Anime: 399 DVDs
Manga: 39 volumes
Anime Soundtrack List (13 CDs):
ARJUNA into the another world
Escaflowne The Movie
Fiction
Madlax O.S.T.
Madlax O.S.T. 2
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Noein
Please Teacher!
Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain Cyberia Mix
Someday's Dreamers
Starship Operators
Tsukihime - Moonlit archives
Tsukihime - Moonlit Memoirs
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I've been fascinated by animation for as long as I can remember. I have little artistic talent of my own, so I'm in awe of anyone who can draw well; to then realize that a series of drawings can be combined to create a moving image has always been totally mind-boggling to me. I hope that I never lose the sheer sense of wonder I feel whenever I watch an animated show.
My first exposure to anime from Japan dates back to the 1960's and the original black & white episodes of Tezuka's Astro Boy. One of our TV stations would often feature them on a popular, locally produced after-school show that it broadcast every school day afternoon... I have memories of breathlessly running home from school so as to not miss the start of the latest Astro Boy episode!
There was really no chance to experience any additional anime after that until cable TV finally made its way to our small rural community. I vaguely remember watching a Vampire Hunter D movie many years ago, and then later an occasional episode or two from various Gundam series, but nothing really caught my attention until Adult Swim started heavily promoting a new show they were about to introduce: InuYasha.
So I was watching when the first episode of InuYasha was shown on Adult Swim in August of 2002, and I was quickly hooked. I started watching whatever anime series they showed before or after InuYasha as well.
These days, however, I watch anime primarily on DVD. It seems to be a near-perfect format: good video & audio quality, uncut, and with Japanese, English, and subtitle tracks available all in one source. This is particularly important to me, because I enjoy watching anime both in Japanese with English subtitles, and in dubbed English. Subs and dubs each have different advantages and disadvantages for a viewer, so choosing one over the other just seems silly and unnecessarily limiting. I do watch an occasional show on legal streaming sites such as Hulu, but it's not my preferred way of watching as my Internet connection is not especially fast.
I prefer to acquire my anime legally, so I don't download fansubs. I vote with my dollars in favor of anime continuing to be a commercially successful art form.
I'm not interested in seeing how many different shows I can watch. I would much rather have 100 shows that I like enough to watch repeatedly, than 500 shows that I would only watch once.
When I'm not watching anime, I hang out over on BoardGameGeek pretending to be an expert on various boardgames. If you are interested in boardgames or card games that are anime-related, check out the discussions at this link:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/tag/anime/user/richfam
For discussions of Japanese boardgames in general, see:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/tag/japan/user/richfam
All Comments (50) Comments
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I think the ending of Madoka will be something that takes everyone by surprise. They have already done a lot of stuff that's relatively new for Magical Girl series, like presenting the characters as rivals instead of as allies.
Personally, Kyoko, the new girl, is my favorite. She has a sort of cynicism to her that's different from the starry-eyed "I'm going to save everyone" mindset that Madoka has and the self-sacrificing idealism that Sayaka has.
Madoka's character design is actually done by the same person that did Hidamari Sketch.
Princess Tutu was an interesting magical girl anime. There wasn't really fighting. It was all resolved by dance-off to express feelings. The ending... kinda made me mad and sad at the same time.
I can't wait for next week's stream!
In the mean time, I'm trying to watch Durarara. It's supposed to be a "spiritual sequel" to Baccano. I like Durarara better than Baccano because I have no difficulty understanding what's going on.
Soul Eater was one I wasn't sure I'd like because it's a highly popular show and all of the obnoxious kids who watch it always come dressed as Death the Kid to the convention. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a pretty good show (though the manga is better because it resolves more).
I think after I finish this disc, I'm going to try to finish the second disc of Welcome to N.H.K. Either that or watch part 3 of Fairy Tail. I am still not sure how I feel about Welcome to NHK. I feel like I should see it as some kind of "work of genius", but it actually kinda makes me feel uncomfortable for the guy. And then I get depressed.
I have been watching Welcome to NHK, and... I'll probably watch it once and then sell it. I'm really not impressed with it. It depresses me!
Alice's voice tended to get kinda hammy at times. Well, okay, everyone did. I liked her Japanese voice a little more. However, I did like Oland's English voice for the most part. I think he's my favorite character, although the rest of Section 3 (Stecchin, Oreldo, and Machs, and Omniscent Old Guy Hunks) are fun, too. I wish Stecchin had a little more time to develop, too. She seemed like a character with potential. She's probably more developed in the manga, but we may never get more than the first five volumes to find out! (weep weep!)
I just finished watching the Hetalia movie and the third series of Hetalia. The movie was...interesting. I would have liked it more if they'd not used some of the Axis Powers episodes as "filler" to pad the movie out to feature length, though.
To be honest, I skipped most of Alice's duel at the end of Pumpkin Scissors. She's really not my favorite character, and the duel goes on way too long. I did like Alice's family, though. Elly and Soli could have used more fleshing out, but given their short amount of screentime in the series (and in the manga), they did a good job of illustrating the family bonds between the three sisters.
It would have been nice had Oland's duel and events leading up to it been a little less cowardly, too. As the series progressed be became more hesitant (maybe because of his encounter with 908?) about fighting. I guess that's the Heroic Blue Screen of Death going into effect, though. Still, the duel with the flail guy was better in the manga. Also, how the hell did the flail guy hide that thing under his clothes? I mean, the machete guy made sense, the weapon is flat and he's tall enough to hide it under his coat. The flail...not so much.
And thanks for the recommendations! ^_^
At least they're realistic about the risks they're taking by performing on stage. So many series downplay the risks that the protagonist actually faces.
I hope there's an SAVE edition for Soul Eater and Fairy Tail (though I am buying the combo pack of Fairy Tail because the preorder price is pretty good at the moment). I wonder when we're going to get Black Butler II, though. I need more Grell!
I had to hunt high and low for the Trigun movie by the end of the convention. All the other vendors but one (who is a really nice old guy - just a little pricey) were out by Sunday.
I'm through the second ep of Kaleido Star now. I'm still not liking Layla, but since she's a main character I doubt she'll fall screaming to her doom in the middle of her Golden Phoenix, so I guess I'll just have to refuse to acknowledge her until she does something that redeems herself for being such a bi-..tter woman.
Right now, I'm trying to watch all the new stuff I've bought plus what I have en-queued in Netflix. I started watching Soul Eater, which is better than I expected it to be. I also have to get back to Kaleido Star, and I bought a ton of stuff at the convention. Code Geass looked really interesting, so I picked up the first season of that. I also have the Trigun movie, the Hetalia movie, and Yozokura Quartet. I really should update my queue on this site.