MangoPenguin

Personally, I don't think it's entirely necessary to look like the character you cosplay. Moreso, it's better to cosplay a character you simply -like-. I'm a short, pale girl with a round face and dark eyes, glasses, and short brown hair. But I've cosplayed Nami from One Piece who is tall, skinny, orange-haired and busty--none of which are attributes I have. It really matters most if you like the character. Then you can pull off -being- that character much easier. Take my cosplay of Shanks from One Piece as an example. He's a fairly generic pirate man. Facial hair, scars, etc. But I cosplayed as him, and have been told more than once that I did an awesome job at it (I'm too modest to believe that though ^^). I don't look a thing like Shanks, but he's one of my favorite anime characters ever. Just keep in mind that it's really a matter of preference.

Oh, my beloved One Piece... A friend of mine got me into the manga last November; I read two issues of the Americanized version and decided I had to have more. My very basic knowledge of Japanese wouldn't get me very far with the original manga, but subtitles--even in their Hong Kong not-so-perfect glory--were like a lifesaver. There are 34 volumes of the manga (about 330-some-odd chapters) and nearing 200 anime episodes. I'm beginning to make my dent in that fine amount. The animation is a bit 'happy', but somehow it all manages to fit in; the battle scenes are generally spectacular, if not a little drawn out. Each of the characters has his or her own unique 'something', something that makes them different and, in most cases, quite likeable. Even the villains are hard to say goodbye to. Personally, my favorite characters are in the 'Syrup Village' story arc--Usopp, Kaya, and Meri the sheepman-butler, in that order. I really love Usopp. I also have great love for Chopper (and own quite the amount of Chopper plushies, keychains, and clothing, thanks to penpals, eBay, and a con-going boyfriend). In fact I'm wearing my Chopper t-shirt as I type. :D I'm resisting the urge to talk about the new manga chapters in Japan, because they're such big spoilers, I'd hate for someone to read anything I said by accident and be doomed with that knowledge forever. But I digress. 4kids has my dear One Piece in its cold clammy clutches, and I'm afraid of what's going to come of it. Sanji already has a lollipop. Apparenly, [spoiler]Zoro's name is going to be 'Ronald Zoro'[/spoiler], although I haven't confirmed that and it could just be a rumor. And suddenly, loving One Piece isn't going to be out-of-the-ordinary anymore. Suddenly, I must share my fandom with small children on Saturday mornings. But I'm not going to give up on it--I still know what One Piece is like untouched, left to be its normal, bloody, beer-drinking, chain-smoking, [spoiler]homosexual character-sporting[/spoiler], piratey, gun-using, Japanese-named self. I'll keep buying my subtitled goodness, and I'll keep up the hope that the Americanization of One Piece will be a short-lived one. We are on the cruise. :)

I was simply stating an opinion. I think it's perfectly fair to compare similar-styled anime, and personally, I think that both the Dragonball series and One Piece have similar looks. By 'unique' I was referring to something that didn't resemble the norm, and was maybe considered more 'strange' (i.e. FLCL)--but, I apologize, and certainly was not trying to look like a hypocrite. I guess sometimes my thought process just doesn't even out somehow. :) By the by, I also meant to mention how very lovely I think Miyazaki's animation is, although that has been stated already. Something about the way Miyazaki's style looks...even though the people have somewhat odd-looking faces (to me, anyway), the style remains just as beautiful as the stories of the movies. [color=hotpink][size=1]Please do not double post, it is against the rules. Just go back and edit your original post. Thank you. *QA*[/color][/size]

I'm expecting a lot of anger over this one, but... I could just never date [B]Vash[/B] from Trigun. Now I know, he's good-looking, and all that jazz, but looks aren't everything! And he's got a really terrible personality. He's a weirdo. If it was just based on looks, then sure; but that's no reason to date someone, huh? And on another note, I'd also never date [B]Sanji[/B] from One Piece. He's just too much of a womanizer.

It may also be possible to compare similar styles of animation, don't you think? Akira Toriyama animated Dragonball, but his style greatly influenced that of Eiichiro Oda, who animated One Piece. So don't you think it would be fair to compare like styles in that sense? On another note, I like the animation of both the Dragonball series and One Piece; it's generally the more 'unique' looks like I enjoy. I can't, off the top of my head, think of any anime in which the animation has been lacking, simply because of each anime's own personal styles and looks. Lupin III is probably my least favorite in terms of looks, however--and although the character design of .hack//SIGN is gorgeous, there is very little actual animation in the show. Just my two yen's worth, if you will.

Personally, I don't have much of a problem with school. That's where I am right now, as a matter of fact. I'm a senior in high school this year, and I started back on August the fourth--don't pity me, it means I'll graduate near the beginning of May. I hated most of school, but all of a sudden last year it turned good again, and now I'm a senior...so what do I have to hate about it? Nobody is better than me this year! *joy* And hey, I get the guilty pleasure of talking about freshman if I want to. Not that many of them have given me reason to, but. I wish I was in college this year. I feel too limited by high school; my school is really small and offers very little of anything interesting. We don't have Japanese, and we barely have French and Spanish. Not good for me, as I want to major in teaching English as a second language. This semester I'm taking college English 101 (an online class, very cool, and transfers to college next year), child development, accounting, and art III. Accounting is crap. And next semester I'll have U.S. History, adult living, speech, and either another college class if I can afford it, or some computer class thing. I dunno. Well, the bell's about to ring and I have a test to take, so that's all for now. See y'all later! ^-^

Amazing--I thought I was the only anime fan who was into the Olympics. Glad to know I'm not alone! Gymnastics has been severely phenomenal this year. I haven't missed a night of it!! It's crazy!! I think [SPOILER]Japan might've gotten gold in something in the gymnastics[/SPOILER], which is very cool if they did. I've been rooting for Japan through everything, it makes my racist father really mad but what the heck? Go Japan!! Did anyone see judo? I wanted to see it, but the United States is very selective in their programming (i.e. if the US has a chance to win it, they'll show it, otherwise they're very stuck up about it). So I wasn't sure if judo has even been on yet.

...Oh One Piece. One Piece is my dear love of the anime world. The Japanese manga and anime are wonderful. The American manga is...tolerable. And 4kids has the rights to the anime. And the preview last Saturday was terrible. I don't understand why 4kids would want the rights to a show that they knew they would have to edit -insanely- in order to be presentable as a "Saturday morning kids' show" (which is is very much NOT in Japan). Therefore, I really do hope that they just don't wind up having the room to show it on the FOXbox. That would be magnificent. My dear One Piece would be saved. On another note, a friend of mine is really angry about Tokyo Mew Mew being gotten by 4kids, so in all actuality, I don't think 4kids is going to do anything justice this fall. I'll keep my eye on the developments, but I think the best thing would be for 4kids to keep that F-Zero show and drop TMM and OP. Oh yeah, and we have 4kids to thank--or stone, whichever you prefer--for Pokemon.

Azure Rose, I pity you--you found the ManFaye. Hallelujah that I have never been to a con with him before! My boyfriend cosplayed once as Mister Two from One Piece--a ballerina-like man with a pink cape, puffy Shakespeare-style pants, lots of makeup, and giant swans on his back. I'm still not sure how to react to that! *lol*

I have cosplayed, but only twice as of yet. I was Nami (from One Piece) and Shanks (also from One Piece) at MTAC 4.01. In about...a bit more than a month now, I'm going to AWA, and will be cosplaying Kiki (Kiki's Delivery Service), Kaya (One Piece...okay, three guesses to my favorite anime), and a classic/country Lolita. So yes, I'm definately into cosplaying. There's just something really gratifying, to me anyhow, about creating costumes and acting the role of the character...and I'll never get tired of people asking for pictures!

It -could- be controversial, but something kinda tells me that's what you're going for. I am personally a Christian and I would love to read this if you ever get it going, so you know, I'm definately into it! The concept is really good and the plot seems to go deep even in just a short post about it. I was wishing for more when I was finished reading this topic. ^-^

I have to admit, first of all, that I was not a fan of manga until about...going on a year ago. I was into anime from 1995, but manga never appealed to me--I love color, and I have a short attention span; it's difficult for a manga to hold my attention nearly as well as anime. But one fateful day about mid-November of 2003, a friend of mine introduced me to what would soon become my first love in the manga world. Now, I ask you--does it not seem a little odd for an entire manga and anime series to be based around a boy whose body is made of rubber? A rubber-boy...who, coincidentally, cannot swim a lick, but whose ultimate goal in life is to become a pirate. Along the way in his strange venture he meets others--a late-teen boy who fights with a sword in each hand and one in his mouth; a girl who was once a slave to a half-man, half-swordfish; a chain-smoking boy with a penchant for cooking and a fetish for females; and a boy whose greatest claim to fame is telling lies. Among many others whom I will not list for fear of spoiling those who haven't gotten that far yet. One Piece--an amazing anime and manga series that introduced me to a love of reading comics backwards. I've currently gotten to about episode 100 of the insanely long anime series, and about chapter 180 of the 330+ -long manga series. And you know what? Strange as the entire concept is, it never ceases to be awesome. (And just for the record, I really dread its Americanization on the Foxbox.)

[B]Ryuma Asakura[/B], I'm kind of convinced that I'm your friend whose boyfriend was at Otakon...if you're ever called Wordy, then I know so... *whoot* But yes! My boyfriend was at Otakon, he was the man in the pink tutu-looking thing and the swans...aka Mister Two from One Piece. Oh boy. ^^;; *lol* I too will be going to MTAC next year, and AWA this year. At AWA, I will be Kiki (Kiki's Delivery Service), Kaya (Syrup Village story arc, One Piece), and a classic Lolita. Funfun! *welcomes myself to the boards as well*