Manga/Anime/J-Pop/J-Rock

[Rama_Lei]

Who here is a self-styled otaku/otome? If so, what's your favorite series or band? Have you ever gone to a convention? Cosplayed at one? Subbed vs. Dubbed? Think I'm asking too many questions?

[Dihan]

I'm not but I like a bit of J-Rock.

[Tengu]

Umm... I prefer subs?

[Ted_Stryker]

I own exactly one song that would be considered J-Pop (I think), Riding on the Rocket by Shonen Knife, and that only because I've been on a recent kick of buying some pop songs from the Apple music store that originally came out in the early '90s (No Rain by Blind Melon and Time Capsule by Matthew Sweet being a couple other examples).

[Rabiesbunny]

Sub v.s. Dub? Dude. :P Silly question! I'm not much into a lot of newer anime, and I'm reeeally picky -- but in my humble opinion, One Piece is possibly the best show in the history of man. Kind. SO awesome.

Been to Shoujocon about three years ago, and it was freakin' FUN, though I think I enjoy Transformers cons better.

--Err, oh yeah. I'm also a huge Mini Moni fan. I should probably feel weird being obsessed with a defunct pop group aimed at kids, but they're so DAMN CUTE! >_<

[axraelshelm]

subbed, into the new kanon serise very slow yet fun.
I'm more into manga when it's a romantic comedy being Ken akamatsu fan and I'm a lover of super robots which i like in anime and a fan of the new Getter robo show.
(hurray for shouting out attacks)

music I like Hotei the guiter that he plays is awsome and a fan of Yui horie i can melt hearing her voice but for male singers Kageyama he's the one that sang alot of anime themes during the 80's transformers headmaster was 1.

[B-Man]

Lessee, I don't really consider myself otaku, but I am slightly addicted to manga (not so much anime any more).

My (current) reading list:
Bleach
Death Note
Fullmetal Alchemist
Naruto
One Piece
Rurouni Kenshin
Samurai Deeper Kyo

Anime that I'm watching:
Bleach
Naruto

JRock/JPop that I listen to:
Asian Kung-Fu Generation
High and Mighty Color
L'Arc-en-ceil
Orange Range
Saboten
Uverworld
YUI

[Gorbash Kazdar]

I tend to think of myself as including otaku as one of my many geeky pursuits. For anime series, I think my favorites are The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Full Metal Panic!, My-HiME, Planetes, and Last Exile. For Manga, I really enjoyed Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Love Hina, Akira, and Azumanga Daioh. I'm not really into J-rock/J-pop except for songs I like from certain soundtracks.

For subs versus dubs, I tend to prefer subtitles, but I do like a well done dub. More is explained here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1544277#post1544277).

Currently, I'm reading Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days, which is set in the alternate world Shinji "hallucinates" towards the end of the series, where things are more in the style of a typical high-school romantic comedy. It's enjoyable, but I think it wouldn't be nearly as interesting if I wasn't familiar with the show. I'm also re-watching Full Metal Panic!, though slowly. I just didn't find anything in this current season of anime that grabbed my attention, and while there are older shows I should probably get, I just haven't had the motivation to do so lately.

[Dihan]

J-Rock/J-Pop I listen to:

The Gazette
Antic Cafe

[Jibar]

Apparantly I'm an otaku, even though I don't watch anime.
Well done dubs are awesome. My only real anime to date (Nasuicaa) was awesome, and they managed to dub that without it looking silly.
Some Japanese stuff is actually pretty awesome (I fell in love with that music on HiHiAmiPuffiYami show thing).
Also; please tell me that is Moon Knight Name...

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Apparantly I'm an otaku, even though I don't watch anime.
Well done dubs are awesome. My only real anime to date (Nasuicaa) was awesome, and they managed to dub that without it looking silly.
Some Japanese stuff is actually pretty awesome (I fell in love with that music on HiHiAmiPuffiYami show thing).
Also; please tell me that is Moon Knight Name...
If you liked the Nausicaä movie, you should definitely read the manga. It's one my absolute favorite works - and by that I mean it rates in my top ten of favorite written works, period, not just as one of my favorite manga. The manga is much more epic in scope, and goes into the conflicts and prophecies much more deeply than the film.

I also definitely recommend Hayao Miyazaki's other works, especially Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke, if you liked Nausicaä. I personally also really enjoyed Porco Rosso and Spirited Away.

Other things you might like, Jibar, based on what you posted, might include Azumanga Daioh (the anime or the yonkoma). I'd be happy to recommend others if you can point out some of your usual likes in other media, perhaps.

[Tengu]

The only J-Rock I ever heard was in the intros and endings of many anime, I'm afraid. And the only names that ring a bell to me are Asian King Fu Generation (who made the second intro to Naruto and the 4th intro to FMA) and Akeboshi (first ending to Naruto).

I've seen quite a bit of anime though. I think that my personal favorites are FMA and Trigun - I like the second one slightly more, and mostly for the great moral it has for me:
Do not abandon your beliefs and morality, no matter how much does the world and everyone around you oppose them. Don't be a conformist, even if it's easier!

I don't read a lot of manga though. Only FMA at the moment, which is (though it's hard to believe) even better than the anime! The plot is also very different, and if some characters in the anime annoyed you, rest assured: in the manga, they either are not annoying, play very minor roles, or don't exist at all.

[talsine]

I've been reading Berserk for years, one fan translated volume at a time, though i am buying them as Dark Horse releases them as well. Kentaro Miura is amazing, even hsi single volume Japan was good.

Other than that i was reading Priest (which is Koren) and Battle Royal for a while, but i kinda lost track. I need ot start collecting again.

As far as anime goes, i've watched Berserk, as well as Scryed, NGE, all the Bubblegum Crisis/Crash/ADP stuff, most of Dragonball (fun subbed for the most part, i hate most of the current crop of DB/Z american releases,) and my roomate keeps trying to get me to watch Fullmetal Alchemist.

Really though, my passion is Kaiju/DaiKaiju/Sentai a la Ultraman/Power Rangers, if you can find the origonal japanese releases its totaly worth watching. a little hokey at times, but still a lot of fun.

[Jibar]

If you liked the Nausicaä movie, you should definitely read the manga. It's one my absolute favorite works - and by that I mean it rates in my top ten of favorite written works, period, not just as one of my favorite manga. The manga is much more epic in scope, and goes into the conflicts and prophecies much more deeply than the film.

I also definitely recommend Hayao Miyazaki's other works, especially Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke, if you liked Nausicaä. I personally also really enjoyed Porco Rosso and Spirited Away.

Other things you might like, Jibar, based on what you posted, might include Azumanga Daioh (the anime or the yonkoma). I'd be happy to recommend others if you can point out some of your usual likes in other media, perhaps.

There's a manga? I had no idea.
Hmm...well, in other media I usually read a little bit of everything. Romance, comedy, action, even a little horror now and again.
Hmm...I know a place nearby that sells some anime, dubbed I think. I saw Ghost in the Shell and Princess Mononoke there. A good place to start?

[Gorbash Kazdar]

The Princess Mononoke dub is very good. For Ghost in the Shell, the dub for the first film isn't as good. The dub for the television series, GitS: Stand Alone Complex is excellent. I haven't seen the dub for the second movie, but I didn't enjoy it as much anyways.

In any case, both are excellent films, and part of the "classics" list, if you will, of anime pretty much everyone should see at some point. Along with Akira, Cowboy Bebop, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, they're part of the baseline series and films that forms a common basis for talking about other series as well.

[Poison_Fish]

The release of the second Ghost in the Shell Movie, I believe, is only subbed.

[Setra]

Something I've never really gotten...

Isn't Otaku an insult in the Japanese language?

On topic sorta:
Subbed vs. Dubbed. I prefer dubbed, but only when they are well done (Hellsing, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc.). Though most of the time I watch anime subbed.

I still get ticked off when a friend of mine keeps "telling me why I hate dubs".

[Hephaestus]

All around geek here. Don't watch much anime, can't really get into any of it...

Music:
ELLEGARDEN
Asian Kung Fu Generation
The Pillows

[Ravyn]

Setra: Yeah, it's a bit derogatory in Japanese. One of my old friends explained it quite succinctly: "Otaku means house. As in, never leaves it." Apparently when English yoinks insults, they stop being quite as insulting. Run with it. (*is not about to get into the implications of otome*)

As for me--well, I'll watch almost anything, particularly in subs because it makes for better immersion training. Though there are a few people whose recommendations boot series to the bottom of my list. (One of them ran my college's anime club last year. Bad times.) And music--I'm way eclectic, and while I don't usually like vocal stuff, I give a lot of leeway to things in foreign languages. Mainly because within a few listens I'll be singing them. My friends have to drag me away from the karaoke room when we go to cons.

[Soniku]

I'm not much into J-pop/rock but I can recommend the opening themes from slayers next and try. I've had them stuck in my head for days at a time :smalltongue:

As for anime... I guess I'll list my favorites as opposed to all the ones I've seen :smallbiggrin:

Slayers
FLCL
.hack//anything apart from dusk (although the manga version of dusk is great)
Rozen Maiden
Naruto up until the fillers. I love the action scenes even if I hate most of the characters. The filler story around episode 200 is also pure awesome, something I have to pull on my players sometime.
Slayers (deserves to be mentioned twice)
Neon Genesis Evangelion

[Xilehxt]

Hello there. Joined long time ago, and decided to come back....nice to meet you all.

I get my manga usually in Korean, which is ahead of the US publishing.
On the current reading list:
Bleach, Detective Conan, Dears, Eyeshield 21, Fullmetal Alchemist, GetBackers, Glass Mask, Hajime no Ippo, Hayate, Hunter x Hunter, Inuyasha, Mar, Naruto, Negima, Oh! My Goddess, One Piece, Pastel, Prince of Tennis, School Rumble, Keroro Gunso, Shaman King, Welcome to NHK, xxxHolic, Yotsuba, Yakitate Japan, Yu-gi-oh
Finished reading:
Azumanga Daioh, Battle Royale, Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, Death Note, Detective School Q, Doraemon, Dr. Slump, Dragonball, Fist of North Star, Flame of Recca, FLCL, Genshiken, Great Teacher Onizuka, H2, Harlem Beat, Hikaru no Go, I's, Ichigo 100%, Kare Kano, Kindaichi case files, Love Hina, Midori no Hibi, Evangelion, Ranma 1/2, Record of Lodoss War, Rouroni Kenshin, SaiKano, Slam Dunk, Sailor Moon, Slayers, Yu Yu Hakusho

Anime, Going or want to watch
D-Grayman, Kaleido Star, Blood +, Magical Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, Rozen Maiden Overture, Hayate the Combat Butler

Anime, currently watching or catching up:
Chrono Crusade, Code Geass, Death Note, Jigoku Shoujo, Kanon, Mai-Otome Zwei, Negima?!, Sumomomo Momomo

Anime, finished:
Air, Aria, Azumanga Daioh, Black Lagoon, Dokuro-chan, Chobits, Dears, Elfen Lied, Evangelion, Excel Saga, Fate/Stay Night, Fullmetal Panic +Fummoffu +TSR, FLCL, Full Moon wo Saga****e, Genshiken, Gunslinger Girl, Kore ga Watashi no Goshujin-sama, Higurashi no naku Koro ni, Hunter x Hunter, Ichigo 100%, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Love Hina, Magical Lyrical Nanoha + A's, Maria sama ga miteru, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, Midori no Hibi, Mushishi, Mai-Hime, Mai-Otome, Nadia:Secret of Blue Water, Ouran High SChool Host Club, Record of Lodoss War, Rozen Maiden +Traumend, Sailor Moon, Samurai Champloo, School Rumble, Scrapped Princess, Shakugan no Shana, Slayers, Shuffle, Strawberry Panic, Tsukihime, Utawarerumono, Zero no Tsukaima

Subbed is the form I prefer, because generally, the dubbed versions aren't as up to par. There might be exceptions, but I've yet to see anything with decent dubs (particularly because after some poorly dubbed anime, I stopped even trying to watch them dubbed and stick to subtitles.)

As for Japanese music, mostly stick only to good openings, endings and inserts.

Whew....after reviewing myself over the last year or so...I might have to move up from a fan to a mania....not quite an otaku yet...

[General Leitmann]

There is only the works of one man that I consider watching or reading. And that is Katsuhiro Otomo. I don't listen to j-anything, nor do I plan to.

[Closet_Skeleton]

I end up listening to Yoko Kanno, Rie Fu and High and Mighty Colour quite often. I also have the Full Metal Panic! opening and closing themes on my computer somewhere...

I often feel like I've watched pretty much everything. Which is blatantly untrue.

[bluish_wolf]

Setra: Yeah, it's a bit derogatory in Japanese. One of my old friends explained it quite succinctly: "Otaku means house. As in, never leaves it." Apparently when English yoinks insults, they stop being quite as insulting. Run with it. (*is not about to get into the implications of otome*)


"Geek" and "nerd" are both considered insults in english, yet people still wear them like medals. Some concept, really.

As far as otome goes, doesn't it mean "young maiden?" The only thing I think it has to do with geekdom is the fact that eroge for girls is called an otome game, as opposed to a gal game.