Nekova

I think 26 episodes is the max for a good series that doesn't run into repetition and filler. Most of the series I like are between 13 and 26. I like some that run longer, but there are usually a lot of episodes that I find unnecissary. Some of the best ones I've seen, the ones that packed the most emotion and intense topics, did that in only 13 episodes (i.e.- Saikano and Haibane Renmai). X had a huge cast of fully developed characters and managed to explore many different sub-plots within the main storyline, and still didn't go past 25 episodes.

I've only seen the first few episodes of Naruto, but it seems a lot more immature and juvenile than Inuyasha, especially if you watch the original Japanese episodes. Inuyasha does get a bit repetative, but I still like it better because it deals with more serious topics and plot lines.

[FONT=Garamond][COLOR=DarkSlateGray]Like everyone has been saying, it really depends on who you're going to be showing it to. If it was someone who didn't think anime was a serious medium or who thought it was all pokemon drivel, I'd show them "Grave of the Fireflies" (I did that for two members of my family, and they were won over) or "Princess Mononoke". For the more intellectually-minded, I'd go with "Lain" or "Haibane Renmai". If I was looking for something with more action, I'd show "Ninja Scroll" or "X/1999". If I just wanted to blow them away with technical brillience, I'd show a classic like "Metropolis", "Akira", or, again, "Princess Mononoke". It's hard to say unless you know who're going to be viewing it.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia][COLOR=DarkSlateGray]I just finished the last available manga in X/1999. The owner of the store I got it from said that Clamp didn't have any plans to continue the series, which totally depresses me :animedepr (the 18th doesn't have any sort of conclusion to it; if anything, it's just building up to an end to the series in the next couple books). Has anyone heard anything different than that? I've seen the anime, but the manga were getting so different from the anime towards the end that the ending of the anime is no longer possible for the books (for most of the characters).[/COLOR] [/FONT]

[FONT=Garamond]I absolutely love the Subaru/Seishiro relationship that started in Tokyo Babylon and ended in X. I saw X first and didn't really get their story, but then I read Tokyo Babylon and saw X again and realized how prefectly gut-wrenching the whole thing was. If you like sunny, happy stories (but then, do they really exist in anime?) you wouldn't like how it ends up, but it's still my favourite of everything I've read and seen. [/FONT]

[FONT=Garamond]I would definately be Arashi Kishu from X if I had the choice. She is such an awesome, strong character and is willing to do pretty extreme things to accomplish her goals. Plus, she avoids a lot of the usual anime female characteristics: She's not particularly chipper, doesn't always try to do the right thing, and doesn't wear a miniskirt. She also totally kicks butt when it comes down to a fight.[/FONT]

I've heard that X the movie was really confusion (and no wonder- 18 plus manga squeezed into 2 hours?), but I have the 24 episode anime and it's amazing. If you want to see about a struggle between good and evil, definately go for X.

I found a link to a recent interview with Hayao Miyazaki: [url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,,1569478,00.html[/url] The more I read about this man, the more I love him. I'm going into mourning if he ever follows through with his periodic threats to retire.