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Past wrote:

But I agree there needs to be a way to discourage over-ecstatic responses and fujoshi fangirling.

Good luck with that, since Bara Fans are just as scary as “Yaoi Fangirls”.
& “Reflections of real-life gay romance through manga”? For serious? Though Bara contains none of the “idealized romance” stuff that BLs are known for, that doesn’t make it an accurate portrayal of “real-life gay romance”. Hell, if you want a blunt description of what you’ll find in Bara, it’s a bunch of really buff, really macho men at it.

& if what you’re really looking for is something that bypasses the whole stereotypical uke/seme relationship, there are certain BLs that do a good job at it. You just have to dig for them.

Okay. I’ve drifted way off topic. Now all I want to do is go to that cat café… someone please hook me up with a ticket for the Cat Bus, or at least a spot on Totoro’s flying top. I’d pay you back (in acorns). Anime hyper

Well I've started the thread in question (in the Manga section). Since you have an opinion about it please, by all means provide your input in it, kailegh. I'd be glad to hear more of what you might have to say.

kailegh wrote:

Though Bara contains none of the “idealized romance” stuff that BLs are known for, that doesn’t make it an accurate portrayal of “real-life gay romance”. Hell, if you want a blunt description of what you’ll find in Bara, it’s a bunch of really buff, really macho men at it.

Took the words right out of my mouth. What little scanalated bara I've read wasn't very realistic either; in fact I'd say it contained less plot than the average BL title. The only difference between it and a "PWP" (plot-what-plot, i.e. sex and not much else) BL anthology is that the guys are both impressively muscular and, idunno, the author drew in the hair on their legs or something.

Oh yeah-- so as not to be totally off-topic: I was familiar with the cat-cafe concept because a number of dramas I've seen have scenes set in such a place. I think it's a great idea and I wish there was one near me. I do live alone but it really wouldn't be responsible of me to get a cat since I'm away for days at a time and I couldn't give it the attention a pet deserves. I have my hands full just keeping my plants alive.

Past wrote:

Well I've started the thread in question (in the Manga section). Since you have an opinion about it please, by all means provide your input in it, kailegh. I'd be glad to hear more of what you might have to say.

That's pretty much it though, unless you'd want me to go into what I've already said with more detail, provide examples, etc.
But okay, I'll check it out ^^

poonk wrote:

and, idunno, the author drew in the hair on their legs or something.

& their back >_>
Oh, & my plants are DEAD. So yeah, considering how many people there are who would like to own an animal but just aren’t suited to care for it, it's weird that there aren't more cafes like that around...

Also, a good portion of Cats 101 deals with that type of cat being featured in something famous or popular. (Can't think of a good example right now, but I do remember the portion about the English Bulldog in Dogs 101 largely being about the mascot of the University of Georgia.) I've seen the one about the cat café. I don't think it was Japanese; I'm pretty sure it was American, judging by the way its employees and clients spoke.

There are certainly no cat cafés that I've seen for real, however. My guess is that where I live, there are a lot of kids who are largely unsupervised and would give the cats a hard time.

Quark wrote:

It makes perfect sense to have a place for animal lovers torelax and enjoy the 'pet experience' for a little while. Somehow, I could see Sakaki from Azumanga Daioh visiting there on a daily basis.

It would probably end up like the hilarious cat scene from Let the Right One In.

littlegreenwolf wrote:

Shiroi Hane wrote:

littlegreenwolf wrote:

No one seems to have responded yet about the Amano cyborg panther, but I'm fairly certain it's the panther from his on-going Hero series which he also had a gallery exhibition in New York for in 1999.

I thought the poster behind it said "Zan".

The only Zan I've heard Yoshitaka Amano mention in interviews and such is that Zan is some sort of "original tale about a samurai", that is either some sort of CGI movie or videogame. Amano is always talking about another project while talking about Zan in the interviews I've read, so it's never really clear which one is which. Outside of the samurai tale thing I have no idea what else Zan is supposed to be.

But the cyborg panther is sort of Amano's "thing" now for the last ten years since he's started his Hero project. He's used it for his name/logo and it's plastered on a lot of things you'd find in his online store. The guy in Hero rides it much like He-Man did Battle Cat. If his samurai Zan project also has a cyborg panther now... well... looks like he's putting it into a lot of things.

Well you were right: Zan is about a Samurai with a cyborg panther

animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-04-09/final-fantasy-yoshitaka-amano-directs-1st-film-zan