Z3120

My bad spamming youtube links, but speaking of the what's anime in general question, then what would you guys consider this recent project I found out today: an anime, cartoon or what? Batman Gotham Knight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLXWZ_SvTWk Edit: Alright, to be fair, I really should add something instead of merely posting things. In cases of shows like Teen Titans, Totally Spies and Avatar, I'll always recognize them as American cartoons based on presentation, visuals and drawing style alone. The definition of what's an anime has been obscure lately with shows like Avatar drawing inspiration from Japanese animes (perhaps W.I.T.C.H. too?), but I wouldn't exactly categorize Avatar and some Korean animations as anime. Like when Robin and them from Teen Titans fight, it's resembles closer to a comic book style action (considering the origin of Teen Titans) rather than a typical Japanese shonen (or however it's spelled) What would I call American shows like Avatar and Korean animation instead? I don't have an exact answer for that but the anime market in general did originate in Japan and only recently has America started to catch on and draw an interest the last decade. I can't imagine calling Korean animation anime, but I wouldn't mind I suppose if I actually saw some Korean shows. (shoot, the rest of what I was trying to say escapes my mind at the moment) Speaking of which, to those who ever saw Akira and gotten interested in anime from there or heard of such movie projects going on lately like DBZ and Chun-Li, I present you my post from animesuki: Alright, so I've recently heard of yet another anime to American live-action movie adaptation again today on G4. Never bothered with any news of these sort of things because I automatically assume they'll bomb like the DBZ and Chun-Li movie projects I've recently heard of. Now Akira movie is a special something to me because the movie had a lasting impression on me and was one of the very first anime movies I've gotten into as a youngster. Right now, I'm confused and a bit speechless at the moment yet I definitely have this passion to hate the very idea right now. Any Akira fans? Quote from AnimeNewsNetwork: Taken From aceshowbiz: movieblog.ugo:

After watching a few videos posted of the Eminence concerts from youtube before headed to VGL tomorrow (yay), makes me wish Eminence also performed here, or rather, there were concerts that'd perform both video game and anime music. I wish I could hear something like Air TV's Natsukage live. I really loving the Romeo X Juliet and Song of Storm and Fire that were performed by Eminence. Romeo X Juliet Tsubasa Chronicles - Song of Storm and Fire Edit: should I just remove the videos >.>? They do seems rather big.

As much as I enjoy animes like Air (especially the music) and Lucky Star, I know it isn't for everyone. Mushishi would be the first title I'd recommend to anyone if they thought anime was nothing but for kids and childish entertainment. It's a 26 episode series and had a very distinctive presentation, wonderful music and each episode was a story in it itself. Think of each episode as a short story except everyone is living in the same environment. You'd be surprised how enriching the characters seem to be although that could be because of the underlying themes being presented. Either way, it's a heavily underappreciated show, and I'm somewhat sad it'll never make a TV appearance (surprised Mushishi even got a DVD release here). Byousoku 5 Centimeter brought me out of my strange urge to not bother with movies and short series. You could argue a very simplistic story but the story direction is what drew me and the level of depth even silence can speak. Perhaps one of the only times I'll ever bother getting the manga for. Along with Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, I'm looking for movies to watch now. Even if you don't quite like or find it unappealing how wild some characters tend to act in comedic animes, I highly suggest Honey and Clover. A slice of life anime in every sense of the word. Speaking of slice of life animes, even if it's incorrect to say, I'd have to suggest Hajime no Ippo too. It's a sports anime and the fights aren't as cliche and riduculous as in Prince of Tennis and drawn out as in Slam Dunk. It's one of the only sports anime I ever really liked because it was considerably very down to earth unlike Ring Ni Kakero... The Twelve Kingdoms, Monster, Nodame Cantabile, Gankutsuou, Seirei no Moribito and just maybe you'll like xxxHolic and Fantastic Children.

Your choice if you want to take the risk and break your warranty, but you could always do a tissue and tape mod instead of spending money on a flip-top cover or the magic key set. I prefer either the magic key set or tissue and tape mod because what's the point of buying a badly designed custom flip-top when you have a perfectly good one in the slim PS2? Is linking bad? If not, well, I'll post a tutorial or link to one if you can't find a good one.

The thing about it is the software that lets you play games from other regions also bypasses the security of the PS2 in allowing you to play backups. Hence, a majority of people who do use such methods are generally known to pirate things rather than playing their 'backups' and import games. That's why I'm split on mod-chips in general too. I love importing Japan-only games too, but they sure are damn expensive. I wish the PS2 would simply allow us to play any game from any region like the PSP. Edit: Well, just in case, I sent you a PM of a keyword of what you'll need to find to play import games. There's always other methods like playing games from the HDD, which I extremely love...

I still haven't gotten around to watching Haibane Renmei. Perhaps I will now. I had no idea he did that series (how I missed that in the first place?). And yeah, I did know Ko Otani did the Shadow of the Colossus OST too. For some reason though, it took me a while to figure out he did the Shakugan no Shana music too. And what's your take on Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto then? While I'm still somewhat on the fence from calling the anime good (was still fun to watch), the music thoroughly impressed me, and I've been in love with Hideyuki Fukasawa's music ever since. Then I eventually crept downwards to his earlier works like from his PS2 Chaos Legion and PS2 Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams music, and like Ko Otani, I've lately been on a Hideyuki craze too. Byousoku 5 Centimeter and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo were titles I liked (don't know about my take on Paprika yet). Not sure about must have though, but those two movies alone definitely brought me out of my bias on short series (~13 episodes or OVAs) and movies in general. I still prefer a standard TV series, given the filler isn't too much.

Out of curiosity, what anime music composers do you guys listening to or what anime OST(s) did you like? Strangely, I've been on the lookout for animes with a entertaining OST as of late: whether the anime is good or bad, I could care less (weird, I know). Since Shakugan no Shana II and Over Drive, I've been on a Ko Otani craze as of late; Unless my information is wrong, I'm quite surprised Hitoshi Sakimoto did the Romeo x Juliet OST; I haven't heard from Yoko Kanno since Sousei no Aquarion although I hear she's doing the Macross Frontier OST; I still haven't gotten around to listening to Yuki Kajiura's .hack OSTs enough; and some others I know I'm forgetting to mention but won't because my rant is long enough And concerning English dubs, I really don't like companies making some anime characters stick too close to their Japanese counterparts in terms of tone and pitch and wish they simply Westernized them instead of butchering them. "Believe it"

Rant removed b/c I wanted to.

(Yeah, I think this might be the perfect place to ask.) How lengthy can the concert be? Pre and post show festivals included too if anyone has any experience in these sort of things or went to VGL previously. I figure going to VGL would be better than going to a movie theater nowadays.

Thanks for letting me know. Glad I decided to browse around these forums today

Mushishi is my number 1 favorite anime, believe it or not. There’s just so much about it that I like, I could recommend it to anyone. Whether that person likes Mushishi or not, is up to them entirely though. And yes, I wholeheartedly love the OST to Mushishi too. What blew me away with Mushishi especially were the underlying themes presented in like episode 9 and 21. And yeah, Hikaru no Go was about average, but I liked it a lot despite the slow-pacing near the end (fillers between 63-67 and some others before it). I actually ended up getting a GO board and such, and the OST was surprisingly well done too. If you’re interested in sports anime, you should/might want to give Hajime no Ippo a shot. And I liked Nodame Cantabile too, but I wished some things were done better like how they portrayed characters playing instruments. I wish the animation was something similar to how characters in La Corda d'Oro ~Primo Passo~ Opus played theirs’. If you wiki Code Geass, it was actually intended to be as it was – a standard 26 episodes. But, because they (the company’s name eludes me) made so much changes to try and gather a mature audience since there was a time slot change, it became a cult hit of sorts. There are other reasons, but basically, you can see the drastic tone change within Code Geass if you pay attention to the episode number and when the change occurred. That was when the time slot changed (like instead of showing Code Geass at 6 it was changed to 9 o'clock). The sudden popularity is kind of like how Haruhi Suzumiya got so majorly popular besides the nice manga, and surprisingly, Lucky Star too. (Haruhi is getting a 2nd season, but I really am not looking forward to it if it has too many fillers or as much as the 1st season.) Because people are only able to form opinions based on the shows they’ve seen or only interested in. Most Americanized ‘otakus’ I've seen are too deeply obsessed for their own good and laziness especially some of those who take a Japanese language class to learn easily Japanese because they know "baka = idiot/stupid" or never bother with lack of conviction. They typically rant of the mainstream stuff like Bleach, Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, Inuyasha and so forth but never bother with some cult classics or niche series like Air TV (surprised it even got a licensed here in the U.S. after so long) and end up totally bashing good series senselessly because of how ignorant they are to other titles/genres. Series like Death Note, while good, there’s more than enough people like me who loved the series but completely hated the 2nd arc yet people still say the series as a whole was simply the best thing they’ve seen since slice bread (the live-action movie of Death Note had a much better ending imo even to the 1st arc). I’m just generalizing the people I’ve tried to talk to back in high school but to no avail. In the end, the anime you or anyone ends up liking is up to their own preference. Whether there can be a civilized conversation of the merits and negatives when comparing and contrasting or outright arguing what’s better is impossible for me to attempt to the likes of 'them' that I've encountered (I’ve tried when telling people of Air). A very underrated and underappreciated anime just because of the concept alone people decide Yakitate Japan is utterly not worth the watch. It’s kind of like Excel Saga. You have to understand the many references of what animes they’re parodying and the ‘otaku’ culture in Japan to fully understand the quirks and blunt jokes. Da Capo and Kanon references were really funny. If you like Haruhi Suzumiya, you might want to give Lucky Star another chance. The one who voiced Haruhi is also the one who's doing Konata. Honey and Clover is considered a slice of life too if you haven’t watched it. In some ways, I’d suggest Hajime no Ippo to fall under that category. It’s quite an inspirational series imo.

Titles I can think of that I'd recommend would be Mushishi, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Honey and Clover, Hikaru no Go, Death Note, Code Geass and so forth despite what qualms with each of them. Some movies are good too. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo was the latest one I've seen. Pretty satisfying.

Natsukage from the anime Air is something I'd definitely recommend although it might be sad and/or relaxing at the same time. There are other songs from that anime I'd suggest but something like Giniro is really a sad tune. Something like Enishi would be nice as long as you can substitute the drums (or cymbals? iono) somehow.

I'm somewhat sad the popularity of Saga Frontier 2 is close to being unknown especially when people make these 'your favorite PSX game(s)' threads on other forums with absolutely no mention of it. I think SF2 had a brilliant OST, and with barely anyone ever hearing of the game, less people were able to listen to its OST (Todfiend was an absolute thriller).

I signed up today to pay my respects. Like many here, I didn't know Reuben personally but fell in love with his music. His music had a tremendous impact upon my life and for that I feel I owe him a great debt of gratitude. I wish him well wherever he may be now.