Hello fellow Otaku!!
So this is an introductory section primarily for the sake of introducing myself... yay!

Before I do that, tho, here's a list of my accounts on other websites:
* Tumblr-Haitaka123
* DeviantArt-Haitaka123
* MyAnimeList-Haitaka

How did I get into anime/manga?
I have a gf who absolutely loves manga and anime. (Need I say more?)
Through my childhood I was never allowed to watch Pokemon, Yu-Gi_Oh, Bey-Blade, Naruto, etc.
Therefore, the first Anime I ever watched was Kiki's Delivery Service by Hayao Miyazaki when I was 11.
(about 17 years after it's release-Danish theaters were being slow)
My initial reaction was one of great awe. The movie was just SO AMAZING!!!
Miyazaki's skill and attention to detail was, and still is, one of the very best.
Shortly after that trip to the movies I had a full arsenal of every Studio Ghibli movie I could find.
I watched them constantly and became convinced that they must be the best movies I had ever watched!
After having been in the USA for 3-ish years, 4 girls in my class convinced me to start reading and watching more.
My gf (one of the girls who re-introduced me to manga/anime) gave me a llloooonnnnngggggg list of her favorite manga and anime. Naturally, I'm going through those first.
So far so good-I'll be putting the list (plus some other ones I've read/watched) on here so y'all know what craziness I'm enjoying! ^^
My favorite artist remains Miyazaki-so I decided my user name should relate to that. Haitaka is the Wizard from Tales from Earthsea-his name meaning Sparrowhawk.

I hope someone at least reads this. I see it as a great achievement if someone does : )
Anyway, I should really get to posting my list.
So...

For info on my read/watch list, refer to my account on MyAnimeList

Have fun spending money and time on one of the most expensive "common" hobbies out there!! ^_^

Best wishes-Haitaka ^_~

MAL

Since you're a member of theOtaku, I assume you've recently started watching anime, or have been doing so for what seems like an eternity. However, regardless of experience level, there is always one problem that seems to be recurring when I talk to people about anime and manga. And that is very simply remembering what you've watched and which ones you are going to watch.

Now I'm not saying that there doesn't exist someone amongst the few who are going to read this who has excellent memory and can trace back to every anime they've watched, and recall a show they considered watching when they saw a trailer for it four months ago. But the likelihood is that you, like me, don't have a super memory (although I like to think mine's still pretty good). If that's the case, what do you do about all those anime and manga that seem to pile up on your list? Excel? Notebook? Phone? Well, that's what I did, at least.

That's where MyAnimeList comes in-it's a website that tackles that issue head on, and allows you to maintain a list of anime and manga. These lists include what you are following, have watched, which series you've dropped, or are on hold. Additionally it also helps you remember how you felt about the show with a quick show ranking from 1-10, and additional features such as the ability to select start and finish dates for when you watched the show or read the series.

Lastly, if someone asks for show recommendations or which shows you have watched, MAL allows you to simply refer them to your list. Simple and convenient.

So if you don't already have an account, I would strongly recommend that you get one!
And if you already have one, please share! I'm always interested in what people watch and I'm open to new recommendations!

(My account name is Haitaka, please friend me ^^)

Shingeki no Kyojin ^^

Ok... so... watch it. Bye ^^
Oh-still here? Why? Do you need a reason to watch it? Never heard of it? What?? O_O
Oh well, fine. Jeez-I'll write a proper post then -_-

Hello!! Now-you've probably heard of the recently new series called Attack on Titan or Shingeki no Kyojin, the manga of which is published by Kodansha. However, I will be referring mainly to the anime as I have no intention of spoiling myself by reading the manga first in this case.
This series has received a massive amount of hype from the fan base after only 8 English sub episodes (new one every Saturday), and for good reason! Not only is this a very well made anime, but the story so far is very entertaining, the characters are good and the concept of the plot is just awesome. Not to mention the opening... the fandom has a tendency to put the op to anything it can ^^

For a brief background (pretty much no spoilers): the story is set in a medieval-like era where there is no electricity but a fairly well-developed mechanical technology (aka the gear they use for maneuvering around the place), and follows the characters Eren, Misaki and Armin. Humanity has met it's match-giant humanoid creatures that seemingly eat humans for no reason-and have constructed their society around this threat. The main human base consists of a huge circular area layered into sections by 50m tall walls that are designed to keep out titans-and have done so successfully for 100 years. Our main characters are residents of a town by the outer wall of Maria. To deal with the threat of Titans, humans developed special "3D Maneuvering Gear" (aka the most epic thing ever) and a small part of the population brave enough to risk their lives are assigned to battle for the greater good of man kind against the ferocious onslaught by the titans. From there on, I can tell no more sans spoilers.

ANYWAY, if you have not watched it, please consider doing so. There are only 8 episodes released so far and therefor a fast catch-up. If you want to see if it's something for you and don't mind spoilers too much (it's only 8 episodes so far, not too much to spoil... or is there?), I can recommend checking Gigguk and GRArkada's reactions to it-I think they make a fair judgement on the anime and are overall great reviewers.
So if you're looking for something to watch/read, wether or not you're picky-there is a good chance this is something you should be watching.

I hope you all at least try watching it, and enjoy!!

-Haitaka

Member Appreciation-Popitta

This post is in appreciation of a member who, in my opinion, has made some absolutely amazing fan art submissions, but who I haven't heard from in a long time.
Note: Whilst I really appreciate and respect everyone I follow on TheOtaku, and more, I decided to make this post specifically in honor of Popitta.

When I first joined theOtaku, I went about subscribing to as many awesome people as possible-as people usually do. One of the very first people I subscribed to was Popitta, who was also new at the time. You may/may not be familiar with her, but she's a member of theOtaku who submitted beautiful fan arts with great detain that I, at least, really like. Unfortunately I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd heard from her, and when I went to check this morning it turns out she hasn't posted or commented anything for three months -_-
I hope she's ok, and preferably that she's having an awesome time and just either decided to quit or take a pause form theOtaku. But regardless, it would be a shame if she left. I sent her a message and so I really hope to hear from her in the future.

This post was created because I wanted to show appreciation for one of the members I really like but who unfortunately hasn't been here for awhile. If any of the people reading this know members with a similar situation, I encourage you to let others know that you miss them, and give them a little post of recognition in their honor.

Thanks for reading,
-Haitaka

Genshiken obsession ^^

Haha, so... Genshiken... very interesting I must say : )
I started watching Sunday. Watched season 1, OVAs, and 6 episodes of season 2 so far ^^ I would have watched all of it by now if I didn't also have lots of work to do ;_; Then again, this might actually be a good thing too-since it means I have the pleasure of enjoying it for at least a couple hours more tomorrow ^^

I will give my greatest expressions of appreciations to the YouTube channel GRArkada (if you don't know this one, go check him out! It's high quality reviews of way more animes than I'll ever watch and some other cool stuff) for his excellent review of this series (well, it was good) that initially got me interested.
I then proceeded to look it up and start watching. I clearly remember many of the references in this anime, seeing as it's actually about otaku and the different perceptions, and aspects of, their communities.
VERY funny/interesting/good/well-made... just all-round awesome in my opinion!
A word of warning-the style is a bit outdated so don't expect high-budget animation-although I will give props to the opening and some of the scenes that are especially detailed!
Anyway... watch it. At least watch the review.

I can highly recommend this one-and I'm going to be needing to take a break after this. It's hyped me up so much that any other anime I could watch afterwards wouldn't be the same as if I were calmer and had lower expectations.
Heh... wish I hadn't finished watching Mushishi now. That would have been a good cool-down anime to watch.

Anyway, I hope you're all doing great-I'm trying to be more active (the recent promotion reminded me of this).
Have fun!! ^^

Promoted...?

Hehe, sorry for not doing much for awhile... kind of been busy with a lot of things.
I still check in every day, so all comments, replies and messages will be answered (not that I get any)!
Anyway, I was wondering what a promotion is...? I've seen some insanely promoted members here, but having been promoted today, I would like to know why, and what a promotion actually means. That you're a decent member? Idk....

I hope you all have a great time ^^,
-Haitaka