Solo Tremaine

[color=#503f86]What is it in particular about strange animes that you want people to talk about? Just asking people if they've seen them doesn't really work as a topic. What is it that makes strange anime so appealing? What is the strangest one you've seen? What makes it strange? That sort of thing. I understand you've made an effort to re-vamp your previous topic, but you need to make sure that the discussion will be able to carry intelligently- just asking people to reply gives them either too much or too little scope for respond ^_~[/color]

[QUOTE=Moonraker One]Basically, he said that since the universe is infinite (never-ending), there are an infinite number of worlds out there. But, since not all worlds can be inhabited by living beings, the total average population of the entire universe, is a finite (limited) number. Since any finite number divided by infinity is infinitely close to zero, you can simply say that the total average population of all worlds is zero. Thus, you can also say that any person you meet who claims to exist is merely a figment of your imagination. What are your feelings on this subject?[/QUOTE][color=#503f86]This looks like it's supposed to be [i]population density[/i] of the universe, not the question of whether people exist inside it or not. Since the universe is so huge in comparison to everything inside it, you could say that from an outsider's point of view, there's nothing inside it. But the fact that you and everyone else are here to read and write in this thread proves otherwise. But how are you supposed to measure population density when the majority of space is uninhabitable anyway? You can only live on the surface of something, so a better estimate would be to take the number of things in the universe and then divide it by the area of all the places in the universe where they live. It's humour. Practically, stating that no-one exists is pointless, because you're there to make that assumption in the first place. It's told from a first person perspective: "Thus, you can also say that any person you meet who claims to exist is merely a figment of your imagination." It's giving you a 'scientific' hypothesis to base ignoring people on. But if everyone else is doing exactly the same thing, it doesn't work. You can't prove that something doesn't exist just by saying so.[/color]

[COLOR=#503F86]Welcome to the Boards, yuyufirefight. Please try and improve on your post quality- as it stands, posts whichare one huge, run-on sentence are irritating and difficult to follow. Proper punctuation is much appreciated; posts that fall too far underneath the standards set by the [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?]Rules[/URL] will be deleted as spam. As for my choices... [b]Yomiko Readman- Read or Die:[/b] I'd get her a filofax, or a pad of paper/several pads of paper so she can make a note of every book she has. I expect it'd be quite easy to lose them in that flat of hers. At least if she writes them all down she'll know not to buy second copies or whatever. [b]The cast of Rayearth:[/b] Either cell phones or some instant message program that works cross-dimensionally. Phone calls are going to be expensive if Hikaru, Umi and Fuu want to keep up wth their relationships.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]I don't understand what the point of this thread is supposed to be, save discussing a profile of Kenshin's characters. But even so, we already have a Rurouni Kenshin thread open [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=23215]here[/URL]. Please be more specific when creating a thread, or be sure to check for existing ones before starting a new topic. Thread closed.[/COLOR]

[color=#503f86]Trojan viruses aren't always executed immediately after their download, hence the name. They can be triggered by opening a specific program, (for example, IE) even after the computer's been switched off a few times. So it could have come from anywhere. Except OB's PMs, heh.[/color]

[color=#503f86]No, the characters aren't from any anime. Even Outlaw Star's 'Strongest Woman In The Universe' episode would be hard-pushed to reach that. After translating the site with Google, it's clear to see that it's an original site for people with a fetish for women with disgustingly huge muscles. And why you'd want to look at that is beyond me, but never mind... Anyway, please be careful when posting links that the sites are suitable for all audiences. Links to sites with questionable content are taken very seriously at OB- I know it wasn't malicious but it really didn't take much to find out what it was. Thread closed.[/color]

[COLOR=#503F86]Heh, as much as anime is art, there's a lot more to it than that. Like with anything made for an audience, it's intended to be read/watched/heard and if possible make a lot of money at the same time. Not all animes are successful, but you can bet whoever wrote them was hoping they'd be popular enough to make them some money. To be honest, every anime would have a financial basis behind it- it takes a lot of money to produce them so the producers and various factors involved need to be able to get some kind of revenue back. Even things like Evangelion must have been created with the hope of making a profit, but nobody considers it solely a marketing scheme. The fact that something's been marketed to death doesn't change the fact that it's still being produced, and I don't think FoxBox are the ones behind the anime's actual production- that'd be the studios in Japan. As far as I can tell the Pokemon games are still going strong, and for as long as they do the series will continue alongside it. The plot hasn't changed, the characters (essentially) haven't changed, and yeah, they're probably only continuing to run because they have done for so long already. It's pretty much self-perpatuating. But if Pokemon was actually good (in the sense that most people think it isn't- I know there are fans about) and despite the fact that it's been running for donkeys years, would you be complaining about it? Obviously, if it's an unpopular show, then it's not a very good marketing scheme. Personally, I think animes like BeyBlade, Duel Masters, Yu-Gi-Oh and Transformers are all blatant marketing schemes, because they're all created specifically as glorified toy adverts or to rival other, more popular shows and obviously have little thought put into their actual plot, characters and structure (with the mild exception of Yu-Gi-Oh which actually has some plot behind it, but is still frustratingly slow to get through).[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]He's talking about Manga, Humaru, not animes. Anyway, I wouldn't suggest Pokemon at all, because everyone knows and is sick of it. Perhaps something like Magic Knight Rayearth or Cardcaptor Sakura, as they're aimed towards teenage girls, aren't too heavy with regards to their subject matter and have decent stories. I think that's the major point. You'll know you sisters personal tastes better than us, heh. If she doesn't enjoy it, she won't be willing to go onto other series. So choose whichever one you think's best (as long as it's not shounen- chances are that won't be quite right).[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]The website there specifically states that [b]nothing has been confirmed[/b]. It's still very much rumours, ideas and at best pre-pre-production. Please put more effort into your posts in future, (Tsukasa), especially when starting a thread. I'd suggest you take a look over our [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?]Rules[/URL] regarding post quality to see what we expect, too. Thread closed. I don't think any decent discussion will come from this. And anyway, there's a Dragonball Z thread already open where you could discuss the possibilities of the movie until it's either officially confirmed or denied.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]"Makes you poop." Call me crude, but that was my favourite line in the whole thing ^_^ This is really well-written. You've a decent flair for comedy and it shows nicely. Some of the dialogue exchanges are simply priceless. I can't wait to see more, heh.[/COLOR]

[color=#503f86]I found Adware on my computer too, but even after I removed it I still found pop-ups on MyO with the same sorts of things going on that Baron mentioned- I think I actually caught it from MyO in the first place. I've seen them on every page I've visited today, and the only real way I can avoid them when they do appear is by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del and closing down IE, which is incredibly annoying if I'm doing something in another window which gets closed down too. Having installed SpyBot, things seem to quieten down okay. But I think it's unlikely that a group of separate users all got Adware at the same time, browsing the same sites simply by chance.[/color]

[COLOR=#503F86]I don't remember this thread coming up, but it often gets debated in other places, heh ^_~ I don't quite understand the definition of 'mainstream' in this context. Is it specific animes that are being marketed above others, or is it just becoming more popular in general? But either way, I don't think it's anywhere near mainstream in the same way that TV shows like Buffy have. Personally, I'd like to see anime becoming more of a mainstream genre of TV and video entertainment, certainly in the UK where the market is really rather poor. I don't mind who else likes it- I want to be able to see it more often, and I would very much like it to be appreciated by a wider audience. As it is, if everyone relies on fansubs and fansubs to see it, the anime companies are losing out on money so they have less money to produce more high-quality stuff. I don't want all of them to be mass-marketed on the scale of Pokemon, but to see a wider selection of shows broadcast and available to buy would be most welcome to me. Especially as I won't have to avoid mentioning it in public >.> I agree with James that some people (especialy fanatics) want to feel that they retain an air of sophistication over everyone else who doesn't like what they do, and really it's a silly way of thinking about things. But it happens everywhere- if you don't like football, you aren't as good as the people who do, which isn't the case. But why should you have to be a 'true' fan to appreciate something? What is a 'true' fan, anyway? Somebody who buys every piece of merchandise of a series ever and has six different versions on DVD? I'd have thought anyone who likes it could be definied as a fan if they thought they liked it enough. I dislike the concept of elitism- as much as I like anime I don't berate people who don't, because I'd be no better than the people who'd berate me for liking it.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Mr. Jeh][color=#707875']However, my feeling is that OB does not have the membership numbers to maintain that sort of environment. In order to make that successful, you really need to have a very large amount of activity to keep those areas afloat. Even with the most popular series, I daresay that we'd only see a couple of threads that might only spawn a few dozen responses.[/color][/quote][COLOR=#503F86]I agree that giving an anime its own forum would help diversify discussion over a subject, but at the moment I don't think we have the concentration of specific anime fans to justify creating any sub-forums. The Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun and Ninja Scroll sub-forums were never hugely active as far as I was aware- there certainly weren't many threads in there when i came to see them, and they were all annexed into AL pretty soon afterwards. Forums like Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh worked well because they had a large fanbase to keep them going, but over time it diminished and the posts lessened every day. With the huge amount of anime being churned out at the moment and with them all becoming more widely available through DVD releases and downloads and what-have-you I'm surprised anyone has enough time to look into all of them in as much detail as to create hundreds of threads about them (except Dagger, heh). With something like Naruto, I think the fanbase would increase once its English dub is finally secured and it's released on a wider scale- then we might have scope to create a sub-forum for it. I'd love to see a return of discussions as in those we saw in the Digimon forum aeons ago. Right now, though it doesn't seem like it's going to happen, at least for a while.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]Welcome to OtakuBoards, blacktidewolf ^_^ If you're looking for an Inu Yasha thread, you can find one [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=39612]here[/URL]. We only have one thread for each specific anime, and you can find a list of them in the Official Threads Directory Sticky thread at the top of the Anime Forum. If the anime you want to talk about isn't there, feel free to start a thread. If you have questions about the forums themselves, there's an [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/faq.php?]FAQ[/URL] to browse through, as well as the site [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?]Rules[/URL], which should be read by everyone. That should cover the basics- some forums like the Anime Lounge, Play It and Adventure Arena have specific rules threads which should be looked through before posting. If you have any further questions, feel free to PM a member of Staff. Enjoy your stay ^_^[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]I'm closing this thread. Not only is it months old, but the replies are getting far too short and spammy. Tommy Vercetti, you've been here long enough to know what we expect of post quality. Please don't spam.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]Topics about anime should belong in the [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27]Anime Lounge[/URL], not the Otaku Lounge. I know the two titles are similar, but please be careful when starting new topics to make sure they belong in the right place. And there is an Outlaw Star topic already open [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=35101]here[/URL] anyway, heh. So it's also a good idea to look for threads before starting a new one. Thread closed.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]Yep, the link in Dan Rugh's post will take you directly to OB's own GITS:SAC thread. Please be sure to check for existing topics before starting a new one, either by browsing the Official Threads Directory Sticky at the top of the foum display or by running a search of the forum itself. Thread closed.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]I did ask if anybody minded some time ago, but Methuselah was the only one who answered, heh. If you really want, certain characters can be exempt from certain lessons for certain reasons; the Kendo lesson is specifically for Soushi, while everyone else does Cookery. But either way, if characters don't like lessons, it should hopefully make things more interesting anyway. Not all school lessons [i]are[/i] fun ^_~[/COLOR]

[color=#503f86]Well, I was hoping for a slightly bigger response, but unless anyone seriously objects I'll make all lessons compulsory and post a revised timetable for the days to follow. I don't mind the RPG being open to wherever anyone wants to take it, but I may re-open sign-ups if it proves to be moving too slowly. So long as I know what people want to do, I'm happy that we can get somewhere, heh. [b]UPDATE:[/b] I have the amended timetable here. All lessons are now mandatory, as this clears up problems with some people having lessons and others not having lessons. I'll be sending out PMs within the next few days to all participants to make sure they still want to do it. I won't be offended if you don't, heh. I just want to know where everything stands in relation to the RPG. If anyone has any concerns, [i]please[/i] say so. That said, here's the timetable ^_^;[/color]

[color=#503f86]Having actually watched the series right to the very end, I think I can make an objective view of this. On the whole I enjoyed it, but I didn't have an preconceptions about the series before I saw it, except not to expect very much. I watched the first ten minutes in English, then switched to the Japanese version with subtitles because the voices of Ai and Yu irritated me too much. After that it became a little more bearable, heh. The storyline reminds me a lot of the Pokemon series, but more mature if only because there's a plotline that runs all the way through- the scenarios are bizarre and repetitive, and often poorly explained. I don't think it's meant to be a particularly serious series in that respect- anyone expecting some action-packed sword-slinging as in the FF gams will be bitterly disappointed, but it's still not without its charms. You do need to persevere, though- sometimes I just wanted to get to the next episode to see if anything interesting would happen. More often than not they'd just end up in a situation akin to the one they were in before, but every so oftenyou'd get a humourous/character-related episode. The version I was watching had appaling subtitles so I found it incredibly hard to figure out what the characters were actually talking about- names kept changing and words were smushed together... nasty. But that's really the fault of the DVD manufacturer. Even so, I still didn't understand some of the things relating to the characters and story- [spoiler]It was only five minutes ago that I found out that the girl in Kaze's flashbacks was his sister, the Soil that feeds the Ma-Gun is the soul of everyone on the Moogle's planet who was killed by Omega on Windaria (where Kaze also lived). But I still don't know where the Demon Swordsman came from, what Omega actually planned to do or why Lisa was there in the first place.[/spoiler] There are a couple of Drama CDs released in Japan that explain some more things, but it would have been nice to have them in the series, especially since I can't speak or understand Japanese >.> The end of the series I did really enjoy though, and not just because it ended. It was truely exciting, and having sat through 23 episodes of more-often-than-not fairly pleasant tedium it was great to finally see things pull together. Of course, it would be typical that [spoiler]the characters I liked best all died[/spoiler], but that's how it goes. It was still great to watch. I'm just glad [i]I[/i] wasn't the one who spent money on the series ^_~ I did buy the soundtrack, though- the orchestral music and themes are some of my favourite pieces of music, especially the one which plays when Kaze fires the gun. I could set that track on 'repeat' for hours and never get bored with it, heh. I thought it was worth watching, if only for the end. But there's a heck of a lot of middle to get through inbetween times- you wouldn't miss anything much if you skipped all that. I think it would have been much better if they'd focussed more on the characters rather than adding unnecessarry bits to the Inner World and trying to explain that. Story arcs are good, but only when you're interested in the story they carry.[/color]

[color=#503f86]The same thing happened with a couple of Pokemon cards years ago- they appeared to be holding signs that looked liks swastikas (the Nazi emblem), but actually travel the opposite way round (i.e. clockwise). It's called a [i]'manji[/i]' symbol and is a completely benign sign in Japan an Buddhist cultures, meaning 'good fortune'. But it often gets misinterpreted by Westerners, so I assume they didn't want to offend anyone by having it up (and considering the relatively shaky ground animes are on anyway, it's not surprising). That's probably what it was.[/color]

[quote name='Sol-Blade]Now rather off-topic, but I actually do perfer OST's in their orginal form (In Japanese), because if you haven't noticed a recent trend of some OST's being re-released in English...they don't really sound as good. Not talking about bad singer's, I am talking about the mood or feeling the song gives off. I recently heard an English version of one of my favorite songs, ever. [b]Hemisphere[/b'] sung by Maaya Sakamoto from RahXephon. Now the english version didn't quite sound as catchy or as exciting as the orginal did. Who sung the new version, I don't know/care.[/quote][COLOR=#503F86]I don't think it's because it's been translated into English that makes it bad- it's the fact that it was written for Japanese lyrics in the first place. Since the intonations, emphasis and grammatical structure are completely different to English, it's not surprising that trying to sing along in the same style would seem out of place. You only need to listen to the Magic Knight Rayeath openings to see what it sounds like when you transplant English lyrics into a Japanese song. But really they follow exactly the same conventions- you can just better understand what they're saying. I actually prefer the English MKR songs to the Japanese ones, not just because the voice is nicer on the ears, but because it hasn't tried to re-write the song in any way by making it rhyme and conform to usual English song conventions. But something like Hemisphere I'd be loathe to listen to because I knew the song beforehand and like it so much. But if somoene created a piece with exactly the same orchestration, there's no reason why it couldn't be as good in Enlgish if it was written properly. After all, most of the .hack//SIGN songs are written in English and they are simply lovely. But getting back to the voices- some Japanese voices I love listening to because they have a lovely softness to them, particularly the men. And sometimes you can hear the emotion in their voices- it's usually most noticeable when they have to cry. Crying is universal in any language, so it's easier to tell when a voice-actor/seiyuu is putting really good, deep emotion into his character than not. For example, I think Wolfwood's seiyuu does a better job of crying than his English counterpart (in the Episode 'Paradise'). But I don't pretend to know Japanese, and because I'm not familiar with the kind of voices they use it can be a nice alternative to a dub that has a particularly annoying English voice. I couldn't stand the English kids in Final Fantasy: Unlimited so I switched to watching the Japanese dialogue. And while their voice-acting might not have been any better, I didn't mind because a) I couldn't tell, and b) the voices were easier on the ear. That's what I tend to look for most. Generally I'll go for an English dub regardless. I can't understand why people are needlessly damning about them irrespective of whether it's actually good or not.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Syk3']When considering an opening, I tend to prefer and concentrate on the music rather than necessarily the animation sequence, though if it's really bad that would definitely leave a mark.[/quote][COLOR=#503F86]The opening music certainly adds to the general appeal of the opening sequence, but some of the themes I really like are accompanied by relatively average animations. I love 'You Get To Burning' from Nadesico, but the animation that acompanies it isn't particularly extraordinary. Something like Big O, on the other hand, I just ignore completely because the song and animation get on my nerves ^_^; My favourite opening sequence I've seen would have to be the one to Outlaw Star. The artwork, the music, the editing... it's absolutely fantastic. And even after seeing it so many times I didn't realise that the starry background in the second image is in the shape of Gene's head/face. The way the photos are put together is really nice, too, and I think they add a certain amount of depth to some of the characters. I like title sequences that don't just comprise of clips from the series, and I don't think OS had any. Trigun's is another that I like, even though it focusses almost completely on Vash. Not that that's a bad thing- the shots they have of him reek of cool-ness, but there isn't an awful lot to show off his more chaotic, funny side, save for when he catches the sandwich in his mouth while being shot at through the building. I think 'Hemisphere' is what makes RahXephon's opening so appealing to me- I adore the song, but the animation really serves just to accompany it- on its own I wouldn't consider it breathtaking.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Godelsensei][color=gray][font=Courier New]The voice-acting is done almost flawlessly (I love Wendy's voice^^), and the characters themselves are original. I love how every one has unique quirks and eccentricities that just bring them to life.[/font'][/color][/quote][COLOR=#503F86]The only thing about the voice-actingthat really annoyed me was when some of the actors tried (and failed miserably) to produce English accents, ever-enforcing the Dick Van-Dyke stereotype which doesn't exist >.> But apart from that, I thought the OVA was simply gorgeous, heh. Crispin Freeman had a lovely voice, as did characters like Wendy (even though I thought her accent was a tad edgy at times, could just be me being picky though), and Yomiko and Nancy were simply two of the best characters I've ever seen in an anime. It took less than five seconds to start liking both of them after their introductions and they only continued to grow as the story went on. I do have a complaint with the OVA- something about it felt rather rushed and hurried, although with any three-part OVA it'll probably always feel a bit like that. Although there was character development, it almost felt as if things happened for the sake of it and there wasn't enough build-up to [spoiler]Nancy's apparent betrayal[/spoiler] for it to really shock me (although I'l admit, I did feel for Yomiko). That aside, the characters were great. I thought Paper's powers were fantastically original and that's something that'll always stick in my mind about it. You wouldn't have thought the ability to control paper would be used so effectively, and that's something I applaud the writers for. I'm very interested in seeing R.O.D. the TV now, although knowing the UK market it'll never show up. Imported DVDs for me, then...[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503F86]As you said in echoing Shy's comments, Zidargh, the Otaku Lounge isn't somewhere I frequent particularly, if only because I can discuss every day life in things like MyO. The debates I do actively take part in there I enjoy, generally because it's the matters of more serious interest that I pay attention to (e.g. elections, love, philosophy and drugs). But even the Anime Lounge isn't free from what you might call more 'trivial' threads: 'Who is your favourite character?', 'Which is the best anime of ____ genre?'. If it's the post quality itself that's getting poor, then that's a matter for the particular forum Moderators to deal with. These kind of threads will always be around because they're the questions that people always want to ask. And sometimes you can get decent answers to it, even though they don't always allow for 'discussion' as such, more rather a 'general listing of people's unrelated opinions'. I think it lies more in how people reply than what the thread's about in the first place. If you can put imagination into something there's no reason why a thread can't be interesting, popular and successful without being controversial or dumbed-down. Considering the age range of all the members of the Boards you can't expect to have perfect discussions each time, although I'll admit that sifting through to find ones I want to reply to can get rather trying at times, especially if you've seen things pop up more than once before. My post rate's gone down quite substantially in recent months because there's little I've been interested in talking about, my RPGs aren't working or I've not got access to all the new animes that people are raving about. So sometimes a thread that requires less brainpower to read and answer can be welcoming to someone like me because it gives me somewhere to post without feeling it's contrived, and keeps me tied to the forum I moderate. Otherwise I can't help but feel a little detached from it all.[/COLOR]