Blue Dragon

Ooooh that looks so cool! I'm right in the middle of helping judge a comic contest , but I want to check it out! When I get a chance (which will probably be a while...maybe Feb or Mar,) I want to give it a go Pixel art is so much harder than people think. I just made a little crap sprite using Setzer as a base (for my own stuff as a joke for my readers,) but it took soooo long and it looked horrible when I was done. I was astonished how long it took, and it was just a tiny character. I can't imagine how long it took to make the ones you posted...or a whole game! And they could tell (the ones who played FFVI) right away where I got the shape XD So kudos to you having the patience and the skill to make those images. They really are creepy o_O

@efaardvark Do you ever listen to Uriah Heap or Rick Wakeman? Just being nosy. This song reminds me of if New Order, The Cure, and Echo and the Bunnyman had baby.

The CGI thing is something I didn't think of...but if it did have the level of skill Advent Children, then I'd enjoy the way it looks (I have a love hate with the film: I liked some aspects of it, but there was other stuff I didn't like. Overall, it was enjoyable.) I'd expect to story to be done pretty well :3

I love this band :3

^This. 100% agree. I hope I don't come off as being anti-tech. I very obviously enjoy and appreciate much of it. I just don't like tech being evasive...and I tend to trust companies even less than the gov. because they more or less tend to have the most lobbyists and loudest voices. Kinda off topic, so I'm gonna spoiler this: In other news, apparently we've figured out how to make smaller particle accelerators, which is great since the old ones are so large they're like miles long. Smaller ones means easier access for researchers. I'm not sure the implications of all this, but one person mentioned (and I don't know if it's true,) that some of these could possibly be used to help combat cancer, as the smaller accelerator would make it easier to target specific cells. It supposedly fits on a small chip and was designed by a computer. Or it could just be used to make black holes (I don't know if that's true or not either: I'm more into biology and ecology than physics.) This is still relevant to the thread! The computer was programmed to reverse engineer what the researchers/scientists wanted, and was able to design a chip that could be built. It basically created a design that people have been unable to create or come up with on their own (at least, in time since accelerators have been invented.) That...just boggles my mind. It's crazy how fast technology is moving! It's like we're living in a time that parallels the Industrial Revolution, only it's a technological revolution. Tech is moving much faster than most of us (me) can even fathom o_O

Holy crap! I think this one's my favorite. It's so creepy! Love your work. Pixel art is hard!

I wouldn't think of you as a beginner. You definitely show skill, especially with how well you add value. If anything, I'd say you were at least intermediate :3 I think you're going in the right direction. I subbed to your channel, as I like to watch other artists when I work Thanks for sharing your work! I'd keep working on silhouettes and backgrounds. It's something I personally struggle with, and figure it's good advice to pass on :3 But, yeah, I really like your style! Man! I love Mark Crilley, but I've never heard of MikeMega. Thank you for sharing that! I'm always looking for good videos to help improve. He looks really entertaining!

XD I do need to see that movie. I keep trying to avoid spoilers. Luckily, most of the people I associate with haven't seen it, or don't care to discuss it. I find it curious that people don't want to be tracked by a government (myself included,) but are more than willing to allow companies and businesses to track them--and even eagerly sign up for it (myself included, in some cases. I'm not saying I'm above any of this.) But...I guess I'm digressing from the show and the thread... I do want to comment that I like how much time and thought they put into the music. I don't think I like it quite as well as the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack (I just love the Seatbelts and Yoko Kano,) but they were very well written! I could definitely see myself listening to some of these songs outside of the show :3 The interesting thing is that many of the musicians who wrote for the show agreed to work with Watanabe because they liked either Bebop or Samurai Champloo :3 I thought that was really cool!

I don't have a top five, but I'd like to add the concept of "filler." Some people like it, because it gives them something to watch while waiting for the story, or they might think it adds the characters and their personalities. Others hate it because it doesn't progress the plot and or it is really not even referenced later in the series. I can give or take it. If it's fun, I'll enjoy it. Or if it does give insight into the characters, that's cool. If it's just Oh, and the obligatory beach episode. This may fall under the "fan service" umbrella, though XD

I'm gonna leave mine here, too. I don't really tweet personal stuff. Mostly I share indie comics or art stuff I like, updates to my own stuff, and the like. And then I go silent for like weeks because I forget about Twitter XD @ceruleangraphic

Wow! I finished it up, too, and boy...I think it was pretty good I had the benefit of being at a panel where Watanabe talked about the show. What I found interesting, is that while there is the message that seems to be so central, Watanabe himself said the most important part C&T was the music and producing music. Having said that, he made these comments at the panel before the show aired, and having watched it...I dunno. He said the politics wasn't the main focus, but it did become very important to the end, I feel. It's interesting to say at the very least, how the creator may feel one way, but the viewers another XD I tend to agree that the politics was more in one's face than what he thought it would be. But...holy crap! As a HUGE music fan, I just loved the little nods to old school music, and the producer being an *ss XD At least they didn't go with a Phil Specter copy for their producer XD Ooof...that'd have been bad...but I just loved the times they brought up The Beatles and their relationship with George Martin :3 I am a huge Beatles fan (uh..I mean HUGE) so I loved that they brought them up. I wonder...maybe it's just me, but I feel the show was making commentary on how we're letting AI become more and more pervasive in our life. No one ever came straight out and said it was bad...but *without giving spoilers* all the problems, from Ertegun to Angela, to Tuesday's Mother...every real problem stemmed from relying too much on AI. It's funny, because I think they did a good job of showing how important it was to society, such as with Desmond (I'm curious if he was inspired by Peter Gabriel? Not sure)--his life really depended on it--but also how many avoidable problems the AI (and tech in general) caused. Maybe I'm reading too much into it XD I am HIGHLY skeptical of things like Alexa and even my phone. I mean, to me it's really creepy how I can have a conversation about something with the phone around, and then when I pull up the Internet on my phone, it's somehow giving me ads about what I was talking about o_O That...creeps me the f*ck out XD I'm curious what other people think of this.

I used to listen to The Byrds a lot growing up...and now I'm going back This song is so beautiful. It shows they can do more than just remake Dylan songs XD (Of course they could, even without David Crosby, whose music I really enjoy also.)

OOOh wow! That's super cool! *o* Man, my dudefriend would maybe like that! I...may look into getting that for him for h is birthday :3 (I already got Christmas covered XD) Thanks for sharing that!

I prefer a paperback or hardback to a tablet or computer (I don't read novels on the desktop or laptop...I just can't get comfortable!) I liked the idea of the tablet, but 1) had problems downloading books, 2) got headaches from trying to read them (even with light adjustments, 3) get annoyed with the touch pad. I also like to write notes in some of my books. If it's particularly engaging, or something I want to look for and reference later, I might underline a sentence or write notes in the margins. Not every book, but certain ones make me do that XD I know that drives some people nuts, but I just got into this habit in school and college. I think a lot of it has to do with how I learn...I like to write things out so I can remember it :3 I also like the feel of books...and sometimes the smell. But I have had the issue of little space, so we've been taking a lot of our books in (that I haven't scrawled over) and trading them in for cash...gotta downsize.

^^This! Did you know it was based off I think one chapter of a much larger work? I really want to read the book

Okay thanks for letting me know! You should share them so we can see once they get done. :3 It'll be cool to see what they come up with

I second what the others are saying :3 I love black and white comics! And it's not just manga :3 The cool thing about black and white is you could combine your contrast with screentones, or you could rely solely/predominately on ink. Like...the artist who did Blame and Noise use only ink techniques. Or like Junji Ito, he uses mad crazy ink skills! Charles Addams, Edward Gorey, David Small, and many other western artists use grey scale, too Gorey's more into the ink techniques, while Addams & Small used a lot of washes.

....I don't think this is it, but was there any video taping involved? Like I was thinking Millennium Actress.... Or maybe In This Corner of the World? Does this look familiar? *side note, was it too long ago to check your browser history? Or did you already think of that?

Take aaaaaaaallll of this with a grain of salt, because it may not be accurate. I was just trying to get a basic idea of pay in Japan. I am not certain how accurate these are, but if anyone else has legit sources, please correct me! I'm certainly not an authority on this. Cost of living in Japan: 17.99% higher than the US (this varies, they're using averages for both countries.) https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Japan I couldn't find what a reasonable amount for weekly food expenses would be. US to Yen conversion: $300 is approx. 32,763.40/month https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?From=USD&To=JPY Typical salary (again, this is I guess an average.) According this website the average salary is 684,471/month http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?loc=107&loctype=1 684,487-32,763= 651,724 That's a pretty wide gap, if these numbers are accurate.

I like it all :3 As long as the dubbing isn't terrible. If it's bad...it can still be okay if it's so bad it's funny XD I lost some hearing when I was a kid...and probably even more from going to concerts, but I always have the subtitles on even if it's dubbed or a just a show in English. Sometimes I like the voice actors in one better than the other, so I guess it just depends

I couldn't really put in my full answers for some of them, so I guess I'll go into more detail here. (I wanted to chose several genres XD) 1) If I had to choose, Cowboy Bebop. I can (and have) watched this over and over. Full Metal Alchemist is another, but it's longer, and there's two series, so I decided not to pick that one 2) Fluid animation; fantastic character development and design; phenomenal sound track; good combo of comedy, drama, and action; solid story and world building. 3) Action, adventure, comedy, fantasy, magic, supernatural, horror, mystery, psychological, & sci-fi. 4) I actually watch less than a day. Even when I was heavy into anime, I watch it in spurts Like several in a day, then weeks without it XD 5) I've learned a lot about framing, a little bit about historical events in some animes, pacing, and I've picked up a few words and phrases from anime. Also it's taught me about various different stylistic choices (I'm looking at it more from...learning about the technical stuff XD) I'm sure there's other stuff that I've actually learned, like fact-wise, but I tend to take all fiction with a grain of salt :3

Noise. I think it's a prequel to BLAME, but I've never read that series. It's a one shot, though, so there's not much to read. The art's amazing, though. It's all done in ink, with no screentoning. It's a bit violent...but I figure that's not going to be an issue? Here's a link with more info: https://myanimelist.net/manga/465/NOiSE Akira (since, it's present in my mind due to another thread XD.) It's pretty long... Clover was good. It's CLAMP...and I'm usually pleased with CLAMP XD Maybe X? It's sci-fi and magic...I'm not sure if has an official ending, though. I'm not sure what happened, but the story went on hiatus. I still think it's worth a read, if you like the artist team.

Not sure if you're still around the forum, but I wondering if you were looking to commission someone for pay or not?