Omnigear Fenrir

Not to be a smart aleck, but the term "American Manga" makes no sense. "Manga" is just the Japanese word for, literally, "comics", so it's sort of redundantly saying "American Comics". I'm with Dagger, I don't mind "manga-influenced" comics, I just don't like blatantly American-made material being called "manga"; after all, I don't remember hearing the Japanese collectively referring to American comics in very poorly pronounced fashion as "com-ics-oh". :animeangr But anyway, I kinda like Megatokyo and that's about all I can think of pertaining to "manga-influenced American comics". I haven't been exposed to as much of it, I guess...

A freshman, huh? Well, take it from an upperclassman (I'm a junior), college is something that you can either end up having a darn good time in or it'll be the biggest stress-inducing event you'll come across. The pace at which some classes move is often overwhelming and with many more responsibilities to handle, I have to admit I've had my own share of migraines. :animestun But fear not, just keep things organized and you should be okay. I often found that the small things are what matter most, like doing homework before the weekend starts and doing projects well ahead of time (instead of the last minute). I know that's common sense, but being away from home tends to make one lazy (a habit I still can't break :animeswea ). But enough about the hard stuff, the fun stuff reall comes with time. Partying, I've found, it something that the individual has to determine for themselves. I know people who just go and chat with friends, some who go and get drunk off their butts, and others who avoid it as much as possible. Try it at least once, just to get a feel, and determine for yourself. Really, it's all a matter of finding your own way when it comes to finding fun things to do; myself, I just hang out with a handful of pals and play games or watch anime/movies. We're that easily satisfied. No alcohol abuse or anything. :animeswea

I think cliches can be a good thing if used correctly. They can be something to break up the monotony, giving some light-hearted humor. Or perhaps they can just give you some familiar ground to access a new title on. Sure, they can make things predictable, but some are hallmarks that invite in even the most unaware of RPG players. After all, not all of us know those cliches, so as over-used as they are, to a beginner, it must seem amazing...

I know exactly how you feel, I've noticed it happening to me these past few years. I think one thing that has to do with it is the fact that growing older, we find other things to entertain ourselves with (like a, omg, social life! :animestun ). Being distracted by having more things on our agenda tends to turn one's attention away from gaming. Another is that we might be gaming for so long, that we have slight cynicism about it. I've noticed a trend towards "vintage gaming" with people wearing paraphenalia flashing old NES controllers around and bragging about "the good old days". Funny....in twenty years, will people be bearing PS2 and Xbox controllers on their shirts? And another aspect might be that gaming really HAS become something to be cynical about. Rebirth of old franchises, companies moving around from system to system, fanboys whining about everything, high-budget games ending up as hits or flops cast in obscurity...it's rediculous. Really, back in the early 90's, gaming was much simpler and easier to access. Nowadays, there's so much going on at once, it's hard to access sometimes. As for me, I keep my neck out of the thick of it. I try to keep things simple by picking up one or two things that interest me at a time and it seems to work well. But since games are getting higher in budget and lower in replay value, I'm considering actually taking up stores on their trade-in deals, I'm sad to say... :animesigh

My first? Oh, our first...the one we already remember as the basis for all comparison... :animeknow I think it was Cowboy Bebop. I seem to remember getting the Shooting Star story, but perhaps it was after I started on Ragnarok. It's hard to say. :animestun

I'm stuck between Jin from Samurai Champloo and Jiraiya from Naruto. Jin's a nice taste of "old school samurai" in contrast to a show about anything but "old school" and Jiraiya?...well, I guess it's just because he's a trademark perverted master-type character and those are usually quite entertaining. :animeswea

Gotta go with Pluto. Not only do I dig the green hair, but I happen to find her a lot more interesting than the rest. Plus, she's the only one of two(?) who actually use weapons of some kind (aside from wands and bells).