ceath

mine would have to be Mezzo DSA, just kidding although i don't mind it. No really Cowboy Bebop, well that's pretty obvious i'm always raving about it. but i think it is just really original and it has a dog. how could it get any better. it has the action, substance, humour, and fan service in a nice balance which i still believe dosn't happen very often.

i've never really thought about it and i tend not to look to deep into my own life because it will only mess up my already tidy sub-concious but off the top of my head most of them would be food cashews macadamian nuts blueberry muffins ginger cookies oh and the obvious family pets anime/ manga. basically the really obvious stuff i guess [COLOR=Red]Edit: Please remember to use proper punctuation and capitalization in your responses. Thanks. -Panda[/COLOR]

you totally have to check out Cowboy Bebop, i've seen a lot of the series you mentioned and it was because of bebop, but also if you like the GITS movies the SAC series are worth checking out. but for real action mezzo dsa is pretty cool too.

it really depends on which series, i find but the Cowboy Bebop manda sux compared the series, except for Shooting Star of course i love that. but it is totally different. in the oroginal manga the art is no where near as good and the strories aren't as interesting. but that again i think the opposite of other series, the Wolf's rain mange rivals the anime, but when i first picked it up i was disapointed. but now i love it the drawing is so detailed in the manga and although the stories are different i love them both. and its different again for fruits basket, i love the anime but perfer the manga heaps more, not only does it go heaps longer but the stroies are much more indepth and entertaining. but despite the anime production teams utter hatred i wish that episode six was also in the manga, that was so funny.

We are always questioning our existence, but the most important question that really haunts our minds should be are those Welcome mats that sit out the front of our doors really a warm greeting to those entering or a subconscious salute to our impending doom that will release us from this chaos that we call reality?

I seen V for Vendetta the other day and loved it but heard a review from a critic who hated it which provoked me to ask Do you think that mass audiences will grasp the deep political themes within V for Vendetta? The extended version of my provocation is posted on My Otaku blog.

i love Miyazaki, i don't really have one favourite film but i's have to say that The Castle of Cagliostro, My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howls Moving castle are all my favourite. But i love the way that unlike most these days he hasn't given up on traditional animation. also most of his stories seem to have some underlining point against society, whether it be war, pollution or other.

[quote name='Samurai Mix']^^^That was a great post . I like how you anazlyzed each episode very well. But I thoguht we were on the topic of impact not substance.[/quote] well i kinda went back to my first post on substance, sorry.

I couldn?t find the book, so I borrowed some of my sister?s notes and got some info off some sites, anyway I got half way through it and gave up, it just bugged the damn hell out of me. Ok so I might sound immature but there is no damn way that I can believe that in order to develop into a functioning member of this civilisation that I was once attracted to my parent. The whole thought just freaks me out. And than I got really angry about the fact there are only two choices Eros or death, I?ve spent years trying to disprove my friend, and to only have it confirmed by a great mind is totally deflating. Why can?t we override both instinct?s. Another thing I didn?t agree with, although I may have just misinterpreted it. But how can love and Eros be the same from what I read Eros is all about sex and self-gratification, were as we are constantly told that love is pure and selfless. So I guess it got me thinking is love just another concept being taught to us to make us believe that even if everything is this world has a selfish motive there is something pure to believe. But at the same time I guess it helped me to figure what I meant by I don?t believe in love. The love that I don?t believe in is not the love for a family member, pet or anything like that but the fact that we are told from birth that we need to have someone by our side in order to be a complete member of this civilisation. We are told bedtime stories about the damsel always finding her knight in shining armour and living happily ever after. Than as we get older and enter puberty we are bombarded with teen dramas obsessed with the confusion of being attracted to your childhood friend, and it only gets worse with age as romantic comedies plague the cinema. I can?t stand the fact that that we are constantly being brainwashed to believe that there are only two options in life either Eros or death and either way we can?t break free. Why can?t there be more?

i changed schools three times in my last 18 months of school, and i wasn't really sad to leave any of them. i missed some of my friends from my first school, but we didn't have many classes together so it didn't make much difference to me because we still talked all the time. everyone kept saying once you leave you want to go back, but they'll have to tie me down with chains to get me back, its just all to annoying for my liking. and the teachers want you to be intelligent but if you challenge them on anything especially in a catholic school than God help you. what every happen to the freedom to question, that they are always talking about.

[quote name='r2vq']To be fair, everything you watch out there is commercial. There isn't an Anime out there that doesn't hope to make some sort of profit. [/quote] Ok I known that every anime is commercial in the way that they seek profits for their work, but where I live there are really two types of anime the ?commercial? which has no age restrictions that is shown on TV all the time and you can buy the DVD?s, Manga?s, toys, cards, games, and books just about anywhere you go, and the movies will be shown in any cinema. And the second being ?Cult?, which is just basically anime for audience over 15, which is only aired on cult night specials on SBS unless you have pay TV and you have to go to speciality stores to find the DVD?s and Manga?s, and you can only find the merchandise in selected stores in major cities if you lucky. Trying to get to a cinema to see one of these movies is even harder. But of course I?m sure it?s always easier to find these in major cities. The other thing is that in the smaller towns and cities anime is nearly always seen as kids cartoons or porn, so where I live pretty much sucks especially when your one of only three otaku?s in the entire town.

[QUOTE=Samurai Mix]Id have to disagree. IMO I find that hard to belive that Bebop had an instant impact due to the fact the first 4 episodes of Bebop were nothing special. When I first saw the first 4 episodes I thoguht wow this anime is pretty cool with the good dialogue,action...[/QUOTE] How can you say that? Every episode of Cowboy Bebop is totally great. Ok I admit that the episodes that have Vicious in them probably have the most impact, but every other episode is just as good, some oozing with substance more than others. As for the first 4 not being much, Asteroid Blues is what really builds up for the rest of the series Old Man Bull makes his first appearance giving hints as to the ending of the series (I?m a fan that believes Spike [spoiler]really did die[/spoiler]). Ok so back to my initial argument of episodes containing substance Gateway Shuffle is one of the best of the series. It combines the modern science with age old evolution, environmentalist that shoot up people who go against their cause that?s an extreme way of fighting for nature and a total contrast to the tree hugging character that environmentalist are described with these days, but that Monkey Business Virus is the best, as some one who wants to study biology and is a huge fan of Darwin that virus is so cool. But the real point here being that the evolutionary and environmentalists arguments are these days major issues within society and the way in which they are portrayed in this episode is making a statement that as a society where violence is becoming an increasingly popular method of getting ones point across, peaceful actions will not always be as effective. It?s obvious that you seem to only look for an impact, and not actually substance within the episodes as every nearly episode has a statement about society, wether it straight out there or being an underlining theme. As well as the fact that Ballad Of Fallen Angles does not actually make that great a statement as it is really only looking at the internal politics that control Spikes life. Another episode that also portrays substance is Sympathy For The Devil, which questions immortality because while we may fear death, we actually wish to experience it to feel complete. An episode that really stuck with me was Pierrot Le Fou, I think this had the greatest statement of society with the fact that science sees it necessary to create, whether it is needed or not. They create the perfect killing machine, their own Frankenstein?s monster for no apparent reason. Although deem him useless when he reverts to a childlike phycology, which realistically is an advantage because in today?s court system, people who commit crimes but don?t understand the consequences of their actions are given linen see. Cowboy Funk, was a statement against commercialism, by using explosive teddy bears, stating that all of our problems stem from the social upbringing of children. As we seem to think that everything needs to be improved and made more efficient through technology. While Brain Scratch, expressed how we may think we live our lives according to religion because we need something to believe in, but realistically were controlled by television, so much so that we can?t really distinguish reality from illusion. Toys In The Attic may not seem that important or substance filled, but of the entire series that has got to be the most important episode. I speak from experience when I say that Spikes line at the end is one lesson that you should never forget.

my user name is a tribute to an old friend, i named him ceth, but he ozzed character unlike anything i've ever met. and it was his imperfections, and down right evilness that i loved the most, we really connected. so i changed the spelling of his name to suit him, and i still miss him heaps, so i decided to use that name as a tribute to him and his wickedness, that we both share.

i hate most commercial anime like pokemon, that craze went through my school and nearly drove me insane, but i guess that seems it be a pretty generally one. but i must say i really wish that i never seen angel sanctuary, was that a movie a series or what there were only three parts but it had to be continued. it disturbed the hell out of me.

i got my signature from Cowboy Bebop, in my last year of school everyone kept asking me what i was going to do with my life, and i had to tell the same people up to 4 times, so one day i turned around and said the first thing to pop into my head, and came out with "i'm going to waste my life away drinking whiskey and playing chess, care to join me?' it shock the hell out of everyone because i don't drink. and they never asked me again. I was lucky that i'd been watching bohemian rhasody the night before other wise alot worse could have come out of my mouth. gradually i changed it with some of my own and a little more tribute to Bebop. all of it is just apart of my weird personality.

[QUOTE=Samurai Mix][COLOR=Red]] Champloo certainly does not lack substsance. You just have to give it time. For instance episode 14 Misguided Miscreants part2 would have to have had the best flashback sequence Ive ever seen in an anime. The Elegy of Entrapment 2 parter(the ones with Sara) were excelllent. , and the final 3 episodes were brillant. I think this show is just as good as bebop. You just have to give this sereis time before it gets good.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] i believe that if you have to give it time to make an impact than it obviously wasn't that good, i must admit that i now like Champloo more than in the beginning because of those episodes. but Bebop had an instant impact on me, as well as the fact that watanabe started off creating Champloo as a fun project of 13 episodes that wasn't really meant to have the substance of Bebop and only after interference did it develop into what it is now. And Dagger i never said that it all ended after 2001, i simply said it decreased, i still believe there are some out there just not as many.

[QUOTE=Dagger]I'm curious about why you chose 2001 as your cut-off date. Anime has been re-hashing the same old material since long before then. So why not 1995? Why not 1990? To me, it just seems arbitrary. Consider the fact that three of the greatest series from the mid-nineties (Evangelion, Escaflowne and Revolutionary Girl Utena) drew heavily on the similarly themed series that had preceded them. It's possible to be inspired by older shows, older directors, whatever, and still bring something exciting to the table. Also, I'm surprised that you penalize Shinkai for the fact that people compare him to Miyazaki. By doing so, they mean to pay him the highest compliment possible, not to suggest that he's unoriginal. Sheer visual beauty aside, his movies are really quite unlike Miyazaki's. Even the way in which they're beautiful is different. As for me, I'll keep my mind open to new stuff and go on enjoying shows like Mushishi.* *What, you guys thought I would stop shamelessly plugging this anime every chance I get? Heheh. Think again. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] I never meant to penalise Shinkai, i love both of their works, and i know that they are complimenting him that wasthe whole reason i included him in my discussion. i've even talked about how much i like his work in my posts. Anyway i choose 2001 because that is my personal opinion, i only really started watching anime in about 1995, and through the shows i have watched it is my opinion that the shows seem to be less focused on ratings and more on their own desires to express their art. which i have openly expressed before. and the shows you listed may have drawn heavily on the themes of other shows before their time like so many others these days, but the directors have added their own individual characteristic to them to make them different pieces. Like mecca vs the apocalpsye is a theme always being used, but each work seems to have an aspect that makes it different, and it is the diectors use of this theme that will ultimately determine whether the work created is full of substance or just another another mecca saga, with the over use of fan service and cheap laughs.

[quote name='EVA Unit 100']What about Millennium Actress? Tokyo Godfathers? Howl's Moving Castle? Voices of a Distant Star? The Place Promised in Our Early Days? Steamboy? Cat Soup? Mindgame? The Animatrix? Fullmetal Alchemist? Paranoia Agent? Samurai Champloo? Kino's Journey? Monster? Blood+? Eureka 7? Those movies and shows all have a good deal of substance and have been made since 2001. Try them (particularly Champloo, since you like Bebop so much and the two shows are extremely similar). You might like them.[/quote] i've seen Champloo and liked it but as far as i'm concerned it still lacks the same substance as Bebop, and when you look at your list i've seen most of them and alot are by the same directors that themselves are cast individuals Miyzaki is called a God, Shinkai the next Miyazaki. Ottom brought anime to the west and it took over 10 years to create steam boy. And Kon started his carree under Ottom, and created Tokyo Godfathers from scraped scrips, so these works are really great i admitt but these directors all share the same thought that the anime market is being flooded and its loosing it touch, so they strive to create their individual works. Besided Watanaba, Ottom, Miyazaki, Kon and most Animatix directors started before 2001, therefore sorta proving what i'm saying.

are you kidding me after 2001 there seems to be an absolute lack of substance, everything seems to be more about cheap laughs and fan service, why can't they balance the humour, fan serice and substance like in Cowboy bebop.

Fasteriskheads. i'm in the porocess of reading your article and i'm going to get the Freud book you and dagger recomended, so i hope to resume my arguement with more insight after i finish reading these. so bare with me for the moment

[quote name='Fasteriskhead]I also admit some confusion as to what the question is asking. I read your blog post - it's obvious (and admirable) that you've been thinking about this a lot, but I'm not sure if you've yet begun to clarify what exactly you're asking into here. This is not to say that your question necessarily has an answer, but for right now maybe bringing some light onto what's being asked is enough. What, more exactly, do you mean by love, since this word has lately become totally confused (I talk about this a little in that overlong Saikano article [but then again, everything I've written here is overlong'])? What, more exactly, do you mean by immortality, control, and individuality?[/quote] I just want to start by saying AT LAST, I?ve been trying to find somewhere to discuss this for ages, but it always end with one of two outcomes. The person starts lecturing me on the purity of love and how I?ll understand when I find someone, or they just smile and nod while edging away like I?m some kind of weirdo (understandable I guess). What?s the go you can question life and death but love seems to be some kind of taboo. Anyway as for my definition I guess I should have been more clear I tend to write heaps so sorry in advance. These are basically my interpretations, so they might sound a little different. People seem to believe that love is this indescribable emotion that where by you feel totally comfortable with someone that makes you feel safe, and who you inturn want to make feel just as safe, to the point of dying for them. But I don?t agree with this, it seems more like a line from Fruits Basket. I mean if you want protection with comfort buy a dog. I see love as validation, people these days seem to believe that we need to have a reason to live. That we have not been born just to fill up space and that if we die no one will really care. Kinda like in the Eva series Shinji pilots the Eva because he believes it gives him worth and if he isn?t a pilot he has no worth, but he discovers that there are other alternatives out there, it is all just psychological. Yet we don't seem to have gotten past the point that we could exist without the purpose of being needed by someone. But I guess than that could be considered a selfish existence. But what if we could live for others without needing their praise or acceptance for validation. But I also see love as the answer to our fears of death and what happens afterwards. I?ll explain that more later with immortality. I guess that connects my thoughts on individuality and control. Just because we look different we are considered individuals and by dressing, talking, thinking every little thing we do, is just another way of amplifying the fact that there is no one in this world that is exactly the same as me. Right, now I understand how that works, but it?s like achieving freedom, ones given minor restrictions such as a surface we loose a degree of that freedom, although we still have freedom per say. And I understand that we need these loses of pieces of freedom to fully understand its depth, but its still not totally complete. Therefore I believe that the same applies to individuality, while we may be unique in many ways, we will never achieve absolute uniqueness because we will all share this desire (whether conscious or subconscious) for validation or love (as I recognise it). With control this works in with love and individuality (in my warped mind anyway). While ever we have this need for validation, like individuality we will never be completely independent. Sure we may be able to take care of ourselves physically, but we need that validation. Therefore as corny as this sound we need someone, who makes us feel needed to make our self feel whole. I guess what I?m trying to say is that our actions will always be dependant on someone else, we can be easily threatened with the lose of our validation should we exceed the expectations of others. Immortality to me is the constant expression of life. I guess like the way reincarnation works, we may not live physically forever but our spirit lives on forever, which depending on ones self their memory can also live on. But what I?m really talking about here is the actual memories to live on forever. Death is described as the great unknown, because most people seem to fear what will happen to them after they die. But what makes death easer to accept (my understanding anyway) is that even if we physically die our memories will still live on, the people who we have met will remember us. And like in Loveless the photos we take are physical proof of us having existed, while people may not necessarily remember every detail of our personality the evidence of our physical presence will help to remind them of little characteristics. Therefore while ever these memories (which don?t necessarily have to be created with love) exist we will also live on, therefore if they last for ever we will last forever. I?m probably way off with my interpretation here, but in the story of The Cat Who Lived A Million Times (most people know this from Cowboy Bebop), the tiger striped cat kept coming back to life when he died, and it wasn?t until he found the white cat and had kittens (and grand kittens) that he died along side the white cat. I see this as having found validation within the white cat and after creating his memories he was able to die. Fare enough he was loved by his many owners but he did not love them back, therefore his validation was not completed only after the white cat was this complete. And with the many kittens he sired his memory was able to live on.

i posted my thoughs on love on My Otaku today, and i'm interested to see what people really think of love today. So do you believe that love is the answer to immortality or just a method of control, to ensure no matter what we will never achieve absolute individuality?

I totally love Blue - Cowboy Bebop, mainly beacuse this soundtrack as the most songs with lyrics. Although i like all the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks, their jut so original. I know for a fact that in Aus i can't find anything nearly as good.

The lack of response to my thread forced me to re-read what I wrote, and I came to the realisation than damn it was lame. So here is what I was trying to say, but with real depth. Its not so much about whether people laugh during films, rather whether directors these days are selling out their art for profits. This seems specific to Hollywood, and seems to have affected the anime industry less. That is why we tend to find Anime films more funny. Today directors seem to be moving more towards commercialism than creating a film that portrays their individuality and their dreams, as Kamiyama portrayed in Portraitz from Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex. To try to show what I mean I?ve included some of my favourite anime directors. All three of the directors have broken away from what society states a success to be and redefined genres that are becoming stale in today?s film industry. Miyazaki is one director that has been hailed a god for his films not only are they original, but he is still using traditional methods of animation, with computers being used only when absolutely necessary. They call him the Walt Disney of the east, but not only has Disney studios recently made their final traditionally animated film, and are only using computer technologies. Walt Disney has only ever been referred to as a legend for his works, while Miyazaki is commonly declared a god. Shinkai who is now being hailed the new Miyazaki created Voices of a Distant Star in his apartment. Now that is original! Not only did he take an element of love and turn it into something totally new, breaking out of the stereotypical star-crossed lovers by making the female fight in space while the guy waited on earth for her but he did the entire thing as an expression of his individuality. As far as I?m concerned Kon would have to be one of the best Anime directors when it comes to creating films that are not only original, but they don?t seem to sell out to the common profit grabbing issues flooding the screen these days. Kon stated that Tokyo Godfathers, which is one of my favourite films was created from several scripts that were thrown away by other directors. While in Millennium Actress Kon melds reality with illusion, which should be confusing, but oddly enough is still an understandable success. I hope this is a little more explanatory of what I?m trying to say. But hey, what are your thoughts on the expression of today?s films?

the manga absolutely rocks, it's my favourite manga in the whole, world, well next to Cowboy Bebop Shooting star anyway. it has an emotional sence about it that doesn't make you want to puke, which is pretty rare for anything with a romantic theme, well for me anyway. but seriously i recon its heaps bettter than the anime, damn that didn't go long enough. when are they going to make more. i can't wait for more fruits basket to hit the shelves, i'm only up to 13 and the suspence is killing me.