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how have you gotten rid of the 'tags' column on your anime list?
teach me this witchcraft.

Thought of a couple more: the Armitage III OVA (not the movie compilation, nor the ignorable sequel movie), a Blade Runner-esque cyberpunk anime; and maybe Shirow's Black Magic M66 OVA. Both short but good.

I shall leave you be. For now :P

Fuma Conspiracy is a great film. The fluidity of the animation makes me wonder whether I'd have enjoyed the TV movies more had they been made with a similar budget. Also, Toshio Furukawa!

thx for the compliment- it was a screen shot XD

i didn't think about watching the movies- a lot of those old sci-fi series are like that- i love the first galaxy express 999 movie- & it sure beats tracking down the 113 episode tv run! ... yea, i think i might do that ^_^

so what have you been watching??

Thanks for the tip ^^ Most people think I'm crazy for usually holding out to watch the originals first, but I feel I get more enjoyment from them that way. I've been waiting to start mobile suit gundam, because I'm holding onto the illusion that I can find the second disk for rent thru netflix. Of course it's not online anywhere & I'm too stubborn to skip it. Also I'm not sure I like it enough to buy it. I'm dying to watch the later ones though. grr. x|

Just so we can continue this conversation on our profiles, I'm gonna post what I PMed you. No worries if you don't have time/can't be arsed to reply - I won't bug you again. Honest. :D

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Before getting into anything else, I want to link you to a good deal for the first 9 episodes of Code Geass. Like Manga are doing with Death Note, Bandai released Code Geass in 3x 2 disc sets. The difference is that, where as Manga's releases are on the cheap side, Bandai's are actually very nice - you get two standard DVD cases (what you'd get if you picked them up separate) and a slipcover. That means, if you so wish, you could remove the slipcovers and trick people into thinking you paid for all 6 volumes.

Link: http://www.playusa.com/DVD/Region_1/3-/5855821/-/Product.html

I'm not going to go on about Code Geass because I've already recommended it, but you should go for the first set at that price because the chances are very high that you'll like it since you like Death Note. On the Death Note page on MAL, I think it has something silly like 160 different recommendations.

I'm always on a "downer" - it's kinda hard not to be when you're depressed and nothing changes each day. The thing, is I try not to act too pathetic/depressed on forums because A) I'd look weak and B) I'd get ignored. There ain't much point acting natural, going on forever about my life to people who don't care, so I figured I should just put on a front in order to be liked better. My ingenious plan has clearly worked very well over the course of my internet life. I only 'open up' when talking 1-to-1.

And, if I recall right, you didn't live by your philosophy back when you argued like cat and dog with CG. :P

I no longer expect to see anything original anymore. That's the main reason I feel so empty when getting into anything 'new.' Death Note, although not exactly being original, gave me something I hadn't felt before - I sense of involvement so strong that I could put myself in the shoes of the DN characters and think 'what would I do here?' But there hasn't been anything since then that's made me feel that way. I've enjoyed a lot of stories, sure, but never felt like I was experiencing something for the first time.

Right now I'm watching (LotGH) and reading (Maison Ikkoku) stuff from the 80's, but I have this 'been there, done that' feel. LotGH is great in every sense, and as epic as they come (without being silly), but I've seen the political intrigue already in Berserk, I've seen Reinhard's 'corrupted by power, stray from original naive goals' character before and I've seen more spaceships in the past then I'd like to remember. And as for Maison Ikkoku, the rom-com that inspired the likes of Love Hina, I've seen it done better...ironically enough, Love Hina being the series to better it. Whether I go back in time or look forward, there's near to nothing that can kill my sense of emptiness.

Maybe part of growing up is growing bored with life. Maybe all adults hit a wall at some point, losing every remnant of the love for the world they felt when they were that kid who tore the wrapping of their presents at Christmas with a smile. I'm guessing not because there are some adults who are still able to enjoy kiddy rubbish, but it's what I'd like to think - that my distaste for life in general isn't just something to do with me. If it is just me, like I believe, then that must mean that I can't exist with others, and it isn't as if I can knock on God's door and ask to have a new life.

The above paragraph leads me on to Sky Crawlers...or rather, the supposed message the film carries. The film is supposed to be aimed at otaku who use anime/manga to forget everything else, never truly growing up and remaining disconnected from the world. Everyone is disconnected to a certain extent - there are just too many people in the world - but otaku often take that further by becoming reclusive. Does the blame lie with anime/manga or the person? That's hard to answer. I'd say a loser is a loser no matter what, but it's true that anime/manga helps make people disconnected with reality feel better, allowing such people to fall into the trap of not thinking at all about what matters and only the here and now.

...sorry, got a little carried away there. It's a bad habit of mine to go on like that. When it comes to messaging on MAL, it's if a switch in my head turns on and I can only handle lengthy messages.

Anyway. I was probably slightly wrong to say that the power didn't change Light at all. I think all of us lose what's left of our humanity when/if we take the life of another human being. Once we climb over that invisible wall, thinking nothing of ending the life of another, I'd imagine a person becomes something less than human...or, depending on your view point, something more since killers are able to do easily what 'normal' people cannot. But in the case of Light, I think he had very little humanity to begin with and only needed a small push to make him into a cold-blooded killer. Whether he was born that way or not is hard to say without seeing him as a child, but what's certain is that his intelligence put distance between himself and others, making him grow cold.

In the case of Light, I'll always think of it as freedom giving him him what he wanted rather than power destroying him. The ultimate freedom, which is restricted in nearly every part of the world at birth by law, is the ability to kill others without being punished. Men created laws that restrict freedom because, by our nature, we desire power more than anything - the power to create, the power to destroy, the power to rule. Without laws mankind would destroy itself because of how humans are. It's rather ironic that power over others was what was required to stop others abusing power...

I was surprised by your last paragraph. I remember you saying you'd moved into a flat awhile back, so I wasn't expecting you to reveal your plans to open your very own shop. I'm not going to pretend I know sod all about business - I'm a dumbass - but why are you opening a shop when no-one is buying anything in stores? It's hard even for well known businesses to survive, let alone a new book shop. And, since you'll probably make sure you have a manga section, your prpfits will most likely be hurt even more by you trying to sell something 'nerdy.' But, regardless of if your doomed to fail or not, it's great that you have ambition and are trying to something with your life - I wish I could say the same.

I knew what you were saying -- that I wouldn't like it if someone did the same to me. In short, you telling me to stop being a prick. However, since I am in fact an erect penis in human form, I ignored what was between the lines and called your bluff. It would've been semi-interesting to read how I'm seen from the eyes of someone else.

I don't argue with people to change their views. I argue with them in an attempt to prove them wrong. It really doesn't matter to me what I see as an illusion thinks, just like it doesn't matter how an illusion feels. There's just a part of me that feels the need to prove myself; prove I'm smarter than at least someone, even if it's on the internet. It's meaningless because it does nothing for me but I do it anyway.

As for depression, I can't remember a happy time in my life aside from when I was naive about the world and was able to view everything in a bright light -- when I was a moronic brat. Part of why I regard Final Fantasy VII so highly is because when I played that I felt...alive and enjoyed it a lot more than I enjoy doing anything these days.

I've never had much interest in seeing what started the chain of copying. For example, I have most of the old Final Fantasy games but have never felt any desire to play them. Back when they first came out they were great, but they came out during a period where RPGs weren't expected to have high quality stories and it's hard to play them as a result in this day and age. The newer Final Fantasy games stole the gameplay of the older games but the newer games also made vast improvements to every other aspect. It works the same way with anime...for me at least.

It's been said by someone (fuck knows who) that every story has already been told in one form or another, so the only way to be original these days is to copy an idea and add in new elements. Code Geass is an example of this -- it took Light's character, changed him a little, put him in different world to ours and let the intelligence of Death Note work in a more fictional, mecha setting. It also mixed a serious core together with slice of life school stuff, romance and comedy.

Switching the focus to Death Note, it's too bad you didn't buy the manga box set back when I was screaming about TBD selling it for £39. It's now £62-66. I've read the books and re-read them since owning them, as well as typing up an endless review for the set. If you buy the manga now then you'd have to pay around £5 per book whatever you do.

The one Death Note book you should buy is volume 13. That volume is an extra book, full of interviews and lots of other things, such as character profiles. The interviews are very interesting and give readers an understanding of how the manga was made and what the creators are like. I learned that the author only had up to chapter 3 planned when he started, that the artist did what he wanted and that the two only ever met each other once when they worked on it. Reading the book made me unsure if the author is a genius or the most lucky idiot ever -- he answered many questions with stupid answers.

Anyway, even if you don't want to read the first half (up to Ladies night) you should at the very least read the last half of the story. You'll be impressed by how much Madhouse cut and the great job they did in order to keep DN from becoming slow and boring. They really did cut a huge amount, even removing a sidestory where Mello blackmailed the president of America. And, even if you don't want to read the full second half, you REALLY should read chapter 107 in order to see the proper Death Note ending -- Madhouse changed the end of the ending for the worse.

I find that the real issue people have with Death Note is the fans. Many of the fans actually agree with what Kira, the worst fictional mass murderer ever, did. Lots of Death Note fans weren't happy with how the series ended simply because they agreed with what Light was doing. It was pointed out by Light at the start of the story, when he told Ryuk that people would lie if asked if they thought if it was right to kill another human, and those are the sort of people who have difficulty with Death Note. Since the author stayed neutral for the most part and just told a story, it was left up to the viewers to decide who was evil, and a lot of people say they would've done the same as Light if a notebook fell into their lap.

About power corrupting Light, he was the same person before he got the notebook -- he simply hadn't shown his real self. The ability to use the power of the Gods simply allowed him to live freely the first time; free the chains of human society.
Light's one of the most interesting, thought provoking characters ever created. He was perfect in just about every respect, from looks to brains, and it was that perfection that caused him to be distant from everyone else. He said at the start he wanted to create a perfect world for others but, in reality, all he ever wanted to do was create a world he ruled over. Sociopaths always make for the best characters because they think only inward and care about no-one other than themselves -- they think of other humans as pawns; as lesser beings, not viewing them as worth anything. While the idea of creating a world free of crime, using murder to do it, wasn't truly wrong, Light becoming the God of a crime free world would've been wrong. In Light's mind, he was right to use notebook because he was God, and everyone else wasn't because they were lesser lifeforms and would eventually need to be killed. He was a scary guy.

In any event, I hope you continue enjoying the show. The plot becomes a little forced towards the end, and two things happen to force the story to the conclusion the author selected, but the anime stays thrilling until the final few minutes. You'll probably enjoy episode 29 (or was it 30?) -- the one titled "Father."