The Tentacle

I wish I had the skill to draw and animate Caramells. Â Anyway, a couple more I thought up: 1. The Pacifist The-Soldier-Boy-I-Like-Is-A-Clueless-Jerk Caramell - Kaname Chidori from Full Metal Panic and Relena Peacecraft from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. 2. The Badass Babe Follow-Our-Big-Bouncing-Boobies Caramell - Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII and Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagann.

No no, this is just a discussion thread about which characters you think would look cute (or awkward) dancing the Caramelldansen. Â I thought up a few Caramell duos: 1. The Twisted Sister One-Of-Us-Is-A-Trap Caramell - Sister Rosette Christopher from Chrono Crusade and Bridgette from Guilty Gear. 2. The Giant Robot We're-Going-To-Stomp-Your-Town-Flat Caramell - GaoGaiGar from King of Braves Gaogaigar and Gravion from Gravion. 3. The Love & Peace This-Is-More-Fun-Than-Shooting-At-People Caramell - Vash the Stampede from Trigun and Rushuna from Grenadier. 4. The Tons-Of-Fun Earthshaking Fat Boy Caramell - Fatty Bucha from Air Gear and Maajin Buu from Dragon Ball Z.

Which anime/manga trios would you like to see line up and dance the Caramelldansen?  I'm going with: 1.  The Totally Out-Of-Character Quiet Girl Caramell - Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion, Eureka from Eureka Seven and Yuki Nagato from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. 2.  The Obnoxious-But-Adorable Tsundre Character Caramell - Haruhi Suzumiya from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzymiya, Asuka Langly Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion and Rin Tosaka from Fate Stay/Night. 3. The I'm-Too-Scary-To-Actually-Do-This-Dance-But-Too-Cute-Not-To Caramell - Ai Enma from Hell Girl, Hazuki from Moon Phase and Lilith Aensland from Darkstalkers. 4. The Overrated Badass Bishounen Caramell - Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Seshoumaru from Inu-Yasha and Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. 5. The We-Have-Our-Own-Cute-Animal Ears Caramell - Holo from Spice & Wolf, Aesha Clan-Clan from Outlaw Star and Elulu from Utawarerumono. and finally 6. The Tentacle-I'm-Going-To-Shoot-You-When-I'm-Done-Dancing Caramell - Revy from Black Lagoon, Alucard from Hellsing and Jo from Burst Angel.

Sadly I gave up on the DMC franchise after playing the second game. Â By the time the third was released my gaming days were nearly at an end. Â I can't say that this trailer does anything to rekindle my interest in the series either. Â Alas, I can still dream of my Devil May Cry/Resident Evil crossover though.

If you're looking for comedy look no further than the world of professional wrestling. Â WWE Monday Night Raw is the longest running weekly episodic television series in history. Â It was very difficult for me to pick out any one particular segment that made me laugh hysterically but anything featuring [b]D-Generation X[/b] is pure comedy gold. Â [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWlpR3bfxw0[/media]

DRAT! Â I was just thinking about posting the grand finale to SotS! Â Oh well, one good samurai deserves another. Samurai Champloo had so many awesome fight scenes that it's hard to choose. Â But this is the one that started it all so it deserves special mention: [media][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z26szdLN1Qo&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.c...feature=related[/url][/media] And this is the one that nearly ended it for Mugen and Jin: [media][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEiZBxpZDEc&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.c...feature=related[/url][/media]

One thing I've noticed is that all of the songs I absolutely hated back in the day really appeal to me now. Â All the stuff I listened to when I was growing up now holds a certain level of nostalgia for me so even the songs I didn't want to listen to back then just sound better these days. I think everyone goes through phases with their tastes in music. Â My listening preferences have evolved over the last twenty or so years and change on a regular basis. Â

I'll probably ramble off a long list of my favorite fight scenes once I've had a chance to compile it but for now I'll just submit a video of the one that stands out the most in my mind. Caution though. Â There be salty language ahead. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEzqjt13z1I[/media]

I recall when this guy was on the Lex & Terry radio program (which aires out of Gainesville) being interviewed. Â He came off as a total moron on the air, not the religious scholar L & T had been expecting him to be. Â They had him pegged and I agree with them 100%. Â This guy is just after publicity plain and simple. As a Christian I don't feel particularly sympathetic towards the Muslim community but I hardly support this baseless act of disrespect. Â It doesn't do anything to glorify God in the least. Â Worst still is the backlash it would have caused other American citizens, not only in this country but also our troops serving in the Middle East right now. Â The last word I heard on this issue was that a military officer serving in the Middle East had issued a statement to the church urging them to call off the event. Â He claimed it would only incite the radical Islamist to further violence against American soldiers. Â Â

With [b]Machette[/b] coming out I'm feeling myself getting left behind by all the flicks I wanted to watch.  The latest installment of the [b]Resident Evil[/b] series is also coming out and I have yet to see the [b]Expendables [/b]so it's going to be a hassle to find time to watch it.  But, judging from the trailers, Machette will probably be worth the effort.

[quote name='Phenom' date='02 September 2010 - 04:37 PM' timestamp='1283459837' post='700164'] I've never played the Metroid games and am not quite sure if I want to play this one just yet. (don't even own the Wii, what am I talking about)[/quote] This pretty much sums up my feelings on things. Â The last Metroid game I played was Super Metroid on the SNES. Â I lost interest in the series afterwards, especially with some of the later games going FPS, but I do admit that this latest sequel (or prequel?) does look pretty sweet. Â If I had a Wii I'd be tempted to buy it but I'm not about to run out and buy a Wii just to play it.

I'm not a big coffee drinker on the simple fact I don't enjoy heated beverages of any sort. Â Iced coffee is good though, especially the canned variety. Â I prefer Monster brand power coffee and I can't start the morning without one (or a power soda of some sort). Monster has a variety of flavors but they're all pretty good compared to other brands. Â

Wait wait wait. Â Lost Viking? Â Explain plz. I know the original Lost Vikings games were put out by the company that eventually became Blizzard and the Vikings make cameos in WoW but what role do they have in Starcraft? Â I am intrigued by this.

Triple Triad was fun up until I got to Trabia Garden and the Random Rule took effect. Â After that it was just frustrating with me losing one card after another to whoever I was facing. Blitzball, lemme think. Â My team consisted of Tidus, Brother and Ropp along with Eigar, Berrick and Nimrook of the Al Bhed Psyches. Â In fact Tidus was the only non-Al Bhed on the team at the end. Â Nimrook started to suffer though because my opponents were never able to get the ball away from me and make a play so he never leveled up. Â I also had Svanda and Jumal on my team at one time but the Psyches have the best stats out of anyone in the game. If they become available they're definitely worth recruiting.

[b]Code Geass[/b] is definitely worth your time to rewatch.  I need to sit through that series and [b]Soul Eater[/b] a second time when I get around to it.  [b]Black Lagoon[/b] can be pretty heavy-handed but it's a good series for more mature viewers. As for me I just finished [b]Casshern: Sin[/b] and started [b]FMA: Brotherhood Vol. 2[/b] today.  [b]Baccano[/b] is also on the stack and a lot of new stuff will be coming out soon so those rewatches may have to wait for a while. For manga I finally got the [b]Air Gear[/b] omnibus (vol. 15-17) that I've been waiting on since Christmas.  I really love this series for its awesome storyline and characters.  I just wish they'd do a second season of the anime. Â

There are a total of six graphic novels in the series but I'm pretty sure you can find an online version somewhere. I'm a collector so I usually go the purchasing route even when free versions are available on the Internet. Â As far as a hardcover edition I don't know of any. I haven't started reading the series yet but from what I can tell it follows the events of the movie. Â I can't say how much content is original but if you only found the movie to be "okay" then buying a dvd might suffice. Â More serious fans will want both the movie and comics though. Â I guess it's all a matter of what you want to spend.

And I just tossed down somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 for the complete set of graphic novels. Â Somehow I feel more complete now that they've been added to my collection.

Odd that this topic got bumped right when I was about to post a new topic about the series I'm watching now. [b]Casshern: Sins [/b]has really thrown me for a loop.  I bought both sets thinking I was in for a post-apocalyptic robot fight show done in a similar to to old-school style of [b]Eight Man[/b] or [b]Kikaider [/b]series.  I'm about halfway through the show and it's definitely post-apocalyptic and chock-a-block full of robots who always seem to be fighting one another. But what I wasn't expecting was the heartwrenching drama that pervades every episode.  Nearly each one includes a scene where someone is dying (or continuing to live) under some horrible circumstance.  Even though most are just one-shot characters that you've only spent maybe twenty minutes with you can't help but feel saddened by their passing. Â

[b]Vandread[/b] is one of my top-five favorite animes of all time. Â I think I posted as much somewhere on the board but it certainly deserves to be mentioned as underrated as well. Â I really got into the series and watched it a second time only a couple of days after I'd finished it for the first time. Â It's hard to pin down any one reason why I like Vandread so much. Â It's probably easier to list my gripes since there's only one. Â That being Hibiki of course. Â He was a little too Gary Stu-ish in my humble opinion. Â I never understood how a lowly factory worker suddenly became not only an ace robot pilot but a tactical mastermind to boot. Â

[u]Favorites First:[/u] [b]Blitzball[/b] - Gotta agree with CaNz here.  Once you put together a solid team playing Blitzball was a lot of fun.  Half of my team consisted of former members of the Al-Bhed Psyches.  In fact Tidus was the only member of my team that wasn't Al-Bhed.  It only started to get boring once my team had gotten so strong that winning was too easy.  I didn't even bother with Blitzball in X-2 though.  Come to think of it I didn't bother with X-2 at all once I'd beaten the game once. [b]All but one in Okami[/b] - This game was just so much fun that I had to find every item, complete every side-quest and earn every reward there was in the game.  From racing a shapeshifting fox girl through the forest to catching that multiplying thief they were all worthwhile even if the reward you got for completing them was minimal. [b]Chao Raising[/b] - In Sonic Adventure 2.  I spent way more time doing this than I did playing the game.  It's not even that I like raising virtual pets or anything.  But with Chao it was different.  You could kick them..... [u]Now my least favorites:[/u] [b]Horseback archery - [/b]I HATED this in Ocarina of Time.  Trying to earn the Big Quiver was almost not worth the Herculean effort I put into besting this contest.  Skull Kids died en masse just so I could pay 50 Rupees over and over and over again until I'd finally won the damn thing.  [b]That one in Okami[/b] - If you've played Okami before you know exactly which one I'm talking about.  Yeah, it's Blockhead Grande.  This guy was a cast iron pain in the @$.  I had to tape a sheet of plastic wrap to the television screen and mark it with a magic marker to finally pin him down.  How much of a hassle is that? I'll probably come up with a couple more later.

I'm not a big music video fan but a couple do stand out in my mind. Â [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA[/media] Firstly, [b]Thriller by Michael Jackson[/b]. Â VH1 once voted it as the greatest music video of all times and, considering all of the work that into its creation and the cultural impact it had on pop culture, I can't really argue with their assessment. Â Sure MJ had a lot of negative publicity in recent history but back in the 80's (when I grew up) he was a living legend. Â Like him or hate him the guy's musical contributions to the world will never die. Â Thriller stands as his crowning achievement in my humble opinion. Â [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4PN7Xbexq4[/media] Next is [b]Sabotage by the Beastie Boys[/b]. Â I can't really explain in text why this video makes my list. Â Just watch it and you'll understand. Â It's a spoof of a 70's cop drama starring the Beastie Boys. Â What part of that can be anything but awesome?