Roxie Faye

[color=#9933ff]Sorry Umbra, I don't think anyone can define it, since nobody in America is using the word in the same way. I think the consensus is that if you go to Japan, please do NOT label yourself an otaku unless you want people looking at you strangely. I've heard of the Japan/American-usage-of-the-word-"otaku" debate for a longtime now. Two summers ago when a Japanese friend came to my house and I decided to check the forums to see what was up, I had to explain to her that even though in Japan "otaku" is like a nerd and "bad" thing, in America, it's alright to be an otaku. The American definition of it is debatable, but I'd just like to say that in Japan, Otaku is NOT specifically an ANIME fan. It is any sort of extreme fan of something (anything) and the action denotation (dictionary definition when you look it up) is nerd. Just nerd. NERD AND NOTHING ELSE. In Japan, otaku DOES NOT IMPLY ANIME. V_V The most common usage of "otaku" in America is either an obessive anime fan, or someone with really broad knowledge of anime. I've heard it used to describe anime "elitists" - people who won't watch a dub, read a manga that isn't right to left, and won't watch anything on Cartoon Network (I know someone who won't watch CN or a dub - they're so annoying you have no idea), but this thread is the first time I've heard it used to describe just a simple fan. O_O I think there needs to be a massive committee of anime fans on the 'net (I'd do it if anyone else really really really^100 wanted it) to decide what the term "otaku" should entail for American usage, and then have it announced, and also announced at AnimeExpo, or even Otacon (the inferred consensus is that AnimeExpo is THE definitive anime convention in America, so I thought of that first).[/color]

[quote name='Twilight_Kioku']a little FYI, none of Akamatsu's works have any porn in them. like bloodseeker said though, theres quite a few walk-in's throught the anime/manga. myself, i love both the anime and the manga, and the only bad thing ill say about the manga(i own it) is that the ppl at tokyopop coould have translated some of the sfx...[/quote] [color=#9933ff]That's the problem with people at my school - they're retarded. I knew I probably shouldn't have believed them when they said Love Hina had porn in it, but they were so... adamant about it. Blegh. They need to learn the word "fanservice" so they can stop scaring me. ;_; Tokyopop is lazy like that - I hate the fact that they don't translate sound effect, or like in Saiyuki, to keep it more "authentic," they put it them in the back of the book. It's not helping anyone by being there. I wrote another paragraph rambling about the injustice of Tokyopop and better companies but it's rather spammy, so i'll shut up now. :X [/color]

[QUOTE=Corey][size=1]Jesus Christ, you guys. You all act like you've never been new members before. You act like you plopped into the midst of Otakuboards the well grammered and respectful members you are today. Please. Get off your damn high-horse. [b]We were [i]all[/i] like that at some point.[/b] And as for the Arena, who are we to judge a good RPG from a bad one? Grammer? Spelling? Creativity? Who gives a **** if you can have fun. The caliber of RPG isn't important. The only important thing is that the participants can have fun. If you check out an RPG that seems to leave a bad taste in your mouth with the lack of storyline or poor writing, don't sign up. But don't ***** about it. Just let the people that [i]are[/i] playing have fun. Get off you *** and write one yourself if you want a good RPG. I find people like you, Rhym, more annoying than any new member.[/size][/QUOTE] [color=#9933ff]I love you.

[color=#9933ff]Awww. That's so sweet. Your poor little rubber ducky. It's hard to make an aabbccdd (etc) rhyme scheme, so good job on that. Actually, I'm really bad at rhyming in general but if I had to do it like that, it probably wouldn't work. ^^; (limericks are about it for me.) You never cease to amaze me. Cats, food, and now rubber ducks. Very very nice poem.[/color]

[color=#9933ff]Oh, I get it. *nods* Cool. Every image should be vector-ized (or whatever you call it). It would make re-sizing a billion times easier. XD (Then again, I guess it would take up a LOT of file space, so... heh) Anyway, thanks again. *huggles*[/color]

[color=#9933ff]Well, I don't visit the Adventure Arena (I've been in one RPG in my entire life, and done three sign ups in total eheh. The one I did wasn't even on this board. I'm too afraid to join one because I'll end up screwing it up. >_>), so I couldn't say about the quality in there. A while back, I think toward the middle/end of v6, there was so much n00b-age running around, I wanted to almost melt or something. It goes in cycles, really. Around Nov/Dec/Jan I remember some things were spamtastic. I think right now it's alright. Like I said, it comes in waves, and not too often. It's not [i]that[/i] bad. I think my first n00b-shock actually was around the beginning/middle of v6. I was sort of a regular member then, and all these people started signing up and posting [i]a lot[/i] and it was all at the same time and I didn't think it was a n00b attack or anything, but I was really really overwhelmed with new people. It was like "gyah!!!! I.don't.know.these.people. X_x" Most of you, I'm sure, came during v6. That's what I'm talking about. And I mean, you all turned out fine, it was just overwhelming to have that many new people at one time. Of course, I could always just be imagining this in my head, because God knows I'm very very good at doing that. XD I don't think OB will ever be picked up by newbies and taken over as depicted in stories like Enter the 'Net and Otaku Hollow. Or be taken over in any other form. For some reason, when I say " picked up by newbies and taken over" it reminds me of ants coming to your picnic and taking off with a cracker. It's almost comical, in a way. No, that's not going to happen to OB. The only way this site will die is if Adam runs out of money and is forced to shut it down. If James accidentally deletes all the files for OB, we can always re-build it. Or if the whole thing disappears and James and Adam and Dagger disappear along with it, we can all just make a new forum for ourselves. I'd do it. *shrug* Point of my rambling: OB ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE AND IT'S NOT BEING TAKEN OVER BY N00BS, OKAY?!?!? Good. ^^ [/color]

[color=#9933ff]Wow. All of you did a really good job. Thanks for trying to help me out. I really really appreciate that. *huggles all of you* I think I'm either going to use one of Azure's or Delta's, but thank you, all of you, for trying. I didn't expect so many replies; I'm really greatful. I'm sorry I couldn't print out all of them - I don't think I have enough money for that since I'm almost on the verge of being broke at the moment. *_* (I don't know what episode it's in, either, Azure, I found it on a website. Judging by the metal pull, it's probably either eps. 1,2,3, or after the meeting Russel and fletcher, since that happens when they're 12. The time-frame of what he's wearing is around 15 years old, so... heh. And It's really sad that I can tell his age by the way he holds his jacket together. ^^; ) I'm just curious what you guys used to clean these images up, since they look good. Better than anything I could to, that's for sure. And, what is vectoring? *tilts head slightly* Thank you so much, I really really really really appreciate it. ^^;[/color]

[color=#9933ff]*nod nod* good good! Nice focal point. You could also try shifting the image to the left, and putting "ichigo kurasaki" on the right on the top and putting "the strawberry" on the right bottom. And I don't think would be any confusion because the colors are different. As for font, I don't know what to tell you because I have really crappy fonts on my computer. You could try mistral, unless that's what you were using. >_>; I've told you this before, but I really don't like the border at all. It looks really really really really small, and the border is the reason. A very simple black line one pixel wide will do. Small borders = cool! By the way, you did something freaky to the image quality and it sucks. That's the only really bad thing about this image. I love the picture, the background (no, I don't find it too plain) and the colors, but the border and the image quality are killing me. If you could fix the image quality (when you save it, at least in GIMP, I don't know about photoshop, it gives you an option of how much "compressed" you want the quality. Make it higher, your quality is yucky! >

[color=#9933ff]I don't know if it's possible to do this, but I thought I'd ask anyway. The attached image of Edward Elric is really cool. It's also really hard to find one of him clapping his hands together (he's the main character, and the best at alchemy and there's no pictures of him clapping his hands?!?!?). What I was wondering is if there's a way to make the image look crisper, perhaps by using tools in photoshop, or effects, or whatever. In the current state it's in, I can't use it. For example, compare the image attached to this image: [url]http://www.fullmetal-alchemist.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=493[/url] You see how the quality is "better"? I want to print it out at staples on a extremely glossy paper, and Luminaire, who works at Staples in the Copy & Print center (and should become their unofficial spokesperson - XD) says that the quality of the image has to be extremely good, or else it turns out crappy when printed. If it can't be done, I understand, but [b]let me know[/b] in this thread. If someone does manage to enhance the quality of it, please post it up for me. It is very much appreciated. Thank you. ^_^ Edit: the image NEEDS to stay at 1024 x 768. It can't be 800 x 600, 1280 x 1024, or 640 x 480. It HAS to be 1024 x 768. Thank you. ^^[/color]

[color=#9933ff]And once again, Retribution says everything that I would like to say. ^_^' You're really good at that, you know. Lunox - it is rather possible that her outlook has changed, at least somewhat, from viewing those photos. I have always learned about WWII throughout the years, and I especially understood how bad the fighting in Europe was, because of the Nazi's, but until I took Asian Civ. this year, I had no idea of how much worse and brutal the Japanese were. Either that, or she's just lying to, like you said, to wrap it up & move on. I would hate for it to be the latter, and have her keep believing in ignorance. I would like to say that I don't think university level is a fair time, at all for students to learn about their countries atrocities. What if you decide not to go to college, or (because the percentage of sudents going on to college in Japan is so high) you decide not to take that class? [b]It needs to be mandatory.[/b] Every high school student in Japan needs to know what went on. And like someone else pointed, there a big difference between saving all the gory, bloddy stuff (9 year olds don't necissarily need to know about the Rape of Nanjing. ;/) until one is other, and [b]propagating lies[/b] about Japan's involvement in WWII. P.S.: I don't think Retribution's "Tsunami" comment was completely aimed toward the Dec. 26/25 tsunami in particular, but more of a culture reference that Japan experiences Tsunami's frequently. Hell, they invented the frickin' word. It was definitely a poor choice of words, but now you know how angry we've all been throughout this entire thread. lol. (And my dad lives in Thailand for God's sake, so don't you dare play the "You don't know what it feels like" card on me.)[/color] Edit: Damn. You beat me to it by a couple seconds, Retribution! Ah, well. :/ *shrug*

[color=#9933ff]*nod* about the royal family inbreeding. Tsarina Alexandra (wife of Tsar Nikolas) was a carrier of the haemophiliac gene. Only males can be born with haemophlia & their son, Alexi, had it. He had someone watch over him all the time. That's where Rasputin got involved, because the Tsarina believed he was the only one who could cure Alexi's affliction, or rather, make the bleeding stop once it began. I have a book in fron of me, with their lineage, so here it is: Alexandra is the daughter of Ludwig IV of Hesse & Alice, who is the dauther of Queen Victoria - both women are carriers of the haemophiliac gene. Nicholas' parents are Tsar Alexander III & Dagmar. Nothing interesting on his side. Alexandra's own brother, Frederick, was a haemophiliac. He was 3 years old when he died. And no, you can't challenge me on this because it's from a book, and since my sister is a Romanov freak, I know everything about them. ^^ BUT that further proves the point that incest that leads to children should not be allowed because of genetic reasons. [/color]

[QUOTE=Lady Dust]Everyone attack the 14 year old Japanese girl why don't you... :animesigh [list] [*]Ancient Civilizations and their Achievments [*]Art of the World [*]Other culture's achievments [/list] That's what. And I think Japan should close it's doors to America. China did it and look how far they came along. Props to China, boo to America. America coud be the "greatest" country but those poor immigranst don't know what they are getting themselves into. America could be a land of opportunities, but it really isn't all that great. And I think all Japanese items should be drawn out of America. They should take out the people and bring them home, take out the car's, food, anime, manga, language. The American children could still learn about Japan, but they just won't have a taste on it. And I think that's why all guns and missiles are pointed straight at America. Face it everyone hates them. And I can see why.[/QUOTE] [color=#9933ff]Attack the 14 year old girl? You were the frickin' one who started this arguement, and now we're the ones doing wrong? Oh please, don't give me that. And don't even start with "This debate's not fair because there's only one of me and many of you" because it doesn't fly with me. In my early days of net surfing I got in so many arguements and debates with other people with only me against them, and I never used a lame excuse like that. America has a lot of bad points, but they have a lot of good points too. And there isn't a country that doesn't have both good and bad points, so I don't see how that arguement has any weight whatsoever. Like Tigervx said, there's no way Japan could survive on their own without economic exchange between itsself and America. Go ahead, tell Koizumi to try. See what happens. o.- And not everyone hates America, just to let you know. I know you say that the immigrants have it bad coming to this nation, but I doubt America can be worse than a war torn African nation where idiots with guns can barge into your home anytime, an extremely poor post-soviet nation, or even Iraq for that matter. Your last paragraph is also funny because I was discussing politics with my father who is Thai, today. Born in Thailand and lives there. He doesn't happen to like Bush - hell, Bush has pissed off about everyone (myself included), but it doesn't mean he doesn't like America, or other Presidents (he does like Nixon's diplomacy & prefers Clinton to Bush). Please learn to separate a people & culture from its politics. Alright, I've entertained your silly digrassion long enough. You do understand that it has nothing to do with the issue at hand & that your leading away from the real topic on purpose. I forget who said it, I think it was you, Lady Dust, actually, that *some countries* have never seen War first hand. If that was supposed to be directed at America, I laugh. The Civil War was fought on American soil. It was freaking fought against our own countrymen, which makes it that much more brutal. I've tried to be very diplomatic about it before, but I seriously concur with Lunox, and those who have made good arguements along those lines. And I feel you're being a total pain in the *** about this. Wake up and smell the roses. Ignoring history won't make it go away. For Japan to run away from it's past speaks volumes for its character as a country (or lack thereof). And my hands are also shaking as they write this, and were shaking when I wrote my last post, too. [/color]

[QUOTE=Delta][COLOR=#FF5646][SIZE=1]^ Or we could always mess around with genes and create GATTACA Valids. [i]Oh yes, more Jude Laws, please.[/i] Yes, "incest" sounds really kinky, doesn't it? With the "ssss" sounds and all. Very serpent of Eden-ish. But don't we humans have some sort of mechanism for sniffing up potential matig partners? Just so happened that you like your cousin's genes. Whether you beget a healthy child or one that is horribly deformed depends on you and your partner's luck (with the exception of certain unpreventable defects, of course). Shouldn't be made illegal, though. The government can't set limits on relationships between individuals. Just think: lawmakers in pointless debates, wasted tax money, cramped prison cells.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [color=#9933ff]Mmm. Gattaca was a good movie with Jude Law. We got to watch it in school after reading "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. XD If we could genetically engineer our children, I guess incest wouldn't be a problem, because you could eliminate the bad genes or whatever. But right now, I do think it should be illegal. See Baron's post because I agree with him. ^_^ [size=1]P.S.: Delta, I looove your sig. I bet you're an xxxholic fan. Yuuko's the best! ^_^[/size][/color]

[color=#9933ff]*nod* This thread will get moved soon enough. ^_^ Funnily enough, I have an actual list of Bishounen that I love. It was actually supposed to be so I could encorporate them into a story, but I'm really bad about writing diligently, so that never panned out. I still have the Bishi list, though! I update it every so often when I see new Bishounen. Most of them are eye candy, but my top three, I also love because of their personalities (Ahem. Refer to a myO post of mine. My user name is the same, too. ^_~) Here's the list: 1 Ken Ichijouji (Digimon 02) 2 Quatre Raberba Winner (Gundam Wing) 3 Edward Elric (Full Metal Alchemist) 4 Li Showron (Card Captor Sakura) 5 Col. Roy Mustang (Full Metal Alchemist) 6 Kenshin Himura (Ruroni Kenshin) 7 Davis Motomiya (Digimon 02) 8 Eiri Yuki (Gravitation) 9 Mitsuo Yamaki (Digimon Tamers) 10 Ryo Akiyama (Digimon Tamers) 11 Jenrya Lee (Digimon Tamers) 12 Yami (Yu-Gi-Oh) 13 Eriol Hiragizawa (Card Captor Sakura) If you made me choose between Ken, Quatre, and Edward, I'd have to kill you in a violent and manical manner. =D I actually have a catchphrase for Ken & I, and Quater & I. I don't have one yet for Ed and I, as he's a newly acquired bishi (meaning I just started to think he's really cute). Okay, the catchphrases: Ken & I: "Can you say Kenanne?" (When you write Digimon fanfics, you take parts of the couple's name and mash them together. So Ken & Yolei is Kenlei. T.K. & Kari is Takari, etc.) This has actually been made into a banner - it was my first. XD Quatre & I: "4 x Rox. 4 x Now. 4 x Love. 4 x Ever." (When you write G. Wing fanfics, you use their numbers. I.e.: 3 x 4 is a boy-love pairing of Trowa & Quatre. Or if it's like relena & Heero, you say 1 X R. Since I'm also R, I made mine "4 x Rox." The song that the other ones are from is called "[We Want] The Same Thing" by Belinda Carlisle) Bishoujo? Well, I'm not bi, so I don't think I'm attracted to them. I do think Riza Hawkeye is very pretty, though. I like Ruki (Rika) from season 3 of Digimon, because she's so spunky, and I really thought she grew a lot during the season. *smile* I also happen to like Subaru from .hack//SIGN because of her personality. She seems very weak and fragile, but she struggles in her offline life, and stands firm with what she believes in. ^_^ Oh, and Robin, from Witch Hunter Robin, is cool because she drive a Vespa! *nod nod* I'm too lazy to post pictures of my top three bishounen, but I have oodles and oodles of pictures of Ken and Quatre. I'm working on Ed. Like I said - Newly acquired Bishi boy!!! (If everything I've said about those three makes me sound really shallow, I advise you read my myO post entitled "Mundane things to fill up this space" because then you'll really know why I love them. ^_^)[/color]

[color=#9933ff]Lol. You people with pictures live in an actual city. I don't. And I won't tell you where I live, either. If you happen to know, good for you. If not, yay! There's nothing to do around here. We have a main street with some icky shops, and that's about it. A real mall is 30 minutes away. It's called the Garden State Plaza. Oooo. Here's a link to a picture of it: [url]http://www.skyviewpictures.com/images/client-fullsize/com-realestate-shopping.jpg[/url] I'm too lazy to upload it to my server and I don't want to steal the picture & leech bandwith, so there's the link. Here's another shot of the inside, though that area doesn't seem familiar. I think they knocked that shop out (on the right on the lower level). [url]http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/images/3Rodamco3.jpg[/url] It's not really that exciting, anyway. If you want something, fun you have to go to New York City. I've been to a lot of places, but I do like chinatown. Ten Ren's Tea House has fantastic teas, and they have milk teas, too, with the tapioca pearls and the big straws. It's great. ^^ Aji Ichiban (a chain of candy stores) has two locations in Chinatown. I've been to one of them. Here's the link to the picture: [url]http://www.leavethecastle.net/nycphotojournal/images/23Sept6.jpg[/url] It's really sad, too, how I can tell that that's the shop. ;_; Chinatown is lots of fun. THE street of Chinatown is Canal street, and then there's other Chinatown streets, off of it, and into more of the interior of Chiantown, as well. ^^ It kinda took over little Italy, too, so there's more Chinatown than little Italy. Heh. @_@ I've seen the Chinatown in Boston. It's crap. And in London, Ger says the Asians and the balcks have gang wars. O_o So get out of midtown and visit the Chinatown in NYC, dammit! Or better yet, visit Juu, and be engulfed in total Asian-ness. =P[/color]

[color=#9933ff]Oooh, good. Since you read the manga, do you think it was porn-ish or not? I asked another kid (who is an anime and gaming fiend, so he watches anime, reads manga, and plays games because they're good), and he said it was porn, too. :/ Bloodseeker, do you think they're exaggerating, or are they right, since I've never read the manga myself. [/color]

[color=#9933ff]I think that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are fairly debatable, but let me fully illustrate the "American" perspective on the whole thing. We were gearing up for a massive land invasion of Japan. I bet your history textbooks never told you that every man, woman, and child was taught to prepare to die for their nation; to fight the enemy with anything they had whether it was a garden hoe or a pocket knife. We printed so many F*ing purple hearts (received when you are wounded in battle, I believe. Please correct me if I'm wrong) that we're STILL using the same purple hearts from 1945 to award soldiers wounded in battle today. The was in Europe was over, and Russia was supposed to send their troops to help us with the land invasion, but they were acting funny, and I forget the exact specifics, but they were acting like they wanted to seize Japan for themselves and not make it a joint operation. Plus, they were taking longer than they should have to get to the other side of Russia. It was at this time that Truman was presented with the option to use the atomic bombs, and he wrestled with the decision but decided to use them because they would save [b]American lives[/b]. Why should Truman have been concerned with the lives of the enemy? That doesn't make sense. What happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki is unforgivable. (In my own opinion, because I'm an American) It is justifiable, but still unforgivable, and everybody here knows that. In my Asian Civ class, when we talked about WWII and Japan, my teacher spent just as much time explaining the reasoning behind the bombings as he did tell us all (he showed us movies and films) how atrocious and how devastating the bombings were. I bet you also didn't know that Truman wrestled with what he did [b]for the rest of his life[/b]. In his personal diaries, he stated that he felt so guilty for subjecting innocent civilians to the bombs, but he truly believed there was not a better solution. More people on both sides would have died in that land invasion than by the bombs. I'd also just like to add that there are Americans who are helping those from Hiroshima. Because there are still some health problems with some young children born in Hiroshima today, there are facilities in Massachusetts, I believe, where they can be treated, and local families (approved by the hospital of course) will host the children, and let them stay with them until their treatment is finished. I, and most other Americans know that the effects of the bomb are inexcusable and unforgivable, but the general feeling is that there was no other way for America. Obviously because you're Japanese, I realize I cannot change your point of view in any way, but I just wanted to explain the general American mentality toward that situation. I agree with you, Lady Dust, that the Chinese can be really annoying and total jerkfaces. And I'm 50% Chinese, okay? lol. Honestly, every time some minor, little, itty bitty thing about Japan happens in China, every Chinese person gets upset, and whatever it is, is blown out of proportion. Here's a good example: I think last year, a bunch of Japanese from a business company on a trip to China had Chinese prostitutes to come to the hotel one night while they were there, and the authorities found out. Prostitution is illegal in China, and they should be upset at whoever was hiring them, but they blew it entirely out of proportion. Because the incident happened to fall on the day of the Rape of Nanjing (which I'm sure you've never even heard about), the Chinese were doubly infuriated and believed they did it on that day on purpose, and blah blah blah. It was a bad situation to begin with, and the government (remember: all media is controlled by the government) blew it out of the water and ran with it. They're harboring feelings that are not applicable to the Japanese as a people today. The Japanese have come a LONG way since WWII. However, on the other side of the coin, history books should not be altered. It's unfair to try and run from the crimes that Japan committed. And really, who the hell are they fooling? By doing that, they're only making future generations more ignorant. I don't feel that the subject should be taught in depth when Japanese students are in 7th grade - that's far too ridiculous, but high school should be the time when they learn about the war crimes of their country. The Germans teach their students about it when they're in their senior year of high school, but it's a very solemn subject and very serious. And as you know, other things, such as the swastika, are permanently banned from being printed anywhere in Germany (although actually, I wonder if they're allowed to, in history books...). The Japanese need to do that, too. Otherwise, like you, their students will be wondering why in the world the Chinese are yelling at them. If you can't understand the other point of view, how will you ever be able to work toward peace with that country? China has a long way to go; it is my personal belief that the communist government, where they can (I'm sure not always in more educated places like the cities with businesses and such), they encourage anti-Japanese sentiments, and that's not right. But what by the same token, what is Japan doing about the situation except trying to cover it up? It's like the pot calling the kettle black. Japan needs to be the bigger country, do the right thing, and for God's sake, [i]teach frickin' history, dammit!!![/i] By the way, Lady Dust, I know it sounds like I'm completely bashing Japan beyond belief, but I just wanted to let you know, it's not only Japan's textbooks I'm disappointed with; it's America's as well. Like I said, hardly anybody knows the truth about what went on in Japanese internment camps, and how horribly they were treated. Like I said, it was just like a Nazi work camp without the intentional killing or starvation. How many Americans know of the number of Native Americans that died at the hands of [b]American Soldiers[/b]? Since you probably don't know, I'll tell you. [b]Millions[/b]. Millions. The Trail of Tears (relocation of Native Americans in southern states like Georgia, Florida, SC, etc. to Oklahoma) was incredibly downplayed in my text book (The American Pageant - one of, if not the most widely used & rather "difinitive" textbook for American history), and we spent about a day on it in class. After the Civil war, when they army was relocating the Native Americans in the west to reservations, if they didn't move, the American soldiers would mow them down and kill every last one of them that resisted. Genocide. A forgotten genocide. So my point is it's not only Japan that's not doing the right thing - it's other countries too. And I believe that Japan needs to fess up to what they did during WWII, as does America in their history. To try and erase what the Japanese did in WWII is unforgivable, much like the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are unforgivable. Like DeathKnight has always said, every country has blood on their hands, and it is naive to believe otherwise.[/color]

[color=#9933ff]Hey. I have a quick question about Love Hina. I'm in school and I can't read all 11 pages, and even if I wasn't in school, I wouldn't have the time to read all 11 pages because I'm really really busy w/ school and piano, and other things. Some jerk in my school said he reads Love Hina ( The manga) because it's got porn in it. I've never read Love Hina, but that was never my impression about what everyone said about it. So is it, or isn't it? God, I should have told that kid to read Gravitation or something. Lol.[/color]

[color=#9933ff]I was just curious, do you read one book at a time, or can you read several books at once? I can read several at once, although I know some people can only read one at a time. I'm currently reading two books for school, two mangas (of different series), and two for reading at my leisure. I'm reading [i]Catcher In the Rye[/i] for English, and [i]Last of the Mohicans[/i] as a book choice for a project in my US History I class. I'm reading Saiyuki (I'm on vol. 4, but Lumi lent me all 7 - the most she has) and vol. 2 of xxxholic. And I'm also reading a book called [i]Otherland[/i] by Tat Williams. The other book I'm reading for fun is [i]Oh Pioneers![/i] by Willa Cather (unless it's Kate Chopin - gosh I can't remember), but for some reason, it's currently on hold. But I know that some people just can't read that many stories and remember all the different plots (and [i]Otherland[/i] has several different plots running through it's book - lol), and other people can. What about you? [/color]

[color=#9933ff]No, they should not have to bare the guilt, but they need to fess up to the facts, and covering that up is not the way to do it. And just for the record, I don't like American textbooks, too. (By the way, since you enver directly stated what the change was, Lunox, I'm inferring that they're taking a large section about WII atrocities out of the textbooks). As far as I know, not many Japanese student know the actual extent of the atrocities their country committed during WWII. The same way that most Americans have no idea of how many Japanese Americans we killed in WWII. The internment camps of America were little better than those of the Nazi sort. The only difference was we didn't kill them and didn't intentionally starve them. American textbooks usually nicely glossover how many millions of Native Americans who died at the hands of the army. Like Ken said, every country has blood on its hand. BTW, if you want a detailed explanation of what the Japanese did during WWII, I believe DeathKnight has a post (one of his "Bloody history" days) about the Rape of Nanjing somewhere in the archives of his myOtaku, and wristcutter had a very nice post (the best explanation I've ever seen) about the Japanese in WWII in his archives, but his myO seems to have vanished. :/ I can see why the Chinese are angry, and they have a right to be. But they also have a right to act like adults - not five year old crybabies or chickens with their heads cut off that get upset everytime Japan does something. Please. Japan needs to fess up and China needs to grow up. The Koreans have a right to be angry too. God, that country has practially never been theirs. lol. I think they have the right to be angry moreso than the Chinese since Japan has [i]always[/i] been invading their land, ever since the day of the samurai when they would hop onto the mainland and massacre villages of Koreans to practice their Samurai skills. :/ Since you didn't explain the whole situation about the islands, either, if it technically belongs to Japan, I guess they can have it back, but like, what did they do? Come in with troops and just decide to size the whole thing? Yeah, that was really smart, too. lol. Oh, and I noticed that James mentioned how horribly Australian soliders were treated by the Japanese during WWII. He's right. They treated everybody like that. Just to let you know, if you were an allied soldier, you had better chances of surviving if you were caught by the Nazis than you did if you got captured by the Japanese.[/color]

[color=#9933ff]I have no idea how to fix the transparent problem - sorry about that. ^^; I love Digimon, so I'm excited to see these banners! ^_^ Friendship - I don't like the image you use of matt/ how you altered the color. I know you had to change the color of the image to fit into the blue motif, but the way it came out makes the picture of matt look very pixelated and just rather icky. Maybe you could either find another picture of him (though I do like that one), or blend him into the picture another way. He's just blecky there. And that's a shame, because I do like him. ^^; The same pixelated look is going on in the background of Tai's banner. I know what kind of look your going for, but it just didn't come out that way, and it doesn't look all that great. However, I loved the fonts you used - both for the names of the characters, and the names of the crests they have. Oh yeah, and I love Matt's background. It reminds me of the ice on one of the moons of Jupiter. And since Matt can be very icy - the self-proclaimde "cool one" no less - it fits his personality. I really like the whole idea of these Digimon banners, a lot. I can't wait to see more. ^_^ BTW, nobody tell her to change any of the colors of the banners - they're thsoe colors for a specific reason. Knowledge will be purple, and reliability will be grey/black/dark blue (I can't even remember Jyou's color. how pathetic of me. >

[color=#9933ff]Ah, what the heck. This thread is only two weeks old. I guess it's okay if I reply. ^_^; I honestly didn't see this before. I was just doing a search for your saiyuki banners (because now I know what they mean and all) and I found this. When did you submit it, and what was it for? (the shots are rather random). And personally, I do love the one of your brother. I can't believe that's him, though. It doesn't even frickin' LOOK like him. o_0 I noticed Curtis was in the first shot. So is Timmy, and um... Dan, the guy with the glasses that I can't remember his last name and that picture was SO taken last year!!!!! (eheh. ^^') What the heck are they playing? It's not Magic... :/ But yeah, I love the second one better. Your brother is so funny. Oh... unless it was M. (Wow. I forgot his name until now), and not J. Doesn't look like J. (don't want to use their names unless you want me to). Edit: Oooh. I also noticed Ben Jaffe, Heather (or missy, I dunno), and Liz in the background. Wow that's scary/ pathetic of me. ^^;[/color]

[color=#9933ff]You know, the words "Oedipus complex" come to mind. I felt sorry for him because he didn't know it was his mother. But it doesn't make the situation any less icky. >< I don't approve of marrying your first or second cousin or anything like that. I'm not even a fan of your third or fourth cousin, although the chances of something going wrong with the egg is much less. Actually, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt come to mind, since they were fourth cousins. I guess marrying someone furhter, like a fourth cousin is alright, but I would never do something like that, no matter how much I liked my cousin. Ick. Most royalty are inter-related somehow. Well, royalty from long ago, mind you. For instance, Nicholas & Alexandra - the last Romanovs of Russia were distant relations of each other. Meh [/color]

[color=#9933ff]Nice rhyming, I must say. I haven't seen a rhyme scheme like that in um... never? It's very creative, and I love the exclamatory phrases. ^^; And like I said, I had toast for breakfast, too. =D[/color]

[color=#9933ff]*laughs* That was very entertaining, DW. It reminded me of a rant that somebody would put in their blog, but it was a LOT more well-thought out and revised, obviously. It's somewhere between a rant & an essay. And while I normally disapprove of conclusions like yours, I liked it because it reminded the audience of all the things on the list that stupid people on the internet do. Technical stuff aside, it was just really, really funny. I get so annoyed at some people on the internet too, that I want to bash their head through the chair, instead, sometimes. ^^; But I really thought this was amusing, and it was written well, DW. ^_^ Yay! [/color]