31-08-2003 11:09									#61
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I think I like Lain

Jon Miller

	31-08-2003 11:22									#62
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quote: I just saw the Samurai X OVAs, the ones detailing Kenshin's early life, having seen ABSOLUTELY NO rorouni kenshin stuff before this. I thought the artwork was gorgeous, and the plot was pretty engaging, but it was all a bit hard to follow, and I had troubling caring for some of the characters. Also, I had trouble with some of the messages of the thing.

You might want to start with Rurouni Kenshin TV (doesn't do you much good now, I know). It doesn't seem to suffer from the drawbacks you mention. I haven't seen Samurai X, so I don't know how much the TV series would help with the confusion. I think my local video store has it, so I ought to check it out.

The TV series got me temporarily very interested in the Meiji Revolution.

	31-08-2003 18:55									#63
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--"Excessive violence is bad?"

Depends on the reason for it. Kenshin style violence doesn't bother me. Fighting anime is fine. Women beating up on men for things that are essentially the woman's fault does...

--"I guess this is the latest Anime Apolyton?"

Yeah. Next one will be sometime in September.

--"Don't think it has been licensed yet in the States,"

The first disc just came out, under the title Banner of the Stars II. Definitely a good series in the space opera vein.

If you liked this, you might also like Legend of the Galactic Heroes, which is hard-core space opera. It's not available in the US yet, but there's a petition up on the Japanese publisher's page about an R1 release.

--"Apparently, there is another novel out in the series on which the anime is based. It hasn't made it to anime yet in Japan."

It probably won't, either. Banner III probably isn't big enough to run a full series off of. I think they're waiting for Banner IV to be out as well, then they'll do the series based off of both.

--"Overall, I found it good, but flawed."

I liked it more than the TV series.

--"I've also recently seen the first two episodes of Serial Experiments: Lain"

One of my favorites. Until I saw Haibane Renmei it was my favorite. You may want to check out Haibane Renmei at some point, too. It's written by the guy who did the character art for Lain.

You may also be interested in Boogiepop Phantom, which is basically a gothic horror story but gets compared to Lain a lot.

--"I haven't seen Samurai X, so I don't know how much the TV series would help with the confusion."

The OVA happens before the TV series starts. Among other things, it explains how he got his scar. Watching the TV series first isn't going to help things any.

You should check it out, although don't expect the same as the TV series from it. It's much more on the dramatic side. In fact, I can't remember any of the goofiness of the TV series to be present at all. Or people shouting out attack names and doing silly moves. It's a much better grounded story.

Wraith
"The first gift you gave me was death."
-- Tomoe ("Rurouni Kenshin OVA")

	31-08-2003 20:31									#64
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If I were pressed, I would almost describe the style of Lain as new wave.

	02-09-2003 18:47									#65
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I saw Boogiepop Phantom in the store and thought about picking it up until I saw the over one hundred dollar price tag. My brother's gotten into anime so I may be able to get him to split it with me.

	02-09-2003 19:06									#66
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quote: The first disc just came out, under the title Banner of the Stars II. Definitely a good series in the space opera vein.

This is also a good series to see in widescreen. It gave Banner II a more epic feel, even though the artwork is not the main draw for this series. I would love to see it on HD tape or however it is available.

quote: It probably won't, either. Banner III probably isn't big enough to run a full series off of. I think they're waiting for Banner IV to be out as well, then they'll do the series based off of both.

Thanks for the tip. Reading the summary for the novel Banner III, I can see that.

quote: If you liked this, you might also like Legend of the Galactic Heroes, which is hard-core space opera. It's not available in the US yet, but there's a petition up on the Japanese publisher's page about an R1 release.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

	02-09-2003 19:41									#67
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--"I saw Boogiepop Phantom in the store and thought about picking it up until I saw the over one hundred dollar price tag."

Heh. It is a full 26 episode series. That said, brick and mortar stores tend to be fairly expensive with anime. It's a niche market, after all. You'll probably have better luck buying online. There are some good stores. Right Stuf, the guys who did the R1 Boogiepop Phantom, have sales weekly. I think Boogiepop has appeared in there pretty frequently.

--"Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out."

Some people have complained about the wording of the survey, but keep in mind that it was written by someone not too familiar with English. The R1 release will be at R1 prices; the R2 price they quote is for comparison (ie worst-case) purposes. It's also certainly not binding. It's so vague I probably shouldn't need to mention that, but some people have taken it way too seriously.

The only English LoGH site I'm aware of is here:
http://www.logh.net/logh.htm

Wraith
"Sore wa himitsu desu."
-- Xellos ("Slayers Next")

	02-09-2003 20:52									#68
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Wraith: What is your preferred method for buying DVDs online? I'm checking out DVD Planet, which seems to have reasonable deals. Do you know of a good coupon site, or is that not the cheapest method?

	03-09-2003 02:38									#69
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--"Wraith: What is your preferred method for buying DVDs online?"

Well, it used to be bestprices.com, but they just adjusted their shipping rates in a way that doesn't help me (I like to do pre-orders and this increased shipping on pre-orders). I'll have to get back to you on preferred e-tailer, since I'm going to have to do some comparison shopping.

As far as coupons go, I don't normally do much with them. Right Stuf has their Got Anime program, but I try not to do business with them (I've had some major hassles in the past, but I seem to be about the only one). I generally only use the coupons when I'm ordering manga from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. Their anime prices are kinda high still, although Amazon's share the love program can get you some good deals if you work at it.

Wraith
Migratory life form with a tropism for bookstores