Dagger

If it's really critical, I usually keep another window/tab open and refresh the thead in question (to see if any new replies have come up) a second or two before posting. Checking the Who's Online page never even crossed my mind, haha, but it's also a good idea. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Syk3][size=2']It took me until about the third day to finish the fifth book after I got it at midnight. Now.. that was two years ago, and I admit that I am a pretty slow reader, but in response to your sister finishing it by morning, Dagger: :eek: I mean, how can you get your mind around the story and enjoy all the hard work put into it when you?re practically skimming it? Haha :p But as I said, I don?t consider myself a fast reader, so it?s difficult for me to comprehend, heh.[/size][/quote] I read the book overnight last time, and I wasn't skimming it. The only part that eluded me was a certain person's death scene. As soon as I finished that section of the story, I had to go back and re-read it about three times before I managed to convince myself that I wasn't having horrible hallucinations due to lack of sleep or whatever. After that I was a little too shocked/depressed/enraged to appreciate the rest of the book (I think I almost stopped right there, as a matter of fact), but I slugged on through, since it was near the end anyway. I actually find it difficult to skim JKR's writing. One of the hallmarks of her style is that it flows quite well, making reading it a very natural-feeling experience. I don't think she's the greatest writer out there in just in terms of how she uses/manipulates the language, but she doesn't have to be--the plot & characters & interesting details are what carry this series, not absolute genius with figurative language and so forth. Anyway, while I do read her books quickly, I feel that I absorb more than enough to enjoy them. And I'm a fast reader in general, I suppose. It runs in the family. I also believe that [spoiler]Riddle is the prince from the title. He's pretty much the only prominent character who fits, as far as I can tell. Apparently CoS is going to be important to events in the new book, so that too makes sense.[/spoiler] [quote name='Sage']Excuse me?!?!?! What did you think all those "I HATE EVERYBODY!!!"-filled sentences were, shrieks of joy? :p [/quote] That is totally signature-worthy. :animesmil ~Dagger~

If possible, could you provide a link to some articles or something? Where I'm staying right now, it's a bit hard to access the news in English, and I'm afraid my knowledge of what happened here is a little sketchy. The last thing I read (at CNN.com or something like that) stated that al Qaeda had not been ruled out of the equation, so I assume this must be really recent news. Also, is there any word on why those men made the attacks? ~Dagger~

My younger sister is re-reading the first five books in preparation for this one. I have full faith that she'll buy it at midnight and finish it by the morning after it's released. Speaking for myself, I found that certain... events in OotP really soured me on the series as a whole, and going back for book six just isn't going to feel the same for me. However, I'm sure I'll end up reading it eventually, at least once my sister gives me her review. Ironically I'm still in love with the HP fandom--in fact by now I probably like the fanon stuff a whole lot more than the actual novels, haha. As hope springs eternal, I'm hoping that: 1) We haven't seen the last of [spoiler]Sirius.[/spoiler] 2) Harry grows out of his all-angst, all-the-time stage. 3) Draco Malfoy does sometime to warrant the excessive page space (or whatever the literary equivalent of screen time would be) he's been allotted in the previous books. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this as a fangirl--I just find it puzzling that he continues to get attention while remaining completely static as a character. Everyone else has changed at least a little (although that isn't always a good thing--i.e. angst!Harry). 4) More Lupin. And this I [i]am[/i] saying as a fangirl. 5) The book has closure but doesn't wrap up to become an (almost) self-contained story, as did the others. I'd like to see book six and book seven form a kind of two-parter, personally. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Meggido']Umm have you ever noticed that in the majority of your US cartoon shows that male characters are also voiced be women. As a famous example, the Simpsons. So wouldn't you also find that annoying? I can understand your other reasons even if I am a sub fan.[/quote] While that is a valid point, it doesn't have much of a bearing on the actual topic--you know, anime dubs. While there are plenty of women who voice young males in the English versions of various anime, on the whole I'd say that many more male roles are played by female seiyuu. As an example, take Mitsuki Saiga. When you look over the dubs of her male roles, some of the characters (such as Tsukasa from .hack//SIGN, Junior from R.O.D the TV and Wolfram from Kyo Kara Maoh) are also played by women in English, but the majority of them (such as Makubex from Get Backers, Jing from King of Bandit Jing, Okita from Peacemaker, Kyosuke from The Soul Taker & Nurse Witch Komugi, Masaru from Stellvia, Raven from Zoids, Jamie from Zoids/ZERO, etc.) have been played by men. This pretty much applies across the board, especially in regards to shounen series like DBZ. I can see where Morpheus is coming from, although I have to say that my tastes differ from his. I love hearing women in male roles. :animesmil ~Dagger~

Not that I know much of anything about this franchise beyond the usual stuff (vampires, Alucard, etc.), but I'm really looking forward to Hellsing Ultimate. It sounds like they're going all-out to make it a more faithful adaptation of the manga, and people's reactions to the trailer shown at AX seem to have been extremely positive. Plus I'm hoping this means that the box set of the original series will become a little cheaper. :p ~Dagger~

[quote name='Fallen][size=1']I have never read the book, and I didn't actually know there was a book, but as I have said, I definitely recommend Silence of the Lambs.[/size][/quote] All three movies (SotL, Red Dragon and Hannibal) are based on novels by Thomas Harris. I've only read Hannibal, as I mentioned in my earlier post, but it was really a whole lot better than it had any right to be. If you don't hate books, I definitely think checking out any or all of the installments of the series would probably be worth your time, especially since there are differences between the movies and the novels. The Hannibal novel ends with [spoiler]Hannibal and Clarice becoming lovers and going off to live the high life together. It's actually very romantic in a twisted and ironic kind of way--which is probably why I loved it so much, haha.[/spoiler] Am I correct to presume this doesn't happen in the film? I just added SotL and Hannibal to my Netflix queue, although I won't be able to actually watch them for a while. I'm undecided regarding Red Dragon--I think I'll take a look at the book first to determine if it interests me. Hopefully I will be able to stomach (no pun intended, I swear!) the [spoiler]brains.[/spoiler] :) ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=GTK]Death Note is pretty good too... but I'm a fangirl and have been forcing it on everyone I know ^^; I have no idea how to describe it though O_O;;;;; unless you only want manga that's actually out here ^^;;[/QUOTE] Seconded! And it will start coming out in North America fairly soon, anyway, so that doesn't have to be a huge concern. What makes Death Note so great is that it really [i]is[/i] your typical Shounen Jump manga--except that the villain is the protagonist, and instead of seeing the good guy gradually power up to defeat successively stronger baddies, you see the bad guy try to take down those working in the name of the law, justice, democracy, freedom, etc. That said, Death Note is also set apart by its addictive plot (plenty of twists!) and its superb artwork. While the character development is strictly subservient to the storyline, I've found that it's a manga which tends to spark long & involved philosophical/psychological discussions, so if you're looking for that kind of depth you probably won't have too much of a problem finding it. DN isn't an fighting-based manga (although there are some action scenes here and there). However, it's suspenseful and does a good job of getting the reader's adrenaline pumping. Not everyone continues to enjoy it once the novelty of having a psychopath as the main character wears off; however, there's a reason it has such a huge fanbase. Given the criteria you've provided and the manga you've liked in the past, you really could do a lot worse than to give Death Note a glance. ~Dagger~

Would any of you recommend this movie? I haven't seen either Hannibal or Silence of the Lambs, so I'm not really sure where to start; I've read Hannibal, but I haven't read Silence of the Lambs. I feel that the book has given me enough knowledge to jump straight to the Hannibal movie... I just don't know whether renting/buying it will be worthwhile. Apparently the movie's ending is quite different from that of the novel--and seeing how as I absolutely loved the book's ending and that it really elevated the entire work in my eyes, I'm not sure if I'll take kindly to the changes. Input would be greatly appreciated. Also, how gory is the movie exactly? I can kind of gloss over the extremely unpleasant parts--such as [spoiler]the hanging/disembowling of the Italian policeman[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Mason's death scene[/spoiler]--while reading, but I'm concerned that I might have a bit more trouble with them when the presentation comes complete with video & audio. :animeswea For whatever it's worth, Anthony Hopkins' presence in the film is the main reason I'm curious about Hannibal, aside from the fact that I quite liked the novel. ~Dagger~

[quote name='J2Assassin']What gives it an even better advantage is that most anime dvds, if you set it up right, you will see the entire original Japanese content, like in Detective Conan.[/quote] I don't think this applies to "most" anime DVDs. FUNimation almost always includes alternate angles (which can be employed to give you the option of seeing the credits sequences in the original Japanese); same goes for TRSI. But other companies? Nah. Ironically, while a lot of people praise Funi for using alternate angles, there are also plenty of people who hate the practice because it allegedly has an adverse affect on video quality. Personally I don't think the difference is great enough for anyone other than a big-time videophile to notice. Alternate angles are pretty neat, although when you get right down to it, I couldn't really care less which language the credits are in. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=vegeta rocker]As for the series, let me first say that i did enjoy everything but the ending. In my opinion i call it "going disney". I think they cheaped out and just made it too ethereal and corny. [spoiler] Here look at me! I'm Kamui and i am fading away in a big glowing light! It was bloodier and more realistic in the manga. [/spoiler][/QUOTE] Er... with your last sentence, are you referring to that particular scene, or to the manga in general? Because the manga hasn't ended yet--and, moreover, CLAMP has stated that its ending will be different from that of the series as well as that of the movie. Then again, given the manga's current status, we may never find out just how they intended it to end. [spoiler]But if the manga [i]does[/i] contain Kamui's death scene...[/spoiler] then, um, I stand corrected. :p ~Dagger~

ANN quoted the online Shonen Jump newsletter as saying the following about Naruto: [quote]Naruto, the great ninja anime, is coming to Cartoon Network this fall. You know that ? you know because you read SHONEN JUMP, your source for Naruto anime news, and for the original Naruto manga. And now we've got a special report for you: the launch schedule! Naruto will debut on Cartoon Network on... Saturday, Sept. 10, at 9:00pm, as part of the Toonami block. Episode 1 will run at 9:00pm, and Episode 2 will run at 9:30pm. Yeah, two in a row. Then, Cartoon Network will repeat Episode 1 at 10:00pm and Episode 2 at 10:30pm. The following Saturday, Sept. 17, Naruto will settle into its regular weekly broadcast schedule: 9:00pm.[/quote] That's sooner than I expected, personally. I'm not sure how people will react if the show [i]isn't[/i] a hit... everyone is expecting Naruto to do so well (bring in a whole new generation of fans, totally revive the stagnant anime market, etc.), and I don't think conditions are necessarily right for it to live up to those expectations--possibly because I'm personally not a fan of the show. I mean, I'd be as happy as anyone if Naruto turns out to a godsend for anime on TV and/or DVD (in terms of attracting fresh interest, I guess), but I'm dubious. ~Dagger~

Welcome to OtakuBoards, Aiko. As it happens, we don't permit introduction threads. However, if you're looking for friends, there shouldn't be any problem. Feel free to jump right in and start participating in whichever threads catch your interest--that's how people will get to know you. Just remember that OB places an emphasis on quality discussion and posts. Once you've read the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?][u]Rules[/u][/url] and [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/faq.php?][u]FAQ[/u][/url], I'm sure you'll be good to go. Enjoy the forums. If you have any questions, you're welcome to private message me or another staff member. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Panda-Z has been licensed by Bandai. The first volume will be coming out on September 27, available as both a regular disc-only version (list price: $14.98) and a disc plus figure version (list price: $19.98). Here's what the figure looks like. [IMG]http://www.rightstuf.com/items/2005-06/01/large/av23320b.jpg[/IMG] I don't have much of an interest in Panda-Z myself, but I suppose it would appeal to fans of the shows that it parodies. In this case, it probably helps to have a pretty strong familiarity with older anime, especially older mecha series. ~Dagger~

Please don't create duplicate topics. This thread is essentially the same as a pre-existing [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=666098#post666098][u]one[/u][/url] which was quite active as recently as yesterday. And while you're at it, please attempt to avoid making spammy and/or all-caps posts, double-posting, and veering wildly off-topic. Thanks. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Closed for a complete lack of coherency. ~Dagger~

Granted, I haven't seen the whole show dubbed, but I wasn't all that thrilled by what I did watch of it. I do like some of the parts they re-dubbed for Platinum & the "Director's Cut" discs, though--Greg Ayres makes a truly fantastic Kaworu. However, my lack of enthusiasm for those parts of the dub that I've heard, combined with my profound love for pretty much the entire Japanese cast (Megumi Ogata! Yuko Miyamura! Megumi Hayashibara! Kotono Mitsuishi! Akira Ishida!) hasn't really given me the urge to finish watching it in English. I'm all for giving dubs a fair shake, but I guess in this case I just don't feel that motivated. Interestingly, though, Evangelion's dub seems to be one which people either love or hate, at least once they've seen it all the way through. I haven't come across many in-between opinions. Of course, that also applies to the show in general... ~Dagger~

[quote name='Otohime']I'm farely new in the anime world, and have only seriously gotten into it quite recently. I've read some about Fruits Basket (mainly due to this thread), and it seems quite interesting. Do you think it is a good show to start a collection? Or is it more for the veteran anime fans?[/quote] This depends on your tastes. If you [i]only[/i] like action-heavy shows, if sweetness and optimism make you want to vomit, or if anime-style comedy in general just turns you off, you should probably avoid Fruits Basket. Otherwise, there's simply no excuse not to see it. :catgirl: It's very hard to find people who dislike Fruits Basket. Certainly, there are those who feel indifferent toward it, but you'll find that many of them skew primarily toward blood-heavy anime and usually don't enjoy shoujo. In many ways, Fruits Basket is one of the safest and easiest anime to recommend because it's so darn loveable, heart-warming and well-balanced. Plus, the box set can be purchased quite cheaply. It's not my favorite show or anything like that, but I can't think of a better series with which to jump-start a new anime collection. ~Dagger~

Well, as was mentioned in the TV line-ups thread, Evangelion is coming to Cartoon Network (again). Some say it's surprising, since the series apparently got horrible ratings during CN's "Giant Robot Week." Personally I think people who look at it that way are approaching the matter from the wrong angle; Eva airing on the current Adult Swim (read: mostly uncut) is something quite different from Eva airing on the old weekday version of Toonami. Still, I suppose this means the folks over at ADV must be really persuasive. I hope they air the Platinum version. I probably won't watch it, as I'm not that interested in seeing the show dubbed (and if I were, I'd just watch the DVDs). Meh. ~Dagger~

[quote name='The Monster']I'm not trying to be a moderator alright.[/quote] Then sit back, relax and let the mods do their job. We're pretty nice people, if I do say so myself--it's not as though we eat newbies for breakfast, or anything like that. Posting in threads which you know are going to be closed is a rather pointless exercise, don't you think? :) [b]Anime Doll[/b], welcome to OtakuBoards. It's wonderful that you've read the rules so closely. I know for a fact that few newcomers bother to do that, so I'd say you're already off to a great start. Enjoy the forums! Thread closed. ~Dagger~

For something like this to work, the guidelines need to be stricter. Personally, I think the existing rules (as laid out by the original poster) could also use some clarification. We've had forum games before, such as the perennially popular picture-caption thread(s), but this just makes me leery. Next time, I would advise the OP to think things through a little more carefully--posts that essentially consist of "duck" are a waste of space, regardless of the context. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

At AX, ADV announced that Evangelion would be coming to Cartoon Network and airing in its entirety for the first time ever (presumably on Adult Swim, heh). Interesting news, I suppose. I hope they show the Renewal (Platinum) version of the series. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Dagger']My "dream" is pretty materialistic, haha. I would like to eventually start buying R2s, but that requires getting a decent R2 or all-region player...[/quote] Well, I recently fulfilled that particular dream. Contrary to my plans, the first thing I ended up buying was the limited edition version of AIR volume 1. (Then again, the WMT box sets are R3 anyway, which slightly alters the situation.) I saw it in some tiny store and realized it would be difficult, if not impossible, to locate it online... plus, the price was surprisingly decent (approximately 40 USD). This led to a kind of avalanche reaction in which I pre-ordered pretty much all of the remaining AIR DVDs--which is going to be a little devastating to my wallet when they actually ship. I guess the lesson here is to be careful what you wish for, or something to that effect. :animesmil ~Dagger~

I have the first disc on order, but I won't be able to see it until I get home (toward the end of July). :animecry: The early trailers had me hooked, with the unusual character designs and the great classical music. I actually watched the first episode a long time ago, before the series was licensed, but it didn't make a huge impression on me one way or the other--which is perfectly alright, since everyone seems to say that Gilgamesh develops slowly. Since Texhnolyze wrapped up, I've been looking for a similarly dark and dreary series to take its place, and it appears that Gilgamesh will fit the bill nicely. Thanks for posting about it. ~Dagger~

What precisely do you mean by "prototypically drawn"? I can't say I've ever paid that much attention to the trains themselves, although I have found some scenes [i]involving[/i] trains to be memorable (such as the various subway scenes in Koi Kaze and Vampire Princess Miyu TV, as well as the train-centric mystery in Detective Academy Q). One of the aspects of anime that I particularly like is that even in low-budget shows, background elements--trains and cars as well as general scenery, although this applies more to static things like landscapes--are often drawn/painted with a good degree of photorealism. Even when heavily stylized, backgrounds & background elements come across as being more Impressionist (that's not the best term for it, but ah well) than cartoony. This is something that one rarely sees in American television animation. ~Dagger~