inactive

@ Petie: Well, that's really annoying... But thanks so much for the effort! I think I might have more to go on, thanks to what you found. I just wish that I could actually download the song by clicking "download", but then it just prompts you to do a search on iTunes which returns no results, since the title and artist of the song are both just given the name of the site. D: @ 2009DigitalBoy: No, I checked all the openings and endings, and none of them match up. Also, thanks for the recommendation. I've been thinking about checking it out. n_n I have pretty much all the music from .hack//SIGN (Yuki Kajiura is amazing!), so I'm pretty sure this song is unrelated. Well, that is I'm pretty convinced that the song is from Higurashi... I think probably from the game or an image album or something. Which would explain why it's so obscure and I'm having so much trouble finding it. :( EDIIIIT: FOUND IT! Song's called "Lacrimosa" by Kalafina. And it's not from Higurashi at all (which I actually figured myself after realizing that the song plays on every page of the site, not just the Higurashi page). It's the 2nd ending of [B][URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10160"]Kuroshitsuji[/URL][/B]. [B][url]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8itdv_kalafina-lacrimosa-full_tech[/url][/B] Also, YouTube: [B][url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj84F0DGcu8[/url][/B] Happyyyyy.

So, I dunno if this is the best place to post this (perhaps it should be in the anime section?)... but whatever. Please help me!! I found this site: [url]http://shikorita.blogspot.com/2008/07/dd-todos-los-ost-higurashi-no-naku-koro.html[/url] The song on this site is playing from seemingly nowhere, but I really like it, and it's killing me that I can't find out what it's called or who sings it! It's just too bad the site isn't in English... I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say it's from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (duh, since that's what's the page is all about). Anyway, I've never seen the show, but I thought maybe one of you incredibly intelligent people might be able to help me identify the song. Anyone???

Shinkai is definitely a director who deserves every bit of the praise that's given to him. I've seen all his works (at least the major ones), and they never failed to amaze me with all the detail put into ordinary mundane objects, and the beautiful scenery. It really makes for an interesting effect, the way he puts so much more emphasis on these things, as opposed to the characters. I really love the calm atmosphere in his films. It's so sad, and in a way that's unsatisfying, but it really makes a bold statement about life. In 5 cm, I have to admit that the end did leave me unsatisfied. I wanted more---some closure, I guess. But that's what life is like, right? Personally, I prefered The Placed Promised in Our Early Days to 5 cm, just because I guess it's more my pace. But both films are absolutely amazing.

Hmmm... That's a really good question. Well, putting aside technicalities (like that it has to be in Japanese or shown in Japan to ACTUALLY be considered a valid anime--or however people feel about that) I'd say I'd definitely have my anime done in English. This is because, well, I speak English, and it would be important to me that my anime would appeal to English speaking audiences, and so I could make a statement about animation NOT being only for kids in the western world (and this would also avoid a potentially crappy dub later on). It would also be very important that the animation of the characters be lip-synced to the voices--in English. And to do that I couldn't possibly have it in Japanese first. I'd definitely like to have someone like Yuki Yajiura do music for my anime. Yeah, I'd like there to be Japanese music, or at least something kind of in J-Pop style or something. I'd want it to have a really unique sound--something like what was achieved with the kind of music in Akira (I watched it recently and am really impressed with the score). I definitely do not think that language should affect the quality of an anime at all, or anything else for that matter. If it's good quality, it's good quality. What's important is the story, the writers and the voice actors, and so long as these things are done well, I think that it should be of equal quality, no matter what language it's in. It's not like certain languages are able to express certain things better or anything, right? They're just different ways of saying the same thing. Unfortunately, we still get crappy dubs because of cultural differences and bad translation or whatever... But I guess that existing works will always be better in their original language. That's another thing--there's no way I'd be able to create something in the right way by doing it in a language I don't fully understand--literally and culturally. As for anime made for English dialogue, I'm not sure if this counts, but there's a Canadian show called "Cybersix" (made from an Argentinean comic book) that was animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha for Canadian audiences, and was later dubbed in Japanese and other languages. I'm not entirely sure that the style of this show could be considered anime, but it was definitely made by a Japanese animation studio.

Okay then, I'll go ahead and [B]claim[/B] it. I've been considering it for a while, but since I didn't really feel like I had any good ideas for the character I didn't... But I'll give it a go. EDIT: Done! That went faster then I thought it would. Dakk is the thumbnail on the left, the two on the right are my character. I didn't initially intend to do a value drawing, but after a while I decided I'd rather keep it in pencil and I only coloured in the eyes--since I figured his emerald green eyes were a striking feature. I have to say, though, after shading in a pretty excellent looking coat, I died a little inside when I had to start defacing it by making it dirty and worn looking. :animecry: Sorry if I completely butchered your character, Elleius. I wasn't able to completely identify with him, but I like how the picture turned out anyway... I think I was sort of trying to show a softer side of his personality...I guess...maybe just a little bit. Heheh. :animeswea I hope you'll let me know what you think! My character's Mika. She's a character I came up with a little while ago, and I haven't really done much with her, but I'm working on it. My profile for her is [I]very[/I] rough: [B]Mika:[/B] Fun-loving. Loves life. Kind to everyone, but not a pushover. She's not afraid to say "Do it yourself". She comes off as naive sometimes, but she isn't. She's gone through some tough times and knows how to take care of herself. When she's moody, she hides it well. She is an artist, and passionate about art. Generally confident, except for the fact that she has trust issues. Nice all the time because she's kind of afraid people won't accept her otherwise (but still not a pushover). Afraid of rejection. Oh, and she has dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. I have the colours for her outfits labeled on the pictures, but don't feel restricted to only drawing her in those two outfits. (Sorry about the crappy pen-on-looseleaf sketches...)

Oh no! I was almost done Konata's character! I'm sorry it's taken so long, but it's ended up being a pretty big project. I'll post it anyway, when I'm done. Which should be soon. Hopefully. I'd be done already, but I was kind of busy... :animecry: EDIT: Well, here it is. I hope you like it, Konata. I really enjoyed doing your character since you gave such a detailed description and everything. Too bad I didn't get it in on time... My bad. So basically, I wanted to show Hitomi's really messed up side... I didn't want to portray her as murderous or perfect--I wanted to portray her as vulnerable. She's pretty much flipping out about getting 80% on a paper. I did this picture in ink and watercolour (I've included a picture of it just in ink as well as in watercolour, just for the heck of it). I thought that watercolour would suit the style really well... I really like how it turned out. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly using watercolour paper, so my page got really wrinkled and this came out in the scan. But I actually think it looks pretty cool, and it suits the picture, so it's all good.

Mmmmm... Then I guess I'll have a go at it. [B]Claimed[/B]. I haven't been drawing much lately, so it'll be good to have something to motivate me. Hopefully it won't take too long.

I guess it's a little late to be posting on the conclusion of this series (seeing as the final episode played on Sept. 26), but I've only just gotten a hold of an English sub of the episode. It would really be nice if I could understand Japanese so I could watch the raw. :animeswea Anyway, the ending was great. [spoiler]I admit that I was really expecting Juliet to stab herself after Romeo died (just like in the play), but it's definitely better that she ended up saving the world instead. Now that I think back on it, I don't really know why I thought she'd stab herself, since it?s not really in keeping with her character (in this anime, anyway). It may seem a little odd, but I was really hoping that Romeo and Juilet would end up being really selfish in their love for each other in the end. That is, I wanted them to not care what happened to the rest of the world, so long as they could be together. I didn't want them to be noble and do the right thing for the "greater good". That would just take away from their romance... It pretty much turned out that way in the end, except that Juliet still got to be noble by saving the world--but that was only after she didn't have anything left to live for (after Romeo's death). I also found it rather ironic how Escalus, the being that supported their world and sustained their existence for so long, became the villian in the end. I really enjoyed that little glimpse into the post-"falling-from-the-sky" Neo Verona. I always like when series (especially ones with sad endings) show how life has moved on, and the other characters have found happiness and peace--at least for now. :p Even though this was a tragedy, it still managed to have an optimistic ending. I appriciate that.[/spoiler] I really, really liked this series. In fact, I enjoyed it a great deal more than the original. ;) Definitely a must see.

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted anything on OtakuBoards, but I figured it was due time to say something... I've been really busy with stuff lately, but I've finally caught up with the episodes. Episode 20 was certainly a [spoiler]display of Montague's tyranny[/spoiler]. And I was pretty much disgusted when [spoiler]not ONE of the people in that room stayed sitting because they all valued their misrable lives more than the whole of Neo Verona[/spoiler]. :animeangr I'm also not crazy about the fact that Mercutio is such a [spoiler]snivelling, power-hungry coward[/spoiler]... but oh well. My immediate thought at the end was that [spoiler]Juliet would have to become the new Tree to save Neo Verona[/spoiler]. That would be like how in the play, the two of them had to die to bring the feud to an end, and they all regretted it and stuff. In this case, [spoiler]they'll see what had to be sacrificed to save their world, and realise their mistakes and all that[/spoiler]. I'm not sure what may happen to Romeo, but I don't think [spoiler]he'll inherit Ophelia's role... I think it more likely that he'd die trying to protect Juliet in some way[/spoiler]... As for Ophelia's [spoiler]hands being bark, I guess that means she's linked to or part of Escalus in some way. In other words, not human. Since her hands weren't like that before, one can definitely assume that she's wasting away just as Escalus is.[/spoiler]

Alright, I'll [B]claim[/B] Lunox's character! I'll put my picture up soon... Edit: Sorry it took so long! Here's my version of the character. Red-haired just like you asked. I rather enjoyed doing this one, although I didn't feel like I was very creative... I like how it turned out nonetheless. My character is on the right. Just a sketch from class. Do what you will with her.

[quote name='Aceburner']- The[spoiler]Dementor attack[/spoiler] at the beginning was well done.[/QUOTE] I thought this scene was rather crappy. Well, the scene was good, but what's with the Dementors?!? I mean, they looked completely different from the ones in PoA, and Dementors are supposed to always have their hoods up... It says in the book that anybody who sees what a Dementor looks like under their hood would be in no fit state to tell anybody. It just looked ridiculous to me, and it really took away from the impact of the scene, in my opinion. The movie wasn't really that consistent in regards to the previous movies, with the Dementors and also with some other stuff... Meh, I'm just being overly critical. :animeswea I really did like the movie.

[quote name='Lunox'][color=dimgray] OotP is one of my favorites out of the book series, so I guess I was tough on the movie. I agree with your sister, though. There wasn't a moving sincerity in Harry's friendships (both new and old), and most of the time I felt emotionally unaffected. [/color][/quote] My thoughts exactly. It really just left me longing for more, when it came to the relationships between the characters. It seemed like it was kind of rushed, so there wasn't really any time to slow down and develop those parts of the story. [quote name='Lunox'][color=dimgray] [spoiler]I don't think they wanted to cast Cho as this total *****, to say the least. She isn't in the books, so I think they dealt with it nicely. It provided a reason for them to stop seeing each other, as Harry assumed it was voluntary, but at the same time it didn't cast Cho as a villain. And by the time Cho was redeemed, I think Harry had too much on his mind to think about getting back together, lol.[/spoiler][/color][/QUOTE] Yeah...That's true. I certainly understand why they did it, but I still stand by what I said before. I think what I mean to say, is that it wasn't as gracefully done as in the book, if it can be described that way. [spoiler]Although, it wouldn't exactly be convenient to introduce a whole new character (Marietta Edgecombe), just for that small part of the movie, plus if they did that they'd have to introduce that complicated reasoning behind Harry and Cho breaking up. Although, I also would have liked to see Hermione get her little spotlight, as she invented such a clever way to keep the DA hidden, and also punish the traitors (urg, sounds harsh...).[/spoiler] Anyway, yeah, you're right about that, even if it wasn't all that "graceful", I guess there wasn't really a whole lot of options.

I agree with you, Lunox. While I enjoy the movies, they could NEVER replace the books. [quote name='Darren']The majority of people who's read the HP series, has said that the 5th is their least favorite. (Proven by numerous polls) So, in the movie, they were able to cut around all the bull that made Order of the Pheonix so unbearable and get right into the bulk of the story.[/QUOTE] While I won't deny that OotP wasn't exactly my favourite book of the series, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "unbearable". I still love the book, and I honestly think that cutting it down to the "bulk of the story" really took a lot away from it's impact. My sister put it quite eloquently. This movie is good, but it lost a lot of the "heart" that was in the book. Which is because they had to cut so much out. With this movie, I have to say that I was disappointed that so much stuff was cut out, but I guess that's just the way it has to be. I mean, it's 766 pages (UK edition, of course)! It just bothers me that this was the longest book but the [I]shortest film[/I]. Nevertheless, there simply just wasn't time to put in those heart-warming little scenes... It really is a shame. And it really was very choppy, and went along at a very clipping pace. I noticed this with the 4th movie, but it's even more evident in the 5th one. I thought this movie was great when it came to the dark, psychological aspect of it, though. It really created a mood, and I thought the whole thing with [spoiler]Voldemort controlling Harry, as well as the times Harry is tormented by his link to him earlier in the film[/spoiler], was really well done. I have to say that I wasn't crazy about the [spoiler]Cho giving away the DA thing either. I mean, if she was forced to do it with Veritaserum, then she and Harry could get back together, right? I think it would have been better if they had just made her do it voluntarily, because then there would be reason for them breaking up...[/spoiler] Anyway, Tonks wasn't quite like I imagined her, but I thought she was good anyway. I thought Kreacher was EXCELLENT. I loved his design. Umbridge was wonderfully horrible. I also liked Helena Bonham Carter in her role as Bellatrix Lestrange. Things I would have LOVED to see in the movie: - [spoiler]Ron becoming a prefect, and Harry's reaction to that[/spoiler] - Some Quidditch, and [spoiler]Umbridge's related tyranny[/spoiler] - [spoiler]The line "give her hell from us Peeves" by Fred and George (yes, I know Peeves wasn't put in the movies *cries*)[/spoiler] - [spoiler]The characters who couldn't see the Thestrals reacting to [I]flying through the air with seemingly nothing supporting them[/I][/spoiler] (WHY didn't they put this in!?! It's so simple...) - [spoiler]The spinning room in the Department of Mysteries and it's assorted chambers, containing many interesting and strange things... I really would have liked to see more detail put into the Department of Mysteries in general, and their fight there.[/spoiler] - [spoiler]Dumbledore bringing the golden statues to life (although I thought the Voldemort vs Dumbledore fight was AWESOME)[/spoiler] I'm sure if I read the book again I'd find about a hundred more things I would have liked to see put in there, but really--when it comes down to it--this is completely unreasonable, and impossible. Overall, I really liked the movie. It was well done. You really have to go in seeing it as something completely separate from the books, but that's very difficult for me... Anyway, the movie's exciting, but it's nowhere near how exciting the 7th book's release is going to be. EEEEEEE!!! *passes out*

Well, I guess you could say I sort of grew up with anime. As a toddler my mother picked up this VHS tape from God knows where, entitled [I]Thumbelina[/I]. My sister and I, and also a close friend of ours, were absolutely in love with this little 1 hr 20 min movie, but I didn't find out that it was actually a compilation of a 26 episode anime series called [I]Oyayubi Hime Monogatari[/I] (1992) until about October last year. Anyway, this was my first exposure to anime and, consequently, all three of us (my sister, my friend and I) ended up being anime fans. Go figure. Anyway, the three of us also became avid [I]Sailor Moon[/I] fans when it first hit the Canadian public. I was still quite young at this time, and I have to admit that I did eventually grow out of it, even though it was still on TV. I do remember a large portion of my childhood being dedicated to it though. Shortly after that time came [I]Pokemon[/I] and the whole elementary-school-Pokemon-Card craze. Heh, that was great fun. When I grew out of that I became addicted to [I]Digimon[/I], which was a lot better than Pokemon... Anyway, up until this time I really didn't know what the heck this anime thing was. I was just naturally drawn to it, but I hadn't given it a second thought, really. I'm not exactly sure when I found out what it was, but I think it must have been around the time our family acquired The Internet. :animeswea Anyway, once I knew what anime was, needless to say, I was quite excited when they started showing [I]Inu Yasha[/I] on YTV (I was about 12), and after that they expanded their anime repertoire significantly, and I liked a lot of the shows. Along with what I was getting on TV, I also discovered Miyazaki, and fell in love... Anyway, needless to say, I didn't exactly have a lot of access to anime. Not many TV channels and not enough funds. But then I discovered the power of downloading! It has changed my life... :animeswea Seriously though, last summer (I think) I was searching around, trying to figure out how so many English speaking people on the internet had seen Gundam SEED Destiny before it was out in English, and I came across a site... and the rest is history. Since then I've watched many diverse anime shows/movies, and my passion for REALLY GOOD QUALITY animation has grown significantly. It took a little bit longer for me to get into manga, but I did eventually. Since I'm pretty cheap (:animeswea) I wasn't exactly willing to go out and spend a bunch of money on manga when I didn't know if I'd like it or not. So it was really only this year (having been guided in the right direction by a person in a gaming class with me) that I started reading it on the web... I quite enjoy it now, although it's not as big a part of my life as anime. Anyway, I really have been watching anime practically my whole life, even if I didn't know what it was for half of it. Wow, I sure can ramble.

Okay, I think it's time that this thread was revived... I'm [B]claiming[/B] han ki-tae's picture. Hope to get it up soon. EDIT: Okay, here's my version of your character. For some reason I just envisioned her at a fair (you'll notice she's complete with balloon and cotton candy :animeswea ). My character's on the right. Her clothes were inspired by Star Wars, but other than that there isn't much of a story behind her.