General Questions / Identifying Anime.

[Abunai]

Do phrases like "You're 100 years too early to challenge me" mean anything? I mean, besides the obvious meaning, did it originate somewhere? Just a Japanese thing?

It's a Japanese thing, yes -- a Japanese fictional dialogue thing. Nobody says that in real life, except as a joke.

But yes, it's a regular expression. Like so many items of stock dialogue, it's used over and over again, sometimes to the point of absurdity. That's what happens with stock dialogue. Just think of a phrase like "Curses! Foiled again!", which was probably original and innovative, once upon a time in a serialized radio show back when your great-grandparents were kids and radio was new -- or perhaps in a serialized cliffhanger-type film -- but which is now corny and hackneyed.

- abunai

[Cookie]

[This thread exists for the purpose of quick, one-shot questions relating to anime / the site / Japanese-related stuff, or trying to identify that one anime you might have seen back in '97 that you just can't put your finger on. Feel free to ask just about anything. -TK]

Before reading anything else, read "teh rules"!

Helpful guideline: If you can't imagine your question inspiring further debate or discussion after being answered, please ask it here. If you think your question has one definite answer that won't be different when answered by different people, please ask it here.~Zalis

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If you have any general questions relating to anime, ask them in this thread, and we'll try to find an answer for you!

(This material was taken out of the newbie thread and made more orderly. Rather than deleting all the posts over there, I figured it'd be easier just to make a new thread and keep it pruned as needed.)

If you have new contributions, post'em here. We'll keep this thread nice and orderly so it's easy to find answers. Yes, this means we will delete your posts as necessary to keep this thread tidy.

****Frequently Asked Questions****
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Question: Will there be a second season / third season / follow-up OVA / sequel movie for [series]?
[b]Question: Will [anime title] be licensed and released [somewhere other than Japan]?
Answer: Search ANN's Encyclopedia. If the sequel you desire is not listed there, then nothing's been officially announced by the studios, and the members of this forum don't have any inside information about what Japanese production studios plan to do in the future. Same with overseas licensing, if the information isn't in the Encyclopedia, the members of this forum don't know what the companies are planning to license.

Long story short: If a potential sequel or license is not already listed in the Encyclopedia, don't bother asking about it in the forums. Please see this post for more details.

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Question: Where Can I find Anime lyrics?
Answer: http://www.animelyrics.com

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Question: Where can I find out more about upcoming releases in Japan?
Answer: The best websites for upcoming releases in Japan are in Japanese.

Anime News Network regularly posts news about things on the Japanese side of the industry, too. Check the appropriate entry in our Encyclopedia for possible news and links.

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Question: What is considered 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate' behavior?
Answer: First of all, read "teh rules". This outlines the obligations you agree to when signing up for participating on this board.

The most often broken rule is posting links to fansub/digisub distribution websites, and to manga scanilation websites. Neither sort of link is permitted, regardless of the licensing status of the title(s) in question. Please do not post links to AVI/MPEG files, 'Torrent' files, Peer-2-Peer (P2P) applications, timed scripts, etc.

Before posting a thread, please make sure that there isn't a similar thread on the first couple of pages. We've locked many threads before due to a similar thread being created sometimes less than a day before an old thread began to slow down. If you don't see anything relevant to what you'd like to talk about, feel free to make a new thread.

Signatures are currently disabled. Please do not make 'virtual' signatures.

Just remember: When in doubt, post.

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Question: Why does ANN officially recommend H animes? Can't people find this on their own without our help?
Answer: Much of ANNs readers are adults, and as such we do not discriminate against their tastes. Hentai, Bishoujo and other 'adult' genres of anime are still anime, and as such we report on developments regarding newly licensed adult titles, and may occasionally review them.

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Question: When can one call themselves "otaku"?
Answer: Whenever you want! There are no rules set in stone saying "You must buy $5,000-worth of anime before you can call yourself an Otaku", nor does any law say, "You must first watch 500 unique anime series before calling yourself an Otaku". As far as ANN is concerned, you can call yourself "otaku" anytime you desire.

In Japan, "otaku" is a somewhat sinister term, implying rabid fandom to the point of being socially inept and unable to communicate with others "in general". In America it has been whitewashed to mean "a fan of anime". Much like there are no rules defining if you call yourself a "geek" or a "nerd", you can call yourself "otaku" whenever you want.

Some fans prefer being called "fan" and not "otaku", citing the Japanese definition of the term. Others may prefer other titles; everyone is different in their appreciation of anime, so please be considerate.

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Question: How can I tell what is a bootleg? Is what I am buying on eBay legitimate?
Answer: The best FAQ regarding how to avoid bootlegs may be found here:
http://www.digital.anime.org.uk/piratefaq.html

Regarding eBay, a preliminary and informal survey showed that approximately 60% of all anime DVD transactions on eBay are bootlegs. A closer inspection has yet to be made, but the basic results are this:
Be wary of any auction with the words "ntsc all" "chinese" "region 0" "region free" and "import" in their titles or body text. These are the biggest indicators of bootlegs.

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Question: How do I get my anime published? I have a script, how can I turn it into anime? I have a great idea, but who can I send it to?

Answer: This is, perhaps, the most asked question we see. We've devoted an entire Answerman column to explaining the difficulties of anime publishing. Please read over that first. Basically, unless you have money (or have access to money, or are personal friends with an executive at an animation studio), it is better to begin by publishing for your local market. Consider developing it yourself (like Voices of a Distant Star) or finding an American/Canadian production house capable of doing the work instead.

Consider this: Is the story more important than the style? If it needs to be "anime" to be a success, then perhaps you need to focus more on your story, instead.

[EDIT: I have merged the two topics, but will try to "prune" out some of the really old replies to keep it looking fresher and more condensed. This may take a while... -TK]

[Abunai]

Actually, cutting sausages (they're usually fish sausages, by the way) into octopus, tulip, or crab form isn't that hard, at all. In a kitchen, I think it would take me five minutes to teach you how to do it, it's that easy. Chrysanthemum-carved carrot or daikon -- now, that's hard... ^_^'

The point of the scenes where one character fails miserably to make these items isn't to highlight the difficulty of making them -- but rather to underscore a basic lack of femininity in the person who fails to accomplish even such a simple task.

The bentou, or Japanese lunchbox, is an artform of its own, with complex styles and plenty of variations. A central theme is that the items in the lunch are often presented in some form of ornate fashion. However, the "cute" forms (sausage octopus, figures shaped in the rice, vegetables carved with happy faces, etc.) are a feature of children's bentou. In anime, when you see an adult receive a bentou with such features, it's invariably an amusing and slightly embarrassing scene.

- abunai