Dagger

ANN has posted a new [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature.php?id=260][u]interview[/u][/url] with the VAs for Ichigo and Rukia. The main thing I got out of reading it is that the VAs are aware of how big the show is, and that some serious efforts are being made to pronounce all of the Japanese names and terms correctly. I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to watch the first episode tonight, but I'm not too sure about it. We'll see. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Sangome][size=1] I'm stuck [spoiler]in the Woglinde, when the Gnosis attack. I can't figure out how to escape...I'm lost.[/spoiler] I suck. XD Any help? Anyone? >.>[/size][/quote] Yeah, getting out of there took me[I] forever[/I]. I actually, uh, don't remember the route at all, except that I eventually hit on it after wandering into every single cranny I could find. If you're really frustrated, I would suggest just using a FAQ to orient yourself, assuming that FAQs aren't against your gaming religion--no point in getting bogged down this early on. I don't know what it is about the Woglinde, but it really makes it easy to keep going in circles and not make any progress. Anyway, there's a really fun & cool chapter right after that (one of my favorites in the whole game, as a matter of fact). So keep at it! [quote][size=1]((Happy, Dagger? >>

[quote name='Derald][FONT=Trebuchet MS][SIZE=1][COLOR=Navy]Well, I don't expect that many people to know about the anime that I use as my featured set, so I'll go ahead and say that it's a series called Texhnolyze, released back in 2003, and it is currently my favorite anime.[/COLOR][/SIZE'][/FONT][/quote] Texhnolyze is awesome. I approve. [quote name='Sangome][size=1']And my sig, the image is that of KOS-MOS, my favorite character from the Xenosaga video game series.[/size][/quote] Go post in the Xenosaga thread(s) while you're at it. *pokes* Anyway, I started using an avatar of Kaworu because I am oh so fascinated by this whole Evangelion remake thing. Going back to Xenosaga, though, the one line in my signature is Junior's catchphrase--it's cheesy, but I love how he says it. My custom title was borrowed from KHII's Axel. Basically, what it comes down to is that there's nothing original in the lot. :p ~Dagger~

[size=1][quote=ANN] Newtype Hypes Evangelion Scoop (2006-08-08 10:09:41) September's Newtype Japan advertises an "extra large scoop" on Evangelion in the October issue. Whether it is related to Hideaki Anno's new project is unknown. The issue streets September 10.[/quote] My personal guess? I think it's going to be an Evangelion Blu-ray set (or else something equally useless). I'm not inclined to trust a mag that runs a cover screaming "Suzumiya Haruhi RETURNS!!" followed by an article that basically says, "Maybe we'll make a second season--and maybe we won't. Hur hur hur." Or, if we're really lucky, we'll get another line of "Angels as scantily-clad chicks" figurines. I can hardly contain my excitement. :p On a side note: ADV did say something about an LA movie announcement coming sometime in the fall. Hm.[/size] ----------------------- [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/eva.jpg[/IMG] In the immortal words of Indiana Jones, "I'm like a bad penny; I always turn up." The perfect quote for this situation, I think. :cool: Anyway, ANS has posted [url=http://www.animenewsservice.com/][u]small scans[/u][/url] of the October NewType (which don't look like 'shops to me, but I guess one never knows?) as well as loads of other leaked/half-confirmed/unconfirmed stuff. I'd say that it's actually looking pretty darn likely at this point, and I would be totally lying if I tried to downplay my excitement. Going with what F* said in his post from last month, it's intriguing to see that Anno is listed as the "General Supervisor"--I wonder how much involvement that will entail on his part. I can definitely understand when people say that he's moved past Eva now and is probably reluctant to revisit it, but at the same time, I can't imagine them pushing him into it without his full blessing. No matter what, I doubt he'll let them bastardize the franchise. In some respects, I think that Eva (both as an anime series and a phenomenon) could use more closure. If the movies or whatever they are can even do that much, I'd consider them a success. I'm not talking about the narrative (or even psychological) aspects of the story's ending(s); I'm referring more to the fact that it causes such [i]unrest[/i] even ten years after it aired. By now you'd think that fans and non-fans would be able to accept it for what it is--and for the fact that they'll ultimately take whatever they want to out of the experience of watching it, and if that's absolutely nothing, it's not necessarily the show's fault. On a shallower note, Rei & Kaworu on the cover = win. ETA: Inserted the image. Also, here's a JP site with [url=http://mizuki.onmitsu.jp/warehouse/festival/10th/index.html][u]more pictures[/u][/url]. ~Dagger~

I finally saw the English trailer, and it sounds alright to me; JYB has been the lead in [i]so[/i] many series lately that I've gotten kind of sick of him, awesome though he is, but I'm sure he'll do a fine job. Ichigo is certainly closer to his natural range than, say, Renton. ~Dagger~

I started playing this almost immediately after finishing Episode I, although I haven't been going through it as quickly (I just reached [spoiler]Sakura's World,[/spoiler] to be more specific). There are some things I like about it and some that I don't. The modified battle system has a pretty steep learning curve, but once you get a feel for it--and all you really need for that is to pore over the manual or read a FAQ on the nitty-gritty of how it works--it's awesome. It just feels great to find out an enemy's weak zones and get rid of it so much faster by targeting that & elemental weaknesses & whatever else. I miss tech attacks, but I guess double attacks are a decent (and less repetitive) replacement. I also appreciate how the skill/ether-learning process has been streamlined, although it's extremely annoying that [spoiler]you don't know what skills you'll be getting ahead of time.[/spoiler] I thought about just trying to obtain all of them methodically, but my resolve didn't last very long, haha. I would die so much more often if I hadn't gotten the [spoiler]element-Sword[/spoiler] ethers ASAP. The stuff I dislike is mostly related to the character design and cast changes. Most of the characters look acceptably similar to the way they did in Episode I--except, bafflingly, for poor Shion. That combined with the different actress makes me feel as if she's some totally new character. It was really jarring to hear the new actresses for her and MOMO (and in both cases, I prefer their predecessors; MOMO's "Mystical powers, grant me a miracle!" sounds like rubbish now). I also thought KOS-MOS' Episode I actress was better than her Episode II actress, but the discrepancy isn't as bad in her case. The only one I won't complain about is chaos. While the change between VAs is arguably most noticeable with him, his new VA nails the character while making him sound about 1000x cooler, haha, so I don't have any problems with his performance. Which is not to say that I disliked chaos' original actor, because I didn't. I hope Shion's orange hair returns in Episode III. :animedepr ~Dagger~

So yeah, the Mushishi anime/manga is being made into a live-action movie with direction provided by Katsuhiro Otomo (the guy behind Akira). [url=http://www.cinempire.com/multimedia/mushishi/index.html][u]This[/u][/url] site has some new stills from the film, and you can read the Wikipedia article on the manga and anime [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi][u]here[/u][/url] (which spares me from having to come up with a plot synopsis). Although I'm curious about this project, I really don't understand how they're going to make Mushishi into a coherent movie. It lends itself perfectly to the half-hour episode format because the original work is made up of stand-alone stories--and it looks as if the movie will adapt those stories instead of going off on its own path. I just don't get how they'll keep it from feeling totally disjointed. On the other hand, most of the characters look decent. ~Dagger~

I finished last night. It took me a while to beat the final boss--it was really demoralizing to lose and have to [spoiler]go down that stupid elevator[/spoiler] all over again. Plus, the [spoiler][i]final[/i] final boss kept owning me with Dark Omen until I equipped better accessories and resigned myself to attacking solely with KOS-MOS.[/spoiler] Oh, and I guess I lied about not having a favorite party, haha. I ended up using chaos, KOS-MOS and Shion for most of the last dungeon (as well as the boss fights that followed). Anyway, the ending was good, albeit very Fellowship of the Rings in terms of showing you how little of the overall plot you've experienced. But I started Episode II this morning, so that should soon be remedied. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=BlueEyedAngel] I should also point out, since we're all anime fans, that Japan is far from being multicultural. The population of Japan is 99.3% ethnic Japanese. This is no coinsidence. The Japanese are fiercly nationalistic. Their immigration system favors immigrants of there own ethnic stock. It's ok for the Japanese to do this, but if white people did this it would be "racist". [/QUOTE] Why do you think that foreigners condone this? It could be a regional thing, but almost every time I discuss Japan with a real-life acquaintance, he or she will remark off-hand, "Oh yeah--aren't they really racist over there?" Of course it would be silly for me to say--just based on my personal experience--that everyone condemns these insular Asian nations for their general cultural bias against people not of their own race, but is personal experience what makes you say the opposite? On a different note, I'm a big anime fan, but you might not want to assume that [I]everyone[/I] here is. We have a significant population of members who don't watch anime at all. ;) ETA: [QUOTE=BlueEyedAngel] Did you know that the average IQ for Asians is 120; for whites,100; for blacks, 80? That's not a racist remard, that's statistics. If you disagree with me, I encourage you do do your own research on the correlation between race and IQ. I believe my IQ is about 124.[/QUOTE] I don't have the time (or, to be honest, much motivation) to research the veracity of your numbers, but I recently read an article in the Washington Post (at least I think that's where it was--it might've been in the magazine) about how the average black IQ has risen dramatically over the last few decades. So clearly environmental and cultural factors have something to do with it; it's not a racially fixed statistic. ~Dagger~

I started playing Episode I about a week ago, and I don't think I've ever been this focused on getting through a game. I love almost everything about it, including the absurdly long cut-scenes; the intricacy of the storyline is also a big plus, especially since it still pretty much makes sense. This is also the first game I've played in which I've liked using all of the characters--which is a good thing, heh, since I think it would probably make you deploy them in a pretty balanced way even if you didn't want to. I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite party. I especially like the fact that although the characters' strengths lie in different areas (which makes them individually interesting), there isn't a designated healer-type character or anything like that. Everyone can deal out some good damage. It's fun to get new tech attacks, but I don't use the characters' ether abilities very much except for healing and occasionally fixing status effects. I do wish that Shion would hurry up and get an all-enemies "Far" attack, since at this point [spoiler](I'm in the middle of evacuating people from the Foundation)[/spoiler] all of my other characters have them. Ah, well, I can't wait to find out what happens next. :animesmil ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=Japan_86][COLOR=Navy] Though, I am confused. [spoiler] What the heck is the End of The World and why does the chairman keep on showing up in odd places with his red car and they drive off into the darkness with the chairman sitting on the car's hood. [/spoiler] Anyone mind explaining that?[/COLOR][/QUOTE] End of the World is [spoiler]a person.[/spoiler] As for Akio's car, here are a couple of very basic things to keep in mind. [spoiler]The red sports car is symbolic of idealized adulthood and Akio's virility and masculinity (as well as many other things). Akio, unlike almost everyone else in the show, is an adult character. And in the series, cars in general--but specifically Akio's car--are associated with sexuality, loss of innocence, etc. Also, try to keep track of the roles the characters are playing. They go in Akio's car for a reason, usually to recruit a duelist (or, in Ruka's case, a bride). Akio lets them in his car because it benefits him in some way. How? Touga, likewise, has chosen to essentially become Akio's messenger boy. Why? Are you sure you don't know who End of the World is?[/spoiler] Worry about questions of motivation and meaning instead of why [spoiler]the car can just magically show up anywhere (although that suggestion of omnipotence/omnipresence is in itself somewhat significant).[/spoiler] And don't take anything in Utena too literally--it'll just make your head hurt. :animesmil ~Dagger~

[quote name='Ashes'] Take wolfs rain for instance. Completly different from the manga.[/quote] That's because the Wolf's Rain manga was based on the anime. Take care not to assume that the manga version of something or other came first simply because the manga version exists. ~Dagger~

[QUOTE=duoikari] Dagger may i suggest little butterfly, it rather shouen Ai but it has a great plot and lovable characters.[/QUOTE] I picked up the first volume a little while back (and loved it, of course). Hinako Takanaga is really good at funny fluff, but Little Butterfly's [i]slightly[/i] more serious edge makes it stand above her other work. Definitely a great rec, knowing my tastes. ;) [quote name='Delta][COLOR=#D55555]Ah, my favorite yaoi manga would be Ayane Yamano's [i]Crimson Spell[/i] and the few Final Fantasy doujins ([i]GunMania[/i] and [i]Sweet Pain[/i']) she made.[/COLOR][/quote] I read both of those yesterday, right after finishing FFVIII. The part in GunMania when [spoiler]Squall, Zell and Irvine do their characteristic victory dances wearing only bath towels[/spoiler] is too hilarious. I also just love how she draws Squall. ~Dagger~

Whew! All done. :animesmil Since I haven't criticized the game very much yet, I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first. [spoiler]There should've been an option to recruit Seifer, Edea (Sorceress version and non-Sorceress version), Laguna, Kiros and Ward as permanent party members. Or at [i]least[/i] Seifer and Laguna. Imagine Squall fighting alongside his old man! As a character, Seifer is basically an amusing buffoon--which is fine, except that we already have Zell to fill that role. Seifer's total irrationality makes it impossible to take him seriously. He's a wimp every single time your party fights him. His presence doesn't even prolong the plot very much. It was also terribly silly of the writers to forget about the whole love triangle angle partway through the game. I just felt bad for Seifer throughout because he was so extraneous to the main story. It was fun to gradually discover stuff about the past. So why did that stop? The most important parts (Ellone's kidnapping, leaving Raine, learning about Raine's death, etc.) were dumped out via exposition. Pretty lame. The time gimmick worked pretty well sometimes and was underutilized at other points, but switching back and forth more frequently--creating true parallel stories in the present and past--would've made the plot more dynamic and involving. More Laguna plz. Heck, while I'm re-writing the game, what about Ultimecia? LAME. The only way she could possibly have been an interesting enemy would have been if she were actually Ellone in the future (I was hoping for that to happen!). It doesn't have to be Ellone, even--make her Rinoa, Raine, Selphie, Cid after a sex change... it's just awfully hard to care about a villain(ess) who's little more than an enigmatic name. Adel was pretty useless, too. The Squall/Rinoa love story was rushed and resonated less with me than the few hints of Laguna/Raine (Irvine/Selphie was just distracting, especially since it looked as if he were back to hitting on Quistis in the ending video, haha. Threesome?). Plus, I wanted Squall and Laguna to openly notice/acknowledge the implied father-son thing.[/spoiler] Other comments about the ending... [spoiler]Plot-wise, I'm probably expecting a little too much here, but I thought the ideal ending would have been a more bittersweet one--i.e. Squall experiences real loss and loneliness and still comes out of it changed for the better. Having everything turn out A-OK kind of makes it seem as if he wasn't tested very much. Or they could have gotten that bittersweetness from Laguna's half of the story--just have Squall find out about Raine & so forth (the part toward the end when he was lost in time by himself would have been the ideal place to do this). But that nit-picking aside, I absolutely loved the huge long ending video. It was a nice reward after the tediously long final boss fight. I also enjoyed running around Ultimecia's castle. The puzzle with the paintings was my favorite part (and took me a long time to figure out). By the way, what does the organ do? They should've done more to address the GF/memory issue.[/spoiler] In sum, I had a lot of fun playing FFVIII. I'm glad I bothered to get the final weapons for the characters I used most often, even though it was a real headache to run around and wait for an [spoiler]Adamantoise[/spoiler] to show up. I saw the [spoiler]Lionheart[/spoiler] limit break for the first time during the final battle, just when I started thinking that Squall would never pull it out, and it was oh so awesome. I didn't really use any limit breaks aside from Squall's and Rinoa's (and occasionally Zell's), but in most situations, theirs could outclass nearly any GF. Once my characters reached a decently high level, I started wishing that the GFs in general were stronger. If I played the game again, I'd do everything I could to load up on the Aura spell as early as possible. I didn't discover how useful Aura and Meltdown are until I was near the end of the third disc. One final question: [spoiler]Why was Griever suddenly a GF?[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

Let's start off by making sure that we have our definitions straight. A guilty pleasure is exactly what its name suggests. It can't be something that you watched because you felt that you had no other choice--e.g. mindlessly plowing through 153700 episodes of Naruto filler because it was the only show you could get your hands on. No. There has to be some pleasure involved with you watching the series you choose to mention here, even if it means admitting that you have bad taste to the world. Or at least OB. You also have to recognize the fact that the anime in question (either completely or kind of) sucks. It's not a guilty pleasure if there's nothing to be guilty about. Here's an example. [b]Kiba[/b] is a new-ish shounen action series, still airing in Japan and slated to be around 50-something episodes in length, in which the main characters summon, collect and do battle with spirit monster thingies that stay stored in small orbs. In other words, it's basically Pokemon with killing people. Except that its plot boasts more logical inconsistencies than Pokemon ever suffered from. The worst part is that it has occasional brushes with greatness--or at least what would be something resembling greatness, if you were [strike]extremely[/strike] a little drunk. And yet I (almost) unabashedly enjoy it. So it's one of my big guilty pleasures at the moment. What're yours? ~Dagger~

Just a quick note to say that [b]Okane ga Nai[/b], [b]Kirei Papa[/b] and [b]Ikoku Irokoi Romantan[/b] are all being made into anime. This depresses me, to be frank, since I hate Okane ga Nai, don't care for Ikoku Irokoi Romantan and can remember almost nothing about Kirei Papa (apparently it didn't make too much of an impression on me, heh). Why can't they produce an anime based on a BL manga that I actually [i]like[/i]? :animecry: ~Dagger~

Nowadays, more and more anime are based on novels or games (both regular video games and visual novels). So I would actually say that the number of manga-based productions is decreasing slightly due to the surge in titles adapted from games or novels; here are some assorted examples of both. Novel-based anime: Kino's Journey, Slayers, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Scrapped Princess, Boogiepop Phantom, Crest of the Stars, Full Metal Panic, Kyou Kara Maou, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Shakugan no Shana, Twelve Kingdoms. Game-based anime: Nightwalker, AIR, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Fate/stay night, Lunar Legend Tsukihime, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Kanon, To Heart, Shuffle, Clannad (not out yet, but I had to mention it!). ~Dagger~

[B]Monster:[/B] 74 episodes of enthralling story and characterization. Often compared to The Fugitive. [B]Big O & Big O II:[/B] Roger Smith kicks *** and fights crime, Batman-style, in a fantastic mecha anime that just happens to be absolutely packed with layers of meaning. The second season is as mind-bending as the most deliciously labyrinthine parts of Evangelion. [B]Black Lagoon:[/B] A must-watch if you like action. Talk to Fasteriskhead if you're interested in its philosophical implications; that isn't my department, but I will say that for a show which purports to be all about noisy pwnage, it sure can make you shiver and think. [B]Gunslinger Girl:[/B] Featuring little cyborg assassin girls who wrestle with emotional problems while they're not going on bloody rampages (or planting gardens, or sipping tea, or watching the stars). You may feel the need to bring out some tissues; the slivers of hope are what make it tragic. [QUOTE=Doublehex] -Full Metal Alchemist -RahXephon* -Wolf's Rain[/quote] All three of these are BONES anime. So how about sampling some more animated goodness from the same studio? Their other licensed series are Eureka Seven, Angelic Layer, Scrapped Princess and Mars Daybreak. Their unlicensed anime are Ouran High School Host Club and Jyu Oh Sei. Phantom Memory Kurau has been licensed but hasn't yet been released. ~Dagger~

Some stuff about a [B]rumored[/B] new Eva project... [quote=Anime News Service][size=1] 8-7-06 (7:04AM EDT)---- New Evangelion Anime Movie(s) Coming? One of the biggest rumors running this summer among Japanese fans online involves Studio GAINAX, presumably under the aegis of Director Hideaki Anno, re-editing and adding new animation footage to the original 1995 26 episode Evangelion TV series (ala Gundam Zeta) and releasing them as a series of new movies to Japanese theaters. So the story goes, as many as 4 movies could be produced and the 4th one may be entirely new material or may contain an entirely new ending to the Evangelion saga. A side rumor from a few months ago indicates a staff room for Evangelion was being created or renovated at GAINAX HQ. This questionable information started circulating prior to the below mentioned GAINAX search launched, looking for production and animation staff for a forthcoming Hideaki Anno directed animated film project codenamed "Color" (Khara). Those who meet the criteria are encouraged to email to joboffer(AT)khara.co.jp or call. What can be confirmed now as fact is Evangelion and project "Color" are connected and the proof can be found on GAINAX's official EVA website. At the bottom of the page, the copyright statement has added "color" (in katakana) to the Project Eva copyright information. Other twists include the following: A whois search for the domain khara.co.jp reveals it is registered to Khara Corporation. The name Todoroki Ikki is listed as registration and tech contact. It's worth noting Anno Hideaki appeared in the movies Taste of Tea and Naisu No Mori with Todoroki Ikki. Additionally, a search on GAINAX's company overview page shows the Director's name is no longer present. This is leading many to speculate "Color / Khara" could be a spinoff studio perhaps similar to Hideo Kojima's production label "Kojima Productions" or Hayao Miyazaki's private office "Ni Bariki".[/size][/quote] ANS isn't always right; just yesterday, they posted about what turned out to be a Type-Moon related hoax. However, they're also very good at picking up on early rumblings which later turn out to be true. So I think this could have some real merit to it (especially since no one has disputed the previously reported story about Anno's "Color" project. Plus, ANN has [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=9318][u]put up[/u][/url] a short piece based on Anime News Service's findings, and the people at ANN tend to be extremely cautious about making sure they post legitimate news stories. Of course, they take a neutral stance in regards to whether the Eva connection is real or imagined, but the fact that they thought it was worth even bringing up is significant. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Fasteriskhead']People, is this really the best that american anime publishing can do? [/quote] Don't complain; Utawarerumono just became [I]Shadow Warrior Chronicles[/I]. That title change makes [I]Ninja Nonsense[/I] look like Shakespeare. :p Anyway, I believe that the cover is reversible (with the original Japanese logo on the inside), which is what they did when they changed Gakuen Senki Muryou to Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars. TRSI is usually pretty good about feeding the fans. ~Dagger~

[url=http://www.funimationfilms.com/theaters.html][u]FMA movie theater list[/u][/url] I [i]may[/i] be able to see this, but I'm not too sure about which theater I'll end up going to--much less which city! The timing will be quite tricky for me, but I'll try to work something out anyway. :animesigh ~Dagger~

I can't think of any other blogs that offer summaries as in-depth as Memento's, to be honest. But I like [url=http://www.***-no-ryu.com/animeblog/][u]Cinnamon ***[/u][/url] a lot (yeah, it's kind of funny that the blog name gets censored; unfortunately, so does the URL, so you'll have to fill it in with the appropriate three-letter-word if you click on it. :animesmil) BluWacky is a funny guy with well-defined opinions; shows he's finished blogging in the past include Gankutsuou, Fantastic Children, Noein, AIR, Jyu-Oh-Sei, Loveless, Fafner, etc. He doesn't normally make posts right after a show is broadcasted, so he can be anywhere from a little to a lot "behind," but he has a habit of blogging the first episode of practically every single series out there in a very timely way. Right now he's working on stuff like Ouran, Welcome to the NHK, Nishi no Yoki Majo and Ergo Proxy. He has a distaste for moe material but still keeps an open mind. ~Dagger~

[b]About dubs[/b] - I know I shouldn't be, but every time people express such opinions, I am flabbergasted at how anyone can be so close-minded when all you have to do is go to the frigging audio menu, change the language from Japanese to English and turn on the subs. You can even pretend that the dub was never made in the first place! Everyone wins, right? This isn't the VHS era... setting aside a few cases that frankly aren't relevant to Loveless in the slightest, a dub version doesn't come at the expense of the Japanese language version. If y'all are so sensitive that you can't countenance the mere [i]idea[/i] that [i]maybe[/i] a dub could have been made, and that even supposing you didn't listen to it and opted for the JP audio track instead (which is, hello, one of the most basic advantages offered by DVDs in the first place :animestun ), some other poor soul might (horror of horrors!) be exposed to it, I have to wonder how you've lasted so long in a fandom that frequently gets accused of pedophilia.* :animesigh And on that note! (God, I rock at segues.) The age difference in Loveless doesn't especially bother me, because a) Ritsuka's in control of the relationship, b) there's good evidence that Soubi, despite appearances, is really not attracted to minors and will be perfectly content to wait for Ritsuka to grow up, and c) despite all the innuendo and touchy-feeliness, Ritsuka and Soubi's relationship is essentially quite chaste. You could cut out all of the BL indicators and make it a romantic-friendship manga, and the important aspects of their connection would remain intact. That's my take on it, anyway. *If anyone wants to go on talking about dubs in the context of Loveless, I do ask it that we take it to the Loveless anime thread. Thanks. ;) ~Dagger~

How I feel about fanservice hinges mainly on the way it's presented (which is a weak way of saying, "It depends"). I find some fanservice to be completely unattractive and some of it to be great fun, and although I wish that hinged on how blatant or subtle it is, it really doesn't, or else I would've had a lot more problems with Utena and Melody of Oblivion (and stuff like Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo, for that matter). I used to think that the relatively restrained fanservice in Full Metal Panic irked me, until I figured out that what irked me was the entire darn show. I was just taking out my issues with other aspects of the series on poor Chidori's figure. This became especially clear when I started Fumoffu and actually enjoyed the fanservice in it (mm, beach episode). I don't see much appeal in pure fanservice anime (e.g. Girls Bravo), because once it has to become that risque, why not just be a real man or woman and find yourself some porn? :animesigh ~Dagger~

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/motivator2817077.jpg[/IMG] If only. That would be the greatest crossover ever. :animesmil I wish I knew to whom I should credit the image, but all I remember is that I ganked it from one of the Death Note LJ communities. ~Dagger~