Bartimaeus

That's almost quite literally all I do, . It's low on the list of user-submitted votes for tags, but it's there! Indeed. I bet you're looking forward to having to return to Love Live! after K-On is over, right?

>Clannad >harem >looks like this

Troi is actually whom I was primarily thinking of, because I don't ever remember her being around for a situation where she'd actually be useful and she's unfortunately around in plenty where she's the exact opposite. (e): Though I should note I haven't seen the entire show - I'm sure there are at least a couple of examples of her being useful. Probably...

how come there are so many episodes in TNG where the exact person that would be most useful in expediently resolving a situation is always mysteriously absent from those precise situations

lmao, just came back and realized I wrote "Minako is cheating on Artemis", but I meant the opposite, . The problem with picking "best" SuperS episodes is that there are some that are actually pretty solid, like the Minako episode or the Ami beach episode...right up until they're not. And I was trying to think and figure out "ok, what episodes does that problem NOT apply to", and I realized virtually none. It's either ruined by the Amazon trio or by a combination of Pegasus and Chibi-Usa. Pretty much leaves just the dentist episode.

That's easy. There's the episode where Chibi-Usa has a mustache...the episode where Ami becomes a mechanic...the episode where Pegasus says he's no longer interested in Chibi-Usa because she's an adult now...the episode where the Amazon Trio are redeemed...and finally, the episode where Makoto yells and screams at that one kid. ...Wait, no, those were all terrible episodes. Uh, let's see here... The dentist episode, of course. The "Minako is cheating on Artemis" episode? ...I also want to say "the Minako is cheating on both of the Amazon trio goons" episode too, but I'm pretty sure that's the episode where...yeah, no. Um, the episode where...uh...they're trying to figure out who...Chibi-Usa's...secret boyfriend is? Wow, SuperS really sucks.

I AM A DREAMER, HISOMU PAWAA! ...is the best sounding part of a bad Cardcaptor Sakura intro song, and also coincidentally the very first line of the song. It's all downhill from there.

If the Packers could just play @Cowboys for the next sixteen weeks, I'm fairly confident we would end at no worse than 12-5. Alas...

You remember that list of shows I said "these were also suggested but they clearly weren't for me even at a glance"? What I didn't say was that there was actually a third list made by people who clearly did not listen to a gosh danged word that I said and just suggested random crap that they liked. Here, I'll compile them for you real quick: Kuragehime (2011, josei and not shoujo?), Sukitte Ii na yo (2012, not shoujo?), Kobato (2009, seinen), Mawaru-Penguindrum (2011, IKUHARU, not shoujo?), Kimi ni Todoke (2009), City Hunter (???), Ranma 1/2 (???), Beyond the Boundary (???), Bloom Into You (???), After the Rain (???), Madoka Magica (!?!?!!!?!??!!!)... My specific asks were "pre-2000s or just about", "shoujo", and "I love the original Sailor Moon and the original Cardcaptor Sakura", and somehow people recommended those. I kindly thanked everyone individually for their suggestions, because at least they put some time and thought into replying and coming up with some suggestions, but really, there was a lot of junk to parse through in the replies, . Essentially, I just bookmarked everything that looked interesting that I might want to check out even if they weren't quite the fit I was looking for. Suffice to say, there are dummies in every community, . Historical drama is something I really have to be in a specific mood for...and boy, does that sound veery historical drama-y. Looks like I won't be trying Rose anytime soon, . Keep in mind that my entire logic is predicated upon "which would seem less weird and bad for someone who hasn't already seen either" which I think would be the SuperS episode...but for someone who's already been subjected to SuperS, it's almost definitely the Michiru + Haruka episode. Yes, even myself: I'm pretty sure I'd rather seen the Michiru + Haruka episode now than just about any except maybe the 3-5 best SuperS episodes...but that's because I've already seen (the majority of) the terror that is SuperS, while I was never subjected to 40 variations of that particular S episode, . If I had been subjected to 40 straight variations of that S episode, I...probably would've just straight up started skipping through entire episodes until I got through it because I would've been completely bored out of my mind to the point of not wanting to watch the show anymore otherwise.

Packers:

There's a little something that I like to call a pro gamer move where you skip everything except for the dentist episode, . But no, really, I think SuperS is so horrid precisely because it is ~40 episodes. Being punched in the mouth with the same terrible and gross gimmick over and over and over until you're broken and begging for the sweet release of death and you can't even get that because Pegasus will suck your soul into his nightmare dream realm like the vortex of a black hole and haunt you forevermore. But if the question is just a single average SuperS episode (say, one where just any old rando gets targeted) vs. that episode, I'm not sure the single SuperS episode would seem *that* egregious all by itself. Now if it was a...specific episode, like the one where Chibi-Usa enters Pegasus' (or her own?) dreams and flies around with him for like half of the episode, I'm taking the Michiru + Haruka episode a thousand times out of a thousand, of course...but just an average episode? I'm not as sure. This is probably a good reminder that I find the "serious mode" story episodes of Sailor Moon significantly weaker than even you do (...because they almost invariably strip all of the critical components that make Sailor Moon work as a show without doing anything interesting or otherwise engaging on basically any level that I could discern in return for being "serious"...outside of Sailor Stars, which does actually have a number of good "serious mode" episodes IMO, particularly the short filler arc at the beginning of the season). Perhaps I'm barking mad and playing devil's advocate a little too much here, but I just feel like if you just took that "average" episode and inserted it somewhere in S, you would initially think it's a perfectly normal episode, eventually come to the conclusion that something feels a bit off with it and that the writing is definitely a bit worse than the rest...but that it still mostly feels like Sailor Moon and not think that much of it after it's ended. It's when you've been subjected to it five times...ten times, twenty times, thirty times, fourty times in a freaking row where you really become broken. And speaking of S, let's not forget that it already had this particular sequence... ...so it's not as though terrible stuff hadn't already been present in the show up until SuperS, . Feel free to Dr. Phil seizure me if you really think my line of thinking is that crazy, .

I mean, they could try enunciating the 'R' a little. It's not like *I'm* pronouncing Oscar and Asuka the same way like the singer here is, . Ah, that must be where the crazy crap that somehow connects all of it to Evangelion happens, . Hmm...is it a fair comparison? Take an average episode from SuperS and insert it into S and does it work less than that single Haruka + Michiru episode? Would 40 episodes of variations on that episode be more or less miserable than 40 episodes of SuperS?

That's...a while just to install a GPU. My greatest impediment in getting stuff like that done is usually just pain and exhaustion, . But if you ever do, be sure to let me know because I may have a resource that proves helpful to you once you have the space. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks quite awful indeed compared to the BD, . I was just thinking "eh, that one was kind of bad..." but then I immediately thought about Nadia's latest episodes and went wait, no, there's a big difference between boring and outright bad. Be thankful K-On doesn't have THAT... I'll be sure to keep you updated on whether it's able to redeem itself. It really does sound like "Lady Asuka" to me...

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001). Early 2000s "cool" in the sense that during action scenes, someone will shoot literally about a thousand arrows in approximately two seconds (eyeroll), all of them will be pointed straight up into the sky as opposed to any actual targets (another eyeroll), they'll magically hit (yet another eyeroll), and some them will even be shown to visibly bend in mid-air (not even because of magic, a normal human shot them!) in clearly impossible ways for no apparent reason towards their target (and now we have arrived at The End of Eyerolls). At least JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has the decency to treat itself like the silly nonsense it is. ...But while the action's dumb, the story is actually probably better in this one than the original, and didn't really go where I expected given that this would initially appear to be just a big dumb action anime movie. Indeed, I actually started skipping through the movie because the first fifteen minutes of the movie were so dumb that I gave up (just a pile of really bad action stuff), but I got like 30-40 minutes in and was like "wait, what's happening? wait, this is actually kind of interesting and looks much better" and ended up going back to where I had initially given up and then watched the rest of it. So you know, given how dumb it initially appeared and the fact that it came out 16 years after the first, much better than expected! The aesthetic of this movie's closest comparison is Ghost in the Shell. It's not by any means just like it, particularly because the setting is so different, but here, look at this lady:

Yeah, the historical drama isn't the one I would've gone for first, personally, . At least it's a little more interesting time period. Random bluray screenshots you can compare to: P.S. That German song made me realize how close "Asuka" and "Oscar" sounds, . (e): Nadia has seemingly fallen off the same "world's largest cliff" that Ranma 1/2 did. This crap is so dumb. In episode 26, it was just more of the same as the previous two episodes in the first half followed by the second half of the episode just being a filler dream sequence that had no bearing on the current situation that just kept going and going until the end of the episode. Holy crap, please give me back Hideaki Anno, I'll try to never say anything bad about Rebuild of Evangelion ever again... (e): Lmao, oops, I already broke my promise to not say anything bad about Rebuild, .

Just a little reminder that I wouldn't have ever decided to give Sailor Moon a try in the first place if I had had this particular OCD issue! 200 episodes? I don't freaking think so, . But yes, it's probably a better idea to wait for me to try all of these out rather than make yourself a sacrificial guinea pig...of course, you simply would then have to trust my judgement, . Thank you, Mr. Ikuhara - very cool, . How many episodes of K-On do you have left roughly anyways? A break from Nadia...has opened the opportunity to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion instead. Some thoughts: 1. This show is gorgeous, although The End of Evangelion takes it to an even higher level. 2. The first couple of episodes are pretty rough around the edges writing and character-wise and just don't really feel like a great introduction to the series...but things start to even out and settle more into a rhythm after that, thankfully. I was kind of mentally groaning at some of the dialogue where Ristuko, Misato et al. kept yelling out really obvious things over and over during action scenes, and not to mention Misato just acting kind of (deliberately) uncomfortable in general, . 3. And yet even with that said...re-watching this really makes Rebuild look absolutely gosh-awful - and I don't mean visually, but from a direction, storytelling, character, and pacing viewpoint. Nothing about Rebuild really works in comparison to this. I'm tempted to lower my ratings of them even more retroactively. Did 1.0 really deserve a 6/10? Probably not... I think I was mostly operating off of nostalgia for the characters. 4. This time, watching with subtitles (for the Japanese track) on, and some of the changes they make in the English dub are...interesting. It's oddly more minimalist than the Japanese, as a number of times Shinji will confirm something with a quick "yes" will not be there in English (giving him the impression of almost being selectively mute), or he's supposed to have some kind of quick thought that isn't there, lines from characters that are off-camera when they're saying them are often delayed from the Japanese timing for some reason, just...oddities like that for whatever reason. What's actually there is quite faithful in meaning even if sometimes the exact words change, though. I should eventually watch the series in Japanese...maybe next time, if there is one. It's not the longest series in the world and it seems to be way more digestible having already seen it compared to the first time where my brain was trying to keep up with all of the technobabble and insane story and character stuff, so there probably will be at some point. 5. I'm not finding Shinji to be annoying basically at all. Not sure if the result of watching Rebuild, a better perspective from having already seen the series, or just my tastes changing as a result of time, or something else. Actually, having already seen the entire series really makes this a lot more enjoyable in general, in my opinion. 6. Scenes that I had no clue the import of and couldn't really remember happening after they did (like Kaji just randomly delivering Adam to Gendo - how the hell was I supposed to know the importance of that when it happens so freaking early on?!) sure make a lot more sense having already seen the show, .

Or from Chicago...or from Michigan...or even from Texas, . Trust me, while Packers have some unique traits about them in this wonderful sports landscape of teams being owned by utterly amoral and sociopathic gazillionaires, I'm well-aware that a sports team is ultimately still just a sports team, .

In contrast, all Packers fans are perpetually under the delusion that we're always the good guys, and any time anybody says we're not they're the ones that must the villains, .

I said the same things in here as I did to the person that recommended it to me and they were like: 1. "He was killing just bad guys so I actually didn't have a problem and agreed with him." I guess the maniacal rant at the end of the first episode where he laid out all his completely awful character motivations and clearly spelled himself out as a villain didn't matter? As if indiscriminately killing piles of people based off of instant judgements wasn't bad enough, he literally said all of the things I said that he did in my previous post in just like the last 5 minutes of the episode - he hates everyone and wants to be god! Like, what? 2. "The story's not really about just him so it's not really that big of a deal anyways." The protagonist of the show doesn't matter, guys. It's perfectly okay and totally ignorable if your protagonist has the disposition of Donald Trump and you already want him to die within the first episode, . I think KP really likes and has recommended that show?

Any time I cheer for the Cowboys, they always lose. ...Probably because I only cheer for them when they're facing a bigger and badder opponent, . Felt a bit robbed when that receiver got away with clear OPI on that big catch near the ending, but OPI has always been enforced so randomly and selectively I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, . How ya feeling about losing your starting right tackle (instead of the usual defensive lineman!) to substance abuse issues?

Yes, exactly why I was trying it to get it out of the way as soon as possible (and have similarly eliminated a handful of other shows that were clearly bad fits for me in a series of mass "let's try this out for like ten minute"s). The way I was told that it wasn't like normal shonen and that it doesn't stay within its boundaries like so many other shows, so I should be okay. And speaking of... Man, what the heck is it with shonen protagonists being so incredibly unlikable, unrelatable, and just...so shonen? Managed to finish the first episode, and it's difficult to imagine a more self-conceited, power-hungry piece of megalomaniac garbage than this main character. Insists that he's the best student in all of Japan, says he wants everyone to know that it's him killing people, that he wants to become God, that everyone besides him sucks anyways, that he's the one that is fit to pass judgement (life or death) on others...and that he's doing it all because he's bored, and no, he can't understand what the big scary demon means when he says that he's one messed up human. The show just started and you've already become a complete psychopath with the power you've had for like literally just a day? What? ...I really hate the shonen "range" of protagonists. It's almost always either just being the biggest moron in the room at all times or unlikably obsessed/focused on strength/power (a major villain trait, duh...but in shonen it's always presented as completely normal!), and it seems like almost every shonen protagonist is always either one or both of those two. Don't get it. Ranma 1/2's first season was like the one exception to this rule, where I actually sympathized with Ranma and thought he was being treated pretty unfairly on top of acting pretty sensibly most of the time (...it probably helped that the first season was more or less focused on mainly character stuff and him trying to come to grips with his condition and how he fits into other people's lives as a result). Which would be why you've been watching K-On to get your fix instead! No, I haven't tried anything from that list I compiled yet. Eriko and Miyu (and a few others I tried like Flower Witch Mary Bell...which was actually not bad at all but if you think Sakura is aimed at too young of an age group, Flower Witch Mary Bell is like literally for five year olds and nobody older, so I abandoned it after a couple of episodes, ) were my own discoveries from doing a cursory search of shoujo shows released from between like 1980-1999. I make no guarantees of their quality or anything of the sort, they're simply shows that I have at least a passing interest in investigating more. Shoujo shows that are currently on THE LIST (in mostly romanji because that's what they're listed as in my bookmarks and I don't feel like finding each of their individual English names even though romanji is utterly ridiculous if you actually have proper English translations): Kaitou Saint Tail, Mahou Kishi Rayearth, Tenkuu no Escaflowne, Ojamajo Doremi, Gokinjo Monogatari, Kodomo no Omocha, Hime-chan no Ribbon, Marmalade Boy, Fruits Basket, Full Moon no Sagashite(?), Onii-sama E, Rose of Versailles, Haikara-san ga Tooru, Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami (...probably the same case as Flower Witch Mary Bell for this one in regards to the target demographics, though, but supposedly it was influential). A few others that actual human beings also recommended to me but which looked immediately not up my alley even at the quickest of glances were Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Tokyo Mew Mew (catgirls...), Mermaid Melody, Daa! Daa! Daa!, Onegai My Melody, and Wedding Peach. I'm not likely to ever even try any of those, . (e): Fixed one of the titles that was needlessly censored, . Apology...mostly accepted, . You could so much worse stylistically than The Powerpuff Girls! I may be slightly biased as a result of watching it as a kid...

Martyrs (2008). Uh. Yeah. So...let's never watch French psychological horror about ever again, mkay? I had to watch approximately half of the movie with either my eyes closed or my hands over my ears, and sometimes both. I'm going to go back to the anime thread where everything is smiles and rainbows now, thank you very much.

I'm pretty sure she's incapable of noticing anything at all, really. I watched an episode of a show called Mob Psycho 100, which is about psychics and wacky demons/spirits. Eh...a bit too crazy for me - that, and it's difficult for me to ever really get into the more hyperactive and irreverent style of a show like this. But if you're into that sort of thing, it didn't seem too bad otherwise...maybe something more up KP's alley. ... I watched about half of an episode of a show called Bloom Into You, which is something someone else recommended to me for who the heck knows why. I didn't have a good feeling about it going into it, and then it was immediately that kind of "permanently over-dramatic for no good reason" show that I instantly notice and want to turn off because that's literally never going to be any fun, and that's more or less what I did after suffering through half of that episode and then starting to skip through it to see if it ever changes. Some kind of girly romance show, but it doesn't matter because the style of it is miles away from anything I'd ever like. As far as anyone else will ever know, I never tried this show, and I never will. ... I watched about ten seconds of an episode of a show called Death Note that someone else also recommended to me, which had the most horrendously awful opening song and animation that I turned it off immediately. Someone who's already watched this please tell me that the rest of the show is better than the intro so I can gather up the courage to at least watch the first episode.

Kicking off the new season with a classically gosh-awful rendition of the national anthem, very cool! (e): The ball does sometimes lie.