Anime Champions?

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Gah. Name translations. >.<

 

Their names in the Japanese version are Ichigo, Mint, Lettuce, Purin (sounds like Pudding, the way they pronounce it) and Zakuro.

Purin is pudding, although the Japnese version looks more like a flan than what an American would refer to as pudding. The title of the fantasy comedy Dekatato Princess ("Suddenly Princess") is a double pun, because the charatcers for "pudding" are used. The heroine just happens to be totally addicted to pudding, to the point that she will wither and die if deprived of it for long periods.

 

That is not as bad as some of the anime puns I've come up with. "Look out! it's Naga! Hide!"

[Susano]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

That is not as bad as some of the anime puns I've come up with. "Look out! it's Naga! Hide!"

 

Not to self: Kill Michael for that one.

 

[yamamura]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Note to self assist Susano on eliminating the punster..

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

At the risk of giving ym enemies more ammuntion.....

 

Back when I was watching raw anime with commericals on it in the mid-'90s with one of my friends, there were commercials for the cookies that we call Koala Yummies. The Japanese refer to them as Koala no Maachin ("Koalas on the March"). They are manufactures by Lote, a leading Japense confectioner. And I knew none of this when I heard those guys at the end of the commerical name the product. I thought they were saying "I love the Koala Machine."

 

You don't give me an opening like that. "I love the Koala Machine! Push this button, get a koala! Push this button, get another koala! I love the Koala Machine!"

 

Cross-langauge puns. I will never live them down.

 

(One of the other in-jokes I had with one of my friends was that there was a time when I had difficulty remembering how to pronounce the name of the city of Orlando, imporant because I was a basketball fan. Whenever I found myself fumbling over a word or a phrase, my friend and I would look at each other and say, with one voice, "Or-LAN-do!")

[Samuraiko]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Another great one for running a long-term campaign in (I think) is the world of SAMURAI 7 (I just got Volume 1 last night, and man it kicks major butt so far).

 

John nearly flattened me with a pillow for referring to it as ROKUGAN 40K, but it's actually quite good, and the whole world makes for a great setting, I think! (I also think that the initial fight between Kanbe and Kyuzo was a great reference in how my L5R character and John's would be fighting it out...)

 

Hey, Susano, you're the uber-anime-geek, have you seen it yet? What'dya think?

 

Michelle

aka

Samuraiko

[Susano]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Another great one for running a long-term campaign in (I think) is the world of SAMURAI 7 (I just got Volume 1 last night, and man it kicks major butt so far).

 

John nearly flattened me with a pillow for referring to it as ROKUGAN 40K, but it's actually quite good, and the whole world makes for a great setting, I think! (I also think that the initial fight between Kanbe and Kyuzo was a great reference in how my L5R character and John's would be fighting it out...)

 

Hey, Susano, you're the uber-anime-geek, have you seen it yet? What'dya think?

 

I was able to watch about 1/2 doz. fan-subs and was interested, but heard some reviews/reports on how (animation-wise) it starts to fall apart, and that made me leery of going any further. Oh, and I also discovered Samurai Champloo. If I could rent/borrow it, I'd like to watch it, but I'm not spending any money to buy it.

[yamamura]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Bubblegum Crisis (near future Champions/Cyber Hero/Dark Champions police/mercenary/vigilante action)

 

Just saw the first 3 episodes of the orginal and all I can say is that it rocks over 2040.... Now I know what I have been missing.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Note to self assist Susano on eliminating the punster..

You know what amazes me? That anyone realizes that was a pun. Naugahyde, a form of artificial upholstery, has not been used commonly for nearly twenty years, and very few people know what it is anymore.

 

So nobody has been searching for raw Naugha pelts for decades.

[yamamura]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Careful Michael, you are indicating our age;)

[Ura-Maru]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Cause if there's one thing no Slayers series would ever do, it's have Lina's sidekick make a stupid pun.

 

Never.

 

Well, hardly ever.

 

 

---

Only at plot points!

[Black Omega]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

I was able to watch about 1/2 doz. fan-subs and was interested' date=' but heard some reviews/reports on how (animation-wise) it starts to fall apart, and that made me leery of going any further. Oh, and I also discovered [i']Samurai Champloo[/i]. If I could rent/borrow it, I'd like to watch it, but I'm not spending any money to buy it.

I'm only 9 or so into Samurai Champloo and very much enjoying it. And it's getting to the point where it's likely to become less one shot episodes and more storyline. Or so watching several other series suggests to me. Samurai 7 I have several of, I just never find the time to sit down and watch them. Maybe Labor Day Weekend...of course, I'm also starting to watch Bleach...

[zefiris]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Just saw the first 3 episodes of the orginal and all I can say is that it rocks over 2040.... Now I know what I have been missing.

 

Ep 7 is probably one of my favorite episode of all times in all animes

[Susano]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

You know what amazes me? That anyone realizes that was a pun. Naugahyde, a form of artificial upholstery, has not been used commonly for nearly twenty years, and very few people know what it is anymore.

 

So nobody has been searching for raw Naugha pelts for decades.

 

I still recall the Grimjack issue with the same joke/pun.

[Samuraiko]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

I was able to watch about 1/2 doz. fan-subs and was interested' date=' but heard some reviews/reports on how (animation-wise) it starts to fall apart, and that made me leery of going any further. Oh, and I also discovered Samurai Champloo. If I could rent/borrow it, I'd like to watch it, but I'm not spending any money to buy it.[/quote']

Really? Damn. Still gonna get it though.

 

Personally, I think the biggest letdown I've gotten from an anime in a loooonnnnngggg time was SPIRAL, coz I really did want to find out "WHO ARE THE BLADE CHILDREN?" And it doesn't even answer the question! ARGH!

 

And I've seen both BGC:2033 and BGC:2040 and I personally (YOMV) prefer 2040. To each his or her own. (Although admittedly John likes the boomers better in 2033, but that's his preference...)

 

Michelle

aka

Samuraiko

[Southern Cross]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

I've only seen a few videos of the original Bubblegum Crisis and haven't watched any of the DVDs of the Bubblegum Crisis 2040 series.My cynical self tells me that if it's much easier to find the remake of a series than the original than it's because the new series is greatly inferior to the original.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Cause if there's one thing no Slayers series would ever do, it's have Lina's sidekick make a stupid pun.

 

Never.

 

Well, hardly ever.

 

 

---

Only at plot points!

I don't know. Naga the Serpent must think all her enemies, most of her allies, and numerous random objects are extremely amusing. Her infamous laugh (which has been known to cause entire cities to be evacuated) is used at every opporutnity, reasonable or otherwise. And there is nothing more firghtening than a gang of ten Nagas bearing down on your, laughing and bouncing and looking like they could do you grevious bodily harm without exhibiting a care in the world.

 

Except possibly the 200-foot-tall Naga golem, poweered and piloted by the real thing. I bet you didn't think it was possible for fired clay to bounce like that.

 

And naga is not Lina Inverse's sidekick! She is Line Inevrse's greatest and msot supreme rival! At least that's what she things. To Lina, Naga is a pain in the rear that annoys her and that she cannot seem to shake (although eventually she does, as Naga never appears in the TV series except in brief shots.)

 

Gourry isn't like that. Lina can (and frequently does) shake Gourry, particularly after he says something stupid. But deep down she likes the guy a lot. And even that is probably too light a term -- you generally don't place the entire universe on a silver platter and offer it in sacrifice just to save a guy if you only like him. But Lina Inverse is incredibly stubbornh and not always very honest with herself, so....

[steriaca]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Cause if there's one thing no Slayers series would ever do, it's have Lina's sidekick make a stupid pun.

 

Never.

 

Well, hardly ever.

 

 

---

Only at plot points!

 

Humm...if you think that pun was bad, I once, over in a play by e-mail freeform RPG, played a martial artest who was a master of the Nekoken ("Cat Fist") style. Later, he started learning real magic. Except all he learned was cat related spells. He was Ken Tahaka, Nekomancer.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Humm...if you think that pun was bad' date=' I once, over in a play by e-mail freeform RPG, played a martial artest who was a master of the Nekoken ("Cat Fist") style. Later, he started learning real magic. Except all he learned was cat related spells. He was Ken Tahaka, [i']Nekomancer[/i].

Nio pussyfooting around for this guy, clawing his way to the top.

 

Since I am already under sentence of death, I can get away with that.

 

That and I don't live in Fremont, home of Casey, Andy, Mary (who likes to dress up as a cop and put several bullets through anyone who tells a pun in her presence) and the being I refer to as Satan-chan.

[yamamura]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Really? Damn. Still gonna get it though.

 

Personally, I think the biggest letdown I've gotten from an anime in a loooonnnnngggg time was SPIRAL, coz I really did want to find out "WHO ARE THE BLADE CHILDREN?" And it doesn't even answer the question! ARGH!

 

And I've seen both BGC:2033 and BGC:2040 and I personally (YOMV) prefer 2040. To each his or her own. (Although admittedly John likes the boomers better in 2033, but that's his preference...)

 

Michelle

aka

Samuraiko

 

It is the story I like in 2033 better then 2040 especially toward the end where seemed rush, and had to get over while the money held out. It also felt that they had no idea of how to resolve the story line. So 2040 left a bitter taste in my mouth. Another thing I liked about 2033 is that it didn't have that clean Next Generation feeling about it. Things in 2033 feels dark, grimy and capture beautifully the whole Bladerunner thing. Now I will say that over all the characters in 2040 (other Sylvia) seem alot friendlier then their 2033 couterparts. But once again that making the series safe and takes off its edge. But to paraphase Baz Luhrmann, as long as you like it, who cares what others think (this was in regard to the Academy during the Oscars).

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Bubblegum Crisis is one of those stories where part of the question of "How do we save the city?" is "Should we bother? Is the city worth saving?" MegaTokyo thematically is very similar to the Gotham City of Batman Begins: a stinking pit with a glittering surface that all but the most quixotic have given up on.

 

The Knight Sabers, of course, are prettier than Batman, but it's balanced out by the sheer number of dead cops in MegaTokyo.

 

Arguments of 2033 vs. 2040 are sort of like the arguments over whether the Ghost in the Shell theatrical films are better than Stand Alone Complex. Both deal with the same issue (in a world where almost everyone is at least part machine, does the word "human" still have any real meaning?) in different ways. Stand Alone Complex is especially notable for the tachikoma, a series of robot tanks with artifical intelligences who are used by Section 9 as cannon fodder despite the fact that they are developing feelings and emotions.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

And on a completely different note:

 

Nagisa Ootori, better known to the Japanese public as nagisa Shiratori or simply "Nagisa-chan", is the heroine of the extremely strange comedy I'll Make a Habit of It. She is an example of taking an anime stereotype and turning it around completely on its ear.

 

About fifteen years old, nagisa is the heri of the Ootori School, a martial arts form that combines techniques from jujutsu and karate. However, her school was so poor that the only students it could attract were forest animals like Kumakichi, the large bear that was nagisa's favotire sparring partner. Nagisa had to find disciples. Her plan was to become an idol.

 

Despite Nagisa's complete lack of anything approaching musical talent, a well-orchestrated media blitz soon made her the most popular idol iin Japan, selling gazillions of records and selling out stadiums. Unfortuinately, this got her no closer to her goal. she then stunned her manager by chopping off her trademark pony-tails and announcing that she was going to enroll in a "tough" school -- as a guy, under her real name of Nagisa Ootori (she uses the stage name Nagisa Shiratori when performing). Alas, this didn't work either, as the gang at her new school proved to be rather below her caliber.

 

Then Nagisa's luck changed completely, and her life turned completely upside-down.

 

The gang from her school told her that a rival school's gang was going to have a brawl with them. She went to the brawl and there found the leader of the rival gang was an incredibly handsome boy named Hiroshi. For Nagisa, it was love -- instant, total and extreme. Unfrotunately, she was dressed as a guy! So all Hiroshi saw was a boyish-looking but extrenmely strong martial artist, who he swore to meet again on the battefield. The next day, Hiroshi turned up at one of Nagisa Shiratori's record signings, and revealed that he was in love with the female Nagisa! So in lvoe with her, in fact, that he proposed to her on the spot. In the process, he also revelaed that he was on a paralell to nagisa's own quest, looking for strong men to be disciples of his family's failing school of martial arts.

 

Eventually it all got sorted out when they finally fought. Hiroshi caught Nagisa in a hold and -- well, let's just say he found hismelf grabbign something he didn't expect. having discoeverd Nagisa's secret, the lovestruck Hiroshi agreed to keep it.

 

That's when things started getting weird around Nagisa. the way to happiness was open to her, but standing in her path were rival idols, strange martial arts schools, the presitigous Women's Academy for World Conquest, music-happy gangsters, a classmate with a head like a volcano and a temper to match, and the surprising fact that just about every idol singer in Japan but her had gotten their hands on pet alligators. Nagisa also ended up foiling a plot to re-establish the Tokaguwa Shogunate (it's kidn of hard to explain). worst of all, Nagisa has beooem the target of Red Beetle, a secret cabal which controls the music industries of every country except Japan and is determined to place their own idols on top of the charts.

 

Not that Nagisa really cares. The most surprising thing about her life is that nobody believes her when she tells the world how untalented and graceless she is, even though she is telling the absolute truth. All of Japan loves Nagisa-chan, forcing her to take refuge at the junior high school on the wrong side of the tracks where nobody is aware that the toughest boy in the school is really the nation's greatest celebrity.

[yamamura]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

And on a completely different note:

 

Nagisa Ootori, better known to the Japanese public as nagisa Shiratori or simply "Nagisa-chan", is the heroine of the extremely strange comedy I'll Make a Habit of It. She is an example of taking an anime stereotype and turning it around completely on its ear.

 

About fifteen years old, nagisa is the heri of the Ootori School, a martial arts form that combines techniques from jujutsu and karate. However, her school was so poor that the only students it could attract were forest animals like Kumakichi, the large bear that was nagisa's favotire sparring partner. Nagisa had to find disciples. Her plan was to become an idol.

 

Despite Nagisa's complete lack of anything approaching musical talent, a well-orchestrated media blitz soon made her the most popular idol iin Japan, selling gazillions of records and selling out stadiums. Unfortuinately, this got her no closer to her goal. she then stunned her manager by chopping off her trademark pony-tails and announcing that she was going to enroll in a "tough" school -- as a guy, under her real name of Nagisa Ootori (she uses the stage name Nagisa Shiratori when performing). Alas, this didn't work either, as the gang at her new school proved to be rather below her caliber.

 

Then Nagisa's luck changed completely, and her life turned completely upside-down.

 

The gang from her school told her that a rival school's gang was going to have a brawl with them. She went to the brawl and there found the leader of the rival gang was an incredibly handsome boy named Hiroshi. For Nagisa, it was love -- instant, total and extreme. Unfrotunately, she was dressed as a guy! So all Hiroshi saw was a boyish-looking but extrenmely strong martial artist, who he swore to meet again on the battefield. The next day, Hiroshi turned up at one of Nagisa Shiratori's record signings, and revealed that he was in love with the female Nagisa! So in lvoe with her, in fact, that he proposed to her on the spot. In the process, he also revelaed that he was on a paralell to nagisa's own quest, looking for strong men to be disciples of his family's failing school of martial arts.

 

Eventually it all got sorted out when they finally fought. Hiroshi caught Nagisa in a hold and -- well, let's just say he found hismelf grabbign something he didn't expect. having discoeverd Nagisa's secret, the lovestruck Hiroshi agreed to keep it.

 

That's when things started getting weird around Nagisa. the way to happiness was open to her, but standing in her path were rival idols, strange martial arts schools, the presitigous Women's Academy for World Conquest, music-happy gangsters, a classmate with a head like a volcano and a temper to match, and the surprising fact that just about every idol singer in Japan but her had gotten their hands on pet alligators. Nagisa also ended up foiling a plot to re-establish the Tokaguwa Shogunate (it's kidn of hard to explain). worst of all, Nagisa has beooem the target of Red Beetle, a secret cabal which controls the music industries of every country except Japan and is determined to place their own idols on top of the charts.

 

Not that Nagisa really cares. The most surprising thing about her life is that nobody believes her when she tells the world how untalented and graceless she is, even though she is telling the absolute truth. All of Japan loves Nagisa-chan, forcing her to take refuge at the junior high school on the wrong side of the tracks where nobody is aware that the toughest boy in the school is really the nation's greatest celebrity.

 

Liked the back story Michael, will look at character form later.

[Black Omega]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

I've only seen a few videos of the original Bubblegum Crisis and haven't watched any of the DVDs of the Bubblegum Crisis 2040 series.My cynical self tells me that if it's much easier to find the remake of a series than the original than it's because the new series is greatly inferior to the original.

Really a matter of preference. I started watching anime because of BGC 2033, since a friend was just getting into anime at the time, watched it and let me know there was a character in it exactly like a PC I had, including the name. So I had to watch the anime.

 

2040 can do things 2033 could not, like show a little more of how the group started and developed as well as develop relationships more. Things aren't as friendly in 2040, where 2033 they all know and basically trust each other. no matter what, Priss is always a loose cannon.

[Heroman]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

But if you want to play super-heroic, it doesn't get much weirder than Graviton. Someone built an entire alternate DC Universe around A-Ko as the new Supergirl. And if A-ko ever learns to fly she'll have all the requirements.

 

As it is A-Ko has the three classic Superman powers: "Faster than a speeding bullet" (runs to school every day at Warp 10 with C-ko flying behind held by the wrist), "more powerful than a locomotive" (I feel sorry for any skyscraper she punches) and "Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" (she certainly has extremely prodigious jumping ability and precision). The only thing stopping her from being the new Supergirl is that she refuses to call herself Supergirl. And her rival B-ko is much closer to a Lex Luthor figure than she realizes (she has the wealth, the skills, the unholy obsessions, and the power armor, with the addition of a percieved romantic rivalry).

 

Actually, isn't the hinted premise that she in fact is the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman (from the last scene where you actually get to see the parents)?

[Heroman]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Bubblegum Crisis is one of those stories where part of the question of "How do we save the city?" is "Should we bother? Is the city worth saving?" MegaTokyo thematically is very similar to the Gotham City of Batman Begins: a stinking pit with a glittering surface that all but the most quixotic have given up on.

Hrm been a while since I saw that. Isn't the premise of BGC pretty much, for every episode..."BGC member 'X' has friend 'Y'. 'Y' gets into trouble with subtle, evil, gloating person 'Z'. Optional confrontation between 'X' and 'Z' where 'X' realizes something is amiss. 'Y' is violently killed by 'Z'. GBC member 'X' gets mad/pouts. They go nail the killer 'Z'." I don't remember there being much story beyond that to the point that after a while watching it, I generally thought "Hrm...that person is not a BGC person. They are a friend. Boy, are they toast!!!!" It is amazing they knew anyone in the city by the time it was all done...

 

Arguments of 2033 vs. 2040 are sort of like the arguments over whether the Ghost in the Shell theatrical films are better than Stand Alone Complex. Both deal with the same issue (in a world where almost everyone is at least part machine, does the word "human" still have any real meaning?) in different ways. Stand Alone Complex is especially notable for the tachikoma, a series of robot tanks with artifical intelligences who are used by Section 9 as cannon fodder despite the fact that they are developing feelings and emotions.

I liked the first movie far more than the second, but the SAC more. I love the politics and philosophy they draw up, but in the second there were just too many points where I thought to myself "just shoot someone already!!!!"

The series I think help flush out the support cast far better than in the movies.