@Robby:
Why did you quote something I posted four months ago?
Next Nakama is a trash thread and everyone knows it, and is specifically kept around to keep that nonsense out of allll the other threads. But even there you'll find good analysis and story understanding from the people that actually know what they're talking about. No one ever said everyone on AP is a good poster. But we have a lot of good ones and we take strides to keep the quality up by teaching others about story structure and better grasping the nuance of things.
Yes, this place gets stupid. But when its not stupid in the name of fun, and its just stupid for stupid's sake, it usually gets counterbalanced by competant analysis and education explaining why a theory is dumb… rather than widely accepted.
I don't know why I decided to sig it honestly… It just felt appropriate for some reason. I know it's weird but... It just seemed fitting you know?
And actually your argument that the Next Two Nakama's thread is a "Trash thread" is actually very reasonable imo. Because you're right it keeps the stupid Monet fanboys (seriously I can't believe that's a thing) in the thread where they belong, and you're a very right that a lot of people do post legitimately well reasoned theories in there along with all of the crap. I never said that you were wrong when you said that this forum was better then 90%-99% of all other anime/manga forums on the net... just for some reason I thought of the Next Two Nakama's threads and thought... Well you can't say that every thread on this forum is excellent. But then again, even one of our worst threads, which is supposed to be really bad, is still better then most other bad threads on other forums. I can only shudder when I think of the Naruto and Bleach and Fairy Tail threads on Naruto Forums. God I never want to go back to that place. So you've got me there.
I think the reason why I found that quote you made all the way back then interesting when I read it is... I agree that the people on this forum are smarter then most other people (I include myself among the smart people even though I'm well aware that there's a lot of people on this forum much smarter then myself) but… I've always felt bad because for a while I used to be kind of a total dick to people who liked stupid crap (I mean... more of a dick then I already tend to be...) and later on I started to really regret it because I found out that I was pushing away people who were otherwise really good people and were actually fairly intelligent and hard working people who just happened to have questionable tastes here and there. One of my best friends likes the Transformers movies... I have no idea why, but whatever he's my friend regardless. My girlfriend is also a really big fan of the Fairy Tail manga, and I have no idea why but apparently she sees something in it that I don't. And she also said that Pearl Harbor by that most magnificent of monkey children Michael Bay was one of her favorite movies... And that made me a bit sad I'm not going to lie... But what have you, it really is all a matter of opinion at the end of the day.
And for my closing thoughts I leave one of the greatest internet reviews of all time, the Nostalgia Critic's most magnificent review of Moulin Rouge. A lot of people agree with hiim that Moulin Rouge is garbage (such as myself)... But other people think it's brilliant. The point being that there's always going to be a polarized reaction to certain works and sometimes you just have to accept that not everyone will agree.
Now we should probably get back to talking about Platinum End at this point… Because God forbid we actually discuss Platinum End in the forum thread about Platinum End. :ninja:
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Robby:
In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.
But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new: an extraordinary post from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the posting and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine theories is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for those that post in the Nakama thread and the famous motto, "Anyone can join, because Oda is unpredictable!" But I realize, only now do I truly understand what they meant.
Not everyone can become a great theorist and see the structure of the story; but a great theorist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now posting in Next Nakama thread, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest analyst in France. I will be returning to nakamate threads soon, hungry for more.
This is the best thing ever btw. Thank you. :wub: