (Tori no Uta)]pNMsWuBmYfc[/youtube] The Air OP was a beautiful song with beautiful animation to begin with, but the special reanimated opening sequence done for the show's Blu-ray set is even more stunning. ETA: Ooh, the Pretear OP made me really nostalgic... ~Dagger~

The stages of accepting the freakish names in Death Note are much like the stages of grief. Denial: [I]No! It's Raito!!![/I] Anger: [I]Who the hell came up with this crap?[/I] Bargaining: [I]Let me call him Raito in my fanfic, at least...[/I] Depression: [I] Engrish has brought my world to a crashing halt.[/I] Acceptance: [I]Mello? Near? Mere lulz.[/I] The advantage of this process is that by the time you get to the novel, which contains names so terrifyingly improbable** that they make "Weddy" look as normal as "Jane," you're totally ready to accept whatever the writer has to throw at you. :animesmil **Two words: [spoiler]Backyard Bottomslash.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Now I remember another gripe I had about the Death Note dub. They named the thief "Weddy"? [I]"Weddy"?!?![/I] In the sub, it's frikking [I][U]Wendy[/U][/I]. GAH!![/FONT][/QUOTE] That can't be right... it's Weddy in the manga. If the subs say differently, someone screwed up. (Again, my apologies. It's like I can't control myself when I see people talking about names in Death Note. :animeswea) ~Dagger~

What's the second one from? I feel like I've seen that nose and chin before... or maybe I'm just imagining things... :animeswea Anyway, guys, try to watch your image sizes: the thread layout is crying a wee bit. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE='[Sound_Nin];808160'][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua] Does anyone else detest the name changes in the English version? I mean LIGHT? What the eff is up with that?! [/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] It's not a name change. His name is Light in the Japanese version as well. 月 is read as ライト in his name, and officially romanized as Light. The early scanlators got it wrong because l/r is ambiguous in Japanese, and it wasn't until a little later that the official reading came out in the JP edition of Jump. Some people cling to the wrong romanization, for reasons that remain entirely unclear to me, but on the whole they tend to be in the minority. Sorry. Pet peeve. :animeswea ~Dagger~

I'm trying to clean virtual house before the new season starts, so I'm catching up with [B]Shugo Chara[/B] (as mentioned in the SC thread) and [B]Ghost Hound[/B]. Not sure if I'll continue all the way with the latter... I'm going to let episode 9 make or break it for me. As much as I usually love Chiaki J. Konaka, he seems to be regressing more into Lain mode for this series, and it's kind of a trial to sit through at times. ~Dagger~