Hittokiri Zero

Wow... That's pretty fuggin good ._O! My only problem is... how is the kid clinging to his brothers(?) back staying up :rolleyes:. I'm also not sure if I like the tounge sticking out of the other guys mouth, it adds creativity and originality and what not but it just looks a little odd in my opinion (partly because his mouth looks closed but his tounge is still sticking out x_X). Other than that I really like the image the shading + coloring on the yellow shorts look great. The wrinkles also add depth to the picture and are another good effect (which i've never been able to pull off in digital or pen and paper drawing). Oh yes and you have lovely hand writing you can actually [i]read[/i] it :love:

The sword flashing effect was actually what I was going for ^_^' I still have to find a way to perfect the animation and make it look more like light shining across a sword (i'm thinking if I gradually increase the opacity of the "shine layer" from a lower setting it might look better because the light would essentially look like it's getting brighter). As for the word "future" i guess it would make more sense to make the font darker so that's something i'm going to have to change, although then again I was thinking about changing the entire text from "samurai of the future" to "Hip-Hop Samurai" not really sure but I might do it, might not... A couple other things to note if you didn't notice them already are that I faded the words "samurai champloo" into the background as well as "Shinichiro Watanabe " I also faded a text layer with my brithday on it into the signature but I think that particular layer of text is essentially invisible as I used a pure white font for it >_>'.

"One damn Instrumentalist and the entire city is in a friggen frenzy" muttered Gene as he pushed, shoved, and punched his way through the downtown city streets where people had broken into a hysteric craze and were looting and plundering as they pleased. After what seemed like an eternity Gene eventually reached his destination and found himself in front of the old abandoned shipping yards. Without a moment to spare Gene quickly lifted himself up and over the rusty barbed wire fence surrounding the decaying complex and broke into a light jog towards a large gray warehouse with a barely visible large number eleven painted in yellow on its side. Meanwhile... [color=darkred] Ryo let out another cry of pain as Nocturne was assaulted with an array of quick thrusts and jabs from her Instrumentalist attacker's sword. Ryo tried to parry her enemies blows but it soon became obvious to her that the blow she had received before had done more than just dent her armor it had damaged the right "hip flexor" in her mecha thus her movements were gradually slowing down as her mech's right leg was requiring more and more power to move through its full range of motion. "This isn't going to do" thought Ryo to herself she knew that she was going to need to stop trying to defend herself and land an attack somehow or it was all over. Ryo began to run through a list of possible strategies she could use to get her out of the predicament she was in but she soon found her mini planning session cut short as the Instrumentalist attacked her again this time getting the best of her distraught mind by managing to kick out Nocturne's legs from underneath it and knocking it to the ground so that it landed flat on its back. [/color] "That's it." Gene was still standing outside of the large gray warehouse he had spotted before he slammed his hand on a control panel on the side of the large warehouse door and let out a sigh of disgust. He had forgot his password... he had forgot his [i]damn[/i] password. "Stupid pieces of cr@p looks like I?ll have to do this the old fashioned way..." Gene pulled out a small switch blade from his back pocket and after extending the blade to its full length thrust it right into the center of the small electrical device, there was a quick whiz of electrical circuits snapping in half but within moments the door leading to the contents of the warehouse began to retract upwards. "Now where were we..." [color=darkred] "A girl like you should have known you couldn't beat me" Ryo listened to the man in disgust, she wasn't about to give up and let herself be pushed around but as the Instrumentalist standing above her kicked her lifeless Nocturne across the ground and a sharp aching pain shot through her back she began to think otherwise...[/color] "It?s been a long time baby?" said Gene as he walked towards a large white and red mecha kneeling on the ground ([URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=577179#post577179]see sign up thread for description and picture of mech[/URL]). Gene smiled to himself at a wide grin began to spread across his face, he knew that he was alone and that his mech could not hear him but every now and then he enjoyed talking to his mech as it gave him something to do in the midst of battle when he was bored of tearing his enemies to pieces... Gene walked over to a small platform over to the side of the warehouse that served as a lift, and punched a key on a control panel next to him. The platform underneath him immediately began to rise and took him to a raised catwalk that would have been level with the torso of the mech if it was standing. Gene quickly walked across the catwalk and within moments came to the center of it. "Voice recognition. Gene Gale. Symphony initiate battle mode, Phase 1." With the words spoken by Gene the Symphony's chest armor moved to the side and a narrow platform extended from the opening forming a bridge from the catwalk to the Symphony's cockpit. Upon entering the cockpit the bridge to the catwalk immediately retracted into the Symphony and the chest armor plates from before returned to their original positions. Gene found himself sitting in darkness for a few seconds before the ever so familiar sound of the hum of the Symphony's power core warming up to 100% became apparent. All Systems Go. Weapons armed. Thrusters ready. came the voice of a mechanical computer within the Symphony. "All right then, shall we? Symphony, initiate Immersion Process!" and with that Gene instantly felt his insides go numb as he was consumed by a white light and within moments he and the mech from before were no more... they were now one and the same. They were Symphony. [color=green] Zoltin struggled to remain upright he was still having trouble comprehending what was happening... he and the Prelude to Harmony had become one? Or was this just some horrible dream? Zoltin looked in the distance and could see the Instrumentalist mecha from before kicking the Nocturne around as if it was a mere toy. But what was he supposed to do? what could he do? Zoltin gazed around and wondered where all the Singers could be in a time of need such as this, he searched around but soon became fixated on the figure of his friend Aaron he seemed so different as if he was in a trance like state... then the realization of what was happening dawned upon Zhi... Aaron was walking towards the Prelude of Destruction...[/color] [color=darkred] Ryo found herself lying in a pool of her own blood, she thought she could here the taunting of the unknown Instrumentalist and prepared for the worst as her attacker brought his sword up and over his head and prepared to thrust it downwards straight and the now motionless body of the Nocturne. "Well little girl it was fun" came the deep dark voice of her assailant. Ryo closed her eyes and finally gave in to exhaustion she had been experiencing, she no longer felt like she could win the fight; her pride had been crushed, her beloved mecha had been crushed, and now she was about to be crushed.[/color] "There! I found you!" "What?!!" Panic? Fear? Did Ryo just hear some of both in her attacker's voice? Ryo opened her eyes just in time to see the head of her attacker's mech blasted from its shoulders by a pair of large white beams of light. "Wooh... Looks like I don't know my own strength..." Ryo titled her head to her side and through the eyes of Nocturne, no through her own eyes she thought to herself, she could see the now lifeless body of her attacker's mech laying beside her. "Wh... Who are you?" whispered Ryo half to herself and half to her new found savior... "They call me Volt Edge." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Things to remember* Gene's alias is "Volt Edge" Fayte is still in the same area as Zoltin and Aaron whoever posts next should not forget to include him in what occurs as the only reason why I didn't is because I don't want to dictate this entire story -_+. Also in the sign-up thread we should discuss how the mechs are going to function =O... I take it that the pain/damage the mech takes the pilots take as well but I just think this should be a group decision rather than a select few individuals. On a side note if something doesn't make please to tell me because I wrote this all in two different sittings.

Here's a new matching signature and avatar that I created from some of the few Samurai Champloo pictures that are floating out there around the net. For those of you who have not heard of this new anime series (where have you been, under a rock?) it's bascially the new product of mastermind Shinichiro Watanabe (creator of Cowboy Bebop) and so far has the potential and hype behind it to turn into one of the anime greats of all time. The character in both the sig and avatar is named Mugen and aside from the fact that his sword looks like a cross between that of a katana and knight's sword and that he fights with stellar break-dance esque maneuvers I can't tell you anymore (because I don't know anymore x_X). The background for the signature was created with a variety of brushes and text overlayed with different blending modes the typo is something i'm still adjusting but I like that particular look (i'm really just changing the quote around and trying to find something that fits) it gives off. Now comment and critique my piece or you shall [color=red]b-|_|-r-|\|[/color]. *I also changed the spiffy colors of the text in my signature ^_^'*

This is one superb looking anime from the raw video clip I saw this series is already *looking* better than Cowboy Bebop. While i'm a diehard Kenshin fan so won't stretch things by saying that Samurai Champloo is a better series (I don't think I can make that judgement until i've seen atleast 6-7 episodes) the fight scenes are a welcome change from the various other sword fight scenes in other animes. Unlike the fight scenes in Rurouni Kenshin Samurai Champloo takes a welcome chanage and instead of trying to hang on to some threads of realism during it's fight scenes Samurai Champloo busts out a totally artistic and unreal swordfight experience that will leave you asking for more. That one clip I saw has already convinced me to definatly download/buy/watch this anime =). Samurai Champloo has already been licensed though I believe, so I wonder which "Rouge" fansub groups are going to pick it up :rolleyes:.

Lieutenant Gene Gale found himself staring through a pair of black military binoculars at a large pair of golden gates and pale white building where [i]the[/i] ceremony to select the Singer's of the next generation was to take place. As Gene slowly lowered the binoculars to his side he began to recall what the ceremony had been like; it had been a full four years since he had partaken in the singer's ritual but Gene could still vivedly remember the events of that particular day. "Memories never die" whispered Gene to himself... [end] ------------------------------------------------------ Eh I don't have much time to post but basically Gene is a relatively new singer working for the SINGER organization. Despite the fact he is a new member to SINGER Gene has already started to make a name for himself as one of SINGER's top guns and ace pilots. Gene was sent by his superiors at SINGER to watch over the festivities and the singer's ritual to protect the inhabitants and the mechs from any theifs, instrumentalists, assassins, etc. *I'd post alot more but school has me seriousley bogged down*

[u]CHARACTER INFO.[/U] Name: Gene Gale Alias: Volt_Edge Age: 21 Organization: Singer Character: [See Attachment] Personality: Ryosuke can be characterized as is a lone wolf, while he prefers to work alone he often finds himself having to work with others and usually takes a back seat in the scheme of things only offering advice when he deems in necessary. Don't be fooled by his appearences though as the cold and quiet one Ryosuke takes great pride in his piloting skills and holds deep rooted ambitions that only time will reveal... Biography: ----- Coming Soon ----- [u]MECHA INFO.[/U] Mecha Name: Symphony Mecha Description: [See Attachment] Mecha Weapons: - Main Offensive: "Twin Lancer". A large double sided lance, the blades can be encased in light by drawing on extra power from the Symphony's power core. - Main Defensive: N/A. The Symphony relies heavily on it's agility and speed to defeat it's opponents aside from it's durable armor the Symphony is equipped with no other defensive mechanisms. - Secondary: "Luster cannons". Symphony's Luster Cannons are located underneath it's should armor upon use the shoulder armor flips up and to the sides revealing the Luster Cannons; The Luster Cannons fire narrow beam waves of light that heat-seek their target. Other Information: The Symphony was specially designed for close range combat hence the fact it's fingers end at sharp points allowing it to inflict double the damage when swinging at its opponet with its lance. Many people tend to view the Symphony as the standard for all-purpose mechs, as the large thrusters on the Symphony's back allow it to perform amazing feats in space and in the air equally as well on Earth. [center][img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19123&stc=1[/img][/center]

[quote]I really don't like previous Gundam series. Sure, they were great for some nice doujins, but I found they were pretty sub-standard generally. SEED isn't too bad, but I don't like it a lot.[/quote] I'd have to disagree, the problem is that the ideas and concepts from past gundam series have been used and recycled in countless other (newer) anime series thus like most people (my-self included) you probably saw some of these series that borrowed concepts from the original Gundam series before you saw the older Gundam series thus the originality of the franchise didn't come across as hard. :rolleyes: Anyway not trying to downtalk your opinion but that's just what I think... ... Ahh the every so lovable DBZ disscussion :rolleyes:... The anime has sub-par animation, a repetitive plot line, drags on WAY to long and lacks is full of similar character designs. It's really an anime I do not like anymore, but it's still not the worse anime out there either. If the fight scenes had been condensed and more thought was put into a coherent story line instead of doing the same thing over and over again DBZ might actually have been quite good. As for another really bad anime that i've seen (entirely) i'd have to name Samurai Deeper Kyo. The series starts out with an interesting concept and starts to get good near the end but then kills it self with stupid plot twists and hundreds of unexplained events. For a newer anime the animation is not that good and there is also an abundance of still shots with voice overs which really does nothing but detract from the anime itself. From what i've read the anime is also a super watered down version of the manga (thus explaining why some events seemed random and out of place) but it really could have and I wish it was a lot better. *Kyo's real body is one of the coolest character designs that I have seen though and Kyoshiro's simple character design is pretty pimped as well.*

After watching both trailers on the official FullMetal Alchemist (english) website I must say... I am throughly dissapointed o_O... The two trailers spend so much time trying to over glorify things and use such cheap cheesy voices! The first trailer which is actually the second opening of the *** FMA series also contains a small portion where a small boy (Edward Elric) is talking... I'm hoping that they just used that voice actor for the trailer and not the series because if so I am going to flat out die... Leave it to funimation to make swiss cheese out of a good thing. :rolleyes:

Thank you for the compliments and ideas the thing with blending the text in with the background was actually done on purpose though ^_^'. While it may seem odd rather than making the text vibrant and stand out I figured molding it into the signature would provide for a better effect.

Eh... Domon, Arkad let's leave this which gundam series is better arguement for another thread ^__^' that way I can join in too =P. [quote]Gundam SEED is starting to drag a bit...[/quote] The dragging continues on for a tad but longer then things start to get interesting, sadly it's not really till the later half of the first half and start of the second half of the series that things really start getting great and why many old school gundam fans take a liking to Gundam SEED becomes apparent. As for Athrun's situation, it really is much worse than Kira's on all levels. First of all since he's an actual part of a military organization and is the son of a high-ranking government official, unlike Kira he just can't just stop fighting because of feelings he has towards the enemy. The fact that Rau Le Cruz (sp?) ( I've seen so many different spellings that I don't even bother checking the correct spelling for the name... -___-!) esentially assigns Athrun as the captain of the Cruz team (the team in charge of destroying the archangel) just adds more to the hopelessness of Athrun's situation.

Yey and no at the same time :rolleyes:. I haven't bought anime on dvd for a loooooong time atleast this will motivate me to get a job again so I actually have use for the money I earn this time... I think it will be interesting to see how FMA is brought over to Cartoon Network though o_O, i'm wondering if instead of trying to air it super late night as they have done with many of their quality anime series if they will actually get the brains to air it some time earlier so it can be viewed by more people... On second thought this somewhat sucks in my case because at the rate CN will air FMA and the rate which the DVDs will be released i'll have to wait a year or more until I can actually see new episodes :bawl: ! Gah evil marketing ploys (j/k)... Then again I could probably find some outside fansub group that will still sub FMA, but that's illegal so why would I do that :p... (stares in horror at spanish FMA fansubs that he just stumbled upon...) -_-. Eh well more of a rant than a real post so I should just stop here... although... I'm wondering what VA's they'll get to play the parts in FMA it'll be interesting to see the dub (I say interesting to see but most likely painful to hear), and whether FMA really does air on Toonami or AS it makes more sense to air it on AS due to some of the events half-way through the series as well as the first few episodes which may be perceived as "disturbing" by some.

I just finished watching episode 6 today and I must say while the story didn't progress that far and really just set up for a wicked looking episode 7... PoiPoider is the man (err dolphin thing...) if you haven't seen it already episode six really just seemed to be an excuse to glorify the 1337ness of our favorite dolphin in his giant mechanical suit :rolleyes:. While I was a little skeptical as to whether or not a dolphin in a giant robotic suit would fit in with the series after Yagami Poipoider is definatly my favorite character, I mean what is cooler than a dolphin that can fire missiles o_O? It was kind of surprising how not one scene with Vess in it was apparent in episode six though... *once again proving my point that episode six was no more than a stepping stone to set up episode seven*

16 [i]Yu-Gi-Oh[/i] avatars... but there's a problem... [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGObewdmon.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Blue Eyes White Dragon [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGObmgmon.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Black Magician Girl [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGObmmon.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Black Magician [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOkaiba1.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Seto Kaiba 1 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOkaiba2.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Seto Kaiba 2 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOobelisk.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Obelisk the Tormentor [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOyamimalick1.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yami Malick [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOyamiyugi1.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yami Yugi 1 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOyamiyugi2.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yami Yugi 2 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOyamiyugi3.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yami Yugi 3 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOyugi1.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yugi The avatars above should suffice but there are five others that I have created but due to the fact i'm not a big yu-gi-oh fan, and the fact that the characters/monsters in the following 5 avatars have not been shown in the english dubbed version of Yu-Gi-Oh yet (thus I don't know their names!) I was forced to name the next five avatars simply Yu-Gi-Oh Villain 1-4 (and the fifth avatar as "Kaiba Monster 1" as it is one of Seto Kaiba's monsters but I don't know the name of that particular monster either) =/ [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOunknown1.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yu-Gi-Oh Villain 1 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOunknown2.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yu-Gi-Oh Villain 2 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOunknown3.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yu-Gi-Oh Villain 3 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOunknown4.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Yu-Gi-Oh Villain 4 [img]http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v69/volt_edge/YGOunknownmon1.jpg[/img] Category: Yu-Gi-Oh Name: Kaiba Monster 1 Oh well I don't know if you'll be able to find use for the last five avatars because of their odd naming but I think the others should be all right :rolleyes:. I have 2-4 more avatars that i'll make once I locate where I placed the rest of my scanned images x_X.

... And the thread name implies...? Stumped? Don't be it's quite simple actually... This signature was a quick Final Fantasy 12 signature I created, as for the "1/2-1/2" well duh 1/2-man 1/2-amazing that's a reference to Vince Carter the famous NBA star... (Toronto Raptors anyone?...) Okay if you just read all that and can't put two and two together don't worry about it because it was just meant to mess with your head o_O... As for the signature itself it was created mainly through various layer duplications with blending modes applied to the layers on top to blend them in with the layers below. While that constituted the bulk of the work the rest of it is really just subtle typo stuff with those trendy lines thrown in their for kicks. I made the "aura" myself too and was quite pleased at how it turned out. It's more or less a final version i'm going to throw in some more subtle text but possibly rotate and distort them and if time allows I might even elaborate on the aura and then this signature will be essentially 100% done. Now if you would please, comment and criticize and do all that other good stuff...

I never bothered to watch Kill Bill because it looked like one of the most horrendous movies on the face of the planet from the various previews I saw :rolleyes:. Nevertheless the "poster" is nicely done, my only suggestion would be to vary the bg a little bit possibly by using some light semi-grunged brushes and just making some light minute smears here and there. Just my 2 cents though...

Eh i'm not liking it =/ it doesn't look very rose like and it somehow just doesn't fit the name "Shogun Rose"... Not much else to say other than I like red :rolleyes:. I'm not liking the black-dark red drop shadow thingy either o_O

The anime remains pretty entertaining through out it's entirety it's amazing how many time Mido Ban can use his "Evil Eye" and it never gets old. I was somewhat dissapointed by the ending though a little more closeure would have been nice =/. As for a favorite character -_o... Not sure but Ginji is pretty pimped when he goes into his Thunder Emperor mode, however often times there are alot of scenes between him and Akabane in which he goes super SD which while funny at first gets somewhat annoying later on :rolleyes:. Kakei Jubei is another great character, atleast from a character design point :p.

The biggest problem with the first few episodes is that they jump around the time line a bit but the events that happen are brought up again later which makes it quite interesting as for the action scenes my biggest grip is that most of them are somewhat short, there is one particular battle scene in which Ed fight's a armored warrior [SPOILER] the "armored warrior" is actually like Al, only it's two soulds transmuted into one body of armor ^_^[/spoiler] which was really well done in my opinion and has probably been the best fight scene so far,that's not until episode 20 something x_X. As for the dark undertones FMA has a weird way of kind of working them, while the series starts out with alot of them it kind of fades away from them and then comes right back to them in one way or another which ususally provides for a quite freaky yet enjoyable experience. :rolleyes:

Episode 29 dips back into the realm of freakyness and sheds some more light on what happened when Ed and Al tried to resurrect their mother. [spoiler]The fact that the boy found on the island has both Ed's arm and leg was kind of disturbing and so was the part where he transmuted himself to the bed o_O, what's up with Ed and Al's Sensei too? She seems to have some sort of disease/sickness as she started coughing up blood at the end again... Interesting developments just a little freaky... *waits for episode 30* [/spoiler].

Full Metal Alchemist is produced by Studio Bones and Square-Enix I believe o_O. I think sony are the ones masterminding the music though and errr... yeah I think that answered your question :P. Anyway i'm eagerly awaiting for AKeep to release episode 29 the episode "preview" i've read of it has made it seem to be more of a character building type episode [spoiler]at the end of episode 28 a boy emerges from the forest before Ed, Al, and his teacher who had come to bring Ed & Al back from their training on the island; I'm pretty sure that boy is one of the "Seven Deadly Sins" (Such as Lust and Gluttony are); basically the "Bad Guys" in Full Metal Alchemist are known as the Sins due to their names and are named after the 7 sins in the bible that would cause you to go to hell. Which one of the Sins he is I have no idea, but he's either Sloth, Anger/Wrath, or Pride. I'll guess pride but that's just me x_X.[/spoiler]

^_^!!! This is exactly what i've been wanting or atleast hopinh for :rolleyes: more Initial D street racing goodness! For those of you who don't know Initial D esentially follows young Takumi Fujiwara and his exploits in the world of street racing while he starts out racing not because he enjoys it because he [i]needs[/i] to; Takumi soon begins to realize how much he loves racing and after a while excepts his role on the "Akina Speedstars" (racing team). Basically the anime follows a simple story where Takumi racing in his underpowered AE86 Toyota Trueno races against harder and harder opponents in better and better cars. Now while most people would expect this formula to get pretty darn boring, but it actually doesn't as there are a fair share of plot twists thrown in here and there and all the races are explained in such a way that whether your a car enthusiast or not you'll understand what's going on and be encaputred by the sweet EuroTrance music that goes along with the series. While the first 3 stages (1st and 2nd stage were esentially Initial D T.V. seasons 3rd stage was a movie, battle stage was a recap of all the "battles" (races) in the series along with new scenes here and there, and the Initial D Extra Stage was an OVA focusing around the drivers of the racing team Impact Blue) were criticized harshly for their bad CG racing graphics and the unorthodox looking characters (just bad animation in general) from the first episode of the 4th stage I just downloaded these wrongs seem to have been more or less corrected ^_^. The horrible CG we once hated and loved is no more and has been revamped with a newer (Form of Cel Shading i beleive o_O) form og CG graphics, many of the character desgins look sharper and the music that has been played so far has been great and has the same great Initial D feel from the 1st and 2nd stages. Anyway... o_O I doubt most people have seen Initial D 1st stage, even though it was licensed by Tokyopop (and ADV I believe) and is currently being serialized/dubbed, horribly dubbed and translated that is... But to get to the point, while I generally hate watching a "sequel" type anime without watching the series that went before it, I'd definatly reccomend this anime for those of you who are looking for something new and different from your average anime or are just bored as hell x_X. Basically from what i've seen you can still download the 3rd, Extra, and Battle stage off of Bittorrent, as for 1st and 2nd stage if you watch the episodes of 4th stage and like what you see I reccomend you buy them off of E-Bay or somewhere where you can import/buy japanese/HK dvds. ... so anyone else watching this series :p ? *listens to the crickets chirp*

I'm still a pretty avid Full Metal Alchemist fan i've only seen up to episode 28 and have some of the manga downloaded on my PC (I haven't read it yet though >_>), but what just occured to me is that the one thing i'm not liking about the series is how the plot has only made minor leaps and bounds in the last few episodes, I just feel the pacing of the series has kind of slowed. It's still an enjoyable anime I just hope *and am pretty sure it will* pick up pace and momentum sometime within the next few episodes =)! Anyway there is nothing wrong with "unbelievable" character designs then again you look at any anime and the character designs are "unbelievable", and i'd have to disagree about the character designs being too extreme as well =P. Al's character design is really one of the only desgins i'd consider "out there" but meh that's just me i'll elaborate further once i finish my homework >_>

[quote]The second episode of Gundam SEED is called "they call it Gundam". [/quote] Originally when you said that in your first post I thought you were reffering to the first episode, and while (just about) every Gundam series does contaim some type of epic war struggle that is not always what the entire series is based around, take Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket for example, while it did contain two sides struggling for supremecy it was really based from the point of view of the young boy Alfred and was depitcting the horrors of war as well as how there truly are no "good" and "bad" guys in a war. Also while most Gundam series start out the same in some way or another, if one were to place SEEDs beginning alongside another series rather than compare it to Gundam Wing i'd compare it to the original Mobile Suit Gundam or possibly Gundam 0083 SDM as the Gundam's dont just appear from space but they are rather "Gundam jacked" and stolen.

If I recall correctly there was actually a glass bubble around Gram at that point ^_^! It was very faint actually fastforward to around the 18:30 on episode 3 and just look at that part again while it did kind of look like Gram was outside breathing in water he's actually still inside the maintenance unit (I'm thinking this was the part you were talking about because that same though originally crossed my mind as well :rolleyes:). As for the Lauren company being the big bad guys that does seem likely, [spoiler]although i'm guessing that it's really a small faction of the company that's secretly running things behind the scenes and not Vess's father, he's probably just a pawn in the big scheme of things. As for what brought me to say that it would have to be the fact that Vess acted in defense of her father as if she still had a strong attachment to him rather than against him meh that's just me though. [/spoiler]. I also agree with you about Yagami's reaction, I did find it a little surprising at how harsh he was to Jr. and how willing he was to accept Gram, is there something he knows about Gram that he doesn't want others to know o_O? Also although Yagami's prediction of Jr. being a bad roundbukler pilot was correct he also seems to suffer from a little bit of overconfidence as he was mistaken badly when he remarked that Jr. would be all right just because Gram was going after him. As for what I liked about episode 3 more than the character interactions (which were quite interesting) were the fact that we finally got some nice up close and personal views of the different Round Bucklers *and their weapons!* More and more the mecha designs are starting to remind me of the veritechs from Macross x_X. The plot advancing quickly o_-? I'm not sure if I can agree with you we still are unsure of who the real threat/enemy and aside from Vess finding out about Gram not that much has really happened in these first 3 episodes =\. [Spoiler]Also in the flashback clip where Vess was with Gram were they running from the army or something ._o? I think I might have to rewatch that part...[/spoiler]