Anime

[I-n-j-i-n]

So i found a pretty cool anime called Nabari No Ou. It's set in modern day but there are NINJAS.

Pretty good show. It is almost like Naruto except the main character is the avatar of apathy, totally unlike Naruto.

And the plot actually moves (!).

[Brushfire]

Speaking of Naruto, that show is terrible. If I could hand-jive and create stupid-whatever-jutsu I would, but other than that this show blows.

[The Damned]

Yeah, Naruto had it's time. Back when it was still new-ish, you could actually enjoy watching it.

Now, though... man, it's hard to warrant the effort. I'd rather just flip though the manga and get the general gist of it than wait and sit through the anime.

[I-n-j-i-n]

Anime for Naruto is basically for those who stuck with it and waste time with it. Some episodes are genuinely incredible because they put 99% of their entire budget on the most crucial fights. Naruto, like most shonen (Bleach..) is best if you follow it in their manga form.

[Avatar of Justice]

Yet another Code Geass leak has happened. Some screenshots of the episode preview for episode 5 are our. I'm half-convinced Bandai is just trying to promote the show now or something.

[SetzerGabbiani]

Anybody who calls themselves an otaku doesn't even know what the word means in Japan. That aside, roping people who watch anime into a group is so restricting. So, you watch a few cartoons from Japan--it's a little bit nichey, but how's it different compared to watching a TV show from Britain or Canada?

Uh, in any case, I've not watched much anime or much TV in general lately. The last good series I've seen has to be The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Otaku (おたく or オタク, Otaku?) is a term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime and manga.

As an honorific second-person pronoun

Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family (お宅,　御宅 otaku) that is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun. The modern slang form, which is distinguished from the older usage by being written only in hiragana (おたく) or katakana (オタク or, less frequently, ヲタク), or rarely in rōmaji, appeared in the 1980s. In the anime Macross first aired in 1982, the term was used by Lin Ming Mei as an honourific term. It appears to have been coined by the humorist and essayist Akio Nakamori in his 1983 series An Investigation of "Otaku" (『おたく』の研究, "Otaku" no Kenkyū?), printed in the lolicon magazine Manga Burikko, who observed that this form of address was unusually common among geeks, nerds and most notably, animationist like Haruhiko Mikimoto and Shōji Kawamori.[1] It was apparently a reference to someone who communicates with their equals using (unnecessarily) the distant and formal pronoun, and spends most of their time at home.

Nakamori's publication

The term entered general use in Japan around 1989, and may have been popularized by Nakamori's publication in that year of The Generation of M – We and Mr.Miyazaki (Mの世代－ぼくらとミヤザキ君, M no Sedai – Bokura to Miyazaki-kun?). It applied the term to the (then) recently caught serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki (宮崎 勤), who turned out to be a recluse obsessed with pornographic anime and manga and who lived out his rape fantasies on young girls, thus attaching a huge taboo to a formerly innocuous term.

In modern Japanese slang, the term otaku refers to fan of, or is specialized in any particular theme, topic, or hobby. Common uses are anime otaku (a fan of anime ) and manga otaku (a fan of Japanese comic books or manga), pasokon otaku (personal computer geeks), gēmu otaku (playing video games), and wota (pronounced 'ota', previously referred to as "idol otaku") that are extreme fans of idols, heavily promoted singing girls. There are also tetsudō otaku or denshamania (metrophiles) or gunji otaku (military geeks).

(parts taken from the whole article on otaku at wikipedia)

Sounds like he used it in the correct context as long as he is obsessed with it...

Anyways I like some anime, but I don't make time for it anymore lol

yay Naruto!

[Brushfire]

Otaku (おたく or オタク, Otaku?) ...yay Naruto!

There are fans, and then there are just pathetic piles of humanity.

I watched this documentary about the otaku "lifestyle" and I must say, I am so glad I grew outta that "Japan is the greatest place ever" mindset. Don't get me wrong, Japan is a nice place to visit, but I really don't want to live here.

[Poke'G]

I've been called an otaku by my Japanese dormmates for having a Brawl tournament in our community room. They'd probably label everyone on this site as one too.

Really, you can find your "pathetic piles of humanity" in just about any social group, and it shouldn't drag the entire group down with it. Otaku is a perfectly usable label for both the mild fans, and the eccentric morons.

And yeah, Japan is cool and all, but living here for an extended period of time kills the "magic", although I don't think I ever attested to it being the "greatest place ever".

[Avatar of Justice]

I personally would like to visit Japan, although only long enough to buy a bunch of anime merch. I have no interest in their culture aside from anime, video games, and sushi.

[I-n-j-i-n]

There are fans, and then there are just pathetic piles of humanity.

I watched this documentary about the otaku "lifestyle" and I must say, I am so glad I grew outta that "Japan is the greatest place ever" mindset. Don't get me wrong, Japan is a nice place to visit, but I really don't want to live here.

Objectively I still think Japan is probably the best of all worlds. Ancient culture, modern culture, visual culture, music/fashion culture, etc etc and it moves a lot faster than it does in the West for the most part. But yeah, if you're thinking *realistically*, a white person would stick out like a sore thumb, the language/lifestyle differences are very obvious, and the cost of living is prohibitively high. I'd rather live in a crime driven hovel (oh wait I already do) for a very expansive apartment and live comfortably.

As for Otakus, I think all the terms of elaboration is really unnecessary. It's basically more or less the same thing as the term 'nerd/geek' if you were to put it out as serious criticism. There's always that disconnect between the ideal and reality with hardcore nerds.

[Soma]

I've been watching Naruto since episode 2. I've stuck with it for the most part, didn't watch most of the filler after 130 though. I follow the manga week to week but i usually only watch the fight scenes (in anime). My expectations for the manga are absurdly low nowadays but occasionally it hits some high notes.

[Poke'G]

As for Otakus, I think all the terms of elaboration is really unnecessary. It's basically more or less the same thing as the term 'nerd/geek' if you were to put it out as serious criticism. There's always that disconnect between the ideal and reality with hardcore nerds.

Maybe, but the term geek is too broad in my opinion. For example, otaku are often compared to being like the trekkies, a term I also see no problem in using. If I tell you I am a geek, you have a slightly different perception of my interests than if I were to say I was a trekkie. The same goes for gamer too. Basically these are sub groups of what being a nerd/geek has become.

An otaku is a geek/nerd focused more on anime, (generally) Japanese console/handheld based video games, or other (I collect Godzilla stuff), and they're not necessarily smart either, which is what nerd would imply.

[I-n-j-i-n]

Sure, if you're going by our definition of an Otaku in that sense. But in Japanese terms, it could go with any hobbies, though their culture just seriously deplores the nerd/geek stereotype anyway. I don't think most westerners give a crap about our little titles for the most part.

[Brushfire]

This is a bit off topic but still has something to do with anime in some sense.

Today I went to the mall and tried a game called Pokemon Battrio. This game is very similar to Pokemon Battle Revolution and is played with, what can best be decribed as a Pokemon Pog. The reason I bring this up is because I have been searching for an online store that carries the memory units that save your states on them. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Also found a few Code Geaus figures while out and about this weekend.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Wow... I'm seriously starting to like Macross Frontier.

[Knives]

I thought that Code Geass R2 would be the highlight of anime for me this year... that is until I saw the first couple of episodes of Vampire Knight.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

While I'm loving Vampire Knight a lot, and it's getting progressively better each episode, Code Geass R2 is like OMFGLOLWTF.

Seriously, it's like every week's episode is awesome, but somehow the next episode manages to be 10 times more amazing. I love this director and his no holds barred attitude.

[Dhsu]

The DVD for "You Are (Not) Alone," the first movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, has been released and subbed. Anybody check it out? It's essentially Evangelion Special Edition...it covers the first three Angel encounters, with the majority (if not all) scenes redrawn and enhanced with CG, along with redone music, a few new scenes, and some story changes. Pretty cool overall, and worth checking out if you're a fan (not too big a fan though, or else you'll just complain about it not being the original).

[I-n-j-i-n]

You Are (Not) Alone was pretty good. Still it is all an appetizer until the fourh movie that will speculatively have an all new ending.

As for other shows that really push the boundaries of anime, I think Kaiba is actually the single best show running right now. I like Macross Frontier and Code Geass like most everyone, but Kaiba is simply a work of art.

[Kenobio]

The DVD for "You Are (Not) Alone," the first movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, has been released and subbed. Anybody check it out? It's essentially Evangelion Special Edition...it covers the first three Angel encounters, with the majority (if not all) scenes redrawn and enhanced with CG, along with redone music, a few new scenes, and some story changes. Pretty cool overall, and worth checking out if you're a fan (not too big a fan though, or else you'll just complain about it not being the original).

From a visual standpoint You Are (Not) Alone looks freaking amazing. There are some scenes, particularly if you're an Eva fan, that will blow you away. When the time comes I plan to hijack my friend's 50 inch plasma and watch it on that.

[Sil]

Why do they have to change the ending? I thought it was perfect the way it was. Human corruption destroyed the world but there is still hope for salvation, etc. etc. The feelgood movie of the 90s.

[Poke'G]

Being that this is a rebuild of the TV series, they're changing the ending that the TV series showed, which sucked.

I couldn't stand the fact that nothing, nothing was resolved save Shinji stopped whining through psychadelic hallucinated group therapy. Not to mention the budget ran out, and they showed storyboards and even photos of the script to pass off as a scene. Some argue it was artistic, I felt it was a slap to the face.

I am completely looking forward to see how they handle the end.

[Brushfire]

Rumor has it that the last movie in the Rebuild series is gonna contain the aftermath of the Third Impact (past the "humanity is fucked" part).

Also there is a new Detective Conan movie playing here in Japan. I don't know what it is about but it looks like there will be another 20 years of this stupid show. Seriously the kid has had enough time to grow up to his previous age by now.

[The Damned]

Yeah, I used to watch it pretty seriously, getting all of the first 300 or so episodes whenever I could, getting all of the movies and even checking out the manga a bit... the damn show is just too long. Over 500 episodes and about 11 movies... god damn it, they should have been able to resolve the entire plot by now. There's a difference between a long, complex story and milking a series for as long as possible. Too bad they milked Conan about five years ago and now they're just sucking out air.

Needs to end, finish it off. Let it die with some dignity, please.

[NeoForte]

All I gotta say is Kaiba is becoming one of the best animes of this season (though I haven't seen Code Geass R2 cause I'm still in the first season).