Anime

Just getting back to Chris' question about Naruto.

First of all, I looked on TV Tokyo and it seems they're up to 188.

Secondly, now I'm watching Naruto, inspired in part by Chris and second by M-chan.

Third: Now I know where Dattebayo (producers of anime fansubs) gets its name.

Fourth: For the record, the Thousand Years of Pain kancho is first in Naruto 4.

Fifth: I have indeed seen Naruto before - actually, episodes 4 and 5 perhaps, at the laundromat in SV. Wacky. English-dubbed anime is terrible.

Sixth: Here are some other recommendations for anime, if you're interested:

Mushishi - lots of rural Japan from I don't know what time period - it's a little hazy. Perhaps early to mid-20th century.

Ayakashi Classic Horror - while one of them is a little corny and its art is reminiscent of Thundar the Barbarian, two that I have seen are interesting, and the art is really neat.

Zipang - the story of a modern-day Japanese naval ship that gets time-warped back to WWII. To interfere, or not to interfere, that is the question...

Peace Maker Kurogane - I've only seen a few of the episodes, but it looks cool. One of my students at CS3 is really into the art of PMK. You can watch it on YouTube - search for "PMK" and look for PMK - 01A, etc.

Aishiteru ze Baby - Ok, I'll admit that I have been watching this - it's complete at AnimeSuki. It's a little silly, but if you want to learn about daily Japanese life, it's great. It's where I learned about onigiri. Which, honestly, I could take 'em or leave 'em.

Zettai Shounen (Absolute Boy) - The first half or so of this anime is better than the second half, if you ask me. But it's neat, the first half taking place in small-town Japan, the second half in Yokohama or somewhere populous like that. Pretty chill.

Honey and Clover - The story of a group of university students. Supposedly there will be a second series. Great! This is where I learned about Suneohair.

There's also Full Metal Panic, but I've only seen a few episodes of the Second Raid series. I'm not really into that kind of anime - mecha (machines, robots, guns, etc.) although Fumoffu was fun. Thanks, Jos!

The kids are also into One Piece, MushiKing, and Kurosagi (which I think is actually live-action).

Anyhoo, enjoy!