durendal

Can't remember if I posted this before or a variant of it, but what the heck: A man walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. He tells the loan officer that he is going to China on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000. The bank officer tells him that the bank will need some form of security for the loan, so the man hands over the keys to a new Ferrari parked on the street in front of the bank.. He produces the title and everything checks out. The Loan officer agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. The bank's president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the man for using a $250,000 Ferrari as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drives the Ferrari into the bank's underground garage and parks it there. Two weeks later, the man returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41. The loan officer says, 'Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multi-millionaire. What puzzles us is why you would bother to borrow $5,000? The man replies: 'Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there safely when I return.'

The Kenichi anime ended abruptly and didn't even reach the Yomi arc. The series was cool, but I was hoping that they would animate the Yomi arc.

Ahaha, sorry about that. You know me, I'd rather use old thread if possible, and since this thread doesn't specifically mention any limitation on series, thought I'd put it here. And as Picard would say: "number 1, make it so".

Funny, at the same series, that guy strapped naked looks awfully familiar: Now I find this really funny: And finally:

I'll keep that in mind. Will take a peek at it at soon as I finish with my current wuxia. Already down to the last episode (out of 40).

I would have to contest that yet again. True enough that Iron Man was an avenger longer than Captain America, but Iron Man never fought in World War II, which gives Cap the advantage in fighting experience. Fighting for a decade does not necessarily mean that you'll have extensive fighting experience you get from a war. Steve Rogers is a soldier, while Tony Stark is a businessman. You also forget, that instead of the "capucin monkey" you claim cap to be, he is a super soldier, which means all his physical traits are enhanced to peak human. Additionally, towards the end of Civil War, irregardless of who assisted who, this is war. The bottom line is, Cap managed to disable Iron Man. When you're fighting with someone for your life, you don't care what methods you employ, you'd even kick a guy in the nuts to win. That's what we call strategy. If Iron Man is as good as you claim him to be, he would have at least expected that. You don't win battles with power alone, you win with wits.

Now I would have to contest that. Towards the end of Civil war, Cap was obviously tearing Iron Man apart. The only reason he let up was because the police, fire fighters, medics and the lot tried to restrain him and put him back into his own senses. Tony is calculating, but in terms of fighting experience and tactics, Cap is way above him. The only reason Tony managed to stun cap was because he caught Cap off guard. Cap has a whole lifetime worth of battle experience. I would believe Tony can beat Cap only if Tony is as paranoid as Bruce Wayne. But he's not Batman. He's just some guy in a hi-tech suit. Intelligent as Tony may be, he sometimes act stupid.

I think one of the most impressive things that I have seen in the series is the development and maturity of Gaara. I mean, when he first appeared, he gives off and immediate aura of hatred. Like your typical depressed villain. But seeing how he turned out was quite a surprise. Touching even. Hell, his father was even shocked. But one thing I'm wondering is how Gaara is able to maintain his jutsu now that the bijou is out of his system. I mean, those techniques must surely require abundant amount of Chakra. Where does he get it if not from his tailed beast. Don't tell me that he managed to cultivate his chakra that much in such a short time.

Probably had too much pot. And since he's an octopus, it's a waste not to use all your limbs. And having more swords does not necessarily mean he is better. I'm actually wondering how Zoro lost to Hody. If it's due to Hody's overwhelming power of simply because he ran out of air.

Well, there's obviously two things that can happen. Either the arc continuously chase after shirahoshi, or the arc stops chasing shirahoshi and drops into fishman island. Either way, it spells difficulty to the strawhats. Even if it continues to chase after Shirahoshi, she can easily touch the arc to let it seemed like it hit her, and since it already made contact, will stop following her. Then the biggest dilemma is still the arc landing on fishman island. So aside from facing hody in a disadvantageous environment, Luffy is working on a time limit, as well as the consequences of the situation. Talk about being handicapped.

If only Cap and Tony were that civil during the registration, then we wouldn't have the whole civil war mess. Even though it's a thing of the past, its still one of the moments in comic history that I find thought provoking. What would have happened if Cap didn't give up and still pulverized Tony at the end of the conflict. Cap may have broken the law, but that does not necessarily mean that the law is always right. There is always 2 sides of the argument. Like on modern times, there are laws passed that allows gay marriage. To some this is a good thing, but there are also those who will oppose this to the bitter end. This is quite similar to the SHRA. It's easy to make things complicated, but it's difficult to keep things simple, which is why a lot of things in life are complicated.

I'm expecting great things from this movie. I hope this movie lives up to the expectation like how the Captain America movie lived up to my expectations. I mean, until now, I still feel awestruck every time I think of a weakling Steve covering a dud grenade. What do you guys think the Leviathan is? Perhaps some sort of mythical beast released by Loki to consume the world?

Yeah, finally a showdown we can look forward to. It's about time that the crew kicks some serious @$$. I'm betting that it would be an easy win for the Strawhats against the top guys of Hody. It's Hody that Luffy has to worry about.

*sigh* I don't get why this is difficult to understand. To rephrase what Natsuki said, "Even if you say that Shizu-san is in the mansion, don't you find it strange that the libertus acts like they are on getting ready for an ambush instead of keeping us inside?" Their observation here is that instead of viewing the Libertus as keeping them from running away, it seems like they are on guard from something that might come from outside the compound. They are lumping Shizu and the Libertus together. The location of Shizu is irrelevant, they are pertaining to the movements of the Libertus. And who controls the Libertus but Shizu? Please see notes below if you want to disect the sentence. シズさんに屋敷の中にいろって言われたけど Shizu-san ni Yashiki no naka ni irutte iwaretakedo Shizu-san is mansion's inside is exists said but - "Yashiki no naka" is inside the mansion, irutte is present, iwaretakedo is "you said it but". Rearrange these and you get the above. One language trait that the Japanese as well as other East Asian countries have is the definition through context.

Natsuki refers to the mansion as anything inside the compound, as Shizu and the Libertus although not technically inside the mansion, is still in the vicinity of the mansion. The "outside" they were referring to was beyond the gates of the mansion, which Guyot came crashing in from. I hope that this clears up everything for you.

Ah, all the evidences so far does point to this major villain. But really? Would be wonderful if he stands toe to toe with one of the heroes like they did in the comics.

May I ask what in particular? It's somewhat bothering me that you mentioned you have encountered translation difficulties.

Are you referring to Hawkeye in Thor? He's the one who was aiming the arrow at thor drenched in rain when Thor was going for Mjolnir. Didn't even shoot the arrow.

We really can't say much about Hawkeye and Widow at this point as we haven't really seen them in full action. For Hawkeye, it was only a cameo role in Thor so we basically didn't see anything significant about him. As for Black Widow, she was hot in Iron Man 2. Hotness is already one of her deadliest arsenal. And I wouldn't exactly call Hawkeye "off-the-scale badass".

Since a Japanese raw has been provided, I won't hesitate in translating this anymore. Page 919 Big text: Beauty and luck seldom goes together small text: this life, is only for Lord Agito-!! Page 920 p1. box 1: Setagaya box 2: Glaring at each other in Odagiri mansion is....!? Page 921 box at left: story thus far Zoalord Shin R Amniculus who is in Shinjuku's Cloud Gate is in desperate defense, deciding that the battle of the Gigantic and the Gigantic would have tremendous damage. On one side, Guyver II F Valkyria who escaped from Cronos have come together with Zoalord Guyot moving towards the disaster of the Guyvers. Page 922-923 no text Page 924 p3. box: "Libertus" p4. box: A new type of processed body developed solely by Makishima's resistance p5. box: And based on Ms. Shizu their fighting power exceeds those of Hyper Zoaoids.... Page 925 p1. balloon: They're no longer humans p2. box 1: Damned Makishima Just because of his self centered "ambition" box 2: Even forced Ms. Shizu to become like that p3. balloon: Hey Tetsuro p4. balloon 1: I know that Ms. Shizu is in the mansion but balloon 2: don't you find it a bit strange? Page 926 p1. balloon: strange? p2. balloon 1: You mean the Libertus? balloon 2: instead of them preventing us from running away... p3. balloon 1: ...don't they look like they are watching "something" from outside coming in...? balloon 2: that's right!! p4. balloon: something from outiside.... p5. balloon 1: could it be that Shou is returning balloon 2: or could it be Aptom... p6. balloon: ...then that's okay Page 927 p1. balloon: !! p3. box 1: there are 10 persons surrounding the mansion box 2: these are... zoanoids huh p4. box: There's one "unprocessed" person mixed with them? Page 928 p1. balloon 1: Everyone prepare for battle balloon 2: Enemy raid incoming!! p2. balloon: Yes Ma'am!! p3. box 1: If those are Zoanoids then the Libertus can deal with them box 2: the problem is p4. balloon: The leader that is with them Page 929 p3. balloon 1: the gate has been forced open? balloon 2: from the front.... p4. balloon: coming!! Page 930-931 p1. balloon: Good evening everyone!! Page 932 p1. balloon: !? p2. balloon: tha...that's impossile.... p3. balloon: Guyot!? p4. balloon: so there you are Segawa Tetsurou Page 933 p1. balloon: Unus!! Page 934 p1. balloon: Capture the Segawa siblings!! p2. balloon: I won't allow you!! Page 935 p1. balloon: hmm... p2. balloon 1: So those are the rumored "Libertus" balloon 2: and also p3. balloon 1: an "imitation" zoalord called..... Grizelda balloon 2: what an unsatisfactory opponent for me.... p4. balloon: wait Guyot p5. balloon 1: Valkyria balloon 2: Allaw me to be her opponent Page 936 p1. balloon 1: I thought it's about time that they fight an opponent that is not a Zoanoid p2. balloon: What? that woman is.... p3. balloon: "Adapt"!! box at right: Woman's battle.... starts!? Bioboost Armor Guyver continues in November issue

I find that statement to be humorous. So far, Bucky was already removed from the list of characters to stay dead. So the only one remaining is Uncle Ben. Unless Marvel wants to disprove this theory once again like they did to Bucky. Also, I'm interested in how you two will view things since both your avatars are of different opinions.

Ooh, I remember that. Just can't remember what happened next. I'm sure Osborn or somebody else was pissed about that. I do have a few moments in comics that I find to have a big impact. Like Wolverine remembering everything. Or Captain America being held down by the local government agencies at the end of Civil War. Is pointing them out enough or would you require that we post images as well? I'll have to rummage through my old collection to get those though. I think it is best if we post images as it will also give everyone an idea of how you felt when you saw it. I take it that this thread is going to have a lot of spoilt posters?

Some more tidbits I picked up from the japanese wiki. As I mentioned previously, names of the characters are anagrams from previous kamen riders. And here's a list of them: Utahoshi Kengo = Hongo Takeshi (Kamen Rider 1) Joujima Yuuki = Yuuki Jouki (Riderman) Daimonji Jun = Ichimonji Hayato (Kamen Rider 2) [difficult to explain, but they combined the kanji for "Ichi" and "hito" to form "dai"] Kazashiro Miu = Kazami Shirou (Kamen Rider V3) JK = initials for Jin Keisuke (Kamen Rider X) Nozama Tomoko = Amazon spelled backwards

I'm currently watching "Smiling in the wind" or "Xiao Au Jiang Hu" sometimes also referred to as "Smiling Proud Wanderee". This series is based on the novel of Jin Yong. And it is a Wuxia drama that chronicles the adventures of Ling Hu Chong. This is a 2001 Chinese Drama. I've read the novel and this is the only series that is very close to the original material. There was also a movie called "Swordsman" and "Swordsman II" produced by Tsui Hark, both movies were very good in their own right, uses elements from the novel. Swordsman II also happen to star Jet Li as Ling Hu Chong. If you're into Wuxia, this is one title you should not miss. By the way, if you're familiar "Legend of the Condor Heroes", it's from the same author.

But like you said, Hollywood magic has their ways of making the unsightliest person look like the most enchanting people you've ever seen. I'm sure that these images, although unimpressed as I am with them right now, would really look cool once they done the editing. I'd like to see what the Quinjet looks like on film instead of the sappy stage that they set up there. Additionally, is Clark Gregg a comic book fan? If he isn't then he let out a big spoiler for everyone since he mentioned Skrull and Kree, races which normally an average joe wouldn't have even heard of unless you're into the avengers comic. Either that, or Marvel is purposely misleading fans. Cool, perhaps we'd get hints of Galactic Storm in the movie.