Otaku America

[COLOR=Navy]Hi, I've been searching for an anime forum for such a long time and to come across this website is such a breath of fresh air. Outside of Adultswim and this site, all other anime forums are dead. I left Adultswim because most of the users there have no respect for anime. All they expect from anime are blood, gore, & action. :animenose Overthere, Dragonball Z is hailed as the greatest action series of all time. I have no problem with that but if all the posts say "Wowzers, the fireballs are so cool," then there is something wrong with that especially if DBZ is the most repetitive action show of all time. This is an example of lazy anime. :animesigh You guys are different. I've been on these forums for a few hours now and I've seen lots of great dicussions and debates. I like the fact that when someone post their favorite anime, they also go into great details on why it's their favorite. Great way to keep threads going and to keep spam out.[/COLOR] :D

[COLOR=Navy]My favorite seiyuu would have to go to [B]Toshiyuki Morikawa[/B]. The voice of Captain Alex Row in Last Exile. He has a voice that I can easily recognize thanks to my favorite fighting videogames that he has taken a part in. Mitsurugi (Soul Calibur II), Ryu (Street Figher Alpha 3), Kazuya (Tekken 4), and to top it off, these are my favorite characters I always play with. :animeblus The only other anime's I can remember his voice in, are Berserk (Griffith), Appleseed CG Movie (Yoshitsune), Bleach (Kurosaki Isshin), Full Metal Panic Fumoffu (Atsunobu Hayashimizu), Inuyasha (Naruku), Trigun (Kesskass), Saiyuki (Homura). :animeswea My favorite music no doubt has to be the opening to Elfen Lied. Lilium by [B]Kumiko Noma[/B]. When you hear this music, you know sorrow is coming. [/COLOR] :animecry:

[COLOR=Navy]The games I'm looking foward to are: [B]Wanda and the Shadow of (PS2)[/B] Formerly known as Wanda and the Colossus. If there was one game this generation that I would consider as art, it would be "ICO." This game is being created by the same duo (Fumito Ueda & Kenji Kaido) responsible for ICO. I don't know much about this title but I do know what to expect from the creators. Breathtaking visuals, emotional settings, brilliant puzzles, awe-inspiring music, and an unforgettable storyline. [B]Conker Live & Reloaded (Xbox)[/B] The previous Conker on the N64 was one of the greatest and most humorous games I've ever played. On the Xbox it's going to be an even greater game. The remake of the original and the spectacular online mode. [B] Zelda Remake (GC)[/B] Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite games of all time and it's only fair to keep Zelda in its true form. Wind Waker just didn't have that same feeling I received from previous Zelda games, it felt too much of a cartoon. IMO, this is Nintendo's way of apologizing. [B]Condemned (Next-Gen)[/B] The most realistic survival horror game ever created. You play as an FBI agent who is tasked to hunt down psychotic serial killers. This isn't a game where ammo is scattered all over the place, this is a real terrifying world. These deranged individuals may look like the undead, but all the people are actually humans whos insanity and living conditions have lent them a horrible visage. [B]Perfect Dark Zero (Xbox 360)[/B] The N64 original made me a first-person shooter fan and I can only expect the sequel to be 10x's greater. More stylized weaponry, compelling sci-fi story, unmatched mutliplayer, etc. [/COLOR] :D

[COLOR=Navy]This is a really great topic and one that I would like to have a word in. I believe there a few people out there who aren't Japanese, but are aspiring anime creators. Saying a person has to be Japanese to create anime is just a blind generalization IMHO. Seriously does a person have to be an American just to create a wrestling show? I don't think so. Take Big O for example which is based on Batman: The Animated Series. It looks like a cartoon but people recognize this as an anime. Another example would be Teen Titans. It has everything a traditional anime would have, deformed character expressions, stylized animation, etc. People are mixed up on this one, they don't know if it's a cartoon or an anime. To me these are perfect examples of cultural cross-fertilizations. Big O mixing with western elements and Teen Titans mixing with eastern elements. I think what makes an anime are its cultural references and or differences. Batman could be anime to Europe, Teen Titans could be anime to Japan , Totally Spies could be anime to America. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=Navy]When it comes to anime visuals, [B]Last Exile[/B] brings home the crown. Last Exile is truly a magnificent work of art.[/COLOR] :D

[COLOR=Navy]My favorite anime is[B] Monster[/B]. Monster is a psychological thriller that tells a story about a doctor who saves a young boy's life, only to find out a few years later that the life he saved was that of a brilliant killer. The doctor must track down the killer and solve a much larger conspiracy. This is one anime, that would make Alfred Hitchcock proud.[/COLOR]