JELEINEN

You can't go wrong with Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

The series they're talking about just started airing in Japan. There was an earlier one from back in the 80's though.

Would there still be an EMP in space?

That was just for the first episode. I'll watch the rest later. While I was neither confused nor anywhere close to being bored by the first episode, I will grant that it is one of the weaker ones of the series so far.

Nah. I'd compare it more to the Patlabor OVAs/TV. The space stuff is more of a background for the character interaction.

I'll agree, it's not one of A7's better reviews, but then I suspect he doesn't really appreciate the more story driven, less action driven shows.

What mustache? Is there a better resolution version of this? There's a tag saying who it is, but the characters are too blury to read.

Boring? Bah! This is a great series because it's a thinking man's show, not some teeny-bopper action porn. The main character is in his thirties and is much more relatable than most anime protagonists. I especially like how the series doesn't bother with action or mystery stories every episode, but is willing to delve into the character's personal life. I say screw renting it and go straight to buying. Unless you're one of those morons who need to have something blowing up every five seconds to keep your attention...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who mis-read the thread title at first. If I see this for rent, I might check it out. It's an ADV release, so I won't buy it.

Come on. There's a bigger dichotomy right now on this very planet, at this very moment. There are people literally living in the stone age, while you and I live in a post-industrial society that can send people to the moon. If you can't suspend disbelief for the technology differences seen the show (which are logically and easily explained), I wonder how you deal with reality.

You know that comment on irony I made in my first post in this thread? I'll let you in on a little secret: most mainstream SF are really westerns. It's why we call them "space operas." The term comes from "saddle opera," which was used to describe western stories in pulps and dime novels. Firefly just happened to actually look like a western.

Am I the only one who finds complaints that anime has become too commercial to be just bizarre? Anime has always been commercial. With maybe only a handful of exception, all those films, TV series and OVAs have all been designed to make money for the people sponsoring and producing them. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this. Being commercial does not invalidate something from being art. Da Vinci was commissioned to paint the Mona Lisa. In other words, he did it for money, but that doesn't lessen the artistic integrity of the painting one bit.

According to the bonus material on the DVD set, the front part was meant to be somewhat bird-like, while the body was designed to be bug-like.

Dark Star

There are three Patlabor continities: manga, OVA and TV. Each has the same characters and situation, but introduces them in a slightly different ways. Once you get past the different introductions, though, the individual stories are basically interchangable between continuities. Also, the so-called second OVA series was actually released along with the TV series in Japan. They put one OVA episode as a bonus on each of the TV LDs. It's actually better this way, IMO, as the Griffin story gets broken up over a period of time.

Hmm... My understanding is that outboard would mean away from the center of the plane and inboard towards the center. That article says that the outboard pylon had one missile and the inboard two (if it weren't for someone being really anal, I'd cut and paste the exact quote, but anyway...), but every picture, toy, and model I've seen is the opposite. Now either I have the two terms backwards, or something isn't right.

If you're refering to "strategic" and "tactical," they don't mean basically the same thing.

Nah. You just have to pay through the nose. As for the original topic, this is the same pointless question every hobbyist asks when his thing catches on. For SF fans it was the late fifties ~ early sixties. For gamers it was the late seventies ~ early eighties. For comic book fans it was the late eighties ~ earlie nineties. Suddenly the fan finds that he isn't part of an "elite" few who are in the know. Now he's simply part of a fad. My suggestion is to keep doing what you enjoy and don't worry about how popular it is. And if it really bothers you, just remember that this too shall pass. Oh, and for an interesting link on the subject, go here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2003Dec26.html.

It's out in Japan and shortly in the US, if not already. Do a search. There's a recent thread that has a bunch of the info.

I got my Firefly DVD collection last week and man am I lovin' it. Not only did the series have a lot of potential, but the fourteen episodes that we got were well made and a lot of fun to watch. It's too bad Fox just screwed the show over every which way. Anyone familiar with the history of SF probably sees the irony in them not thinking a western in space could be mainstream enough. I really hope the rumored movie becomes a reality. The series gets a lot of love on some of the gaming boards I frequent. Anyone else in these parts a fan of it?

Also, the plot to destroy the Ring was a complete surprise to Sauron. He never expected that anyone would even think of doing that. Flying in on an eagle would have destroyed the surpise and Sauron would send the Nine and just about everything else he had to stop it and get the Ring back. And, likely he would succeed.

Hmmm... I'd say just the opposite. He wasn't tied to the Middle Earth, at least not nearly as much as the Istari or Sauron had become. That's why the Ring had no power over him.

I disagree. It was certainly not anticlimatic. If anything, it was the true climax of the story. It had been foreshadowed long before. It also did a great job of bringing the horror of war home to the characters; quite literally. All along they view the Shire as this untouchable place of peace that they're returning to, but then it's stripped away and they're forced to accept that no where is truly safe from evil.

I got 14.something%. There were way too many computer questions on there. Everyone knows it's the nerds who do computer stuff, not geeks.

When Gandalf refers to himself as a servent of the Secret Fire, likely he's refering to Illuvitar (God). He says he weilds the flame of Anor. 'Anor' means 'sun' but I'm not really sure of what Gandalf is meaning. It may refer to Narya, but that seems highly unlikely. First, he wouldn't give out that kind of secret. And second, I don't think it'd impress a balrog. I think it has more to do with who he is or the position he holds.