Dagger

[quote name='Bloodseeker']3. OMG! RICO KILLED DR. KURAMA! Nana isn't going to be happy about this... watch your back, Rico![/quote] Good one. :animesmil I was not too thrilled with re-watching the episodes on disc 2 (the show never gets bad or anything, but it does sag a wee bit in the middle). Breaking out the last disc was a real pleasure, though. The [spoiler]singing[/spoiler] in episode 13 was dubbed beautifully, and I was very impressed with how Monica Rial delivered Angelica's key lines. Plus seeing [spoiler]Claes kick royal ***[/spoiler] again made my day. ~Dagger~

Just a quick note for BL fans: the website for [url=http://blumanga.com/][u]BLU[/u][/url], a new BL imprint supported by Tokyopop, now has a splash page and is scheduled to go live in late October. They've licensed some strong titles from absolutely superb artists (including Shinobu Kokoro, from the talented manga-ka who does the Kyo Kara Maoh novel illustrations). Plus there's also Love Mode, Gorgeous Carat (by the same person who did Seimaden and Cantarella), Earthian (from the manga-ka of Loveless) and Wild Rock. Wild Rock is from one of my preferred BL artists, Takashima Kazusa. It's actually not the best example of her work, in my opinion--that is, it looks lovely, but the story is pretty meh. Not that I really read her manga for their stories, to begin with... her artwork is just so, so appealing. I really hope either BLU or DMP will eventually pick up Last Client, which has a Kazuya Minekura-esque vibe. ~Dagger~

There are about a million different stories about why CLAMP stopped the series, from one of their artists having an injury to them just giving up on coming up with a coherent finale. The one I find most interesting and plausible is that the planned ending was too violent (or otherwise objectionable) for the Japanese magazine in which X was being serialized. In this version of the story, CLAMP stuck to their guns and refused to run anything in Asuka--making Legal Drug a casualty as well--until it permitted them to do X the way they wanted. Who knows whether or not this is true, but it's certainly possible. ~Dagger~

[quote name='EVA Unit 100']I was actually quite let down by the following 11 episodes(though I hear the last 14 are significant improvements as they actually have real plot and character development).[/quote] Plot development? Not so much, unless you count backstory stuff. It's about on par with what I remember of Cowboy Bebop's ratio of plot to everything else. But as far as I'm concerned the show really picks up with the two-parter of episodes 13 & 14 (I like episode 11 a lot too, but the general consensus seems to be that 13 & 14 get the show where it was sort of supposed to be going from the start--in terms of style and being interesting and such, not the over-arching plot). Past that point, all of the multi-part stories (usually more dramatic) are excellent, and almost all of the stand-alone stories (usually more comedic) are similarly good. Um... oh, yeah. R.O.D (the OVA) might be a risky choice in some regards, but it's stylish and short, so it might work out well, depending on what you're looking for. Same goes for Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal--while the level of violence will make it inappropriate for a lot of people, it's definitely a quality production. I also seem to recall the first episode(s) of Escaflowne as being really great (probably ideal for fantasy fans), but your mileage might vary. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Baron Samedi][size=1']Could we please get this second round underway pretty quickly? As of next Saturday I'll be absent for a week =\[/size][/quote] By "shortly afterward" I meant "before I go to bed tonight." So no worries. EDIT: I'm ending voting for the second batch of Round 1 matches tonight. So get your votes in! Additionally, I'm hoping to re-schedule AzureWolf's match against Generic NPC #3 sometime soon. An updated bracket will be created once the Round 1 results have been fully gathered. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Godelsensei] Anyway, I'm curious as to what anime in history has ever contained Canadians.[/QUOTE] It is with the greatest of pleasure (okay, maybe glee would be a more suitable word) that I direct you [url=http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=generalanimeforum&Number=1067990&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=2&fpart=2][u]here[/u][/url]. Read the second post down. Although I don't know whether it counts if the Canadian [spoiler]is dead.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

Maybe all this newfound clout will enable Viz to get Hikaru no Go on CN. Or maybe they'll just end up offering it to the FUNimation Channel instead. :animesigh With the recent rumors about Viz having MAR, I wouldn't be surprised to see it join the other Viz series currently on Toonami. ~Dagger~

[B]One episode to represent a series [/B] Fruits Basket episode 8: You don't really need to have seen the previous episodes to understand what's going on in this one. A brief explanation of the show's premise will suffice. The story told here is simple, mostly self-contained, and startlingly powerful. Fullmetal Alchemist episode 3: I would also recommend episode 7, but appreciating that one really requires having seen at least episode 6 as well. Episode 3 is more independent. It may be more impressive for those who are used to the cliches of shounen action anime and weren't expecting FMA to veer off on its own path, but I think the backstory in episode 3 is strong regardless. Kino's Journey episode 2,4, 12 or 13: These are the best installments of the series (in my opinion) and all require a minimum of pre-knowledge, since Kino's Journey is completely episodic. Assorted episodes from both seasons of Ghost in the Shell would also be a good choice. Kodocha and Yu Yu Hakusho have unusually great first episodes, and obviously there's a certain advantage to starting from the beginning. But as others have said, nothing is really a sure-fire choice, and this applies more to series than to movies--especially when you're just picking an episode from the middle. It's funny for me to say that, since I generally like series/long OVAs better than movies & short OVAs anyway. Oh well. [B]Movies and short OVAs[/B] Voices of a Distant Star is a really excellent choice--and it comes with the She and Her Cat short, which is also a wonderful watch. Others have touched on Ghibli... I'll add in that Satoshi Kon's movies (such as Millenium Actress) might also be worth considering. Anything based on or related to a series is probably not such a good idea, unless you just want to show off pure eye candy. And for more Makoto Shinkai stuff, there's also The Place Promised in Our Early Days. ~Dagger~

Jasmine~! I read in an interview in which McGruder stated that the show would focus a little more on the interaction between Huey and Jasmine. My favorite strip is still the old one in which she complains to him about her hair and his response totally goes over her head. It just seemed uncharacteristic for the comic--at least, in retrospect it does. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to this. ~Dagger~

Well, speaking of major sites... one thing to note here is that Anime on DVD--easily among the most anti-bootleg & anti-piracy of the big anime communities out there--allows threads about shows realistically available only via fansub (i.e. even the R2s have yet to be released). What they don't allow is so much as the mention of the word "fansub": essentially they try to divorce fansub-related content discussions from any reference to how said content was actually acquired/viewed. Even company reps occasionally poke their heads into such discussions, though usually in their capacity as fans. I've always thought our policy was akin to a looser version of this (though it developed on its own and not because we're trying to emulate anyone else's stance, if that wasn't clear). At least, speaking personally, I don't come totally down on people's heads for casually saying something about downloading (as long as they don't reveal specifics or whatnot), but the focus should remain on the actual show/OVA/whatever. The way I see it, Advent Children was definitely an anamoly when it first "came out," because it was widely known to have been distributed illegally before its real Japanese street date. Plus, it's a really huge thing in the fandom, and it's been pre-licensed since forever. In retrospect it might not have been a bad idea to do the creators the courtesy of at least waiting for the Japanese street date to pass. Yet when this is a title that's been discussed/anticipated on these boards for months and months, how do you control that kind of thing? Split & lock posts from people who appear to have actually seen it? I don't know. But by this point there are far fewer differences between Advent Children and any other licensed but not yet released OVA. That's my take on it, anyway. ~Dagger~

I'm locking this thread for lack of quality. Here at OtakuBoards, we place a strong emphasis on post quality and on fostering strong, interesting discussions. Honestly, we're pretty accepting when it comes to the subject material--as long as the replies meet some minimum standards, threads can be flippant, serious or pretty much anything in between. But this topic just lacks direction. The entire [i]forum[/i] is for talking about anime; if you want to create a new thread, just make sure it deals with something a little more specific. If you have any questions, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Also, please keep in mind that proper grammar and spelling are encouraged. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Yeah, speeds are a lot better for me as well (at both theO and OB). It still takes a rather long time for my myO backroom to load, but maybe that's just me. :animeswea ~Dagger~

I didn't realize the series was 13 episodes, haha. Boy, was I in for a nasty surprise at the end of episode 12. :animeswea Actually, prior to that, I'd assumed it would be a full-length show. But the quicker pace mostly works in its favor--although a lot of the themes, including those you mentioned, weren't explored as fully as they could have been. On the subject of the male-female thing, I found it to be more than a little strange that [spoiler]the entire council was made up of old men.[/spoiler] And the plasticity you referred to--that [spoiler]each Manager can destroy all life in Wonderland and then re-create it with the flick of a wand[/spoiler] was kind of skimmed over--I mean, they emphasized the whole [spoiler]end of the world[/spoiler] angle, but that's hardly uncommon. I found the idea of [spoiler]magically created life[/spoiler] more interesting, if also more disturbing. On the other hand, I have to give them kudos for handling the emotional side of things pretty well. The main love triangle made me a little nervous, but it worked out satisfactorily and didn't feel as artificial as it could have. Same goes for the portrayal of Ureshiko's relationship with her husband. The background characters like Ureshiko's friends and Sayaka's classmates are almost uniformly likeable, too. Honestly this is one show that could have used a couple more monster-of-the-week episodes. It would have been nice to see what other magical girls they could come up with. ~Dagger~

Welcome to OtakuBoards, Nordic Angel. As it happens, we don't permit linking to illegal material (or, to put it another way, material of uncertain-at-best legality)--a category that encompasses fansubs as well as scanlations, mp3s, etc. We certainly won't stop you from discussing shows which are realistically available only via downloading, but we'd rather keep discussion of the downloading itself to an absolute minimum. If you have any comments or questions about our policies, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks! Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Ozymandius Jones][COLOR=DarkOrange] [B]B)[/B] 90% of the n00bs zoom [b]right[/b] to my territory[/COLOR][/QUOTE] As someone who frequents the Anime Lounge, I must contest this figure. :animesmil [quote name='Godelsensei][b]A)[/b'] One thing that I find a little irritating at best is the presence of countless locked, but not deleted, threads, especially in places like the Anime Lounge, where most of the spammers seem to abide.[/quote] This might end up sounding unintentionally scary, but you'd probably be surprised at how many threads and posts do end up being flat-out deleted (at least in the AL; I can't speak quite as much for other areas). [quote][b]B)[/b] Our lovely administrator, Skippedry (Dag). : D[/QUOTE] :animeblus ~Dagger~

This is the first time all day that I've been able to connect to any part of the network. :animesigh Anyway... for me, OB is (most of the time) noticeably faster than myO. ~Dagger~

Alright, well, thanks for getting yours in. I'm going to PM him about this. ~Dagger~

Agreed. The real problem for me is when people write one or two sentence posts that require several reads to take in or essentially contribute about the same as a one-word post--or when someone has a pattern of posting the absolute minimum in response to everything. The way I see it, if you want to be concise, just make sure your post actually says something. For example, we already know that Sesshomaru is hot and that everyone wants to have his babies. Such a message is much more palatable if it reads easily (adheres to the basic conventions of the language, that is). :) ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=kenshinsbabe][SIZE=2][FONT=Georgia] [spoiler] When Victor decided to kill himself to be able to marry Emily, it seemed baseless. Before then, it didn't feel like he had very deep feelings for her, then all of a sudden, he loves her enough to throw his life away for her. [/spoiler][/FONT][/SIZE][/QUOTE] Speaking for myself, I didn't think [spoiler]he offered to do that because he loved her. I got the impression that he made the decision both out of a sense of duty/obligation and because he had come to believe there was nothing left for him "upstairs."[/spoiler] Although I guess [spoiler]his feelings for Victoria weren't exactly ocean-deep, either, no matter how you look at it.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

I just got back from seeing this movie. Great stuff. Oh, it wasn't particularly deep or anything, but the visuals were impeccably good and the characters were likeable enough. I actually surprised myself with how much I liked the ending, which by rights should have come across as being rather [spoiler]trite[/spoiler]... yet somehow, it worked, and was even kind of moving. The whole film had a sort of classiness to it that's totally or almost totally absent from a lot of movies that target the younger set; that is, it came off really well compared to the trailers for other animated movies (Chicken Little & etc.) which preceded it. Honestly I thought the song-and-dance numbers were the weakest part. I mean, they [i]looked[/i] great, but the songs themselves were pretty average. ~Dagger~

What!? :animecry: Nice work, CN. Well, whatever--I was going to get it on DVD anyway, I guess. But I can't believe they just got rid of it... especially since the last arc is reported to be as good as, if not better than, the preceding sagas. ~Dagger~

Since it's a German phrase, "Elfen Leed" is the correct way to pronounce the title. I believe that "lied" means "song." ~Dagger~

Funny, I just started watching volume 3. This is getting into the set of episodes I haven't seen previously (I originally stopped around episode 11 or 12), which is nice. Some great moments: [spoiler]Yuri's mom's anti-stalker moves, Bandou-kun the dolphin, the sand panda (what really cracked me up was when Yuri started saying stuff like "There's something cute going 'Banzai!' out in the desert..."), etc.[/spoiler] Interesting trivia: Geneon's credits lists one of the animators as being Maki Murakami. Probably a different Maki Murakami from the Gravitation manga-ka, but it'd be pretty cool if she actually worked on KKM. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=MistressRoxie][color=#9933ff]And also, I've seen a couple threads, particularly "hot"/debate-type threads, disappear off the face of the earth once or twice, when there wasn't even flaming going on. Locking it would do the same thing. [/color][/QUOTE] By any chance, are you referring to some of [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=49410][u]these[/u][/url]? [b]Negative:[/b] Mm... mainly the lack of mods in the Anime Lounge. But I know that it's a transitional thing, so I can't really call it a major complaint. The tendency of members to unrelentingly double (or triple or quadruple) team a lone dissenter is also pretty aggravating, although it's not something I see outside of the OL and S&F. I realize that people can say horrendously stupid things sometimes, but there's no glory in kicking someone when s/he's already down, haha. [b]Positive:[/b] Ah, I just like this place. Great people. ~Dagger~

The manga is 107 chapters long. I'm not sure how many volumes that breaks down into, though. It ended fairly recently. I didn't enjoy the material on the second & third discs quite as much this time around--possibly because the plot devices are a lot more transparent when I know what I'm looking for. It just feels more manipulative, which is odd since I knew from the start that the show's stock in trade was manipulating the viewer. Oh well. It'll be nice to see [spoiler]Mariko[/spoiler] again. ~Dagger~