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Hey, Answerman!

First of all the best OPENING ever is the theme to Yamato...hands down....undisputed heavyweight champion...no anime theme can touch THAT LEVEL OF GREATNESS....unless it's a theme to a Go Nagai Giant Robot show....ONLY THEY CAN COMPETE!

Best closing is a little tougher...a good ending theme needs to have the appropriate mood. One in particular that I love is After, in the Dark from Macross Plus. Yoko Kano folks...solid stuff. Plus, it's an ending theme that starts just before the ending credits while the episode is wrapping up. That was a technique that was started back in one of the City Hunter seasons if I remember correctly. I can't remember which one though. Funny, now that I think about it the most memorable ending themes are the ones that do that.

There were some interesting responses this week. Everyone has a story of "how they got into anime". Mine is no different from most of you. I went over to a friends house one day in the early 90s and his older brother was watching RAW VHS of DBZ. The rest is history.

Now as to the "what keeps me interested" portion of the question...

I'd have to say that it's the feeling that no matter how much anime I watch or manga I read; there is ALWAYS something out there to discover. There's that wonderful magic, that feeling when you find that new TV series or movie that you never knew existed and you instantly fall in love with it. I've been a fan for fifteen years and I can honestly say that feeling is one of the best in the world. It's even better when it's an older series...then you can watch it all at once and not have to wait for new episodes. So I say god bless series like Monster, Rose of Versailles, and GaoGaiGar. That my friends is what makes this hobby so great. Discovery.

P.S. DEATH TO ALL THAT IS MOE!

Well, every time someone watches the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, God does kill a puppy. So I can understand the outrage. Something like Venture Brothers on the other hand would be awesome though. I know it's a matter of taste, but.. ugh.. that show is just.. I can't fathom how that is even remotely good. That and 12 Ounce Mouse. Even Squidbillies I can see some people liking. Aqua Teen. I like Sea Lab myself. Yet Tim and Eric? Even that awful Tom Goes to the Mayor was better somehow.

Meanwhile, I'll give a thumbs down to Anime Insider. I just don't care for Wizard as a company. I should quit buying ToyFare, but at least that's action figures. I never was impressed with Anime Insider's coverage and Wizard went down the toilet long ago. Now Wizard is selling itself as a "#1 Mens Entertainment Magazine". What? So much for the comics and female fans.

Otaku USA seems good from the issue or two I saw. Protoculture Addicts I keep meaning to check out. Its ANN link is promising to me. (Also, in 2098 a sack of million dollar bills will only be worth ten bucks. Damn dollar losing out to the yen.) As for the end of Newtype USA, I can't blame them. Why bother paying the royalties to the Japanese magazine and sticking so close to it, especially if the market just isn't there.

As for anime fans turning up their nose to US animation, I usually notice more the comics side of things. God forbid you try to get some manga fans to read something that's not labeled manga. Even though manga and comics are essentially two sides of the same coin. Their blinders are firmly on. Eh. I'll leave my rant about that for another time.

Though I think you're right that there wasn't as much of a line in the sand or an extreme Japanophilia in earlier generations of anime fandom. They were looking for good animation and story and found it in anime.

Now it's more of a clique. It's more Jets and the Sharks. When you're an anime fan, you're an anime fan all the way. From your first crappy quality fansub on YouTube to your last dyin' day. Hell, it's more of a cult. If you dare try to stray to horrible American animation, you're shunned from the cult of animu. Shun the non-believer.

It really makes me wonder if some of these anime fans are really in it for the love of the anime itself or just the fandom, love of yourself as a fandom. In particular the fanfic and fanart people worry me. Are you fans of the show or more fans of your fanart? What are these people watching anime and going to cons for? So you can look down on people who aren't 'pure' anime fans? So you can look down on people who haven't watched as many fansubs as you or, heaven forbid, watch animation not produced in Japan?

It really makes me wonder.

Yeah, some of those CCS songs are just plain awesome. I'll take Tooi Kono Machide and Groovy any day. Sang the latter at ACen last year... in English!

Now for endings I have to admit to liking (at least besides the obvious choices)- Kannazuki no Miko, the 2nd Eyeshield 21 ending, Doki Doki School Hours, and I have to mention Koko wa Greenwood solely because it's the namesake for No Brand Con. Smile

I like a bit of cartoons, but I do think most other ones suck.

I like:
-The Boondocks
-Most from pixar (Toy Story being the best of all)
-The Road to El Dorado
-Delta State
-Rover Dangerfield
-Undergrads

As for endings, I'd have to say I love these ones:

-"Paranoid Android" by Radiohead (ED for Ergo Proxy)
-"Danzai no Hana~Guilty Sky" by Riyu Kosaka (ED for Claymore)
-"Blue Flow" by Heart of Air (ED for Haibane Renmei)
-"Yasashii Yoake" by See-Saw (ED for .Hack//Sign)
-"Afro Outro" by RZA (ED for Afro Samurai)
-"Wind" by Akeboshi (ED1 for Naruto)

I probably missed more than a few.

Wow,that's some detail on that puppy.

I bought the intro issue of PIQ and it wasn't that bad.It took about 20 minutes to read the whole thing,but I'll probably pick up another issue.I'll have to check out protoculture addicts some time.

Unfortunately I am one of the elite you speak of and it's tough to find a decent title to hang on to,or jump back into a cliche that has been done,a hundred times over.(I know Anime as well as I know Videogames,It came with the 80's territory.For just about every Anime,there is a game for it).After being exposed to Anime for so long,just about every other type of animation fails to gain my attention.I'm talking animation here,not story lines.When your friend said that He wouldn't see that Pixar film because it's kids stuff,I'll have to agree.The CGI Pixar displays is fantastic,but the story is always predictable and childlike(their obvious demographic)I too would have continued watching YuYu Hakusho as silly as you think shonen tournaments are.

As for ridicule,it never happened to me growing up in Vegas,hardly anyone else at the time had any knowledge of Anime,and I was heavily into that and games,so I could get along with anyone.I just was more cultured than they were.Most of the time,people don't care about any of this(they are simple minded)but I'll still be a Hardcore Otaku long after this,and after the next couple of generation of mainstream audience has left.That's probably when ridicule will come knocking(or about ten minutes after posting on ANN).

P.S. I've been a Hikikomori for about a year,i'm sick of ramen and everything is a conspiracy. Wink

I'll do a double response - Dragon Half was both among the first anime I ever watched and has one of the most awesome endings ever.

This link is crap quality, but it's the only one on youtube with subs- and you MUST read the subs <3

Dragon Half ending

Last edited by Wyvern on Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:35 am; edited 1 time in total

My alltime favorite ending would have to be the "lost" Kenhin ED, AKA ending #4. It only aired twice due to a drug scandal involving the artist, and was replaced with an extended version of ending 3 (which is what Answerman posted.)

There's also the 5th Inuyasha ending. Frankly, it makes the show seem much better than it actually is.

Speaking of great endings for awful shows, who can forget Final Fantasy Unlimited's Romancing Train?

But nothing, BUT NOTHING can quite compare to Brock's Paradise.

As for American cartoons, they really do even out to be about as good as anime on the whole. As far as current shows go, The Venture Brothers is amazing, and Avatar is nice, although it can feel a tad familiar to anime fans. And the new Spectacular Spider-Man show looks surprisingly promising. The pilot had Spidey protecting a villain from another villain while a totally unrelated gang of villains shot at him from a helicopter, but it never felt contrived or confusing.

So I heard Zack's choices, and other than Lodoss, I was unimpressed. Anyway, best ending themes for me are Fist of the Blue Sky, Hokuto No Ken, Patlabor, anything from Urusei Yatsura, the first one from City Hunter,
Zaizen Jotaro, the Cromartie stuff, and Descendants of Darkness. I also had a soft spot for the Grappler Baki OVA ending theme song.

I would say that I used to watch a lot more American cartoons than I do now. After Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans were canceled, I pretty just stuck with the prime-time comedy cartoons, and now I don't even watch them, because I watch so much anime.

My favorite ending credits would probably include:

Turn A Gundam ED 2

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ED

Bubblegum Crisis 2040 ED

Hellsing TV ED

Bartender ED

Wow Zac....Card Captor Sakura......You might wanna upgrade from Commando to Conan to get back your manliness lol. I joke I joke..... I certainly can't say anything given one of my choices for best ending themes. After I post it in a bit I might as simply get a career in knitting heh.

Personally I think majority of the "American animation suks and Anime rulez!! crowd are simply trying too hard to somehow come off as smart and intelligent. Because by liking anime over American animation you're obviously more adult and intelligent then that kid watching Ratatouille or The Incredibles. Personally I think American animated movies from Pixar and Dreamworks honestly have the aspect of character movement's more secured then any anime studio. I mean visually Appleseed was just brillaint but imagine if the characters moved like those in Ratatouille instead of like they had Jim Henson working for them. I personally long for the day when there's some sort of joint big budget movie with the likes of Madhouse or Bones teaming up with Pixar or Dreamworks. I think such a movie would simply blow everything else away on both sides of the Pacific. I'm sure many would want me to burn for my heresy though by saying that.

I normally stray away from answering the weekly questions but this week's I think I might just jump in on since I have 1 or 2 rather colorful negative experiences. Both of which actually happened the same year while at a convention no less. Go figure.

And as promised here is the ending theme that will guarantee me a nice pink dress to wear. It's the ending for A Little Snow Fairy Sugar. What can I say....the music is cute and melodic and I like it. Embarassed

I am by habit more of an opening theme fan though. Some ending themes I do enjoy though are;

Black Lagoon
Cowboy Bebop
GTO
Bleach ED 3 any version works btw
Bleach ED 2
Kurau
Kenshin ED 6
Witchblade ED 2
Trinity Blood

Men who watch Card Captor Sakura are real men!

LOL. Seriously though, there's no need to be embarassed over liking "Fruits Candy". It's a cute song, and it's pretty catchy too. It's my favorite song from CCS. As for my favorite ending themes, my current favorite is Taishou.a from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. It's so dark and sexy, but at the same time it's so soothing.

The internet doesn't have nearly enough Time and Eric / 12 Oz. Mouse / Squidbillies hating Not nearly enough. (btw, 12 Oz. Mouse is better than anything they've put out since. And I've never done any drugs or been drunk in my entire life, for the record.)

Also, EDs usually aren't as good as OPs. But some I like were the first Eureka Seven ED, Eva's ED (variety is fun), the second Magical Project S ED, and Cowboy Bebop and FLCL's (which should be givens).

Ah, American animation vs. Japanese animation... it's so much better once you accept both can be amazing. Seriously, how does one NOT like a Pixar movie (except maybe Cars). It boggles the mind. It's a shame that kids these days don't know what a good american cartoon is either. I still have to check out Chowder, but with KND dead and Fairly Oddparents finally jumping the shark, the goldmine of awesomeness that was once the kids' cartoon market has withered to almost nothingness.

*walks away whistling the theme from Doug*

Favorite endings
- FLCL
- Kannazuki no Miko
- Chrono Crusade
- Honey and Clover ED1

And the all-time favorite
- Air

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Forum - View topicHey, Answerman!

Forum - View topic
Hey, Answerman!