Hayama

I did notice it! They also had a little commercial break screen like most anime seem to have. Cartoon Network has done that a few (very few) times before. Maybe that episode wasn't long enough to fit the time slot without the opening theme. I don't know... but I know I liked it! As for the episode starter thing... it WAS cheezy, but it's in the Japanese version too... I think all the time! LOL

I'm specifically defending Kira's Gundam versus unit 01 because I want to get into specifics of each machine... I think Eva unit 01 would win for sure! But, my explanation is practically all Evangelion spoilers so be careful! This why: Kira's Gundam (either one) is [I]just[/I] a machine, even if it is nuclear powered. [spoiler] The Eva's are ALIVE. Unit 01 has even shown that it can think for its self. Plus, once unit 01 ate the S2 engine the people at NERVE couldn't turn it off so I'm pretty sure it doesn't need batteries anymore. [/spoiler] I also think the Gundams' phase shift armor would be no match for the Evas' AT fields. As for the pilots... I love them both! (but I love Shinji more :catgirl: ) They are BOTH crybabies but they both grow over the course of thier series. I think that Shinji in a bad mood, combined with his high sinc rate with Eva unit 01, could take Kira in SEED mode. On a side note... I wonder if Shiro of 08thMS team (I love that show)[I]could[/I] beat Shinji... Shiro did kick ***, even in that crappy ball... Oh well, Shinji would still win I think!

The Gundam series I have acutally seen are SEED, Wing, G, 08th MS team and SD. Wing is awesome! I think it's the best one of all. I love the five pilots. Quatre is my favorite because he seems so innocent but he fights just like the rest of them. The pilot I like the least of the five is Wu Fei because he just doesn't stand out to me for some reason. I love Gundam SEED too. Kira and Athrun are so cool and cute. At first I hated Lacus because she was such a ditz but then she came around and was such a strong character. I love it when she confronts Athrun and asks him what he's fighting for. G Gundam isn't my favorite but I think it's okay. I don't really like any of the characters but I used to watch it after school. Cartoon Network cut it off right when [spoiler] Rain (the girl) was captured and being absorbed by some machine I think[/spoiler] That SUCKED. I at least wanted to know what happened! I hate SD. It's like gundam for kindergarteners. I hate it that the humans are CG too and I think it's baiscally plotless. It reminds me of transformers (but transformers is even better than SD!) because the annoying kid hangs out with the robots. Last but not least... there's 08th MS team. For some reason, I LOVE this series! Shiro is soooooo cool and I actually think the girl (Aina) is pretty cool. I love the way Shiro insists that his team adopts the concept of coming back ALIVE. He doesn't want heros, he wants loyal soliders who value thier own lives too. But he does some pretty dumb stuff too! Going out in that crappy ball in the first episode to rescue someone. Or when he tried to fight underwater. What about HIM coming back alive? He's such a reckless idiot, but he's dedicated to his team. I love the way he's always complaining that the jungle is so hot. LOL So there you have it! My favorites (in order) are Wing, SEED and 08th

I agree with DNAngel, Fruits Basket and Tsubasa. These are among my personal favorites. If you like Fushigi Yugi, try Yuu Watase's other manga. Ceres is a bit dark but I still like it. Alice the 19th seems cute but i only read the first manga. I read the begining of the new one by her - Absolute Boyfriend - in Shoujo beat and I love it so far. It's like reverse Chobits. The guy is the robot and the girl has a messy apartment. There's other stuff by CLAMP too! For cute magical girl stuff with a real cute little romance, try Cardcaptor Sakura. And Chobits :catgirl: , that's cute too! Last but NOT least! Kodocha (Kodomo no Omocha) is hyper and hilarious at times and then serious and realistic at others. It has family drama and the general middle school romantic drama but with a twist... the main character (Sana) is a child actress and her rival/[spoiler]boyfriend [/spoiler] (Hayama- see my avatar!) is the class troublemaker. I LOVE this series.

I hope this helps... Try Fullmetal Alchemist, it has plot twists and great characters. Try Wolf's Rain, it has great art, a cool plot and complex character relationships. If I think of some more I'll post!

I don't like the animation of the first season but the second two have cute character designs. I love Rei and Kai. The whole fighting tops thing bores me but I used to watch it before I went to school because it was on an Rei and Kai are cute. For some reason Beyblade is a good fanfic subject. LOL

[QUOTE][B]Vegeta rocker[/B]: CLAMP does that on a regular basis. Combine stories i mean. If you enjoy that, you should check out more of their series.[/QUOTE] They sure do! Some of thier older series- CLAMP school detectives, Man of many faces and CLAMP defender duklyon all take place at the CLAMP school and use some of the same characters. In fact [spoiler] the 3 dudes who run the CLAMP school in X and give Kamui the sword are the three kids from clamp school detectives all grown up! [/spoiler] Also, theres a little crossover between Legal Drug and Suki. Some characters from Suki make a short cameo.

I always saw alchemy as sort of a precursor to chemistry. There was 'real' alchemy but it was basically medieval scientists playing around with chemicals and stuff in hope of living forever or making gold. They failed... but it did help people understand chemicals better. They had symbols for elements like lead and gold too. It was SORT of like fullmetal alchemist but not exactly. I don't think you can draw a circle on the ground and fix stuff (but if you want to try go for it! :animesmil ). I think that chemical equations and atoms are the stuff of "alchemy" now. Chemistry is actually one of my favorite subjects and I do think all those transmutation circles look cool! I don't think Alchemy is real though.

I do think the Japanese voices are better and I usually don't mind reading the subtitles. If I can I watch it subbed. But, if I watch it in English first (like on TV) I get used to the English voices and I'm fine with them even after I've heard the Japanese. This has happened to me with Fullmetal Alchemist and Inuyasha. If I watch them on TV, English is fine and a little more relaxing. If I watch a DVD, I'd prefer subs becuase the voices [I]are [/I] better in my opion. However, if I watch a show in Japanese first, like Fruits Basket or DNAngel, I can never watch it in English. The voices grate on me because they don't fit the character in the same way the Japanese voices do. So if I ever go dubbed, it has to be right off the bat. Dubs are improving, but I still prefer subs.

Although I love Subaru from Tokyo Babylon and I like the main plot, some of Subaru's little onmyoji missions aren't as intersting to me because they make the manga seem too episodic. Like instead of "monster of the day" its "exorcism of the day." I understand thier valuable contributions to Subaru's characters but I can't help what I like and don't like. I love Tokyo Babylon, just not all of Subaru's missions. As for X! I love it! I've seen some of the anime and if I had more money I'd buy the whole thing. For now, I have the manga and I love it. Arashi is my favorite female character, Sorata is hilarious, the Subaru/Seshirou thing is so tragic, I feel so bad for Nataku. The art is amazing!

You sort of have to re-watch Evangelion. The sheer depth of the series DEMANDS it. And, it's my favorite anime so of course I would watch it over and over. Fruits Basket is also fun to watch again because it's so funny. I want to sit down and watch Wolf's Rain all at once (or at least as close to that as possible) because I love that show and I haven't seen it in a while. The series I'm most looking forward to watching again is Kodocha. I have the manga but I haven't seen the anime in years!

I know this is a real old thread, but I'm new! (and those posting rules worry me)! Anyway, Kodocha was the second anime I ever saw that wasn't on TV and the first anime I saw subbed (it was on VHS!). That was long ago. I also love the manga because the characters are so awesome. So I wanted to announce that the anime is coming to DVD *finally* in august. Funimation is doing it but I don't really care who does it because I'm watching it subbed anyway. Gotta love Hayama Akito! :animesmil

I'm lucky. My dad actually likes anime. Some of his favorites are GitS and Blue Gender. My stepmom doesn't *get* anime but she doesn't care what I watch. My mom thinks it's immature and I know she secretly hopes I'll stop liking it someday. But, she does like some anime. She loves Miyazaki films and Wolf's Rain. But then there are *other* parents. The neighbors I used to babysit for think "wierd japanese cartoons" suck. They don't like it when thier kid watches them. I don't think they realize that there's more to anime than pokemon and yugioh. They're pretty cool people so I bet if I sat them down for a good Miyazaki movie or something they'd start to come around. I think the problem is ignorance. You say anime and most parents think "stupid big-eyed trading card shows." :( I do think some parents freak out when the realize that anime isn't always for kids and so they generalize it and over-shelter thier children. Other parents see it as a waste of time. Some parents just don't get the cultural difference and wonder why the heck anyone would like foreign jokes. To all of them I say :animesigh : Teach your children something they might actually use in life... openmindedness. I don't expect parents to let a 10 year old watch Evangelion, but I don't think parents should get mad when a 15 year old watches Inuyasha.