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catnapcat said she'd send Princess Tutu to me but never did.

Well here's your chance! They've got every episode up on yousendit, I think. You'll like this anime. It's weird, it's about ballet and fairy tales and classical music, but it's oh so insanely meta.

What episodes do you feel are the strongest? When is it exactly that the development really caught your attention? And would someone please explain what "meta" means? Please? *is stupid*

Anyway, I've downloaded the first five episodes and I like them so far. Neko-sensei might be my favorite thing ever.

Actually, neko-sensei is my least favorite thing of the anime, though everyone else seems to like him.

I think the strongest episodes are probably 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13 of the first season, and then probably 21-26 of the second season. Although, really, I liked almost all of them. And I tended to watch them in clumps so I finished theseries in a very short time, like you will-- the events kinda blended together in my mind.

meta is... well, best definition I can give is by example. Are you a Farscape fan? In this one episode of Farscape, John (the astronaut stranded in alien space) finally makes it back home, and brings with him the first aliens earth has ever seen. The next episode is designed like a television program like those cheesy "Unsolved Mysteries" things, with a host offering clips of John and the alien characters interacting with interviewers, and various experts or people John used to know before he got stranded in alien space offering commentary on the footage of the aliens. It even ended with a promo for the next episode designed as the chessy show. A few episodes down the line John and the aliens are back in space again, and John has gerry-rigged a tv to pick up American television across space. And so he's watching the program that was the other episode, only he's seeing it on tv. So you have a fictional character watching a fictional televsion show about that fictional character that was the episode a few episodes before. I think. Unless I remembered it wrong. ahh.. that probably just confused you.

Basically, meta is like blurring the line between the story and reality. Sometimes it's characters having awareness that they're in the story, sometimes it's more complicated than that. Princess Tutu is very meta because the narrator is the writer of the story we're watching unfold... but he's also a character in the story. And there's the overall story of the prince and the raven that controlls the story we're seeing at the ballet school. And there's fictional characters from narrator/Drosselmeyer's prince and raven story (which he never finished) being "reborn" as real characters... who all attend ballet school together. Who's writing the story-- Drosselmeyer or the characters themselves? If Mute/Mytho the prince knows he was once the prince in Drosselmeyer's story, where does story end and reality begin?

There's probably other people who could give you a simpler definition.

Oh wow. I think I need to take notes.

....Just kidding--thanks for such a clear example. I get it now. And I must admit, I'm really liking where this thing is headed. Thanks for the heads up on the episodes!

When is it exactly that the development really caught your attention?

Episode 2 made me realize the anime was something I was going to love. Because of the "moment in Episode Two that reads like a homage to Chuang Tzu, who famously dreamt he was a butterfly, only to wake and wonder if he might not be a butterfly dreaming it was Chuang Tzu." -- to quote

mswyrr. And because of the cracktastic weirdness of the whole anteater thing. And little things I didn't expect-- like Rue choosing Ahiru for her dance partner, and then Fakir clapping for them for some unexplained ironic reason.

The style caught my attention first-- the different fairy tale and ballet and calsssical music references that just infused the show-- not only in the main plot and soundtrack, but in tiny details. There's great attention to thematic details. In terms of development... that came probably after episode 7 or 8, when we see more details about the characters beyond Ahiru, and things start to build toward a conclusion that comes with the first season ending in episode 13. The second season is like this mad, strange fanfic written ABOUT the first season, and I loved it even more and it got even weirder.

Overall, I love the development of all the main characters, and their various and complex relationships. This show has excellent reward for character development.

Yay! I've been wanting to watch this since I saw your posts about it. Thanks for the link! :)

enjoy it! Hey, did you get those FMA episodes?

Yep. Thanks. :)

Did you get my email about the .mpg splitter for the Cupid eps?

I did. I haven't gotten a chance to do them yet (finals week), but I'll be trying soon. If that doesn't work... well, I'll be getting a new DVD writer soon (in about two weeks) and I might just mail you a disc with episodes.

Would it be possible for you to get episodes 17 and 18 of the FMA dub for me?

I did. I haven't gotten a chance to do them yet (finals week), but I'll be trying soon. If that doesn't work... well, I'll be getting a new DVD writer soon (in about two weeks) and I might just mail you a disc with episodes.

'Kay. I'm pretty sure the splitters will work for you. Hm. DVD-writers. I've tried (and failed) to burn VMars eps to VCD. Is it easier to work with a DVD-writer? About how much do they run?

Would it be possible for you to get episodes 17 and 18 of the FMA dub for me?

Sure. They're at the same website I got the others from? Could you give me the links to them?

I've tried (and failed) to burn VMars eps to VCD. Is it easier to work with a DVD-writer? About how much do they run?

I don't really know what a VCD is. I just make data discs (CD or DVD) with the files as you seem them on your computer-- avi or mpeg or whatever. Because a DVD holds 4.5 gigs, you can sometimes have a whole anime season on one disc. If you have a DVD reader on your computer, you should have no problem. DVD reader/writers usually run about 60-70 dollars, I think. They're much cheaper than they were a year or two ago.

Sure. They're at the same website I got the others from? Could you give me the links to them

They're at the same torrent tracker website:
http://bt.s0nicfreak.com/browse.php?cat=1&page=2

Although, it doesn't seem to be loading at the moment, so I can't find you specific links. I'll keep checking it though.

Wow. They're much cheaper! I'll have to look into getting one. The idea of being able to save 4.5 gigs of data on a disc is just... super cool. :)

They're at the same torrent tracker website:
http://bt.s0nicfreak.com/browse.php?cat=1&page=2

Although, it doesn't seem to be loading at the moment, so I can't find you specific links. I'll keep checking it though.

Hmm. The page isn't loading for me, either. Do you know any alternate sources for eps?

I just did some googling, and I these two sites have links:

http://downloadanime.org/forums/index.php?s=c6d9b98b2a6bbfe75d3f13f0b13d0ee8&showtopic=170

and

http://s3.isohunt.com/torrents.php?ihq=full%20metal%20alchemist&ts&nr

'Kay, downloading 'em.

It's going to take a little while longer than usual to get ep 17 because the link to 17 is a tracker for a file that contains episodes 14 to 17.

Okay. Thanks a bunch!

It turns out that

greensilver is interested in FMA as well, so I'm going to start posting more of those episodes on my LJ in the upcoming weeks. Probably subs. :)

Yay! Subs. :) FMA 14-17 is 224mb of 768mb complete.

I'm DL'ing the first episode from

hecatehatesthat's posting.

riddering's gave me some weird error message. I'll see if I like it. How many episodes did you have to watch before you decided it was a show for you?

Two episodes. The first one I was like "Um...okay what?" But the second one was like a turn-around from the first, and had these few things that piqued my interest that seemed to stand out from the normal shoujo nature of the series by simple weirdness. Also, episode two had me giggling over weirdness.

I'm generally not an anime fan, but I got curious and thought I'd download the first episode and check it out - so, now I'm going through and downloading them all. Thanks for the pimping me to it. *g*

:g: I'm glad you liked it! I actually didn't really decide I liked it until the second episode.

It's funny; if I were pimping anime to someone who's not really into anime, this would not be my first choice to introduce someone to what anime's like. And yet, it's clicked with you. That's great. Make sure to tell me what you think of events as they go! It gets quite confusing and wonderful.

The second episode was what sold me too, actually. But the first one caught my interest enough to make me go out and download the second one. I only had time to watch 1 and 2 last night, but I liked it a lot - even if it did make me feel like my head was exploding, a little bit at a time.

Feel free to pimp me something more in the line of a beginner series, if there's anything readily available that you think I might like. :)

even if it did make me feel like my head was exploding, a little bit at a time.

I really had to pay attention while watching it, which is not normal for most anime. It just... required attention. And then it rewards that attention by screwing with your head in wonderful ways. And you're left going "What? I don't understand?! Give me more!"

Feel free to pimp me something more in the line of a beginner series, if there's anything readily available that you think I might like. :)

OMG! I'm so glad you asked!

Full Metal Alchemist!

It's a two-season anime (with one movie due to come out in the summer that I'm anxiously awaiting). But it feels like longer. AND IT WILL MELT YOUR BRAIN OUT YOUR EARS. Seriously. And it will disturb you. I've been gushing about it for about 8 months now. It is the anime Joss would have written, if he wrote anime. I've converted

octopedingenue, and she converted

riddering and

hecatehatesthat, and slowly, one by one, anyone I can find who watches head-melty things I will MAKE to watch FMA. This became the first show I truly loved and lived and breathed after Buffy ended.

Luckily, I had already recently loaded the first three episodes for another person.

FMA 1: http://s16.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2ERSACHFKN9AW28JXE2KD2L3UE
FMA 2: http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3V90WYTDZZPZY3RJZCQPW5N2SV
FMA 3: http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=18QYOU6R5LB403460JXPB44CBC

These are in subtitled. But I also have the first 16 episodes in English. The English is pretty good, but I think the sub is better. The English dub is airing on Cartoon Network right now-- episode 19 will air Saturday night at 11:30.

You should probably download these as soon as possible-- I don't know when the links will run out, but they've been there for a while. I tested them, and they seemed okay, but they might die today or tomorrow.

Whatever you do, stay away from ff.net regarding FMA. It will spoil you like mad.

If you want a REALLY long rec... I would say Naruto. It's going into it's 5 or 6th season by now.

It was only recently liscenced, so it's not out in English yet. And unfortunately, while I have all the episodes somewhere on a harddrive, I don't have the actual harddrive right now. Naruto is aimed to include an audience a bit younger than FMA is, but I found it extremely appealing I just adored the characters and the way they were developed.

I'm not sure where to find a list of all Naruto torrents. You can find some, including the first episode, here:

http://www.animelab.com/anime.manga/bittorrent/Naruto

http://www.naruto-kun.com/index.php?subject=Torrent%20Help has a resource list for Naruto torrents.

http://www.boxtorrents.com/ and http://www.gotwoot.net/ should have very large torrent files of Naruto by season clumps. Actually, boxtorrents can get you several different anime series in very large download files. They have the entire FMA series in one 8 gig torrent. it's unusual for a torrent site in that it hasn't pulled series after they get liscenced and dubbed.

general anime torrent sites:
http://www.downloadanime.org/
http://bittorrent.frozen-layer.net/
http://a.scarywater.net/ (organized by fan-subbing groups)
http://animetorrents.com/

http://www.animesuki.com/ is the biggest torrent list for new anime you'll find, but Naruto is no longer hosted there because it was liscenced (making fansubs now illegal), and shows like FMA are no longer there, either.

Most anime runs a single season of 26 episodes or two seasons of 13 episodes.

Other anime series you might like: The Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Fruits Basket, FLCL (more like a mini-series, it's 6 episodes)

OMG! I'm so glad you asked!

*just about died when I saw how long your comment was* Should've known what I was getting myself into, eh? And why am I not surprised you're reccing FMA? *g* I'll check it out. I've got 1. 2 and 3 don't work for me (2 errors and 3 is expired), but don't worry about it - 1 should be enough for me to get an idea of whether or not I'm going to like it.

Other anime series you might like: The Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Fruits Basket, FLCL (more like a mini-series, it's 6 episodes)

Cowboy Bebop I liked, when I used to watch it on Toonami. But then, maybe I just had the hots for Spike. *g*

Well, I say that most people can tell if FMA is for them by episode 3.

Cowboy Bebop I liked, when I used to watch it on Toonami. But then, maybe I just had the hots for Spike. *g*

Honestly, who didn't?

I'm watching episode 1 right now. I'm 2:50 in. I have already shouted "Dude!" at my screen, as in, dude, that's just not right.

Just thought you should know: you're evil. *g*

I have already shouted "Dude!" at my screen, as in, dude, that's just not right.

Heeehee. You will shout that many more times at the screen; I guarantee it. Many a time in watching FMA I've gone "What? That can't be! They just don't do that in anime! It's not right!" But then I keep going back for more...

Heh. I liked the episode. Hard to catch a whole lot in the way of premise and character info from it, but it's like Princess Tutu - interesting enough to make me want to watch more.

Which reminds me: is episode 4 of Princess Tutu absolutely essential? I've downloaded almost the entire series, but one of the eps I'm missing is 4, and I'd rather skip over it and keep going if possible.

I don't recall if episode 4 is essential, but probably not. I'll upload it for you anyway, right now!

And i'll start on FMA as well. :)

Hm. Okay, episode 4 is not essential. It has some character stuff with Rue & Ahiru, but nothing that it would hurt you seriously to miss, or to watch out of order.

I'll just skip it for now, then. I have no problem with going back and watching it later on. :)