That's probably why Miyazaki is such an interesting animator. He almost always employs a female protagonist, which is rare in such a male-oriented culture as Japan's.

It still is a cult classic by many standards. I have several friends who got into anime somewhat during the DBZ boom, but not a single one had ever heard of Akira or Perfect Blue before I showed it to them.

I wouldn't call Jin-Roh tedious, but it did tend to drag on at times. And yeah, subtlety was not its strongest suit. But it's still worth watching.

I don't think it should be applauded for taking on subject matter alone. There were a lot of people who challenged the American response to 9/11, or have you forgotten that Bush did not win in any kind of great margin? People were taking pot shots at the Iraq conflict from the very beginning.

Well Victor Echo, I think the subtext to read into is that some of our fellow board posters have viewed ecchi or hentai titles before. If you watch straight-up mainstream anime, you'll probably never encounter it unless it's being made fun of, ala Excel Saga.

Paranoia Agent is one of those series that seems to be the tipping point for casual fans of anime, and more serious fans. I didn't really understand it the first time I watched it, but in the subsequent viewings, I absolutely love the series.

Community events range from hilarious and fun to the most boring dregs of society you'll ever have the misfortune to come across. More often the latter, if you live in south Nashville.

No, but the last time I went, "Awesome album title!" was for Mastodon's "Crack the Skye".

Monkeys aren't donkeys, quit messing with my head!

The sequel documentary must be called, "Son of Kong".

I grew up in bowling alley arcades (my parents bowled league), so I miss the days of kicking some 16-year-olds ass at Mortal Kombat or Time Crisis. Though I never got to play Donkey Kong much.

Well, they had a new album out recently, so I'm not really surprised to see them touring again. I wouldn't mind seeing them.

Are you one of those guys dressed as a woman?

No, the show hasn't been average since that 1st season finale.

Hell, I even enjoy Scrubs before BOT. It has benefitted immensely from the transition to ABC, where it seems more relaxed. It's like the night builds up to Lost.

It's still got about six episodes left from the original order ABC issued, so hopefully we'll see it attract more viewers as Lost winds down.

Peter will look glum, save someone, get into a predicament, and see minor resolution in the most unsatisfying way.

It's formulaic, but entertaining. The leads do a good job, and Helen Mirren, as usual, shines. It's worth an afternoon if you've got nothing else to do.

The songs aren't available for download, other than a few select tracks for Rock Band, and the full Death Magnetic album for GH3. It's essentially a strategy of packaging a bunch of DLC together for mass consumption (and higher sales).

Guitar Hero: Van Halen has all but been announced officially, so everyone's dream of guitar masturbation with "Eruption" can be fulfilled.