Bloodseeker

I'm confused. Is this "favorite bad guy" or "best bad guy"? There can be a pretty huge difference between the two, you know. For best bad guy, I'd have to say Naraku. This guy is just downright slimy. (literally) Rather than use the brute force that anime fans have become accustomed to antagonists using, he uses manipulation and trickery to do these downright terrible things to the main characters, then holes himself up in his castle like a coward and continues to fight Inuyasha and company indirectly through various incarnations and servants. Then whenever Inuyasha catches up to him, he runs away and finds another hiding spot. Now THAT is how you make a truly evil bad guy. For favorite, I guess that it would have to be Scar right now. I love the way that he kills people! *smack* *blood squirts out of the back of the head* *brain turns into ground beef* Awesome. He also happens to be more of a sympathetic villian. His family was killed and he's rightfully pissed about it. He just takes revenge a bit too far by going after people that didn't have a say in what went on in Ishbal.

I like Washu too. Besides Ryoko, she's the only character in Tenchi that's consistently funny. The rest of them are more annoying than funny during comedy segments most of the time. -------- This sucka dropped to the second page. That won't do. BUMP! Nice choices so far. I haven't seen any characters that I absolutely hate yet, though I'm seeing quiet a few that I'm only vaguely familiar with. I'm surprised that a few names that usually show up right off the bat haven't been mentioned... I'm not going to say which though, seeing as how it might change something. But I will say that a couple of them have strong characters...

Fully upgrading Tidus' legendary weapon is FFX. That chocobo race was easily the most frustrating videogame experience that I've ever had. And its the reason why won't try to collect everything in that game again.

It was around 5th grade, so... about 6 years ago, maybe seven. So I was ten or eleven. I'm one of those that got into anime via Toonami's golden age. (DBZ, Sailor Moon, Tenchi, Outlaw Star... those were the good ol' days) But I really didn't start watching anime outside of what AU and Toonami showed until about 2 years ago. Around 15 years old. Neon Genesis Evangelion was my first anime buy. I picked it up completely random too! I'd heard about an anime called Rah Xephon and went to Blockbuster to pick it up. I didn't find RX, but I saw NGE, which I had heard mentioned a few times. Good thing I rented it. After watching the first two DVDs, I bought the whole series. It never left my top 3 once it got there.

FFX's, easy. Its possible to kill it in two hits (one for the first form, one for the second). After that, probably Xenosaga Episode I. One realy, really strong gaint robot for the psychotic freak, and three gear-wannabes for the fight afterwards. He couldn't even get me down to half health. FF9's sucked pretty bad too. What was up with that completely random fight at the end? And he wasn't even hard!

*on the poll* Misato/Kaji was definately my favorite paring. The first time that watched NGE, these were my favorite two characters in the show. Both of them have an air of maturity about them (most of the time), and they just made a really cool couple. Asuka may be my favorite character, but I never cared much for the Shinji/Asuka paring. THe whole thing was pretty much Asuka b*tching about Shinji and Shinji whining. They just didn't seem like they had anything between them until Asuka was down and out. The Shinji/Rei paring sucked too. It was just a little too (I hate to use this word) "sweet". My first thought after I saw the scene when Shinji opens Unit 00's hatch was "Aw man, this relationship gonna suck. Strike one for this series." You never saw much of Yui/Gendo, and the other relationships aren't even worth mentioning.

Don't write with light colors, SakuraMinomino . They're too close to the backround color, so they strain your eyes when you try to read them. Try using purple or something if you want to use girly colors.

1. Neon Genesis Evangelion Best character developement ever! Everything in NGE not revolving completely around Shinji was exactly as it would be. Aside from that, I love the gradual turn to a darker story. It also has the greatest anime mascot of all time in it, PenPen! 2. Berserk Also has great character devlopement. I guess that I'm just a sucker for impending doom, because I love the fact that, while everything gets continually better for the main people (the Band of the Hawk gains prestige, Guts and Caska get together, etc.), you know from the foreshadowing first episode that everything's gonna go to ***** eventually. And lets not forget the bloody action! Yeah! 3. Great Teacher Onizuka I guess that I'm also a sucker for great character delopement, because all of my favorite series have it. Onizuka ties with Guts from Berserk as my favorite anime protagonist of all time. This is one of the two anime to make me laugh so hard that I cried. (the other was Slayers) And just like I had to mention PenPen with NGE, I think that its absolutely neccassary to mention everyone's favorite psychotic blond, Kanzaki! I can't believe that she didn't make it into the live action! 4. Fullmetal Alchemist The only reason that this isn't one rung higher is because I want to see where this whole thing is leading before I move it to my top three. I must say that I like where I think this is going. The thing with philospers stone las week was a good sign.Another impending doom story? I think so! The idea of alchemy is a great one, its nice to see some original attacks for once. 5. Yu Yu Hakusho I don't care if you think this is just another action-packed shounen anime or not, I think that Yu Yu Hakusho deserves a place on any action fan's not-so-dusty shelf. YYH takes the drawn-out action of a shounen and packs them with (once again) character developement and humor. In DBZ, it got really tiring to see the 100 identical energy balls in every episode. In YYH, you never see the same attack so many times it gets repetetive. Even the spirit gun, which you see pretty often, is used sparingly enough that it keeps its effectiveness as a signature move, unlike the Kamehameha Wave. 6. Slayers Much like FMA, the only reason why this higher on the list is because I haven't seen enough of it. As a matter of fact, I've only seen one OVA (which I own) and read a bit of the manga. But both made me laugh harder than any other anime or manga at the time had. It really makes me wonder why I haven't collected more of it... 7. Outlaw Star If you're looking for a really fun anime, look no further than Outlaw Star! Gun fights, sword fights, magic fights, fist fights, ship fights, ship races, and comical situations. What more could you ask for when you're looking to turn off your brain and go into autopilot? 8. Tenchi Another enjoyable turn-off-your-brain anime, but this time, its of the comedy variety with action as a secondary element. A bunch of women fighting over a bland, indecisive, appeasing loser. Interesting premise, even more interesting execution. *watches as Washu leaves Ryoko tied up in a dark lab and videotapes her crying like a scared little girl* 9. Cowboy Bebop The action is some of the best in anime, the main story is one of my favorites, and the characters are all likable? So why is it so low on the list? Simply because I'm huge fan of continuality.Only 5 or so of the 20+ episodes deal with the primary story, the rest are stand-alone. Filler episodes are almost an inevitablity in any anime that goes over 12 episodes. And they serve their own purpose of enhancing character developement by drawing them out of the main problem so that you can get a better view of how they handle situations. But when 75% of your episodes are pure filler, you've got a problem. And that's why CB will never be in my top 5. 10. Inuyasha This one used to be way higher on my list, back when filler episodes didn't rule the coop. Its still a fun show to watch though, even if it has got to the point where the episodes almost always follow one of several basic overused formulas. The major plot advancing episodes are still cool though, especially the Inuyasha vs. Sesshomaru episodes. Those fights are always cool.

[quote name='SunfallE']I would have to argue that on some level the views are very realistic. Take the first example from Xenogears. Regardless of whether or not it was an accident, all they knew is that his attempts to help resulted in destruction. There are always going to be people who in the initial dispair of loss will find someone else to blame. Realistically in such a situation after time there will be some of the people who after things have settled down would realize that their blame was missplaced and will try to make up. In general we are talking about a herd mentality here, people will react and do things in a group that they would never do if alone.[/quote] True enough, I guess. People will usually follow the idiots in those situations. [quote name='SunfallE']For the second example about a cop trying to help a hostage. Can you honestly believe that the Dad is not going to blame the cop? Very few people can think rationally when they have lost a loved one. Having lost one myself I know just how painful that is. Such powerful emotions are difficult to handle and for some people the only answer is to find blame. There are some who would blame the person who took them hostage and then there are those who will blame the cop claiming he didn't handle the situation properly. This I know from my uncle who is a sherriff. It has amazed me the amount of people who absoutlely refused to even consider it was an accident in such situations.[/quote] So have I, and its not so powerful that it completely clouds your reason. When my cousin strangled himself, there were a thousand reasons why my aunt could have been blamed. She was unattentive in so many ways, and there was so much more that she could have done. But I knew that when it came down to it, she wasn't to blame, and that it was my cousins fault for blowing things out of porportion and not being able to cope with his own situation and bad health. I've seen people in worse situations pull through, but the pathetic bastard couldn't take it, so he killed himself and broke his mom's heart. I realized that that was the truth. But maybe I'm different from most. Who knows. [quote name='SunfallE']Now as for the war view. Yes I agree war is an excuse for others to take what isn't theirs. Yet within that war there will be good people caught up in it that for them it is a clash of emotions, just causes and revenge. Take WWII with Hitler. It was a power play for him to take over the world and the people he dragged into it were people fighting to save others *a just cause* and those who wanted him dead for the people he caused to be killed *the revenge angle* If you are looking for a different anime war movie try watching "Now & Then, Here & There" It does have some werid anime twists, but it does accurately potray just how senseless war really is in a way. Fair warning though it is a bit intense unlike the other series.[/quote] There's nothing just or extraordinary about following your survival instinct, which is exactly what the Allies did in WWII. They wanted to live on and keep their way of life and their governments, so they fought the power that was trying to take it away from them. It was just self-defense. Again, I don't see anything particularly just about defending yourself. [quote name='SunfallE']Now about a couple staying shy for the first few months, that is something that happens far more than you might think. So many people get married because they think they should and so many get married without truly knowing if they love the person they married. It's part of why the divorce rate is so high. So I don't find the idea of a couple being shy at first unexpected. In fact I bet it happens alot. Espically in religious situations where children are expected by parents and peers to get married at a young age, before they are mature enough to truly handle such a life changing event.[/quote] That's not the kind of shyness that I'm talking about. I'm talking about blushing and months of unfortable silence, which is the kind of shyness that many anime characters seem to suffer from, and I've never seen it last for more than a month in a relationship. But I suppose that a breed of shyness is responsible for divource rates. Divourse rates are so high because social masks are becoming more common. (that, and because divourse isn't the taboo that it used to be) As a matter of fact, it seems like nowadays almost everybody covers up their real personality in favor of what they want people to see. People put on their social face for their crush, act nicer and/or tougher than they really are, and fall in love with each other's false images. They get married before the wall is forced down, and when the wall finally comes down, they see each others ugly sides and can't cope with the real deal. Also, being around someone on the regular basis can really grind your nerves, so in order to get away from them, they file a divource and seperate. I suppose at the bottom of the line, the high divourse rate is caused by modern people's inability to forgive, cope with, and help remedy other people's flaws. [quote name='SunfallE']Now having your philosphy destroyed by one speech. That too is common. So many people grow up stating beliefs that they never developed on their own. They are simply following what they have heard others say. So many people have belief systems and philosphy that they never challenged or tried to expand. It's easy to knock someone down someone who's philoshpy is not firmly placed. How else could so many people stay in destructive relationships? Their sense of self is dependant upon others opinions.[/quote] Some people do have wishy-washy philosphies that can be altered by a single good speech (I don't even count those as philosophies), but the Kenshin bad guys all have strong philosophies based from their experiences. That's not the type of philosophy that can be whiped out from a single failure and a speech. [quote name='SunfallE']As for my opinions about this, I've based most of the responses upon personal experiance and what I learned in my Ethics class and Psychology classes.[/quote] Classes. Don't think that a PhD alone makes you an expert. You planning on becoming a counseler? My experiences tell me that counselers hardly ever have any idea of what their talking about. My old ones made all the wrong assumptions and tried to tie all of my troubles to my father when I was kid, when in fact he was the source of none of them. They never dropped it until he came back, then they just acted confused. Just make sure that you don't make similar mistakes with your patients. [quote name='SunfallE']Now in general, based on what you have said it sounds like you are the type to question and not take things at face value. I'm glad to see that. It's nice to see people who would think things through instead of immediatly blaming others for how things have gone in their lives. :animesmil Sometimes it seems like there aren't enough people like that. :D[/quote] Seriously. Conformists are the people that give authority the freedom to be corrupt. There's a reason why so many dictatorships try to get rid of the intellectuals, you know. They look behind the nice speeches and shaky claims to see what the leaders are really up to, and when some get pushed far enough, they take action. Its sad that a lot of people have to fall on their faces before they start looking behind the curtains.

One of the things that many anime fans rave about is anime's tendancy to focus on realistic human nature with their characters and accurate philosophy with everything else. Frankly though, I don't think that anime is very accurate at all with these things. Obviously there's exceptions, but generally... *minor spoilers for Xenogears* I was just restarting Xenogears and I'm at the part right after Fei blows up Lohan. Fei had lived in Lohan for three years. During that time, he befriended all of the villagers, played with the kids, and was apparently just a joy to be around. Everybody seemed to like Fei. When gears attacked the village, the guy had rissen to fight against what he thought were enemies from the neighboring country raiding his village. However, during the fight, the gear that he was fighting in malfunctioned (as far as Fei and the villagers know at that point) and blew away the village. When he woke up to find the survivors, there were no comforting words from the villagers that he had befriended, nor was there a hesitant yet inevitable exile. Instead, they bluntly called him a murderer and all but drove him out. Over-dramatization, anyone? *end spoilers* Lets say that a cop fires at a group that's about to execute a hostage. But something's wrong and the hammer locks. A few seconds later, while the gun was pointing at the ground, the hammer unlocks and the bullet ricochets and hits tightly compressed gas heater. The bullet causes a spark that causes an explosion that take out that section of the room and four hostages with it. One dead hostage's dad is standing outside. How do you think that he'd react if he were your average half-way sensible 35 year old man? Sure he'd be mad at the cop, but he'd realize that it was a malfuntion from the weapon of a man that was trying to save his kid's life and the unfortunate chain of events that followed that killed his kid, not the incompetence or malice of the cop. And what about anime's general view on war? If you've ever watched any Gundam besides G, you know that it portrayes war as some clash of human emotions, just causes, and revenge. All I've got to say is SENSE WHEN?! War is just a bloody and expensive business transaction. The rich guys use their influence to send a bunch of soldiers to kill people so that they can gain what the targets have. Every war that I can think of was either a grab for power, influence, and territory and/or a grab for another nations rescources. WWII was Hitler's attempt at gaining control of Europe, the Crusades were the church's attempt to expand their influence, Desert Storm was Iraq's attempt at gaining territory and rescources, the American Civil War was a the attempt by a few men at snatching territory for their own country. In the most recent case of the war in Iraq, America wants oil deals and another foot hold in the Middle East. To glorify war as something more than one entity's attempt to gain profit is stupid and a show of just how gullable people are when it comes to the forked silver tongues of politicians. There are a lot of other things that anime screws up in on the regular basis as well. When was the last time that you saw an actual couple stay in the shy stage for months on end? When they become close, don't the outer walls pretty much drop? Or when was the last time that you ran into a semi-intelligent person that could have their entire life philosophy destroyed by an *** kicking and one stupid speech? The list goes on. I'm still a fan of anime, but I think that anime "realism" is given more credit than it deserves. Can you honestly call these views on life realistic?

I've got the same here. All of the seasons start a bit later, and winter lasts longer than the others and is colder and rainier than it used to be. The seasons used to be pretty even in length. I'm all for keeping the environment clean and healthy, but I don't think that the global warming thing is legit. DeathBug put it well. "...it was an effective scare-tactic for enviornmentalist groups looking to increase their political power."

Like: The entire Tenchi cast minus Sakuya, the entire Outlaw Star cast minus Fred Lou, Lina Inverse, Naga, Urumi Kanzaki, Yoshito Kikuchi, and too many others to name! Love: Um... N/A? Respect: *points to custom* Onizuka is one of the very few anime characters that I'd call a role model. Sure you'v got Kenshin, Vash, and all those other justice-seeking characters, but their antics wouldn't change people's views on life in real life. He often puts his own life and/or career on the line to help those that are in big trouble. Whatever: Dude, I'm Rob Van Dam!

Evangelion, Berserk, and Great Teacher Onizuka (AKA GTO). And there's a good reason for that. they're the most entertaining anime that I've seen. FMA's been getting there... They all have a story, strong character developement, and are fast paced enough to hold the interest of even those with true ADD. These are the things needed to make an anime truly great in my eyes. Eva has a deep story and the deepest character developement I've ran across. Everybody that watches Eva seems to become attatched to one (maybe even two) of the main ladies in the series (Asuka, Misato, and Rei). And love him or hate him, you've got to connect with Shinji on some level. There's not too many anime that can almost guarantee that the fans will connect to the characters, but this one falls into that catagory. Berserk is the best mix of brutal action, story telling, and character developement that I've seen yet. Much like NGE, most people seem to become attatched to at least one of the members of the Band of the Hawk (usually Pippin or Judeau). Plus, the whole thing is overshadowed with the knowledge that things are going downhill sooner or later. Very cool effect to add to the series. GTO is one of the two anime comedies to make me laugh so hard that I started crying. (Slayers was the other) Its kind of hard to explain the humor, but everybody that I've shown it too has busted up laughing as well. Once again, character developement causes most people to become attatched to the show's cast. (my personal favorites were Onizuka and Kanzaki) All three are downright awesome and I'd recommend them to any anime fan in a heartbeat.

I've never seen it, but I hear that Tenchi GXP has only a loose tie in with the other Tenchi series. It takes place in the same universe. Tenchi might have seemed like he was in a great situation, what with a bunch of women fawning over him, but lets think about his options. Ryoko: A powerful cyborg with a love for destruction. (they never say it directly, but they hint at it a lot) Ayeka: [spoiler]His great aunt.[/spoiler] Washu: An extremely weird 20,000+ year old scientist. Mihoshi: A really clumsy ditz! Sasami: Have fun waiting for grass to grow on the field. Kiyone: Workaholic! Sakuya: Beotch! Yep. If I were him, I'd probably try to remain nuetral and get out of the situation as soon as possible. I don't particularly want to grow old with a weirdo. I I had to choose, I'd probably take Kiyone. (even if that isn't an option initially) Workaholics can be cracked if you take away or nullify the element that makes them want to work so bad.

Yep, that's the jest of it. We all die eventually. Under normal circumstances, the only thing that worrying about it is going to do is scare you, and if you stew on it too much, it may even lead to downright paranoia. Believe me, I've been there. If you've done something to piss one of the local crime organizations or gangs off, or if you've got solid information that makes it look like the bordering country is going to raid your town, or if something else major and blaring like that gives you a logical reason to be afraid, your best bet is to shrug it off and try to continue normally. Carry protection if it makes you feel any better. Just live well as long as you can. Or if you're really afraid, join the police force or become a bounty hunter and do something about it. As far as violence goes, I haven't been to anywhere in the US that I'd call safe. If its not a bunch of angry teens packing amunition, then its the armed bum looking for money for his next drink. I've ran into both on less than friendly terms, and its the reason that I won't run alone at night without a weapon of some sort. Thankfully, the "gangsters" here are a bunch of jokes. They taunt and threaten, but they're so hesitant to fire that a few of my more rowdy friends have been able to run off before any shots were fired. But every now and then, you get the south Sacramento crowd coming over here to visit their family and things get ugly.

Waving and smiling... It almost sounds like he thought that he was doing the school a favor by killing these people. He must have picked targets and killed them before killing himself. Why else would he waste time trying to get into one specific room when he could just be firing at random people in the hallway?

Since the deletion of those last two messages moved this down the list a bit... BUMP! I don't know a lot of these characters. looks like I'm going to have to either go off of looks and posted information or remain impartial for a fair amount of this...

You make it sound like its not because of his own ability that he made it. He wouldn't have made it in the 80's if he didn't have it. Just because his parents nurtured his natural abilty doesn't mean that he didn't suceed on his own. Personally, I don't think that court cases should be publicised at all, as it prevents a fair trial. The public will almost always scream "GUILTY!" and will get downright pissed if the verdict isn't so.

[b]1. What do you feel makes an Otaku? Does a collection of anime have anything to do with it? Does cosplaying? Does frequent watching? Does reading manga? Does collecting manga? Does collecting merchandise? Does knowing everything about the animes they watch?[/b] Otaku = anime fan. If you like anime in general, you're an otaku. [b]2. Is it alright to discriminate when watching anime? What if a fan does not watch Evangelion, Hellsing, or Beserk, for various reasons, but knows everything about her fandoms?[/b] I suppose that fan bases can tell you something about a series. If you're getting a lot 13-year-old fans, you can almost guarantee that its going to be a fast based joy ride. If everybody but the so-called "true otakus" hate it, its probably slower. If only the ladies like it, its probably a romance. However, if you get something that has a huge fanbase covering many different types of people, like Berserk and NGE, you really should check it out. It had to do something right to develope such a broad fanbase. [b]3. Is it alright for a fan to watch 'Americanized' anime? This refers to Yu-gi-oh!, Pokemon, Shaman King, etc. What if they watch it uncut? What if they refuse to?[/b] Whatever. I don't like dumbed down anime personally (obvious edits are funny at first, but quickly become irritating), but if other want to watch it, its their deal. [b]4. Should all anime fans know, or be in the process of learning Japanese, romanized Japanese, and kanji?[/b] Should people learn to speak French just because they like old romantic French movies? Should people from other countries learn English just because they like American movies? Should people learn to write the old Greek alphebet just because they like Greek mythology? No, no, and no! That's too much work for such a small thing! Anime and manga fall under the same umbrella. Don't spend long months learning the language just so that you can watch anime in Japanese and understand it. Its too minor of a thing to throw away so much time, money, and work into it. [b]5. Is it alright for a fan to watch Pseudo-Anime? (Teen Titans, Totally Spies, Shinzo, Avatar)[/b] When there's trouble you know who to call... TEEN TITANS! From their tower they can see it all... TEEN TITANS! I love Teen Titans! [b]6. If an Otaku is discriminate about violence, and sexual activity in anime, is that alright?[/b] Its kinda stupid, but so long as it doesn't start any sort of movement, I really don't care. Some people don't like that stuff in their media. But best of luck on finding enough good anime to keep you occupied for the next couple of years! Anime devoid of violence and sexual activity is pretty damned rare! [b]7. Do you feel that there are many female Otaku who watch mainly non-shoujo anime?[/b] Again, whatever floats their boat. Nobody ever said that girls HAVE to be into romantic media. I actually prefer a girl that's not into that stuff. [b]8. And lastly, how do you feel about Otaku below the age of 15?[/b] I'm trying to get my 5-year-old little brother into it at a young age. He loves Inuyasha!

[QUOTE=elfpirate][b]You know-- my own life is so very full of my own major problems... problems that actually affect my life and the lives of the people around me-- and I couldn't possibly care any freaking less about some scrawny, trans-racial, quasi-faced billionaire stranger and his court plea.[/b] [b]I may be an ***hole for not sugar-coating this post, but I get really sick of constantly hearing about the problems facing the people who live in the lap of luxery while I watch the people I love struggle and toil and [i]still[/i] have to worry about providing for themselves and their loved ones.[/b] [b]The guy has a private amusement park on his ranch-house property and he flies hither and yon in his own private jet while my mom busts her *** all week and still can't afford the medications that she [i]needs[/i]. And she's a college graduate... there's no reason for the outrageous pay discrepancies in this country... priorities are seriously f***ed up in this country.[/b] [b]Boo freakin' hoo for Mr. Plasticised Billionaire. [/b][/QUOTE] Quit feeling sorry for yourself. He's rich because he used to have talent, and he put that talent to good use. Its not like he was born a billionare. Despite the piece of trash that he's turned into, he at least deserves the recognition that he's gotten over the years, because he used to be great. Now if you want blunt, I'm going to say that its more than just a little suspicious that he invited little boys into his house and let them sleep with him. Everything seems to point to him having bribed the kids to keep quiet about the whole affair. But he'll probably bribe the prosecution to keep their mouths shut if they get anything solid...

I like Cruel Angels Thesis from Neon Genesis Evangelion. I don't think that any other anime theme song has had near as many hours stuck in my head as that one. I also like the .hack opening and ending themes. The rest of the .hack music sucks, though. So damned depressing...

You're right, he wasn't evil. He was pathetic. That's not much better. And just because one Japanese man admires the Nazis does not mean that the Japanese population as a whole shares his sentiments.

Only mods and admins should be able to delete other people's posts, and only if they break the rules. Why should you be able to end other people's conversations just because you don't like the way that things are going? As far as your mistakes go, you have to live with them. Just think about what you're doing before you do it. Don't post something that's going to make you look like an idiot later.

I doubt that they have any love for the Nazis in modern day Japan. They did some downright terrible stuff during their days as Axis members, and I'm sure that they're just as ashamed of it as Germany and Italy are. And if I remember correctly, weren't the characters that you mentioned bad guys? and I know that one episode of Lupin the 3rd makes fun of them.

Harsher punishment is exactly what you're calling for. What else can be done? Its not like they should be rewarded for [i]not[/i] breaking the rules, because that's just doing what you agreed to do when you signed up.