Dagger

Don't have time to write more than quick impressions right now. I had my doubts about some parts of episode 2 (let's just say it puts the WTF back in OMGWTFPOLARBEAR). The important thing, though, is that I really liked [spoiler]the four new characters, especially Dan, who comes across as a spacier version of Ethan.[/spoiler] Also, re: the ending, [spoiler]Ben is ****ing invincible.[/spoiler] Good lord. Line of the episode: "You walk him." It's old, but I never saw [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xPOXSfPQGE][u]this[/u][/url] before (someone told me about it during a commercial break). ~Dagger~

Last night I saw [b]Perfect Blue[/b] for the first time with my Millennium Actress-loving friend. We both liked it well enough, but she managed to call the final plot twist within the first five minutes of the film. I thought the fake-out where they make you think for a second that [spoiler]that the character Mima is playing in the TV drama is her real self--that the TV drama is the real story, and the frame story is in her head[/spoiler] was a whole lot more interesting and less predictable. The best scene was [spoiler]the photographer's murder.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

I'd want an English track to be provided sooner or later, but I guess I'd like it to be written in Japanese... partly because I'm majoring in Japanese and hope to become fluent eventually (so if I'm to magically make some hypothetical anime, well, why not go for it?). But the main reason would be that I highly doubt any of the script/scenario writers I'd hope to work with know much--if any--English. English was the original language of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Afro Samurai. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Lunox'][font="trebuchet ms"]The pictures in [u]The Phantom Tollbooth[/u] made me envision everything in that style. I feel like I'm ragging on everything here, lol, but I've never seen an anime pull off the kind of quirk that stuff like [u]The Phantom Tollbooth[/u] or Raold Dahl books have. It feels like everything would be too serious or too absurd if made into an anime.[/font][/QUOTE] Give it to the French! :animesmil Not that I know a lot about French animation (I should watch more) but The Triplets of Belleville has the right sort of mood to it, I think. I could imagine The Phantom Tollbooth coming out well if it were handled by a similar team. ~Dagger~

Just watched the first episode of Mnemosyne. :animenose I loved it. Parts of it made me want to run away and hide under my comforter, but I loved it. In a way, it feels like it harks back to the more casually violent & sexual OVAs of old. Yet the animation is cutting-edge... the characters are full CG--and before you run away, I really suggest giving it a try (if you're okay with the adult content, that is). Personally, I think this is the first CG anime that carries over the organic, kinetic, natural (and now I'm just throwing random adjectives out there, but you know what I mean) look of hand-drawn animation. Stuff like the Appleseed movies and the Freedom OVA were supposed to be groundbreaking or whatever, and I don't know how Mnemosyne stacks up next to them in terms of budget. In terms of how it looks and feels, though, there's simply no comparison. Even the occasional flaws (though they aren't really--they match the stylistic quirks seen in the character designer's 2D eroge work) in proportion and so forth actually make Mnemosyne seem less cold and artificial. I was totally against CG anime until I saw the trailer for this, which shook my conviction a little, and now the series itself has me doing a 180. *bows down to Xebec* Anyway, the important points are: 1) The protagonist is by far the hottest female character I have seen in any anime ever, and quite possibly the most kick-*** as well. I love her to bits. 2) As an introductory episode, this is all about style, pwnage, Rin's undying hotness, Tanaka Rie in her most sadistic role ever, Mamiko Noto not getting typecast, and flashes of guro. 3) So if you're worrying about the story at this point... well, I mean, it's not like there isn't one, but I'd say you're looking at the wrong thing. *worships Rin* Seriously... she is, as far as my personal & biased tastes are concerned, the pinnacle of female character design. ~Dagger~

On the news that isn't really news front, CD Japan has [url=http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=KIBA-91526][u]the DVD cover art[/u][/url]. (Guess who?) Simple but alarmingly charming. Makes me wonder if the rest of the movie covers will also be single-character (if so, probably Asuka --> the new girl, Kaworu or, heck, Misato --> Shinji). ~Dagger~

I know almost nothing about the care and keeping of cels, but I've got to congratulate you on acquiring cels from such an amazing OVA. Color me jealous. :) ~Dagger~

Always pleased to welcome more fans to the fold. :catgirl: Bandai is [url=http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/catalogmgr/8PLrV1y1SX2o2jsUfy/browse/item/78040/4/0/0][u]re-releasing volume 1[/u][/url] on 4/1 as a bundle with the first DVD plus two character CDs: volume 6 (Kyon's sister) and volume 9 (Kyon). Rather clever of them. Milk milk milk... ~Dagger~

[quote name='Shinmaru'] *makes with the posting so you don't have to edit* :P[/QUOTE] *luvs ya* ;) Um... I'll just spoiler-tag everything for now... [spoiler]First off: they could not possibly have used the flash-forwards to greater effect. And I'm soooo happy that this was the first premiere to focus on a character other than Jack. Given the break between seasons, the fallout over Charlie's death was also handled well. The standoff between Locke and Jack could have felt like a repetition of the same old themes we saw develop over the past three seasons, but I was okay with it--particularly since (if I'm interpreting future!Hurley's comments correctly) that might have been their final confrontation. It felt more like a culmination than a kind of circling back. Ben was in top frigging form this episode. I'm rapidly becoming convinced that being a beaten-down prisoner somehow brings out the best (or at least the snarkiest) in his character, haha. Really interested to see how the group dynamic with him and everyone else develops from here on out... The "Hurley can't get away from Jacob's cabin" scene freaked me out. You know, between Hurley seeing Jacob and (in the future) Charlie, it's beginning to look like his not-quite-sane streak might overlap with some other like of ability (a la Desmond or Walt or Locke, to a lesser extent).[/spoiler] Speculation time! There's so much to talk about here that I'm a little overwhelmed, so I'll just throw out the most obvious item. [spoiler]"The Oceanic Six"[/spoiler] Any guesses as to who the other three are? ~Dagger~

[B]What is it?[/B] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=58074][u]A Change If You Will[/u][/url] [B]Why was it nifty?[/B] It's an elegant (if unwitting) demonstration of the fact that some things never change. [B]What is it?[/B] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=25558][u]Fasteriskhead[/u][/url] [B]Why was it nifty?[/B] I admire his persistence in the face of both honest & willful misunderstanding. Plus, he's a pretty chill guy, which is more than you can say of most people who talk philosophy online. [B]What is it?[/B] Indigo [B]Why was it nifty?[/B] Salvation for people (like me) who hate it when there's any possibility of color-clashing between their avatars and the site skin. I'm fond of Liquid & Geisha, but it's great having a neutral alternative to all that turquoise and purple. ~Dagger~

Tonight's the night, baby. :animenose Has anyone seen the 8:15 recap of the entire series so far? It's pretty amusing... you can find it streaming on ABC's site or for free on iTunes. ~Dagger~

Ep. 4: Another cliffhanger! >_< I really didn't expect [spoiler]Horo's identity to get revealed to anyone else[/spoiler] so early in the series. My favorite parts were the bedtime conversations. There was some awkward animation this time around, but they made up for it with the 100% perfect timing in the scene where [spoiler]Lawrence trips his way into bed, finds Horo there teasing him, gets irritated and grabs her, pulls away and more seriously moves to kiss her--and then she stops him and her eyes glow all red and, and, and...[/spoiler] Totally [I]rawr[/I]. The next episode's title is so suggestive... ~Dagger~

[url=http://www.alter-web.jp/figure/08/06_3/index.html][u]Mikuru maid figure![/u][/url] Dunno if I'll get this, but the pose & face are cute. Her hair looks a tad too brown for the actual character design (on the other hand, I'm more a fan of muted colors in figures anyway). ~Dagger~

[quote name='sothis']Currently I'm watching the Magic Doll Licca movie. ^_^[/QUOTE] I'm guessing this is something that comes after the TV series? Yesterday I caught up with* the (American release of) the Gunslinger Girl manga. Okay, Yu Aida, you win: I like Petrushka, even if--and I feel doubly weird thinking this--she's too old. The end of the Pinocchio arc was haunting. Looking back, I suppose I probably put off reading the rest of it because it was clear what would happen, and I really loved the [spoiler]Franca/Franco/Pinocchio[/spoiler] trio, so much so that I pretty much ended up rooting for them. I'd have liked a few more pages of closure afterward... not with them, but with [spoiler]wounded Triela and Hillshire.[/spoiler] *This was probably driven by my despair over Il Teatrino. :animeswea ~Dagger~

Yeah, I could see Satoshi Kon fitting with the more surreal Murakami stuff like Hard-Boiled Wonderland or After Dark, but I can't think of anyone better than Shinkai for Norwegian Wood (which I guess is what I unconsciously was thinking of, haha). If you didn't like Shinkai's work, it was probably because of the writing... which is exactly why he should try his hand at adaptations for a change. Let someone else's words be carried by his genius for light and scenery. Speaking of which, Moonlight Shadow (the novella that's included with most English editions of Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen) is something else that would go beautifully with Shinkai's style. ~Dagger~

[quote name='onenuttytanuki'] The Giver, now that would be a book that would interesting to see as an anime.[/QUOTE] Grr, you beat me to it. :p Although I prefer to see him do original concepts (rather than adaptations), The Giver would make an amazing Satoshi Kon movie. And I'd kill to see Makoto Shinkai tackle something by Haruki Murakami. ~Dagger~

Loveless is also blessed with the best [spoiler]yuri[/spoiler] couple in any anime ever, as far as I'm concerned. I still have hopes for a second season... maybe when the manga finishes its run? Just read the last two volumes of [b]Godchild[/b]. It had a fitting end, and I was surprised by how (huge spoilers, don't look if you ever plan to check out this series) Kaori Yuki managed to [spoiler]resolve the Riff and Riffael issue. I would've been happier if they merged somehow, but I suppose that would've made the death scenes less touching and more confusing.[/spoiler] They were my favorite characters by far, of course, but I also ended up liking Jizabel and even Alexis a lot more than I'd expected. One of the nice side effects of [spoiler]the Riffael plot twist[/spoiler] was that Cain got to become twice as badass in volumes 7 & 8, which also pleased me. Whatever else gets said about Yuki-sensei, she really knows how to pull off those sweeping dramatic set pieces. The pacing at the end--everything from [spoiler]Riff and Cain under the rubble[/spoiler] to the last few panels--was perfect. [size=1]And I shed a few tears, I'm not gonna lie...[/size] Now someone needs to license Ludwig Kakumei. ~Dagger~

No; anime doesn't rely on American fans for success. But the relationship between American & Japanese companies (profits, expectations, licensing fees and the whole shebang) is significantly more nuanced than that answer suggests. A fair number of anime from a few years ago would never have gotten off the ground without American funding. It was said during the height of the American anime bubble that Japanese companies really counted on licensing fees as a way to add to their income. Now the American anime market is in the process of messily and painfully collapsing, and the Japanese market is also suffering. I don't think these two things are directly connected in a domino-effect sort of way, but it would be hard to argue that they're not exacerbating each other. Plus, the fact that stocks in general are plummeting can't be helping too much in that department. ~Dagger~

[url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-01-28/all-nippon-air-line-manga-offered-with-two-covers][u]This is so hysterical**, I almost cried[/u][/url]. **If you have a twelve-year-old boy's sense of humor (which, apparently, I do). I hadn't even heard of that manga before, and it sure doesn't sound like my kind of thing, but I might get it--along with the alternate dust jacket, of course--just for the lulz. ~Dagger~

At the moment, I'm meandering my way through [B]Magia Mystica[/B]. It's a 15+ BL game with some light combat elements (there's a card-based battle every chapter or so). The battle system is actually fairly interesting... I could see it working well if you got to play against friends online or something. Magia Mystica's worth lies more on the story side of things, though, since the battles are rigged to be almost impossible to lose. At least the screen effects are pretty. It makes for a nice break from reading repetitive fight scenes & incantations, so I'm not complaining. But it would've been nice if they integrated more fights or at least included different difficulty options. The enemies would offer more of a challenge if their attack patterns were semi-random instead of totally fixed. ~Dagger~

You know, I don't think adding 10 pixels is going to launch us down some slippery slope that ends in everyone using [kuja]Kuja's font[/kuja] and lolcatting their way through an endless parade of threads about people's favorite socks. :whoops: I'm with those who framed this as a question of whether or not there's enough demand to make the change worthwhile. Size restrictions aren't directly connected to OB's core principles or whatever, except insofar as they reflect an attempt to utilize basic common sense. 10 px either way just doesn't set off any alarm bells for me. ETA: Thanks for the clarification, sothis. ~Dagger~

If you found the first few episodes to be boring, I wouldn't suggest continuing with the rest. It's not one of those shows where huge changes in plot/style/direction come later on, so I don't think the slog would be worth it. That said, I highly recommend watching episode 12, which stands on its own pretty well and is epic and awesome (and funny!) in a way that the rest of the series never quite manages to match. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Desbreko'][color=#4B0082]Personally I liked Ichigo Mashimaro (and Minami-ke for that matter) more than Kamichu!.[/color][/QUOTE] Kukuku. :smooch: @FloraFreak: I've got Flag somewhere in my Netflix queue... the visual style (going by what I've seen in trailers) is pretty interesting. I don't think it's full CG, but the way they shade the characters sort of gives it that vibe (not in a bad way). Set aside True Tears for the time being; it'll have to wait till I'm in the right mood again. Sort of sad that I dropped H2O too soon to see the [spoiler]trappy[/spoiler] hilarity that apparently comes later on. Keep meaning to watch [b]Tokyo Marble Chocolate[/b] (a Production IG OVA), but don't know when I'll get around to it. Gundam 00 and Aria are, as always, rocking my soul. ~Dagger~

I stand by my opinion that Strawberry Marshmallow would be completely worthless if not for Miu. At the same time, having Miu in all her glory makes it one of the best shows of its type. ~Dagger~

Who knew that a show about economics could be so fascinating? Episode 3 even ends on a cliffhanger. :animesmil Anyway, I don't think it's really worth comparing the anime to the manga, since it's not the source material to begin with. ~Dagger~