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 ^_~

Join a mass migration and why I'm not giving up on TheOtaku

Hello once again wonderful community here at TheO,
It's been a long time since I wrote or read anything here (although I visit daily), so I thought I'd explain myself to those who care to read...
After moving from DC, USA to Brussels, Belgium this summer I've been doing completely different things-including the technology and social media side of my life. And in regards to that, I've joined the mass migration of anime fans to a recently developed anime-listing/community site called Hummingbird (Hummingbird.me) and my activity on here has dwindled to practically nothing -_-
If you wish to join Hummingbird, I can really recommend it-it's a great community and a great way to list your anime!
Now... why do I even bother with TheOtaku if I don't do anything on here?
Well, for one thing, I still like to wish my dear friends here a happy birthday (and the best way to do that is to be on 365 days a year). Secondly, because I know that when, in the future, I decide to become more active here, I can share my artwork (which would hopefully have improved from last time ><) and become a part of this community again ^^
Because if there's one thing I know for sure, it's that the community here at theOtaku is unrivaled in kindness and engagement!

You're all awesome-keep at it ^^

-Haitaka

New bird in town

Srry for lame title, but I had to put something ><
Anyway, how many of you heard about Hummingbird/use Hummingbird?
First time I personally heard about it was from Podtaku when Tristan mentioned he was switching for "reasons that must not be mentioned"... and the rest of the Podtaku crew were also making the switch, so I decided to check it out. Man I have not been disappointed!
What I personally like:
- Nice streamlined layout
- Simple, but limited customization options
- Visual Novel and Anime-Inspired database (for all my visual novels and hybrid shows such as RWBY and Avatar) (coming to Hummingbird in the near future)
- MAL import (simple transition from what was pretty much the only Anime listing website)
- Fresh start (new possibilities and potential from this site ^^)

So, what do you think?
Gonna join or stay MAL?
Not on an anime listing website?-Why not?

FATE

"I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades.
Unknown to death.
Nor known to life.
Have withstood pain to create many weapons.
Yet, those hands will never hold anything.
So as I pray, 'Unlimited Blade Works'."

[Quote from Fate Stay Night/Unlimited Blade Works]

It is exceptionally rare for me to become ecstatic about anything nowadays... besides that one time last week where I brought home four peacock gudgeons to introduce to my new aquarium... but anyway, very few things excite me to the extent where I feel like yelling and pouncing around like a maniac.
VERY few.
In fact, the only thing in recent memory which made me strain my senses to absorb it was Black Lagoon-but even that did not make me ecstatic.
However, for those who read my "Fate-an addiction" post, you know that in fact Fate Stay Night and Fate Zero have topped Black Lagoon in my personal opinion and amounted to become my favorite series/anime of all time.

I love everything Fate, I loved Fate Zero and Fate Stay Night-and I'm claiming them to be the best anime I have ever watched in my existence thus far. In fact I am actively hunting down various Type Moon productions because I enjoyed those two series so much!
I'm even looking forward to Carnaval Fantasm, although it leans towards the less-serious side.

Now that you understand how much I love the Fate franchise, I hope you understand what I mean when I say that I AM SO FREAKING ECSTATIC YOU COULD POWER A NUCLEAR PLANT WITH MY ENERGY LEVEL RIGHT NOW!!! Seriously-Type Moon released an official statement that they are REMAKING the ENTIRE FATE STAY NIGHT storyline to the last of the three VN route (The routes being Fate-which Fate Stay Night anime adaptation is based off; Unlimited Blade Works-which the movie Unlimited Blade Works is based off; and Heavens Feel)!
Whilst, due to personal emotions, I have only played the Fate route in the VN (please don't judge me for playing the VN), after watching the Unlimied Blade Works movie adaptation I have decided to screw my emotions and play the other two routes next holiday. The main reason I do not generally play more than one route in a VN is because it feels like cheating when I replay it and choose a different route. However, in Fate Stay Night the stories are very different and events shape themselves so that I should have no nostalgic moments towards the Saber route! ^^

But yeah... NEW 2014 RELEASE COMING OUR WAY!!!! ^o^
For y'all sad folk who have NOT seen the other entries into the Fate franchise yet, you have half a year or so. Get going!!

For anyone who HAS watched Fate Stay Night AND Fate Zero (for spoiler reasons), enjoy:

(Btw, I have decided to ignore the existence of Kaleid Liner PRISMA ILLYA)

Fate-an addiction

My first encounter with the Fate series was by-chance finding an image of a blonde female knight in shining armor and with a seemingly slurred sword-like object in her hands. Later I found a review of Fate Zero (by GRArkada) and it peaked my interest at the time. However it did not evolve into a spontaneous marathoning of the series as has been the case with other awesome anime in the past (Black Lagoon for example).
So it slipped out of my mind for the most part as I indulged in various other anime.
Having a strange sense of gravitation towards Fate Zero as it worked its way into my mind from time to time I decided that the moment had come for me to start picking up on my wish to watch the series.
After consulting multiple websites to determine if it would be more appropriate to watch the prequel Fate Zero or Fate Stay Night first I determined that I would watch Zero first, play the Stay Night visual novel, and then watch Stay Night.
After a short while into Fate/Zero I was hooked. Although not as action-heavy as Black Lagoon, this show had its way of producing enough intrigue to have me glued to the screen-the only thing preventing my cornea from making contact with the screen being my cup of bamboo sencha which became my favorite accompanying drink for watching Fate/Zero.
Having finished Fate/Zero I immediately began my quest to play the visual novel (a process which took me 35 hours of total gameplay to complete within a week). As I was expecting the first route had me satisfied and not wishing to play any of the following two, although the latter two routes are generally considered better. I just cannot cheat on the route I find satisfying (which is always the first one)-no matter the praise received by alternate routes.
So since I had given up on that, I started watching the anime adaptation and am now about halfway.

For some reason, the Fate franchise has captivated me immensely-more so than anything else I've ever watched.
I know one thing for sure-the Fate franchise is my #1 recommendation for anyone interested in anime. At least for the people who appreciate that a show is original, action-heavy, has an excellent and engaging plot, great characters, "animation budget big enough to buy Belgium... or something" (GRArkada-Fate/Zero Review), awesome music (see The Battle is to the Strong as an example), and a sense of maturity that is rare in anime nowadays. By mature I mean a show that is awesome and does not use unnecessary aspects to draw in an audience-basically it has no fan service (well, very little-see Gilgamesh scene at the end of Fate Zero...).
I am planning to enjoy the rest of Fate Stay Night as well as the other anime set in the Fate-verse to my hearts content ^^
If you have not yet seen any of the anime set in the Fate-verse then what have you been doing with your life?? Go watch Zero and Stay Night NOW!!
Also, Ufotable announced that they are making a film based on the third route of the VN. Stay Night is based on the Fate route, the additional film is based on Unlimited Bladeworks (2nd) route, and the third film that they announced will be based on the third route-Heaven's Feel. Can't wait!!

If anyone has had similar experiences with this or other anime (or manga), feel free to share your thoughts :)

Btw I have every intention of purchasing the 30cm (1 foot) tall special edition Saber figure with the re-release of Fate Stay Night in 2014 :P

UPDATE

Hello everyone!!

So sorry to bring you this update so late, should have said something earlier-but yeah... forgot....
Anyway, I'm currently wrapping up my annual coast-coast road trip around the US with my family. It's been very nice so far, but I haven't had an awful lot of hours with decent internet on the whole. However now I do! Yay!!
So I thought I'd pop by and apologize for not checking on you guys' posts and work, and to make a small update myself.

So as y'all are probably aware, today was my birthday! (special thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday)
And as is usually expected on birthdays I also got presents! How is this at all relevant to a website about otaku-related stuff you ask? Well, not in a clearly obvious way, but I guess this relates to the art department of that.
Basically, I was possibly hoping for a Bamboo Capture tablet which I thought would be fun to try out and maybe use to edit some photos or draw some digital stuff (not that I'm at all experienced). But my parents surprised me and gave me a Bamboo Create instead ^^ (for those not aware, the Bamboo Create is the best Wacom Bamboo tablet)
So I might start trying to increase my digital artistic ability (from zero at present) and maybe (just maybe) I might upload something in the future.

On other news, my watched/read and to-watch/-read lists have been ever expanding and I give up on trying to list them under my introduction.
If you ever become interested, check out my account on MyAnimeList-everything's there. And if you do, send me a friend request!

Hope you all are having a great time, sorry for the lack of activity and contribution-all that should start to change after the summer!!

-Haitaka