iDB Community Forum

Noein: Boring except for the end. 7.3/10

The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya: Decent, but not super-mega-awesome like everyone seems to think. Gags involving Mikuru got old. I would rate it a little lower, but it gets bonus points for 7.7/10

Well, it's been over a week since my last post, so...

I went to my first anime convention today. Was pretty easy going there considering it was right here on campus. It was pretty small; at most of the anime showings I went to, it was just me and the staff member. The most crowded events I went to were an otaku comedian and a "make a fool of yourself for a chance at prizes" thing, with maybe 50 people at those.

I went to: Tenchi Muyo showing that wasn't actually Tenchi Muyo but some other show (high school with a magic club that got loaned space by the manga club, flying on broomsticks, flying machine things with helicopter blades and tentacles, anyone know the name of this?), AMV showing (best was Hare Guu as the anime and Maneater as the music ("whoa here she comes..."), Super Mario tv show showing, "make a fool of yourself for a chance at prizes" thing, otaku comedian, Shinesman showing, and an FMP:Fumoffu showing (Matt, Fumoffu is definitely better than the original series. *makes a note to watch the rest of it at some point*)

I nearly won something at the foolmaking event by taking part in a non-foolmaking thing. The guy polled con-goers earlier in the day on a variety of questions. Then at the event, a bunch of people try to guess which poll response (out of 2, except for one which had 3 choices) was the most popular; guess wrong and you're eliminated. I made it to the last round, with 4 people, then guessed wrong.

Yes or no? [that's the entire question]
Buy the DVD's as they come out, or buy the box set?
Animal Crossing or The Sims?
Video games: MMO, play with your friends, or play alone?
Who has a bigger Goku complex, Naruto or Ichigo?

I've been thinking of whether or not attending an anime convention this year, I haven't since 2004. There's one going to be held close by later in the year. For the most part I only go to buy stuff which I can generally get cheaper on Amazon or other online retailers. Though it's more for the activities they hold that one usually goes to such a convention. Guess my youthful thinking back in the day was backwards.

The US release of Lucky Star is due out in May. I watched the first episode and it wasn't that bad. Nonsensical with no real plot is basically the high point about the series. As well, Aya Hirano's voice acting is one of the highlights. She undoubtedly is one of the best voice actors out there- her range is superb considering her roles on top of singing. Think I'll pick that one up when it's out.

Anyone here ever get into light novels? I bought Ballad of a Shinigami - Vol. 1 today from Borders. So far it's been a really good read especially the second chapter. If you have a chance, wiki it for the overview.

I also bought Death Note: Another Note: The Los Angles BB Murder Cases novel last month. As well, another good read featuring Naomi Misora and L investigating a case several years prior to the start of the Death Note series. It rather gets to me what happened to Naomi in Death Note. Her character was completely, for the lack of a better term, badass. If you read the novel, it'll only empower her character and kindle a slow burning disdain for Kira.

is anyone watching bleach anime??

When it turned into the new Naruto, and showed no sign of a definitive cute pairing, I ran for the hills.

(Thread is all yours, Jason. )

umbreonmatt youre a pokemon fan too???

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cant wait for bleach ep.169

- Deflates -

Lucky Star is such a refreshing series to watch in the summer time.

Maybe as a casual once-in-a-while view, but for me Lucky Star got old really, really fast. ; Even Lucky Channel couldn't save it near the end, but the director's real-life antics nearly did though.

As of right now I am maniacally obsessed with Nabari no Ou. And am still not out of my Shugo Chara fanboying phase.

I'll finally be getting around to seeing GitS:SAC 2nd Gig thanks to discovering that one of the libraries in my county has it. Unfortunately, it's not my local library so I have to have it sent to my library, and the first two volumes are checked out, so I have to wait for them to be returned.

Which leads me to the question...how well-stocked are your public libraries with anime and manga? The library closest to me has fairly recently started to carry manga, but no anime yet. As far as anime goes, the libraries of the entire county together only have Ghost in the Shell, Fullmetal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, and a few others. It'd be so nice to be able to try anime before buying it without illegal methods.

It's rather the opposite for me. I enjoy the series above most since there are so many everyday occurrences and personal habits that I find myself relating to so well, such as but not limited to: yelling into a fan to get the "choppy voice", taking the 3rd or 4th item down from the top of a stack (I do this to just about everything from plates and utensils at a restaurant, dvds, books, manga, etc...), sectioning out time devoted to studying then getting side-tracked so I end up having to reorganize again and again, can't sleep so I do something to get tired but by the time I'm done it's time to get up and I'm ready to sleep, invoking the 5-second rule on a case-by-case basis, having an ache or pain and riding it out before getting it checked when it's at its worst (though I've improved significantly in this department), when time is a constraint you feel the urge to clean - this one got me laughing the hardest since my room, bathroom, and library is basically spotless and organized (I guess this isn't much of a bad thing since I'll make some woman very happy to know that her husband is self-automated), etc...

Though, Lucky Channel got very boring fairly fast for me and I end up skimming through it or skipping entirely.

My university library supposedly has a nice catalog of anime, not sure on manga, on their shelves but I never chanced to look. There are a few libraries around here that stock manga but not a lot. For the most part, people tend to just go to Borders and read there. I'm not into manga as much as I am anime yet when I do decide to pick up a volume it becomes a test of agility when navigating the manga aisle - kids, adults, parents alike all sitting on the floor or on those small wooden steppers, leaning on shelves and reading. The staff has no quarrels with people doing that plus the cafe makes for a nice area to eat and read in peace.

In terms of I guess you can say "sorting" out series, I usually just Youtube several episodes. I'm not one to download, it's just not a preference. When it comes to anything of interest I go for tangible goods. My dvd collection has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years and turned into a very tiny library shelf in itself. On a very rough estimate I've got enough material to last more than a week straight of watching. Of course, this is but a fraction of what some people have on their hard drives or even on their shelves. Yet I still pride in it. I've got a few manga, novel, and light novel titles and stacks worth of Newtype USA as well.

Yeah, I can understand the appeal of Lucky Star (I have a friend who insists on us calling it Raki Suta in his presence ).

The public libraries? Absolutely zilch on both counts. You'd think anime had gained mainstream acceptance by now. *shrugs* Then again, the libraries aren't too fond of English comics either. Most stores keep the manga volumes wrapped too, so I take care not to buy duds.

As far as trying out anime goes, I depend on friend recommendations (within reason, of course, some have really weird taste...), episode summaries, and if an episode is available on a streaming site, then all the better. Import my DVDs, so I can pretty much only afford to buy those I really like. Have quite a sizeable load despite that, though. Come to think of it, I have spent quite a bundle on anime...