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[Regulus Tera]

that is correct

best girl in the game.

Hanako is cute too. Emi is uber genki as well. >:X

 

[Steroyd]

Er, what? So Taichi is a dick because he got a girlfriend? Should he have remained pure all his life for Chihaya or something? And he's a dick because he's Chihaya's friend instead of lover? Should he have kissed her the moment he met her again? Said, "You're the only one for me, let's elope right now"? When did a man having a non-romantic relationship with a woman become a terrible thing?

His current girlfriend is easily disposable, infact even though I say "current" is he even still going out with her with him spending all this time doing Karuta club and hanging out with the crew. :lol

 

[Articalys]

I don't even watch Chihayafuru and I can tell you why Taichi is the best:

Well, I took a break from it around episode 6, I'll get back to it eventually.

 

[Dresden]

ore wa gundam

 

[Geneijin]

Kill Me Baby - 02

Premise feels wasted if they have no intentions of ever doing something similar to the OP in the actual show.

 

[Branduil]

Earth Maiden Arjuna really does have one of the most amazing soundtracks, I'd even go so far as to say it's one of the top five anime soundtracks of all time. It really is that insanely good.

 

[Solune]

Now I'm waiting for the rest of GAF to describe their perfect waifus.

 

[firehawk12]

Firehawk is just bitter that Taichi is cooler than he'll ever be, so he has to find ways to downplay Taichi's awesomeness.

No, I'm sad that I'll never have an awesome accent like Arata!

:lol live in sin? Is this the 60's or something? Neither Chihaya nor Taichi are Catholic anyways.

I just assume Japan is more conservative than America.

Spoiler

Mostly because Asians are Asian. lol

Absence of evidence is not evidence.

These are works of fiction. Where as in real life you can't just say "God did it", you can say that when you are talking about works produced by a single person.

Unless the author actually forgot that they gave Taichi girlfriend, then you can only assume that he's still dating her.

Er, what? So Taichi is a dick because he got a girlfriend? Should he have remained pure all his life for Chihaya or something? And he's a dick because he's Chihaya's friend instead of lover? Should he have kissed her the moment he met her again? Said, "You're the only one for me, let's elope right now"? When did a man having a non-romantic relationship with a woman become a terrible thing?

I dunno, as someone who has friends who had abusive boyfriends, some of his qualities -

Spoiler

such as his possessiveness over her in that one scene from the first tournament

- irk me. It's very easy to undouche him - make it clear that he has no romantic intentions and is perfectly happy being in the friendzone and suddenly he becomes as likeable as Porky and Desky (and Sensei). But the text seems to be set on this triangle (and maybe square, with the Queen), so it's clear that he's supposed to be one of the major players at some point.

I'll admit that a lot of this comes from the fact that Arata is fairly absent from the show. And really, the only thing that you know about him is that he

Spoiler

blames himself for his grandfather's death

.

I have no doubt that Taichi will become a two/three dimensional character when the inevitable showdown with

Spoiler

his mother

happens. At least, I think it's clear that he's being set up for some heavy

Spoiler

Tiger Mom angst

at some point anyway... because that's just how all bishie characters are developed in these romances. Maybe at that point, I won't dislike him as much.

If you seriously want to argue that the author has no intention of having Taichi be a player in the love polygon that is building - that the main thrust of the love story will be Queen - Arata - Chihaya - then maybe I'll be convinced. But at that point, there's no real point in having "teams" at all.

Spoiler

(Team Chihaya > Team Queen).

http://i.imgur.com/cwnxR.jpg

Good pull!

Spoiler

I was expecting you to post a picture of fat Rihoko with a big X on her face

.

 

[sleepykyo]

I revisited this series (failed to finish it) due to that crying Elsie pic that showed up in this thread. I'm almost positive the 2nd season was better, but I liked the first season better.

Between this and Blood +, maybe I shouldn't revisit series I've dropped.

 

[wonzo]

http://i.imgur.com/cwnxR.jpg[img][/quote]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/mLEAv.jpg

 

[zeroshiki]

No, I'm sad that I'll never have an awesome accent like Arata!


I just assume Japan is more conservative than Americans.

Spoiler

Mostly because Asians are Asian. lol

These are works of fiction. Where as in real life you can't just say "God did it", you can say that when you are talking about works produced by a single person.

Unless the author actually forgot that they gave Taichi girlfriend, then you can only assume that he's still dating her.


I dunno, as someone who has friends who had abusive boyfriends, some of his qualities -

Spoiler

such as his possessiveness over her in that one scene from the first tournament

- irk me. It's very easy to undouche him - make it clear that he has no romantic intentions and is perfectly happy being in the friendzone and suddenly he becomes as likeable as Porky and Desky (and Sensei). But the text seems to be set on this triangle (and maybe square, with the Queen), so it's clear that he's supposed to be one of the major players at some point.

I'll admit that a lot of this comes from the fact that Arata is fairly absent from the show. And really, the only thing that you know about him is that he

Spoiler

blames himself for his grandfather's death

.

I have no doubt that Taichi will become a two/three dimensional character when the inevitable showdown with

Spoiler

his mother

happens. At least, I think it's clear that he's being set up for some heavy

Spoiler

Tiger Mom angst

at some point anyway... because that's just how all bishie characters are developed in these romances. Maybe at that point, I won't dislike him as much.

If you seriously want to argue that the author has no intention of having Taichi be a player in the love polygon that is building - that the main thrust of the love story will be Queen - Arata - Chihaya - then maybe I'll be convinced. But at that point, there's no real point in having "teams" at all.

Spoiler

(Team Chihaya > Team Queen).

Good pull!

Spoiler

I was expecting you to post a picture of fat Rihoko with a big X on her face

.

The disapproving parent/parent figure trope is one of the most common shoujo tropes out there. Pretty much all the major ones do it.

All the more proof of a Taichi victory!!!

 

[Crash Station]

Toriko 39

Felt like there was a lot of filler injected into this episode, but there was some good stuff nonetheless.

Spoiler

Surprised Toriko already has his arm back.

 

[iavi]

I'll admit that a lot of this comes from the fact that Arata is fairly absent from the show.

As much as it was looking like it, I was really hoping that this wasn't the case.

 

[Solune]

Good pull!

Spoiler

I was expecting you to post a picture of fat Rihoko with a big X on her face

.

You said waifus, not friends.

I revisited this series (failed to finish it) due to that crying Elsie pic that showed up in this thread. I'm almost positive the 2nd season was better, but I liked the first season better.

Between this and Blood +, maybe I shouldn't revisit series I've dropped.

I'm kind of confused, you revisited it and found the second season better, but you still didn't like it? Because if you ended up liking it then why wouldn't you revisit it? Also I'm a fanboy so my opinion is null, but I also enjoyed both seasons and agree season 2 was better.

As for Blood+ well... Understandable.

 

[firehawk12]

As much as it was looking like it, I was really hoping that this wasn't the case.

Ah yeah, sorry for spoiling that.

You said waifus, not friends.

So

Spoiler

Kaoru

can't be included either.

The disapproving parent/parent figure trope is one of the most common shoujo tropes out there. Pretty much all the major ones do it.

All the more proof of a Taichi victory!!!

Hey,

Spoiler

Dead grandpa > Tiger mom

!

 

[iavi]

Ah yeah, sorry for spoiling that.

Np. It's no big spoiler.

 

[zeroshiki]

Re: Chihayafuru and Taichi/Arata

Hey,

Spoiler

Dead grandpa > Tiger mom

!

I'm pretty sure there have been shoujo losers who had

Spoiler

dead relatives

while not can be said for the other one. Disapproving super rich grandma is the true winner though.

 

[firehawk12]

Re: Chihayafuru and Taichi/Arata
I'm pretty sure there have been shoujo losers who had

Spoiler

dead relatives

while not can be said for the other one. Disapproving super rich grandma is the true winner though.

I don't have a big enough shoujo sample size to know whether or not this is true!

I just wonder if that's a case of writers being lazy though.

 

[zeroshiki]

I don't have a big enough shoujo sample size to know whether or not this is true!

I just wonder if that's a case of writers being lazy though.

I am sure its writers being lazy and just resorting to tropes. On the other hand, with the vast number of manga out there, there's barely any original ideas anymore. Resorting to that trope gives you some ready made angst and an actual villain type to go against.

 

[iavi]

Er, what? So Taichi is a dick because he got a girlfriend? Should he have remained pure all his life for Chihaya or something? And he's a dick because he's Chihaya's friend instead of lover? Should he have kissed her the moment he met her again? Said, "You're the only one for me, let's elope right now"? When did a man having a non-romantic relationship with a woman become a terrible thing?

Up to ep 6 and what I've gathered from Taichi so far is what the show's been saying about him from his first showing up. He's the spineless narcissist; very much the typical turbulent 'nice guy.' A character that can't make a move unless he has a posse inflate his ego, and is assured victory from the get go. Hence why he hangs onto

Spoiler

a girlfriend that, in his words, he's not attached to at all as a backup plan, just in case all romantic chances--and let's not pretend, he is dying for a romance with her. Hardly platonic--with Chihaya go south; Softened landings.

I'm just waiting for him to go 100% bitchmade and project his faults onto Chihaya. It'd make for a nonsensical scene, conjured hierarchy and all, but it's where his character seems to be heading.

 

[Dresden]

I'm just waiting for him to go 100% bitchmade and project his faults onto Chihaya. It'd make for a nonsensical scene, conjured hierarchy and all, but it's where his character seems to be heading.

The man might be destined to be a class-b chump/hardcore friendzone, but I doubt that in particular will happen.

Arata is the sexy idol who's had the benefit of not actually being in her life, anyways. It was over since episode one.

 

[Thoraxes]

Inu X Boku Secret Service 01

wut...

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Up to ep 6 and what I've gathered from Taichi so far is what the show's been saying about him from his first showing up. He's the spineless narcissist; very much the typical turbulent 'nice guy.' A character that can't make a move unless he has a posse inflate his ego, and is assured victory from the get go. Hence why he hangs onto

Spoiler

a girlfriend that, in his words, he's not attached to at all as a backup plan, just in case all romantic chances--and let's not pretend, he is dying for a romance with her. Hardly platonic--with Chihaya go south; Softened landings.

I'm just waiting for him to go 100% bitchmade and project his faults onto Chihaya. It'd make for a nonsensical scene, conjured hierarchy and all, but it's where his character seems to be heading.

Taichi isn't perfect, but I would argue that his character has seen a good deal of growth towards maturity since he got involved in the karuta club - as he has settled into his role as the leader of the club, encouraging and supporting Chihaya and everyone else on the team, he has increasingly learned how to keep an eye out for the needs of others and respond sensitively to them. This is the main reason why I like him as a character. (I should add I like Arata as well!)

Also, I have a hard time believing Taichi has conscious romantic intentions towards Chihaya, given the attitude he takes to Arata's interest in Chihaya (e.g., in episode 13

Spoiler

he hands off the passed out Chihaya to Arata without any overt sign of jealousy

). I'm sure the suppressed romantic tension will boil over eventually and the characters will have to deal with the fallout of that, but that will not be Taichi's fault alone, since none of the central triangle have been clearly communicating what their feelings for each other are. It's doubtful any of them are clear on their own feelings themselves.

 

[Solune]

So

Spoiler

Kaoru

can't be included either.

Don't need no stinkin waifu status, this just needs to be in the new arc.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Seems like I missed a waifu discussion.

I see there is sexhair above my post though.

 

[Geneijin]

Inu x Boku - 01

Exactly as Steroyd and 7th said.

 

[Soma]

Hanako is cute too. Emi is uber genki as well. >:X

I like Emi too :3

.

this is from Toradora right? at least i think i recognize one of the characters.

i might have a reason to watch it now if so.

 

[Uchip]

Seems like I missed a waifu discussion.

there will undoubtedly be more of them

 

[PdotMichael]

Rihoko's pretty comfortable in the friendzone I imagine. No chance against Sexhair.

sexhair is maybe a nice summerlove but Rihoko is the real deal:

I want see happy with a good end

 

[Dave1988]

[Baby, kill me please ep. 02]

It's an average show at best, but I can't help but continue watching it. Wierd, I know.


[Daily Lives of High School Boys ep. 01]

That :firehawk scene at the end made me lose it. Will definitely continue watching this.


[Guilty Crown ep. 12]

Spoiler

Now that the ultimate cockblocker has been taken out of the picture, Shoe can finally concentrate on building his harem.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

there will undoubtedly be more of them

This is quite true. It was a rehash discussion anyways, they discussed Charlotte and we've been through that a few times already.

Another 01:

Directing suspense horror using animation must be an interesting thing to attempt. Animation by it's very nature emphasizes form and expression since it's a medium where the animators imagine a scene in their minds and commit that imagination to art. There are several ways to attempt horror in general, you can either show precisely what happens, which creates terror you see, or you can imply what happens, which creates terror you visualize yourself in your own imagination. So, to successfully commit suspense horror to animation, the animators need to visualize what they want the viewer to imagine, and then commit to art what they imagine you should be imagining.

Another follows this methodology in a pretty straightforward way. It purposely shrouds scenes where we are meant to imagine terror in oppressive darkness, such as the scene where Kouichi first meets Misaki Mei. He peeks his head out of the brightly-lit elevator and watches Mei walk down a pitch-black corridor and disappear into darkness. The shot lingers for just a few seconds on the black corridor, while the animators cheerfully let the viewer imagine just what might be down that corridor. The use of light and shadow is generally quite effective in this first episode and sets the proper mood to offset the usual P.A. Works character designs. As with Higurashi, everyone looks quite cute on the surface which hides the usual batshit insane that lurks just below.

The use of music and sound is quite good in this opening episode, building into massive walls of distortion to symbolize Kouichi's fearful confusion as he realizes that things are really, really not what they seem in this stereotypically creepy Japanese rural town. In general, the soundtrack of this show so far has been superb. It really feels like the staff played a bunch of sound novels to get the idea for how to set the mood with ambient sound and music and it's done effectively here without becoming overbearing as the sound in horror movies often becomes when overdone, often with hilarious results.

If there's one thing I've learned from things like Higurashi, Kamisama Dolls, and Another, it's that I should be deathly afraid of apparently-peaceful Japanese rural towns. Well, the story device of somebody leaving the perfectly normal city and moving to a small town where everyone is batshit insane is used in the mass media everywhere in the world, and in many ways it is intentionally representative of the culture clash between people who live in urban centers and people who live in the rural countryside of every nation on Earth which still has rural regions in addition to urban centers.

For some reason I always think of Children of the Corn in these situations but there are a shitload of American horror novels and movies which are similar in premise. Stephen King in particular has made a career out of this premise, so it's no accident that an explicit shout-out to King is made in this first episode. The whole thing feels so much like a Stephen King novel that it's hard to not imagine Another's author being a fan.

Well, I didn't mean to write a novel about this myself, but I'll be keeping an eye on Another. It has slow burn written all over it but it might turn out to be really good. Judging from the first episode, the director and staff seem to understand what they are doing in terms of the mechanics of animating a story like this, so it will at least be visually and sonically enjoyable. I just hope the story goes somewhere good after a promising start.

 

[wonzo]

niiniigami esuesu purasu 1-2

Now with the best girl out of the way we shall finally find out if Rihoko can ever get herself out of the treacherous friendzone (she fucking better or i'm gonna be mad as hell). A shame that it's gonna be a while before we get to the sexhair.

 

[Uchip]

[Guilty Crown ep. 12]

Spoiler

Now that the ultimate cockblocker has been taken out of the picture, Shoe can finally concentrate on building his harem.

god damn tintin was a good movie adaptation

 

[Thoraxes]

niiniigami esuesu purasu 1-2

Now with the best girl out of the way we shall finally find out if Rihoko can ever get herself out of the treacherous friendzone (she fucking better or i'm gonna be mad as hell). A shame that it's gonna be a while before we get to the sexhair.

I highly approve of your taste.

 

[RurouniZel]

FUTSUUUUU

Spoiler

I like her too, though I still dropped the show

Yep, I like 'em cute and normal. XD

 

[trejo]

Inu x Boku 1

I think I've pretty much seen all I needed to and perhaps a bit more than that. All the

Spoiler

monster

stuff is the real dealbreaker, however. Shit's just silly.

 

[Steroyd]

Kill Me Baby - 02

I'm convinced I just watched this for the ED.

 

[wonzo]

guilty crap 9

oh man, i forgot just how fucking stupid this show is.

I highly approve of your taste.

cheers bro

 

[Tears For Fears]

Well no matter how shitty anime is this season, at least I still have my Natsume.

 

[trejo]

Symphogear 1

While it's not really the worst thing ever, the bland character designs and the absolutely fucking atrocious monster designs prevent me from taking any of this shit seriously at all.

I'm giving it one more episode just to see what happens.

 

[wonzo]

might have been posted earlier in the thread but crunchyroll are now streaming some stuff in (probably upscaled) 1080p:

Crunchyroll to Now Stream in 1080p

 

[sleepykyo]

You said waifus, not friends.


I'm kind of confused, you revisited it and found the second season better, but you still didn't like it? Because if you ended up liking it then why wouldn't you revisit it? Also I'm a fanboy so my opinion is null, but I also enjoyed both seasons and agree season 2 was better.

As for Blood+ well... Understandable.

Novelty wore after the first season for the World God Only Knows.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Symphogear 1

While it's not really the worst thing ever, the bland character designs and the absolutely fucking atrocious monster designs prevent me from taking any of this shit seriously at all.

I'm giving it one more episode just to see what happens.

No joy from the stylish attacks either?

 

[trejo]

The first one got a smirk out of me but that's about it.

 

[/XX/]

Wacky and at the same time slightly and pleasantly restrained. In fact, I did expect a faster paced gag succession as in similar Dream Link Entertainment productions, but the fairly stoic cutout characters in effective combination with the use for enphasis of well-known music pieces makes it more fresh this way. Very cool ending as well!

I'm pretty sure Nadia from Nadia is there as well. Or wait, maybe not because of course GAINAX don't own that,or any of the associated rights. Sometimes I forget how dumb GAINAX were with their contracts.

Yeah! Like the bunch of amateurs they were. Those unfamiliar with the events can see here the famous explanation by Mr. Takeda itself:

I guess you could say it was Nadia that gave GAINAX its name recognition in mainstream Japan - up until then, only hardcore fans knew the company. This marked a serious turning point for us.

Meanwhile, tensions had peaked within the company. Things had turned sour between Okada and Inoue as they fought for company leadership. But the ensuing power struggle came to an abrupt halt when Okada invited none other than Sawamura to head up GAINAX.

We were all taken by surprise. Shocked, even. I mean, this was Sawamura. When it came to running General Products, he and I couldn’t have disagreed more. Maybe Okada didn’t feel like he could talk to me about it first. I don’t know. At any rate, there were those in GAINAX who saw this as a move on Okada’s part to try and consolidate power, but the truth is, he really struggled with his decision. He apparently consulted Yamaga and Akai about how to resolve the situation, at which point somebody brought up Sawamura’s name. “If he isn’t doing anything right now, maybe he wouldn’t mind coming and giving us a head”, or something to that effect, and the wheels were set in motion.

Elsewhere, Inoue was flying solo and busily advancing his own projects. Group TAC had been invited to join a pitch at NHK for a new television program, and they in turn had requested settings and specific character designs (which, incidentally, were based on a proposal already submitted to NHK).

Of course, I think that TAC had actually invited GAINAX (having already produced Gunbuster) to assist with the pitch, and not just Inoue. It seems, however, that Inoue viewed this as an opportunity to strike off on his own. He decided to bypass Okada, whom he no longer considered trustworthy, and had Sadamoto and Maeda secretly work on the settings, character designs, storyboards and so forth.

It goes without saying that all this eventually came to light, but the pitch had already concluded, and NHK had decided to go with the idea that Inoue had presented. That idea was Nadia, and preliminary calculations showed that the budget for the project would drive GAINAX well into the red.

Okada, Sawamura and myself attended the Nadia production meeting at NHK. In no uncertain terms, we demanded that either Inoue step down from the project or GAINAX would withdraw. Thinking back, it wasn’t the smartest move we ever made. There was a producer from Toho in attendance, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he bears a grudge against us to this day.

They had already filled the director’s position, but he said something like “This isn’t at all what we talked about in our first meeting”, and promptly dropped out of the project. Anno would later be chosen as his replacement, and the rest of the staff - as well as NHK and Toho - sided with GAINAX rather than Inoue. In one fell swoop, Inoue had both left the project and quit his position at GAINAX.

The whole thing was just handled so recklessly. I think the entire mess could have been avoided had there been more communication between Okada and Inoue.

In any event, GAINAX was brought on to produce Nadia, and was left facing an impossibly large budget. All said and done, the company ended up some 80 million yen in the red, and was denied any of the rights associated with the project. In this sense, Nadia both is and isn’t a “GAINAX” production.

Some years later, Disney would produce a cartoon that fans in both America and Japan would claim was practically a carbon copy of Nadia. Several people asked us if we planned to sue, but the only response we could give was, “Please take this up with NHK and Toho.”

Numerous stories have already surfaced about the various mishaps that occurred during the production of Nadia, so I’ll refrain from going into them here. Suffice it to say that behind each of these events, several other events were simultaneously taking place…

We never did acquire any of the rights to the anime, but a point was made of letting us have the rights to the game adaptation, something for which we are still deeply grateful. The PC game, which we produced in-house, went on to set record earnings for us.

http://www.gwern.net/docs/2002-notenki-memoirs#fushigi-no-umi-no-nadia

 

[Defuser]

Inu x Boku SS
I always wanted to see a reverse yamada. Man Yuichi Nakamura can do a good butler voice he is no Ono D.

Edit:
Thermae Romae
Holy shit this is awesome.

 

[Defuser]

Guilty Crown ep 12
It's like somebody played The Third Birthday and decided to base this show on it.

 

[Femmeworth]

Interesting bit of news -- apparently Funimation decided to pull their BD release for Sora no Otoshimono Forte rather than delay it due to the Japanese licensor, Kadokawa, having issues with the NA release date being too close to the Japanese one.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-ne...-canceled-heavens-lost-property-forte-blu-ray

Brings up an interesting question, though -- if reverse importing continues to be a worry of the licensors, what would be an appropriate wait time before a cheaper overseas release?

And nothing of value was lost.

Anyway, will start watching Code Geass today, maybe with episode impressions.

 

[darkside31337]

And nothing of value was lost.

I think you missed the entire point of his post. There was a 10 month gap in between the release of the last BD in Japan and the release of the BD over here in the states. Evidently 10 months somehow wasn't good enough for Kadokawa, which is completely and utterly ridiculous.

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah! Like the bunch of amateurs they were. Those unfamiliar with the events can see here the famous explanation by Mr. Takeda itself:

http://www.gwern.net/docs/2002-noten...o-umi-no-nadia

What's the Disney cartoon that's a ripoff of Nadia?