Anime Think Outside The Box

[The Original]

Let me first say I am not going to be a regular member on this site, and the only thread i will participate in will be this one. Secondly, one of my friends (a former member of this site), has warned me that since this may offend some people, it will probably be shut down before the post count reaches the double-digits. I have viewed this site many times in the past (though I have never participated in the disscussions), and he may be right. Moderators, please do not shut this down immediantly. I wish to hear some honest opinions from people, and it is not meant to offend anyone. What you do with the thread after I leave is up to you.
Now, for my topic. In the years I have seen this site, I have been amazed that the Dragonball and Gundam topics have always been the most populr mainstays, even though the topics/threads in them have always been repetative clones. The only other animes to be showcased on this site seem to be required to be aired on either Cartoon Network, Kid's WB, or Fox Kid's, and even then, new topics have often been blammed with continuous " DBZ rules! Goku's the strongest! This show sucks and DBZ would woop it any day!!" blams. After this turn-for-the-worst sickened me, I left the site alone for about a year. When I returned, I surprisingly found a minority of diversity in the anime lounge, which is not spammed with Dragonball and other Cartoon Network show posts. This pleases me. I think the Moderators / creators of the board should encourage this, and add in new show topics and educate the readers of this site about new things. Dragonball, Gundam, and the other C.N. shows are okay, but are best for an introduction to anime, if nothing else. I sometimes wonder how people who talk about respectable shows can stand to be on the same board as the anime newbies who never let go of their dying shows. So I say, please, keep this trend of originality going. If you succeed at this, this site could be a [U]whole[/U] lot better.

[Zen]

Well, the reason for the lack of Gundam and DBZ threads in the AL is becasue they have created seperate forums for it, so anything based on the subjects are sent to the correct forum. Now its pretty muched flooded mostly with Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, or what are soem of your favorites threads. But i do agree with you that some of the newbies should let go of DBZ cuz it forever died out and has lost its luster. But Gundam is still oging strong, so i disagree with you on that point. But the site would be better if some would put in more originality.

[The Original]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Double_B_Daigo [/i]
[B] But Gundam is still oging strong, so i disagree with you on that point. [/B][/QUOTE]

I apologize, I should have rephrased the Gundam part. I meant, while the Gundam shows are excellent, they were still overused on this site like DBZ was. Well, at least that was how it looked to me a year ago. And as for Trigun and Cowboy BeBop, they fall in the same catagory as Gundam: fine shows, but a little overused by the participants in this site. Again, this is only my opinion.

[Queen Asuka]

[color=hotpink][size=1]I totally agree with you, Original. It is kind of sickening to see all these people who "worship anime" go on and on about all the mainstream stuff. While I am grateful for anime to be shown so that it is easily accesible, I hate the popularity that it has gathered. I miss the days when there were only a handful of anime fans and we thought we were special...but what can you do? I just hope that eventually it will fade away and the diehard fans will remain.[/color][/size]

[Zen]

Well, i also agree with you. But i have to say, most anime i like is mainstream, there are a few that aren't. Like Silent Mobius, Blood Reign (not to be confused with Reign the Counqeror), I was a Dragon Ball fan (not BBZ) about three or four years before it was shown on air, and i also liked Akira. But the ones you consider "main stream" are only main stream cuz they are the cream of the crop. There like the best of the best, so its easy to see why it would have such a large fan base. You know?

[pbfrontmanvdp]

Yea i understand what ur talking about. Like i would see most people in my classes when i was younger that used to worship DBZ and talk about it all the time. I always thought that the actions scenes were alright, but the plot wasn't up to par like most of the other anime series i have seen. I wasnt visiting this site a year ago so i dont have any knowledge of what people would post during that time. But then again the only thing that was on Cartoon Network i believe were those shows you listed before. Not all people like to d/l their anime off of Kazaa cause they find it to be illegal and some dont have enough money to buy anime serious as well. So what i gather, from what you have said so far, i can kind of see how a year ago members on this site would just talk constantly about DBZ and Gundam being "the best" and sayings like that. Now that they have a wide variety of more shows being provided on CN and AS i guess thats why things have improved.

The whole thing about saying [U]only[/U] how one anime is better than another is pretty sad. If you dont elaborate on why it is in your opinion then its meaningless to post anyway. So from what you said about that i totally agree with you.

What i want to know from you is if you want the forums of DBZ and Gundam to be replaced with different animes? Thats what i got from it but i could be wrong. If so i do agree that DBZ should be replaced since...well its been on there for a long time. Basically most people are posting the same topics over and over again...thats why i barely go in the DBZ forum anyway. I hope people dont get mad from what i have said so far, but i kinda agree with Orignal a lot. Well thats it.

[Semjaza]

Well, I don't know why this would be closed. It doesn't have anything bad in it in any respect. It's one thing to disagree and think people are closed minded... it's another to post flame-bait and come up with horrible points. So I see nothing wrong with this.

For the most part I have to agree. I rarely see any threads in here spammed up with stuff like "OMG Goku rules!!!!"... at least not to a large extent. It depends on the thread. The majority of them seem to be on fairly big anime series, although the people in the threads seem to convince themselves otherwise. The ones about the smaller, more obscure titles seem to stay small and attract some decent members on average.

I don't know. To be very honest, I think most anime is terrible. I've been watching the stuff since I was a small child (I'm 21 now), and I don't know how anyone can disagree with this opinion. It's like anything else, most of it just sucks. I know there would be people who would fight that to the death here though.

The problem really is, in my opinion, that most of the people who do post here only have access to things like FOX and Cartoon Network. For many people, the smaller anime titles are nearly impossible to get. Until recently, even in a city as large as Chicago here, you could never rent anime videos or DVDs. Some places still don't carry any, you have to get lucky. The stuff is expensive to buy on its own, unless you go the Hong Kong bootleg route... which would require a credit card, and most likely a parent anyway. Personally, I refuse to buy bootleg anime. It doesn't help anything, but that's another topic for another day.

So in that sense, you have to be a bit more understanding because of those aspects. So of course, a majority of topics will be about them. It's just the way things are, and very little can change that.

I find this place very strange in some ways though. I mean, as I said earlier, I'm not exactly fond of most anime at all. I think it's overrated and many of the shows people go on about here are utter trash in my opinion, and barely better than the Western cartoons so many of the same people seem to despise. But, back to the point of this paragraph.... despite me hating so much of it, I think it's simply bizarre that I seem to know many more obscure and smaller titles (localized or not) that so many here seemingly have never heard of. It's almost pathetic in a sense... but like I said, I try to keep in mind how much access people have to this stuff.

Really, I don't think the mods or whatever starting new topics on such anime would help. I don't think this site at this time is really built for total anime enthusiasts who spend hours a day downloading Hale Nochi Guu, Kiddie Grade or whatever else (and that was months ago, there is new stuff making the rounds now that I've yet to bother with). It has the whole Cartoon Network crowd in mind, as is obvious if you look on theotaku.com

I've started threads on smaller anime in the past, or at least contributed to them. If people don't have access to this stuff, I can talk about it as much as I want... nothing can come of it. If I made a Hale Nochi Guu thread, what can I do? Tell people to go illegally download bootleg anime fansubs? Tell them to spend hundreds on Japanese language DVDs they can't afford or understand?

A former member, Kevin, even tried to do such things... Telling people to check out such and such an anime and then we'd all have a conversation. No one was ever able to do it. I don't exactly have the money or desire to run out and buy random anime, personally. Who knows about other people's excuses.

So yeah, for the millionth time so far (lol), I think you need to keep that in mind. There is very little that can be done about it.

However, even in the localized sense... it can be very disheartening. I don't know how many times there is going to be a thread about Akira or Princess Mononoke or god knows what other anime that everyone and their mother already knows about.

I have no agenda with this. I don't care if anime is small or big, or whatever else. Really, the bigger the better. If DBZ and whatever else do well, that can only mean good things for other anime. It will have a much higher chance of being picked up. I don't know how long everyone has been around... but anime since the popularizing of DBZ and all that CN stuff has become much easier to find and available in far greater amounts. I hardly think it is a bad thing.

Of course, then you have the problems that lead to threads like this because of it. I guess it's a double-edged sword in that sense.

There was talks about seperating Anime Lounge in the future for Version 7 of OB into a older orientated section and a younger orientated section. I think that might be the best course of action with this.

[eleanor]

[size=1] Most of anime [i]does[/i] suck. There are thousands and thousands of anime series, and out of those thousands I can only name about ten-fifteen good animes. As for mainstream anime, I guess I'll count shows like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Inuyasha, and FLCL in it. I think all four of those series is allright [some great], but like I said.....there are thousands of anime shows.

I think a lot of people like DBZ [mostly guys] because it has action and lots of 'cool energy thingies!' in it. I mean...I really can't expect kids to stay up until 12:00 PM watching good anime. I can't dislike them merely because of the fact that they watch DBZ and like it, but when they say they're the master of anime, I get ticked off.[/size]

[Jubei Yagyou]

See I dont think alot of anime is bad, but the thing that gets me is, mainstream just kills the anime. Like shaman king, that anime is good, but now they are gonna put it on fox box and edit out the good stuff like they did dragonball z. Not to put people into stereo type but like I said before its the 5-9 year old kids that cant comprehend a long story line saying, "Did you see that DBZ episode yesterday? It was sooo cool when Goku turned super saiyin and..." you get the picture, They arent really anime fans but only few of those people in that group will become a pure anime fan. And not knowing that that show ended years ago. I hate it, I loath it, I CANT STAND IT. some of those people in that group thinks that anime comes from america!. Anyway, just because its not mainstream doesnt mean its not good in my opionion, but the word mainstream cant be thrown around so easily. Mainstream is like DBZ, Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh ((in america that is)) and just because its one CN doesnt mean it sold out or its mainstream. Thats my story and Im sticken to it.

[The Original]

Thanks for writing guys. I'm happy to see that Otakuboards has evolved since I last saw it at least. Semjaza Azazel and maladjusted, I think I found your posts the most interesting. You did bring up some points I hadn't thought about (like them not having access to other animes) wich did make me feel like a moron, but I'm glad I understood them anyway. I would like to say that my goal wasn't to convert anyone (like the former member Kevin apperantly did). I thought that the site should keep DBZ, Gundam, and the other mainstreams on for the people who really enjoy only them, which is fine, because they are entitled to their own opinion. However, I do think it would be a good idea to make a section to introduce other shows, at least as an option to learn more. Perhaps as more people learn more about them, old sections can be deleted and others added in to keep things from becoming repetative.
Again, thank you all for participating, I learned a lot. If more people are like you guys, I might just post some more after this thread. Lol.

[Zen]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Jubei Yagyou [/i]
[B]See I dont think alot of anime is bad, but the thing that gets me is, mainstream just kills the anime. Like shaman king, that anime is good, but now they are gonna put it on fox box and edit out the good stuff like they did dragonball z. Not to put people into stereo type but like I said before its the 5-9 year old kids that cant comprehend a long story line saying, "Did you see that DBZ episode yesterday? It was sooo cool when Goku turned super saiyin and..." you get the picture, They arent really anime fans but only few of those people in that group will become a pure anime fan. And not knowing that that show ended years ago. I hate it, I loath it, I CANT STAND IT. some of those people in that group thinks that anime comes from america!. Anyway, just because its not mainstream doesnt mean its not good in my opionion, but the word mainstream cant be thrown around so easily. Mainstream is like DBZ, Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh ((in america that is)) and just because its one CN doesnt mean it sold out or its mainstream. Thats my story and Im sticken to it. [/B][/QUOTE]

I agree with on all aspects. I used to love DBZ and can't say i hate it though because it was what got me into anime along with Ronin Warriors. I no longer like DBZ, but i have to give it credit, i'm sure most of the OBers wouldn't be hear today if it weren't for DBZ. But i do hate Yu Gi Oh. Characters cry far to much and i don't like the idea of a card game taken so sereoiusly. But thats just my opinion. So, yeah. But becasue of these main stream shows, anime is slowly becoming a main stream form of intertanment world wide. So you have t give credit to these shows. But i still hate Yu Gi Oh.

[eleanor]

[size=1] Yugioh is actually a very mature and violent anime show if you watch the uncut Japanese version. WB couldn't even play first season since it was too violent and etc.

I also liked DBZ in the beginning, and sometimes I watch it when I'm bored. It's not a good anime by my standards, but I give it credit. I think the whole 'saiyan' plot thing is interesting, but it gets so predictable and boring. =_= Hey, I even used to like Pokemon, too.[/size]

[VP-Master]

Being here since August of 2000, I could concur that a lot of posts here have been redundant. When I first came here, I remember a lot of people, including myself, were crazy about Pokemon and those boards were flooded with what we would call spam and the same topics such as, "how do i get mew?" + "who's you favorite pokemon?", were constantly posted. I must say, the mods are a lot more strict these days and the useless topics have been going down.

While Pokemon is no longer the hot anime of the US, we still have a lot of people who come here posting on other mainstream shows such as DBZ, Yu-Gi-Oh, Gundam, etc. I'm not too fond of these shows as are others here who claim they're for the "anime newbies", but as annoying as it may be to hear ppl talking about DBZ at school or here, there are some advantages to having these fans.

The success of shows such as DBZ have brought us more anime in the US. And by anime, this is not just more mainstream shows, but new titles are being released in the US. It was great to see a good show like Cowboy Bebop make its way to the US so that people like me who don't understand Japanese could see it in subtitles without having to resort to downloading the eps off the internet. Deny it or not, a lot of the new anime series being released in the US would not be here if it weren't for the success of our modern mainstream animes.
I don't care too much of the dubbed anime i see on TV, but thanks to some 10 year-old DBZ fans who don't have a clue who Akira Toriyama is, these shows get popular and it broadens our North American anime market. While not tremendously popular right now, anime is picking up ground and more people in the US are starting to like it. It's true that otakus get annoyed with some mainstream goers but as ignorant as they are to the "real anime world", their still helping us out to get what we want.

I'm not saying that we should rejoice for the fans of DBZ or that we should have more mainstream anime here (yes, we do have enough), but just that we should realize, a lot of series we mention and like, might not be too big right now but without any support from US (not to mention other countries) fans here, these shows wouldn't come here in the first place.
Just one final note, I like how this board has been improving over the past few years. This anime lounge is great. People get to mention new series, interest gains, and people get to know about new shows out there in the horizon. Topics like these are great. Get to know how others in the otaku community feel about certain issues and what the general census is. Nice thing about message boards. Get a diversity of opinions. Now, I wonder how many ppl will read this ridiculously huge post...

[Guest Forbidden One]

[color=blue]I haven't been with this board for quite a bit, however I agree with most of your points and comments The Original. I personally wish people would actually try to broaden there horizons in terms of anime watching. Dragon Ball and Gundam are a good basis to start off with but that doesn't mean it should be an anime fans "holy bible", we live in an age where anime is more readily available so there really isn't no excuse why certain anime fans have yet to trascend and mature as fans.

I will relish in the day CN stops promoting these mainstream, out of date series! [/color]

[Guest Tical]

I agree none, has seen most of my favs... Not that im insulting some of my favs (Trigun, Pokemon) but none watches non CN stuff... and if its not CN its TechTV or Action Movie channel... The only un TV ive seen on threads are the ever popular EVA and Escaflowne... Not me... Ive seen many others... but some people have seen others like Hellsing so its not entirely true... but still people are mising good shows like X and King of Bandit Jing.

[James]

[color=#707875]I don't know...I think that some of the points brought up here are reasonable. Yes, it's nice to talk about anime that [i]isn't[/i] Dragon Ball or Pokemon, for instance.

However, I don't think we should make the mistake misrepresenting a lot of people who are watching these shows. Tony at least points out that most of these people only have access to a limited number of shows. And if you look at the thread about what people's parents think of anime...you can see that for some kids, getting hold of [i]any[/i] anime can be quite a chore.

The fundamental point is that I want OtakuBoards to be inclusive. If you want to talk about Dragon Ball, go ahead. Nobody can deny that it's popular, regardless of the reason (and whether or not you see that reason as being valid). But at the same time, I do want to encourage people to be able to talk about all sorts of different series. And that's primarily what Otaku Lounge is for. It's a wide-open place, where all kinds of anime topics can be discussed.

The thing is, I don't think it's necessarily fair to say "you could be [b]better[/b] by encouraging this or this". Who determines what makes us better in a qualitative sense? What's better for one person isn't necessarily better for everyone else. As long as we don't block a particular kind of anime discussion (and for the most part, we don't), I don't see a problem.

The fact is, I can't simply introduce forums for lesser-known anime and expect discussion to shift in any major way. It doesn't work like that. OtakuBoards is ultimately the result of our own membership. Yes, we create rules and we do our best to keep things high quality. But that kind of encouragement and enforcement can only work over a long period of time. From my point of view, it's not an option to come here one day and say "Right, now we're going to focus primarily on all the cool anime that nobody has ever seen before". That would be highly unrealistic.

In addition, I don't make any secret about what OtakuBoards is all about and who it serves. We serve a very general audience here. An audience of all tastes and of all ages. We have not positioned this site as some kind of niche community (within the anime area), for series with smaller viewer numbers. For us to change what we're about immediately might effectively kill a large amount of our userbase and support.

Having said that, I can tell you two things. Firstly, we [i]have[/i] and [i]are[/i] making efforts to develop an environment where the somewhat spammy "I love Gohan!!! do u?/!!!" threads don't exist. And I can also tell you that OtakuBoards v7 will be the biggest step forward we will have ever taken. I'm not just talking about technology, either. In fact, I am primarily talking about the issues you've raised here. OtakuBoards v7 will be aimed at a slightly older audience...and it will be a deliberate change. Does that mean we'll be alienating those who love Dragon Ball and who only watch that show? No. Nothing will change there. People will still be able to come here and discuss the "mainstream" series. There will likely always be a place for that. It's just that, next time around, there will be a greater focus on quality in all areas.

Also, there are a few other things to consider. While I personally agree with the notion that a lot of anime is rubbish (I've certainly seen a lot of anime that has left a bad taste in my mouth), you won't see me standing on my soapbox about it. I'm simply not going to insult people's intelligence by claiming myself as some sort of elite anime connoisseur who looks down on all of the lesser life forms. lol

And I do see some of that here. =I've also seen it in other threads on the boards. And that's the one thing that I want to get away from. It doesn't mean that we can't promote the idea of watching different types of anime...and having variety...but it is nevertheless a problematic attitude.

I would also point out that Otaku Lounge is our site's most popular forum. Why do I say that? I say that because OtakuBoards, while still an anime-centric forum, is also far more than that. You could almost say that anime is maybe 25% of our entire focus. Perhaps as a result of that, we are not lending ourself to a broader variety of anime discussion. Anime, while important, isn't what we've put 100% of our focus on. But I don't think there is necessarily anything negative about that. It's just the way things have developed over the years, as a response to our audience and to our own ideas.

At the end of the day...I guess that I can summarize all of my thoughts by making a few brief points.

1) OtakuBoards is more than anime. If you explore us a little more, you may find that this place is worthwhile, even if it's not necessarily catering to a specific anime series or group of series.

2) We have made attempts to create variety in our anime discussions over the years. We have more anime forums now than we've ever had. And Otaku Lounge has gone a long way to improving that situation. It's a gradual evolution.

3) OtakuBoards v7 will go a long way to fixing this "problem". An increased focus on quality and variety will definitely exist. Anime forums will be less in number but broader in scope.

Finally...I don't think I will ever be in a position to delete Dragon Ball or Digimon or any of those forums. At the very worst, they'll be archived. But I'm even reclutant to do that. You have to understand...these forums are a part of our site's history. And a lot of members value that history. I think it's important to balance the important historical aspects of the site with the desire to make significant progress in the future.

OBv7 will hopefully achieve that in some important ways. I know I've probably rambled a bit here...but hopefully I've put a view across that will fill in some of the blanks for you. I'm not unsympathetic to what you're asking for and I do want to move in that direction. But I'm not convinced that more and more niche support equates to being "better". And I also have to juggle a lot of variables when I make these decisions. I frankly don't want to make a choice that 10 people love, and 1,000 people hate. The key is to satisfy both groups. So, that's the challenge myself and Adam are facing, I guess.

Oh and...before I forget. theOtaku.com is in a state of flux right now. When you look at theOtaku.com in 2004, you'll notice that it looks quite different to how it might look now. I can guarantee you that our "mainstream" sites will probably be dwarfed by our "non-mainstream" anime sections. You'll see what I mean as time goes on, and sections are added.[/color]

[DeathBug]

Well...now that all the good positions have been taken and I'm just going to look redundant...

I used to watch DBZ & Pokemon all the time, until I came to the shocking realization that, "Hey! This is the same thing over and over!" So I stopped.

However, I continued to watch Sailor Moon until it was cancelled, and I also watch Yu-Gi-Oh. Aren't these the same thing over and over? Probably, but I like them more. I enjoy the plot, and like the characters. Call it a guilty pleasure, or say that there's no accounting for taste.

To wish anime wouldn't be availible mainstream is to do the artform a disservice. If the Big O hadn't been mainstream, there'd be no second season. We wouldn't have acess to Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Spirited Away or libraries of DVD if some anime wasn't mainstream.

I say, let the kiddies enjoy their DBZ and such. If that's all they like, fine. Or maybe, like myself, they'rll realize that there are better shows out there.

And of course most anime is crap. Most TV shows anywhere are crap. (So are most books, most movies, etc.) However, people can still make their own choices on which is good and which isn't. I, personally, am tired of new Gundam series all the time. (No disrespect to Gundam fans...but really, how many properties does one show need?)

Yet at the same time, I like American comic books. You could easily attack those mainstream books: the hero never dies, they're running around in tights, they're just a cash cow, etc. But I still am a devout Spiderfan. I camn accept the critizcism, but that doesn't mean I constantly want people putyting Peter down. So I'm not going to slam DBZ either, despite my low opinion of it.

And, of course most people get anime from FOX & CN. It's easy. Seriously, that's the main reason. I've never seen Excel Saga, Slayers, GXP, Angel LInks or Ranma 1/2. Do I want to? You bet. But it takes a bit of effort to get them. (I could get them off of Kazaa, but that would be stealing.) In the same way, I can't get into the Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh CCG, because I don't know where to get JP cards.

In conclusion, leave the nuubs to their DBZ, and the more diverse otaku can still emnjoy themselves.

Oh, and can we hold off judegement on Shaman King's dubb until it at least airs? Sure, the previews look crappy, but can't we at least give them the benifit of the doubt?

[IloveBebop]

First of all, I've never been a fan of the DB series or Digimon. I think that they're just fast talking, crappy animes. The animators made it seem like they don't want you to understand the plot at all, since they talk so fast. That's just my opinion, don't take it seriously.

I'm a newbie, but I came here for the great discussions of the anime shows for the mature. I watch Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, those kind of shows.
I'm not putting horrible labels on anime shows like DBZ and Hello Kitty (that's a different kind of anime I'm talking about), I'm just being a personal critic for me.

[The Original]

Hey, I'm back, and I'd like to say that while the honorable Sir James understandably thinks that I want the complete opposite from what he stated, he couldn't have expressed my feelings better. After reading his post I have recalled my idea to delete the DBZ and other mainstream show catagories. What James and the other writers here have said has made me realize that in my opinions, I have become a bit preachy over others, and I apologize for that. Jame's idea for a more "adult" Otakuboards is exactly what I would have hoped for, and I cannot agree more with his decision. Keeping the easily-accesible mainstreams around while simultaneously introducing new shows is exacly what I had hoped for. I also accept the fact that while I don't neccesarily enjoy most of the mainstreams, I am grateful to them for introducing me to anime, and will try to give them their due respect from now on.

[IloveBebop]

Even if people wanted to talk about DBZ, they could always put it in the anime lounge. Probably no one in here would respond to it, but the people still have their own freedom to type about any anime they want to. I respect everyone because they have their own opinions, and they can show the same respect to others for their right to speak freely. My words for this subject are spoken with complete honesty.

[Queen Asuka]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by kumo [/i]
[B]yeah dbz is a really horrible anime [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=hotpink][size=1]Yes, and this is a really horrible post and will be deleted.

Next time, put more thoughts and efforts into your posts.[/color][/size]

[James]

[color=#707875]The Original, that is a fantastic attitude. And I wish that I saw more of it.

You can see that my job is ideally to strike some sort of balance. I'll try to do that even further with OBv7. Hopefully it will be even more enjoyable for everybody, regardless of their tastes.[/color]

[IloveBebop]

That's a really good job, an anime website definitely does need something for all otakus. I think that OBv7 sounds great, and we definitely need a place to rant about our favorite anime.

[Artemis]

It's been pointed out that a bunch of people don't have the same access to certain anime series. I feel like I'm at a huge disadvantage. I didn't get into anime until duorocks17 introduced me to Gundam Wing last spring. Up until then, I just thought of it as Pokemon, Digimon, and Yu Gi Oh. We don't have cable so I couldn't even really see all the Cartoon Network anime.
So, as long as you're all talking about "non-mainstream" anime, could just suggest some to me and tell me how to get a hold of it? Currently, I've been exposed to (meaning, I've seen almost every if not every episode of the following) Gundam Wing, Trigun, Evangelion (gag!), and Escaflowne.
Thanks, diehard fans.

[GANTZ]

the dragonball and dragonballZ is a great manga.it has good humor as well.
any was you shouldnt say that manga or any anime is crappy. it takes so much work time and effort in to it.