Dagger

Something depressing? Try [b]Saikano[/b]. Almost nothing positive happens in the entire series. It's not only a tragedy due to the nature of its story, but it also tries as hard as it possibly can to get the viewer down in the dumps. It's almost oppressively sad. As such, it's not for everyone, but in terms of what you're looking for, Saikano fits the bill almost exactly (especially with the romance angle). ~Dagger~

Well, it's nice that you've asked for reasons, but honestly this topic is so broad that I can't really tell what you want people to say. It would have helped if you offered an example in your own post--which, frankly, is minimal enough to be interpreted as bordering on spam. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a thread where people could say a little bit about what they're watching at the moment and what they think of it (letting this cover stuff like shows you've seen in the past would just make it way too general, of course). So I'll leave the topic open, because I feel that it could have some value, but I am a little dubious. (Also, allow me to reinforce your request for a good dose of "why." No lists, please.) ~Dagger~

Ah. "Vertically oriented" was just a reference to how Revue's piece would look (since the criteria had it being taller than it was wide). Whenever I write this stuff, it's always as width x height. So you have it right. I'm hesitant to get on Baron's case about it, though, since I'm sure it was an honest mistake. ~Dagger~

[quote name='EVA Unit 100']And yet each year the line between televised "ecchi" and hentai blurs even more and more. :rolleyes:[/quote] Well... that doesn't go totally contrary to what you were saying earlier, though. Eva, SEED, FMA and Utena (I think) were given prime-time slots, whereas most super-ecchi shows air very very late at night and clearly target a much older audience. And honestly, I couldn't blame parents for complaining about Utena, haha. ~Dagger~

Please, [i]please[/i] don't bring back threads from 2003. The only threads which we allow to be revived are designated "official" topics that deal with every aspect of one specific anime series, movie or OVA. Anything more general should be just left in the grave. If you have questions about our policies, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Sakura][color=Navy][spoiler]I was also wondering about that red ribbon tied around both Tifa's and Cloud's left arm. It symbolises something between them, but I'm not sure.[/spoiler] [/color][/QUOTE] They weren't the only characters [spoiler]wearing that. Didn't everyone (well, the party members, that is) have something similar tied to one part of his/her body or another? I was under the impression that they were pieces of Aeris's hair ribbon...[/spoiler] I'm not really a Cloud/Tifa fan, but if you're looking for evidence in that direction, [spoiler]Tifa's ring[/spoiler] is pretty close to being genuine proof. ~Dagger~

Thing is, a venture like this would require a tremendous amount of resources & effort to even start catching up with the more popular DVD collection sites (not to mention that ListerX all but has a monopoly on the manga & merchandise niche). If anything, the type of stuff you're describing here--i.e. using pictures and anecdotes to give people an idea of what you're collecting--is best suited for, well, one's personal myO page. That's my take on it, anyway. ~Dagger~

It's possible the movie was edited by the licensee rather than by CN... although I suspect some stuff would have been removed regardless. ~Dagger~

Mm... I don't know that Eva could ever gain the more mainstream following of an Inuchemist-type show (I feel almost guilty putting those two series in the same category, haha). I mean, I hope it goes over well, but we'll see. As for potential editing, I think [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/columns/edit-list.php?id=308][u]this[/u][/url] bodes well, too. ~Dagger~

[center][b]September 27, 1915[/b][/center] [CENTER][i]"I am not going to battle to win."[/i] [/CENTER] It was dark now and Okita crept in softly, kneeling to open the sliding door. The smell of sickness hung low and thick throughout the room; it had an odd sweetness to it. His stomach turned. He had thought at first that the man would be sleeping, but he glimpsed open eyes and quickly moved over to the futon--the deathbed--laid in the center of the floor. "Saitou-san," he called, resting back on his ankles. "Saitou-san?" Even if his memories were not so blurry, Saitou's face would have been unrecognizable: creased with age, pinched from the continual pain of the ulcer that consumed him from within. Okita bent closer to make certain Saitou could see him, and finally he heard a dry thin voice which seemed to rattle up from somewhere deep in the man's chest: "Okita-kun." "It's me," he said unnecessarily. Once he and Saitou had been true equals, the two greatest swordsmen in the Shinsengumi. Now . . . now, if his information had been correct, they were the only ones left. And Saitou, his body ravaged, lay close to death. "You haven't changed," Saitou remarked after a moment; he seemed startlingly lucid. But more surprising than that was his lack of reaction, as if deceased friends visited on a daily basis. Perhaps he thought Okita was a messenger from the underworld, a guide to come bear him home. Perhaps he was accustomed to hallucinations and had become so old that slipping into unreality or dream-reality no longer affected him. After a moment he went on, the dragging, clutching sound in his voice waking Okita from his reverie. "What happened?" "Why am I like this, you mean." "Yes. You died, Okita-kun." "I . . . came back to life." A needless guilt surged up through his chest. "It's a long story." "No need to tell it, then. I haven't much time left." "Saitou-san--" "Yes?" He coughed suddenly, and hearing it reminded Okita of how it had felt to slowly die of consumption, to double over hacking and then see the blood like a scarlet flower on his hand. "I was told--I was told that Hijikata-san spoke to a doctor friend of his, before he made his last stand. Could you tell me what he said?" Saitou turned his head ponderously, looking toward the paper screen on the other side and the hint of moonlight seeping through it. "[i]I am not going to battle to win. With the Tokugawa government about to collapse, it would be a disgrace if no one is willing to go down with it. That is why I must go. I will fight the best battle of my life to die for the country.[/i]" "You knew it by heart," Okita said, strangely moved. Then the despair closed over him. "He died before me, Saitou-san. It wasn't right. They shot him in the back. What was all of it for? He knew he had no chance to win." "You're still so young," said Saitou dreamily. "Even in the way you think. These things seem more beautiful to those of us who have to die. Human life was meant to be transient; he made his decision in absolute peace. Didn't we all wed our lives to this land? It's not your place to condemn him." "But he--" "Rather," Saitou went on, "It's not the place of a creature like you to condemn him. Whatever you've become--your perspective is different now. You'll have to accept that, if you're going to continue existing." Okita did not fully understand it until later. But that night, he thanked Saitou, and stayed up with him to talk of the old times which he remembered only from hearsay. Saitou had been right, though; he was playing at being human. He left before dawn, as quietly as he'd come. Truly, he was the only one remaining, the only one to carry the legacy of the Shinsengumi . . . What legacy? he would think in his darker moments--Hijikata had been shot; Kondo had been executed. History had proven them fatally wrong. What, then, was left? Pride? Sacrifice? The glory of tragedy? The evening after, he learned that Saitou had died.

[CENTER][I][B]Round 1, Match 10: Zeekan vs. Kitty[/B] [/I][/CENTER] [B]Date Due:[/B] Friday, September 23 [B]Dimensions: [/B] 500 x 300 [B]Theme: [/B] Music 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~

[I][B][CENTER]Round 1, Match 9: Ozymandius Jones vs. Sun [/CENTER][/B][/I] [B]Date Due: [/B] Friday, September 23 [B] Dimensions:[/B] 700 x 400 [B]Theme:[/B] Materialism 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~

[I][B][CENTER]Round 1, Match 8: Deucalion vs. Doukeshi[/CENTER][/B][/I] [B]Date Due:[/B] Friday, September 23 [B] Dimensions:[/B] 400 x 500 [B]Theme: [/B] Desire 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~

[B][I][CENTER]Round 1, Match 7: Doc vs. Sakurasuka[/CENTER][/I][/B] [B]Date Due:[/B] Friday, September 23 [B]Dimensions:[/B] 600 x 80 [B] Theme:[/B] Nightmares 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~

[B][I][CENTER]Round 1, Match 6: Baron Samedi vs. rokas[/CENTER] [/I][/B] [B]Date Due:[/B] Friday, September 23 [B]Dimensions:[/B] 300 x 200 [B]Theme:[/B] Pop Art 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]Sean - 5 Young Cheezy - 0[/CENTER] There was a bit of controversy over this match, but the votes were well-written and helpful. Thank you for allowing this to be settled by vote. Those who are concerned about quality can rest assured that the process of the tournament itself will inevitably weed out extremely low-quality work or work that is perceived as not measuring up to basic standards. I'd be worried if slapdash submissions were widespread, but they're not. So once again, thanks for turning out to vote here. That said, congratulations to [b]Sean[/b]. You'll be moving on to the second round. ~Dagger~

[CENTER]Revue - 6 Katana - 2[/CENTER] Congratulations, [b]Revue[/b]. You'll be moving on to the second round. (I feel kind of silly saying the exact same thing each time, haha. Oh well.) ~Dagger~

[CENTER]Retribution - 7 Domon - 0[/CENTER] Congratulations, [b]Retribution[/b]. You'll be moving on to the second round. ~Dagger~

[CENTER]Butterfly - 3 Boo - 0[/CENTER] Congratulations, [b]Butterfly[/b]. You'll be moving on to the second round. ~Dagger~

Welcome to OtakuBoards. :) Please post in our designated One Piece [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=32829][u]thread[/u][/url] if you'd like to talk about the show. OB is very much a discussion-based forum, so it might also help to keep in mind that we place an emphasis on having strong post quality. That said, you're probably good to go. Feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members if you have any questions. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Thanks to everyone for your input and for voting. :) I'm going to post the official results sometime later tonight. The second group of round 1 matches will begin shortly afterward, with the exception of AzureWolf/Generic NPC #3, whose new match date is TBA (but I'm pretty sure they won't be too many days behind the rest of you, so it'll work out in the end). Another question: Does anyone have a strong preference as to whether or not I should lock match threads after declaring the results? ~Dagger~

Despite the debate over Sean & Young Cheezy's match, I'd like it to be resolved via regular voting, since both of them have created entries. I haven't really decided what to do if a match gets no votes at all--so don't make me think of a plan B. :animesmil I'll extend the voting period until their match has at least one vote (though obviously more would be preferable). Alternative suggestions are welcome as well. ~Dagger~

[quote name='vegeta rocker']If ADV goes down there will only be like two major dubbing houses left. ADV is already running at minimum capacity; they have closed down their smaller studios.[/quote] ???? Um, okay, so they shut down Monster Island. That's old news. But only about two major dubbing houses left? This really makes me wonder if you have any idea what you're talking about. "Major" dubbing studios--few of which, aside from ADV's and FUNimation's, are linked to a specific company--include Animaze, Bang Zoom, New Generation Pictures, The Ocean Group, NYAV Post, Headline, etc... The hypothetical loss of ADV's main studio would barely make a dent, especially given that pretty much all of ADV's best-known VAs also work regularly or at least sporadically with FUNimation. ~Dagger~

[quote name='algazaleen!']I thought that Shinji from Evangelion had to come to terms with good and evil near the end of the series.[/quote] Good and evil might be putting it a bit starkly, but in other respects I totally agree. Anyone who wants to see a character really struggle with himself should watch Eva (and, more specifically, the last two or three episodes). ~Dagger~

I recently received the first volume of 2nd Gig in the mail. I'm only halfway through it, but so far I'm pretty pleased. The new opening sequence is great, and although the first episode was essentially a talker, the second one ended up being just excellent. I loved how Gino's [spoiler]fantasies were smoothly interwoven with what was actually happening.[/spoiler] It helped that he was masterfully played by one of my favorite English voice actors. The [spoiler]new prime minister[/spoiler] also seems like an interesting character. All in all, good stuff. ~Dagger~