This will be my last post for a while.  I'm leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow.

The second episode of One Piece was another typical 4Kids chop job.  I actually liked Zoro's voice.  Nami also sounded more mature.

Full Metal Alchemist has one more episode, and after watching the second to last episode, it has earned a spot on my "list" at #9.

The Sailor Moon live action ended at episode 49.  Its ending didn't top the animated season 1 ending; overall, I thought the live action was much better. 

Well, that's it.  Until I get back, how about signing up under me for a free Ipod or flatscreen/tv =P:

http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=7029836  - Free Ipod
http://www.FreeFlatScreens.com/default.aspx?referer=7431846 - Free flatscreen/tv

Well, I got to watch the One Piece premiere on the FoxBox.  Arlong Park lists all the edits; so visit them to read them.

Review:  Right when the opening sequence started, I felt something was wrong.  Right after the Gold Roger part, it became clear that 4Kids had decided not to use the original theme and went with some shitty rap song.  If they didn't use the original theme, then why did they even bother dubbing it in the first place?  The only hope is that it was for the DVD release.  The voices don't really bother me at all.  Luffy sounds about right to me.  Nami sounds okay, but she sounds about 8 years younger than she's supposed to be.  I completely understand why they would change "Devil's Fruit" to "Cursed Fruit," but changing Luffy's signature attack (Gomu Gomu no Pistol) to "Gum Gum Blast" is pretty stupid.  Luffy's arm doesn't suddenly become a gun as he  reels back to hit something.  It's funny to think that gun references shouldn't be in an American kid cartoon, but swords are okay.  Both are deadly, and yet guns get the short end of the stick.  Another change that bothered me was Zoro's name.  They said "Zolo."  I think it may just have been a tiny error on the voice actor's part, and it will hopefully be corrected in the next episode.  The edit of changing "Marine" to "Navy" was weird.  I don't mind it really, but I can't see why they would change it.  One thing I didn't notice at all was that 4Kids had changed all the bgms.  I don't mind that now, but if they continue to do it later on, they're going to mess up some great moments.

Overall, it was a tolerable episode.  However, this episode was pretty tame.  Now that I see where 4Kids is trying to go, I have lost that little bit of hope that I had for them.  I sincerely hope One Piece bombs and they let Funimation take the license off their hands.  There's no way they can do the Arlong arc right with the way they edit.

Naruto filler.  It's here to stay so please stop watching if all you can do is bitch about how they won't go into the next arc.  Kishimoto has little to nothing to do with the directing of the Anime.  The Anime has caught up to the current arc, and if animated now, you would most likely end up with a shitty ending to the series (ala Kare Kano/Flame of Recca).  All this bashing of the filler is just plain stupid.  One moment people are praising Naruto, the next, they say it's the worst piece of crap they've ever watched.

There are worse things they could have done to the show than simply adding in filler so the manga may progress far enough to begin animating the next part.

The one thing I despise in Anime is recap episodes.  At least with filler, there's something new to see.  Kare Kano and Chobits had shit-loads of deliberate recap segments and episodes.  Naruto had ONE recap episode, and they aired a brand new episode right after it anyways.  Naruto has tons of flashbacks that are just like recaps. OH SNAP!!  They can't do that, that would be wasting time that doesn't move character development at all...oh wait, that's exactly what the flashbacks are for!

Oh noes!! Sasuke's out of the hospital and not mad at Naruto like he's supposed to be!  Guess what?  They can easily create filler in which Sasuke can be hospitalized again or somehow make Sasuke freak out on Naruto!

Let's take a look at the filler timeline:

Episode 97 - Start of filler. Entire episode was filler.
Episode 98 - A few filler scenes with Konohamaru.  Everything else was in the manga.
Episode 99 -  99.9% filler.  Only non-filler scene was Lee by himself picking the petals off of the flower.  The filler wasn't all bad in this episode.  There's a lot of character development for Tsunade, and Sakura giving the flowers to Lee was a very touching scene.
Episode 100 - The first few minutes and last few seconds of this episode were the only filler scenes.  Everything else with Lee was in the manga.
Episode 101 - The first five minutes came from the joke chapter in the manga.  The rest is completely filler.

Of these five episodes, my rough estimate of the amount of filler: 61%.  Actual manga: 39%.  That's pretty good considering Rurouni Kenshin always had between 95-100% filler episodes after the Kyoto arc.

Did you also know that Naruto is a fucking kid show?  This Anime is aimed at kids, not adults.  People need to stop over-reacting to simple shit like filler.  It's a simple story with the typical themes of any shounen Anime:  friendship and never giving up.  Don't make it seem like it should have complex shit that would intrigue adults.

To reiterate:  If you don't like the filler, stop watching it.  Go watch a new series, write up your own Naruto storyline, read some Naruto fan fiction, or start learning Japanese.  Bitching about it isn't going to make the director, writers, and producers of the Naruto Anime suddenly come up with some miracle television that will have you on the edge of your seat.

</rant>

Surgery process was pretty cool.  Mouth is a bitch to work with now.  On Thursday, my mouth should be easier to use since that's when they told me I could start spitting again.  I never realized how much I actually spit on a daily basis.  It sucks. </blah rant>

The current GameFAQs character poll is actually surprising.  I never though Ryu could keep up with Sonic.  It looks like Sonic finally has lead right now, and I hope it holds.

Yay, Chris Jericho has gold around his waist again.  As both a LUEser and wrestling fan, I want Carmella to win the diva thing.
I can't remember anything else that I should write about; so I'll end here with another pic:

Lot's of Anime stuff.  I'll start with 4Kids' One Piece dub.  Arlong Park has a link to an article about One Piece.  It looks like they're going to keep everyone's name the same.  In the article, it says that Sanji has a dirty mouth.  This brings some hope that 4Kids is actually staying true to the Anime.  I'll try to see if I can wake up to watch it when it premieres Saturday morning, or I'll at least try to tape it.
In the manga, I'm hoping to see Robin show up soon and explain her actions.  Chapter 337 looks really good.  The carpenters looked bad ass at the end of 336.

DearS wasn't actually that bad at all after Ren learns how to talk.  She isn't as mindless as Chii was, so I actually like Ren.  Miu actually ended up being quite annoying until she reveals her past.

I caught up to the latest fansubs of Tenjou Tenge and read up to the latest scanlated chapter.  I realized that Masataka is a pretty bad ass character.  He deserves Aya.  I actually don't care if Maya ends up with Souichirou or Mitsuomi.  Maya looks good with either one.

After episode 96, the filler of Naruto began.  It was already stated in a past NewTYPE USA that Naruto would begin having filler after the last arc; so I wasn't surprised about it.  It seems strange though that they are going ahead with Lee's operation part, but they aren't showing Shikamaru's promotion to Chuunin yet.  I really liked the filler where Sakura came and gave Lee a bouquet of flowers.  I'm a huge fan of Naruto x Sakura, but Lee x Sakura is just as good.  Even Neji x Sakura would be good, as long as Sasuke x Sakura never happens.  >=)
Episode 101 is going to be the joke chapter where they try to get Kakashi to show his face.  That will be entertaining, but I'm more interested in who this new cheerful character that NewTYPE said would be introduced.

Episode 47 of the live action Sailor Moon was a tear jerker.  I never expected for Minako to actually die.  It looks like they're wrapping the series up in the next few episodes.  I hope Nephrite and Ami end up together before the end.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was screened at the Venice Film Festival.  It was a special presentation since it was unfinished.  The most interesting things that were reported were:

1. Bahamut was reported to be attacking a town, and Barret, Cid, Red XIII, and Yuffie all come out of nowhere to fight it.

2. The wheelchair man was called "Mr. President" by Kadaj.

The first one is just complete and utter fan service to all the FF7 fanboys(that includes me =P) and fangirls.  The second is just adding fuel to all the different theories about the identity of this person.  I'm still betting on the Rufus theory.

I'm currently 41/50 in the GameFAQs Summer Contest.  Ryu H. narrowly beat Jill by 27 votes as expected.  I then lost 2 points when Yoshi beat out Luigi.  I lost another 2 when Frog beat Master Chief by 7 votes!  I have two more 2 point losses coming since Viewtiful Joe and Jill were knocked out early.  I think 7 of my choices for the elite 8 will win.  The only one I'm concerned about is Mario vs. Crono III.  I hope this year Crono finally beats Mario.  With Frog winning his matches, and Chrono Trigger winning the Spring Contest, Crono should be able to take that match.

Finally, for some personal new.  I'll be getting some dental surgery on Monday morning to take my wisdom teeth out.  On the 28th this month, I'll be leaving for Thailand, and then to Hong Kong.  Personally, I think I should have it done after I get back from Hong Kong.  I doubt I'll be completely healed by the time I'm in the air.  -_-'
I'll end with this awkward, yet cute pic: