Dagger

[quote name='duoikari']plus Sukisko wasn't really a manga to begin with, it was a game that was made into a manga, like so many other boy based mangas are. But if you watched both the series and the manga you would see that it is not just an every day plot of a boy falling for another boy and the seme is fight back his feelings.[/quote] Yes, and the game --> anime transition was handled very poorly; huge segments of plot were lost in the process, and the inherent tragedy of the story was greatly reduced. I'd be one of the first people to cheer if a company like, say, Media Blasters brought over the Sukisho games, but I found the manga disappointing and the anime even more so. I'd have been happy to take an "everyday plot" over what was done to those two parts of the franchise, personally. [b]yunasgrace[/b], we weren't exactly screaming at each other, haha. I think I'm perfectly within my rights (and I'm stating this as a fellow OB member, not from the perspective of an administrator) to object if I disagree with something someone says or the tone in which s/he says it. Here at OB we try to foster intelligent discussions, and at times such discussions--briefly or permanently--turn into debates. I don't really see what's so disagreeable about, well, disagreeing. As for the whole fame/popularity thing, I don't understand why fans tend to resent certain manga (or anime, or games for that matter) [i]because[/i] they're better known than others. To me it comes across as being either simple jealousy (on behalf of one's more obscure favorites, perhaps) or a desire to emphasize that one's tastes are superior to those of the common masses, neither of which are especially attractive emotions. There's nothing wrong with disliking or outright loathing Gravitation, obviously, but dismissing it for the sole reason that it's popular or being annoyed by the fact that it's popular is just plain silly. I'm not and probably never will be a Naruto fan, but I don't get my panties all in a bunch merely due to the reason that a ton of people adore the show/manga and also adore discussing it. You want to talk about more obscure manga? Fine. How about [b]Demian Syndrome[/b]? It's got fantastic artwork, although the plot (or lack thereof) leaves me a little leery... it's typical angsty schoolboy stuff, except that the UST is nicely preserved and the character designs rock. [b]La Esperanca[/b] is coming out from DMP starting in October, and I highly recommend it. [url=http://www.yaoi-manga.com/titles?n=31][u]Here's[/u][/url] a place where you can check out some sample pages. The art is pretty, but where it really shines is in the delicacy and tension of the story. Fans who stick mainly to explicit BL will probably find La Esperanca boring; however, it's a title that stands up very nicely on its own merits, not just as a BL series. [b]CUT[/b] is (rather to my surprise) a manga I think very fondly of. It has angst up the wazoo, but it handles some pretty cliche emotional issues with a weird sort of grace. I've completely fallen in love with [b]Tsuki to Mizu no Yoru[/b]. Yes, it's hilarious for the fact that it feature bishounen kappa (!!) but it's also a subtly told, charming, bittersweet manga which in many respects is reminiscient of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (a seinen slice-of-life series). The writing is good, the pacing leaves little to be desired, and even the imperfections of the artwork manage to be oddly appealing. I hope it gets licensed sooner or later. ~Dagger~

Sorry for the delay, folks. That having been said, I've edited my original post to include the bracket image. The first round should kick off later today, once I discuss a couple of details with the committee. Feel free to post any additional questions to this thread, and thanks again for your patience. ~Dagger~

[quote name='duoikari']I can't belive the rubbish i am reading this thread, all you people talk about is Gravitation. I see the series, that was Ok, but when i read the remix manga i think that was totally rubbishness. God what wrong with you people?, what about Sukisko? what about Viewfinder?, what about If dogs could also walk?. All you people seem to be talking about is the really famous stuff that everyone knows about why not try something different? and look at a REAL yaoi or shounen Ai manga[/quote] Um, there's no need to be insulting. Gravitation is "real" BL. I don't know what put you off about the Gravitation Remix doujinshi, but it's not exactly an integral part of the series to begin with. As for Sukisho, I thought the manga was mundane, with a muddled storyline and unappealingly sloppy artwork. I tried very, very hard to like the anime, but at a certain point it got way too ridiculous for me, and the ending was one of the biggest let-downs I've experienced in [i]any[/i] series, BL or otherwise. Guess what, though--this doesn't mean I'm going to verbally attack [i]you[/i] for enjoying it (although I will point out that your apparent distaste for "really famous stuff," as if Gravitation could ever realistically be slapped with such a label, smacks of elitism). In the future, please attempt to extend that basic courtesy toward others, regardless of whether or not they're fans of Gravitation. :rolleyes: ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Ryo the Tactician]Hey. Maile...naruto. Dang it to..I'm sorry, but I just don't like girls doing boy's voicing.[/QUOTE] Why? Not that English dubs always have to reflect Japanese casting, but you'll find that many (if not the majority) of young male roles in this type of show are played by female seiyuu. And, generally, said seiyuu do an excellent job. I personally am particularly fond of Ms. Junko Takeuchi, who convincingly voices Naruto* as well as Gon from Hunter x Hunter, Dieter from Monster and the protagonist of Marchen Awakens Romance (all of whom are young male characters). *In fairness, though, I'm much more familiar with her other work (e.g. Gon), haha. ~Dagger~

[b]Dark_Sasuke[/b], care to elaborate? Simply stating the specifics of what attracts you to Naruto adds so much more to the discussion than, well, just saying you like it. A little more about the dub cast... Astro Boy aside, I believe this is Maile Flanagan's anime debut, although she seems to have done other types of voice work. It's nice that they decided to go with a female for the young male lead; I wish that were done more often in English dubbing. Yuri Lowenthal hasn't been in much, but he does appear in Kyo Kara Maoh and (so far at least) has done an absolutely excellent job, especially considering the range demanded by his role. Dave Wittenberg has had major or supporting parts in Gad Guard, Here is Greenwood, Last Exile, Twelve Kingdoms, Brigadoon and X TV. He has a lot of vocal flexibility and uses it well to play all sorts of different characters. I don't recognize the name of Kirk Thornton's character in Naruto, but he's currently rockin' the casbah as Samurai Champloo's Jin--opposite Steven Blum, whose countless roles include Darcia in Wolf's Rain and Spike in Cowboy Bebop. I think Kate Higgens is a relative newcomer. [b]sand dragon 19[/b], I'm not totally sure what you're trying to say about the DVDs, but just to reiterate: two versions will be released. The CN version (cut, probably dub-only) will start coming out first, in the form of singles. The unedited, bilingual version will start a few months after that, in the form of thirteen-episode box sets. ~Dagger~

[quote name='xmystic_silverx']Where did you get your box sets?[/quote] During one of TRSI's FUNimation sales. The problem with this is that the studio sales repeat about every six to seven months (e.g. there was another Funi sale in... July, I think, so that means the next one will probably be the spring), and there's no guarantee that one won't pop up when you're dead broke, haha. DVD Pacific offers the uncut singles for about $15 each. [quote]When I go to suncoast they're $100 each 0_0.[/QUOTE] Heh... yeah, Suncoast sells almost all of their anime-related stuff at MSRP. Ignoring the obvious bootlegs, there seem to be some sets going for $60 to $70 each on eBay. Of course eBay isn't everyone's cup of tea, and there are plenty of more reliable sites to pick from. I'm glad the entire Chapter Black saga is being bundled in one box. I've heard really really great things about this arc. Plus Sensui sounds unbelievably cool. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Orphen']Why is the voting locked?[/quote] Because the person who created it set it to lock automatically after a certain period of time. In this case, I think it was two weeks. Of course, that doesn't bar you from mentioning your favorite character (male or otherwise) in the body of a post, assuming you explain your reasoning. ~Dagger~

[quote name='^.^][Font=Arial']Well, since the last time, I've gotten to Episode 6. I can definately say this is one of the most emmotion driven animes I've ever seen.[/font][/quote] You ain't seen nothing yet. The Summer arc (episodes 8 & 9) is so good it just defies description. Same goes for you, [b]sand dragon 19[/b]. I look forward to finding out what you think of the ending of episode 9. :catgirl: By the way, I finally had the chance to see the movie. Fans seem to have to greeted it with a chillier reception than that which the TV series received, but I think this is mainly an issue of perspective. The movie is extremely different from the TV show in terms of everything from character designs to directing style. One thing to keep in mind while watching it is that the project was helmed by a very famous director (whose other work includes the classic shoujo series Rose of Versailles). He brings some interesting elements to the table. In many ways, the AIR movie combines what some might see as dated visual techniques (such as using still frames to enhance certain moments) with all sorts of cool, highly digital stuff. The CG is fairly unobtrusive, and the interplay of light and shadow is quite unlike anything I've seen in other anime--it's really beautiful. The animation is not always as smooth as that of the TV series, but there's more animation (and it's often more complicated as well) in general, so I don't think complaints about the film's visuals are necessarily justified. Some characters' personalities are quite different; others are more or less the same. I absolutely loved how the Aozora scene was done in the movie, although I didn't take as well to some of the other changes. Overall, watching it was an interesting experience, and I'm glad it diverged so sharply from the show--it would have been much less exciting to see the exact same thing done the exact same way, only with less time to work with. ~Dagger~

Just wanted to apologize for the delay on my part; I've noted this elsewhere, but I was away on a short trip from Sunday to today. I'll do my best to catch up quickly. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Noside][spoiler']Really what the heck with the cat? It's a Woman?! Since she's the shopkeeper's best friend, I wonder what their relationship is.[/spoiler][/quote] I would totally love to see some kind of romantic relationship between [spoiler]Urahara and Yoruichi. She's all about kicking *** and taking names (while staying cool & composed, of course), and he's all about kicking *** and taking names in the slickest, snarkiest way possible. Actually, scratch that--I'd be thrilled simply to watch them fight it out, haha. I'm just glad in general that Yoruichi came along because although I like Inoue, she isn't exactly up to the level of the rest of the party, as so many characters have commented.[/spoiler] [quote]A last thought, with the Kidohs that Death Gods can use how come Rukia's the only one that ever casts them? Sword fights are great,but why have spells if they aren't gonna use em?[/QUOTE] It's been such a long time since she was shown using any spells that I can't even remember what they did for her, haha. :animeswea ~Dagger~

Our official DNAngel topic is located [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=31446][u]here[/u][/url]. Please post there if you'd like to discuss any aspect of the television series. Also, try to remember that OB places a strong emphasis on post quality--we don't want to be totally anal about it, but there's really no good reason not to type out words in full, use proper complete sentences, etc. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

I'm going to lock this for redunancy; a highly similar [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=675759#post675759][u]topic[/u][/url] is currently active. Also, please keep in mind that we prefer for members to give reasons when responding to these sorts of questions. That helps prevent the discussion from degenerating into a mess of spam. Anyway, if you have other concerns or if you have questions about OB's policies, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Racism is prejudice based on [i]race[/i], which happens to be a rather specific type of difference, as you termed it. I think the word you're looking for here is "homophobia." ~Dagger~

[quote name='The_Mix_Breed']But if you hate it for no reason, it doesn't make you uncomforable and your simply racist, well then you may not want to PM.[/quote] Um... racist? Care to explain this in more detail? I'm deeply curious. :animeswea ~Dagger~

Naru, we generally discourage reviving old threads. But since you brought back an Eva-centric topic, I merged it with the designated Eva thread instead of just closing it. In other news, it seems that ADV is going to release an NGE Platinum thinpak box set, which will probably be pretty cheap if it follows their recent pattern of putting out stripped-down collections. Eva has already been remastered; the Platinum edition DVDs contain the remastered version of the series. ~Dagger~

Now, let me get this straight: y'all are pronouncing manga so that the first syllable sounds like "main"? The two pronunciations I've personally heard are a "mang" which rhymes with "sang," and a "ma" which approximately matches the vowel sound in "farm." I was under the impression that the former was the accepted way to Americanize the pronunciation*, if one wished to do so, and that the latter was the Japanese pronunciation (which it [I]is[/I], by the way--just sound out the hiragana, if you must). I wasn't aware that other variations existed. *Comparable to how anime is often pronounced as a-ni-me with the "a" sound from "cat," rather than the "ah" sound which you'd hear from someone speaking Japanese. ~Dagger~

[quote name='ShonenSamuraiMugen']Who would win? What if Mugen and Jin just started fighting again without interuptions, who would win? Please comment your votes.[/quote] Jin would win. Mugen's style is flashier, but I believe that Jin is the stronger of the two, if only by a little. I'm not just saying this as a Jin fan, because I really like both characters. However, [spoiler]based on the scanty evidence which is provided by the series, I'm willing to argue that Jin would eventually come out on top. Jin is the one chosen by the scriptwriters to defeat Kariya, who is without a doubt the strongest opponent in the series. Does this prove anything? Not necessarily; maybe Mugen could have done it too. Nevertheless, I think it's significant that Jin ended up being the one to take him down. I could swear Mugen said something in the final episode that's about as close to an acknowledgment or [strike]confession[/strike] concession as a character after his mold would ever get,[/spoiler] but unfortunately I don't remember whether the line was actually all that conclusive. EDIT: Whoops, please excuse the Freudian slip. :animeswea ~Dagger~

[quote name='frubafan4eva']Oh and i just read this but someone said that there is a new season of Fruits Basket? Oh My God! Someone find out if this is true or not i would absulutely love it![/quote] FUNimation is trying to rally support for the production of a second season. Akitaroh Daichi has indicated that he's interested in animating the rest of the manga. Whether this will actually add up to something substantial remains to be seen, but it's better than nothing. ~Dagger~

The box sets are considerably cheaper, especially if you get them during an online sale. I bought the two Dark Tournament collections for about $50 each (although pre-ordering the Chapter Black collection set me back about $60, because of my impatience). Any long series is going to be expensive, but Yu Yu Hakusho is a little more doable than most. Alternatively, you could hold out for even cheaper "book" collections. FUNimation has released Blue Gender three times--first as singles, then in a normal box set, and recently they also announced a extremely affordable book-style set. There's a possibility they may do something similar with Yu Yu Hakusho, although you might have to wait a while. ~Dagger~

Here's another new company to keep an eye on: [b][url=http://www.gocomi.com/][u]Go! Comi[/u][/url][/b]. They've only licensed four or five titles so far, but all of them seem to be interesting. Personally, I'm most intrigued by [url=http://www.gocomi.com/series/cantarella/][u]Cantarella[/u][/url]. It's by the manga-ka behind Seimaden, which I hated, but I've been assured that Cantarella is quite different and therefore much better. I love the manga trailers they have posted on their site... I definitely wouldn't have considered buying Cantarella if I hadn't taken a few seconds to see the promo. Be sure to turn the music on when you're watching one of these--it adds a lot. I believe Tokyopop has put together something similar for select titles, but it looks as if Go! Comi will eventually post a trailer for everything in their catalogue. About Di Gi Charat: I think what Broccoli has the license to is called Di Gi Charat [i]Theater[/i]. How confusing. :animeswea ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=MistressRoxie][color=#9933ff] Does anyone know the exact quote by this Chinese man about "A man dreamt that he was a butterfly. Or was it a butterfly dreaming he was a man?"[/color][/QUOTE] I'm not sure how to pin down the exact wording, since there are multiple versions/translations all over the net, but [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuang_Zi][u]this[/u][/url] might help a bit. I encountered a slightly different version (a longer one, which also included "If you meet your father, kill your father") of the Saiyuki quote in something I read recently--I just wish I could remember which book it was. :animesigh EDIT: Just drop it, you two. If you want to continue this, take it to PM. ~Dagger~

It's fan-made manga based on an existing manga, game, anime, book, whatever: basically, the drawn equivalent of fanfiction, except that you're expected to pay for it. Doujinshi is a really big thing in Japan, and it's possible to find doujin for pretty much every single fandom conceivable (and probably quite a few you don't even want to think of). ~Dagger~

Not to be a total ignoramus, but it would be cool if you explained how the system works. I'm actually quite curious. Do colleges state explicitly that they will only accept people who score above a certain grade on the exam, or is it simply a given? Also, what's the A Level like? Is it more analogous to the SAT (mainly mathematical & verbal multiple choice, with one relatively short essay) or to APs (multiple choice plus either open problems or essays, depending on the subject)? ~Dagger~

I deleted your second post. In the future please don't double-post, as it's against the rules. I'm not tremendously into doujinshi or anything, but I've read some which I enjoyed--most memorably, those based on Hikaru no Go, Wolf's Rain and Death Note. I guess Gravitation Remix probably falls under this category as well, despite it being an "official" doujin of sorts. There was one short Death Note doujin that I found to be really excellent both in terms of artwork and how it was written... I can't recall the title or creator off the top of my head, though. Actually, I recently came across some pretty decent Harry Potter doujin, now that I think about it. That was an interesting experience on a whole variety of levels, haha. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Killer7']I buy most of my anime, as I usually fall asleep before any good anime comes on. This means I really don't have to wait for the answer to any cliffhangers.[/quote] Then you must buy mostly box sets, no? Although I guess purchasing all the volumes at once would have a similar effect. Some of the most maddening cliffhangers I've come across have been from series I saw for the first time when buying them volume-by-volume. As an example, what actually inspired me to start this thread was watching the second disc of Gilgamesh. Right when I was really getting into the show, the DVD was over. And volume 3 won't be coming out until October... :animesigh This makes me doubly glad that I watched Hikaru no Go before it was licensed (and therefore will be re-watching it when it comes out on DVD). Having to wait three full months for new episodes is [i]not[/i] my cup of tea. ~Dagger~