Dagger

Your question has been answered, and I don't think this thread is really going to go anywhere beyond that, so I've locked it. In the future, please put more effort into your post quality--using proper capitalization, punctuation, complete sentences, etc. will keep you out of trouble and help you garner other members' respect. If you have any questions, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[quote name='MistressRoxie][color=#9933ff]I mean, if you walk into a place where you [i]know[/i'] they speak English in Paris, because maybe your french sucks, they will purposely speak in French, and pretend they don't know English. I mean, at least in America, we'll try to help you out, or if you're buying something in a store, we'll get you a salesperson that speaks Spanish (there's a lot of cubans, mexicans, latinos, etc. in America).[/color][/quote] Not to go on a huge crazy topic drift here, but my experience was completely different. When I stayed in Paris I had a hell of a time trying to practice my (rather poor) French, because virtually every time I talked to someone, he would immediately switch to impeccable English. Of course I'm sure the opposite tends to happen in some places, as well. You have to realize that judging an [i]entire country[/i] off of a) your personal experience (unless you lived in France for, like, two or three years, in which case I suppose I'll have to back down), b) the news or c) other types of second-hand stories is really pretty silly. You're showing the same kind of attitude demonstrated by certain Europeans when they brazenly assert that all Americans are gun-toting, Bible-thumping hicks. (Not to imply that there's anything inherently wrong with either toting guns or thumping Bibles, but those are subjects for a different thread.) I don't quite get where you were going with the paragraph about having met nice French people or whatever, haha. I could just as easily say, "Oh, I've met some nice Japanese people, but as a nation they're a bunch of racist wimps and I hate them." See? It doesn't exactly follow. [b]Zidargh[/b]: This is just a guess, but the random checks may have been instituted so that people wouldn't complain about racial profiling or whatever. ~Dagger~

As I mentioned in the other thread, Bloodseeker asked me to officially stop the current two matches if he ended up not having Internet access on Thursday evening. So I'm pleased to say that the winner of this poll is [b]Lucy/Nyu[/b], which I find surprising and rather gratifying, given that Hellsing has been around a lot longer than Elfen Lied. ~Dagger~

Bloodseeker asked me to end the current two matches in the event that he was unavailable, come Thursday evening. Thus, for this one, your winner is [b]Rei Ayanami[/b] (who I voted for, coincidentally enough). Long live the so-called enigma. ~Dagger~

I've read the first volume of the regular Trigun manga, but I didn't really dig it. Granted, I'm not a colossal fan of the anime either, so I'm not exactly sure what I was suspecting. Ironically, that means I might like Trigun Maximum better, going by your description. In general, though, I only read action manga if they come with some other kind of hook (i.e. the human drama in Gunslinger Girl & Peacemaker Kurogane) or have extremely awesome art (which also applies to both of those series). I had an easier time swallowing Trigun's initial episodic-ness when watching the anime, and the manga's art style put me off somewhat. ~Dagger~

New [url=http://www.holic-tsubasa.com/trailer.html][u]trailers[/u][/url] from the xxxHOLiC site... pick your poison. So as not to cause any confusion, I'd better start off by clarifying that the upcoming xxxholic (never again am I using the silly "official" capitalization) and Tsubasa Chronicle movies aren't as closely linked to the Tsubasa TV series as one might think. For starters, the movie animation is being done by Production I.G. rather than Bee Train, and the character designs are also noticeably different. On the whole, I think the artwork is a big step up from the TV series, at least judging by the trailer--and I realize it's unfair to directly compare television anime with feature films, but the TV character designs are so much more awkward-looking. Even the movie designs are somewhat unappealing, in my opinion, but I don't think CLAMP gave the animators the best material to work with (adapted for the screen or not, Tsubasa & xxxholic's stick-like designs are bound to pretty much always look better in still shots than when actually in motion). I have a feeling I'll enjoy the coming movies a lot more than the Tsubasa Chronicle TV series, which gave me some hope at the beginning but then rapidly devolved. This way, at least, it'll be short and sweet (60 minutes for the xxxholic feature, 30 minutes for Tsubasa), and there will be some nice eye-candy to balance out potential story-related deficiencies. Are all of you CLAMP fans out there excited about this? Personally I'd rather have a Legal Drug OVA, but I suppose the chances of that happening are pretty pathetic... ~Dagger~

This is not the place to solicit visits to your site, hailvane (and that's disregarding the fact that you already created a thread about this particular problem of yours). If you want people to sign your guestbook, you can stick a line about it in your signature or profile. However, future in-thread advertising will result in a swift ban. If you have any questions, feel free to private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

I'm just planning on hoping against hope that the R1 release will include the OVA, because there's no way in hell that I'm paying the equivalent of US $250 simply for the sake of seeing Zack animated. The other extras fail to move me (if it were an Aeris figure, on the other hand, I might be sorely tempted). I find myself feeling rather bitter about the fact that the OVA apparently isn't part of the regular LE set, as I would be far more willing to cough up the money for that. Gah. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Solo Tremaine][COLOR=#503F86']They can be a very effective dramatic tool if used properly, but otherwise having them in just for the sake of it isn't something I agree with.[/color][/quote] Yet editing it--especially since every single one of the edits (and in One Piece, they're all but countless) will get carried over to the DVD version--just isn't the solution. Ideally one should have to take it as it is, or leave it. Even censoring out aspects of a manga/anime which are offensive & harmful at worst and have little artistic worth at best (such as the rape scenes in the Tenjho Tenge manga and the smoking in One Piece) is, in my opinion, something negative. And it's a slippery slope. You can't slice out an aspect of someone else's creation and act as if the resulting product will be better for [i]everyone[/i], no matter how much more you may like it--or, in the case of 4Kids and One Piece, how much better it might sell. That's the essential problem I have with how they're treating One Piece; what they're doing to the broadcast version is honestly very silly (in rushing to alter anything which might be even minutely edgy, they've pretty much ruined whatever appeal the show could hold for kids and people of any age group, as is evidenced by its dismal ratings). But I wouldn't care much if I were able to choose between edited & unedited DVDs. Unfortunately, it looks as though I won't have that choice. I sort of went off on a tangent here. To clarify: I do understand why they edited One Piece, at least in regards to the smoking (which continues to be a hot-button issue here in the States). But I felt that you were saying you didn't have a problem with cigarettes being edited out because you personally dislike them. I'm sure I'd be tempted to edit Ayeka out of Tenchi (yeah, I know that's an awfully silly parallel to draw--just bear with me) if I were given the option. That doesn't make it right. CMX's version of Tenjho Tenge may be somewhat less likely to corrupt the youth of America, but that doesn't make editing the manga acceptable. From my perspective, it's 4Kids' fault for licensing a series with smoking, blood & gore, tragic characters, etc. and sticking it on a television block that requires such extreme sanitization. One Piece is not aimed at an adult audience in Japan, but it's definitely not a "kids' show," certainly not going by American standards. And seeing how as 4Kids felt compelled to slice & dice it down to American standards when they aired it, they should have simply licensed something more kid-friendly (or parent-friendly, as the case may be) in the first place. ~Dagger~

(Note: I moved this thread, as I think it would be a better fit for S&F.) I don't [I]love[/I] favorites threads, but they can be well-done, and ruling them out altogether would just be way too draconian for my tastes. Your best option in this case is to make interesting alternative topics to distract people from constantly chattering about their new favorite bishounen. :catgirl: ~Dagger~

Earlier tonight, I managed to catch episode 41 on TV (which--ads and all--is a vastly superior experience to watching it on one's computer, I can assure you). Unfortunately there's a fairly sizeable gap between that and whichever episode I watched last, but Bleach isn't exactly a super-complicated show, so I managed to figure out what was going on. More or less. I love Noriyuki Abe. He has such a great sense for what works and what doesn't, when it comes to this kind of show--that's why Yu Yu Hakusho is so amazing, and that's why Bleach just keeps getting better and better as it goes along. Episode 41 reminded me of this because it contained several of the striking, well-animated set piece scenes that really help set this show apart. I'm sure this owes a lot to the visual composition and panel layout of the manga, but I think Bleach's director also deserves some serious credit. I can't wait to get home and catch up on what I missed. Also, (major spoiler for episode 41) [spoiler]that Yoruichi-san is one fine-looking woman.[/spoiler] :animesmil ~Dagger~

(It's interesting to read over this thread, haha; the last time I posted here was even before the Light/Raito issue had been settled. Wow.) In the future, [b]please use spoiler tags[/b]. That's one of the most shocking plot twists in the entire manga, and as Death Note relies on creating a sense of suspense, it's extremely inconsiderate to go around leaving unmarked spoilers all over the place. If you have any questions about how to implement spoiler tags, just read [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=46199][u]this[/u][/url] thread. By the way, the event to which you referred actually occurs in chapter 58. I'm not sure why BL fans would be any more devastated by chapter 58 than regular fans. Any BL you might see in Death Note is purely imagined--there's not even any fanservice (well, at least not of that particular variety). Since Death Note BL is just a fan-created thing and bears absolutely no relationship to canon, there's nothing stopping you from going about your business (whatever that may entail--fanfiction, fanart, etc.) as if [spoiler]L were still alive.[/spoiler] Anyway. I'm currently up to chapter 69. I have some interesting mixed feelings about the new arc... [spoiler]I love Near and Mello (especially Mello--it seems like he can really give Light a run for his money in the psychopath department). The new Shinigami are pretty fascinating as well.[/spoiler] I guess my main problem is that I want to see Light go down; it's easiest to root for him when he's the underdog, but [spoiler]that hasn't been the case since his early "battles" with L. Much as I adore the new characters, I wish they would get their respective acts together and knock Light off his high horse.[/spoiler] Light is becoming over-confident, and that detracts enormously from what used to make him appealing. I'm not one of those people who thinks that everything has gone downhill since [spoiler]L was killed.[/spoiler] However, the current arc could use a little kick in the pants, and I'm looking forward to seeing how [spoiler]Mello and Near[/spoiler] come into their own. ~Dagger~

So, basically, they're making a Futurama OVA? What do you think the running time will be like? Although I guess if it's modelled after the Family Guy OVA, I could just go look up the specs on that... :p ~Dagger~

I thought this movie was very, very impressive. I'm really glad I got the chance to see it (and I almost accidentally wandered into the Japanese-dubbed version, too--that probably would have left me with a rather different opinion!). The Spielberg/Cruise combination has struck gold again; I liked WotW almost as much as Minority Report (one of my all-time favorite movies), although for somewhat different reasons. Acting-wise, Dakota Fanning and Mr. Cruise were fantastic. I also appreciated the fact that the visuals were arresting and deeply creepy without being impossible to stomach--I just loved the scene in which you see them realize that [spoiler]the red stuff being sprayed around is human blood.[/spoiler] The atmosphere was rather wonderful; granted, I am rather prone to being skitterish around any movie that involves scary-sounding music and inexplicable noises at night, but for me WotW struck a good balance in terms of how frightening it was. And obviously the most frightening parts of the film were those showing how [spoiler]people would react during such a crisis.[/spoiler] That gave it a level of realism which hit me right in the gut. This is the movie that "Signs" should have been. I have only two complaints about WotW, actually: the first being [spoiler]Robby[/spoiler] (for obvious reasons), and the second being... um, I forget. Yeah, I'll get back to y'all on this one. I knew exactly what I was about to type, and then I got distracted. I hate when that happens. :animeswea ~Dagger~

[quote name='r2vq']Any word on the Naruto release schedule?[/quote]Single DVDs will come out every other month. If they stick to the pattern established by the first individuals --> box set interval, then new box sets will be released after each string of approximately three or so DVDs. ~Dagger~

[quote name='RyuAijin][COLOR=Purple']I loved that movie! And the book. Howl is my all-time favorite guy now. lol. i'm serious too, lol. my favorite quote from him, "I'm dying of boredom. Or maybe just dying."..."I'm delirious, I'm seeing spots before my eyes"...lol...so cool![/COLOR][/quote] I can hardly blame you. Howl is pretty awesome. I'm eagerly awaiting the DVD release (which hasn't been announced yet, has it?). I still haven't caught up with the last crop of Miyazaki films (Nausicaa, Porco Rosso, etc.), but for me HMC takes precedence, sacreligious though that may seem. I really wish I could see the movie in theaters again, although I'm almost positive it will have left my area by the time I get home--it seems like something which would play very differently upon a second viewing, if you know what I mean. I suppose I should just consider myself lucky to have seen it right when it came out. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE][SIZE=1]?Nyuu annoys the heck out of me and I'm sorry, but she doesn't look any different from a whole host of other anime girls. I think a true "anime babe" should have that little something that makes her stand out for the others.[/size][/quote] How about mutant powers and multiple personalities? [quote][SIZE=1]?Nyuu's personality is far too innocent and boring, Seras has attitude (and she's English!)[/SIZE][/quote] I should think that Nyu's innocence is somewhat required to make up for Lucy's extreme bloodlust. It would be kind of "boring" to have multiple personalities if they weren't polar opposites. [quote][SIZE=1]?Seras doesn't act like some stupid, helpless creature. She carries a bloody big bazooka and can wipe out a whole group of men in seconds. Let's face it, she pwns.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] Whoa, whoa, [i]whoa[/i]. I'm still confused as to why you're zeroing in on Nyu alone when Lucy is clearly the dominant personality (Lucy has the memories, the motives, etc., while Nyu is basically a blank slate and only appears when Lucy bumps her head). By the end, the show [spoiler]is all about Lucy. Not that I dislike Nyu; however, she's more of a plot device than anything else.[/spoiler] But that aside, "[wiping] out a whole group of men in seconds" is clearly Lucy's specialty. If you want to compare sheer physical prowess, I think we know who would win. For further evidence, just watch the first five minutes of Elfen Lied episode 1. ~Dagger~

[quote name='MistressRoxie][color=#9933ff']The one thing I'm afraid of, though, is seeing who will die. We've all heard rumors/ suspicions, I'm sure, and I'm just... afraid. I mean, I got pissed off at Rowling after OotP for like... a month. I don't know if I can take it this time! *wails*[/color][/quote] I'm actually not too concerned about this. Granted, I still hold an enormous grudge against her for what happened in OotP, and I complain about it whenever I find the opportunity--but having already been through the [spoiler]all-too-sudden and almost undignified[/spoiler] death of a character I really love(d), I don't think future deaths are going to have as much of an emotional impact on me (even if in that case the emotional impact was more sheer fury than anything else, haha). For example: I would be greatly displeased if she kills off, say, Lupin (a character who I like as much as--if not more than--the one who kicked the bucket in OotP). However, I suspect my reaction would be more along the lines of "Here she goes again" than anything else. If it's someone I don't particularly care for, which pretty much describes the entire cast beyond a few select characters, then the reaction would just be shock/awe/laughter, depending on the circumstances. So much for not posting in this thread anymore. :p ~Dagger~

Speak of the devil... it's like the [i]entire[/i] Internet is now overflowing with Harry Potter spoilers. I think I just ran into a really major one, and I'm trying not to let it make me [i]too[/i] pissed off. The potential spoiler concerns me because while it seems far-fetched, it could make a lot of sense when put in context. But I shall say no more. I'm convinced that I'm just cursed when it comes to spoilers. Oh, well, at least this isn't as bad as the time someone ruined Wolf's Rain for me. :animesigh ~Dagger~

[quote name='Bloodseeker']I really need to pick up the second Elfen Lied DVD... that came out last Tuesday, right?[/quote] I don't recall exactly when it came out, but my copy shipped on July 6. So chances are that the street date was sometime around then. Although I won't be able to actually watch it until August. However, yes, you do need to pick it up! Episode 5 is often cited as being the episode which tends to make or break (usually make) the series for people who felt ambivalent about the first four episodes or just the beginning in general. It's not very violent, as far as I can remember, but it contains some of the most disturbing scenes in the whole show. Of course the other episodes on the disc are great as well. And obviously I voted for Lucy. :animesmil ~Dagger~

Yeah, I'm just going to avoid all HP-related online content (other than my sister's emails, haha--she's aware that the only thing I want to be spoiled for is whether or not [spoiler]Sirius[/spoiler] shows up outside of flashbacks) until I get home and have a chance to read the book for myself. Sadly, that won't be for another couple of weeks. :animedepr Good luck staying away from the spoilers, everyone. And happy reading and all that jazz. I probably won't post again in this thread until around the beginning of August. But before I go into cowering-from-spoilers mode, I was wondering if anyone other than my sister & I plans on buying the deluxe edition (which features different artwork that is, in my opinion, vastly superior to the sicky-green jacket art of the standard edition). I'd love it if they went back and did similar deluxe versions of the earlier books... at the very least, I'd certainly re-buy PoA and possibly GoF. ~Dagger~

At their ComicCon panel, Viz made some announcements about the upcoming Naruto DVDs. The individual DVDs, which will begin coming out in March 2006, are going to be [b]edited[/b] (the TV version, presumably). However, uncut box sets of 13 episodes each will start coming out in July 2006. At first this bothered me--but now, thinking it over, it's actually a fairly good idea. They can play to one crowd with the singles and to another with the box sets; it would be uncharacteristic of Viz to go all-out and make the sets extremely cool (you know, with nice packaging and extras and such), but hope springs eternal. Plus, this way we won't have two versions of what is approximately the same content (uncut single DVDs & edited single DVDs) simultaneously competing for shelf space. And it sounds a heck of a lot more palatable than the release schedule they apparently have set up for Hikaru no Go... a new four-episode disc every three months. :animedepr ~Dagger~

[url=http://216.136.62.222/torrents/MadlaxPromo.avi.torrent][u]Madlax promo torrent[/u][/url] [url=http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=region1&Number=1067379&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=2&fpart=1][u]AoD discussion/feedback thread[/u][/url] [quote=David Williams (ADV producer)]As part of my explorations into on various online video options, I've placed a promotional video for Madlax online as a torrent. As this is a small part of a larger project I'm working on I'd be happy hear any comments, feedback, suggestions, etc. from the fans. If you have bittorrent and are interested in official downloads, use your client to download the promo at: [url=http://216.136.62.222/torrents/MadlaxPromo.avi.torrent][u]http://216.136.62.222/torrents/MadlaxPromo.avi.torrent[/u][/url] Currently there is just this promo video but I have much larger plans in mind. Let me know what you think and even what you might like to see in the future.[/quote] I decided not to post this in the Madlax topic because I wanted to open things up for a more general discussion of this experiment, as well as potential future applications. Personally I think it's a very smart move on ADV's part (and given that they've done a lot of stuff I disagree with in recent months, it's pretty timely too). The promo in general is rather impressive, and vastly superior to regular online trailers. It has excellent video quality and is much longer than ordinary promos. Plus, it provides a lot more information about the show while still being spoiler-free; the narration is amusingly corny, but it gets the job done and gives you a better feel for the series than anything short of actually seeing a couple of episodes. My download went very quickly and I had no trouble playing the file. I'd love to see ADV (not to mention other companies) do this for other anime. What do you think? ~Dagger~

I suppose it depends. If I'm in a situation where I have a lot of stuff that needs to be accomplished, I may set about making a detailed schedule or trying to be very disciplined with myself in terms of how I use my free moments. But times like that are extremely rare. Generally I don't have too much on my plate, and I trust myself to slog through the truly vital tasks at some point or another. So I just do whatever I feel like at the moment, for the most part. ~Dagger~

My sister sent me an interesting email with (all confirmed) information about HBP and HP in general which the people at muggle.net gleaned from JKR's site as well as various official interviews & online chats. I'm just going to spoiler-tag the whole thing, although it's reasonably vague for the most part. [quote][spoiler] - We will learn a lot more about Voldemort in this book. - HBP will be an intense book, but with light-hearted moments. - Harry will leave Privet Drive early again, for a "much pleasanter" reason than in book 5. - The opening chapter of book 6 was originally planned for the early parts of book 1, perhaps we get a more in-depth story of what happened the night Harry's parents died. - Neither Harry or Voldemort (including Tom Riddle) are the Half-Blood Prince - Arthur Weasley will not be the new Minister of Magic - By the ends of books 6 and 7 "you'll have all the back story you'll need", says JK Rowling, and a prequel will not be necessary - There will be a new Minister of Magic, no more Mr. Fudge. - We will find out what happened to Hagrid's half brother Grawp. He will be a bit more controllable in book 6. - The Dursleys are in the next book, but Harry's stay with them will be the shortest yet. In book 5 he stayed for 4 weeks, so we know his stay will be less than 4 weeks. - Cho Chang will not be a romantic interest of Harry in Book 6, however there will be a "little romance" for Harry says JK. - In books 6 and 7 we will find out exactly why JK killed off Sirius. - Harry becomes even more powerful in book 6. - In books 6 and 7 we will find out why Dumbledore trusts Snape. - We will find out what happened to Wormtail AKA Peter Pettigrew - More about the animosity between Snape and Sirius will be revealed in the last 2 books. - JK has said that giving away the form of Snape's boggart and patronus says too much. We'll definitely find out what Snape's worst fear is, and it'll be important. - Hermione and Draco will NOT end up together in book 6 or 7. - We will find out what exactly Dudley saw when he looked at the dementors. - The reason Voldemort and Harry both didn't die when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, will be revealed. - We will see more of Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy, now that Lucius is busy. - We'll learn more about Harry's scar in the last 2 books. - Moaning Myrtle will make an appearance again, as will Tonks. - More about Voldemort's birth will be revealed, thus helping us understand why he is so evil. - Muggles begin to notice "more and more odd" occurrences in book 6, says JK. - The wizarding world is really at war in the sixth book. - Harry will tell his dearest friends about the prophesy after it sinks in to him. - We will learn more about Harry's relatives, including his grandparents (though JK says they aren't really important to the story) - We will find out what happened to Sirius's motorbike. - Book 6 will be shorter than the 5th book (or at least JK's 99% sure, but will not swear on her children's lives) - There will be no "new" nationalities of children at Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a British school, and JK says that adding foreigners for the sake of it is not in her plans. - During an interview, when JKR was asked in which Hogwarts room she'd like to be for 1 hour, she said it would be a room in which Harry has been before, but doesn't know its importance. Yet. (this could have happened in book 5, but we're unsure) - It's very important in the plot that Harry has his mother's eyes, and that her wand was very good for charms. - During an interview for Kids BBC, Victor Greensteet (reporter) asked Rowling if Harry would have a dragon for a pet. This is what she replied: "You can't tame a dragon, no matter what Hagrid thinks. It's simply impossible. So no. He has more common sense. He MAY have a different pet in the future, but for now, I won't say anything else". (This could have been buckbeak, but I'm sure we can expect more pets) - In the same interview for Kids BBC, the reporter asked J. K. if Harry had ever used the internet, and this is what she had to say: "No. They (the Dursleys) won't let him go near Dudley's computer, and Dudley is the only one who has a computer. They hit him if he gets too near to the keyboard. So the answer would be No. I use it a lot, but Harry doesn't. Wizards don't really need to go on the web. They have an even better way to find out what's happening in the outside world, which I think is a lot more fun than the Internet, but I'm going to keep quiet on this one." - The choice between what's right and what's easy will be a pillar of the plot in Harry's last 2 years at Hogwarts - Harry's parents' profession will be a big part of the plot. - Something HUGE will be revealed about Lily Potter.[/spoiler][/quote] It sounds like (again, this is just extra caution with the spoiler tags) [spoiler]we're going to be seeing a lot of Snape in the next two books.[/spoiler] Maybe [i]he's[/i] the half-blood prince. ~Dagger~