Looks like Panty and Stocking may really backfire for Gainax. I'm hearing very negative things about it mainly. And the bit I did watch left me feeling very defiled and mortified. Then again, I don't expect anything else from Gainax.

Hi just wanna say I might drop a few animes, not because of the anime themselves, but because of the other people watching it.

Oh god...'The War'....please tell me Simoun is nothing like 'The War'...it can't be if my mentor liked it. I mean I liked Asuka and Misato to a point, but there are so many things wrong with it that shouldn't be forgiven yet it's treated like it's the best thing that ever will be made in series form. And considering how the remake is selling compared to anything else made, that may be what Japan believes - that they will never got over 'The War'. And yeah, myself and the circle I'm in utterly despise Anno.

I found Haibane Renmei and Serial Experiments Lain far better for existential debate. Abe was far better at keeping things together and making them interesting.

I do have Simoun, haven't watched it yet. My anime mentor adores it. I picked it up because of that. And because I like female-female relationships. ^^ I believe it was from 2006. Deen spent most of their budget on Simoun that year and left the dregs for Higurashi. Yet it was the latter that became popular...

Rainbow is one I'll be catching up on, that got a good wrap but is pretty drark.
House of Five Leaves - didn't quite finish that, will have to. It's an interesting story but was never spectacular. Bit light for a samurai anime, heh.
I suppose I'd better give Katanagatari an earnest try. The fact it was an episode a month made me put it off until enough was out.
And then I'd better watch 2005 material I really should have tried by now, like Noein, Aria and Eureka Seven.

What is your take on 2010? Personally, while I think there have been more series around the mark this year, I've found less to reach the top echelon. In fact, the only one I'd be willing to give it to is The Tatami Galaxy. House of Five Leaves was good but didn't seem to go anywhere much despite its intriguing premise/style. (But hey, made by the same guy who did Ristorante Paradiso, so no surprise) Hanamaru Kindergarten was great twisted humour in a sugary setting. Sora no Woto was visual bliss and something to just flake out to, although it was ridiculously rushed near the end. Not to mention its concept of physics is utterly whack.

What has been worth your while in 2010?

I did a recent anime marathon. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, 2nd Garden of Sinners movie and Paranoia Agent. Watching good anime in a big stretch like that is very satisfying. Helps me overcome my dissapointment in 2010. 2009 may have been weak overall but the standouts were real gems. 2010 has been more consistent but is really lacking a standout. Except for maybe Tatami Galaxy.

Sounds like things are going very well for you, then! Life is OK - I have a lot to be thankful for, but would like to be elsewhere. This phase of my life is coming to an end, and I'm glad for that.

I'm having a hard time keeping up with conversations on the forum (not only because most of them go so quickly these days and I log in to find 3-5 new pages of posts to read, but the subject matter just doesn't seem as interesting to me these days) so I might be disappearing sooner than I thought...

It's been a while - I've largely been off of AnimeSuki until recently (and I intend to slip off into hibernation again in the near future), but every time I checked in it seemed like you were inactive. I guess you've been busy. So, are you still working as a sysadmin? How's that going? Anything exciting going on in your life?

Hey, how's it going? Thanks for the backup in that CoD thread. I just don't get what people see in the latest versions of CoD or Halo or God of War or its numerous ripoffs. But like we agreed on - it's all part of the 'instant gratification' generation that the both of us don't adhere to. And we both think House is made of win.

I also agree that 2010 is a good year for anime thus far. I don't get why people have made so many negative threads lately. 2009 was worthy of panicking over, but this year has been a major step in the right direction thus far.