What I'm most interested in by this chapter that not many others are really commenting on is the fact that Horikoshi sensei is going more and more forward with "progressing" the possibility of an Uraraka x Izuku relationship, and while I'm still quite confident to say that we'll be unlikely to get any real relationship progress from them until the last couple chapters of this series probably (whenever that sad and unfortunate date when Boku no Hero finally ends comes :sad:) either way I still feel like he's doing more to illustrate Deku and Ochako have a thing for each other in these past 100 chapters then Kishimoto ever did with any of his characters in Naruto in about twice the length of his series. I mean… It's not much but it's still more then most Shonen mangaka ever bother to do... So yeah I just thought that was worth commenting on... Now if only we could have this kind of progress with the Todoroki x Momo ship that I've been trying to push for several months now grumble grumble...
Posts made by Kareem Said
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RE: My Hero Academia - Gomu Gomu no Gentle Fist
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RE: Shichibukai Discussion Thread
If we consider they weren't that far from rookies at the time they were defeated and decided to retreat to Paradise, it wouldn't be strange for them not to be able to use Haki. Consider how much Luffy accomplished before even realizing Haki is a thing.
What is strange is that they didn't even know about it, or knew but didn't try to train themselves to use it by the time Luffy came along. But well, Oda should be forgiven that much.
I honestly assume that Crocodile and Moriah can both use Haki in the current story but just chose not to because they didn't need it to fight against Luffy and his crew since none of them are Logia's and because in both cases they severely underestimated Luffy and the SH's considering them to be hapless Rookies that were in way over their heads just like they were when they first entered the New World. So I assume that both Croc and Moriah wanted to take great pleasure in stomping out Luffy and the Straw-Hat's dreams in the same way that Whitebeard and Kaido respectively stomped out their own dreams. But I assume that both Crocodile and Moriah knew about Haki and had trained themselves to at least some degree, but I think you could maybe argue that since they retreated to Paradise, effectively deciding to be a "big fish in a small pond" so to speak, so you could argue that there are very few people who still reside in Paradise with enough mastery or knowledge of Haki to be able to use it effectively enough to teach other people how to master it so… That might explain why Crocodile at the very least didn't know how to use it, if he didn't, since he was pretty far away from the New World, although Moriah was relatively close to the New World given that he was in the Florian Triangle and probably right next to Sabaody Archipleago so... It can't have been that hard to find somebody who knew enough about Haki to at least teach him the basics... Maybe he was just too busy building an army of zombies. :ninja:
And as for why Buggy doesn't know Haki... I assume he knows about it (he was in Gold Roger's crew for Christ's sakes)... I assume he knows how powerful it is and how vital it is to master it to actually succeed among the top tier pirates... and how if he were able to master it then that would effectively be the one way to finally reach the level of his hated rival Shanks... I just assume, strongly assume in fact, that Buggy is just too damn lazy and/or stupid to actually put in the effort to master Haki and become a worthy successor to the Pirate King like his much better classmate Shanks :ninja:
Now one could argue one thing though which is that, how did Crocodile and Moriah not know Haki when they first went to the New World looking to make a name for themselves and were (presumably) much older then Luffy and most of the Straw-Hat's currently are? Well... first of all we have no idea how old they were when they first entered the New World... We know Crocodile's about 38 in the current story and Moriah I think is about 50 or something but... For all we know they might've both been 17-19 when they first entered the NW just like Luffy was (I can kind of see that in Croc's case... More difficult with Moriah though... Picturing a young Moriah is kind of like picturing a smart Luffy or a kind Akainu... It's just not done...) But my point being that... Crocodile and Moriah were both Super-Rookies when they first entered the New World just like Luffy and the rest of the Worst Generation were when they first entered... Keep in mind that the definition of "Super Rookie" seems to have nothing to do with actual age, nor with which Generation you're placed in with regards to Piracy. It really seems to all be about when you chronologically became a Pirate and for how long you were active... Like the Worst Generation that Luffy was a part of has people like Luffy and Law and Kid and (possibly) Bonney who are all in their late teens/early 20's, next to guys like Apoo, Hawkins and Drake who are in their late 20s/early 30s, next to Urouge and Capone who are both clearly in their 40s. All this is confirmed roughly in SBS data as well. And none of the Worst Generation seem to have been able to use Haki before entering the New World. Though we can assume that all of them do know it now that they're in the New World and are more or less thriving. So my point being that Crocodile and Moriah's age when they first entered the New World, and were likely pounded down by the Yonko fairly quickly, doesn't really matter because it seems as though most Rookies that enter the New World at first, regardless of their bounty, haven't mastered or even know about Haki... So that's really not surprising to me.
The only other thing I can say is... When Kaido was first revealed in Chapter 795 I saw a few people commenting "Why would Moriah ever even think of going up against something like that!?" And you just have to remember that... It's really the same reason why Crocodile actually wanted to challenge Whitebeard when he first entered the New World... Moriah and Crocodile were both young, impulsive, brash, reckless Super-Rookies, both with something to prove, who wanted to make a name for themselves in the biggest ways possible so they decided to challenge the biggest, toughest pirates around and paid the price for it in both cases. I've always kind of wanted to see what the exploits of young versions of the Shichibukai and the Yonko would look like, and maybe even the Admirals if we ever get that lucky, just to see how they came to be the way they are now and if they had similar learning curves as Luffy and the Straw-Hats did in terms of getting past their obstacles and being better because of it. We'll probably get something like that I'm just not sure when.
I will say that the failures of Crocodile and Moriah in the New World really kind of makes me think that Luffy and Law have really bitten off more then they can chew by screwing with both Kaido and Big Mom. And to be honest Kid, Apoo and Hawkins have likely done the same thing by choosing to challenge Shanks but also piss of Big Mom and (maybe) Kaido :ninja: due to their own rash and impulsive natures... And I get the feeling that they're all going to get stomped because of it sooner or later. People keep saying that Luffy is going to defeat Big Mom first and then probably Kaido and then Shanks will likely be taken down by external forces (don't really feel the need to speculate on that front just yet) so the final Pirate villain will be Blackbeard but... While that will still likely hold true I really can't see Luffy taking down any of the Yonko without tremendous outside help anytime soon. Luffy challenging Big Mom and Kaido directly is effectively suicide... But he's the kind of guy who I think is willing to pick himself back up after a major loss at the hands of Yonko... And the same is likely true of Law, Kid and the rest of the Worst Generation... And that's what sets up them apart from people like Crocodile and Moriah... Just my two cents...
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@sanji''s_dad:
if law had said that the straw hats worked under him the new admiral would not have been a threat during the arc since he would have just let doflamingo and the two supernova alliance fight each other.
i never said the warlords would not disbanded at the meeting i am just saying that we will get two new warlords before then one being a zoan since we have not had a zoan warlord unless weavil is one.
I actually totally agree that the Warlords aren't going to be disbanded just yet… To me the World Government is going to want to keep the system active for at least a little while longer... Doflamingo predicted that a major war is coming, and it seems like this is going to be a more long-lasting and prevalent war then Marineford... So the World Government is going to want strong people like Mihawk/Kuma/Hancock etc. who at least do some favors for them, mainly by knocking out Yonko fodder from what we can tell, and are at the very least not opposed to the World Government, at least not publicly... That's kind of one of the things about the Shichibukai that kind of gets overlooked from my past experiences... Part of the reason the system's there is to make it so that other active Pirates that are dangerous don't side with other potentially dangerous active pirates that are with the Yonko or the Worst Generation... Obviously that doesn't seem to work given that Doflamingo was in an Alliance with both Kaido and Law but... At the same time it seems as though in spite of Fujitora's protests to the contrary, the WG will likely continue the Shichibukai system for at least a little while longer... So they'll have to find two replacements then...
As for who the replacements will be, I still say Enel is as likely as anybody else. I still can't imagine him not showing up in the story again, and he seems like the kind of guy who'd have no problems with joining the Warlords, and he's clearly powerful enough so... That seems like a safe bet... And as for who will get the 7th spot... I really don't know, and this might be a bit out there, but I still wouldn't rule out Jack as a possibility... Obviously Jack would never be loyal to the World Government, I feel like he would only join them if Kaido ordered him to, possibly as a way of keeping tabs on them in the same way Doflamingo might've potentially... But the reason I can't get past the idea of Jack being a Shichibukai is... I wonder if maybe he was the pirate who was supposed to have cut off Admiral Zephyr's arm in the One Piece movie Z and killed his entire crew... I mean that would explain why his bounty is so ridiculously high, when you soundly defeat an Admiral then that's the kind of thing that people remember you for... And they said that the pirate who cut off Z's arm joined them... Either during the timeskip or afterwards... So maybe Jack joined once Doflamingo and Law's respective slots were open and he wanted to keep tabs on the WG as a sort of double agent... I mean, it's a little bit out there, and I get that Movie Z is non-canon but... I couldn't help but wonder if Jack was supposed to be the pirate that Oda envisioned as doing those unspeakable acts to Zephyr as opposed to Edward Weevil... Weevil just doesn't seem like that kind of guy somehow but Jack definitely does... So it's just a theory that I've had for some time now, and I'm fully prepared for it to be wrong but I've just felt ever since Jack's introduction that maybe that was what Oda was going for as opposed to Edward Weevil. Just me spit-balling personally feel free to disagree.
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RE: Bleach Discussion 0: Hello Darkness my old friend
@Kaido:
Do you mean Aizen appearing in an extended role? Because he and his chair emerged some time ago. Of course, he got punked by one of the worst Stetnritter and has only appeared once in the last 40 chapters. The only way he could have an extended role at this point is if Kira frees him or he somehow frees himself from that chair
I meant in an extended form yeah. And yeah I realize that that was Haschwalth (or however you spell his name) not Aizen… But again I still figure Aizen's going to show up again and honestly, though I really hate to say it, I'd be a little bit more surprised if Aizen DOESN'T show up again to be the final villain instead of Yhwach. Kubo just likes Aizen too damn much to forget about him honestly... And again part of me kind of wants him to come back quite sadly because it'd at least make the series a bit more interesting at this point. And hopefully the chair will be back too... God damn was that a badass chair. That chair is half the reason I read Bleach at this point. The other half is obligation and the fact that it usually takes me literally 90 seconds to read a typical chapter... :getlost:
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RE: Bleach Discussion 0: Hello Darkness my old friend
Oh wow, Uryu was really not a bad dude all of this time, who would've known? /s
Yeah… Uryu has been horribly misused this entire arc... Which is extra terrible given that this was supposed to be an arc about the freaking Quincies! and yet the one Quincy who was supposed to be a main character (just like Chad and Orihime… Ugh!) still doesn't do a fucking thing... Yeah that's a brilliant plan Kubo... That's brilliant ese... Who am I kidding Kubo didn't have a plan...
Also... And I'm probably wrong about this... I hope that I'm wrong about this anyway, but I think I actually thankfully am in this case but... Was that guy at the end supposed to be Aizen do you think? Because I don't know why but for some reason the way he was covered in shadow to "keep a mystery going" and his hair style which vaguely resembled one of Aizen's evolved forms... Caused me to fear that Kubo's brought Aizen back into the story (which will still probably happen mind you I just... I hope that we can delay the inevitable at least... :getlost:) Because even though it's probably not Aizen... We probably aren't seeing him yet... If it ends up being him then this is the only response I can provide for him coming back into the story...
Although… The more I think about it... And it pains me to say this, I mean it really really does... But having Aizen back in the story at this point might actually make the Bleach story "better" in a way (as "better" as Bleach can get at this point, what with the incredibly low bar that it is) I mean... The story would probably become even dumber then it already is (if that's possible) and the already indecipherable, impenetrable paradox of a "story" that is the Bleach continuity would probably get even worse if he were to reappear (though hopefully his badass... BADASS chair will be with him too mother****er's… That should be his new Bankai as far as I'm concerned :ninja:) But the simple fact of the matter is... As terrible a character as Aizen is (I mean I don't hate him as much as I hate Sasuke from Naruto, but that's a really low bar since I don't think it's possible for me to hate a manga character that much Jesus...) if he were to reappear in Bleach at this point it would at least make the story more entertaining if nothing else. Because as terrible as the Deicide arc of Bleach is from a writing/storytelling standpoints (and countless other standpoints) at least it's such an acid trip and is so utterly balls to the wall insane that... I can't help but feel that if Aizen showed up again and started turning into a Butterfly/Tentacle monster/condom-man then the series would start to get more entertaining just in how ridiculously dumb it would get... Although I guess the Mayuri vs Pernida fight and Shunsui vs Lillebarro fight were all pretty ridiculously stupid anyway so... Maybe not... :sad:
At this point Bleach is entertaining only in the same way that similarly "So Bad It's Good" movies like Plan 9 from Outer Space or The Room are... So I leave you with this...
Possibly the worst acting in the history of acting… And yet strangely still more entertaining in a way then most contemporary chapters of Bleach that don't have Zaraki or Mayuri in them...
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RE: My Hero Academia - Gomu Gomu no Gentle Fist
I am currently reading the My Hero Academia manga series and getting caught up. Right now I'm on Chapter 35 of this series (so I'm about halfway there give or take) and, excuse my language for a moment but… Holy Fuck this is one of the most fun and engaging manga series I've read in a LONG fucking time. I mean… Admittedly I was kind of destined to like this series given that I'm a big time fan of superheroes and comics in general… So to combine Western style comic books with Japanese Shonen manga style was pretty much just a recipe for win as far as I'm concerned but... Oh my God I love this series so much... When I'm up to date with this series I can very easily predict that this will be one of the highlights of my week along with One Piece. So far in these 35 chapters Horikoshi has done a really great job of establishing most if not all of the members of the class and given me at least some reason to care about most of them. I wouldn't say that any of them are as well fleshed out as anyone from One Piece or World Trigger yet (another highlight of my week) but the fact that Dekku is already one of the most likable Shonen protagonists I've seen in quite some time and that other characters like Bakugo, Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki, Asui, Yaoyorozou, Kirishima, Mineta, Kaminari, Tokoyami, Kyoka have all managed to establish themselves as at least reasonably interesting characters after only 35 chapters is just amazing to me.
It's just... Whenever I'm reading this series I always feel like I should be able to find things that are wrong with it and to be critical of it but... Ride now I'm just riding the high of this series and just having so much fun with how overjoyed I am to have what I believe to be the perfect "East meets West" comic, with this series being such a great way of taking the superhero stories I've loved so much and putting them in the form of the Shonen manga that I've also loved so much. I'm just so happy to have this manga because in a weird way I feel like I've been waiting for something like this all my life and now it's finally here. So once I'm up to date with this bad boy you can bet that I'm going to be popping in each week to talk about this series and I feel confident I'm going to have the same enthusiasm and love for this series that I've had before.
Oh... And the anime that's coming out? Can't wait for that either... And I should probably address the fact that before this series Horikoshi created Barrage for Shueisha... I actually read every chapter of that series which wasn't hard because there were... Only 15 of them... :sad: I was actually kind of heartbroken that that series somehow didn't catch on while crap like Bleach and Fairy Tail can put out hundreds and hundreds of chapters and I wondered if there was any justice in the world? Well... Maybe there was... I mean the craptastic series are still putting out loads of chapters but... At least Horikoshi got his second chance (or third apparently he also did Omagodoki Dobutsuen apparently which I didn't read but also heard good things about) and apparently Japan finally realized how brilliant he was... So maybe there is some justice in the world of manga after all? Now all we need is to get Bleach cancelled and all will be right with the world. Please let 2016 be the year... Please if there is a God...
But My Hero Academia is great and I look forward to a 2016 with that, One Piece and World Trigger to keep me company and wash the taste of Bleach away. I actually think Shonen Jump is the best it's been in a while due to those three series and others. Looking forward to 2016 with all of them.
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RE: Chapter 813: An Invitation to the Tea Party
**Pekoms is their best chance of getting there.
Capone didn't give any information about the whereabouts of this tea party, so the Straw Hats are oblivious to that; however, there is one - only one - person on Zou with that knowledge, & that is Pekoms.
Pekoms failed to honor his given word of repaying the Straw Hats for saving his family & friends by turning a blind eye to Sanji, but he could compensate for that by guiding them to the tea party.**
Even if we suppose that his threat was genuine, there is no way of knowing whether that bullet was imbued with haki or whether it was a sea stone bullet.
How could Kaido destroy the world for him? And how will this make him the ruler of the world?
I do have a sinking suspicion from these past 2 chapters that Pekoms only ever really served Big Mom to protect Zou in a similar relationship to Jinbe allying with Big Mom to protect Fishman Island. He might've been more directly involved with Big Mom's crew then Jinbe ever was but the simple fact of the matter is that this chapter and the previous one illustrated that he's ultimately more loyal to his homeland then to the crew he was in. So yeah… I speculate that with him being left behind and probably for dead Pekoms is going to want to help out the SH's in at least some form. Granted... I doubt he'll directly help them because he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd want to directly fight Big Mom but... At the very least I could see him deciding to ally with Luffy and be a part of his fleet and having Zou now be a part of Luffy's territory instead of Big Mom's. I feel like even when Luffy's not around some members of his fleet like maybe Orlumbus or Ideo or somebody will always be protecting Zou and the Minks... Just a thought...
Anyway some people are speculating that Luffy is going to wait to go after Sanji to settle the business on Zou with the samurai... I kind of doubt that honestly... Luffy's the kind of guy who wouldn't sit still and let something like this happen to one of his nakama lying down... Just look at what happened with Robin at Enies Lobby he ended up declaring war on the entire World Government to get her back... I feel like he's going to go directly at war with Big Mom for what she's doing with Sanji right now... And that will be very very interesting to say the least... Because we could be seeing what the full power of a Yonko is very shortly :ninja:.
I do wonder what's going on with the other members of the Worst Generation though. Capone has now gotten quite a bit of screen-time (or panel time) compared to the others (besides Law and Luffy obviously) so I can't help but wonder if we're going to finally see what happened to the Kid Alliance soon. Just a thought... A hope... Please Oda please...
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RE: Deadwood Reunion movie is happen
And now I feel really bad that I'm still only halfway through Season 1 of Deadwood after how many years? Sorry Deadwood faithful… Life just keeps getting in the way somehow. At least I can feel good knowing that I've seen every episode of The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Shield, Lost, Oz and a couple of other great "modern classics" among American TV... Just not Deadwood somehow. :sad:
Well I guess the movie still won't be here for another year or two (possibly longer let's be honest) So... I might still have some time/hope. Maybe.
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Will it break Wolf of Wall Street's record of amounts of time fuck is said in a single movie?
Might depend on the run time but… Very likely honestly... Actually one of my favorite bits of swearing in all of television (possibly all of media) was in the 1st episode of this show... Let's see if I can find it... Yeah! God bless the internet. :wub:
Yep, here it is. You only really start to hear Ellsworth go into his tirade after the 1 minute mark but… Holy crap that's a lot of swearing in the span of a few seconds. And yet... It somehow feels very fitting in a weird way. Like it didn't feel like it was written in just to be vulgar, it actually felt like it established the character somehow. And I'll sometimes just find myself quoting that line to myself for no real reason but just somehow parts of it just feel strangely inspirational to me... It's weird. I wonder if anybody else has ever been inspired by Deadwood at weird moments?
Also... Just because it's fun, here's the Honest Trailer for Wolf of Wall Street since somebody mentioned it. I actually like that movie, more or less (it's really overrated though) but all of the flaws they point out in it are very legitimate. Enjoy.
Anytime I hear the Honest Trailer guy's epic voice… And then I hear my comparatively pathetic voice I get a little bit sad I'm not going to lie.
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RE: Marvel Movies Thread - Holy Shitballs
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/avengers-infinity-war-will-feature-67-characters-20160112
… Just thought that I should share this because... Well, let the speculation commence lol. :ninja:
Man, 67 characters... That's somehow both incredibly exciting and at the same time somewhat frightening because... Even though I really admire the Russo brothers and think they have a tremendous amount of talent... Whedon had a lot of trouble balancing all the moving parts in Age of Ultron (I say that as somebody who mostly liked that film) so... Infinity War looks like it's going to be even more ambitious honestly. Well fingers crossed, it'll be a spectacular film on at least some level honestly...
Well I think we can feel rest assured that we'll see all six of the main Avengers, Nick Fury, probably at least a few other SHIELD characters, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Ant-Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, possibly the Defenders characters like Daredevil and Jessica Jones :ninja:, Thanos (most obvious statement ever) Loki (cough most marketable cough) Several supporting characters like Bucky, Falcon, Rhodie, The Wasp, Odin, Sif, Heimdall and the rest of Thor's buddies from Asgard, probably some supporting cast members and villains from the upcoming Spider-Man movie... maybe just maybe Dr. Helen Cho and Luis from Ant-Man (please, please, please :wub:) And... Then it gets really complicated because... I just listed a ton of characters right there and yet I have no idea who's going to be introduced in the upcoming Marvel movies like Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man etc. that could make this cast even larger, as if it wasn't huge already. Man... Infinity War is going to be insane for all the right and wrong reasons.
Well... All I can say is that as long as they don't lose sight of the emotional moments that make the Marvel moments really work I'll probably still end up loving this movie regardless. A big part of why I still liked Age of Ultron in spite of its flaws is because we still had enough great emotional moments in the film like the Bruce and Natasha scenes, or various other scenes of the team bonding and when Scarlet Witch ripped Ultron's heart out (to name a few) that made me forgive some of the stupider and more rushed moments. So long as they have an emotional moment as good as the one that this music captures... This movie will be a success...
… The feels... The feels... Sniffle
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RE: Platinum End - Not So New Obha and Obata manga
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:
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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:
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RE: R.I.P. David Bowie
I thought 2015 was bad in terms of how many famous people died, but 2016 is not off to a good start.
R.I.P Dave.
2014 was way worse I thought honestly, given that we lost both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams in the same year. 2013 we also lost Roger Ebert, James Gandolfini, Peter O'Toole AND Nelson Mandela. But yeah… 2016 is not going well so far.
And now I just feel like playing this video from Good Will Hunting to commemorate Robin Williams. And if this video doesn't break your heart at least a little bit when you think of Robin then... check your heart and see if it's still beating. Sniffle.
EDIT: Aw crap! In 2013 we also lost Paul Walker didn't we? Ah man that was a really bad year wasn't it? That's going to be the one to beat I think for a while isn't it? :sad:
I play this now. If this doesn't make you tear up a little bit (especially the beginning and the end) then again… Try not to be a heartless monster...
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I think my mother was telling me about this earlier.
Did not sink exactly who it was until now :(
I thought it was some kind of sick joke when I first read it honestly. Rest in peace Mr. Bowie.
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RE: R.I.P. David Bowie
I only have this to say. Probably already been posted but… I feel like it's more relevant then ever now. :sad:
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RE: Platinum End - Not So New Obha and Obata manga
I swear, this is like one of the premises from Bakuman they decided wouldn't work.
Might as well have just made Reversi.
I feel like that's what it's supposed to be though… I get the feeling that they wanted to make Reversi, as in making it that sort of "Battle manga that doesn't feel like a Battle manga" and this is what they decided to go with. They decided not to go with Reversi (which I agree might not've been a bad way to go.) but for some reason they decided instead to go this route. I do still feel like though, if they wanted to do the whole "Battle manga that's somehow not one" thing then… I feel like both Attack on Titan and Tokyo Ghoul have that sort of feel to them, so maybe that would've been better? If nothing else I could very easily see them doing a style that's very similar to both of those series, given Death Note was a Shonen that often straddled the line of a Seinen, just like Attack on Titan, and Tokyo Ghoul is a Seinen series that somehow seems to feel like a really dark Shonen. :ninja:
I will say that I was mildly intrigued by the first 3 chapters of this series. If nothing else it's not what I was expecting at all. I certainly thought that the chapters after the 1st one did a slightly better job of illustrating what Ohba and Obata are trying to do with this premise. Granted, I do think if this weren't by two people who brought me two series that I really loved I probably wouldn't be that interested, but then again, it is by those two people, and also... It generally only takes me about 10 minutes to read a monthly manga series, and that's once a month... So if anything it's actually an even shorter time commitment then 5 minutes on average for a weekly series. :ninja:
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Here is the only place that matters.
Other places you find people that think Naruto and Bleach are good.
I feel like I need to make this into my Sig, just so people have a better understanding of why I left this forum for two years…
Also, just because I like most of you guys a lot, a lot of you guys mention that this series is resemblant of Future Diary (and I'm not calling it Mirai Nikki because I'm not a goddamn weeaboo) …. ..... I would kind of prefer you guys didn't mention that series honestly… There are so many bad memories from that series that I don't want to relive... Now before I play the "This is the End" music from Apocalypse Now... I'm going to show you this amazing and hilarious and horrifying video of the Weekly Manga Recap guys explaining in detail why Future Diary is horrible... Enjoy... and also be amazed by the horrific-ness of writing, and characterization, and taste and all those other things that make a good series...
… NOW I can play This is the End from Apocalypse Now (technically it's not from Apocalypse Now but everyone associates it with that movie so… Yeah...)
Seriously… I feel like I went on a goddamn tour of duty after reading that piece of **** series... The amount of stupid in Future Diary is about on par with... Well, the vast majority of the "Next Two Straw-Hats" thread. Which I just realized... People always say that AP Forums posters are way smarter then posters on most other forums and... You're not wrong mind you but... Check out some of the suggestions in the "Next Two Crew-Members" thread... (Monet? Seriously!?) and try and say that again with a straight face. It's a bit harder isn't it?
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RE: The Best and Worst of One Piece in 2015
• Best Moment of the Year First appearence of the new island Zou. So exciting to see (finally) a new adventure
• Character of the Year
Kaidou. We've seen more of him then in all the previous years together…and I like him• Best New Character Kaidou. The official introduction of a Yonkou is a big deal!
• Best Fight of the Year
Luffy vs Doffy. It wasn't the best, but it was good nevertheless.• Best Surprise of the Year The possible BB vs. Dragon, but I also mention Raizou being a ninja
• Quote of the Year
Sanji's "only alive" poster
• Funniest Moment of the Year
The SH and the poor Ryunosuke• Shame of the Year
The SH still not being all together…• Worst Character of the Year
Bellamy. Bringing him back was an error in the first place• Worst New Character of the Year
No new character is really bad. If I had to choose I'd say Wanda, she looked like tough character, but it turns out she's a crybaby…**• Worst Fight of the Year
Kyros vs. Diamante. Diamante unexpectedly sucks bad…• Worst Surprise of the Year**
Easy: "Corpses of your friend"Quoted for Truth. Diamante was pretty lame. Also, I was really hoping that Robin would get to be the one to defeat him, or at least play a way bigger role in the fight. I actually forgot to mention, somehow, that Robin being the only one of the 5 Straw-Hat's NOT to get a real moment of glory on Dressrosa is actually pretty damn disappointing to me honestly… I mean, think about it, Luffy took down Doffy, Zoro took down Pica, Franky took down Senor Pink, Usopp technically took down Sugar, and Robin... Well she protected Rebecca during the Diamante fight while Kyros took him down. That... kind of bothered me I'm not going to lie. And this combined with the failure that is Rebecca (a way worse character then Bellamy might I add) made this an overall not so great arc for One Piece. Oda... I love you man, you're one of my heroes but... Try a little harder next time bro, m'kay? Obviously Oda will (probably) never read my post on this forum but... a man can dream after all...
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RE: The Best and Worst of One Piece in 2015
Best Moment of the Year:
Hard to say, there were actually a fair number of great moments this year even though two main ones come to mind. Before I get to my top two for this particular year I will say flat out that I have quite a few honorable mentions, from Doflamingo's epic speech, to the reveal of Jack, to Bartolomeo taking down Gladius via homage (Bartolomeo in general is amazing. Still waiting for him to be 11th nakama! :wub:) to Sai and Baby 5 falling in love, with Baby 5 deservedly being the only member of Doffy's crew to be spared (Shut up! I think that this ship is adorable! :wub:) to Zoro and Franky both being major hardcore badasses (Franky might've actually been just as badass as Zoro in a way, because while he may not have been as flashy as Zoro with his mountain cutting showing off-ness… Franky more then made up for it in terms of being hard boiled. )But in spite all of that amazing epic-ness my top two moments, and yes I have a #1 in spite of everything. Are: Close 2nd, (Almost like #1B) was the reveal of Kaido. Seriously there'd been so much hype surrounding this mofo for so long and yet Oda actually pulled it off. I have to give Oda some major credit for that. I even will randomly tell people I know about the Kaido chapter to finally get people to stop saying OP is down hill: Also this. Don't normally like King of Lightning but his reaction to Kaido was… Pretty much mine lol
Also, whenever Kaido says that he's going to: "Start the Biggest War this World Has Ever Seen!!!" I always think of that line from Game of Thrones where the one guy says he'll start the biggest Fire the North has ever seen. Has Oda been confirmed as a GoT fan? Because I'd honestly be more surprised if he wasn't confirmed at this point.
But yeah Luffy taking down Doflamingo was the best moment in OP this year in my opinion, in spite of how amazing so many other moments were. I literally got out of my chair and fist pumped when that happened. And I literally started to think to myself "Maybe One Piece really is just as good as it was pre-timeskip?" Cause I mean, we're still not quite back at the consistent levels of amazing quality that the series frequently reached during the Sabaody, Impel Down and Marineford arcs (the Golden age of One Piece imo :wub:) Oda put in the time, he put in the effort, and Doflamingo, the man who held the record for highest bounty in One Piece for a good 300-400 chapters (and now Jack has completely ****ed up the OP Bounty system in a way so that it'll never be fixed. But we'll get to that later… we'll get to that) was taken down in a manner that was satisfying and realistic. Great, great moment. Wonderful.
I'm going to speed through the other ones because I'll kind of just hit a lot of the same beats with most of them. Here gos!
Character of the Year:
Hard to say. You know what... I'll list my top 10.1. Monkey D. Luffy. Lazy answer I know, but he really was great this year. I've followed this guy's adventures for literally 8 years now and yet him taking down Doflamingo really made me proud somehow. I almost felt as though one of my best friends had grown up in this moment where he proved that he was high Shichibukai level. I was really proud of him in that moment honestly, I know that that's kind of nerdy and pathetic, and he's fictional character at the end of the day, but in my opinion if one doesn't become emotionally invested in their fictional stories then... What's the point of reading them?
2. Donquixote Doflamingo. People I think are neglecting how amazing he was this year as well. He had a badass as all Holy Hell speech. He put up a really good fight against Luffy that Luffy really would not have won without outside help (not that it isn't still an amazing feat on Luffy's part though!) and in general the dude is a major badass that could probably put even Crocodile to shame in terms of Magnificent Bastard-ness. Past Crocodile anyway. :ninja:
3. Kaido. I know... lazy answer, and he was literally in one chapter but... All of the hype surrounding him where Law literally called him the strongest CREATURE alive… he lived up to it in that chapter. And that's just amazing to me.
4. Roronoa Zoro. His fight with Pica was badass. Because Zoro is amazing. Not really anything else to say besides that, Zoro will be an MVP until the series end. I'm pretty sure that he and Luffy are probably going to go on to be the only 2 characters that end up in every top 10 best characters list until the end of the series. I used to think that Sanji would also end up in all of those lists but... We haven't truly seen him in about 2 years. sniffle. :sad:
5. Bartolomeo. Because he's the best. And I probably shouldn't gush about him anymore then I already have... Because we'd be here for several hours...
6. Sabo. Because... as Sawyer7mage once said... If my man Sabo really wanted to he could go off to Shanks' house while drunk, urinate on his porch, smack Shanks once Shanks comes out and TOTALLY GET AWAY WITH IT! Don't believe me… ask Drunk Sawyer... Below...
7. Franky... Because he's so Hard Boiled.
8. Senor Pink. Because he's… possibly even more Hard Boiled. Were Franky not Franky he might #7 after all.
9. Jack. Because he's the One Billion Berry Bounty man. And as ridiculously stupid as that is… I'd be lying if I said I didn't wet myself a little bit Sheepshead said that... I shouldn't have said that...
10. Sai. Weird choice but... I really like what Oda did for this character... He might be the shining example of a OP character with a Happy Ending. He got the best possible ending this character could've gotten. He became the Don of the Fleet. He got Baby 5 as his wife, because I mean seriously she may not be Hancock or Nami levels of hotness, but given that this is Sai we're talking about he got really lucky given where he is in the One Piece hierarchy. And became probably the 3rd or 4th most prominent of Luffy's captain (after Barto and Cabbage obviously... and possibly that little puke Leo... but we'll get to that)I considered putting both Usopp and Trafalgar Law in this list but... I've started to realize that the 2 of them had their best moments last year sadly.
Also I don't know why but I find this video to be amusing. Admit it, deep down you want that to happen between Sabo and Shanks. :3
Damn it I'm going to have to get through these other ones really quickly.
Best New Character.
Kaido. Already been said why. Jack is a fairly close second. Edward Weevil is a somewhat distant third. I'm willing to wait and see how he turns out though. All the other new characters this year kind of sucked and don't deserved to be ranked. Except maybe the Cat Viper. :ninja:
Best Fight.
Luffy vs Doflamingo. Already been said why. Zoro vs Pica, Franky vs Senor Pink, Bartolomeo vs Gladius and Sai vs Lao G/Baby 5. Pretty good set of fights honestly.Best Surprise of the Year.
I want to say Kaido… But to be honest with you I actually thought that the reveal of what Zou was was honestly a bit better at least in terms of the surprise factor. Admit it… Most of you didn't think it was going to be on an Elephant. That's a pretty big acid trip even by Oda's standards. Honorable mentions are Kaido, Jack and Edward Weevil's reveals. And also finally seeing the Blackbeard Pirates, Monkey D. Dragon and (most importantly) BUGGY after multiple years.The Buggy has arrived. Tell the people.
Quote of the Year: Doflamingo's speech. I can't post it though because this post is already ridiculously long. But all I can really say is… Some people don't think OP will end at chapter 1200 (although a lot of my friends and my gf say that the series is too long as it is and that 1200 chapters is too long... I'm worried 1200 chapters is going to be too short) but I do know that Oda knows by the time he's done with this series (as Ice Cube would put it) his bitch ass will be 50. So he kind of knows he has to speed it up a little bit. And that's kind of why a looming Throne war (Oda has to be a GoT fan... he just has to be...) needs to happen. And why the status quo seems more and more like it's starting to get shaken up, what with Kaido and Big Mom both having a stake in Zou, Kaido actually having a reason to go to Impel Down when you think about it, and a war between the Blackbeard Pirates and the Revolutionary Army looming. And I can only see things in the OP world getting more and more chaotic from there honestly. I kind of think the reason Dressrosa was so long was because Oda knew that would be the last arc of the series he'd get to write before chaos reigned in the OP world. So he was sentimental. It happens to all of us. And I really fear that Sabo will end up like Ace... Please Lord no... I mean from a storytelling standpoint it would be brilliant... But please Lord no...
Also this: Because his reaction to the BB Pirates vs Revolutionaries plot thread... I think he might be on to something:
Also… The Buggy has arrived bitches... :ninja:
Funniest Moment:
Let me think... There was nothing this year that was quite as amazing as Usopp being the 500 Million Berry Bounty man (I laughed so hard honestly… Even though now Jack makes that bounty look pathetic but... still it's Usopp) but I did still find a lot of Bartolomeo's fanboy/girl moments over the Straw-Hats really amusing. And him jizzing himself multiple times over Zoro and Robin, figuratively and possibly literally in the latter case, will always make my day pretty much.Also... Ryunosuke and Robin's reaction to him was great. Wait... Who the Hell am I kidding Ryunosuke should've been 3rd best new character this year! He's almost on par with Jack why the Hell did I forget him!? He makes Edward Weevil look pathetic by comparison!
R.I.P. Ryunosuke. You gave so much and asked so little. Sniffle.
Ryunosuke's death was sadder then Chojiro Sasakibe's in Bleach. You heard it here first folks! … My God that's a callback... Also I'm actually only half-joking when I say that... I actually kind of mean it now that I think about it... :blink:Shame of the Year:
No Sanji. That is all. Actually wait, I guess... Also Rebecca is still worthless. I know that hating on Rebecca has kind of become like a beating dead horse, and believe me it brings me no pleasure to consistently rag on a female character but... She really does in my opinion kind of deserve... not all of it mind you, because I don't think she "Roooiiined this arrrrke!" like some other people seem to (stupidly) think that she did but... She was the biggest problem with this arc. Even those useless Tontatta weren't (quite) as bad as her. (They were close though. I don't know why more people don't rag on them.)But back to Sanji... Sanji this one's for you... No matter what happens, and no matter how many times Oda-sensei illustrates that he's clearly forgotten that you exist... You were my hero. No. Correction. You are my Hero.
Sanji needs to be back in 2016. I mean seriously people. I think part of the reason I have such a giant mancrush on Kaido is because his reveal was actually so badass it overshadowed the return of Sanji after a full goddamn year of publication. Oh if only we knew that would also be the last we'd see of him for another long while. Sniffle.Worst Character of the Year.
Rebecca. Already been said why. The Tontatta are a close second though (well, not that close but…), although I'm starting to realize that Mansherry is pretty worthless too. I normally have a pretty high tolerance for diabetes causing levels of cuteness but even I can't stand her. Also... I don't know why but I can't bring myself to truly like Cavendish. Don't really know why, he's just always overshadowed by Bartolomeo. And possibly also Sai. :ninja:Worst New Character.
Meh. No one was really that bad. Most everyone this year was either good (Kaido. Jack. ... Ryunosuke) ... Or didn't do enough to truly leave an impact... I think maybe Edward Weevil was slightly disappointing but even then I still think Oda has plans for that character that I'm about 90% sure will pay off in the long run. His mother is as annoying as sin but... she's supposed to be so I can't get mad at Oda for that.Worst Surprise.
Jack's bounty was... A bit of a strange moment... Because while on one hand I can understand the reasoning behind it... And I do sort of get why Oda's decided to raise the limit on Bounties... I can't help but ask... Why now? I mean... It kind of raises some questions. Like why the Hell does the WG enlist guys who's Bounties are generally in the 100-300 Million Berry Bounty range to be in the Shichibukai when there are 1st Mate's with Bounties in the 1 Billion range. Why the Hell are Kidd and Law and Apoo and Hawkins considered "notorious" pirates when their bounties are positively dwarfed by a subordinate of Kaido's? How high do the bounties of the Yonko (or Dragon?) go if Jack is worth literally a billion? Infinite? World Noble status? The possibilities, and questions, are endless… And I don't know if Oda can answer them honestly. I don't think he wants to, and I don't think I truly care... but regardless it was a cool twist, but it still throws a lot of our prior expectations of the series out of whack. It just feels like Bounties kind of mean nothing at this point if Luffy and Law can be considered the highest active bounties with 500 Million each at chapter 801... And then a month or two later Oda already goes up to the Billion range. I mean... I just feel like maybe if you were finally going to go there then you should have done it at Marineford you know? Just me.Anyway... Those are my thoughts... And I had a lot of them. I really need to get help because I am spending too much damn time thinking about fictional pirates with superpowers. It's amazing that I actually have a social and professional career. But... this was a great year for One Piece regardless, and I think that that's obvious because of how much there was to talk about. Hopefully 2016 will be just as good or even better (maybe). Till next time. Now I leave y'all with this.
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RE: Theory : Kaido has a Dragon Devil Fruit
I'd say the reason is, he can't commit suicide. All means of killing him failed and the appratus to do so broke. Who is to say, when trying to drown himself, he wouldn't get swept up by a current? Or concrete around his feet braking? Or getting rescued by whoever?
This is a man whose fate prevents him from dying, so to speak. The same 'fate' would save him when drowning.
My 2 cents.
And indeed I have a major speculation that Kaido's desire to die, which is apparently so great that he wants to start a war with whomever (presumably either the other Yonko or the Marines or perhaps both) simply so that he can create an Earth shattering conflict that will cause him to die. I very strongly believe that this is the next major plot point where the story is heading. And considering that Oda has said something about how we're about 60% to 70% done with the story now… it seems as though Kaido moving forward with his plans seems like as good a way as any to jump start the narrative.
I must say though, the idea that Kaido is willing to start a war that will shake the world just so he can have a chance of dying is... pretty damn profound when you think about it. I mean, if he thinks this is the only possible way he can die, since all his other attempts failed, then I can weirdly respect that in a way. I mean I guess if you find life pointless but find yourself unable to die then... who's to say what someone would do in that situation? Very interested to see where the story is going to go now with Kaido as the main villain for at least another arc.
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RE: Dumb Predictions
Fujitora isn't really blind, his eyes just have heart-shaped pupils and he's too embarrased about them to let anyone else see.
I have a similar theory that the reason we never see Doflamingo's eyes is because he doesn't have eyes, he has two fanged mouths for eyes that feed off of people's souls and nightmares like The Corinthian from The Sandman comics. The only reason we didn't see him use this super special awesome ability that could take down even Kaido if Doffy wanted to, against Luffy is because Doffy thought it would be too OP and he wanted to give Luffy a fair chance. Doffy will break out of Impel Down soon enough and fight Luffy fair and square next arc. :ninja:
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Monkey D. Kaidou….. dragons older brother..... Luffy's Uncle
Also… Whitebeard aka Edward Newgate is actually... Edwar D. Newgate... Dragon's brother in law and Luffy's uncle on his mother's side. And also Donquixote Doflamingo is actually... Donquixote D. Oflamingo... Luffy's son in a parallel future where Luffy is already Pirate King. And Sir Crocodile is actually... Sir Croco D. Ile... He's actually just Dragon's snooty hipster friend from college who bunked in his room and ate all his food. When Dragon kicked him out Croco held a grudge against the Monkey family forever. It all makes sense until you think about it... by which I mean until next shift.
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RE: Theory : Kaido has a Dragon Devil Fruit
What if a dragon ate the Kaido Kaido no mi???:ninja:
You know… I personally kind of (halfway jokingly) theorized that maybe Kaido ate some kind of... Demon Demon no mi, or Devil Devil no mi, or maybe Satan Satan no mi or something like that (the Satan Satan no mi would probably be the most badass Devil Fruit that we'll almost certainly never get, right up there with the God God no mi that I'm sure Enel wishes he ate... although we did get what was effectively a Buddha Buddha no mi with Sengoku so I guess I can't even entirely rule out those joke DF's :ninja:) But, the idea that Kaido ate a Dragon DF feels more and more plausible with each of the theories these people posted. I agree wholeheartedly with Daz (one of many posters who are far better then me) that Oda has given us so many, admittedly pretty subtle, examples of foreshadowing to Kaido's DF being a Dragon Zoan that he might as well put "Hey! I'm foreshadowing here! Pay attention!" Although, I will say that I'm glad that Oda's symbolism is always subtle (which is effectively what all this) unlike... certain other hack mangakas I could name... but I won't because I think most people can figure out who they are already...
I will say though that... the idea that Kaido is impervious to harm because of how strong a Dragon's skin is (we saw some of that with the artificial Dragons we saw on Punk Hazard) does make a lot of sense but... this does still call into question what Dragon's DF is... because many people theorized that there would be an Eastern and Western Model for the Dragon Zoan and that... well Dragon would have the Eastern Model because he can evidently control the weather, because back in Loguetown that seemed to be what Oda implied his ability to be. I'm pretty sure that Eastern Dragons were said to be able to control the weather... but now Oda is making it seem more and more that Kaido has an Eastern Dragon Zoan. So does this mean that Monkey D. Dragon has the Western Dragon Zoan? Or does he just have some kind of Weather control Paramecia, or some kind of Wind Zoan, which are some of the other theories.
Because, quite frankly, I don't think that Western style Dragon's can control the weather, or at least I never remember that from any of the fables that I read as someone who actually grew up in the West. Because, I could maybe see Kaido being a Western style Dragon as well but... all the symbolism around him seems much more Eastern? Maybe, I'm just splitting hairs here, and I do agree that all the theories that Kaido has a Dragon DF makes a lot of sense but... it does call into question what Monkey D. Dragon's DF is then. I mean, that's a discussion for another time but still, it seems like maybe Dragon isn't a Zoan after all.
I will say though that I still wouldn't rule out the possibility that Kaido's DF may actually be a Hydra or a Chimera, something Dragon like without actually being a Dragon. Especially since the Hydra's never die, it only regrows heads, which would fit with Kaido's whole immortality gimmick. Really the only thing going against the "Kaido has a Dragon DF" theory is that we kept thinking that Dragon the Revolutionary leader had one of those (given that it's his name...) that's really the only monkey wrench in all of these theories, and it's not hard to fathom that in spite of his name, Dragon actually just has some kind of Storm Paramecia. Either way, much respect to the people who made these theories, because I just feel like now I'm seeing full well that there's too much evidence to think that Kaido isn't a Dragon Zoan.
Mad props to you Australopithecus, I wish I had your keen eye for foreshadowing.
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
I agree, Kaido being an oni with a dragon devil fruit seems to be the most likely.
If he is human, however, then I'd say that the reason he doesn't just bother to drown himself is because that's kind of the "obvious" way out and he wants to see if there's any other way for him to die outside of that.
Or maybe… when he tries to drown himself, he just doesn't suffocate... He just keeps on breathing. :ninja:
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RE: Bakuman
@TLC:
I'm sorry, what the fuck? And you were actually a member I never had any gripes with and you come back and the first thing you do is this weird, uncalled for (and very outdated) roasting? What?
Two more things.
1. Yes, I hated Bakuman and still do, I think the main relationship is awful, poorly written and misogynistic in how it glorifies women being pure virgins and I don't care how much it paints in pretty "but it's their dream" colors. But whatever, people like what they like but I stand by this and even most people who like the series agree the relationship is weak INCLUDING yourself.
2. How does Akamatsu fucking up his own series make me a clown exactly? Did I own Negima? Because I really loved it? Did everyone else who love it get clowned? Is every manga/film/book/series/game that I like end horribly part of a conspiracy to clown me? Wow, it's a huge ass conspiracy then given how much shit I've seen that ended disappointingly. What a stupid remark.
I'm not gonna deny that I've had a checkered past on this forum but I like to think I've chilled out, try my best to hold my tongue and engage as respectfully as I can with my fellow members. I'm certainly not going to do that with asshats who try for uncalled for public humiliation though. What a poor return impression you've made, dick.
He he he. Sorry, sorry, maybe a little bit uncalled for but… I just found it funny okay? And I know a lot of other people who find it funny. I'm not the only one who laughs at you behind your back about that you know? Other people have expressed in private that they found it funny as well, given how overly obsessed you were with that series to the point that everyone who knew you called you "The guy who really liked Negima... a lot...". So no it's really not that stupid of a remark given how other people share that feeling and will still not let you live that down.
And yeah it was kind of dickish... but again, against somebody who himself acted like a dick many times to other people for having "inferior opinions" and who... while I admit I liked you when I was younger and less experienced, over time I found you to be rather smug and full of yourself so... I guess I decided it needed to be said. I just... really didn't like seeing you going around bashing other people for liking series like Fairy Tail... and I know a lot of other people didn't either even though they (and myself actually) didn't even really like Fairy Tail. My general opinion of you, which is one that a lot of people share from what I can tell, is that while you do have good taste, you seem to believe that everyone who doesn't share your opinion is "objectively wrong" even if they themselves might have perfectly legit reasons for liking or not liking things that you do or don't like.
Your general thought process is that "Bad taste=Bad person" and a lot of people on this forum, including myself obviously, really kind of find you insufferable because of that. I know many people, both in real life and online, who I care about deeply who like things that I think are godawful (such as Fairy Tail, which my beloved best friend sadly likes… sadly). But... I don't care, that's there opinion and that's none of my business. It might be kind of sad that that's there opinion but... whatever I just leave it alone because I have better things to do with my life. Not so much with you, where you always seemed to just love bashing people for having different opinions then you thinking that they were somehow less then you because they liked things you didn't.
And again... a lot of people shared this opinion with me about you... a lot of people said that "TLC himself is proof that Good taste doesn't equal good quality person… since he has very good taste but is himself kind of an insufferable asshole". I mean... the thing that people like you don't get is that... being smart doesn't really matter if you act like an asshole most of the time. I know many people who like horrible, horrible things but... they're nice people and that's what matters to me. I would never stop being friends with somebody because they liked something that was crap. I'd much rather be friends with someone who was dumb but nice, then somebody who was smart but an asshole.
I mean, a lot of people just kind of got fed up with your "checkered past" and you going around bashing people for their tastes so... a lot of us still find it hilarious that your super special awesome amazing series got canceled abruptly because it meant that while you were bashing other people for their opinions all those years, your own series that... you may say you didn't own it but you sure as Hell acted like you owned it… had one of the worst and most abrupt endings in recent memory.
Sorry man just... a lot of us still don't really like you all that much and the main reason I think people keep you around is because you do in fact provide interesting discussions, even if you're always really arrogant. I just decided that somebody needed to call you out on it, because I still find it funny even after three years honestly. Also... this isn't my first post after 3 years... I've actually been posting semi-regularly for about a month or two now. Sorry if you think it's a poor return impression but... that's just you honestly, if you paid attention to some of the other discussion threads, like the Bleach thread, people have already noticed that I've been back for a month now and some people were very happy about it. Which made me glad... I've never thought of myself as a very good poster honestly, but some other people think I am, which I guess I'll take the compliments even though I myself don't agree with them. I always think that if you listen to people's compliments about yourself it gets to your head, like that's what happened with me a little bit and I don't think that was a good thing. So whatever, some people will like me, some people won't, I'll just be happy for the people that do like me.
And I'm going to be honest with you... I don't want to be a dick to you... I just remembered getting pissed off at some of the things you said and did to people in the Fairy Tail thread and I bit my tongue because I didn't want to get into an argument. But I've started to realize now that I'm back on this forum after three years that I'm not ever going to let anybody intimidate me. If I see bullshit coming from somebody I'm going to call them out on it from now on. So I just called you out on your own bullshit from three years back even though... I will admit I don't know how the past three years have been... you're right maybe you've gotten better, but I'm still new here after being gone a long time and I was just reminiscing about what a fuss you made in various threads, including this one.
I just found it funny is all, because those are some of my cherished memories of this forum and I decided to bring up how you were once someone who I respected and admired but... I later on realized that I was probably wrong to do that. I wasn't really trying to "publicly humiliate" you per say... more just mentioning how I decided I no longer thought of you as a poster I liked anymore... because I remember how people would mention their beefs with you and how I didn't understand why at first but... later on I kind of did. For all of the reasons above. That's it. Sorry man... really wasn't trying to put you on the spot there I just... realized I was wrong to have admired you in the past. And if... somebody who used to look up to you and used to think you were a really awesome poster well... if they later realized they were wrong because of the many times you shat on other people for their opinions, which goes against all my principals, then... well maybe just maybe the problem is you. Mkay?
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RE: Next Bounty Predictions (Dressrosa Arc)
@O:
are you serious? Dellinger was a real unstoppable monster, beating coliseum warrior one after the other!!!!
Oh yeah… that's right. Sorry, I just momentarily forgot, it's been a while since I read those chapters. Okay yeah, Cavendish is a major badass I'm sorry. I guess it's just that I look at Dellinger and... he seems so none threatening but... then again so do a lot of One Piece characters, both heroes and villains so... that'll teach me to forget about how Oda has this amazing ability to take seemingly useless characters and make them seem incredibly badass.
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RE: Bakuman
Well… I was planning on giving this thread a little bump before Gokuyuske beat me to it to say that... I recently finished reading Bakuman, and by that I mean the last... 10-ish chapters of the series (which, I will confess, were not very good, but I'll get to that in a little bit) which for some reason I never actually bothered to read... in no small part because I kind of knew they weren't going to be very good but... I decided that in my quest to get back into manga besides One Piece (which means that I'm currently getting back into Toriko, which is awesome and I'll get into World Trigger and Shokugeki no Soma soon enough, soon enough) I had to finish a series that was once well... one of my favorites, even though I know for a lot of other people it doesn't have much significance.
I don't know why Bakuman always struck such a chord with me that it didn't strike for some other people, but I imagine it has something to do with the fact that I'm an aspiring writer, even though I'm not very good one, and I'm even studying at film school right now to write for film and television. And so... while that is fairly different from the kind of writing that Mashiro and Takagi were doing in Bakuman, it still was similar enough to what they were doing and my love for manga and anime back then, and even now to some degree with it still being a major influence on a lot of my work, that I found those two characters and most of their supporting cast to be incredibly relatable for me. There was just something about seeing Mashiro and Takagi figure out what kind of story they wanted to tell, what kind of manga they wanted to write, what their strengths and weaknesses were, and being willing to keep writing and following their dreams even when it seemed completely hopeless that... well I'd almost never really seen my own dreams and my own trials and tribulations of being an aspiring writer captured so perfectly in fiction, both Eastern or Western as a matter of fact. And so in that regard... when Bakuman was at its best I absolutely loved it.
Also, and while I hate to evoke Robby Bevard's name in my own posts because, well... he's a far better poster then I ever was and probably always will be but I digress, but I completely agreed with him when he said it was his 2nd favorite current manga series after One Piece, because of how relatable he found it to be as a professional comics writer himself. I don't think I'd have gone so far as to call it my 2nd favorite current manga series, it was definitely always one of my favorites, even though I sort of caught the series at its tail end in terms of quality (I think I got into it right around the start of the first Nanamine arc which... started off oh so promisingly but really didn't pan out all that well... Oh the memories) because I was so happy Ohba and Obata decided to actually talk about the manga industry from an insider's perspective, which I wish more writers, in all sorts of industries were willing to do.
Which brings me to the last 10 chapters of the series which were... well a fairly weak ending, in no small part because the Mashiro and Azuki "romance" just does not work… I mean, I think that it's already sort of been discussed at length why Mashiro and Azuki's relationship doesn't work (the short answer is because... they never talk to each other or interact really) but I'll just say that reading those last 10-ish chapters, which were almost entirely focused on Mashiro and Azuki... I was really, really trying to understand why I'm supposed to like this "romance"... I swear to God I was... I really wanted to find a way to understand how this relationship works, and indeed I can understand how Ohba was trying to make this work as a sort of "geek wish fulfillment", which isn't necessarily a bad thing... that after all the hard work Mashiro put into his career as a mangaka, the idea that he'd be "rewarded" with the beautiful girl of his dreams (although there are some very misogynistic implications to that which... I choose not to discuss right now, although it's actually sadly very common in a lot of fiction.)
I mean I hate to say it but on some level I can see how that might have been an appealing ending... certainly I understand that we all have our dreams, and for must of us, one of those dreams is to find true love (believe me I know that) but... I still just can't get into the Mashiro/Azuki "romance" because... as much as Ohba and Obata try to make it sweet I keep thinking to myself "They never really had any scenes together... it just doesn't work..." and indeed that inability to shake that feeling kind of made the last chapters of Bakuman fairly disappointing. They don't ruin the series for me (I know they did for some other people... like TLC... oh his commentary on that series was so incredibly entertaining for all the right and wrong reasons) and I still think of it as one of the better mangas that I've read but... I can't deny it had some flaws that I think made it difficult for some people to get into, unless the subject matter was intrinsically appealing for them, like it was for me.
But... in spite of all that, it's still a good read, and recommended but... if I were to judge the manga by only its last 10 chapters I would... not be very high on it. So part of me wonders if I shouldn't have bothered reading it but... I also still read Bleach and Fairy Tail every week so... I can't really even regret reading the weaker moments of Bakuman all that much... I will say though that I think by far my favorite moment of all of this Bakuman thread was TLC's reaction to the final chapter of Bakuman all those years ago where... he decided to start a Tumblr in reaction to how much he hated the ending (a Tumblr which I've actually read some of... for better or worse...) And I just love how, keep in mind this was around the same time that Negima ended in 5 chapters when it still had like 2 or 3 years worth more story to tell... which was very disappointing for all involved, including myself because it was in fact one of the better Shonen manga I'd read in my lifetime as a manga reader... but to TLC it was pretty much a life-shattering catastrophe... because he'd been the guy who'd build Negima up to everyone as this amazing manga that was the best Shonen currently running, save for One Piece (though I would agree that for a while, those words are important, it was one of the best).
And then… it crapped out at the end with one of the more disappointing endings in recent Shonen memory. And... in Ken Akamatsu's defense, it wasn't really his own fault but... it still just made it so that now TLC, who keep in mind had always bashed other people for having "lesser opinions" then other people (as in... him) kind of made a giant ass of himself by going on and on about how great this series was and how crappy other series that people liked were... and Negima looked pretty damn crappy now given how disappointing and unceremonious its own ending was. I mean... if you weren't here for that, then I really just can't stress how fucking hilarious that was... for those of us knew TLC well, and considered him one of our best and most entertaining posters, for all the right and wrong reasons.
I mean, as an aside I would say that I would still ultimately recommend Negima because... the middle part of that manga really is quite excellent... especially the School Festival and Magical World arcs, which are among my favorite Shonen arcs of all time. But keep in mind that the Zabuza, Chunin Exams and even, God help me, Sasuke Retrieval arcs from Naruto, are also among my favorite Shonen arcs of all time so... make of that what you will, with regards as to where Negima ranks ultimately in the pantheon of Shonen and manga. It has great moments, just like Naruto, but it also had a lot of really stupid and disappointing moments, just like Naruto, and overall at the end of it you feel a certain sense of disappointment and a bad taste in your mouth at how so much potential was ultimately squandered by the end of it... just like Naruto... And it's freaking hilarious to me how in 2012, TLC realized he was putting this series on a pedestal when it really didn't deserve it anymore... And that was oh so satisfying, for all of us who had gotten annoyed by what an arrogant jagoff he'd acted like for such an extensive period of time to other people with different opinions... I mean, I really can't stress enough how satisfying that was.
So... anyway, back to Bakuman, sorry I know that was a tangent but I really did need to savor that moment because I never really got to it before lol. But, this moment made it so that when TLC started his Tumblr over his anger at the Bakuman finale, and not the Negima finale, people were just kind of like "Why are you so angry about Bakuman? I'd think Negima would be the thing that would create this incredible rage in you that would make you want to start a Tumblr? You were way more of a fan of that series?" His response was just that the Bakuman finale made him angry, but the Negima finale just made him kind of sad and depressed... it didn't give him the furious and righteous anger needed to start a Tumblr.
That does make sense, but I will say that I found Negima's finale to still be much worse then the Bakuman finale because... as much as I disliked the final chapter of Bakuman... it was still, quite sadly, the ending that Ohba and Obata had been setting up since, basically the beginning of the series. So it was annoying, but it did make sense given the kind of series Bakuman had been for all those years... Negima's ending was definitely not the ending that Akamatsu originally wanted, just the ending that Akamatsu had to improvise on the spot so his series wasn't censored or taken out of his control (which, again, I kind of respect, but it was still very disappointing). But either way… Negima's ending was kind of sad for those of us who liked it (especially TLC in case you couldn't tell, who was literally the biggest Negima fanboy I'd ever seen. Literally.)
But anyway Negima, and Bakuman more importantly, are still pretty good reads, and thank you very much Bakuman for all the great memories that I waxed about nostalgically earlier before descending into a tangent of waxing nostalgically about how much I laughed and laughed and laughed at how TLC one of the most arrogant posters on the entire site, made a complete laughingstock of himself by his own beloved Akamatsu deciding to shoot his own manga in the foot. That's still hilarious to me, and now that I'm back on Arlong Park after about three years, I decided to remember that glorious, glorious moment in the forum's history, that will always be one of my very favorites. You may say that it's kind of mean for me to mock TLC so much... and it kind of is but... considering what a narcissist he always was and how mean he was to other people who liked things he didn't like... I think that it's completely appropriate that we laugh at him for his most humiliating moment. Take it away Nelson!
Sorry I had to… someone's gotta laugh at him and beat the dead horse some more. :ninja:
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RE: Next Bounty Predictions (Dressrosa Arc)
Ooh, fun thread! Man it's been a while since we saw all of the Straw-Hat's get bounty raises. About 5 years I think as a matter of fact. And lol at the people who say only Luffy and Zoro will get bounty raises, I feel incredibly confident that Franky, Usopp and Robin will get raises as well. Not as sure about the other 4 Straw-Hat's not on Dressrosa, but even then I can still see Sanji getting one for reasons I'll elaborate below. And, obviously, Law, Sabo, Bartolomeo and Cavendish will inevitably get their raises as well, given they were already infamous before joining the Straw-Hats, and now they've shacked up with several other feared pirates. And Sabo ate the goddamn Mera Mera no Mi along with already being 2nd in command of the Revolutionary Army so… Yeah.
Anyway, on to the Bounty predictions!
Monkey D. Luffy: 550 Million Berries. I just feel like this makes the most sense, given that it was Ace's bounty before he died, and I don't think Oda would want Luffy to surpass Ace just yet. I could potentially see it going up to 600 Million Berries (keep in mind people that Doflamingo was clearly the strongest Shichibukai besides Mihawk and Blackbeard, and possibly the currently unknown one, so I feel like 600 Million would be about right given how infamous Doflamingo was and how I predict he could've given even the Admirals a good fight. Luffy mainly won his fight with help after all!) But at the end of the day I think that 550 Million is the most likely, as it's a nod to Ace, and Oda seems to like his bounty raises to be significant. So the idea that Luffy will have matched Ace seems like something Oda would do. I'm about 90% certain of this, and also about 90% certain that if I'm wrong, it will be higher not lower. Doflamingo was incredibly feared even for a Shichibukai people!
Trafalgar D. Water Law: 540 Million. I'm honestly not sure what Law's bounty is going to be after this. I know it'll be about the same as Luffy's but… I'm just not sure if it'll be lower, higher (unlikely but possible) or equal. But I like to think that the World Government sees Luffy and Law as being roughly equal as far as threats to their security. It'd also be nice to see Law surpass Kid's bounty along with Luffy... although I'm sure Kid will catch up soon enough, and I imagine that as we get further and further into the New World those three will be in a constant dead-lock for most feared new rookie, with Apoo, Hawkins and Drake being the constant runner-ups (don't underestimate those last three, for all we know they could be future Yonko). But regardless, I think considering how potent Law's DF is, and also given that he's conspiring against the WG after previously being a Shichibukai, and has created a plan to take down a freaking Yonko that's already brought down a Shichibukai... a 100 Million Berry Bounty increase sounds about right personally.
Roronoa Zoro. 240 Million Berries. I'm like 99.99% certain about this one, and I'm very glad to see that most people agree with me on this one. It's just… it's like poetry honestly... any time that the Straw-Hat's get involved in a major battle that upsets the balance the World Government doubles Zoro's bounty. It's like clockwork honestly, the Sun rises in the East, the Dodgers will never win a World Series, Chris Brown is a human shaped turd, and Zoro's bounty doubles every time the Straw-Hat's piss off the WG. Some people will argue that Zoro is stronger then his 240 Million Berry bounty would indicate and... that might very well be true, I personally think he is at least as strong as Luffy was at the end of Enies Lobby, possibly stronger now, but the WG doesn't know that and all they know is that Zoro's not the Captain of a very powerful crew, but the first mate of a very powerful crew who took down one of Doflamingo's top men and if they decide to give him a bounty of 240 Million, then that'll mean that, as a First Mate, Zoro had a higher bounty then either Law, Drake or Apoo pre-timeskip did as Captains, and his bounty would rival Hawkins, pre-timeskip. Hell it'd be higher then Killer's now, and it'd wouldn't be all that much lower then Hawkins or Apoo now either. So... Zoro's doing very well for himself honestly. Good man.
Usopp: This is the most fun one I think. I really do genuinely believe that Usopp's bounty will more then triple, he'll be called "God of Snipers" (a good nickname for him, going from a King to a God) and his bounty will clearly go up to 100 Million. I know some people won't agree with this, although I saw much more agreement then I thought I would so… I'm glad about that. But... I'd just love the idea that, even though Usopp is clearly still the weakest Straw-Hat (although he's still very badass now don't get me wrong) I'd just love the idea that, for defeating Sugar and showing so much unintentional badassery along with pissing off Doflamingo so much, his bounty would be higher then Nami, Chopper, Brook and even goddamn Sanji! I'd just love to see the reaction on Sanji's face when he sees that Zoro and Usopp, and probably Franky as well but I won't get into that right now, have a higher bounty then him. Although I'm still not entirely unconvinced that Sanji won't get some kind of Bounty increase (probably not a high one, but a mild one I think) but regardless... I'm about 90% certain that Usopp's bounty will go up by 70 Million (the largest Percentage increase overall) because, the Straw-Hats Bounties are only as high as the World Government thinks they should be so... if they think Usopp's one of the Straw-Hat's heavy hitters then... do it Oda it'd be hilarious!
Franky: 132 Million. About 75% certain of this, or at least that it'll be around this ball park. I effectively just tripled his previous bounty of 44 Million because… well quite frankly 44 Million was always probably too low for Franky even back in Enies Lobby but I digress. I mean I think the fact that he took down Senor Pink is part of what would cause this bounty increase but... also because he's clearly the tank of the Straw-Hat crew, almost literally, and I just think it's about time that he became a Supernova too. It could be lower, it probably won't be higher given Franky is ultimately just a Mechanic, albeit a very strong one, but I think about in the right ball park.
Nico Robin: 160 Million. I'm only about 50% certain of this one. I'm honestly not sure what Oda will do with this one, because like people said Robin didn't really take down any of Doflamingo's pirates, save assisting with Barto's fight with Gladius. But at the same time… I've always felt that Robin will probably always have a higher bounty then Sanji's, or at least Franky's, despite not being as physically powerful because... well, quite frankly, she can read Poneglyphs. And the Marines can also see quite clearly that she's gotten much stronger, and if she was nearly 80 million at the age of 8 just for being able to read Poneglyphs then… the idea that she's also a strong fighter on her own only compounds that I think. But I could be completely wrong I think. I do feel fairly certain she will get a Bounty increase just for being there in Dressrosa with the Straw-Hats, the question is just how much.
Sanji: 157 Million Berries. Not as sure about this one, again only about 50%, but… people need to keep in mind that Sanji has still shown his badassery many times, what with taking out the Pacifista, fighting on par with a Vice-Admiral (even if briefly) and also holding his own with Doflamingo, an infamous Shichibukai, (again briefly). And also... and I think most people are forgetting this, he escaped Big Mom! I mean… we don't know the details but... the fact that he's alive and well after being chased by Big Mom's ship, a goddamn Yonko's ship! Well... to me that means that the Marines will have to take him at least a little bit more seriously... a little bit. Now, with that said I still don't know if Oda wants to go that direction, and I still like to think that Usopp and Franky will become Supernovas, but Sanji is still at 77 Million well... his reaction would be priceless. But yet, at the same time, his bounty will still be nearly a 100 Million less then Zoro's if my prediction is right (I know he'll always be chasing after Zoro... always) so I still think we'll get some humor out of it. Also... if another humiliating photo of him comes up then... I'll still be happy. I just don't think that even the always ignorant World Government can ignore Sanji's feats of strenght as of late. And I'm sure Smoker can relay what Sanji did to stand up against Vergo so... I still wouldn't be surprised if we saw a pretty big increase for Sanji. Just saying
Brook, Nami and Chopper: Meh… I don't think that they'll actually get a Bounty increase but... just to be safe, I mean it's always possible because I imagine that the Marines can see that they've gotten stronger since the timeskip. And I also think they can probably see quite clearly that Brook is much stronger then his 50 year old Bounty... but I digress. I doubt they'll actually get a Bounty increase, given the Marines have no real concrete reasons to do so but... I still say there's a maybe, 10% chance it could happen so... Brook maybe will get to 66 Million (doubling his previous one) Nami will maybe get 48 Million (tripling her old and much too low bounty) and Chopper... well I think that Oda will just keep the joke going but... I could potentially see him going up to 50 Million if Oda doesn't want to make him a joke anymore. But... I doubt it, at best I could see him going up to maybe 500 or 5000. It's going to be a while before the Marines realize they were underestimating this little bugger.
Bartolomeo: 300 Million Berries. I'm about 60% to 70% certain about this. I feel like the Marines underestimated Barto previously. He's obviously incredibly strong, given that he blocked Elizabello II's supposedly "Yonko killing" punch (though I'm pretty sure that was just Elizabello jacking himself off with that one) as well, as completely owning an, admittedly new, Vice-Admiral with Maynard. And taking down Gladius. I just feel like… all of that shit is pretty damn intimidating and I like to think that the Marines were just guessing with Barto's previous Bounty of 150 Million, because that seems too damn low given how freaking broken Barto's ability really is when you think about it. I mean, we just don't really know what the real limits of Barto's fruit are so... if the Marines were to figure out what a threat he really is then... I think a major bounty increase would seem logical. Plus... Barto's reaction to finding out that he's on par with Luffy from two years ago... I can't wait to see that if it happens. Make it happen Oda.
Cavendish: 320 Million Berries. About 90% certain it'll be around this level. I just don't really know how useful Cavendish will really be outside of his "Hakuba" form which is what I think causes him to be as his fearsome as he is, and I don't know how useful defeating Dellinger really is so… 320 Million sounds about right. Keep in mind that's about as high as Moriah's former bounty, and also as high as Hawkins' current one so... sounds about right. I'd still love it if Barto ended up evening the gap with Cavendish as much as he has, because I think the two of them really are about on par. Just me.
Bellamy: 220 Million Berries. Don't really know about this one, don't even know if he'll get one honestly. It's possible though, so I see him getting a minor one, but only a minor one.
Sabo: 700 Million Berries. About 90% certain about this one. We don't know how high his previous bounty was, if he even had one, but the fact that he's "The Most Wanted Man in the World's" 2nd in command… then I like to think that 700 Million could very well be his 1st Bounty. Keep in mind that he seemed roughly equal with Fujitora, and that he was Dragon's 2nd in command even before eating the Mera Mera no Mi so... I wonder if I'm underestimating him here to be honest with you. Plus, I like the idea that even though Luffy's managed to match Ace, he still has Sabo to chase after. I just think it's possible is all. Maybe even probable.
Jinbe: 500 Million Berries. I'm about 40% to 50% certain about this one. We know his current bounty is higher then 400 Million and… I like to think that he did something to piss off Big Mom or Kaido (both?) that'll give him that little extra push to be higher even then Kid (who can still catch up admittedly) and only be behind Luffy and Law. I just think that when Jinbe joins the crew (and believe me, it's a case of when) that now Zoro and Sanji are going to have to catch up with him to be Luffy's next strongest crewmates. And possibly Bartolomeo if he joins the crew as well, which I'm also reasonably sure about. Just thought I'd throw this out here, because I think a lot of people are underestimating how soon I think he's going to probably come back to the story.
Kinemon: 100 Million Berries. I'm about 40% to 50% certain this will happen. Don't really know what he'll do to make the Marines want to capture him but… he's still clearly an ally of the Straw-Hats and he's clearly a strong fighter in his own right so... the idea that he could get a 1st Bounty of around 100 Million (an impressive one) doesn't seem all that unlikely. He's probably the 2nd most likely crewmate for the Straw-Hats after Barto so... this might potentially provide more reason to think that. I hope not, because I'm rooting for Barto but... I'm an honest predictor and I can't completely rule out Kinemon much as I'd like to.
Those are my predictions. There's a lot of them, and I'm not sure I'd bet money on too many of them (though I am very confident that Zoro's and Usopp's are at least very close) but I still think we're going to see at least half of those down the line. A lot of people are underestimating Sanji, and I don't blame you guys, but he's still clearly shown himself to be close to the top tiers if not among them, so I still think a bounty raise for him is coming. Fingers crossed.
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RE: Next Strawhat Crewmate (Vol. 6)
@Luke:
I feel like Jinbe isn't a case of if more-so than when. We already know he's going to be a Strawhat in some capacity (being part of the Fleet DOES count imo).
I do think he'll be a fulltime member, mainly cause I have a feeling if we're going to get a tragic backstory for Jinbe it'll be in Wano. Ever notice Jinbe likes to wear Japanese style clothes all the time? I think he has ties there, perhaps raised there as a child. Oh and the 10 shirt in the cover story was not a coincidence I feel.
I think it'll be Jinbe with the crew, and Hatchi being captain of another Fishman Pirate group with Camie in the Fleet.
I agree with everything you've said… except for one thing that I'll quibble with where you implied that Jinbe doesn't have a tragic backstory. I would say that... yes, quite frankly he does have a tragic backstory.
I mean I think that the death of his former master Fisher Tiger at the hands of the humans that they tried to make peace with (if I remember right I mean... it's been a while since I actually read those chapters) I think that that'd effectively count as a tragic backstory. I mean... it might not be quite as bad as something like Robin's flashback, where she had her entire damn home island destroyed, or Brook dying along with his crew only to be resurrected by his fruit and live alone for 50 years of isolation but... it's more elaborate then Usopp or Zoro's at least. It certainly matches everyone else's after all.
The only thing that really goes against Jinbe being a Straw-Hat, for me at least, isn't the tragic backstory so much as the fact that... he doesn't really have a dream so far... or at least he has a very vague dream in the series, of just wanting to protect Fishman Island and fulfill Fisher Tiger's dream (and that's just what I remember, it might even be less then that). That and he also doesn't really have a position to fulfill in the crew either... but regardless he still seems like a guarantee for the 10th Straw-Hat position.
Also... I strongly believe that there will be an 11th Straw-Hat. I think that when Luffy said that there'd be "10 'men' who'd join his crew" before he entered the Grand Line (that plan obviously got adjusted pretty quickly) that that was foreshadowing for how many people would join the crew besides him. That's just what I think anyway, feel free to disagree. I will say though that one thing that does lead credence to my theory is that Blackbeard has 10 Division Captains under him (one of whom we're not sure about it, unless it's Stronger the Horse which is unlikely, and the identity of this mysterious 10th Division Captain is a mystery that will haunt me until the end of time) and since Blackbeard will be the Final Pirate villain, and possibly the final villain unless Akainu wants to step in, the idea that Luffy will face him and that 10 Straw-Hats besides Luffy will face 10 Division Captains seems to make a lot of sense for the final arc that will be here in... 2025 I presume. God... this really is The Long Runner of Shonen manga isn't it?
But I will say that... of the characters introduced right now, I do strongly believe that Bartolomeo and Kinemon are the two most likely candidates. And my votes for Bartolomeo. I'm not saying that he "will" be the 11th Straw-Hat necessarily just that... I want him to be and... of the characters introduced right now that could potentially fill that role he's the one who I think will have the biggest impact on the audience because... given how long we've gotten to know these other characters, if the final nakama isn't introduced soon (unless he's already been introduced... nudge, nudge, wink, wink) then Barto seems like the most likely candidate. Other then Kinemon but... Barto is way more interesting so my vote is for him. Please, please pretty please Oda sensei it'd make me ever so happy!!! :wub::ninja:
PS. Sorry to fanboy a little bit it's just that... I haven't wanted someone to be a Straw-Hat this much since... Franky I think... and that was like back when I was about 13 or 14, maybe even 12... and I'm 21 now so... it's been a long time since I wanted someone to be a Straw-Hat this much. I liked Brook and Jinbe just fine but... I wasn't in love with their characters like I am with Barto so... just let me have this moment. Please.
I am a bit disappointed though that Nami and Robin will remain the crew's two sole female members, unless someone else comes along (some people still suggest Hancock, who wouldn't be a bad choice mind you, I love Hancock, but I still know that she's an ally for the crew and that's probably what she'll forever remain, just like Law... unless Luffy marries her and has an offspring just like Roger and Rouge and Ace with her but... while that's not impossible we're way, way, way too far away for something like that to happen. Sorry shippers and Hancock fanboys, of which I am effectively one, but we must have realistic expectations). But anway... enough of my fanfictions, it's disappointing that if Bartolomeo joins the crew along with Jinbe that... the ratio of male to female characters in the Straw-Hat crew, will be a wopping 9 to 2... I mean, I guess 8 to 3 if another girl comes along wouldn't be too much better but... at least it'd be 1 more.
I'm not even saying this for some kind of shipper or fanservice reason, I'm not one of those guys who keeps doing that with every prominent female character that comes along in each arc (I know it's been said a million times but Rebecca is the most useless character ever... only thing I really didn't like about this arc honestly) I just... think having a 3rd female member of the crew would be a good idea. I've been saying that since around the time that Franky joined so... a bit disappointed by that but... at least I know that Hancock will always be a Straw-Hat crew member in my heart. That ain't much but... it's something at least. Sigh. A man can dream at least.
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RE: Bleach Discussion 0: Hello Darkness my old friend
Honestly, Ishida really should kill Mayuri. The dude fucking deserves to die, Ishida has a reason to hold a massive grudge against him, and Ishida is actually against Soul Society again so no bullshit but we're allies now
Yes but… wouldn't that would be logical? And wouldn't that be well... good writing... and since when were you under the impression that Bleach had good writing? Think about it.
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RE: Chapter 799: Parent & Child
I thought this was a very solid chapter. Fujitora is a very likable Admiral and it always does my heart good to see a reference to the tres excellent Zatoichi samurai film, which I strongly believe Fujitora is. I will say though that… it's very easy to forget that Fujitora is supposed to be blind, because it comes up so rarely in the series that he is. I mean, I get that he's effectively Daredevil so his blindness doesn't hinder him in any way but... still the beginning of the chapter with Luffy addressing his blindness was a bit jarring for me, because I literally had to go "Oh yeah! He is blind and also a reference to Zatoichi... right)
That's a minor complaint though, and while I will know that some will be disappointed that Luffy and Fujitora didn't have a real fight per say... I'm not really surprised. I know that a more formal confrontation with them is coming (or possibly with Zoro... please, please, please) soon enough but... for now I think, personally I believe anyway, that confrontations with Big Mom and Kaido are coming. Big Mom first though presumably because... while I'm sure Big Mom will be no pushover, and I'm sure that her power will effectively dwarf Doflamingo (I personally think that an alliance between the Straw-Heart's and the Kid/Apoo/Hawkins alliance is probably coming, if only because I think it's going to take that amount of Supernova's to take down even one Yonko, if that's where Oda is going right now anyway) it does still seem as though Kaido is really being built up as potentially the strongest Yonko so... I think his defeat will probably come pretty late in the series' run, potentially towards the end.
I will say though that now that Luffy has his own Pirate Alliance, although please Oda please make Bartolomeo a Straw-Hat… I haven't wanted someone to be a Straw-Hat this much since Franky, it does seem like now he might actually be a threat to Big Mom... or at least more of a threat. It's difficult to say because we don't know how strong Big Mom actually is... though we can presume she's something legendary and probably far above Luffy's current level well... that's where the fun comes from after all. I will say though that I don't know how strong these various allies actually are, aside from the fact that they have large numbers, so the only new allies we can really presume will be all that useful are Cavendish, Bartolomeo and... maybe the Chinjao navy (which remember, includes Baby 5 and also presumably, hopefully, Don Chinjao).
Though that Giant Pirate crew does sound pretty badass even if it's only 5 man strong at this point... and I still would really love the idea that the Straw-Hat's might have their own Pirate Divisions, just like Whitebeard and Blackbeard, and that Usopp will be a Division Commander of his own Giant Pirate crew Division... I mean, I don' think that that will actually happen but… it'd sure be cool if it did lol. I do know that I really want Bartolomeo to be the 11th Straw-Hat. Come on Oda please... make it happen, make it happen. I know it's becoming less likely now that he's just an ally but... a man can dream can't he? A man can dream... Sigh...
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RE: Bleach Discussion 0: Hello Darkness my old friend
@The:
But that would imply that Chad might do something this arc and be useful. Then we would need an explanation about why Chad was unable to beat some characters so easily with such a great power. That also means Kubo needs to remember the awesome introduction Chad had and that he was destined early on for greater thing.
Yeah but… the idea of Chad doing awesome things means that Kubo might've had to make Bleach good. And I don't think we could've had that, it's just not written in the cards...
Though having said that, this was actually a pretty decent chapter admittedly. I mean... I feel like at this point the only way that Bleach could possibly be entertaining at all is if we went full on balls to the walls insane and... what better way to do that then have Mayuri, somehow both the worst and the best character in Bleach, fighting a goddamn hand. I feel like... like Kubo needs to embrace the weirdness of his series at this point and... what better way then having a giant poison baby fight a giant hand with eyes... I mean I feel like even Oda couldn't dream up something that hokey. Well... ok he probably could but he'd find a weird way to have it make sense. But either way, Bleach was surprisingly decent this week, so I guess that means that even Kubo can come up with a good chapter, once in a blue moon.
Also, since we're on the subject, this is Weekly Manga Recap's reaction to Pernida's reveal... It's, pretty priceless I'm not going to lie. Enjoy.
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RE: Marvel Movies Thread - Holy Shitballs
@TLC:
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/markcassidycbm/news/?a=123997
In case anyone felt sympathy for this dick or thought he was a victim of the system.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Dammit Outerspec, you ninjaed me!
Shame too given that I still maintain that Chronicle was one of the better movies of 2012 and that following that movie I felt that Trank had genuine potential as a director and I wanted to see what he would do in the future. That's pretty much vanished right now.
Although… I suppose even good movies can be made by horrible people... I mean just look at Mel Gibson. Horrible, horrible man, who's a racist, a misogynist and an anti-Semite but... I still maintain that Apocalypto and (God help me) The Passion of the Christ are highly underrated films that Gibson even went into the painstaking of trouble of writing in Ancient Mayan and Aramaic respectively so... being a dick and being a good director are not mutually exclusive things quite sadly.
Although... given the complete and utter failure of this new F4 on basically every level I can't help but wonder if maybe Josh Trank just happened to get lucky with Chronicle and maybe I was wrong to see potential in him. We will see I guess. I mean, if he gets work from now on which... I'm not even sure is necessarily a possibility at this point. And... I wish I could feel bad for him for how utterly fucked his career seems to be at this point but... somehow it's a little hard to feel bad for a guy who essentially dug this hole for himself through his own dickishness. It's just, kind of hard to really have any sympathy even if I did like his first film.
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RE: Marvel Movies Thread - Holy Shitballs
@TLC:
There is justice in this world!
I mean… it's not like I wanted the FF movie to completely fail. I mean… I actually was an American comics fan in the past, and I loved basically every major Marvel and DC superhero so... I was hoping it would be good. And Josh Trank directed Chronicle back in 2012, which I thought was a highly underrated and really good movie, and Miles Teller was really terrific in Whiplash, which I believe was my 4th favorite movie of last year so... I had some optimism in spite of how ill advised the project was.
And yet I still can't deny that considering Deadpool looks really good and looks like it captures the spirit of the character perfectly... it seems like making a Deadpool sequel instead of F4 (which no one seemed happy with at all) seems like a good move on FOX's part. A better move then making the new F4 anyway... sigh...
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Wonder why they never hire the actual writers from the comic books to do the stories.
Like nobody can write a Deadpool story like Fabian Nicieza, so why not tap him.
I mean… I don't know if that's necessarily a good idea quite frankly. Because, wasn't Geoff Johns a supervising writer on the Green Lantern movie? He's one of the best Green Lantern writers there ever was (essentially revolutionizing the character for modern audiences) and yet even with his advice that movie was still one of the worst superhero movies (worst movies period, actually) that I've ever seen.
Comic book writers aren't the same as screenwriters. They're similar, and some of the skills needed to be a comic book writer do in fact translate to being a screenwriter, but they're not the same. There are some fairly subtle differences between writing a comic and writing a movie so... I don't know if getting writers from the comics to do the movie stories is necessarily a good idea, quite frankly. Again, Geoff Johns working on the GL screenplay is the crowning example if you ask me.
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RE: Bleach Discussion 0: Hello Darkness my old friend
One of the few posters who debuted in 2011 I'll be more than willing to admit is a better poster than me.
Oh, this thread. Ah, reminds me of memories back when Naruto/Bleach got merged into one thread and I posted a link to Bleach's Fridge tab on TVTropes. Fun times
In deed… the Naruto/Bleach thread merger is actually one of my fondest memories in all of Arlong Park Forums' history. It really did just fit so well, because even though Naruto was still way better then Bleach at the end of the day... our reactions to those series had just became exactly the same after a while so... it really did just make perfect sense to merge them.
Hell, I even remember when people actually suggested merging Fairy Tail with the other two for some kind of super-three mediocre manga- thread merger... but I ultimately think it wasn't necessary because, and I know some will disagree, but I always thought that Fairy Tail was too damn innocuous and benign to really inspire the same kind of anger and frustration that the other two series did so... I ultimately think that it was for the best not to merge it... though I still can't help but wonder if it might've been fun for a while to just have all three manga series release chapters around the time and for our reaction to just be either "meh" or "My God that was stupid" for all three... would've been interesting.
I still kind of miss Naruto honestly... not having it around as the series that was far worse then One Piece (though I still maintain that when I first got into manga/anime One Piece and Naruto were basically equal for me and... One Piece just happened to maintain its quality and Naruto, well, obviously didn't) but still a fair bit better then Bleach. Because... the main advantage of Naruto was that... it got stupid, really stupid, and the final arc took 4 years which was really dumb (even though I quit reading that arc halfway through... I didn't even like the first half honestly, but I won't get into that right now) at least there was part of me that still wanted to see the final chapter of the series for sentimental reasons... at least I still had some good will left for the series, in spite of all the crap because of how much I used to love the series. And the final chapter was actually kind of neat on a purely fanservice level. All of the Naruto-related dreams of my 13 year old self, like Naruto becoming Hokage, Naruto and Hinata getting married and having kids (yeah, I know that I shouldn't have wanted that but... damn, sentimental reasons) Shikamaru and Temari getting married, Konohamaru becoming a Jonin and some other things that actually made the final chapter of Naruto somewhat redeemable in my eyes.
Somehow... somehow, I don't think I will have that kind of remaining sentimental feelings for Bleach... somehow I feel as though whatever emotions I used to have for Bleach have completely dried up and aren't going to come back sadly. I just... can't really see a scenario in which Bleach redeems itself even slightly, the way that Naruto sort of did at the very end, at least in my opinion. So... at least Naruto ended when it did... and didn't make us hate it even more then we already did... unlike Bleach, which I feel will only get worse and worse from here.
And thus I can think of no other way to end this post other then to link to the Weekly Manga Recap (Visual Edition) covering Naruto's last 2 chapters.
Watch at your own leisure, I'm just glad that I've done my part in making it so that people who read this thread, who've never heard of WMR before, will end up spending another 2+ hours listening to/watching the video… and then hopefully endless more hours on WMR episodes... I'm glad to know that I've done my part in providing people with even more endless time wasters. Because Lord knows if I waste my time on trivial but hilarious manga podcasts, then everyone else should too... -
RE: Marvel Movies Thread - Holy Shitballs
They don't make those on purpose. If they're putting a lot of money behind it, it's probably going to get a sequel. If it does well at the BO it's definitely getting a sequel.
I hope it does well at the box office… that Red Band trailer really did it for me. I always thought that if you gave Ryan Reynolds the right material he could be fucking great. Glad to know that I was- apparently- right.
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RE: Marvel Movies Thread - Holy Shitballs
I saw Fantastic Four on Monday… I should note that, even though this is my first time posting in this thread, that I am a huge, huge, HUGE, fanatic of the MCU. I've loved Marvel Comics since I was a kid and… oddly enough the Marvel Cinematic Universe is actually far better managed and planned then the Marvel Comics Universe right now, and has basically been so since 2008. In fact... the MCU is actually one of the best managed and most consistently good business models, in film and possibly even in entertainment in general right now.
And thus... it's kind of not surprising that Fantastic Four (which was technically produced in the FOX business model, and not the MCU model that I just spent all that time praising) well... the movie sucks ass, to put it simply. I genuinely like way more movies then dislike and... even I hated the new F4. I give it like (and this was not intentional I promise you) a 4 out of 10. Keep in mind that my average rating for a movie that I actually bother to go out to see, is like a 7 or 8 out of 10 and yet... the new F4 was terrible even by my standards.
! I will actually say something (relatively) nice about it in that… the first half of this movie was actually almost good… the second half was terrible and completely ruined the entire movie, but the first half was actually kind of decent. But in the first half... I found myself kind of enjoying it, and finding it to be a reasonably good origin story for the FF. I thought that Reed and Sue's scenes had some genuine chemistry to them (largely not because of the script I would say, and instead because Miles Teller and Kate Mara are both really good actors) and a lot of the other relationships I thought were very solid. I thought all of the members of the F4 were impeccably cast, even Michael B. Jordan I thought was a great casting choice even if it was a major departure... but it really didn't matter by the end because... once they actually got their powers it was like the movie hit a brick wall or something.
! After that point, nothing was properly developed, everything was incredibly rushed, and you could kind of tell that entire chunks and stretches of the movie had been cut for time, because it almost felt like certain scenes were placed out of order or something. Doctor Doom comes in and out of nowhere and the F4 defeat him in like... five to ten minutes... my God that was stupid. And then the F4 just get to be superheroes because... I mean the military/government (who, keep in mind, had been using the F4 as military weapons prior to this point, which was also never properly developed) decided that their contribution in taking down Doom (who may I remind you, was never really built up as all that much of a threat, he just kind of shows up and kills some people and fights the F4... that's freaking it) which... I guess kind of makes sense, until you realize that the military were all portrayed as corrupt assholes so... why the fuck are they suddenly being nice to the F4? I just don't fucking get it.
! And then the final scene with the F4 all together finally becoming a superhero team... it somehow both felt incredibly hollow (because it was) but yet also felt like a total cocktease in a way... because on one hand, the dialogue for the 4 of them was terrible... and yet all 4 of these actors are reasonably talented so they actually made it surprisingly work, in spite of how forced their banter was. Miles Teller was terrific in Whiplash. Kate Mara was great on House of Cards. Michael B. Jordan was incredibly good in both The Wire and Fruitvale Station (the former of which he was only 15 when it was filmed) and I genuinely look forward to the new Apollo Creed movie, largely just because of him... and Jamie Bell I'm not all that familiar with, save for his work on the tres excellente Billy Elliot, which was when he was 10, but he still did the best he could with this material. So... what I'm saying is that in a way the fact that these 4 actors could've been a really great incarnation of the F4... in a way that just makes it all the worse somehow... it just makes movie even more disappointing because you just keep thinking about what could've been... Jesus Christ...So yeah that was a bit of a rant but… this was easily the worst movie of 2015 that I've seen so far, admittedly I didn't see all that many bad movies this year, but I did see Terminator Genisys and Ted 2, and those were both pretty bad, and this was even worse so... this has been a very hit or miss year honestly. I mean I don't want to throw out the brilliance of Mad Max: Fury Road or Inside Out along with crap like this but... there have been some stinkers this year, I'll say that much. But I want to end on a (relatively) positive note so... why don't I just link to the trailer to the Apollo Creed movie which... I was somewhat mixed about at first but... damn if this trailer didn't have a confidence and energy to it that I wish way more modern films had to them. And it's being directed by Ryan Coogler, who did Fruitvale Station back in 2013 which I thought was really amazing so... I feel 99.99% positive it'll be way better then F4... that's not hard but... at least that gives me some optimism for movies in November. I'm hoping for the best for you, Michael B. Jordan, you really do have a tremendous amount of potential.
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RE: Bleach Discussion 0: Hello Darkness my old friend
Art is very good at moments and there are some great designs/ ideas once in a while(some characters or abilities).
Reading and writing rants on it just to continue caring tiny bit and reading it is also kind of enjoyable. There is a ton of far worse mangas.
http://41.media.tumblr.com/b6f2536f4126cbe0d55de979fad69b75/tumblr_inline_nsbunyln4B1sdupzb_400.jpg
There are definitely worse manga's out there, that's for sure. I'm sure that To-Love-Ru or Air Gear or some of the other manga that I've basically heard nothing but bad things about are worse. The thing is… I don't actually read those manga so... I don't feel as though I can actually comment on how bad they are unless I actually read them... although then again maybe I should see for myself how bad they are, but that will be some other time when I feel the need to torture myself.
I will say though that I personally have not yet read a manga that I dislike more then Bleach. I mean... Naruto was really bad for a while, and indeed some have argued that Kaguya was worse then anything in Bleach, and that may very well be true quite frankly (even though I stopped reading Naruto about 2 years before it ended which... was probably for the best all things considered) but overall the good parts of Naruto were better then the good parts of Bleach and the worst parts- usually- weren't quite as bad. So it was more disappointing certainly, but definitely not worst.
For a while I thought that Fairy Tail might be worse then Bleach but... eventually I decided that while Fairy Tail was definitely stupid it was also light-hearted enough and generally didn't take itself seriously so I decided that I didn't really mind it. I figured that if it had a good chapter, it had a good chapter, and if it had a bad chapter, then… whatever it's a dumb manga but it's not hurting anyone. I never get mad at Fairy Tail like I get mad at Naruto or Bleach because I just find it too inoffensive.
I also read Gantz to see if it was as bad as everyone said it was (that was when I went through my "I'm going to read bad manga" phase) and… in some ways it was just as bad... and in some ways it was worse then Bleach... but there's actually a middle-swath of Gantz where the main character actually does something all too rare in contemporary manga and actually goes through a character arc and becomes a better person, that I'm actually very fond of and so I'm sometimes a bit more lenient with the manga because of that middle swath of chapters where I actually genuinely liked the series, at least for a while. Then, vampires and other nonsense got introduced and it became really bad again (in some ways, even worse then it was in the beginning) but at least in the middle swath the manga was actually quite good, and at times even got great, with a cinematic flare that I wish more manga's had, and that might ultimately elevate it over Bleach for me.
But you are right that there are much worse manga's then Bleach, I just haven't read them. I'm just saying that of the stuff that I've read, Bleach is the worst. In large part because... I mean, among other things, there are large swaths of Bleach that I find to be borderline unreadable... mostly because of the lack of backgrounds. I don't know if I would necessarily agree that Bleach has "good" art per say (given that Kubo is too lazy to draw backgrounds in most cases) but... I would definitely agree that (more so in the beginning, admittedly) Kubo did have a very interesting art style and did have a good eye for character designs that was certainly above average at the very least. And even now his character designs have generally been pretty good, when he wants them to be.
I'm not really all that fond of the Gotei 13 as characters (though they are better then most of the later characters introduced in Bleach) but I can't deny that all of the original 13 did have interesting and unique designs. And indeed the Espada were mostly horrible characters but they had cool designs, if nothing else. Kubo does struggle a little bit with Only Six Faces (though a lot of mangaka do honestly, even Oda struggles with that a little bit, though he is better then most) but I would certainly agree that while I don't really like his art I've never really minded his art style, I've always thought it was one of the more unique in Shonen Jump. It was much better in the beginning admittedly (like basically everything else in Bleach) but I still can't deny that that's one of the few things I won't really knock about Bleach.
There... I said something (relatively) nice about Bleach. I can say about 10 to 15 more negative things about it now, right?
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RE: Bleach Discussion 0: Hello Darkness my old friend
By all means criticize. Bleach has become a steaming pile of shit garbage. I had stopped reading bleach due to work and college, but I picked it back up and got to the yvach vs. royal guard fight and was bored to tears.
Basically it is this: kubo throws a lot of bullshit at us and never bothers to fully explain things. Broken bankai can't be repaired, ichigo was never using shinigami power but Quincy power in disguise (figure that shit out), orihime and chad are still useless but are there any way, quincies are allergic to hollow energy but a Quincy was seen absorbing hollow energy. Apparently the Quincies we're seeing now are 1000 years old despite being human. Shinigami zanpakuto are made by forging together dozens of shinigami souls.
If you want a more concise dissection of bleach check out Applied Logic.
See the funny thing is… most of that stuff you described about the current state of Bleach still kind of weirdly applies to the times when I was reading it, which was before this "final arc" (that, I repeat, has lasted 3 years now... because I stopped reading the series about 3 years ago when the arc started and yet it's still going on. Great.) But many of the flaws you pointed out about the past 3 years well... those were still in the series before I stopped reading it during the Hueco Mundo/Fake Karakura Town and Fullbringer arcs. I mean a lot of bullshit that was never fully explained? Check. With both the Visored's and the Fullbringer's, so double check essentially.
Orihime and Chad being useless? Check. Renji, Rukia and Uryu were also usually pretty useless (although I guess Rukia was able to defeat Aaroniero, or whatever his name was, the 9th Espada. The way she beat him was kind of bullshit honestly, but at least she did in fact defeat one of the Espada. Meanwhile Uryu and Renji fought Szayel Aporro the 8th Espada for a good couple dozen chapters if I remember right with no success so... make of that what you will).
The timeline and history of the Shinigami and Quincies being highly nonsensical and poorly explained? Well... again, that's just par for the course honestly. I mean, even though I still like the Soul Society arc as something of a guilty pleasure, in spite of its myriad flaws (I mean, it was at least better then everything that came afterwards, I mean that doesn't mean a whole lot, but it was) I still can't deny that in the Soul Society arc Kubo kind of completely abandoned all pretenses that the Shinigami were supposed to be ghosts and that Soul Society was supposed to represent the afterlife and... well the Shinigami just kind of became an alien race more than anything else and basically stopped being ghosts. So the idea that Ichigo was actually a Quincy the whole time (which I heard about and... yes that's really stupid. That's really really freaking stupid. That's all I can say about that honestly) is actually not that surprising when one really thinks about it. Because bullshit retcons are kind of par for the course for Bleach. That doesn't make them good but it does mean that Ichigo being a Quincy the whole time (or half I guess) is fairly typical for Bleach. So I know that we should be really pissed off that Ichigo is a Quincy but… somehow by Bleach standards it's not really all that stupid. I mean, that's more a testament to how low Bleach's standards of quality are but... well them's the breaks with Bleach I guess.
I will say though that perhaps the most annoying aspect of Bleach more than anything else (for me anyway) is how little has really happened in the 14 years that the series has been published by Shueisha. When you think about it, with the exception of those (now that I think about it) glorious first 8-ish volumes of Bleach before the Soul Society arc there've effectively been only 3 real arcs of the series. Soul Society. Hueco Mundo/Fake Karakura Town. And this new final Wandenreich arc, or whatever it's called. That's basically been it for the past... 60 volumes. Yes, admittedly there've been stopovers with brief, smaller arcs like the Fullbringers arc and the pre-Hueco Mundo Arrancar arc, but... those could really kind of just be considered precursor arcs to the longer major arcs, which tend to be ungodly long, even by Shonen battle manga standards.
I mean… I know it's kind of ironic for a One Piece fan to be complaining about how overly long the arcs in Bleach are, given that OP has had arcs like Water 7/Enies Lobby or Dressrosa that were effectively 10-12 volumes long each but... at least there was genuinely a story to those arcs and they didn't just feel like they were long for the sake of being long. At least stuff happened in the individual chapters that could justify how long the arc was, and it took me a little bit longer then maybe a minute to read a chapter, and I mean hey, even Dressrosa still wasn't as long as Hueco Mundo. See... here I go again just ranting about how bad and disappointing Bleach was.
I mean... I always thought that I could bitch for hours about Naruto and how disappointing that series got towards the end, because it was once one of my favorite series so to see it fall so far was incredibly disappointing (though I did actually kind of like the very last chapter to some degree, even if it was effectively fanservice. It wasn't worth all of the crap that came before it, but it did at least give me a somewhat more positive opinion of the series. I doubt that Bleach will have that.) But I'm starting to realize that... I could also kind of bitch for about as long about how bad Bleach was because... while there wasn't quite as much squandered potential, there was probably even more just... utter stupid... so in that ways it becomes the issue of- which is worse to you? The squandered potential or the just plain bad? Whichever one you choose, you lose I guess.
Anyway I'm done here for now, I'm sure I'll be back later to complain about Bleach (I feel like now that Naruto's not around anymore, I feel like I need to complain twice as hard about Bleach, oddly enough.) But until next time I'm going to give other people room to complain. I just felt as though I needed to let people know about where I stood on the series after 2-3 years of extremely irregular posting... which oddly enough was kind of basically the same as when I stopped posting 2-3 years ago. Make of that what you will.
Edit: Again, sorry for the even longer post this time. There's just a lot of things to complain about with Bleach. It's that bad.
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RE: Bleach Discussion 0: Hello Darkness my old friend
So um… I stopped reading Bleach like 3 years ago because... I kind of realized that I didn't care anymore. I mean, I guess I realized that before I quit the series but, it really dawned on me once they started trying to set up the Quincies as villains, completely out of fucking nowhere with no real hints or foreshadowing of that, and I just realized that nothing in this series mattered. I guess I technically realized that earlier when Aizen absorbed the Hougyoku (or realities cheat codes as I often call them) and then after his defeat he was replaced by the Fullbringers but... I guess it's just one of those things where Kubo decided to make it so that the villains of his "final arc" (which has lasted about 3 years now, quite sadly) had basically no real emotional or story significance to Ichigo or any other characters... I mean that to me just felt like nothing in this series mattered and that Kubo was basically just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.
I mean... I don't read the series anymore but I do still listen to Weekly Manga Recap (which is awesome and you guys should all listen to it, I'm going to give it a shameless plug right now for some reason lol) so I know certain plot details and... why should I care about Yhwach as a villain? Or any of the other Sternritter? I mean, I guess the next question after that is why should I care about Aizen as a villain? Or any of the Espada who were basically all incredibly bland save for maybe Grimjow? Well I mean I didn't really care about those guys as villains but... I mean at least they were built up properly. At least Aizen had a pretty cool introduction by Bleach standards (even if it was kind of bullshit now that I look back on it) and at least going into it we had some reason to care about why Ichigo and company would want to fight these guys. But Yhwach and the Sternritter just completely came out of nowhere. And it just made me realize that nothing in Bleach really mattered honestly, even more so then in other mediocre but for some reason popular manga like Naruto and Fairy Tail. Because at least those series (while they did still have a lot of Ass Pulls) at least they would (usually) foreshadow major plot or arc details earlier on ahead of time rather then introducing their final villain out of fucking nowhere. I mean... I guess there was Kaguya but... that sort of really godawful storytelling from Kishimoto is at least less common then it is with Kubo.
But what I was getting at with that, admittedly extensive, rant about one of the (many) reasons why Bleach sucks is that I have an inquiry. What has happened in Bleach in the past 3 years that I stopped reading it? Has anything of any real significance happened in these past 3 years or has it just moved at a snails pace like always? Have I missed anything in these past 3 years or did I essentially dodge a bullet? Inform me if you'd like because while I know of certain details with regards to Bleach, I could just never bring myself to read recent chapters of the series because I would just start reading a chapter on Manga Stream and I would just... not be able to... I was just so incredibly bored by the fact that basically no one expressed a human emotion anymore. I just couldn't bring myself to care... so I really have to give mad props to people who've been willing to bear through the series for as long as they have. I just don't how you guys do it. I mean, fuck Batman, you guys are the real superheroes for putting up with this crap. You're braver people then me at least, lol.
End of rant. Sorry if I bored people with that but I felt it had to be said. I know criticizing Bleach isn't exactly an "edgy" thing to do on this forum but... those are my genuine thoughts on the series and why I stopped reading it 3 years ago so... I thought that I'd share them. Thank you for your time.
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RE: The Best and Worst of One Piece in 2013
Overall this has been a pretty good year for One Piece even if it's mostly been the start of a new arc (we haven't even technically finished Block D yet) but there was a lot of good stuff.
Best Moment: Toss up between Big Mom's ship showing up out of nowhere (I swear I just looked at my computer and went "Holy shit") and Sanji getting ready to fight it (really badass) and Sabo and Koala showing up as revolutionaries. Those moments have been mentioned a lot but… that's cause they were awesome.
Best Character: It's hard not to go with Doflamingo... he's such a creepy and sadistic bastard that he's one of the best villains in the entire manga (possibly the best if you ask me). But I would like to give an honorable mention to Trafalgar Law, who has had quite a few good moments over the course of this arc, especially when he faces off against Doflamingo.
Best New Character: Bartolomeo! Shouldn't even nominate anyone else! He's just so badass and so hilarious at the same time... that I totally recommend him for new nakama! (Not saying he will join but I am saying that it'd be cool.)
Best Fight: Luffy vs Chinjao was the best fight in terms of an actual fight. Block C in general was pretty awesome. I'm also going to give an honorable mention to Law vs Fujitora vs Doflamingo. We didn't get much of it... but what we got was still pretty epic.
Best Surprise: Sabo and Koala as previously mentioned. Koala in particular just completely threw me for a loop.
Funniest Moment: The Luffy is Lucy bit. Don't know why but it cracks me up every time. Also Dellinger. I know he's basically just a walking gay joke but... he gives me so much comedic material when it comes to guessing his gender. Assuming it's a he.
Shame: Hmm... I know a lot of people don't like how Bellamy is still a punching bag... I don't mind that too much because, well, he's Bellamy, that's pretty much his character in a nutshell. I guess I'm not very fond of Violet to be honest with you. I find her kind of dull... even more so than Rebecca, who I know a lot of other people don't like. I don't mind her though. I'm also not particularly fond of the dwarves, elves, whatever they are. I just feel that they take away attention from stuff that I actually care about. I get that the plot needs them but... my interest wanes when they're on page. Still not major negs, just mildly annoying.
Worst Character: Violet as previously mentioned. She just bores me.
Worst New Character: Again Violet.
Worst Fight: Hmm... I guess Bellamy vs Dellinger. Even though it wasn't really a fight, it was still just a bit disappointing that Bellamy can't even take down a mid level enforcer in Doflamingo's crew. I get that Doflamingo's crew is really strong but... Dellinger doesn't even have a scratch on him. And Bellamy got off screened. I was hoping he'd do better than that.
Worst Surprise: Not sure. I kind of have to agree that Doflamingo's power being finally revealed to be a String Devil Fruit. To the surprise of no one. I don't think there was a single person that didn't see that coming.
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Video Game Recommendations
Hey everybody. So… I want to start getting into video games and currently at my apartment I have the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus collection (which I've just started and am greatly enjoying) and few other average to decent games but if I want to get more into games then I feel like I need to play more games that are very good. The problem is that it's really hard to know which games are good, since the video game review sites seem really unreliable and overall it seems really hard to know which games will really last and be memorable since every new game gets hyped up so much. So I turn to this forum and I have faith that the gamers of Arlong Parks will be able to point me to games that are truly worth my time.
I'm actually really kind of surprised that apparently no one's started this thread yet, but I guess that's why I'm starting it. I guess the best way to get good recommendations is to say that my favorite games growing up were Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Games similar to those two would probably be the kind that I enjoy most. Also I only really have a PS3 I used to have a Wii but it broke down recently and I have no idea when it will be repaired. Anyway, I hope to hear from you guys and hopefully more people will use this thread if they're in need of a rec.
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RE: Nardo and Bleh Thread III: Naruto is a terrible terrible manga
I don't read Naruto anymore, it's just too boring and I just don't have the time, (same for Bleach for that matter)… but I heard the news about what Kishi did with the latest chapter. I'm sure plenty of people are going to be cynical (and I don't blame them) but in my opinion this move could actually- potentially- mean that this series might end halfway decently. I know it's unlikely but Kishimoto actually has a golden opportunity to give the ever popular Rock Lee (and the rest) a chance to be useful which would be great honestly.
Except for one thing, he decided to bring in every god damn character in the "war" not just the Konoha 12 and a handful of other neglected characters which sort of increases the likelihood that Kishimoto just brought everyone here to cheer Naruto on, maybe help him with his inevitable Talk no jutsu, and basically nothing else. Since I kind of doubt that Kishimoto actually knows what to do with that many characters. Obviously I want him to actually do something with Lee, Hinata, Shino, Neji and all my other old favorites (back when I actually gave a crap) and the chance of him doing something good with the ending has admittedly been raised, but sadly optimism passed us by a looooong time ago for this series.
Also, this is kind of a nitpick but I always hated how they keep calling this clusterfuck fight a war. And it's not just because this war is incredibly lame (though it obviously is) but because it honestly isn't war!!! Last time I checked war's involved capturing territory and usually lasted at least a few years (though there are occasional exceptions: see Israel). So this is incredibly dragged out arc is more of a giant battle than an actual war. It just kind of always annoyed me because of how incorrect it was and I'm surprised I've never really seen anyone point that out.
Oh well, at least now that Kishimoto's brought in everyone and the kitchen sink this means we're probably finally winding down to the end game after… what? 2 years? 3? I'm just glad the series is finally going to be over since I don't think I'm going to miss it, even if I do still enjoy the first few hundred chapters. I'll say this... I have enough loyalty to the manga that I actually want to read the last chapter, just to see how it will finally end. Unlike Bleach, I at least care that much about the series.
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@Money:
I like how it had Kiba. But wtf Hinata n Ino do more shit thn Sakura. N why didnt they go help the kages?
Well Hinata is better than Sakura. That means nothing admittedly but I always kind of liked her. Yeah she's pretty bland but her feelings for Naruto actually felt genuine all those many years ago and besides Rock Lee she was the character I most wanted to get stronger and become a relevant part of the series. How foolish I was.
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RE: Channel Awesome, AVGN, and other web review shows
I liked it honestly. I admit some of the jokes fell flat and it does need polishing for the future but I'd say I like these two new actors Doug found and I thought on the whole there were more jokes that worked then didn't. Although I do have to admit that rehashing the entire script of Dark Knight and DK Rises was a bit much.
And I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was a bit miffed that Tacoma/Malcolm didn't get to actually do his own Joker or Bane impressions. And if I can have just one more nitpick it's that Doug is basically just doing the exact same character as Nostalgia Critic of being a pompous asshole dickbag. I mean that role obviously works for him but I was kind of hoping he would do something just a little different. Maybe I'm asking for too much but I did think his new character felt a tad too familiar.
But on the whole I thought it was a fairly strong start to a new web show that I definitely have very high hopes for. Not sure what I want them to parody next since there are so many damn options. Both good and bad movies would be ripe for parody. But yeah even though I have some complaints I like it so far.
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RE: The Video Games As Art Debate.
Also food for thought notice how people that don't know games well at all are always at the forefront of the games aren't art side.
Yeah thats probably a good example that games are art since its pretty obvious that the people saying they're art actually know what they're talking about and the people saying they aren't usually know nearly nothing about the medium and just look at stuff like World of Warcraft or Grand Theft Auto to make generalizations.
I want to mention that going into this I pretty much decided for myself that video games were probably an artform, a unique and up and coming artform that was hard to classify. It's just that as I was not too familiar with the medium I sort of had to question what people looked at when they called them art. I'm sorry to say that looking back on my first post I came off a little more prickish than I wanted too and so I revised it a bit. I wasn't saying they weren't art I just was hoping people could explain what was artistic about them since I'm not that well versed.
One example would be that comics is a medium I have a major sweet spot for that has often been looked down on by pretentious critics but I fully believe has produced a lot of works with great artistic merit. So I would cite examples of comics that I think are really intelectual and complex such as Y: The Last Man, Transmetropolitan, The Walking Dead, Watchmen, V For Vendetta, Berserk, Vinland Saga, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and maybe even Fullmetal Alchemist. And probably countless others depending on how many hairs I want to split. So if I was as much of a video game fan I would probably try to cite just as many examples to show why I respected the medium. I'm glad to see that you guys are doing such. I honestly never even heard of Journey.
You are all correct though that we could be here all day asking what does or doesn't qualify as art and that its really up to personal preference in many regards. I'd say my personal definition is something that is extremely intellectually or emotionally stimulating and that required a great deal of effort to produce. I can't really argue if any video games fit that definition due to my lack of familiarity with the medium. Though I will admit that when I was younger, I was quite moved by both Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, even though the story made no sense I was touched by the story between the characters. But I'm sure everyone will have a slightly or completely different definition. I do think the idea of art being highly intellectual is a common agreement though.
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The Video Games As Art Debate.
Yes this long dreaded debate is back I'm afraid. Basically I've been wondering about this for a while because I'm generally not a video game fan, but it seems like everyone else and their mother is super interested in this medium so it got me wondering. Honestly growing up I just wasn't really that kind of a nerd, I was really a comics nerd for the most part (both manga and western) but if ever anyone in my school was upset because an arrogant teacher was saying video games were worthless and couldn't ever be considered art, I remembered that people said the same damn thing about comics (more in the past, admittedly) so I would support them and tell them the idiots were full of themselves (which was always true) and I actually made some friends that way.
But with that said, as I'm not a gaming fan I always did kind of wonder how they were really art because they're honestly just a completely different medium from movies, books, tv, comics, etc. and honestly while I hate to say this the arrogant "professionals" kind of had one semi-legit point. Because between all their pointless bluster of how games "corrupt the minds of our youth" those idiots (usually) mentioned that video games are ultimately… well, games. And games can't be art according to them, and I really hate to say it... but they might've had a point. Because as a non fan I always had to wonder, whats artistic about game play?
I think that the main problem with classifying games as art is that people aren't sure how to grade them as such, because right off the bat I can think of aspects of games that are artistic, like music, art design and story but I'm always told that those aspects are ultimately incidental and that what matters is how good the game is as a game. In a way video games are more like music as a medium, then movies or books because they are a pretty damn subjective medium since they're ultimately graded on how "enjoyable" they are for the player (I use the term enjoyable because I can't just use the term "fun" since I know games can provide a lot more emotions than just "fun" I know enough to know that they can also be stuff like Silent Hill or Shadow of the Colossus which I obviously don't play but I've been told are highly emotionally stimulating... but probably not in a fun way).
I guess I sort of explained my own question. Video games are art because for a lot of people they are emotionally stimulating, in fact some games are created specifically so that they can be such which isn't a phenomenon you find with stuff like board games. I personally think that an emotional connection is the most important factor in art honestly. But either way I thought this might be a pretty good conversation topic and I did a quick Google search to see if anyone had ever brought this up before and apparently not, so I thought I might as well be the one. I'm sure some people are tired of this debate since it gets brought up fairly often (I imagine) and it never really goes anywhere but either way I thought it was worth bringing up again especially since I'm really not well versed in the topic and I did some Google searching and I was having trouble finding good arguments for or against games as art so I thought I might as well use my wonderful forum to get some opinions.
If you don't want to participate in the debate because you're tired of it then fine, if you do because you're interested then great go nuts!
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RE: The LOST Rewatch Adventure! (Newbies Are More Than Welcome!)
Dude. I have no idea where you'd get assumptions like that.
Or anyone. Like dude.! I'm honestly not a morbid person. I don't have anything wrong with my mind. The show really gave me no other context and what I saw just seemed really disturbing. I saw a 10 year old kid get abducted by a group of middle aged men. Can you really blame me for thinking the worst possible outcome. I don't want my thoughts to go there but Abrams gave me no choice.
! I suppose the problem is personal for me because I knew he was going to be kicked out of the main cast (and yes I knew he hit puberty so they were basically forced) and I was told he would be killed off but I always thought he'd just get shot in the head or something. Not kidnapped. So the concept of child murder was executed in a more disturbing way than I was expecting.
…But yeah. I guess I'll just keep watching. I'm really determined to find out what happened to the kid now. Although I'm worried about Michael because I've been told his character is ruined after Season 1. Which is really a shame because I rather liked his character in Season 1. But I guess I'll find out for sure soon enough.And just one for the road. WAAAAALT!!!!
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RE: The LOST Rewatch Adventure! (Newbies Are More Than Welcome!)
I finished Season 1 of this show a week or two ago. I really digged it. Hurley's episode, Claire's episode and especially Locke's episode(s) seriously left me in tears. I was just so blown away by what was going on. I loved basically all of the characters (except Boone and to a lesser extent Jack I never really connected with those two. I also hated Shannon at first but I thought her character development fixed most of that).
My favorites were Locke and Sawyer (of course), Sayid, Hurley, Michael and Charlie (surprised by how good his development was). There's quite a bit of animosity towards this show. It seems just as many people love it as the ones that hate it. But I was very impressed with this first season and if it actually gets better then… well goddamn this might just enter my unofficial "god tier" of tv shows (which currently consists of The Wire, Breaking Bad, Community and Arrested Development).
I only really want to comment on one aspect of Season 1 which is kind of spoiler-y.
! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO WALT! I'm sorry just… that really kind of freaked me out. I mean I already knew he was going to die. I know my internet memes and Perrineau became a pretty great one. I just wasn't expecting it to happen that way. I mean seriously... what the hell was that? Were those pedophiles that kidnapped him? Human traffickers or something? I'm sorry but that is really really disturbing.
! Can someone please give me a bit more of an explanation? Like I don't think they go into too much detail in the show about what happened to him (from what I know) but do Abrams or Lindelof or somebody give a bit more of an explanation. Because my only other real option is to assume that a fate too horrible to contemplate happened to the poor kid. Yick! shudder
! ... I think I need to wash my brain now. Honestly I do like this show so far but that part was a really fucked up way to end a season.Speaking of which I personally think Buffy/Angel is a great idea for the next rewatch. Might be a little much to do both but I'm already 3 seasons into Buffy so I can totally dig that. But probably won't happen knowing my luck.
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RE: Channel Awesome, AVGN, and other web review shows
@Monkey:
I really don't get how someone could be appalled at pretty much 90% of anything Lindsay's said or whatever. I mean she's even said stuff in defense of dudes if she saw something she didn't like going the other way. Christ, these people are spoiled sheltered little twerps.
Welcome to the world of chauvinism. I really don't get it either. I do understand why it thrives on the internet though. The net is a wonderland for idiots. Just check out your typical neo-nazi forum.
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It's not just TGWTG fans, either. Any feminist statement on the internet with any backbone behind it will send snarky young males as a whole demographic into a sort of mindless frenzy of clueless, petulant whining. It's a very bewildering phenomenon.
Right on brother! And btw the concept of "male rights" honestly makes no sense whatsoever because while men can definitely be discriminated against they're one of the only social groups that have basically nothing to complain about. But idiots will find ways.
Anyway enough of that. I enjoyed the latest episode although it did feel a bit like filler. The "story" didn't really advance but the jokes were great admittedly. Phelous, Benzaie and Paw had some great moments. And JesuOtaku as Ed will always make me a very happy man. :wub:
Honestly I don't take what Doug and company do with these specials all that seriously cause while I do want them to put effort into it and try to make the best possible product they can I'm pretty sure they're just doing this to have a good time with their friends and it shows. Wish their fans wouldn't obsess over and nitpick their stuff as much but what can you do.
And I'll be honest with you. I love Lindsay's vids but not really for the humor. I don't think she has a bad sense of humor or anything but I more admired her videos for how well written they were… if that makes sense. I dunno it was just really good to see a really good feminist perspective for once. But in terms of actual laugh out loud reviews I tend to go more for Doug. Sorry. :sad:
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RE: Channel Awesome, AVGN, and other web review shows
Teaser for the 4th Year Anniversary is out.
http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/to-boldly-flee-the-4th-year-anniversary-of-tgwtg-com-teaser-6224605
Looks like it'll be pretty awesome. I just wish they would settle on a damn date already. Teases.
Real shame about Spoony and in spite of his actions my heart goes out to him. I am glad that in spite of what's happened Linkara still cares about him as a friend. And that's all I will say about that since I know most people want to try and move on.
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RE: Preliminary Match #8
I've heard of people who claim Dragon is hype because he hasn't actually made enough of an appearance.
I believe people just think the characters they like are more justified to win that characters other people like. But this is the AP Character Tournament, crap like that isn't supposed to matter. It's a popularity contest that, at its best, should be decided by campaigns. But, sadly, seeing the fall of so many vice-admirals regardless of Nolus's fantastic efforts that's not true.
now THAT's what people should be ashamed of. (myself included as I keep overlooking the vice-admirals during my quick voting >_<)
I voted for Onigumo since I always thought he was pretty cool even if he had limited appearances.
But dammit if I wanted anyone to win I wanted it to be Cricket! Seriously guys remember him in Jaya! There was a man deserving of your respect! And he's trailing behind like six other characters. Including Pandaman dang it. PANDAMAN!
… Wait I voted for Pandaman. Nevermind. Still vote Cricket if you haven't already.
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I stumbled upon something today, and it made me vote Akainu on the spot.
! http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/herodadotus/5921af58.jpg
Vote for a real hero! Vote Akainu!
HA! Now I do sorta wish I voted for Akainu. I could stare at that image for days.
Edit: I will never, ever, EVER vote for Vasco Shot. Fucker creeps me out more than you could ever dream. That nose.
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RE: Disney's Live Action Maleficent Movie
Agreed with all of you guys who mentioned Fables. Great story. Even if I sort of stopped reading after the 12th volume. I've kept meaning to get back to it but I've just kept putting it off.
Personally I would prefer a live action Frollo movie since he was always my favorite Disney villain. I could probably see either Kevin Spacey or maybe Gary Oldman being a good fit to play him. I'm also considering the possibility of a live action Ursula movie with Kathy Bates and a live action Hades movie with none other than Mr. James Woods.
I think a Maleficent movie could still be really good but I would prefer they used someone with significantly more talent like Charlize Theron or Hilary Swank or Jodie Foster (preferably that first one who I could easily see in the role). But I guess Ms. Jolie still has the right to prove herself and I wish her luck.
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RE: Films that you like and others do not!!
Cats Don't Dance
Definitely agree with you on that one. I caught it on tv once in high school and it was way better than I expected it to be.
As for me, off the top of my head, I rather like iRobot with Will Smith. I thought it was a pretty suspenseful and thrilling film with pretty interesting characters for a blockbuster. I've heard the main reason people don't like it is because it's a horrible adaptation of the original Isaac Asimov novel which may very well be true but as someone who didn't read the novel I thought it worked pretty well as a film and I personally believe what matters most is a film's merit as a film and not an adaptation. I can understand being upset if a book you like is bastardized on the big screen though.
I also have a soft spot for (get ready) Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I don't know I thought that movie was pretty funny throughout and I was able to enjoy it, I rather like Kevin James as a comedian and I liked how it was a comedy with a protagonist who was actually a good person. Apparently most other people didn't like it though although Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars so I guess I'm not completely alone. Thankfully it doesn't really get anymore embarrassing than that. I think.
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RE: Channel Awesome, AVGN, and other web review shows
@Thousand:
I can relate. I get all my music info from him like I get all my political info from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (to be fair, I don't get the channels like Fox and CNN that you guys do). I just don't have the energy to look up and research that sort of stuff. For what it's worth, I think I've become more appreciative of music since I started watching Todd. I've become addicted to Ceelo Green and Katy Perry lol
I'm the exact opposite, the radio is pretty much always on in my car, usually to the pop stations so one thing that really attracted me to Todd was how I knew pretty much everything he was talking about. That and he's awesome. He did convince me to try to be more of a critical thinker and learn more in regards to music since he always expressed his opinions so well. Although I noticed he and I actually have pretty similar opinions on music for the most part, most of the songs he put it in his top ten best lists were ones I enjoyed listening to and the ones he put it in his top ten worst lists were ones I didn't care at all for.
I sort of agree on Adele being overrated though, not because she's bad or anything, I think she's very talented but I get a bit annoyed that pretty much all of her songs are about the exact same thing. I was really happy to see Kanye West's All of the Lights so high on his list though, that song kicked so much ass and really cemented me as a Kanye fan.
As for Glee, I don't hate Glee as much as most people do. Don't get me wrong I think the show is complete crap but for me the show started out as something I casually watched and mildly enjoyed in the first season and I didn't really know anything about the horrors that would await in the second and third season. So I didn't know much about the show other than something I occasionally watched and liked as a sort of guilty pleasure and then I started hearing heaps of criticism piled on it by various critics I knew who absolutely loathed the show. After hearing so much hate for the show it became difficult for me to feel the same amount of anger because I didn't have the same perception as everyone else, since most of the time the critics were generally talking about the second and third season and not so much the first season which is the "best" season. My point is, it's a crap show but I just can't bring myself to dislike it as much as everyone else and I honestly find myself just sort of amused by the anger other people feel towards it. It's the good kind of amused the kind where I think "Yeah You Go! Tear that show down a peg because it really deserves it!"
I will say that I did watch a random second season episode once when I was in the mindset of "Glee's not that bad, I don't know what people are talking about!" You'll probably be happy to know the episode proved me very wrong. Since that was the episode which was almost entirely about the characters getting drunk. No. Seriously. At least two thirds of the episode was the kids getting drunk and later vomiting on stage in front of the school. It was crap and really convinced me that people had good reason to dislike this show.
I also totally agree on Todd about Gotye's song being very good and Fun's song being meh to decent. I would like We Are Young a lot more if the "Tonight We Are Young and We'll Set the World On Fire" part didn't go on and on and on. It sort of took me out of the song on the whole. I'm very excited to hear that according to Todd the both of them have many more songs that are really good because I was wondering myself if they had anything more going for them. He said Fun was heavily influenced by Queen which is always good since Queen is probably my favorite band. I should probably check both of those guys out, in fact I'll do that right now.
Sorry for typing so much. I just get excited when I get to talk about Todd and the music I like.
PS. Will Smith month is shaking up to per-ee-ty awesome. -
RE: Toonami on Adult Swim
Well, assuming that schedule is true.
Deadman Wonderland - Been wanting to check this series out, so I'm fairly excited about it.
Casshern Sins - I've heard the name before, but I honestly had no idea what this show was even about until I looked up the Wikipedia article just now. I have no idea what to expect from this show.
Yeah I've wanted to look into Deadman Wonderland as well but I haven't really been doing much of anything manga or anime related lately so I kept putting it off. I was mostly interested in it because the opening sounded like an actual theme song and not just some generic love song which is what most openings are. It also had a dark atmosphere that I liked so I'm happy to see it on the block.
As for Casshern Sins I've never even heard of it and I just did a Wikipedia search. It looks like it's got a very old school Tezuka type feel to it. So no idea how much I'll like it.Honestly I'm just excited to see Steve Blum as TOM again. I don't even care what design it is I just think it'll be great to see and hear him again. It'll be almost like meeting an old friend again after several years.
…I'm assuming they are going to have Steve Blum as TOM and are going to make this as much like old Toonami as possible. In terms of presentation anyway. Wouldn't be much of a point otherwise. Because I definitely want them to include new shows and try something new but in terms of the presentation and feel of the block I think it's best not to mess with what was basically perfection.
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RE: Toonami on Adult Swim
Toonami needs to be more than just wrapping paper on pre existing programming. It needs to have the right attitude behind it. The desire and drive to air the best action cartoons and advertise them. Toonami were experts at getting the audience pumped for their programming, back in the day, and that's an attitude that CN as a whole lacks these days.
Watch this trailer and pay attention to how it's constructed, the footage used, the sounds, even the narrator (Peter Cullen, Mr. Optimus Prime himself!), everything in this 2 minute ad screams "THIS SHOW IS AWESOME! YOU MUST WATCH IT NOW!!!"
Without this, Toonami will just be a shell, barely holding together, and open to be mocked by the rest of [AS] like the it kinda is now.
Perfect. Just perfect. Toonami was great not just because of the shows but because of how it advertised itself and the feel of the whole thing. I was so pumped up for Saturday evening to watch my favorite action cartoons.
And I also agree that it shouldn't just be anime since that wasn't technically what Toonami was. It also showed American cartoons that fit the action theme and I would prefer that. Although I think I would agree that there isn't really much they can use for American shows unless they want to use older series.
And lastly… I can't believe this is actually happening! I personally didn't feel an overwhelming need to get Toonami back in that I could live with it being gone even if it was mildly upsetting (all good things come to an end eventually after all) but I certainly would like to Toonami on Saturday nights again and I'm definitely looking forward to May 26th.