A friend asked about “The Big 3”, which is, arguably, what many in the U.S. think of when somebody mentions anime. His three were:

1. Robotech
2. Voltron
3. Battle of The Planets (aka G-Force)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoO5H_UKCrw

Now, as a kid, I watched all three of these. I actually tried to carefully follow Robotech, but I had other childhood pursuits (i.e. video games) to occupy my time. I each case, and why these 3 are important, the series named above are “Americanized” versions of some classic anime. What do I mean by that? It means there was not just translation, but usually, (and notably in the case of Robotech), heavy editing of, and shortening sometimes (Robotech vs Macross, for example) the original storyline.

Macross

It is to Robotech what Avatar: The Last Airbender is to M. Night Shamalan’s The last Airbender (rough analogy since the more recent movie had no translation to do.) One is great, and the other…we’ll…not so good. They have the same story, however, sorta. If you say you like Robotech, to a fan of anime, you’ll either get a frown of dismay, or an understanding nod and recommendation to go see Macross. So, I’ll be the latter: go see Macross. It really is a good story. It’s best to see it as it was meant to be; in its original form (sorry you’ll have to become a good reader of dubs or learn Japanese.)

Voltron

I liked the lions and the vehicles (lol at me if you want.) AND I’LL FORM THE HEAD! This one’s special because it was a combo effort between a Japanese and American team to adapt two animes, Beast King Go-Lion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. That’s why it felt like two different series to most of us who watched it. I didn’t learn that for quite a few years. I actually haven’t watched the originals yet. Someday, I will.

Battle of The Planets

took me a sec to realize he meant the Americanized version of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, which, aka Battle of the Planets (one of my favorites as a kid!) As with Macross, this may be a bit of an odd sensation to watch the original since there will be some differences. I must confess, I need to take a look at this one again too.

There’s a lot (LOT) of great anime you might have heard of, but should see if you like those 3. They are key ones, for sure. Just see the original Japanese versions, please. Here’s a few that you might also hear commonly, in case you want a good foundation:

• Neon Genesis Evangelion (or Eva, for short) – Considered a classic by many. If you like giant robots defending Earth, this one should be on your list.
• Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) – I admit I would not have seen this when I did if it weren’t for the popularity of it’s ending song, Hare Hare Yukai. Check it out, if you haven’t already, and keep in mind the series is actually very good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5G5bD2Do-k

• Golden Boy
– It’s short, but still a fun ride (lol). I was pleasantly surprised, and this is also an example of good ecchi anime (possibly NSFW, but not too raunchy at all.)
• Love Hina
– Another good anime that kinda turned my on to the “harem” anime genre.

If you’ve heard of Bleach or Naruto, then I strongly urge you to still give them a shot. Both have their ups and downs, but there’s some really good plotlines in both. They’re popular (might be a good or bad thing), but they do deserve credit for having good production quality. In case I didn’t mention it before, see them subbed. Crunchyroll has both and that is good quality subbing.

This is by no means a definitive guide to anime. I’m not entirely sure one exists, but I hope that’s OK. I like to explore a bit, although I’ll be pretty busy in my favorite genres for quite a while I think. Hopefully, I won’t be alone in my exploration.

Interesting. I kinda like the feel of Kazuma.

And….once I got the order right (I think.):

坂本 Sakamoto (book of the hill) 国海 Kuniumi (country ocean).

Take your real japanese name generator! today! Created with Rum and Monkey‘s Name Generator Generator.

Oh, yeah. Fall has hit this blog as well. Enjoy the colors…

LOL

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Anyways, I haven’t just been working the last couple of months since my last post. I’ve also been in school with one class this semester. Am I lazy? A bit. It’s true that I’ve got senioritus bad, but it was hard paying for school this semester since I was unemployed for over a month (my textbook was an overdue interlibrary loan, that’s how tight my money was). After this semester, I really have no excuse not to do well in school and maybe even finish during my own lifetime. The course this spring: Software Engineering. Seriously, that course could live in its own semester. Well, not really, but it would be nice to have one 16 unit course. Now that finals (final) are over once again, I can sleep in on my days off from work (oops, I work full time!)

It’s not all work, however (even at work…only during breaks, of course!) I still am an avid gamer and World of Warcraft player (elaboration: I’m a core raider in an end-game raiding guild.) After the usual and not entirely unexpected post-expansion guild meltdown, splintering, and inevitable reformation, things seem to be progressing somewhat again at their normal pace. The old guild master absorbed the spin-off guild I was in for a while after being away for a while getting prepared for a wedding to another member and we’ve nearly completed our current raid objective, the potentially-guild-destroying Karazhan 10-man raid dungeon.

Both of our raid teams progressed to the “final” boss of the dungeon, but a known glitch caused neither group to be able to kill Prince Malchezaar. Much cursing ensued on Monday night, the evening before the dungeon reset and also, before the latest patch is applied (coincidence, I think not…) Now, we’ll be spending the next couple of days sorting out post-patch wackiness and also preparing to once again take on the Prince. The next time we fight him, we hope to be celebrating the phat loots that a clear of Kara can bring (I’m ready for tier 4 gear, are you?).