Blog update (31/05/2009):
Bleh, I give up. Now I just hope I can complete it before this year ends.
From now on my Favourite Manga list would exclude titles which have a reasonably faithful anime adaptation.
My Tastes (Abridged Version)
Likes: Good story, strong/intelligent characters, unusual art styles, imaginative and atmospheric world-setting, slow pace, non-linear storytelling, surrealism, emotional realism, emotional maturity, heavy dialogue, family-friendliness*, adult main characters, philosophy, politics, mindfuck, human drama where romance is not the main focus, coming-of-age tale, mystery, thriller, adventure (in the whimsical Miyazaki-esque sense), slice-of-life, seinen, World Masterpiece Theater, Studio Ghibli
Dislikes: Fanservice, ecchi, moe, gratuitous use of sex and gore, tsundere, yandere, harem, romantic comedies, toilet humour, otaku references, ugly teenage angst, poorly executed melodrama, shows that exist solely to pander to a certain fetish, Kyoto Animation
*Optional but always appreciated when not done at the expense of dumbing down the plot/characters/message of the anime.
Unlike most people on this site, I was exposed to anime as an adult, when watching the TV together with my kids -- because I don’t trust half-witted censor officials -- and found most of it to be entertaining, turn-off-your-brain affairs initially. The first anime that I looked forward to watching, week after week, was Rose of Versailles in the 90s (or Lady Oscar in the Indonesian dub version), then I also came to like Rurouni Kenshin a bit, but those weren’t enough to convert me to a full-fledged anime lover. (Couldn't remember most of the other stuff I watch during this period).
Then the year 2005 came along, and on one of the more boredom-filled weekends that year I accidentally stumbled on a site that allowed me to watch anime streamed online, which led to my encounter with the wonderful, wonderful series that is Gankutsuou. I finished the series in two days, and was left mesmerized, hungry for more. I won’t bore anyone with the details of why I found this series to be so great… I will just say that it brought to my attention the fact that anime was a respectable medium of entertainment and even art, with its own pros (and cons) compared to other medium: A new kind of extended storytelling not usually seen in movies and long, multi-season TV series, unique visual direction that can’t be done in live-action, etc. etc.
(It was a turning point in more ways than one, actually: I was a practical man (or ‘uncultured’ from another perspective), not inclined towards artistic pursuits. The series, however, made me hunt down the novel it is based on, and then I started reading another novel, then another… And who knew classical music could be good for something else other than department store toilets?)
I don’t have any really strong preferences for any genre, and I will give almost anything a try (The standard test: If I don’t drop a series within the first three episodes, I will try my best to complete it even if it turns out awful). If I really have to pick, though, then I’ll pick mystery as my favourite genre, and romance (particularly the harem sub-genre) as my least favourite. The most important thing I’m looking for when starting an anime is a cast of likeable and well-developed characters, then world-building and atmosphere/style. Story is equally important in the long run but I don’t require that a clear direction be established at the outset, or even if there is a discernible plot at all in the beginning -- As a matter of fact, I consider slow pacing and complex / non-linear storytelling to be turn-ons, rather than flaws (provided there is something else to sustain my interest). Unusual art and animation techniques are always a plus. (By the way: fluid animation doesn’t mean a thing in the world if the show generally has the same ‘look’ as 90% of anime out there. Anyway, I tend to place more emphasis on background art and the use of colour / lighting than motion… and the most important thing in an action scene is choreography).
As for the things I dislike in an anime, fanservice and gore would probably top the list. I’m a lot more lenient towards gore, because there are often times where it is appropriate or even necessary for a show to deliver its point (though, equally often, they are merely gratuitous and played up to give viewers an illusion of depth and camouflage the lack of a good story), whereas fanservice is, by definition, an unwanted extra.
I also dislike the concept of moe… Well, not exactly. Moe characters are fine in the general slice-of life and comedy (excluding rom-com) shows, but when you put them in a dramatic situation, that’s when things start to get ugly (to me at least). My first ‘moe anime’ was Kanon, which I watched due to all the hype surrounding it, and I found myself having an instinctive dislike towards almost all the female characters in the show (no offense to fans of the series). At that time, I wasn’t even aware of the concept, and it took stupid me several (rather painful) attempts to actually catch on: This isn’t my cup of tea. As for lolis… It depends on the character herself; I am not so petty as to dismiss a show out of hand just because I don’t like the character designs.
Oh, right. I haven’t said anything about myself. ^_^. I’m 43 years old, male, Indonesian, currently married with a son and a daughter. I run my own little construction company to make a living. Both my kids are anime fans too, while my wife likes most of the comedic stuff, but I can forget about getting her to watch anything with some sort of continuous plot. Most importantly, I am probably the most handsome person you will ever have the privilege to come across in your life.
Well, that’s all, I guess. Feel free to recommend me any titles which you think I would enjoy and have slipped below my radar. Note, though, that it takes quite a bit to impress me (I rate around 1+ point lower than the average users here), so it better be good; something that is just ‘okay’ won’t cut it. That shouldn’t be too surprising; after all, I was a regular anime watcher for years before I found something impressive enough to make me a fan.
One last thing: I consider most of the stuff I write as just personal opinions, not truths -- and the same applies to what you said as well. Oh, and since English is not my native language, I’m sorry if I come across as incoherent or difficult to understand at times. ^_^
Sorry for lousy response time. I hadn't forgotten about you, but I got busy over at "The Later Years", and lost track of time.
Firearms , like anything, with quality the price goes up. And with oatmeal-brained politicians in charge so do the taxes on them. Now, it's a "health-care" tax to pay for all the individuals suffering from massive lead poisoning because of the vaporized lead fume coming off a gun when you fire it. A standard revolver runs about $400 - $500 with semi-autos running about $200-$300 more. An average shotgun or rifle runs about right where you pegged it, two to three hundred dollars. I've seen really good ones that start at two to three thousand and go up from there. Needless to say, I won't be buying any of those for a while.
How are things going with your competitor? Have they finally nailed him for inciting a riot yet?
Found a cute anime recently, Android Maico 2010. For a single season, short episode (15 min.) series, I found it was very well put together. The characters were well developed and interesting and the plot was as well. Highly recommended.
Greetings, Anime_Sucks. I stumbled upon your profile by accident by someone hotlinking your well-thought blog post, and one thing stood out to me. You are an Indonesian. That is because I am too an Indonesian.
You, sir, are exactly the type of anime watcher that I search in these late few years. You search for the true quality of anime, doesn't dismiss something because of some fanboyish reason, and most importantly, uses good english grammar and no stupid internet slang and memes.
I've been searching far and wide through the anime communities in Indonesia, and I can say that I haven't yet met a person that fits all criterias like you. Even some that I found that liked good, obscure shows like the damn moe and loli phenomenon (I myself are indifferent towards it).
This is most likely accomplished that you, sir, are an adult. Very few adults, if any, knows about the hidden gems of anime and manga, obscured by the majority that is is for teenagers. It does not help that all mainstream medias and community about anime in Indonesia caters to the same teenagers demographic.
Granted, I am at least 20 years younger than you, so I am more forgiving about anime, its cliches, and its fandom (as I enter this fandom through video games)... though ironically you already views more anime than I do. I'm really, really, looking forward to have a good conversation with you.
I've flip-flopped on the idea of joining the Moe and loli haters club. I think the biggest reason is because I'm more or less "free" of Moe and Loli, as you said. After all this time, I still don't understand it, seriously, I don't understand the appeal at all. So it's very hard for me to feel anything but disinterest and creepiness when I think about it, which I don't do very often to begin with.
I was at Seattle for my vacation, and it was great. One thing I noticed about the people is that they're surprisingly nice, probably on the same level as the people here. Of course, I'm speaking from a different perspective as air travel is practically mandatory if you want to do any sort domestic or international traveling. You seem to have recovered since the time of your post.
Anyway, here's the quote:
I think it's really annoying when anime fans attack fluid animation, because then it becomes very obvious that since they're so used to stiff animation, they believe that is good animation when it's not.
In the time that I grew up with cartoons, anime was always off and on. Even if I had a decent amount of exposure to anime through syndicated TV or Cartoon Network, it never managed to have an emotional connection with me. I didn't really get into anime until 2007, which was I when I stumbled upon Azumanga Daioh (*wink wink*). It was then I started to take notice of the medium itself. Jesus on a stick at that club! I don't even know if it's supposed to be an over-sized in-joke (a rather poor attempt at that), but I think that perfectly describes the ass kissing that I have come to hate about anime fandom. If you were ask these people why are you into anime, they might respond that it's anime. I agree that it can be adults, but it would take serious effort to have it be appealing to that specific demographic. No living person in their 40's or 50's would want to watch some insipid character drama featuring a sarcastic male high school student along with his posse of mentally atrophied schoolgirls whose parents should have considered giving electroshock therapy for those little bastards. They need a protagonist that they can relate to or at least understand their psyche, motivations, etc. They want a story that's equivalent to that of a good drama whether or not it would fully take advantage of the medium. Just using circular reasoning to get people into anime or argue about its merits is not the right answer/tactic, and it never will be. Trying to ape the stereotypical anime style is not going to fix anything. Japanese animation has the same problem that is spread across Western animation: trying to combat the notion of the medium being a sub-category.
Yeah. Sarcasm is something that anyone can just pick it up and let it rip. It's funny, because your diatribe accurately describes what passes as humor on those particular forums (and video game forums truthfully). Sarcasm is good only when the recipient is asking for ridicule. Their idea of humor rides on being as ribald as possible, but it also has to do with ostracizing other users for their own entertainment. Is that the best that these people can do? Make some throwaway quips in that it's punchline consists of a terrible reference to bodily functions. Please. Vulgarity is overrated and overused to the highest degree. That's why I prefer silliness, because it's just like having a sugar rush that doesn't give you a massive headache and stomachache. When you really look closely into the belly of the beast, their wit isn't thatsharp at all. :D
Macross - You don't really have to watch every single one of them in order, as nothing is being peddled as having past experience being mandatory. I highly recommend watching the original and Plus. I haven't seen much of 7, but the only good thing I can say of it right now is Haruhiko Mikimoto's character designs. You do NOT want to watch Zero. The story is sloppy and the characters are very forgettable and bland. I've only watched up to ep. 10 of Frontier, but so far it's pretty decent. The series as a whole has always been "real robot" with its trademark quality of transforming mechs. ;)
Batman: The Animated Series - I've just started to reacquaint myself with the series. The writing is excellent, and the show has an overall sense of maturity in presenting the characters.
Arghhhhhh.....I just typed a large response to you, and then lost it all. I'll try to reconstruct as much as I can remember (GOD I hate when that happens. There's something about having to repeat myself that drives me crazy.)
Anyway, I was trying to say that I find it sobering to hear about how people in the same profession I am are doing in other parts of the world, considering I always think money is tight. I work in public welfare, and as a result I often end up encountering cases that remind me to be thankful that there's a roof over my head, and food on my table, at all.
I don't mind the use of smilies, but I agree, overuse is bothersome. They are helpful in clarifying the meaning of something that might be ambiguous in the written word (sarcasm, for example), but it's distracting to find one after every sentence. I'll tell you what really drives me up a wall, though. People who overuse the enter key when typing in chat programs such as AIM. I have two friends that I rarely speak to, because of things like:
Hey man [ENTER]
how are [ENTER]
you [ENTER]
today? :D [ENTER]
So now, I have four messages waiting for me for just a single thought, and when I get back to them, they will have multiplied into sixteen, meaning that I'll have to backscroll to figure out what's going on. I long ago disabled sounds on my chat programs, because of this. I called a friend out about this practice once, asking why she couldn't organize her thoughts better. I was told that she was too scatterbrained to do something like that. Drives me up a wall.
Perhaps I do have more in common with him than you....but who knows? The ratings system on MAL is at the whim of the person entering the score. For example, I tend to rate a show I merely liked with a '7' or an '8'. Therefore, I probably give out '9' and '10' ratings more easily than people who's average rating is around '5' or '6'. I don't tend to waste time with shows I don't like, however, so most of the items on my completed list tend to have high ratings. I only recally giving out a single '1', and I believe two '2' ratings...but in my personal opinion, these were well deserved.
I agree that Grave of the Fireflies is by no means flawless, but it has such a strong impact, that it's hard to worry about things like score, animation quality, and voice actor skill while watching it. It has an 'awe-ing' effect that makes it hard not to give it a ten. I say the same thing about Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen, which is the only one of two titles on the MAL top ten right now that I can understand what it's doing there (the other being Clannad After Story). It's nice to have shows that prove anime wasn't designed just for kids, but on the other hand, there are many highly rated shows that I feel are just for kids, because of how many teenage viewers there are out there. Not that I have a problem with that of course, but it is somethings difficult at my age to justify my love of anime to people who only know it through what they see their kids watching.
Err, no...actually, I was talking about Martian Sucessor Nadeshiko. I've never even heard of the other link you have there. Sorry for the confusion.
Tags probably are useful...anything negative I have to say about them is just an old-timer gripe. What is often forgotten about shoujo is the grey area it represents. For example, the show To Heart is listed as a harem I believe, and not shoujo. It appeals to males because of the harem aspect, but it is also a show about romantic relationships and growing up -- hallmarks of the shoujo genre. I think ten years ago, we were just happy to have anime at all to begin with, heh.
As far as I know, a member inviting him should have been enough to get him in, or so I thought. The only people that need to be "approved" are the people that specifically find the club and ask to join. Sorry I wasn't much help. But I know there are a few people in the club (including you, I think), that I never authorized into the club, so I think that other members can invite. If anyone is having issues, let me know, and I'll send an invite for you. ^__^ Of course... you know the rules... they have to be at least 30. ^__^
Handsome? Ooooh... and I bet you're modest, too, huh? ^_~
And our anime compatibility SUCKS by the way. LOL. :P
I can only sit stunned after reading your brilliant "Anime Sucks, Go Home" post.
As a 22 year old who's only been into anime for about 5 years, you put so many of my own thoughts and feelings into better words than I ever could. You must be lying when you say English isn't your first language, simply brilliant stuff you wrote there, pal.
I suppose technically you could say the first 2 times was for work and the last 3 or 4 times for play. The first two times I was in a Navy P-3 squadron out of Barber's Pt., Hawaii, that deployed there for six months at a time and the last few times I was on board an aircraft carrier that pulled in for some liberty (R&R) time. On the other hand, you could say that I was there for everytime I was there, since it was work that brought me there.
The one thing you want to watch with investigative reporters, that we have found here in the States, is that they, on occasion, in order to make themselves look good, create the news and not just report it. And if you try to curtail this, they scream that you are violating their 'freedom of the press' rights. And we won't even talk about the vultures that circle around any disaster that happens.
Well it's nice to see that it isn't just the US politicians that have oatmeal for brains. I remember when I was in Hawaii and they had a drive-by shooting happen in Honolulu. One politician immediately jumped on the anti-gun bandwagon and submitted a bill to ban certain firearms from being sold in the state, except he used specifications and not models. After looking at the qualities that he was trying to get banned. we estimated he would remove four or five models from circulation in HI. Two were single shot target pistols and the other three had an average price tag of over $1,200 each, on the open market. I don't even want to imagine what they would have cost on the black market. Needless to say, none of these firearms are the standard drive-by weapon of choice. We also figured that that politician was a closet gun supporter, since even he had to have had someone around that should have been able to point these facts out for him, so you never know about yours. He could be a 'serious' anime fan and be trying to get rid of the garbage that causes other people to ask "You watch that!?"
I suppose if manga ever got to the point where I could find what I'm looking for at a reasonable price in a used book store in Rapid City, SD, I might consider buying it, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
True, it's a harsh scale, but what it tries to do is the same thing that the Olympic judges for judged events have to go through, where the top 2 and lower 2 scores are removed and then the rest are averaged for the final score. That way you don't wind up with Nutaro and Bleak being so far ahead of the pack that nothing else has a chance to even get on the list. And I agree that the things I would want to remember in my dotage is friends, family, and books with anime a not so distant fourth. There are however scenes that are imprinted in my mind due to the intensity of the statement involved or the way it has been said. Such as this one "I've had enough. I will not allow this! I will pay you back; because forgiveness, for one like you, could never be an option." by Achika (Tenchi's teenage mom) from "Tenchi Muyo in Love" which is one of the most intense moments in the film, or simply "It's MY Turn!" by May Hopkins of "Gunsmith Cats" which is one of the most hilarious from that one. But both of those sayings are nothing unless you have the visual to go with it. "TANSTAAFL" and "Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." by Robert Heinlein don't need any visual elements to make them memorable.
Yeah, I ran into the corruption thing when I was in the Philippines towards the end of the Marco's rule. The saddest thing about the end of his rule was that the only thing that really changed from this outsiders viewpoint was that the economy went in the toilet. The first time I was over there in '79, the exchange rate was 8P to the dollar. The last time I was there in '89(?) it was almost 25P to the dollar and going up. Mexico was pretty much the same way, when I was in Southern California. Be careful when you are digging. If that guy does have skeletons in the closet, he probably wouldn't be very happy to have them see the light of day. You do realize the idea of hiring someone like Revy was a joke, right?
I assume that the Naruto poster child is not one of your friends that you acknowledge as a friend. :-) I'm going to guess that Nutaro made as big an impact over there as he did here and that most likely that candidate saw the numbers of people watching but didn't pay any attention to the demographics of those numbers. I don't know what the voting age in your country is, but I rather doubt that it includes the 14 - 16 y/o bracket. As far as Pres. Obama, the people that made the election and his rise to the White House a racial issue were the press and some of the more extremist racial groups. The candidates themselves, on all sides, bent over backwards to make sure that race and sex never entered into the equation. I have to admit that I was rather impressed with that. Unfortunately, the candidates don't control the election, the press does and they were bound and determined to make Obama's ethnic background the focal point of their views, good and bad. Damned reporters are almost as bad as lawyers in my opinion.
While I have been tempted in the past, and will probably be tempted to in the future, I probably will continue to not get or read any manga. The local library doesn't carry them, and I can't justify the expense to buy them. I can't afford to buy the books I really want to read, much less manga, right now. And I'm not one of these people that can get comfortable reading an e-book. There is just something about handling a physical book that is very comforting. Even though the power company here is pretty stable, we do occasionally have black-outs throughout the year due to lines going down or somesuch reason, and I have yet to be able to read an e-book by lantern light.
About the rating scale, yeah, I did some major digging and finally found it on an old archival disc from a long way back. No wonder I couldn't find it on any of my drives, I needed to go back another couple of years from where I was looking. As you can see, the requirements for a 10 are pretty tough, but at least the requirements for a 1 are just as harsh. I don't think I've ever run into a 1 or a 10.
Well, it depends on the job, but typically civil service employment over here pays well enough. I'll never get rich off my salary, but I make enough to maintain the lifestyle I enjoy, with my wife being able to work her self-employment at her own pace. A mob...? What, were they his employees, or did he raise up pitchforks against you in the general populace somehow? >.>;;
I don't think it's possible to avoid sloppy writing on the internet, sadly. I'm very anal about english grammar...to the point that I have to remind myself not to nitpick honest mistakes my friends make. I'm of course lenient with people who do not have english as a primary language--it's those that do have that, and are at least past middle school, that bother me. Unless you were never taught to write at all, there's no excuse for not being able to constuct and use a proper sentence in your native language, in my opinion. Short hand is for taking dictation and court stenography, which means there's no place for things like "lol", "rofl", and "bff" at all, since those aren't used for either of said purposes. I tolerate terms like that because I have no other choice on the internet, but they bother me, because I tend to sound words out. When I see "lol", my mind reads "lall", not "laugh out loud". I'd better get off my soapbox right now, because I could go on and on about that all day. Needless to say, my text messages are much longer than those of the people I send them to, heh. I don't mind smiley faces and such (I use them a bit myself), but excessive misspelling does bug me....if one's spelling is really that poor, they might want to consider writing messages in a program with a spellchecker first, and then pasting them over.
As for the Later Years club....I honestly have no idea. The only other club I'm an officer on that is invite-only is the club devoted to my RPG, but we only invite people who are playing the game. My suggestion might be to ask Chelle....it's her club, so she might know.
As far as polar opposites, from glancing at your list...you're quite right. It seems the only shows we actually agreed on were Grave of the Fireflies and Nadeshiko, the latter of which I don't think I watched past the first episode. We appear to not even be close on the others we actually share, heh. As for my friend, well...you decide. Daniel_Ellsworth is his MAL handle. Interestingly, now that I actually take a chance to look at his list, he and I seem to have more in common than I thought. I suppose we focus on different aspects of shows, perhaps.
Well again, as I say....I don't really concern myself with office politics, nor do I participate. I have my gripes about them, but I mostly brought those up because we were on the topic--I don't loose sleep over it. What other people think about me at the office is little concern of mine, unless they decide to bring it up to me directly, or if there is something wrong with my actual performance at work. I can't let trivial matters such as that bother me, because I have no intention of leaving my current job. My goal in finding a career was job stability first, even at a (reasonable) sacrifice of income. In the current economy, I consider myself extremely fortunate that I succeded, and I don't worry myself over whether or not I'll have a job tomorrow. The state will never go out of business, my position is considered "essential" (so I cannot be laid off), and I can only be fired for either gross insubordination, illegal activities, or extreme incompetence. I plan to put in 30 years, relax, and enjoy my retirement.
In response to your question, the supervisors here wouldn't say anything about office decorations unless they were disruptive or vulgar, so I doubt I'll ever be faced with that. If for some reason it did come up, however, I would give due consideration to it. If I thought the decoration in question was perhaps a bit more problematic for others than I think it is, I would probably acquiesce and remove it--there's no reason to make enemies at the office over something like that. However, if I didn't feel said supervisor was being reasonable, I would probably file a grievence. As an example, I have an action figure of Lt. Barclay from Star Trek at my desk. I've been asked about it a few times, but my reason for having it is that the executive director at my office happens to be the sister-in-law of the actor who played the part (Dwight Schultz). She was nice enough to let me see some photos of times she spent on the set, and since I like both the character, and other things the actor has done, well...there you go.
I get random friend requests from time to time. They don't really bother me as much as they seem to bother the younger crowd. Typically I'll check out the profile of the person requesting. If I have nothing at all in common with them, I'll refuse it based on the fact that we would have nothing to talk about. If I see something there we can connect on, I often just accept it and post a 'thank-you' on their profile. As far as random club requests...I'm more critical of those. Too many clubs become hard to manage for me, so I've been dropping out of several, lately. I tend to deny requests to join redundant themed clubs (a new club devoted to something MAL already has a club for), clubs with no purpose ("The anything you want to do club! Yay!"), very active clubs with hundreds of members (I can't keep up), clubs devoted to a specific MAL user ("Come be wEiRdO456atx's friend!"), or clubs devoted to anime/manga that I have never watched/read, and consequently do not appear on my list (for obvious reasons).
I agree with you....MAL isn't a popularity contest. The reason I joined the site in the first place is because I wanted somewhere that I could talk about anime at work, that wasn't blocked by my employer. A forum website such as this they don't appear to mind, as opposed to using chat or telnet software.
Can't say I've heard of the character or the show, but then....I keep my list very updated, so unless it's a title from the 90's that I forgot I saw, chances are I haven't seen it if it isn't on there. One of the great things about anime, though, is the fact that no two fans are alike. Too many people who don't understand the hobby, also tend to assume that just because two people enjoy it, they will automatically get along. There are so many different genre out there to consider. I have a close personal friend on MAL. He and I, however, connect on almost nothing...the only reason we can discuss anime at all is that there are a few choice shows (not genre -- individual shows), that we agree on -- most of the stuff he loves, I absolutely hate, yet we remain good friends.
I never use tags on MAL at all, heh. Call me a disillusioned old veteran, but when I was a teenager, shoujo anime was....shoujo. Now they've arbitrarily come up with things like 'harem', 'slice of life', etc. Progress demands that I make use of these terms, or else nobody will know what I'm talking about, but...I get somewhat bothered by all of the in-depth discussion that goes on over what 'labels' (plural) to assign to an anime. I either liked it, or I didn't.
Damn, and I thought the construction industry was cut-throat over here. Well, I'm glad it wasn't anymore serious than a broken leg, (not that a broken leg isn't serious, mind you) and that you are still alive to kick about it, you can always replace a vehicle. Sounds like you need to invest in what we use to call a "Guam Bomb" for a car. Something that gets you from "A" to "B" and back again.The only major requirement being the doors open and latch, the engine runs and the brakes work when you push on the pedal. If you don't see the road between your feet as you're driving, it's an added bonus. I suppose that if you can't prove that this guy instigated the mob that there is anything you can really do, short of hiring Revy for some "behind the scene" operations.
I know a lot of people have hard feelings about "filler" episodes, but I enjoy them. Most of the time, they are funnier than the rest of the series. The nice thing about "Kenshin" fillers was that they included all the characters from the current arc, so there was a feeling of continuity about them. Inu-yasha had the same feel about their fillers as well. The fact that the anime producers didn't follow the manga on "Kenshin" after Kyoto makes the way the series went after that come together in my mind now. Not that they weren't following the manga, since I don't read manga it doesn't make any difference, but that they didn't have the creator's feel or input for the characters thoughts and feelings about different things in the episodes.
I do like the way Firefox feels. It seems to be a little more intuitive to me which probably accounts for some of the increased speed feel to it. I also like how it is fairly easy to connect add-ons or change the look of your browser as well.
