EVA Unit 100

The EVA units don't run out of energy. They're [spoiler]alive[/spoiler]. Anyway, the EVAs would win ([spoiler]although Unit 03 was infected by the virus that turned it into an angel and had to be destroyed soon afterwards[/spoiler]) in the battle. However, I'm afraid that the mods might end up closing this thread due to not wanting too many "Who Would Win?" threads. Before that happens, I think I might want to change the topic of this thread to whether Gundam SEED or Evangelion is the better show. It's an interesting comparison: both are mecha series, both psuedo-remakes of older series, both deal with heavy themes. Personally, while EVA is overall the better show (i.e. better plot, more dramatic, funnier, makes you think more, etc.), I have to say Gundam SEED has amazing characters and is a faithful remake of the original Gundam. [COLOR=#503F86][SIZE=1][b]White text is alright, but the proper [*spoiler] and [*/spoiler] tags work better (minus the [*]) ^_~ -Solo[/COLOR][/SIZE][/b]

Whether something can really be considered offensive or not depends on the context and the use of it. When watching The Simpsons or Family Guy, you know that Matt Groening and Seth MacFarlane don't really believe all of their slams against everyone. However, when it comes to something like the KKK hate crimes that recently occured at the town high school from where I live, that is definately racist and prejudiced and gives you every right to be very angry.

Here's a solution: The most debated part of the land is Jerusalem, right? Well, instead of fighting over who gets Jerusalem or not, simply turn Jerusalem into a mini-country of itself. It wouldn't be controlled by the Jews (who'd still have control over the state of Israel) or the Pallestinians (who'd still be the main force in all of their current countries), but it'd be a place of itself, where people of all religions could come to live and pray at their holy places without any concrete government. The people who live there perminantly could chose to either be a citizen of Israel or one of the Arab countries and obey that country's laws but still live in Jerusalem. Wouldn't that solve everything?

[quote name='Solo Tremaine][COLOR=#503F86']Duel Masters[/COLOR][/quote] If you were talking about the original Japanese version, you'd be right. However, the dub of the show tries to be less of a Yu-Gi-Oh clone and more of a parody. There is still the selling-cards-to-kids thing in the concept, but the actual diolauge is just plain silly. Any anime where out of nowhere characters say stuff like "I love flashbacks as much as the next kid, but we've already seen this one 4 times since episode 10 and it's getting annoying" or "Iiiiiiii ssssoouuunnnndddddd aaaawwwwwwweeeesssssssoooooommmmmmme iiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnn sssssllllllloooooooowww-mmmooo!" is certainly worth a laugh for me. Anyway, while series like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and even G Gundam get on my nerves, I'm fine with commercially-successful anime as long as it's good, although it is a pain occasionally when some fans make out a show to be greater than it is (Inu-Yasha being one of the biggest examples of this). Ultimately many of the animes that aren't commercial successes that proclaim themselves "high-art" are usually just trying to use elements from a few high-end successful animes (usually Evangelion or something) and repurpose those few elements into a package of a lower-quality than where those elements came from (Kon's movies are some of the expeceptions to this rule). Most of the animes I would personally consider to truely be art, such as Evangelion, Bebop, FLCL, FMA, and Miyazaki's movies to name a few, actually tend to be ones of relative comercial success.

Here's a MEGAS XLR fanscript I've been working on. It's an Evangelion parody. Hope you enjoy it. Dengo: Jinshi Spencer, you know what your mission is? Jinshi: Yes, father. Dengo: Using the Evprostestiont Unit 001, you shall destroy the Prophets that are attacking Tokyo-Cubed by penetrating the BO-Field and preventing a possible 3rd Destruction. Jinshi: What will become of the people of Osaka-Cubed? Dengo: Just let ?em die. Jinshi: What are the Prophets? Dengo: That is top-secret business. Mitaso: Jinshi! You are a member of WETT! You deserve to know what they are! The Prophets are... Dengo: OK, you can tell the kid, but I need to go to my room to form a new top-secret convolution. (Walks away muttering) Mitaso: (Flashes slides on the giant computer screen) The Prophets are a series of mechs that have come from an unknown source. If they colide with the remains of their creator, they shall lead to Earth?s destruction. These Prophets include such beasts as REGIS, The Megazorp, T-Bot, and the most dangerous of all: the MEGAS. (Pause) Jinshi: What is it with the people who designed this plugsuit? (Theme song plays. Afterwards, cut to Coop, Jamie, and Kiva walking in the middle of Tokyo-Cubed.) Coop: Wow! Tokyo-Cubed is sweet! Gibly Studios, Nentindo HQ, that place that makes Pocky, what can?t you find in this place? Jamie: Some cute-- (Turns to see Sakua and Eri) Wowza! (Runs over to Sakua and Eri) So what do you girls think of giant robots? Sakua: Hello! We professionally pilot them, stupid! Jamie: Wow, you get paid to smash things? Sakua: Well, whenever our boss doesn?t feel too evil. Jamie: You know, I love smashing things. Eri: What is this emotion of love you speak of? (Jamie sulks) Sakua: The name?s Sakua. Sakua Grant. That?s Eri. Don?t mind her. She?s a bit weird. I, on the other hand, am the greatest child in all of Germany. Jamie: Cool. So where do you work? Sakua: Over at WETT Headquarters. Jamie: I?ll try to make it there. (Camera zooms back out to Coop) Coop: Don?t you think Tokyo-Cubed is awesome? Kiva: It?s OK. A bit low-tech, but? Coop: Low-tech? They have cell-phones that can open garage doors! Kiva: By primitive standards, it?s excellent, but it?s nowhere near as good as the Tokyo I knew. Coop: What Tokyo did you know? Kiva: Tokyo-To-The-Three-Googolthed-Power. Goat: Woah! Kiva: Hey! How did you get here? Goat: Stowaway. Coop: How?d you pull that off? (Cut to cargo plane with Goat inside) Goat: (Bag falls on head) Ow. (Bag falls on head) Ow. (Bag falls on head) Hey, this bag has pizza! (Bag falls on head) Ow. (Cut back to Tokyo-Cubed) Kiva: Goat, in case you didn?t know, the Glorft war all began when general Gorrath became the most qualified rocket pilot out of a class of one. All the other pilots in existence were stowaways. Just goes to show that crime doesn?t pay, unless you?re in the mafia, or something. Coop: And that pizza was MINE! (Beats up Goat) Kiva: Oy vey! I?m surrounded by animals! You do pronounce it ?oy vey?, right? Coop: (Stops beating up Goat) It?s OK. I?m cool. I?ll drop you off at the airport and buy you a ticket to freedom. Goat: Where?s your rental? Coop: Aw, crap. Where?s the MEGAS when you most need it? Jinshi: (Walks up in the Evprostestiont) MEGAS? You mean The Prophet? (Cut to Jamie at doors of WETT Headquarters) Jamie: So, can I apply for a job here? Security Guard: No! Only authorized personnel can enter WETT! (Electrically shocks Jamie) Jamie: Is there any way I can become authorized personnel? Security Guard: Tell me about your college education! Jamie: I majored in video gaming for one year. Then I dropped out after a brawl with the Dean about the quality difference between Nentindo and SonE. (Gets electrically shocked by the Security Guard again) Security Guard: In order for you to be a member of WETT, you must retake college! Jamie: Like you even went to college. Security Guard: HEY! I IS GOOD AT JOBING! (Electrically shocks Jamie yet again. Cut to Coop, Jamie, Goat, and Jinshi in the middle of Tokyo-Cubed) Coop: Prophet? What prophet? Are you talking about that gypsy who predicted that I would give her a dollar so she would tell me my fortune? (Sobs) I was going to spend that dollar on a soda! Jinshi: The Prophet! I was told to defeat The Prophet by my evil father! I?m a nerd and thus can?t fight back against him, so I?ll just put forth his every will and whine a lot! Why am I piloting this dang machine? It was only made to kill! Coop: Hello! You are piloting a giant robot! This is every kids? dream! That and to eat the world?s largest sub. How come you are denying your own childhood? Jinshi: I?m not a child! I?m an angsty teen! AN ANGSTY TEEN! Coop: Angsty teen my butt! Kiva, activate teleporting technology! Kiva: Roger. (Opens up the teleporting remote control and presses some buttons. MEGAS pops up in the middle of Tokyo-Cubed.) Coop: Let?s get busy! (Enters the MEGAS and beats up the Evprotestiont) Jinshi: You might have won this time, but I am not alone in my battle! Let me introduce my fellow pilots Eri and Sakua. (Eri and Sakua?s Evprotestionts walk up next Jinshi?s Evprotestions) Together we will defeat you Prophet and prevent the 3rd Destruction from occurring and wiping out humanity! Coop: Dude! I?d never wipe out humanity? Except in video games, and RPGs, and I might have smashed a congressman or two, but destroying the entire human race just ain?t cool! Jinshi: Then get out of The Prophet! Coop: Never! (Resumes beating up all 3 Evprotestionts. Cut to Jamie at college.) Jamie: This stinks! I have to major in both quanto-tech-mech-nuclear-future-cloning- apocalypse-pessimist-fictional-engineering: hard edition AND psychobabble just to get into WETT? Girl Student: You think you got it tough? Girls who want a job there have to do all that plus minor in fanservice! Jamie: I know where I?m going during the study break! (Drools. Cut to the MEGAS fighting Jinshi?s Evprotestiont. The Evprotestiont pulls off MEGAS?s arm. The arm explodes. Cut to the next day in battle. The MEGAS is holding out two lightsabers, Jinshi?s Evprotestiont tries grabing the two lightsabers and its arms burn off. Cut to the next day in battle. Jinshi?s and Eri?s Evprotestionts charge toward the MEGAS with oversized guns. The MEGAS transforms into a drill and drills though them. Cut to the next day of battle. The MEGAS flips it?s head upside down and on the other side there is a giant tongue with a bomb at the tip. Sakua?s Evprotestiont stabs the bomb with its Deprogressive Knife, and the bomb explodes. Cut to the next day of battle. Jinshi?s and Sakua?s Evprotestionts are dancing symmetrically toward MEGAS when The Jammer is activated and the Evprotestionts fall down. Cut to the next day of battle. All 3 Evprotestionts are diving down a volcano and are about to grab an egg. The egg suddenly bursts open and out comes the MEGAS which squeezes the Evprotestionts extremely hard. Cut to the next day of battle. Sitruko and Mitaso are breaking into MEGAS?s power cell. They both get electrically shocked. Cut the next day of battle. Coop and Kiva are flying the MEGAS through space. A Deprogressive Knive flies through space about to hit the MEGAS, but hits the bandaged PoPTV satellite instead. Cut to the next day of battle. MEGAS takes out the extension cord of Jinshi?s Evprotestiont out of the outlet and replugs it onto itself. Jinshi?s Evprotestiont starts hitting itself. Cut to the next day of battle.) Coop: You know, angsty teen, this thing is starting to get kind of pointless. Everyone knows that my robot?s going to kick your robot?s butt. Why should you even try to beat something that?s going to kill you? Unless that thing is Story of Zeilda II. I still can?t beat that dang game! Jinshi: My name isn?t angsty teen! It?s Jinshi! Coop: But you told me you were an angsty teen. Jinshi: That is only part of the real me! The real me is Jinshi! JINSHI! Evprotestiont 001: But what is Jinshi? Who is Jinshi? Coop: Did I just hear that robot talk? Jinshi: It?s not a robot! Coop: Wow, I never knew you had such a wide vocal range. Jinshi: But I didn?t say that! Coop: You didn?t say ?that?, you said ?But what is Jinshi? Who is Jinshi?? I heard you perfectly. Jinshi: I wasn?t the one talking! Coop: So it wasn?t you. Jinshi: Uh-huh. Coop: And it wasn?t the robot. Jinshi: Uh-uh. Coop: It wasn?t me. Jinshi: Probably not. Coop: Dude! I am me! I can hear everything I say, and I know I wasn?t the one saying the freaky stuff! (Muttering) Lousy son of a- (Normally) Now, what was I saying? Jinshi: I can?t wait with idiots! And I can?t wait with geniuses! And not with 2nd-class businessmen! I can?t even wait with myself! WHAT WAS I MEANT TO DO? I HATE LIFE! Coop: Oh, I got it! The words were spoken by a Speak-n-Spell inside the robot! Jinshi: I am not piloting a robot! Coop: Then what is that freakishly huge thing that you?re fighting me with? Jinshi: My mother?s soul! Coop: Did you just go the mushroom farm or something, because you are whacked! Jinshi: No I?m not! Coop: But you will be! (The MEGAS whacks Evprostiont Unit 001 on head with a tree. The Evprotestiont leaps onto the MEGAS and is about to bite off the MEGAS?s head.) Now would any good mother want to do that? Jinshi: It?s only protecting me! Coop: Protecting you from what? A fat guy who plays too much video games and watches too much TV? The worst thing I?ve ever done was read the script to The Matrix Recycled to a 7th Grade class. And that movie shouldn?t have been rated R, it should have been rated PG-13! It?s not like kids can actually see butt cracks when I?m reading a script! And it was Jamie who forced me to smash Ben Franklin?s house! Jinshi: I?m saving the world from The Prophet! The Prophet will destroy all humanity! MEGAS is The Prophet and must be destroyed! Coop: Mechs aren?t evil! It?s only the people who use them that are evil, and I ain?t evil! The only machine in the hands of a good person is? Well, you aren?t exactly who I would call a good person, but you get the picture! Jinshi: What can be bad about the Evprotestionts? (Coop points to Eri?s Evprotestiont which is trying to eat off it?s own arms) Eri: I am just a vessel! Let me become one with the real me! (Camera zooms to Sakua?s Evprotestiont which is reading its instruction manual.) Sakua: AAAAAAAH! MENTAL ATTACK! (Cut to college) Professor: OK, students of quanto-tech-mech-nuclear-future-cloning-apocalypse-pessimist-fictional-engineering: hard edition! Today, with everyone?s thesis due tomorrow, our class will be taking a trip to WETT Headquarters today. Jamie: (Jumps on desk) YAHOO! IN YOUR FACE, SECURITY GUARD! (Everyone stares at him) What? (Cut to the class at WETT) Sitruko: Welcome to WETT HQ. Founded by Dengo Spencer in 2000 after the 2nd Destruction, AKA The Y2K Bug, WETT is dedicated to using its Evprotestiont technology and several mentally abused teenagers to prevent the apocalypse from occurring due to the fearsome Prophet mechs. Jamie: (whispering) The Y2K Bug, hmm? (Calls Kiva on cell-phone) Kiva, I have a question to ask you. Kiva: (on the other end of the line) Ask away. Jamie: Do you know anything about The Y2K Bug? I figured you?d know something I wouldn?t, with you being a future space soldier chick and all. Kiva: Of course I know everything there is to know about it, it was part of the ancient history unit in the 1st Grade. Jamie: Tell me what you learned. Kiva: Well, in the 2000? Jamie: I know. Kiva: Scientists were afraid of the inevitable computer function to return to the year 0, thus forcing all electronic devices to render themselves unusable by the human population, causing history to repeat itself. Jamie: Hello! I was alive at the time! Please give me something I wouldn?t have learned from The Jersey Gazette, which is pretty much everything about anything. Thank heavens I switched to the Times. Kiva: What the general public was unaware of was that the United Nations received this information not from scientists, but from the threats of the then unrecognized Glorft military. Jamie: Thanks for the information. Now I gotta go do some important business. Goodbye, Kiv. Kiva: So long, Jay. Jamie: (Turns of cell-phone) Wow, she actually got it right this time. (Runs off from the group) Sitruko: Hey, you can?t leave the group. (Pulls out blaster) Professor: Hey, you can?t use guns on a school trip! Sitruko: This ain?t a gun, it?s a blaster. Professor: OK. Jamie: (Quickly dodges Sitruko?s blasts and runs to the information databank computer) Wow, the heart of WETT! This will reveal everything! (Types in something) Eureka. (Calls Coop on cell-phone) Coop, I have some important information concerning the Evprotestionts. Oh, and also something about Eri. (Cut to the beach where Jinshi is sitting) Jinshi: My father kicked me out, then he forced me back into a top-secret opperation, and then a fat guy is trying to lecture me he?s wrong? I HATE LIFE! Jamie: I?m going to inevitably get an A+ with flying colors, I?ll have to pilot something that is going to kill me to make a living, and they?re serving liver for dinner. I HATE LIVER! Jinshi: (turns head to Jamie) Did you say life? Jamie: (turns head to Jinshi) Did you say liver? Jinshi: Wow, for the first time in my life, I?ve found someone who may or may not give jack about me! Jamie: Good for you. Jinshi: Suddenly I don?t feel so sad. I feel happy! Jamie: Cool, I guess we can be friends. Jinshi: Do you love me? Do you really love me? Jamie: What are you talking about? Jinshi: I guess what you?re trying to say is that you love me? (Hugs Jamie) Jamie: WHAT THE FIRE TRUCK ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT!?! I?M NOT INTO THAT SORT OF THING! (Hits Jinshi on the head) Jinshi: Come on! I?m a mecha pilot trying to defeat MEGAS. Jamie: Dude, I am the personal trainer and advisor to the owner of MEGAS! Jinshi: HOW CAN THIS BE? (Jumps into Evprotestiont Unit 001 and grabs Jamie with it) I don?t want to have to kill you, but I must! Jamie: Of course, you can kill me. I don?t deserve to live. Jinshi: OK. (Starts squeezing Jamie with the Evprotestiont Unit 001) Jamie: I was being sarcastic! I didn?t mean that! AIIIIIIIGH! (An engine sound starts in the background. Cut to a spilt-screen view of the MEGAS. The camera zooms out in full-screen to show MEGAS is right next to the Evprotestiont Unit 001) You came! Coop: Anything for a good friend! (Uses the MEGAS to hit Evprotestiont Unit 100 on the head. The robot shell of the Evprotestiont shatters to reveal Gorrath Clone) Still a momma?s boy, Jinshi Spencer? Gorrath Clone: It is true! I, clone of Gorrath, clone of the original maker of the 1st Prophet, have burst from my controlled shell and will now kill you all! (Gets kicked by MEGAS and falls unconscious) Jamie: (Walks out from Gorrath Clone?s corpse) Horray! I?m free! (Evprotestionts Units 000 and 002 come up to attack MEGAS) Hide me! (The Evprotestionts fight MEGAS and block all attacks) Coop: There is only one way to defeat these guys. The ?Ax! Jamie: Don?t do it! You might kill someone by accident! Coop: I?m doin? it! (Presses ?Are You Sure This is a Good Idea?? button. The MEGAS whacks the Evprotestionts with a guitar. Otakus pop out around the guitar and run around in circles surround the Evprotestionts and Gorrath Clone corpse speaking Japanese-sounding jibberish until the Evprotestionts and Gorrath clone corpse fall down through the ground to the city of Atlantis. Cut back to the ground. Jamie gets into the MEGAS. The MEGAS runs quickly away from the flood caused by the Evprotestionts? and the Gorrath Clone?s splash. It grabs Kiva in the middle of the city. Cut to Goat by the airport talking to Eri) Goat: So you, like, smash things for a living? (Is pulled away from Eri by the MEGAS) Call me! Kiva: (Teleports the MEGAS back to the house. She, Coop, Jamie, and Goat get on board the airplane) That went well. We destroyed the half the city, but we saved the Earth from total destruction. And with the instant reprogramming software I installed everywhere in the city, everything there should be back to normal in 5 seconds. Professor: (Walks down the airplane isle) Hey! You need to tell me your thesis! Jamie: In case you didn?t know, I dropped out. Professor: You can?t drop out now! You were at the most prestigious tech school in all of Asia! Just tell me what you learned! Jamie: I dunno. 14-year-old robot pilots cry too much? Professor: Dang, you got an F! Please drop out now! Jamie: With pleasure. Goat: I never got to say goodbye to Eri! Jamie: I never told you this, but she wasn?t even a real living being! Goat: Hurray! Now I don?t have to dump Purple Ultra Chick! Coop: All I care about is that the world is safe and we can watch wrestling on this in-flight TV. (Turns on TV, where Gorrath is on screen) Gorrath: Attention all Earthenoids! You may have defeated EVPs Units 000 to 002, but WETT created multiple clones of me to assist my evil doing. (Multiple Evprotestionts fly towards the airplane) Kiva: This is going to get very violent. Goat: Too violent. Jamie: Hide me! Gorrath: However, you can avoid this terrible fate for a price. Coop: Please, I can stand anything. Even a Philly Cheese-Steak if I?m starving! And I?m starving! I?ve gotten no ramen in days! Gorrath: Then prepare yourselves for the ultimate torture! (The in-flight TV switches to Jinshi in a dark room) Jinshi: I HATE LIFE! I HATE LIFE! I HATE LIFE! (The credits role with Jinshi continually saying ?I HATE LIFE? on the sidebar)

What's with all the FMA dub hate? I think Ed's dub voice is better than the original, and the overall cast is definately passable. The only dub as a whole I prefered over the sub was Cowboy Bebop. It certainly helped the dub that the show had more influence from American movies than Japanese pop-culture. Fruits' Basket's dub is equally brilliant to the sub in terms of energy. It is pretty hard to compare to the great original Japanese actors, but the American cast pulls off their interpretations well. The Miyazaki movies (both FOX's Totoro and the Disney releases) have all had stable dubs as well once you get used to the Disney tendancy of using the A-star treatment. ADV was once in the middle with great scripts but bad actors but fortunately (in Getbackers, Kino, FMP, even the last volume or two of EVA, etc.) they improved. As for the worst dub, any "butcher" dubs (4Kids stuff, Nelvana stuff, Initial D, Rave Master, DBZ/GT, etc.) I hate. And the Gravitation dub is annoying too.

[quote name='Dagger IX1']That data is from the second episode, right? I remember seeing something along those lines a little while after it aired, and became really confused because I wasn't sure which week they were referring to. ^_^;;[/quote] That data was from the first episode.Every Sunday they have to give Top 3 ratings for the last Sunday and the Saturday before that. I might try to post the Saturday ratings here every week.

It actually turns out FMA got better ratings that GitS. GitS seemed to win over 12-17, FMA got 18-24, and the series tied 25-49. Since 18-24 is AS's highest rated demographic, FMA is overall a bit more successful

[quote name='Inuyasha311'] It a good story and good anime, but Gundam Wing is were it all started.[/quote] Correction: Gundam Wing is where it all started IN AMERICA. In Japan, Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 was the beginning of it all.

[quote name='Humaru']Anime is way to mainstream. people who aren't even fans are starting to like it. Pretty soon somebody who isn't a real fan will find the ob's and exploit it. Then every one will be on this site. This site is for a selected few who respect and love manga and anime. A test to show who really likes anime and manga is to ask them questions on animes and give them a manga to read to see if they know how. We have to stop this .[/quote] What is wrong about people starting to like anime? Shouldn't you be glad that the public is starting to recognize the genius of anime? Ultimately had such animes as Spirited Away, Inu-Yasha, Cowboy Bebop, Gundam Wing, Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Robotech (a compilation, but still anime), Speed Racer, and even Astro Boy made their marks in American pop culture there'd be hardly any "fans" in America to begin with. What logic says anime can't be enjoyed by the mainstream? American cartoons such as The Simpsons and Shrek are huge in the mainstream, and outside the country of origin, some storytelling styles, and a bit more genre diversity and looser censorship, anime as a whole doesn't really have any ultra-huge difference from American cartoons as a whole. And what defines a "true fan"? Someone who loves every series there is? Ultimately, if someone was crazy enough to like Fighting Foodons and Weddding Peach, I don't see how they could possibly understand more intelligent, higher-quality series like Evangelion or Fullmetal Alchemist (no offense if anyone actually does like Fighting Foodons or Wedding Peach). Did you ever take into account that anime is fairly mainstream in Japan? Over there, Doraemon and Lupin are major icons of pop-culture while One Piece and Gundam Destiny are gaining hot ratings and Miyazaki's movies break one record after another. If the Japanese (and even the Mexican) public can respect anime, why can't the American public do so?

I love FMA's dub. From what I've heard of Ed in both the original and the dub, in the dub he sounds better. Vic gets the tone of the character better, and like Dagger said, he makes the comedy funnier. Al's voice i the dub seems very honest and natural. The only casting job I was a bit unsure about was Laura Bailey as Lust, but now I know she can do mysterious and seductive equally well as kind and caring.

Somehow I feel that anime has actually gone a de-mainstreamification. Yes, anime is found on American TV on the Anime Network, the soon-to-be Animax USA, G4Tech TV, Starz Action, Kids' WB, FOXBox, and Cartoon Network, but 2 (soon-to-be 3) of those networks only approx. 15 people recieve, 1 of those networks nobody knows airs anime, and 2 of them don't even ackknowledge what anime is, leaving Cartoon Network the only current option to bring anime into the mainstream. And travelling back in time to 2001, they are doing a damn good job. DBZ is at it's hieght with the new dubbing studio. Sailor Moon is CN's #1 show with girls. Gundam Wing is pushing the definition of "children's programming" to the limit. Tenchi makes the Top 100 list frequently. Outlaw Star is red hot in high-schools. The Big O passes the test of America better than that of Japan. Cowboy Bebop is the most popular show on the original Adult Swim line-up. CN was definately doing something good. Cut to 2004. Toonami is only 4 hours on Saturday, only 2 1/2 of which consist of anime. It's weekday replacement, Miguzi, shows many anime-inspired/rip-off shows but no real anime. Adult Swim mistreats it's anime line-up, failing to make an even balance of anime and non-anime yet not treating the anime that's left like the highlight of the block (although the good treatment of GitS does seem like a positive step in a better direction). Gundam SEED, which did well in the ratings for the 12-17 demographic CN promised the new Toonami would aim for, bombed due to lack of 6-11 year old ratings. Next to no anime on weekdays. And What is left on weekdays? Yu-Gi-Oh. Transformers. Duel Masters (which has a pretty funny dub, but still appears to be like Yu-Gi-Oh and isn't a great example of anime as a whole). 1 hour and 1/2 of AS anime, which includes Inu-Yasha (a good series, but by no means belonging on AS in any way) and the WR/WHR hour (which'll likely put most viewers to sleep, especially with WR, the worse series of the two, airing first). Will this minimal selection on weekdays give anyone in the mainstream a good view of anime? No. If anything, Inu-Yasha could open up some doors if it was given a primetime timeslot just before AS. Most of the anime that's worth anything on CN is either burried in obsucre timeslots on Friday late nights/Saturday early, early, early mornings or airs on Saturday nights, the lowest rated night on TV, without any mainstream fanfare outside of the network itself. Sundays only have on freakin' hour of anime, and it consists of *gak* Yu-Gi-Oh and Super Milk-Chan. CN is a major force in anime becoming mainstream, and if they continue slacking, bad things may happen.

[quote name='Inuyasha7271']I watched Super Milk Chan Chan last night it was the worst thing I ever saw in my entire life I don't know if its the American version thats bad or the whole thing period, but I hate that show its evil I want them to replace it with something else.[/quote] They weren't showing the fully "American" version. Yes it was in English, but it was the direct translation. They also dubbed an Americanized version with a different script that substituted the obscure Japanese pop-culture jokes for equally obscure (but more ballant) American pop-culture jokes. I actually hear the Americanized version is much funnier than the faithful version (which AS airs). I don't know why AS aired the faithful version. Perhaps they were afraid they'd give the industry the wrong impression if the Americanized dub succeeded. What is more puzzling is that ADV co-produced Milk-Chan in Japan, and thus would have just enough power to get the version they wanted. Afterall, if the Americanized version became a bomb in Japan, America was able to lift up The Big O, Cowboy Bebop, and Trigun (three series fairly Americanized from the start) from underappreciated jems into high-class successes.

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]I can't speak for FMA, but I would assume not. As someone who owns the first couple of DVDs, though, I [i]can[/i] confirm that GitS: SAC was totally unedited. I sort of expected AS to cut out the scene in which [spoiler]the robot geisha's head gets splattered to bits,[/spoiler] but it's certainly gratifying that they kept it in. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] They editted the sh-word to damn. But since Japan really doesn't have concrete grammar rules for swears, that edit really doesn't matter.

[QUOTE=Monkey_Orange][COLOR=DarkOrange]Ouch. Every one is entitled to his or her opinion. The reason as to why I enjoyed Wolf's Rain was mainly because of it's unique story. Yes, there was the bishie factor BUT it was of minor relavence to the entire story. Please do not make generalized assumptions about me. The most annoying type of anime watcher I dislike the most are the ones that think of themselves as 'high & mighty' and better than everyone else simply because the type of anime that they watch. Give it up. It's just a show that's purely for entertainment. Period. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] The story of Wolf's Rain was actually good. It was the way the story was handled and developed that made me dislike the show. I'm sorry about making assumptions about you. I didn't mean to sound like I thought I was better than you. I was just saying I couldn't understand your taste, not that your taste was downright wrong.

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1What about His and Her Circumstances? You haven't mentioned any non-action anime. And how are the main characters of Evangelion stereotypes? Certainly, Shinji and Misato never once struck me as being stereotypical characters; even Asuka and Ritsuko are quite different from their counterparts in Nadia. RahXephon has wonderful characterization; Haruka could be called a stereotype because of her superficial similarities to Eva's Misato, but (particularly in the RahXephon film) she is unique, flawed and incredibly sympathetic. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] Well, most of the anime I watch is action anime. I do like several comedies and comedy-dramas (i.e. Azumanga, FLCL, Excel, Furuba, Lupin, Gravitation, etc.), but not many of the ones I've watched have exceptional characterization outside of Furuba, Azumanga Daioh to a lesser extent, and Gravitation to a lesser extent. I've never seen His or Her Circumstances. I'd probably have mentioned Furuba up there but it wasn't on my mind at the time of the post. While Misato I never considered a stereotype, Shinji basically fits the role of the whiny teenage pilot who refuses to fight that we've seen in every other mecha anime since Gundam's Amuro. Rei is essentially the required nonhuman bishoujo apparently made only to attract and confuse fanboys (I used to have a bit of a crush on her, but after episode 23 it was basically impossible for me to like her the way I did before). Gendo at first glance is just your typical "not-too-evil" bad guy. You've already covered Asuka and Ritsuko. It is the way that all of these characters are portrayed which makes them such interesting, enjoyable, and sympathetic.

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]Speaking of things that come in twos, I merged your replies. No double-posting, please. :) Out of idle curiosity, was your fangirl friend referring to Shuichi from Yu Yu Hakusho (who is, arguably, a character unto himself) or some Shuichi from another series (i.e. Gravitation)? Gravitation's Shuichi is entertaining to watch but would make an awful, er, soulmate. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] She meant Gravititon's Shuichi.

The series with the best characterization would easily be Cowboy Bebop. Everyone on the show is an enigma. Plus the characters act and talk realistically and naturally when put in a lot of the show's sci-fi situations. Kenshin also gets top props for creating a cast of likable heroes and enjoyably evil villains that both pull on Kenshin's struggle. Although Gundam SEED's third-grade characters are usually annoying and pointless, the second-grade characters are at least interesting and the main characters are some of the most well-rounded characters in any anime, despite the "angsty bishounen/bishoujo" angle. Evangelion is an unusual show when it comes to characterization: all of the main characters are stereotypes, but are portrayed so humanly (or in Rei's case, inhumanly) that you can't help but feel sorry for them. Going into worse characterization, Wolf's Rain is basically the polar opposite of SEED. The supporting characters are mostly interesting, but the leads are extremely bland, one-dimensional, and undeveloped. Gundam Wing's characterization isn't quite as bad, but the majority of the characters didn't develop, and those who didn't were mostly unlikable. While The Big O I's character dynamic was near perfect, the dynamic was lost in The Big O II. Of course, the absolute worst cast in an anime is that of Wedding Peach.

My friend Melissa (also an anime fan) once said that Kurama was her soulmate. 2 weeks later she said Shuiichi was her soulmate. Is she the kind who dumps guys easily, or does she have... *DUNDUNDUN!* [SIZE=4]TWO SOULS![/SIZE] [quote name='TrAcKa05']There is NO gurl that I wouldn't date at least that I can thing of[/quote] What about Edward?

[QUOTE=Monkey_Orange]As for GITSAC...dunno. I watched the movie once and...fell dead asleep. Still, I'm willing to give it a chance. Wolf's Rain was good while it lasted. *sniffle* I still get sad when I think back about that show.[/QUOTE] Don't worry. The series moves a lot faster than the movie. Still the fact you loved WR (a slow series) and found GitS (a less slow movie of much higher quality) boring seems a bit puzzling. I guess you'd rather see 1D bishounen rather than intellectual mind puzzles and kickass cyborg action. By the way, WR will be repeating at 1 AM from Monday-Wednesday. WHR will be right after at 1:30 AM. Personally, I'm hoping this is the last time these series air. At least in WR's case. WHR actually had the ability to keep my interest even if it was a huge letdown. I could barely watch WR by a third of the way through, and when I tried coming back to it it continued to be a dull and stupid as hell. Sadly, ratings-wise WR will likely be on longer than WHR.

[quote name='Syk3']I think there was a part that they never showed - the last third of the series, though I can't remember the name of it, lol. Of course, they might just air the whole series all over again.[/quote] Plus one episode was banned for svastika(sp?)-like symbols. After Justice League: Starcrossed, the symbols could be shown if CN has any sense of logic, and even if they don't, they could just digitally erase or change them and air the episode otherwise mostly intact.

Which was better? I definately would say The Big O I because of it's cool film noir art, fun detective storylines, and decent pacing. The Big O II had a few good episodes as well as a bit of character development on the secondary characters, but the direction got completely lost in unsensible pacing (SEED suffered this, but it actually fixed it up) and faux-depth (one of EVA's problems, but EVA actually had good direction and some real depth behind the semi-gimmicky symbolism). I over II all the way.

Kala, I feel sorry for you. Not wanting violence is understandable and could allow several animes to get by, but not wanting magic OR violence makes the selections of anime your parents would allow you to see extremely limited. If it was just nonviolence they wanted then you could easily pass My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki's Delivery Service by them but since those contain magic (and in the case of Totoro, Shinto beliefs) that might piss off your extremely strict parents. Lupin III and Azumanga Daioh don't have a lot of violence or magic, but both series have some ecchi humor and occasional bad language that might prevent you from being allowed to watch them (plus, if giant floating alien cats count as magic, then you'll have to cross several Azumanga episodes off the lift immediately). Perhaps your dad might be able to sneak you some animes (since you liked LotR you might enjoy Record of Loddoss War, and since you liked Star Wars some sci-fi like Gundam might be good). It may be the only way you can watch any good anime without being badly punished. Thank God that my parents let me watch Evangelion. I can't say that many 6th grader's parents would allow that! :D

For me, it's a tie between Kenshin and Getbackers. Both of those series have entertaining casts, quality action, and fitting humor (although I might have to give Getbackers the edge because it's humor tends to be funnier than Kenshin's). Naruto comes very close, but I prefer the slightly more complex plots of Kenshin and Getbackers. Yuyu Hakusho is fun action show, and the manga and possibly the Japanese version of the anime (haven't seen it; didn't really like the dub) of One Piece is enjoyable. Most of the other stuff I don't really care about.

[QUOTE=Lady Katana][color=darkblue]That's exactly what I was saying. A parody is a form of literature/film/theatre that makes light of (or makes fun of) something that already exists (Monty Python was a master of such, as "Weird Al" Yankovic is a master of musical parody). Superior Defender Gundam was created to parody all of the Gundam series to date with it's childish plot and visualizations. Why I said that older Gundam fans (and most Gundam fans in general) might not like it is for that reason.[/color][/QUOTE] I personally don't consider SD Gundam a parody. Why? Because it doesn't really do any making light of/making fun of the other Gundam series. The only thing that could be considered parody was the idea of making all of the Gundams and Zakus chibis. Other than that aspect, there is nothing parodic about the show. Now had they made fun of the Oldtypes and Newtypes, the war plotline, the typical character archtypes, the alternate universes/timelines, etc., then I could consider it a parody. However, since there aren't any jokes making fun of the other series beyond the chibi aspect, I can't really call SD Gundam a parody. At most, it is a very shallow and unfunny parody. Maybe the early SD Gundam OAVS were spoofs, but at least SD Gundam Force (the SD Gundam series I've tried watching and couldn't stand it) isn't a good parody.