Hittokiri Zero

EDIT: When you said "Cool colors" I was thinking like... You know "cool colors" not like blue "cool" but like "OMFG" cool :animeknow I didn't feel like spending a lot of time on this :animestun ---> It's basically a girl who's love-sick/love-struck/whatever you get the idea =_=... All I added was the text and tears, I should have redone "chance" but oh well I didn't save the PSD =P. [img]http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/8866/noreplcopy4ek.jpg[/img] Parameters: Words: Thug Life Colors: (Dark Colors) Mainly Blacks/Grays.

- Okay well thank you for being the lone commentator :'x. I agree with you about the right side of the banner feeling empty so I am currently trying to add something to that side of the banner. - The biggest challenge with that is that I don't want to make things too complicated as that would make creating the banners for the Sony and Microsoft skins too tedious (the actual plan is to provide multiple Nintendo skins, multiple Sony skins, multiple Microsoft skins, etc; the only differences between the skins would be in the image in the banner and the color of the "green" bar in all of the sample images). - As for the green bar attracting too much attention... Meh once again you bring up a good point, I personally like bright colors when designing layouts but I think lowering the contrast on the bar (as can be seen in the sample below) will solve that problem. [img]http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/8284/untitled6copy8pj.jpg[/img] EDIT: I haven't finalized the color/shade of the green for "teh bar" and although i'm liking the image of Link on top of the navigation bar if I do that with the image of Link i'd have to do that with all the images so that the layout stays uniform (more text might also be added to the navigation bar and I don't really like the idea of the stock image splitting the navigation text into two sides). EDIT2: There's more to the gray bubble thing I just haven't finished it yet =P *see upper right of image*

The only advice I can give you is that if you plan on seriously experimenting in web graphics get ANY program besides MSpaint. Paint is great for pixel art but that's about it.

Even though I don't play that many video games anymore a friend of mine convinced me to help him create and work on a video game website entitled "Game Prophets". Expect some major changes to the layout in the final version, but what you see above should give you an idea of how it's going to look. (The "Version Nintendo", "Sony", etc. text will most likely be changed by the final version it was just added to show people one of the things we have planned for the site; rather than divide the gaming community or give one system/company more exposure we're trying to provide an equal balance between the three which is why we will provide three different skins (one for each major gaming company)). EDIT: I also need a new tagline/slogan as "informative video game reviews" isn't going to cut it x_X; any help would be appreciated... [size=5][color=red][URL=http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/9326/untitled1copy7kq.jpg]CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE LAYOUT[/URL] [/size][/color]

I recently read the first 208 chapters of the GANTZ manga (in three days x_X) and I was blown away by its originality. I have heard only bad things about the anime so I never got around to watching it but the manga seems pretty complete. Probably the most interesting aspect of the manga is how the characters have undergone *realistic* changes in such a short period of time. There are times when it seems like I can really feel what the characters themselves are feeling. While there are some explicit sex scenes which I think the manga could have done without for the most part the manga is really addicting. Who would have thought that you could combine the afterlife, alien dnosaurs, and vampires all into one manga and make it all work?

This had to have been one of the worst animes I ever saw. The amount of fanservice was unbearable and all the "good" fight scenes were broken up by bad attempts at humour. You need to look no further than the last episode of the series to see what i'm talking about... I'm tempted to read the manga though, as i've heard that it is more coherent than the anime and the flashback arc doesn't seem as drawn out and mindless as it was portrayed in the anime... I was watching Tenjou Tenge Ultimate Fight (the sequel to the series being released in an OVA format) in hopes that it would bring closure to the series but two episodes in i'm really just expecting more of the same garbage I saw in the first series. Well... There was a good fight or two in the OVA, and the original series did have some decent fight scenes as well but truthfully the series went from good to bad to worse, and i'm just crossing my fingers in hopes that the OVA doesn't do the same.

Now for whatever reason I had to reactivate my account for Otakuboards, but as for Trinity Blood... I was honestly expecting this anime to quite simply "suck". Really I was! I mean how many Hellsing-Devil May Cry clones have we seen in the last few years in both the anime and gaming industries alike =P? But ten episodes into the series the series seems to be picking up, we are given more information on Rozen Kreuze (spelling? I spelled it on sound so I know it's wrong...) and we're introduced to some bad guys who are more than just \killing fodder for Abel and co. I'd normally be dissapointed at the fact that the anime series seems to reuse a lot of the same music tracks but they're usually timed just right so i'm actually pretty fond of them. While Trinity Blood isn't exactly mind-blowing the "Crusnik" idea has me bought and i'm eager to find out more about many of the character's pasts and true intentions.

o_O!!! Now that is good Satan665, I love the detail on the face. As for taking shorter strokes... I err... Kind of combined your picture as well as Lunox's with my childish stupid drawing style to create a new character in my "Crunk the Samurai" series ---> [url]http://artpad.art.com/?ik0f1s1cbgog[/url] I just realized that I never posted my "Crunk The Samurai" vector art here, but i'll get around to it eventually >_>... I made an entire wallpaper out of it actually... Basically the character I drew is searching for Cunk, the "K" on his arm is similar to the "K" on Crunk's only in this guy's case... There's a nice red line through the "K" which can only me he and Crunk have some unfinished buisness to attend to ;)

Wow that's pretty good =P. I especially love the light palette/color scheme. You should have tried adding some shading or something of the sort to the gray shirt though >_>... Here's what I came up with... I used to draw a lot if you go back four or five years, I was never particularly good at it, but the biggest challenge I had with drawing with the mouse was that I was forced to use my right hand where as when I draw (or when I used to >_>) in real life I use my left hand, since i'm left handed :animestun. It made everything weird so I decided to keep everything simple and after drawing a few random lines created this small... round... puffball... thing... [url]http://artpad.art.com/?ijzsl710zpo0[/url]

Whoops yah i'll change that right now :animestun, anything else?

Okay here's the updated banner ---> EDIT: I removed the previous attachment for the smaller banner. Removed second attachment, see latest post.

Yeah, do you have any idea how much bigger? If you have specific dimensions you need you can tell me those and I can remake it real quick.

Here's something simple --->

Oooh ooh pick me =P. EDIT: Oh fiddlesticks I post like once a month cut me some slack :rolleyes:. But good luck to the participants!

Well first of all I was wondering if OtakuBoards had a new skin or something planned for this summer? And I only ask that because it leads into my suggestion. I remember back in the day when I used to post here a lot that there was always something going on in the graphic section one thing in particular that I remembered were the days when there were contests to decided what the new banner for OB would look like. So i'm basically suggesting that a new contest is held for either a new skin or a new banner for OtakuBoards. If for no other reason then just because it's summer vacation and some of us seem to have a lot of free time on our hands :rolleyes:.

New Set SA: Trinity Blood - Crusnik 02 Abel Nightroad. Here is a new signature and avatar set I created spanning today and yesterday; the character is "Abel Nightroad" from the new anime series Trinity Blood. The signature and avatar themselves are pretty much the standard you see from me now a days, a spiffy looking picture, coupled with some typography, and color/brightness adjustments here and there. I also lightly brushed some grunge-ish looking texture over the signature just to add to the overall feel. Quick text overview: - Crusnik 02 = Abel Nightroad is a Crusnik, a vampire who sucks the bloods of other vamprires. The 02 stands for his indentification(?) number. - Abel Nightroad = Character's name - Vatican = Abel Nightroad works for the Vatican. - "Avert not thine eyes" = Some random phrase they say at the end of every episode preview >_>... So yeah I just felt like pointing out that even the little things I do tend to have a hidden meaning :rolleyes:... No really they do >_>... Anyway constructive criticism is appreciated. [i](I'm not quite sure if i'm done with the signature yet I was planning on adding a little symbol or something at the end of "Hittokiri Zero")...[/i] [b]edit: Signature and Avatar = The ones I am currently using.[/b]

For a first signature it is not bad, atleast it is better than my first signature. The problems in the signature seem to be the same problems a lot of other people on this board are having though; namely the text is placed randomly and is to hard to read, and... the image doesn't really show anything. The image might be abstract but there is really nothing to look at. The signature dimensions also look a little odd because the image itself is somewhat bland... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [quote]You shouldn't use brushes because it makes you look really awesome, when you're not. I mean, any 8 year old kid can click here and there to slap on some pre-made brush. It takes actually skill and talent to make your own effects and experiment, and god forbid fail a few times.[/quote] I'm not sure why you've been going around telling people to explicity NOT use brushes. There is a fine line between "abuse" and "use". Brushes are a great way to save time and create an effect with less of a random approach to it. Granted I don't think you should download brushes and haphazardly place them around your image, what I generally end up doing with my grunge brushes (both those I have made and downloaded) is I place them around an image using the parts that I want and then use the eraser tool to make each brush stroke/placement "unique". While there's nothing wrong with you posting and advising people not to "abuse" brushes telling people not to "use" brushes doesn't make much sense. Case in point ---> [b][URL=http://img200.echo.cx/img200/8913/corrupted3ys.jpg]Layout Made Using Brushes[/URL][/b] By using the smudge, blur, color dodge/burn, eraser, and *custom brushes* I was able to make the banner to that layout. The most blatant use of brushes is the "red" blood-like marks on the banner. If you stop and think about it that red in the image could very well have been made with just the eraser, smudge, and blur tools, but compare that to just taking a brush putting it down and touching it up with the eraser tool and you'll see that the difference in time is more than worth it. Brushes aren't bad you just have to know how to use them.

The banner is an interesting attempt at trying to be "original" but I personally don't like the text you used. It's not really easy on the eyes and while it is able to be read it would probably look better a yellowish color or even a an off white similar to the other colors in the image instead of the black-purple it is right now. The border is the other thing which I think you should redo. If you were trying to make it look real jaggedy try using some of the default brushes in photoshop to erase around the edges of the image.

I personally am not particularly fond of any of the banners. Out of the three the first one is the best, but there's still a lot of work that could be done on that one. Namely the beveled border on all three of the banners should go, and better text placement, font use, and color coordination should be used. The placement of some of the stock images is also odd. Keep working at it though, and if you do decide to download some brushes remember not to "abuse" them as way to many graphics artists these days tend to do.

Well I just watched episode 3 of Speed Grapher a few hours ago, and I think it was a nice change of pace and direction from the gruesome first two episodes of the series. The fact that the cliffhanger was finally resolved and we get to see Saiga and his killer camera in action was a big plus, because since watching the animated gif I posted in one of my posts above I was really looking forward to this part of the series :rolleyes:. Oh well i'll be back with more comments later... As soon as I finish my homework =x... But first... It's off to watch the king of all cheese "Sousei no Aquarion" coming in at a close second by Inoue Takehiko's Buzzer Beater (which actually had one scene the past episode that made me want to continue watching the series =D!).

I haven't been able to find the episode count but considering the fact that this is GONZO i'd say that somewhere in the 20-30 range seems like it'd be the norm. The only sub I found was from Shinsen subs though and while it wasn't bad they normally aren't my first choice for fansubs >_>...

Well, well, well it looks like I am still alive and watching anime :rolleyes:. Gonzo's newest anime series SPEED GRAPHER (not to be confused with everybodys favorite "Speed Racer") is an anime series that is not for the faint of heart. Only one episode into the series I can honestly say that this Mystery-Action-Supernatural series almost made me turn off the computer twice, the story summary taken from Anime News Network pans out like this: "Ten years after the Bubble War, the dichotomy between the rich and the poor in the world becomes more prominent and Japan is no exception. The rich seeks to satisfy their desires and derive pleasure for themselves, and Tokyo has materialise into such a city as a result. Saiga, once a war photographer, works for Hibara Ginze in the capitalist state of Tokyo. He infiltrates into Roppongi Club, a secretive base located in the red district area of the city, to collect information about them. He was caught in the process which leads to his first encounter with a girl called Kagura who was in the midst of a ritual. His contact with Kagura awakened his special ability later and he soon realised he's under the pursuit from the Roppongi Club assasins. In order to unravel the mystery behind the Roppongi Club and Kagura, Sagai begins his solitary battle." While i'll admit that i'm not quite sure where this anime is heading (all though I did read some interesting tidbits about the "Euphoria Factor" which were both comedic and disturbing alike) despite the fact that I watched the promo a multitude of times, this dark and gritty anime seems to be very promising and it's unlike any other anime i've ever seen before. The realistic portrayal of mans deepest (often sexual ._.) desires and cold hard facts of life are done to a point where it's just plain creepy but keeps you intrigued to the point where you're wondering what's going to happen next? Speaking of what's going to happen next my only complaint about the anime aside from the few disturbing scenes spaced through out the episode was the fact that it ended to early and on a nice cliff-hanger that really has me wondering what is going to happen next. I won't name the things that "freaked" me out because that would spoil a good episode but i'd reccomend that you give the first episode of this series a try and see if you can stomach some of the scenes yourself, as if you get past the gore and some of the uncharacteristic story (the main character Saiga has a fetish for taking pictures of dead/dieing people for crying out loud .-.) line I think you'll notice that with an interesting setting, a slew of realistic characters, and an eerily entertaing plot already developing Speed Grapher could turn out the next big "sleeper" anime of 2005. Also here's an interesting animated .gif I got from the official Speed Grapher site, while the clip really has more action than the entire first episode combined I think it's just showing us a little preview of things to come ;) ---> (My guess is that while Speed Grapher is going to start out a little slower than other animes as soon as Saiga's Euphoria factors awaken thinks should start to quicken up a bit). [size=3][b][URL=http://img227.echo.cx/img227/7305/gifani011fd.gif]SPEED GRAPHER ANIMATED GIF[/URL][/b][/size]

Wow it's about time; this annoucement really shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone even remotely keeping up with anime happenings around the world, and with Naruto's immense fan-base it was all the more likely that this was bound to happen sooner rather than later :P. That being said... :=/... While I stopped watching Naruto during the filler arc because the ugly flashbacks and repetitive events just got on my nerves there best be an un-cut subtitled DVD version of the series when it hits State-side otherwise someone's going to have a lot of hate mail from yours truly :rolleyes:. Now that I think about it... Due to Naruto's lenghti'm not quite sure if I am going to buy the Naruto DVDs =/... Oh well another anime bites the dust :rolleyes: I guess it's time to move on to bigger and better things. *Just hopes that Naruto doesn't become overly kiddy so that he doesn't seem like a total loser when talking about it with friends :animestun*

[b]Name:[/b] Seta Kuroda [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Age:[/b] 17 [b]Race:[/b] Son of a coordinator (father) and natural (mother) couple. [b]Personality:[/b] Brash and quick to pass judgement on others. Often adheres to his own set of ideals and beliefs on what is right and what is wrong, which can cause him to become blinded to what the truth really is. [b]Description:[/b] 6'0'' tall, moderate build, slightly messy black hair. Normal attire = Plain black shirt with white cargo pants. [b]Biography:[/b] With tensions between Coordinators and Naturals mounting since birth Seta never could fit in with anyone. He was neither coordinator nor natural and was always the subject of cruel names and jokes by his peers. After several failed assasination attempts of both is father and mother who worked as the heads of one of PLANT's sciene laboratories, Seta's parents opted to send Seta down to Earth under the guise of being a Natural so that he may live in peace and continue his studies under the guidance of his uncles. Only five years old at the time, Seta's initial reaction to his parents sending him to Earth was one of sudden sorrow, which quickly turned to intense hatred for his parents, and everyone around him. But it was under the guidance of his two uncles that Seta was able to channel and eventually rid himself of his anger by participating in many small-scale desert-based "Mobile Suit Fights" in which participants were able to compete with one another in a one on one Mobile Suit duel in which the winner was crowned by knocking the opponent's mobile suit off its feet. Just as soon as Seta began to find solace in his life his short-lived happiness was taken away from him as group of mobile suit bandits calling themselves the Desert Phantoms launched an assault on the mobile suit production facility where Seta and his uncles were working. With the facility's mobile suit unit easily disposed of Seta was rushed to a secluded portion of the factory where his uncles gave him the task of safe guarding their newest creation, the GAT-X133 Sword Calamity. Since the death of his uncles and destruction of his second homeland little has been known about Seta's whereabouts, but rumors say that he can currently be seen wandering from desert village to desert village in the Sword Calmity defending villages from the Desert Phantoms, biding his time until the day he is strong enough to defeat the Desert Phantoms once and for all. [b]Mobile Suit:[/b] GAT-X133 Sword Calamity ([i]Unit 1 colors[/i]) [img]http://img63.exs.cx/img63/2248/gatx13310ma.jpg[/img] ([i]Picture taken from MAHQ.net[/i])

Wow i'm not sure what to say about the show, I did get the trailer to run perfectly in BSplayer but the show looks like it could be a good mix of a few other great mecha series. While the show originally hit me off as something similar to Soukyuu no Fafner with a hint of Tekkaman Blade thrown in i'm not really sure what to think of it anymore :P. It seems to have a his of escaflowne-ness to it :rolleyes:. On a side note >_>... Is Kenran Butou Sai worth finishing? Soukyuu no Fafner i'm going to finish but probably not until spring break but i'm debating whether or not Kenran is worth the downlolad.