eleanor

[color=firebrick]I really think Korea is neck-and-neck with Japan in most areas, but Korea is most definately beating Japan in the cell-phone industry. Most everything that's 'cool' about the new hype for cell phones developed in, guess where? Korea. You name it: Downloading Mp3s, watching live television, navigating systems, immense internet access [which practically leads to everything else], it has all been created by Korean cell phone industries or made a whole lot better by them. [Boo-yah.] Korea's cell phones have even changed the music industry: the revenue from mobile-phone music downloads [Koreans call download songs for 20 cents to a dollar] in 2003 was $333 million, can you imagine 2004? It surpassed all CDs and tapes tales in Korea. Newsweek: [i]"They're changing the music that callers hear when they're on hold. They're adding background music while they talk. . .The latest cell phones, with their blistering download speeds, promise to accelerate the trend. . . .Video streaming services were offered in Spring of 2002, which spawned music videos of cell phones. With more than 32 million cell-phone subscibers in Korea, the indestry's biggest problem so far has been divvying up the loot. . .[/i] P.S.: Yes, and I intend to keep up the 'I'm better than you' strife against Japan.[/color]

[color=firebrick] I don't believe Asia will always be 'the best' when it comes to the art; you should know that the style of anime first originated from US cartoons, namely Walt Disney. [/color]

[color=firebrick] Ah... yes, Dagger, it feels good to be Korean so I can say this: [size=3] Korean art PWNS Japan art![/size] ^_^ Korea sort of has a 'girly-boy' theme that is present in most of their cartoons/manwhas, and I think they developed the 'inward foot' thing. It's pretty common in alot of the art. A lot of the stories can be a bit lacking, though, which make readers go toward mangas... even though Dagger is right: both a writer and artists work on one manwha together. Other than a difference in art, there aren't any glaring differences between manga and manwha. Both are very similiar in many ways, so I don't think there would be any reason to favor one a whole lot more than the other.[/color]

[color=firebrick] Dance Dance Revolution is like...the [b]coolest[/b] videogame made in a long time. I always want to go to an arcade to play it. Besides, DDR: Having fun while excercising. ^_^. It took me a while to get used to because I'm not particularly good with [strike]hand[/strike] foot-eye coordination.[/color]

[i]Edit:: Crap... You mean I have to draw another one? :P[/i] [color=firebrick] No, it's not mandatory. If you decide to keep the one you posted and use it for the contest, you'll have [b]1.5 points[/b] deducted from your overall score. Reminder: The pictures are due tomorrow, so I'll be giving out the PMs like I said I would. [/color]

[color=firebrick] Last I checked, Korea was exceding Japan. We get a Korean newspaper, so I don't see how closer to the source you can get...if something is in the US, then you can bet it's been in Korea or Japan before.[/color]

[color=firebrick] What animations did you watch? Korea can definately lacking in some places, but they do have their small highlights. Haha, like most cartoons, most of it is bad. They were the developers of Ragnorak and Tokyopop has recently liscened a bunch of manwhas, and I actually prefer the art in those books more than the mangas. But yeah, you're right, they could give more in plot. Ah...poor Disney. They should have stayed with Pixar. XD Doesn't Pixar still have another Disney-idea movie they have to make? I feel bad for them, haha.[/color]

[color=firebrick] Even though I'm being a hypocrite here, the answer to downloading anime is simple. It's wrong, and you shouldn't do it. It doesn't matter whether is it's not liscnened in the US or not: you're still [b]robbing[/b] the company of it's DVD sales and whatnot because most anime eventually get their way to the US. It's the same as downloading music, just because we're in a country doesn't mean we should get wild and start downloading other people's work for free. I myself completely erased all of my anime on my computer and got rid of my Kazaa a long time ago. And yes, I would buy more DVDs if I hadn't downloaded any shows. Some fanatics want the real thing, but others can settle perfectly for a good-quality fansubbed anime show. If anime-producing companies didn't care about fansubbers, something is wrong with them.[/color]

[color=firebrick] I feel like an old grandma...>_> Anyways, what do you guys think will come of anime? Will it more openly be made in other countries rather than mainly from Asia? Will CG elements be more involved in the makings? I personally hope that more comic artists will sprout up in the US and other places; one factor I believe is contributing to that is the Tokyopop Manga Contest. I think it's the first of its kind to come, and I wish more would follow. I don't have much time, but I just this thread as a quickie. What's your opinion?[/color]

[color=firebrick] I don't see why everyone is focusing on Japan; Korea is exceeding Japan in cell phone technology. You can watching friggin' [i]live[/i] drama shows on the cell phones in Korea..it's like a mini-television. Japan isn't the [b]only[/b] country making high-tech stuff. The cell phone industry in Korea is just as huge as Japan's, it's average to see second and third graders carrying cell phones around. I'm in a bad mood.[/color]

[color=firebrick] *cringes* Klinanime, maybe you misunderstood. You have to draw fanart that is based on an official drawing, which means same stance, etc. If you decided to keep the one you posted, you'll have points deducted. Sorry. ^_^;;.[/color]

[color=firebrick] ...or is it [i]Kiss Me Kill Me[/i]? *shrugs* I was [strike]stealing[/strike] digging around in my friend's purse when I got ahold of this manga, and I fell in love with its art the moment I saw it. The manga, well, it's not even a manga: it's a manwha, which is a Korean comic. Anyways, the manwha is about two cousins [one girl, one boy] who look [b]exactly[/b] like each other [I had trouble distinguishing them sometimes] and decide to switch identities. So the girl cousin goes off to her counterpart's school with a giant crush on a guy named Kun and the boy cousin goes to an all-girl school. Yes, that means guy in drag. :toothy: And all sorts of confusion follows and there's some shounen-ai mixed in with the confusion, though I think Kun is gay because he said the male cousin was 'hot' or something...:D Like I said, I really love the art [Korea=pwns Japan. :p] and the story was interesting. Anyone else read it yet?[/color]

[color=freibrick][b]Name:[/b] Syft Demoj [b]Age:[/b] 14 [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Social Group:[/b] Stiff [what are you talking about; we get to be hobos! j/k] [b]Short Description:[/b] 5' 10" Lithe, sort of lanky. Muscles are distributed evenly throughout his body, but it's light. He has black hair with green eyes: needs glasses but can't afford them. Bit of a lean face. [b]Personality:[/b] Hidden arrogance, but he also lacks in self-esteem in some areas. Can be very social, but he more than often likes to be alone. People look at him as naive and gullible with no common sense; Syft likes to think of himself as a 'hidden prodigy' sometimes. He enjoys being the leader and strive to emulate anyone or dominate others. When set in place, though, he can be rather helpful. Actually very sensitive and otherthinks many tiny details. [b]Deepest Desire:[/b] To be in the spotlight and prove himself to be more than worthy to others, yet he does nothing to help the desire. [b]Bio:[/b] 'Born' into a family that included a sister from two stiffs that had casual sex, fought during pregnancy, met again and had Syft. Syft remembers nothing of his early years in which he spent time with his supposed mother. The mother actually tried to raise Syft and his sister, Rhocke, but then drifted off to meet her desire to move to another social group. When he was 8, he got angry and ran away from his sister, eventually getting lost and never was able to return home after sneaking onto a ship. Syft rarely stole from others as most other Stiffs did, but instead snitched other Stiffs' stolen foods by attacking them. He gained some people to create a small band of boys until he fell back when another boy took the leader position of the group. Since then, he stayed with them but never did anything to make himself noticed. Recently the leader of the group was killed by a Bounty Hunter. [b]Additional Information:[/b] Syft has no intention/ambition of reuniting with his sister and/or mother, although he does think of them occasionally. He has a cross similiar to the boys of the Preen social group, but it's tatooed on his forearm in a circle that goes around his arm. Syft desperately tries to hide it and managed to rip the skin off of his arm into order to get rid of it. He made a long, circular peice of cloth that he slips his arm into in order to hide the scar, and has gotten to reputation to never be asked why. Syft hates being naked and usually managed to cloth himself properly no matter how dirty or destroyed the clothing is. He refuses to be called by 'nick-names' and hates the Preen social group and has no intention to switching social groups. Although he doesn't know what it is, he has epilepsy and unknown disease.[/color]

[color=firebrick] Music is up there along with the other really important things that are vital to life. And classical music is the bomb. I ususally get tired of punk rock music fast after I've listened to it for a long time. I mostly listen to soft music...eh, like Nora Jones. Jazz-ish or soft rock. I don't ever have a main preference for music, I'll listen to any song that I think sounds cool. *shrugs* I mean, I like Britney Spears's 'Toxic' song. I don't really care about what 'category' they're in.[/color]

[color=firebrick] I just want to state and ask something here- Why do so many people worship the Final Fantasy battle system? Seriously...when I started playing I was bored out of my [i]mind[/i]. It reminds me of those battle fought in the Revolutionary War: Americans shoot, Britains shoot, Americans shoot, Britains shoot. I realize why they did that, but I see no reason as to putting it into a video game. O_o. Why the heck is it so popular...? Is Final Fantasy X-2 like that, too? Well, whatever. I'm no video game master, but the only 'system' I will enjoy is when you can attack at your will. *shrugs* The first video game I played was Zelda, so I thought most popular games would have that style. *cringes at glares*[/color]

[color=firebrick] If you haven't read Orson Scott Card, do so now. He's pretty famous in the Science-fiction/fantasy world; I think he's the only author to win the Hugo Award two years in a row. I worship him. His Ender quartet is really fun to read; I know people who were remotely interested in sci-fi books that were completely glued to reading [b]Ender's Game[/b] when I reccomended it. Yet, I don't think [b]Ender's Game[/b] is his best book. Try reading [b]Speaker of the Dead[/b], [b]Ender's Shadow[/b], or [b]Xenocide[/b]. You should still read [b]Ender's Game[/b] if you want the full knowledge or everything, but it isn't necessary. And I [i]love[/i] Harry Potter. :toothy: JK Rowling doesn't give much for writer 'umph', though. ^_~ [it's an inside joke.] I started reading [b]The First Rider's Call[/b] yesterday in fact, because I saw it on my friend's desk and I was bored to death. I was trying to get past the prequel, and then realized it was a sequel. =_=. I want to read it, though.[/color]

[color=firebrick]Awesome, awesome novel. [spoiler]I guess you could call that scene a bit of a 'rape' scene. The author is just trying to get the point across that all innocence and sense of control has been lost when Jack and his tribe kill a helpless and mother pig. Maybe to both the pig and the boys; it could be a rape scene. I've never really heard that idea, though. *ponders* Especially with that awful chant...reminds me of Brave New World. XD[/spoiler] Anyone who hasn't read this book should really read it..I know highschoolers who haven't even heard of the book. It's a shame that so few people have read it. My sister forced me to read it in sixth grade, so I thank her. :toothy:[/color]

[i]I'm definitely in it, mostly just to get my name out as an artist here. I'm a little tired of all my threads being completely ignored until they sink into the mire of dead threads from days long past. [/i] [color=firebrick]You and I are soulmates. ^_~ Well, I look forward to your art, Megumi.[/color]

[i]The reason why Texhnolyze reminds you of Haibane Renmei and Lain is that they are all made by the same person. However, the first episode consists of nothing but action (action in the sense of motion) - not a single word is spoken until the last third of the first episode. That's quite different from Lain and Haibane Renmei since those series grab you with dialogue.[/i] [color=firebrick]Dude...that is [i]so[/i] cool. Do you know how amazingly hard it would be to make three beginning episodes that capture your attention/understanding with no dialogue?! I tried writing a story with no dialogue and I think I a bit of me died in the process...XD EDIT: Whoops, thought you said 'three episodes' there. But still...it sounds awesome.[/color]

[color=firebrick]I'm sorry Chabichou, the contest hasn't started yet. I'm sorry about the slight problem that occured since I said the contest would start on Wendnesday if OBv7 would be restored by Monday. [strike]I've scheduled to set the contest start date on Friday, February 17, 2004. Anyone who wants to can keep on signing up until 12:00 AM on Thrusday. Then you guys can start working on your art.[/strike] [size=4] Art Contest has officially started. Contestants should work on their sub-catergory of 'Fanart'. Everyone has [b]FOUR DAYS[/b] to complete their art, so the due date is [b]TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH[/b]. Good luck![/size][/color]

Art style is extremely important to me when it comes to watching cartoons. It's very shallow, but I'm usually apt to ditching an anime because of its art. *shrugs* If the plot if good enough, I'll sit around though.But seriously, if you're watching an anime about your best friend dying and the apocalypse is coming...and the characters have eyes that take up 2/3 of their face and they transform into SDs every second, I wouldn't be able to take it seriously. I'm exaggerating, but still. For example, if you're creating a light-hearted series, the art can be more 'round' while some more serious series might adopt a 'sharp' or 'angle-like' arty style. But then a lot of anime try to create an art style is usually very pleasing to the eye to most everyone and fluid and very clean animation and then completely die when it comes to content. Some anime I can think of that had very pretty animation/art and a good plot is [b]Yami no Matsuei, RahXephon, .hack//SIGN, etc.[/b]

[b][Author's Note: The short story I'm currently writing is based off of a song [three guesses as to what its title is] that will eventually get around to coming in manga-form if I'm not too lazy during the summer.][/b] Danny Rothrow was in Old John's small gas station sourly sweeping the floor, trying to clean the infested cracks inbetween the tiles that had always bothered him. It was really of no use; the broom itself was as dirty as his uncle's hogs. He kept on sweeping anyway. Well, of course Mr. Rothrow didn't remember the day for sweeping the floor, although he did get a nasty splinter that managed to slip through his hardened fingers. But that was a special day indeed. There was no tingling in Danny's bones or a small feeling in the back of his mind. Actually, Danny was planning on skipping out for a few hours during the lazy hours so that he could maybe catch up with a friend or get an icepop. Unfortunately for him, it started raining and there was no way in hell that Danny would try getting out from the back when the giant puddle formed in the middle like an oozing sand trap of death. So there he was. Even though then he had gotten tired of sweeping and was just rotating the broom in an uneven circle. His boss had stepped out about half an hour ago, saying something about his mad cow. And since he was bored, and like any other bored clerk would do, he fiddled with his thumbs and tried to look important at the register in case someone were to walk in. Danny remembered the last time he fiddled with his thumbs; he was waiting for the mailman to come 'round on his rickety wagon carrying a load of letters. Oh, and in those letters, in those letters, Danny hoped in those letters there would be his ticket to escaping the small town of Crossway and just live. Danny looked about for a second and caught that stupid Andrew Sullins sitting jumpy as a jackrabbit on the bench. Danny leaned foward and rested his elbows in the crooked posts of his fence, trying not to sneak a glance at Andrew. He was fiddling with his thumbs then, he remembered. Every year his high school would issue a scholarship to Middleton University. A scholarship! Danny didn't know what a scholarship until he layed his jittering feet in the principal's office. 'It was really [i]Zach[/i] who stole 'ole Ms. Washington's whacking stick,' Danny swore to himself in his mind. He finally caught ahold of himself and apologized to Mr. Madison after staring at him blankly for a minute. Danny remembered what Mr. Madison had finally said (after starting out with some setences that sure-near caused a lengthy preach about school and responsibility): 'Son, every year this fine school gives out a [i]scholarship[/i] to it's top student. You hear? Haha... Although I can't really remember our school having two go against each other for it, haha. Andrew, it is?' Danny guessed that was why mother had given him two extra pancakes at him and drove him to school with a tittering grin. Danny had never really been mean to Andrew Sullins, but he had never really been nice to him either. After that, Danny decided to leave the mystery of Andrew's stolen lunches be. Danny's dreams grew like the green ballons his father would blow for him on birthdays, and his ambition was like God, bless him. He started wondering about silly things: what the finest automobile looked like and what TV would be on at 4 o' clock on channel 40. Would there be a channel 40? Danny was fiddling his thumbs like mad then. Maybe he was chosen, maybe he wasn't. [i]Zip. Zoop. Zip. Zoop. Zip.Zoop.Zip.Zoop.Zip.Zoop.ZipZoopZipZoopZipZoopZipZoop...[/i] Danny scrubbed his nose with a scowl before looking over at that crazy Andrew Sullins, zipping and zooping that red jacket of his until there was no jacket. 'It'd drive a man insane,' Danny thought. * * * [b][Author's Note: The part of the story you just read is the very first...draft-thing. >_>. I wrote it on OB, as a matter of fact, so don't kill me if there are grammar mistakes and stuff. I hate grammar...:< I just failed my last grammar test...][/b]

[color=firebrick] I don't know if this is the same movie we're talking about, but I saw a Yugioh movie. It wasn't exactly the greatest cinematic event I've witnessed. Anyways, it's about Yugi & Co. and it also introduces a new character. Supposedly, he's an extremely weak player, and he pretty much has a crappy deck. Low and Behold, he gets ahold of the 'Red Eyed Black Dragon' or something which is supposed to be not powerful, but full of potential...? Yeah. I don't think it'll be as 'big' as the Pokemon movie, because I think the Yugioh fad has died done a bit.[/color]

[color=firebrick] [size=5] >_

[color=firebrick] *fiddles with thumbs* I like Ian McKellan, I really hope he's casted to be Fuyutsuki. I just really hope Elijah Wood is not cast as Shinji...I really...don't. O_o. Although I'm actually very excited over just the action scenes that might be in the movie. Sennen showed me some developing artwork of Tokyo-3 [very weird, it actually surrounds the ruins of Tokyo-2. Sort of a stupid thing to do realistically, though it holds some symbolic meaning I would guess]. [/color]