LazLong

Totally loved this series. I'm going through the manga now and went ahead and ordered the box set DVDs. The characters are believable and likable. Some of the episodes were just funny as hell. I feel like I've had a good look into the life of Otaku over in Japan. I was just sad that the series ended when it did. There seemed like so much more that could've been covered. The manga takes you a little further than the anime, but it still leaves a lot unsettled. I did hear that there's a book coming out in Jan 08 with a side story for Genshiken. Here's the link to Heisei Democracy ... [URL="http://heiseidemocracy.com/2007/12/27/goods-news-genshiken-to-be-novelized/"]http://heiseidemocracy.com/2007/12/27/goods-news-genshiken-to-be-novelized/[/URL]

I finally saw the whole series and really liked it. Have been looking or a complete boxed set to get but it seems that they still haven't put one out yet. I definitely feel like I need to watch the whole series again to pick up all the little references that I'm sure I missed. I liked the dark, psychological mood to the anime. Can anyone recommend anything similar? Laz

1: Why does this site exist? To provide a place where like minded folks can come and chat about common interests (anime, manga, etc.) 2: What does this site do? Provides a forum for discussion. This is more a discussion site than a News/RSS feed site (imho). 3: Who post here? (Eamples: Gamers, Anime and Manga fans, etc.) All of the above. 4: How did this site become this? I would need to know what this site was before I showed up. I don't have the context. It looks like the site is pretty tightly controlled so I'd have to guess that the people running the site have what they want. 5: Do you beleive that this site is the best forum site around? I go to a bunch of different sites to get different flavor. I like the question/discussion aspect of this site. I see that you guys have a pretty consistent following of folks who contribute and I don't have to filter through tons of nonsense to actually get to interesting discussion. From the sites I check out ... this is probably right up near the top. 6: Do you have fun? For the most part, yes.

B illy Shears .... huge props for one of the greatest Zep songs that you never hear about. Man ... Achilles Last Stand has the most amazing and hard driving drums beats ever! What a great call. I remember having my mom take me to the midnight movies in the 70s to see The Song Remains the Same. She could never understand why it smelled like burning rope in the movie theaters :) My fav Zep songs ... Battle of Evermore, Achilles Last Stand, No Quarter, Kashmir, Ramble On .... so many great songs.

This is old school but [spOiler]Roy Fokker[/spoiler] from Macross/Robotech was sad and unexpected. That was the first real anime death that I remember. This was a long time ago when there weren't really deaths in any "cartoons" on TV in the 80s.

Hmmmmm ... if money were no object ... a nice big flat panel TV so I could lay in bed and watch TV without straining my neck :) Laz

Sorry for the noob question here, and I guess I could go look this answer up but I'm here so ... I just watched the first DVD of Gundam SEED Destiny and I thought it was pretty good. Definitely got me interested in the characters and the story. Is this different from the Gundam Seed Series you're all talking about? There seems to be a zillion Gundam series out there :) Thanks, Laz

In my younger days ... Bourbon and Ginger Ale .... yummy. These days ... Guiness, scotch or GM. Laz

Right now .... I'd have to say my favs are ... 1. Welcome to the NHK - Funny and thought provoking at times. The more I think about this show the more layers and facets I see taking shape. Can't wait to see more. 2. FLCL - Great music, cool characters and lots of bizare action. 3. Last Exile - I like the story. I usually look for character depth and development as the main hook (aside from mechaand cool imagery) .. I like the characters here and the way the story moves along at a decent clip. 4. Naruto - I got totally sucked into the Fan Subs on this and the first Shippuden story arc was pretty darn good. I've got a lot of catching up to do on the first series ... but that's what weekends are for. 5. Death Note - Another great character driven story. The battle of wits between Light and L keeps me coing back for more ... Honorable mentions - Ergo Proxy, Neo Genesis Evangelion, Macross ... I love these lists .. you all have pretty good taste and I'm always finding something interesting in the anime that you watch. Keep up the great work. Laz

Hiya folks, I've been pulling together a Xerpi page for cool links and favorites (see signature below) ... what are some of your cool/obscure/recommended links for anime, manga and otaku culture? Check out what I've got and let me know what you think. If you'd like to help with the page, just let me know. Thanks! Laz

Hmmmm ... I still hate when people call me "sir". I bought the Robotech collectors edition boxed set and I realized I was just getting into that in the mid-80s ... about 20+ yrs ago ... Yikes. You know you're old when you thank the sales clerks for asking for your ID when you buy beer :) That always makes my day. Laz

Yikes ... I've only seen the first episode but it looks like the rest carry through with many of the cliche's I noticed in the first episode. Good drinking game ... not sure you can make it through a whole show with all those rules .. that would be lots of drining :) Laz

I think this is coming out soon on DVD in the States. I wandered into one of the movie rooms at Otakon and cought the last half of this movie so I was a little lost, but I kept thinking how awesome the images were and that I had to chck out more of Shinkai's work. I went out and watched Voices ... and A Place Promised ... and was just blown away. I can't wait for 5 CM per Second to come out so I can watch the whole thing. It's been a long time since I saw a movie or read a book or anything where I was actually moved by the experience (yes it's kinda cheesy, but its true). I'm glad I stumbled into that 35 MM room at Otakon. Laz

I've seen the first two sets of DVDs of Ergo Proxy and it has definitely shot to the top of my rental rotation. I haven't gotten to far into the series yet but the characters have captured my interest and the story is cryptc enough that I want to keep watching to see how things work out. I have to admit I find Pino a little annoying and Vince seems a bit oblivious about things, but I'm interested to see where they wind up. Can anyone recommend anime similar to Ergo proxy ? Thanks, Laz

[URL="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070908/film_nm/maguire_dc"]http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070908/film_nm/maguire_dc[/URL] Here as well .. [URL="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i1f2de64a1d24bd5585bf89b0691d2011"]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i1f2de64a1d24bd5585bf89b0691d2011[/URL] Just saw this today. Looks like Toby Maguire may have th Rick Hunter role. I they could do a trilogy for the Robotech saga that would be awesome. Who do you think would be good actors/actresses to play the lead roles for the Mcross saga ? I'll be collecting more links on the site below ... click to see more .. Laz Saw this link on the Robotech boards and it kind of answered the question I had asked in my previous reply (so I'm replying to myself) :). [URL="http://movies.ign.com/articles/818/818866p1.html"]IGN sugestions for Robotech casting[/URL] Any other Robotech fans out there? Laz

The lists folks had on here are pretty good. The person who had the Shattner and the Nimoy songs rocks! 1. Lucinda Williams/ The Night's to Long -- great bluesy/country singer 2. Donavan/ Jersey Thursday -- Bought this album for the song "Catch the Wind" 3. The Verve/ Come On - The Verve are so much better than just "Bittersweet Sympthony" and Richard Ashcroft's solo stuff could even be better. 4. The Bloodhound Gang/ Hell Yeah -- Funny stuff ... 5. Whiskeytown/ Black Arrow, broken Heart -- One of my favorite bands of all time. Ryan Adams pre-pretention ... pure alt-country. Listen to the album Avenues ... amazing 6. Tool/10,000 Days (wings for Marie pt 2) -- Best song on 10,000 Days. Tool is awesome. 7. The Walkmen/ The North Pole -- Diferent sound, but I like it. 8. The Finn Brothers/Kiss the Road of Raratonga -- The Finn Brothers and their other projects (Crowded House, etc) ... are what I think of when I think of NZ music. 9. Yes/ Long Distance Run Around -- Love the sound and the songs. 10. Peter Gabriel/ Red Rain -- Shaking the Tree was a great Peter Gabriel album ... so many classics on that. 11. Jeff Buckley/Eternal Life -- WOW ... what can I say about Jef Buckley, but he will be sorely missed. A friend got me into Jeff Buckley and that has been one of the key moments in my life. 12. Iced Earth/Atilla from the Glorious Burden -- Another suggestion from a friend of mine ... the musical tribute to the Battle at Gettysburg on this album is pretty unique. 13. Beck/Hotwax from Odelay -- cool lyrics and cool music. One of the most unque artists out there today. 14. Led Zeppelin/Your Time is Gonna Come -- When will we see the next Led Zeppeli? Never. 15. Rush/Driven -- Clever lyrics, outstanding music ... Rush just keeps getting better. This was fun. Laz

It was in the early 80s when shows like Voltron and Starblazers were making their way on to US TV. Around then Robotech came out and that had me hooked. I guess the very first thing I would've seen would've been Speed Racer ... wow that was a long time ago :)

Based upon the number of people dressed as anime characters at Otakon, I'd definintely think that Bleach has a slight edge over Naruto. There seemed to be a good bit more Bleach folks than Naruto folks at the Con.

I agree. it's been a while since anything I've watched has really grabbed me like that movie. Definitely want to check out more from the creator. I don't think "5 cm" will be coming out till next year in the states. It tells 3 stories and I'd put it on par with "Voices"

No problem. Here's a site on Wikipedia with more info as to he chronology of the shows ... [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Super_Dimension_Fortress_Macross"]Wikipedia for Macross[/URL]

I just saw this recently after catchng part of "5mm per second" at Otakon, and it is fantastic. I can't wait to see the rest of what this artist has to offer. I would pay money ust to watch the backgrounds in "5mm" ... just amazing. As for Voices of a Distant Star, I really loved the simple nature of how the story was told. It's such a simple story told against a hgh tech bacground. The contrast between those two elements was brilliant. I watched the interview with the artist on the DVD and I think he pretty much did everything on his Mac. Has anyone seen any of his other films? Laz

Hi Matt, I'm no expert, just a long time Robotech fan. I'm currently getting acces to the Macross DVDs and watching those. The Harmony Gold ROBOTECH series is in three parts: Macross, Robotech Masters and the Next Generation. At least make sure you watch these in this order. Looking back at these, even the remastered DVDs, you'll probably find sharper and more detailed anime arounf but back in the day this was cutting edge (at least for me). The new Shadow Chronicles DVD that came out recently fits in after the Next Generation and for the most part I was pretty happy with the results. They've definitelyleft the door open for subsequent releases and I think they've got another movie length episode in the works. I also have the Macross movie (Do you Remember Love ...) and this is simply amazing. I think the story makes better sense in this version and the anime art is first class. I've seen a few other Macros spin offs over time and I guess I'll just need to watch them all in order to get the full sense of them. Anyway ... I don't think you'll be disappointed if you start watching the Robotech or the Macross series. Laz

I started getting into anime back in the early 80s with shows like Robotech and Starblazers. I was and still am a huge Robotech and Macross fan. I've had the Robotech series on VHS (does anyone here know what that is ?) for forever and just recently gave up on them :) I bought the Protoculture collection of remastered DVDs and have been watching them since I got it. I am not ashamed to admit I was obsessed with the show back then and still am a little :) I've gotten the Shadow Chronicles DVD and I think it's a decent series to follow on from the New Generation series. I really liked that characters from previous series made an appearance and that they've let the door open for future installments. One of these days Rick Hunter will make it back to earth :) I had a VHS version of the Macross movie in Japanese, with no subtitles or dubs. I recenlty bought a copy wth the English subtitles and I can finally figure out what those people were saying for all those years :) It's an awesome movie that you should see if you get the chance. Laz Long

Tokko and Noein are currently showing on Sci-Fi Network Ani-Mondays. I've watchd the past few weeks worth of shows an they aren't bad. The characters in Tokko seem to be a little more interesting to me, so I feel that's the better of the two so far. Laz Long