Dagger

[QUOTE=Sanada]Guess my choice is Elfen Lied. There's really a high amount of gore and flying bodyparts. Although I don't quite like violent Anime, Elfen Lied was great.[/QUOTE] I would have to agree; Elfen Lied is probably the most violent anime I've seen. Although uncut Gantz could probably give it a run for its money. Of course, describing Elfen Lied this way is sort of misleading, because the show actually features wonderful characters and an emotionally moving story. If anything, it is one of the few super-violent anime that I would encourage people who strongly dislike blood & gore to at least consider watching. ~Dagger~

[quote name='marking time']This series has very good visuals. I personally enjoy the darker settings and most of the character designs are very good. also the backrounds are very very well done. In the last few episodes the visuals are stunning and i personaly like its visuals the best.[/quote] Yeah, Texhnolyze is one amazing-looking anime. In the final arc, the [spoiler]surface world[/spoiler] was stunningly vibrant, colorful and surreal; the contrast was particularly noticeable after watching so many episodes set in the dark and gritty city of Lukuss. Throughout the series, the backgrounds were lovingly rendered and packed with detail. And the character designs were complemented by smooth, careful animation. I can honestly say that I started buying Texhnolyze solely on the strength of its visuals (although obviously it does have interesting characters and a strong plot). [quote name='KlonoaWahoo']I'd Have to Say 'Kanon' by KEY animations was one of the most breath taking animes Ive ever seen, Visuals wise and Story wise.[/quote] Kanon? Are you sure you didn't mean to type AIR? :animesmil I never really got into Kanon, but I saw enough of it to realize that animation and artwork aren't exactly its biggest strengths. The character designs take some getting used to--to phrase it diplomatically--and it obviously didn't have a very large budget. I'm not saying Kanon looks terrible or anything, but it's hard to deny that there are much better anime (visually speaking, of course) out there. ~Dagger~

[quote name='marking time']For example I started a tread about an manga i liked called Lament of the Lamb. I said in the thread that i love the manga and asked if there was anyone out there that liked it as much as me. Now if you ask me that is a good descussion starter. though short, very effective.[/quote] The problem is, that kind of question encourages people to answer with a simple yes or no. When starting a series-specific thread, it's a good rule of thumb to briefly explain what you're referring to. It's not as though everything you write has to be either super-short or long and complicated. Just let others know what you're talking about--i.e. "I've read three volumes of Lament of the Lamb, and I really love it. It's a serious vampire story with interesting-looking artwork. So far, my favorite character is the protagonist's sister. Has anyone else read this?"... and so on and so forth. It's quite possible to provide other members with some frame of reference (and, in the process, help faciliate a more interesting & involving discussion) without posting a novel-length summary/critique/whatever. [quote]...It's sometimes hard to have fun in a forum when about one out of every 5 posts a person makes is critisized.[/QUOTE] I'm not quite sure where you're coming from here. From what I can tell, you've been rebuked only once. Care to elaborate? ~Dagger~

Feel free to private message Ozymandius Jones (or, alternatively, post in one of her Art Studio threads) if you would like to critique and/or compliment her work. Creating a whole new topic simply to congratulate an individual member is rather counter-productive, particularly since she has already posted some of her banners and avatars in this forum. :animeswea Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Magun]i agree almost all anime translated has been cut to make it worse omfg what has the world come to if they cut the good bits out of naruto ...........................[SIZE=4][COLOR=Red]I WILL KILL ALL OF THEM ALL WHO MUTILATE NARUTO WILL DIE WITH A GIANT LAZOR[/COLOR][/SIZE] :mad: they should be ashamed of themselves its destroying the "art and culture" of anime i dont mean to be blun but IT IS!!!!!!! stupid americans!!!! no offence but they are the ones that sub them and cut them so sorry if i offended you but its the truth!!!!![/QUOTE] Next time, please learn to spell before you start flaming an entire nation. :animesigh On that note, your excessive smilies & long string of hypens were screwing up the alignment of the page, so I edited your reply to compensate for that. Honestly, your post is really pushing it in a number of regards--here at OB we try to encourage clear, coherent discussions, and so members are expected to adhere to the basic conventions of punctuation, grammar, etc. It definitely helps if you're able to express your opinions calmly; making wild threats and using a ridiculous number of exclamation points won't exactly add weight to your argument. If you don't attempt to keep these things in mind, some of your future posts will almost certainly be deleted as spam. EDIT: Oh, wait, this person is already banned. My bad. :animeswea ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Neuvoxraiha][COLOR=MediumTurquoise]There has been an error. Please contact the administrator. No dice.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] Ugh... oh well. To be honest, that's all I really felt safe doing--I don't want to mess around too much and risk screwing anything up. But I'll see if I can get you some help. I actually had a similar problem when I deleted my myO account. At the time, though, my concern was simply getting rid of the dead link that continued to show up every time I posted, rather than attaching a new account. I'm awfully sorry that I can't do much to assist you at the moment, but I'll try to learn more about this for the future, for whatever it's worth. :animeswea EDIT: In case it helps any other staff members who take a look at this thread, Raiha's myO user number was 22. ~Dagger~

I erased the attached information of the myO account which you had deleted, so hopefully you should now have the ability to attach your new account. Let me know if that works out. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Tri-my-Gun']depeding on his age i would say Ninja Scroll the movie is one of the best, but there is a sex scene and nudity and alot of gore, soo its about his age.. but something not so bad age wise would be "X" the movie :)[/quote] Which, funnily enough, is also packed with nudity and gore (albeit of nudity & gore of a somewhat less offensive variety). On the other hand, [b]X TV[/b] is a totally different animal; it may not be quite as flashy-looking, but it definitely has a lot more soul. The Tokyo Babylon OVA (already recommended by boxybrown305) would serve to complement it nicely. [b]Last Exile[/b] should be a safe bet, particularly if--as the original poster suggested--the person in question has the patience for something like Tsukihime. It offers a uniquely immersive viewing experience and lacks the generic feel that plagues more than a few of GONZO's other anime. ~Dagger~

[quote name='kennet1977']May I ask when this thread became a sub/dub debate? Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining too much but I thought that this was supposed to be on the status of anime.[/quote] A lot of people who posted earlier in the thread seemed to blame "dubbing companies" or "licensing companies" for what they perceived to be the poor state of anime, either on American television or in general. I sort of protested that, and one or two members responded to my comment. Seeing how as JenniKate answered the original question, it's hardly fair (in my opinion) to imply that she ended up dragging the topic off on a tangent, or something to that effect. If the subject of subs vs. dubs came to dominate the entire discussion, then maybe a thread-split would be in order, but thus far that certainly hasn't happened. ~Dagger~

[quote name='RahXephon']I can't seem to remember the name of this one anime. I can remember that i turned it off half way through the first episode. It had a lot of computer generated sequences and the people where fighting "ghouls" in outer space using robots. I remember turning it off because all of the women had oversized chests. That kind of thing just annoys me. I can agree however with Panda.[/quote] [b]Divergence Eve[/b], perhaps? Usually I try not to let character designs sway me one way or the other (for example, even though I initially disliked the character designs in Scrapped Princess, I eventually came to appreciate them), but there are some cases in which I can look at the artwork and immediately decide that a certain show isn't for me. Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is probably the best example of this--those outfits are just too ridiculous. I can't stomach the women in Godannar or the aformentioned Divergence Eve, either. There are some very rare cases in which I drop an anime or refuse to even begin watching it because of thematic elements. For instance, "fake incest" really annoys me, to the point that I can't bring myself to check out something like Da Capo or Please Twins. I don't mind it when the subject is treated seriously (I absolutely love Koi Kaze, after all), but when it's trivialized it just aggravates me. You know, anything that resembles the whole "Wait, it's okay, you're adopted! Now we can go make sweet, sweet love!" schtick. That's the kind of plot device that can totally destroy my enjoyment of a show, even more so than a sudden overdose of fake cuteness or angst. :animeangr ~Dagger~

Well, if we're talking about television series, absolutely nothing (Stand Alone Complex included!) can compare to AIR TV. It's gorgeous, and not just in terms of animation--its character designs, its artwork and its use of color are all breath-taking. Even the more ordinary-looking episodes, such as episode 10, are far above the level of an regular TV anime. And while watching the Summer Arc, I pretty much sat there slack-jawed in amazement--it perfectly combined meticulously drawn backgrounds with lavish animation. Suffice it to say that Kyoto Animation is single-handedly setting new standards for the industry. ~Dagger~

Shonen Jump is available in English, but it's not identical to the Japanese version. Moreover, some series have been edited, presumably in order to keep the magazine's rating down. Thanks to the censorship (plus the fact that few of the American SJ manga hold any particular interest for me), I'm not a subscriber. However, I'm really interested in Shojo Beat, Viz's upcoming shoujo magazine. Not only will it have a higher rating than Shonen Jump--and hopefully that will preclude any possible cuts--but they've also taken the trouble to license an absolutely fantastic selection of manga to be featured in the first few issues, including works by Kaori Yuki (!!) and Yuu Watase. So it looks as they though they know what they're doing this time around. ~Dagger~

Oh, good. I was starting to worry that this thread would turn into Spoiler Central. Anyway, I'm glad that I now know how to spell Homunculus (which is, I assume, the singular form of the word). I'm eager to meet Envy, if only because a) there seems to be a lot of confusion over his gender, and b) he's apparently a big favorite with the slash fandom, which is always kind of nice, heh. Anyway, is the green hair supposed to be some sort of visual pun? :animeswea ~Dagger~

Once again, I'm starting to wonder whether FMA has any [i]bad[/i] episodes. I mean, it's really a good thing that the new episodes are spread apart by a week, since I'd stand a high chance of spontaneously combusting if I encountered all of this awesomeness in one sitting. On that note, the most recent episode was very satisfying. More specifically, Vic Mignogna's voice acting has reached new heights of excellence (and at just the right time, too--when he had his big outburst about [spoiler]the so-called final ingredient,[/spoiler] it actually sent chills down my spine). I almost feel like a bad person for saying this, but now I want Ed to get into all sorts of horrible, heart-wrenching situations, just for the sake of hearing Mr. Mignogna use the same sublimely anguished tone he used last night. Plus, I also got my Lust fix for the week! She's even more attractive with that wild, bloodthirsty look on her face. Suddenly I'm tempted to switch avatars. :animeshy: ~Dagger~

[quote name='DeathBug']Furi Kuri blew my mind in terms of visuals for a TV series. The animation quality was high, and consistant from episode to episode.[/quote] That's because it wasn't originally a TV series, but rather an OVA. ;) Which is one of the reasons I'd like the original poster to clarify whether he's talking about television series or about anime in general. Because obviously there are considerations of budget & length to keep in mind--for example, Stand Alone Complex looks great for a 52-episode TV show, but it certainly wouldn't make for a very impressive movie. Similarly, the R.O.D OVA's action sequences are more fluid and lavish than those of the corresponding TV anime. ~Dagger~

Just a quick note before I wander off to catch the next episode: I've been reading up on what people who have seen the Japanese version think of this adaptation, and the prognosis is looking slightly less hopeful. To answer the question I posed in an earlier post, there were indeed several (minor) name changes other than Gash becoming Zatch. Suzume became Suzy (Suzie?) and the rooftop bully's original name was [i]not[/i] Kaine. Unfortunately I can't remember enough details to comment further on that issue. As for visual edits, they're apparently normal for a Toonami show--not much heavier than what was done to Yu Yu Hakusho, for example. Zatch was given boxers toward the beginning of the episode (and I believe a comedic shot of his penis was removed, for obvious reasons). The bathtub scene supposedly underwent a lot of cropping and zooming in order to get some more Zatch nudity out of the picture. At least so far, though, it seems like none of the cuts will have any bearing on the progression of the actual story, which is a good thing. But I sincerely hope they use the real names & restore censored footage in the DVDs (for the subtitled version, at least). EDIT: What the...!? Okay, now I'm really pissed. :animeangr On the one hand, the second episode is as deliciously cheesy as the first (and confirmed my suspicion that Suzume getting in danger is going to be a running joke). On the other hand, it features what is quite possibly the worst editing job I've ever seen (and no, I haven't watched the 4Kids version of One Piece, but this is really pushing things). A gun was hideously redrawn into some kind of... globular mass. Much as I want to give ShoPro the benefit of the doubt, stuff like this doesn't exactly encourage me to think positively about them. The episode three preview looked pretty awesome, though. I'm totally loving the designs for Zatch and all the other, uh, little people. ~Dagger~

Ya know, lately I've been starting to feel as though I'm the only person here who ever has anything good to say about licensing companies. It's getting kind of lonely. And I [i]like[/i] dubs... :animedepr Seriously, I think it's unfair to say dubs in general are awful based simply on what's shown on television. It's unfortunate, but 4Kids stuff does tend to dominate the airwaves, and it's always going to reflect badly on everything else. What's funny is that it sometimes seems as if fans focus exclusively on what's turned out terribly (One Piece & etc.) while totally ignoring the fact that, yes, there are anime on TV which have solid dubs and manage to air pretty much uncut. Fullmetal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, anyone? What about Witch Hunter Robin? Wolf's Rain? Big O? FLCL? We'll hopefully be able to add Samurai Champloo & Paranoia Agent to that list once summer rolls around (both of those series already have superb dubs, by the way; we just don't know if/how much they'll be edited). Which brings me back to my original point: we have a lot to look forward to. At least, I know I do. ~Dagger~

Welcome to OtakuBoards, Transmutation. Before posting again, you need go read OB's [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?][u]Rules[/u][/url], which explicitly state that soliciting or providing links to copyrighted material (including anime, manga, ROMs, movies, etc.) is unacceptable, not to mention illegal. If you're at all confused about our policies or about how this website works, the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/faq.php?][u]FAQ[/u][/url] may also help to clear some things up. If, on the other hand, you are interested in [i]legally[/i] obtaining DVDs, CDs and so forth, you might want to check out [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=45708][u]this[/u][/url] thread, which offers links to some reliable online stores. On that note, this isn't the right forum for discussing anime & manga; next time, visit the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27][u]Anime Lounge[/u][/url] and/or the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=81][u]Manga Workshop[/u][/url] if you plan on creating threads related to either medium of entertainment. As always, you can private message me or one of the other staff members if you still have questions or concerns. Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Going by when each of the series you mentioned first appeared on Japanese television, Yu-Gi-Oh originally started airing in 1998, seven years ago. Pokemon originally started airing in 1997, eight years ago. Inuyasha originally started airing in 2000, five years ago. G Gundam originally started airing in 1994, eleven years ago. The first SD Gundam OVA series dates back to the late 80s. But I assume you're referring to the recent "SD Gundam Force" television show, which actually premiered in the US before it came to Japan (and has pretty much no connection to the other anime that bear the "SD Gundam" name). It's an anomaly no matter how you slice things. Suffice it to say that I'm not seeing any kind of trend. Anyway, it's funny you should mention this, because I totally disagree. Just the other day I came to the realization that 2004 was the single best year (anime-wise, of course) I've ever had. At least three of my top ten series aired last year (Fafner, Elfen Lied and Melody of Oblivion, for those curious). With so many awesome-looking shows set to come out in 2005, I can only assume that things will continue to get better and better. Yeah, the majority of anime is crap--but that's always been true, and holds true for any form of entertainment. I can't help but feel that your fatalism is both unfounded and kind of ridiculous. On the other hand, I would definitely be up for a discussion of the American & Japanese anime markets--particularly the oft-referenced American "bubble" and the positive/negative effects that flattening sales, consolidation, increased involvement of Japanese companies, etc. may have on the industry. That's the kind of thing fans are usually talking about when they make sweeping statements like "Anime is dying." If there is any trouble looming on the horizon, it will be related to economic stuff, not a lack of ambition/creativity or whatever. EDIT: Try to watch your post quality a bit. You could easily have just edited that one-liner into your original post, rather than quoting Sea Of Chaos666's entire paragraph. ~Dagger~

[quote name='EVA Unit 100']Dagger, I noticed that your post didn't mention Full Metal Alchemist, one of the most nuanced shonens of all time. With a few filler episodes excused, most of the time I have trouble beleiving it was even a kids' show! It probably ranks up there with EVA, Utena, and Justice League Season 2 in terms of "kids' shows that were really not kids' shows".[/quote] Mm, good point. I have to admit that this isn't quite what I had in mind--I was referring more to series that are obviously aimed at children than ones which seem sort of ambiguous. In my mind, Evangelion and Utena (and even FMA, albeit to a lesser extent) just aren't appropriate for people under a certain age; regardless of their intended Japanese audience, I sure as heck wouldn't show them to any kid easily scared/disturbed. Many of the underlying elements in Evangelion and Utena run the risk of either traumatizing or flying straight over the head of a child viewer. Much as I like all three of the anime you mentioned, the shows I originally had in mind were ones that tackle serious topics while remaining very child-friendly and relatively child-appropriate. Vague Utena spoilers: [spoiler]On the other hand, it would be kind of amusing (in an evil scientist sort of way) to show Utena to impressionable young kids and see what kind of effect it might have on them, haha. Especially with all of the blatant incest, rampant hormones and homoeroticism in the second & third seasons. And then there's the movie, which has all of the above plus stylized nudity and a homosexual rape scene...[/spoiler] @Noside: Yes, "Knights of the Zodiac" was heavily censored. I can't speak to the quality of the original version of the series (Saint Seiya), but I can only assume that it was somewhat less... preposterous, heh. ~Dagger~

RPG sign-ups belong in the Adventure Inn, a sub-forum of the Adventure Square. Before posting there, I advise you to read Arcadia's [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=44318][u]Adventure Square Basics[/u][/url] thread, which does a superb job of explaining how RPGs work around here. As she mentions, all RPGs must include a well-thought-out backstory (and good post quality definitely helps). It's also important to keep in mind that RPG sign-ups--as well as the actual RPG threads--need to be properly rated. Arcadia's sticky topic describes OB's rating system in detail, so hopefully you won't have any problem getting into the swing of things. If you have any questions, feel free to private message me or one of the Arena moderators. Thanks! Thread closed. ~Dagger~

Some yaoi/yuri also falls under that category (although it usually isn't referred to as hentai, for whatever reason). People will get picky about terminology and tell you that "yaoi" only refers to sexually explicit material, while "shounen-ai" is basically everything else, but this is kind of misleading, given the history of these terms and the fact that they've dropped out of common use in the Japanese fandom. Personally, I tend to use "yaoi" and "yuri" as catch-all words for everything dealing with same-sex relationships, whether explicit or totally innocent. ~Dagger~

This is not the place to search for specific players of any game (and in any case, I should think that your chances of locating Zaq1425 simply by posting here are rather minimal). I recommend that you brush up on your knowledge of OtakuBoards' policies, preferably by re-reading the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?][u]Rules[/u][/url] and [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/faq.php?][u]FAQ[/u][/url]. To date, your post quality has been somewhat less than exceptional, and it'd be great if you put forth an effort to improve. Your posts don't have to be perfect, but using proper spelling and so forth will simply make them that much easier to read & understand. If you would like to discuss Runescape, feel free to post about it in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14][u]PC/Mac[/u][/url] forum. And if you have questions, please private message me or one of the other staff members. Thanks! Thread closed. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Retribution][size=1][b]Killer[/b] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/mechinfinity/killer.jpg[/IMG][/SIZE][/QUOTE] I like how Shinji (that is Shinji, right?) looks--the softness of the image is nice, and the slight glow works well without being too blurry. The background just doesn't do anything for me, though--pure black might be better. On the other hand, the tiny little sweat-drop-esque splotches to his left are great. The grid-like areas are okay, but I don't really care for the larger circles & lines--they feel somewhat aimless. That faded, dark gray kind of clashes with color palette of the stock image; however, I can't say what I'd replace it with, heh. And a thicker border would do this one some good, I think. The font fits in pretty nicely. Using white & that drop shadow-y style was a good move. The text is also well placed, relative to the rest of the banner. I hope that helped. :catgirl: ~Dagger~

I've been adding the "Former Username" tag to the signatures of the members whose names I've changed... but they usually get rid of it pretty quickly. :animeswea I completely sympathize with your complaint; until I actually started performing them myself, name changes often confused the heck out of me--even if the one involved already had a very distinctive post style. I agree that it would be extremely helpful if members who have name changes tried to make at least some reference to their former handles. On that note, I've seen people erase the line I added to their signatures, replacing it with a more creatively worded way of indicating who they used to be. This works fine, too, as long as the phrasing is relatively clear; at any rate it's better than nothing. ~Dagger~