At 3/3/10 05:46 PM, Sense-Offender wrote: lol wow. blackface in something that recent is...oh yeah, I forgot.

I don't see why it's such a big deal. Remember when everyone thought Tropic Thunder was going to cause a lot of controversy, but when the movie came out nobody was offended?

At 3/3/10 04:47 AM, Mendou wrote: Finally saw Ponyo myself. Visually, it was absolutely beautiful, Miyazaki and Ghibli did a wonderful job on the visuals and detail in this one. I think it had some more potential, but I felt that there was still something missing to the story, didn't feel like it was going anywhere. Even though it's an hour and a half, I thought it went by too quickly as well.

Visual masterpiece, and it is undeniably very cute and charming(I "D'AWWWWWW'ed" quite a few times)

eh, still not as good as his earlier movies. But then again, I guess it's hard to top those.

Still very worth a watch, regardless.

I just see it, as nice like The Moving Castle and Chihiro Journey. Hayao Miyasaki and Studio Ghibli didn´t make a bad work making all them.

At 3/2/10 05:46 AM, Aigis wrote:
Disney isn't allowed to change anything without Hayao Miyazaki's okay. If it has been changed, then it is because Miyazaki agreed with the changes.

Just because he OK'd it doesn't make it right.
Naoko Takeuchi authorized (and possibly even oversaw) the Total Lunar Eclipse in 2004, but that didn't make it right, did it?

At 3/3/10 11:58 PM, HibiscusKazeneko wrote: Just because he OK'd it doesn't make it right.

Yes it does. It's his work, not yours.

I don't give a fuck that I'm double posting, if any of you haven't seen the tower of druaga, go watch that shit right now. The first episode was full of the most hilarious satire I've seen in anime in a long time. It'll be dead serious one part of an episode then have you laughing 5 minutes later. It doesn't take itself seriously, and constantly pokes fun at it's own genre. Really, just watch the first episode, I guarantee you will laugh.

It's like if they made an action rpg into a funny anime. Magic, swords, monsters, y'know. The whole series revolves around wanting to climb up this mountain-like evil tower. Idk, you have to watch it to understand why I'm praising it so much.

Princess Monokene has been translate to Finnish and is running in theatres. Except in my home town. Fuck.

I'd like to join. Despite years ago being rather negative on Anime, I've of the past 2 years become obsessed with the stuff, and would even consider myself to be an Otaku.
So many concepts are portrayed in Anime that really cause a great deal of reflection and contemplation, put together masterfully. Integrating art and beauty along with a great deal of symbolism and reference to many other themes that run parallel to our own, be them religious, political or pop culture.
Much that is taboo in the States and elsewhere can be explored (such as with Kodomo No Jikan) with no negative stigma built into the frame work of the show.
Sex is openly displayed within much of the works in many forms (IE seriously, comically erotically, ect,) which is often unheard of in English based animations. The culture allowing for things such as Hentai to be mainstream, as opposed to here where most would be somewhat "weirded" out by it.
(Don't get me wrong, I am still largely a fan of American based animation, such as Hey Arnold, King of the Hill, Doug, Ren & Stimpy, just not so much which has recently been put out.)

As a personal observation, I assume from the religious structures that Japan grew from, unlike is seen often in America, even the characters who are the "bad guys" are not always so clearly evil and often have many redeeming qualities and explanations as to how they ended up as such.

The image below is of my Anime collection some 5-6 months ago, so needless to say, it's grown quite a great deal since then.

Anyhow, glad to be a member.

At 3/4/10 04:30 AM, BaronVonBadGuy wrote: I'd like to join. Despite years ago being rather negative on Anime, I've of the past 2 years become obsessed with the stuff, and would even consider myself to be an Otaku.

Hi, and welcome to the anime club. First thing, around here there's always a big huff about people calling themselves otaku, because in that one country that makes anime, it's said as an insult. Just sayin.

I'm pretty sure to "join" you have to post some of your favorite anime; or something along those lines.

At 3/4/10 06:46 AM, Wesleyiam wrote: I'm pretty sure to "join" you have to post some of your favorite anime; or something along those lines.

The list is long one, be warned.

Anime Series:
Welcome to the NHK
Death Note
Trigun
Serial Experiments Lain
Kanon
Cowboy Bebop
Urusei Yatsura
InuYahsa
Hellsing
Elfen Lied
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad
FLCL
Paranoia Agent
Kodomo No Jikan
Dragon Ball Z
Monster
Fullmetal Alchemist
Case Closed
When They Cry

I'll throw Sailor Moon into my favs also, despite not seeing the show since I was young, it sticks out as a favorite.

Anime Movies:
Akira
Ghost in the Shell
Urusei Yatsura - Beautiful Dreamer
Perfect Blue
Tokyo Godfathers
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
My Neighbor Totoro
Ninja Scroll
Vampire Hunter D (Both original and Bloodlust)
Cowboy Bebop the Movie

______________

In response to Otaku as being something negative in Japan, I would debate (though it still is something many Americans would consider as negative) that it's meaning has changed within our current culture, to which I'll still consider myself one, even in this group. To me, and those I know both offline and online who consider themselves as such, it seems more like someone who is extremely interested in not only Anime, but in the Japanese culture entirely.

Just like "Hentai" in Japan is a direct root to what would be translated as "Pervert" here, as "Lolicon"
I believe, in Japan refers more to the "Lolita Complex" than it does the erotic animation of childlike anime characters. Furthermore I'll take the risk of saying I'm a fan of both what Westerners would consider Hentai and Lolicon.

Also, do the members here often pick an Anime character they feel best represents their actual self? As I've seen this done in many similar places.

At 3/4/10 07:47 AM, BaronVonBadGuy wrote: The list is long one, be warned.

Anime Series:
Welcome to the NHK

Loved it.

Serial Experiments Lain

Need to give it a second chance

Kanon

Hated it. Literally fell asleep.

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad

One of my favorite shounen

Kodomo No Jikan

Never heard of it

Anime Movies:
Tokyo Godfathers

Just saw this movie last week, and I agree, that shit was good.

Just like "Hentai" in Japan is a direct root to what would be translated as "Pervert" here, as "Lolicon"
I believe, in Japan refers more to the "Lolita Complex" than it does the erotic animation of childlike anime characters. Furthermore I'll take the risk of saying I'm a fan of both what Westerners would consider Hentai and Lolicon.

Great point, but I couldn't care less about semantics. Was just trying to warn you that that word has sparked up debate here before a couple times.

Also, do the members here often pick an Anime character they feel best represents their actual self? As I've seen this done in many similar places.

In the old days, way before I was around, they would pick a certain character as their avatar or something. This isn't really around anymore. The club isn't very structured, it's just a general discussion on anime, manga and "sub vs dub" arguments. basically.

I watched Grave of The Fireflies... fuck, this movie inspires me to kill myself. It was great but holy depressing Batman.

Guess who bought Ponyo? Some massive Ghiblifag, that's who.

At 3/4/10 07:59 AM, Wesleyiam wrote:

At 3/4/10 07:47 AM, BaronVonBadGuy wrote: The list is long one, be warned.

Anime Series:
Welcome to the NHK

Loved it.

This Anime is pretty much a summation of my life. I can easily relate to some paranoid shut in who switches between grandiose dreams of accomplishment to the worst case scenario and often gets stuck in the mundane middle, despite bouts of extremely hectic and intense action. Even Sato's best friend Yamazaki is of pretty much the same mentality as my best friend, just replace the characters obsession with Hentai with that of Drugs, and the match is spot on.

Kodomo No Jikan

Never heard of it

It has never made it outside of Japan. The first Manga was going to be released stateside until the media caught wind of it, to which the company that was going to release it over here, bitched out.
It is based around an elementary school teacher who ends up having an excessively horny student constantly hitting on him. Not of a serious nature, largely a comedy that was too "transgressive" for our culture to accept.

Great point, but I couldn't care less about semantics. Was just trying to warn you that that word has sparked up debate here before a couple times.

It's all good my dude, thanks for the heads up.

-

As for a topic of discussion, does anyone know why it is even big name Anime series suddenly get discontinued?
(Fortunately I bought series like "FLCL" before they met such a fate. Now even getting a used copy can cost 300+ dollars.)
With Blu-Ray inevitably taking place of DVD's, I can only hope they'll re-release much of what has been out of print. Though it seems somewhat unlikely, as even the Urusei Yatsura movie "Beautiful Dreamer" which is considered a landmark in Anime (being Directed by the Director of Ghost in the Shell) was scheduled for release, only to be axed almost immediately.

At 3/4/10 08:26 AM, BaronVonBadGuy wrote: It has never made it outside of Japan. The first Manga was going to be released stateside until the media caught wind of it, to which the company that was going to release it over here, bitched out.
It is based around an elementary school teacher who ends up having an excessively horny student constantly hitting on him. Not of a serious nature, largely a comedy that was too "transgressive" for our culture to accept.

...

The manga has the girl snap pictures of her vagina and shows, barely blocking the strategic areas, an underage girl masturbating while shouting her teacher's name.

What's with the scare quotes? It is transgressive. That kind of shit just isn't acceptable.

At 3/4/10 08:41 AM, JohnnyWang wrote: What's with the scare quotes? It is transgressive. That kind of shit just isn't acceptable.

Considering the anime "Elfen Lied" consists of violence beyond that of anything I could have ever imagined (including that of extreme graphic violence against children,) which has been released stateside, I see no reason for KNJ to not make it over here.
If people were to take offense to it in a land that supposedly holds firmly on ideals of freedom, those not interested can easily uphold the freedom to simply not watch it.

At 3/4/10 08:54 AM, BaronVonBadGuy wrote: Considering the anime "Elfen Lied" consists of violence beyond that of anything I could have ever imagined (including that of extreme graphic violence against children,) which has been released stateside, I see no reason for KNJ to not make it over here.

Elfen Lied is also shit.

If people were to take offense to it in a land that supposedly holds firmly on ideals of freedom, those not interested can easily uphold the freedom to simply not watch it.

Well, yes, I do agree on that point. hell, I even support ppeople's right to own lolicon. Doesn't mean I would feel comfortable doing business with a shop that sells that stuff, especially if it advertises it. Komodo No Jikan, from my view, has little redeeming factors. It's just softcorn lolicon, trying to be more socially acceptable by pportraying the older man as not interested, but it's just masturbatory wish fullfilment.

It has the right to exist. However, it doesn't deserve artistic merit.

At 3/4/10 03:12 AM, JohnnyWang wrote: Princess Monokene has been translate to Finnish and is running in theatres. Except in my home town. Fuck.

Did "community standards" get in the way?
I could see a town banning said movie because it's violent and deals with the occult.

At 3/4/10 11:49 AM, HibiscusKazeneko wrote: Did "community standards" get in the way?
I could see a town banning said movie because it's violent and deals with the occult.

Nah, just too few copies to circulate, annd my town being too small and boring. I don't think people would protest any movie here.

At 3/4/10 07:47 AM, BaronVonBadGuy wrote: Death Note

The manga was really good, but the anime had really shitty foreshadowing. They practically told you everything that was going to happen before it did, which killed the mood of the series.

InuYahsa

I used to love that show when I was young, but looking back at it now, it was terrible.

Hellsing

I've only watched the original series, which was pretty good. Apparently the OVA's are far superior though.

Elfen Lied

Extremely pretentious, but entertaining. As long as you don't take it seriously it can be a decent watch.

FLCL

Extremely overrated, but not bad. I didn't think it was that good, but a lot of other people seem to love it.

Akira

Great movie, I'm pretty sure that everyone who's into anime already loves it. I've been meaning to buy it on Bluray, but I haven't seen it in any stores.

At 3/4/10 03:16 PM, Deadly-Shadow wrote:

Hellsing

I've only watched the original series, which was pretty good. Apparently the OVA's are far superior though.

Wow, I didn't think there was anyone in this club who hasn't seen the hellsing ova's. Really, check them out, they're really good. And this time around, seras victoria isn't a whiny "bawwwwwwww I dont wanna drink blood" character. She gets really badass around the 5th episode.

Not really "far" superior, though, I loved the original hellsing.

the Hellsing ovas are good except for all the shitty "comedic" scenes where everybody turns into cardboard cutouts. Those are fucking stupid.

At 3/4/10 04:09 PM, DeIirium wrote: the Hellsing ovas are good except for all the shitty "comedic" scenes where everybody turns into cardboard cutouts. Those are fucking stupid.

I have to disagree, I found them to be very charming. Those scenes are what really separated the first hellsing to the newer one. You can't tell me you didn't laugh when alucard met his gun in his dream.

At 3/4/10 10:26 AM, JohnnyWang wrote: It has the right to exist. However, it doesn't deserve artistic merit.

Taking into consideration what you've stated, I value your opinion more than I had initially assessed it's worth. Most people are all for extreme violence no matter how transgressive, yet any form of deviation in sex is a taboo never to be displayed.
Still, I liked Elfen Lied, I found it's weakest point to be the English voice actors, as most of them didn't have a serious enough voice to handle the characters they were trying to portray.
As for KNJ, liking Lolicon has obviously put me in favor of this more so than the casual fan would most likely be inclined to enjoy it, though I find it to uphold humor rather well.

At 3/4/10 03:16 PM, Deadly-Shadow wrote: The manga was really good, but the anime had really shitty foreshadowing. They practically told you everything that was going to happen before it did, which killed the mood of the series.

The way I looked at Death Note (never having read the Manga) was that often you were aware to a degree as to what was going to take place, but you had no idea how it was going to take shape.
Plot aside, Death Note has to be one of the most ascetically well constructed Animes ever.

At 3/4/10 03:47 PM, Wesleyiam wrote: Wow, I didn't think there was anyone in this club who hasn't seen the hellsing ova's. Really, check them out, they're really good. And this time around, seras victoria isn't a whiny "bawwwwwwww I dont wanna drink blood" character. She gets really badass around the 5th episode.

I'm one of the unfortunate few who have yet to see the new OVA's, despite my friend swearing by them. Last I checked they weren't all released, but I definitely plan on seeing them.

-

Picked up a new series today "The Count of Monte Cristo," looks fascinating. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

I have the Yatterman theme song stuck in my head right now. (Masayuki Yamamoto's version; still trying to track down Toshihiko Takamizawa's version)
Should I see the series?
If so, which one or both?

At 3/4/10 05:03 PM, BaronVonBadGuy wrote:

At 3/4/10 10:26 AM, JohnnyWang wrote: It has the right to exist. However, it doesn't deserve artistic merit.

Taking into consideration what you've stated, I value your opinion more than I had initially assessed it's worth. Most people are all for extreme violence no matter how transgressive, yet any form of deviation in sex is a taboo never to be displayed.
Still, I liked Elfen Lied, I found it's weakest point to be the English voice actors, as most of them didn't have a serious enough voice to handle the characters they were trying to portray.

English voice actors did suck. But I found the Japanese voice actors incredibly boring and no one in this show really tried. The voice acting is irrelevant, Elfen Lied in general is a horrible and bloated pretentious piece of shit that tries and fails at being a shocking and disturbing anime and it wishes it could be Neon Genesis Evangelion because some of the fans think of it as "Deep" and "Philisophical" It's not, it's only tits and pseudo-intellectual bullshit.

At 3/4/10 05:03 PM, BaronVonBadGuy wrote: Picked up a new series today "The Count of Monte Cristo," looks fascinating. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

It's a good series.

The art style annoyed me a little, but I got used to it after a little while.

I love the crazy future it's in. Throughout the series I kept on imagining the fictional French citizens saying "I sure am glad we brought back the aristocracy".

At 3/4/10 10:57 PM, Mendou wrote:

At 3/4/10 04:09 PM, DeIirium wrote: the Hellsing ovas are good except for all the shitty "comedic" scenes where everybody turns into cardboard cutouts. Those are fucking stupid.

Hellsing never took itself seriously, so it's fitting.

It's vampires fighting Nazis.

Of course it didn't.

At 3/1/10 08:31 PM, HibiscusKazeneko wrote: I don't ever intend to start flame wars; I just happen to carry an unpopular opinion and people happen to take advantage of this in order to get me mad, forcing me to vent and get me in trouble for flaming.
It's an old pattern, and I loathe it as much as you do.

I had to give a speech to someone who worked for me once about "It's not what you say, it's how you're saying it." The way you are phrasing what you say, it seems like you are trying to start a flame war. Just be a little more respectful that other people don't share your opinions.

I happen to agree with you about dubbing by the way, but just because I view it as untrustworthy doesn't mean I completely refuse to watch it.

At 3/4/10 10:49 PM, ph0ne wrote:
Pz, another 4chan nerd.

You do knoe "chinese cartoons" is a 4chan meme too?

Fab tale, mate.

At 3/4/10 11:39 PM, Aigis wrote:

At 3/4/10 10:57 PM, Mendou wrote:

At 3/4/10 04:09 PM, DeIirium wrote: the Hellsing ovas are good except for all the shitty "comedic" scenes where everybody turns into cardboard cutouts. Those are fucking stupid.

Hellsing never took itself seriously, so it's fitting.

It's vampires fighting Nazis.

Of course it didn't.

Doesn't matter. Of course Vampires vs nazis isn't serious on some Requiem for a dream level, but the cardboard cutouts are still stupid and don't fit the style of the anime.
What if in Evil Dead Ash suddenly turned into a transvestite and clowns fell out of the ceiling and they'd start dancing to Vanilla Ice? It would be retarded, even though that movie is far from serious.