Orius

Speaking of Clannad... [spoiler=The Place Where Wishes Come True II]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZxVc7_SufY This one is more effective for me when watching the anime, particularly during the end of the Fuko arc, when Okazaki and Nagisa remember Fuko (it's at 0:53 of the video). Then there's this: [spoiler=Shining in the Sky (Vocal Version)]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVEC6QxPlTU I actually prefer the vocal version of Shining in the Sky, but that's just me. Aside from Clannad, what I really want to post about is the theme songs of Hourou Musuko, an anime of which its story already tugs at your heart, albeit in a more lighthearted manner: [spoiler=Itsudatte]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQbATlvdD1A [spoiler=For You]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJGB2r0Wy14 When a song starts with "I wanna cry for you", you know there's going to be tears. But honestly, both the OP and ED exuberates more innocence than melancholy. Unlike Clannad, that reminds you just how depressing everything is, I feel Hourou Musuko and its themes are trying to show the guileless and childlike nature of those characters in spite of the mature theme of cross-dressing being the focus. There's just something very emotional when kids are exposed to adult themes like these, but ignore all the drama and conflict that comes with cross-dressing prejudice and just play around in their own innocent little closed bubble. It's heartwarming, and I feel like that OP and ED portray this feeling very well, especially the ED. [spoiler=Digimon Adventure - Kanashimi]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkw-iUFtUx4 Before Clannad came along, in my childhood, Digimon Adventure really ripped my heart out with this scene. Even watching it today as an adult, I still get a bit teary. :'( Little did my 7 year old self know, there were more deaths and hardships to come.

Actually, now that you mention it, I could've sworn I've seen characters in anime referring to American animation as "American anime" in Japanese. Could be wrong, but still, something to think about.

Why not? Chicken often tastes good. Now for a really local dish, Hainanese roasted chicken rice!

Totally, yes. That Tsuki remake is dragging along like a fat corpse with an anchor tied to its deformed lipoedema leg. lol I'm just waiting for the Fate/hollow ataraxia voiced remake that might occur... never. Anyway, the Tsuki remake should be awesome. Type-Moon VNs have always been of high quality, and I loved Fate/Stay Night Réalta Nua. Can't wait. :3

galactic sheep disciples dedicated to

business across all galaxies, earning

grill some juicy chicken! The

his own army of kaiju

and Kentucky in a negative

I agree strongly, which is why I want to commit to this cause only when I have ample time and my full attention on writing the post. lol I'm a bit tied up with my visual novels right now, however.

who dare to speak of

shearing its precious sparkling fur

McDonald's evil reign over all

returns urn to galactic sheep

having performed the sacred ritual

the harsh reality of society

animatronic weeaboos squealing broken Japanese

Five Nights at Freddy's fanatics

into the sacred ashes of

At the homepage of MyAnimeList, click "Panel Settings". You should be at this screen: Look for the "My Signature" button. Click on it. After that, look for a section called Signature Code. Below it, there should be a description that says, "Copy and paste the below code into any forum signature area." Copy the entire text beneath it and paste it into your signature in this forum. Tada! Be aware that there's a very annoying problem with the MAL signature. It sometimes won't update correctly, even though you've updated your anime list (for example, I've already finished episode 17 of my Steins;Gate rewatch, but my signature still says the latest episode I watched was 14). What I did is by clicking the "submit" button at the bottom of the "My Signature" page, and then hit refresh. Usually, your browser would confirm if you want to resubmit. Just ignore the warning and click yes. I found that 7 out of 10 times, the signature would update. The update will NOT appear in the "My Signature" page, however, but it should appear in your AF signature where you pasted the code. It's a little complicated, so feel free to ask questions if you run into problems. I find it frustrating that the MAL coders haven't fixed this major issue yet.

shower the potatoes with milk

Nice that you mention Twelve Kingdoms. That anime was appallingly underrated. When I first saw it, I dismissed it as just another boring fantasy anime set in medieval times, but after I began watching it, phew! What a blast that show was. Such fantastic characters that kept me on edge. It exemplified some of the best character-writing you could find among anime. As for me, however, my favorite "epic" anime would still have to be Berserk. Berserk just did so many things right. For starters, if you want to talk big, Berserk's prologue can almost be said to be three movies in length. Yes, I'm referring to "The Golden Age" arc, as that felt like one huge introduction to Guts and the other characters that it almost felt like a prelude to the real story that comes after. The titular "berserk" armor doesn't even come till later! In the manga even! (till they finally adapted the rest of the manga into anime recently, of course... albeit poorly adapted, from what I heard) Then there's Griffith, such a complex villain that I don't know whether to pity or hate. He strives for perfection, but much like the proverbial Lucifer, he falls from grace. Due to this fact, I feel he makes a perfect antagonist to Guts, who externally looks like an a-hole, but is a good person inside as opposed to Griffith's "graceful" appearance. And Guts, the misery-sponge with the iconic big-ass dragonslayer. There's usually something badass about hard-boiled heroes with a life full of miseries, but god, Guts makes all the others look like the characters of Beverly Cleary! He was raped as a child, forced to witness his love being raped by his best friend, and is then cursed to being pursued by demons for all eternity 24/7. If that's not bad enough, let's take away his arm as well, and give him an armor that makes him much more angrier than he already is from all the suffering he has, making him an insane berserker that would make Wolverine pale in comparison. "Misery-sponge" is right. lol Berserk also deconstructed A LOT of fantasy tropes till it looked more like a bleak dytopian fiction, especially the badass hero trope. He might be badass, yes, but he's also f-ing miserable as the hero, not exactly the type of shining hero you'd see back in the day when dark fantasy wasn't as common among anime and manga. Finally, thanks to the anime adaptations, we have badass versions of the Golden Age arc with such epic soundtracks that could rival The Lord of the Rings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrOliVhbBo8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkYYYew8CUI HAI YAI FORCES! HAI YAI FORCES!

See, this is the main statement that I have a problem with, because it's not an objective statement, I think. For me, the word "anime" is merely the Japanese slang for animation. It's like saying Royale with Cheese isn't a Quarter Pounder. Nope, it's a Quarter Pounder, but under a different name in another region. Or how a flat is called an apartment in America. Or how bread is called mien bao in Chinese. To be clear, this is merely a conjecture of mine. I'm not an expert, so I might be wrong about the origin of the term for all I know. lol It does sound like just a slang version of the word, "animation" to me, however. But it's like you said, your opinion is as valid as mine. Interesting enough, this isn't exactly the same as asking whether if anime are cartoons or not. In spite of people using "cartoons" as a derogatory term to mock childish animation, there are actually a lot of people who use "cartoons" as an off-hand description for animation without any negative undertone, so the whole "anime is cartoon" semantics isn't as big of an issue, and I feel it's more pointless discussing that. With "genre" and "medium", however, as I've described in my last post the significance of the difference, it has a bigger difference in meaning depending on which term you use, so it does raise bigger concerns beyond mere semantics. But on the other hand, even if it's a problematic dilemma deciding what anime is between genre and medium, I still feel like it matters as little as the "is anime cartoon" issue, because at the end of the day, we're just going to stick with what we prefer most. I could understand the sentiment of wanting to call anime a genre so that it feels more like its own style (like rock music) rather than just a boring empty medium like every other animation, I really do. But I'd still call it a medium at the end of the day. lol For what it's worth, it at least provides us with perspectives, if nothing else.

legion of french fries army

This song is stuck in my head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K70Sw56HhYQ I love this ED from "Welcome to NHK". It sounds lighthearted, yet it bears a tinge of melancholy, like it's trying to comfort you that tomorrow will be better than today. Emotional.