Lone Lancer

It all started some months back when I was trying to watch an episode of "Galaxy Angel" ( A or Z? - don't remember what the season was called exactly, sorry ). I was getting close to half-way through that season before an ad started playing and then just abruptly returned me to the main menu as if I had already watched the entire episode. I went back and tried to start over again and the same thing happened. Eventually I tried watching it on another device, it still didn't work. Although I was slow to getting around to it, I finally sent the support team a complaint about it and never received any reply from them. Has anyone else been experiencing this issue?

@Otaku Gamer Wow, I was actually unaware of that. The song I always associated Static with was "Push It" ( their biggest hit I think ). @viruxx Things are always better with more MM!

@Otaku Gamer Powerman was one of my childhood favorites.

The year was 1994. When it came to video games, no title existing at the time was a bigger lightning rod of controversy than "Mortal Kombat" and "DOOM" were. DOOM was ported to a wide range of different consoles but did you know that the 3DO port was originally supposed to feature FMV cutscenes to help develop and drive the plot? I'm not making this up, it was actually on the table for a time before they were cut from the final product. To this day, there are surviving screenshots from the ultimately DOOMed bonus content that was to be included in the game. One costume was ordered, and many sources have dubbed it the "Cyberdemon" costume. If that is what the creature in the screenshots is supposed to be, then it is obvious that the crew never encountered a Cyberdemon in-game; the Cyberdemon from the game was gigantic. You could have André the Giant wearing the costume and not do the monster's in-game counterpart justice. Although the words, "worst thing to walk on two legs since the Tyrannosaurus Rex" were being used to refer to the description of the Minotaur-like 'Barons of Hell' in the game manual, Cyberdemons were the enemy type that were actually as big as a T. Rex! Also note that the costume has no exposed wiring on its belly, no missile pod on one of its arms, or a hydraulic metal goat leg. The Cyberdemon was featured on the box art of "DOOM II: Hell On Earth". Unfortunately these were never released and there was no script, so we will never know what the motivations of the characters in these following screenshots were supposed to be. The failed 3DO console itself was used as a joke in the dialogue from the anime series, "Lucky Star" - Konata explained that the 3DO was one of the punishment prizes that her father would award her if she underachieved in school placement. ( monster eating protagonist's entrails?? ) ( DOOM Slayer's love interest? ) Could there be some kind of love triangle going on here between the demon, the DOOM Slayer and the girl? Or maybe it's something even more bizarre than that...like maybe a threesome? It seems pretty obvious who the "bull" in this 3-way relationship is going to be. I guess it's no worse than anything else that passes for 'entertainment' in the Western World today though. Sources: The True Story Behind Doom 3DO's 'Missing' FMV Scenes Photos from scrapped Doom FMV are terrifying, just not in a good way EDIT: Upon writing this initially, I had not yet seen this vlog of game programmer Rebecca Heineman who had worked on this port of the game, weighing in on the backstory of the ill-fated FMV sequences. In it, she confirms that the costume was actually intended to portray the Hell Barons ( not the Cyberdemon ), which makes more sense. She mentions something about a recent article pertaining to the FMVs but never posted a direct link in the video description. Heineman has a lot of insight on the expenses that go into film making, which is useful. Below is a link to the photos from the set on Github ( apparently uploaded by Heineman herself ) : https://github.com/Olde-Skuul/doom3do/tree/master/art/set-photos It is actually a pity that we never got a version of Classic DOOM with cool live action scenes like Resident Evil had...I have seen people draw a comparison to the lost cutscenes from the original "Twisted Metal" but the difference is that those were still eventually released.

Definitely BattleBots...

Welcome to AF! I would definitely say that well composed theme music does have a way of making even the best anime even more enjoyable.

Back in the day ( circa 25 years ago )...yes. Nowadays not so much. Youtube animations don't count - and usually it's because I like the writing, not the choppy animation or art styles used. I can usually make an exception for anything done by Mike Judge or Matt Groening ( creators of "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill").

Yuru Camp is great, I cannot comment on Non Non Biyori. You think the protagonist of Kimagure Orange Road is a sleaze? That seems a bit harsh though he is sort of a punching bag for the other characters. Considering that he and his sisters had powers comparable to Samantha from "Bewitched", it is a wonder that anyone was even able to touch him. I think the way he kept his true feelings hidden for all that time was kinda pathetic to be honest. Ayukawa was good looking but very rough around the edges. They also made Ayukawa unrealistically tough like she could knock out Ronda Rousey or Brock Lesnar with minimal effort ( if she were real ). I think I would have avoided Ayukawa if I were that guy - she was trouble, and so was her younger friend with the bowl cut. I'm not saying that the girls didn't have their own endearing qualities about them, just that they would be too much trouble for me to want to deal with. Although your use of the term "corny" in regards to the soundtrack of KOR was meant to be affectionate, let's just be honest and say that it was legit. There was nothing 'trite' or 'kitschy' about the music, it was simply incredibly good - albeit the lyrics may have been a tad cliché ( there, I admit it ). Was the plot of KOR predictable? Well...yes. I can meet you on that.

Warning: Language, Mature Subject Matter

After seeing so much buzz about this anime around I decided to check it out for myself. It was very...different. I guess the thing that made the plot unusual is that there was nothing really unusual about it at all, which probably wouldn't cater to the tastes of everyone for that reason. More than being a 'slice-of-life' series, it's almost more like a 'day-in-the-life-of' type of show chronicling the everyday lives of a handful of high school students. One of the most unusual aspects of the otherwise very down-to-earth show is that Konata's teacher also happens to be a member of her online adventure party in a popular MMORPG; I can't say that I have ever heard of a real life anecdote where that this actually happened. From looking at some of the reviews on MAL, "Lucky Star" has received mixed reactions. I think it would be unfair to compare this to shows like "School Rumble" or "Arakawa Under the Bridge". Lucky Star was clearly not intended to be hysterically funny in the same sense that those other anime were intended to be. This isn't to say that it doesn't have funny moments...Konata ( short girl with blue hair ) is perceived to be lazy but is very manipulative and cunning while Kagami ( girl with pig tails ) is peevish and irritable - these two characters are the ones which largely drive the events. I noticed that there are frequent nods ( or homages ) to other manga and anime in the episodes, usually "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" ( haven't seen that one yet ). I was even surprised that one of the characters from the anime "Amagi Brilliant Park" makes a recurring cameo appearance in the background as a plushy toy. The names of some of the supporting characters in Lucky Star also seem to be intentional references to the anime/manga of "Taiho Shichauzo". My overall rating of the show is positive although I would have no idea how to rate this on a 1-10 scale. The only really negative things I have to say about the anime is that I feel that the opening theme song could have been better composed, there are other shows with worse opening themes though ( not even counting modern shows from North America ). I am a very savage critic when it comes to anything related to music...still, I think they could have put just 1% more effort into the opening song. The other thing that bothers me, is that these are all supposed to be high school students and Miyuki is about the only main character who can even pass for someone of middle school age. The other girls look so short and immature that they could all pass for grade schoolers. I like all of the characters, it's just something I cannot help noticing. In my honest opinion, I think the "Lucky Channel" segments at the very end of each episode before the credit roll are easily the funniest part of the show. Akira Kogami is always so cheery one moment and then she turns all bitter and angry the next. I didn't even realize that she was one of the main characters of another series until I read about it. A lot of the things stated about Akira's habits are oddly reminiscent of Krusty the Clown from the "Simpsons" - she doesn't look like him but she does sort of act like him. ( I have not seen any of the OVAs )

Oddly enough, I think this is probably my first ever time seeing the official video for this song when they aren't performing it live in front of a crowd.

Blechnum magellanicum Remnants from a bygone era ( The Carboniferous Age: 358.9 - 298.9 mya ) before the rise of seed-bearing plants, the group collectively referred to as 'Tree Ferns' are the world's most primitive extant trees, reproducing using spores. Information about them is more scarce than better known groups which they superficially resemble, such as trees from the family, Arecaceae - the Palm Trees. One way to get a positive ID on Tree Ferns is to ascertain whether or not the tree in question has curled croziers emerging from its crown - if the tree has them, then it is a Tree Fern. The current convention in academia apparently stipulates that only the genera Cyathea, Dicksonia, Metaxyaceae and Cibotiaceae can be considered true Tree Ferns for some reason - possibly because it is believed that the former radiated out at an earlier point in geologic time. Tree Ferns will only grow in places where moisture is abundant, typically growing as a small understory tree under the protection of a sheltered forest canopy. Blechnum, which is a more obscure genus is considered an outlier. Like the 'proper' Tree Ferns of the aforementioned genera, it too has achieved arborescent form in some species. The species Blechnum magellanicum ( aka "Lomariocycas magellanicum" or simply the "Palmilla" ) is of particular interest because it inhabits the frigid coastal forests of Chile and Argentina from Talca at 35 degrees South to the Magallanes Region and into the humid valleys of Western Argentina close to the Chilean border. The species matures at around 1.5m tall and has large arching fronds that may exceed 1.8m long. It has been grown in the UK but is unfortunately extremely rare in cultivation. It is believed based on its native habitat that it can survive temperatures as low as -11.1 degrees Celsius and possibly even well below this temperature! It is believed to be ideally suited to a cool maritime climate. Instead of planting Livistona Palms in the UK and in the American Pacific Northwest, people should start planting these instead if this data holds true. I hope that Tree Ferns as a whole start receiving more attention in the future.

You basically converted the entire student body but still have nobody to talk to about the more mature titles? Surely the higher brow anime must resonate with somebody at your school? Then again, that doesn't necessarily mean that their parents subscribe to Crunchyroll either. I guess I can imagine what that would be like. Alas, there is always more work to be done. We are getting there though...slowly but surely.