What is the Watercooler?
It's a haven in the middle of a harsh, 9-to-5 world. A place where you can gather with your fellow human beings and bond over a paper cup full of cool refreshment.
All sorts of randomness is welcome here. Post pictures, videos, special Chat information, or just discuss news and current events.
Want to be a guest poster? PM TimeChaser.
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Meet your fellow otaku and enjoy some anime at the weekly Anime Club in the Community Chat.
What's the Anime Club?
The Anime Club is a weekly room in theOtaku's community chat where we meet to have fun laughing, crying, heckling, and spazzing together while watching a few episodes of anime. The anime will most likely be available on streaming sites since we're mainly going to stick to unlicensed shows. I hope the Anime Club will be a good opportunity for people to find new series and genres that they enjoy and for series to gather support for if/when they're licensed.
What are you watching?
We're currently watching episodes from two shows each week, Lovely Complex first and then Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I hope people will stick around for both but, if one of the series just isn't your thing, feel free to only drop in for the other.
Lovely Complex is a 24 episode romantic comedy that follows the unlikely relationship of Koizumi Risa (voiced by Okamura Akemi), a very tall girl, and Ootani Atsushi (voiced by Nagata Akira), a very short boy, as they work their way through high school. It's one of the best series in its genre that I've seen, with top-notch humor, some touching moments, and plenty of unexpected twists.
Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is the 13 episode sequel to Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, which we watched back in October 2008. It's even crazier than the first season, featuring all sorts of weird, twisted, and morbid humor. Click here to watch its opening.
When are the next episodes?
We'll be watching Lovely Complex ep1-2 / Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei ep1-2 on Saturday, January 3, at 10:00 PM Eastern Time (7:00 PM Pacific). The chat room will open a half hour early, around 9:30 PM Eastern, and the episodes will last about an hour and forty minutes altogether. We hope to see you there!
The password for the chat room will be: manzaikonbi
Future Schedule
Date...........Lovely Complex........Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Jan. 03........ep1-2.....................ep1-2
Jan. 10........ep3-4.....................ep3-4
Jan. 17........ep5-6.....................ep5-7
Jan. 24........ep7-8.....................ep8-9
Jan. 31........ep9-10...................ep10-11
Feb. 07........ep11-12..................ep12-13
Date...........Lovely Complex........Kurenai
Feb. 14........ep13-14.................ep1-2
Feb. 21........ep15-16.................ep3-4
Feb. 28........ep17-18.................ep5-6
Mar. 07........ep19-20.................ep7-8
Mar. 14........ep21-22.................ep9-10
Mar. 21........ep23-24.................ep11-12
The people have spoken and we have our pick. Ladies and gentlemen, The Otaku of the Year 2008:
In the year 2008, he introduced Version Vibrant to theOtaku community. Met with both excitement and skepticism, he went on to push for reforms in the site now that it is in the VV stage. He also led a cupcake revolution that had members mesmerized. When detractors attacked his site, he came prepared to defend it. He also gave birth to theOtaku Chat, which revolutionized the way theOtaku members interacted with one another. So even though he is reluctant to accept it, Adam is the 2008 Otaku of the Year.
Runners-Up
2nd Place - SunFallE: Her dedication to peace and order in the site has caused her to gain the respect of her fellow colleagues. She has faced many chat dramas, newbie problems, and submission errors, yet she still stood tall from the trials and succeeded in making the community safe.
3rd Place - SomeGuy: As the head of the Fan Words ministry, he devoted his time to promoting the writing abilities of young and not-so-young otakus and gave value to the otaku's freedom of expression by publishing writeups made by the fans. He also hosted the successful Halloween Writer's Jam, which helped writers use their abilities to the fullest. For that, he gained the people's trust.
Honorable Mentions:
somegirl: Her creativity has awed many in the otaku community.
Anime Pulse Podcast Team: Their weekly audio commentary has entertained many and given new insights on things, however vulgar it may be.
Michiyo Shimizu: Her friendly nature and her chat moments has caused many, including the founder, to adore her.
Shinmaru: As a "triplet" to a fellow otaku, he has overcome allegations on how some miseries were "all his fault" by winning the Writer's Jam.
Sangome: As the adopted aunt to a fellow otaku, she has continually found humor on a lot of things and shared the fun to others through "Chatlogs" and "Memes".
EDIT: I just love how "EPIC-sounding" these writeups turned out to be.
Hey guys. In the vein of what Mask is doing below, I'm working on a couple other little post thingies for New Year's and such. So let's get some input so I can have some ideas for it!
So here be the question: what were your favourite highlights of 2008 for theOtaku.com?
For me, one of my faves was the Sakura-Con meet-up in Seattle, Washington. It was very possibly the largest theO meet-up yet, and included tons of free swag courtesy of Gail, a podcast recording, and some other random fun times. It was such a joy, and I can't wait for next year's, which I'm sure will be even better.
I've also thought about the launching of the chatroom, the actual launch of Version Vibrant itself . . . so what else? What stuck out in your guys' minds?
Hey, there. Kei here. :3
This is an announcement to all you writers out there that are interested in spreading the news in a slightly different way.
Sitch here is that I'm starting up a side project that would focus on journalism and writing for news, fandom, etc., but it would be independent of theO and OtakuBoards. However, I know that there are plenty of great writers here that are looking for that kind of outlet. Therefore, I'm holding an impromptu meeting of sorts in theO's chatroom on Monday, January 5, starting at 9 p.m.* (no, it doesn't conflict with new House. ;p).
This is basically a meeting that will discuss what the basic idea is, and providing there is still interest, a brainstorming session of things we can include and other little tidbits. It should be a lot of fun, so if you're interested, feel free to stop by. ^^
(*The time and date is not set in stone here, but if there needs to be a change, I'll be sure to let everyone know. :3)
This is now one of the most popular commercials in the Philippines. This is an ad for Motillium, a medicine for queasy stomachs. It features an impersonator of Philippine president Gloria Arroyo and a man who looks a lot like US President-elect Barack Obama (heck, he even sounds like him):
In case you didn't get the jokes:
- Kare-kare is a beef dish, thus the remark that "It's ox." The remark also means that it's OK.
- Ginataang mais is corn with coconut milk, thus the remark, "We use our coconut". Also, coconut is also a slang term referring to one's brain.
- Impatso is the term for queasy stomachs, which can be caused by eating too much.
- Kape Barack refers to kapeng barako, which is the Filipino term for brewed coffee.
On another note, YOU STILL HAVE A FEW HOURS LEFT TO VOTE FOR THE OTAKU OF THE YEAR. CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE BEFORE 11:59 PM TODAY.
