So I recently discovered Avatar: The Last Airbender and it's awesome. Sure it's a Nick cartoon (done in anime style though, so yay), but it's the most detailed, arcing story I've seen outside of anime. It's your basic "boy must learn to harness awesome powers and defeat the baddie" plot, but it has TONS of characters and groups that are introduced in one ep and pop up later. You can tell that this PTB has a detailed show bible and probably knew the outline of the show beginning to end before it even started production. Plus, almost all the characters are portrayed with depth - heroes have faults, enemies have honor, etc. I love pretty much every major and minor character, save Azula (who I think is a bit too one-dimensionally evil) and that damn evil circus girl (annoying doink, argh).

So if you like anime, especially FMA, Scrapped Princess, and anything by Miyazaki like Princess Mononoke, check it out! Same goes if you're looking for an entertaining show featuring an impressively extensive world. Nick is now showing season 3 (which will be the last) and there are rumors of full-length live movies in the works.

I hear this fandom has big shipping wars too, heh.

Someone on a forum called me out for stating that I've watched 150+ anime series and movies. He wanted to see a whole list, so I wrote one up, because I'm a crazy right brained listy type. :P

I only included series where I've watched every episode. Series that are not yet finished airing like Death Note and Code Geass were not included.

( Here it is in all its glory )

Wee! I just realized that the opening credits to most of my favorite anime series are on YouTube! (At least until copyright infringement kicks in, stupid corporations...) So I'd like to share with my flist my favorite anime opening songs of all times! Some are J-pop, some are jazz, some are heavy rock. Some are in Japanese, some are in English. All of them are fantastic! :)

(This will be an ongoing series, as I have TONS of favorites)




Series: Gunslinger Girls
About: Gun assassin cyborgs disguised as young girls and the emotional turmoil they endure.
Song genre: Rock (English, I believe the band is from Scotland of all places).

I LOVE this opening song, especially the intro and chorus. So emotional and lovely, it gives me chills.




Series: Cowboy Bebop (On my top 10 animes of all time list)
About: Ragtag group of bounty hunters bumming around the stars looking for profit. (Firefly fans will love this one!)
Song genre: Jazz/Big band (instrumental)

Hip, cool, awesome. ^_^




Series: Full Metal Alchemist, fourth opening (Also on my top 10)
About: Two boys travel their country, trying to understand the mysterious power of alchemy and fix their unspeakable mistake when they misused the power.
Song genre: Heavy rock (Japanese)

Great energy, fantastic fighting scenes starting around 1:00 (YouTube doesn't do it justice, alas)

I made these animated icons on a whim. They're from the episode "Lenalee's Love" (18) of the new anime "Dgray-man". All feature Komui, the Chief Monitor of the Order who has a massive overprotective complex for his sister, a thing for bombs and self-designed mecha, and is a major drama queen. In other words, he's the best character in the show. ;)

1. 2. 3. 4.

Please take if you want! :)

Here's the list of the favorite anime series of 2006, as listed by the posters of Anime Source. I added my thoughts to the series that I've seen so far.

25. Tsubasa Chronicle, Second Season
24. Inukami!
23. Busou Renkin
22. Negima?!
21. xxxHolic - High schooler goes to work for a mysterious madam. I've watched a few episodes, kinda slow.
20. KIBA
19. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
18. Hellsing OVA - Bad ass vampire with a big gun. Saw the series, have yet to see the OVA.
17. Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage
16. Honey and Clover II - Saw the first season, cute realistic and endearing, haven't seen the second.
15. NANA - Two girls with the same name share RL experiences. Saw a few eps, would like to see more.
14. NHK ni Youkoso!
13. Kanon
12. Black Lagoon
11. Zero no Tsukaima
10. Ergo Proxy - Future where a woman hunts a fugitive with a secret. Dark, philosophical, great SF.
9. Utawarerumono - Based on the RPG, amnesiac man unites and fights nations in a primitive setting. Interesting SF twist at the end, but the plot dragged a bit.
8. D.Gray-Man - On the docket.
7. Air Gear - On the docket
6. School Rumble Second Semester - Crazy high school anime with insane characters. So many Japanese in-jokes and homages it's easy to get lost. The first season was better, IMO.
5. Code Geass - Still airing. Young noble fights back against the Britain empire that has taken over Japan in the future. Mecha anime, lovely character designs, great plot. One of my top three!
4. Fate/Stay Night - High school boy gains powers and a fighter to take on others in a duel-like scenario. I thought it was okay, nothing exceptional.
3. Ouran High School Host Club - Cute and crazy story of a high school girl dragged into the Host Club (bishonen boys entertaining the female students) at a posh school. She's forced to pretend to be one of the guys to pay off a debt, hilarity ensues. Funny, gorgeous, and sweet. Also, features Honey-sempai! (See icon) One of my top three!
2. Death Note - High school boy stumbles upon a Death God notebook and starts using it to kill criminals and make his definition of a perfect world. His attempts go awry when the police get involved and he starts killing them as well. Classic cat and mouse setup with very complex plotlines and dark humor. One of my top three!
1. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Probably the most talked about anime last year, you either loved it or hated it. Unfortunately, I was in the latter category as I could not STAND the demanding and arrogant heroine or her crabby yet spineless hero. Also, the episodes were intentionally aired out of order, leading to a confusing ending.

Hey all, I've just made a bunch of icons from the opening sequence (first half anyway) of the Thundercats.

Preview:




( All 30 under the cut )

Okay, I think this group of anime fansubbers is acting like a bunch of wankers.

I've been d/ling a fansub of the anime Code Geass. I'm up to episode 14 and it's a great series so far. The subs have been released as .mkv files and I've been playing them on VLC player with no problems.

Today the fansubbers released episode 15 and while the video is fine there's no subtitles. I went to their website and others have posted wondering what's up with the recent change. The fansubbers respond with "VLC Player sucks, use blah blah blah player instead and xxx codec package." They apparently hate VLC Player with a passion, which is their right I guess, but it doesn't explain why the first 14 episodes played just fine on VLC.

And then someone posted about how the fansubbers have somehow altered the code (?) of the episode file to intentionally make it so VLC Player can't recognize the subtitles. So it was working fine before and then they intentionally sabotaged their release to stick it to the "VLC man" or something. And then they act all snooty and rude to all the fans who are wondering what's going on.

Wow, what a bunch of asses. Looks like I'll be waiting for another, more pro-fan fansub group to pick up this anime.

I'm currently watching Thundercats. What a wonderful bit of nostalgia that is. Cheetara was my favorite, of course, and when I grew up I wanted to be just like her with the bo staff and running with light trails behind me and everything. Heh.

But damn, the series has 130 episodes?! This may take some time...

( Late thoughts on BSG's third ep )

On the anime front I finished Ouran High School Host Club (LOVED it!), Ergo Proxy (yet another confusing anime ending), and the second season of School Rumble (probably going to dump this show - it's too slow and campy). Now I'm watching Kemonozume (man who fights monsters falls for a woman who's a monster), Pumpkin Scissors (FMA-ish wartime anime), and I may check out Le Chevalier D'Eon (historical anime set in France). I was starting to watch Noein, but I've been told to cut that right out as the anime club is going to play that series next. The fansub for the final few eps of Eureka 7 is FINALLY up, so I think I'll finish that series. That's a great show.

And bf has successfully defended his thesis! Just call him...Dr. bf. Which sounds eerily like Dr. Girlfriend from Venture Bros, heh.

So I'm currently watching an anime titled "Princess Tutu". It's background is in fantasy/fairy tales and the protagonist is a...duck. Who was turned into a girl by the author of a fairy tale in order to save a prince. The girl is taking ballet lessions at a school while trying to help her prince. And the instructor of the ballet class is...



a giant cat. Who walks on hind legs and talks. An there's a running gag in the show that whenever one of the girls does something wrong, he always threatens them with...marriage.



Complete with scary aura around the cat and off-pitch wedding music.

I love this anime! :) :)


In other news, the bf and I went to a farm this weekend and picked the hugest raspberries I've ever seen plus about 7 pounds of Concord grapes. The grapes were so ripe that you could smell that characteristic sweet and musky grape juice smell when you were next to the vines. Lovely. I'm now in the process of making grape juice, and I'll report how it goes! :)