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NEW!! Section of the Guild just for Manga and Anime. Which you have found if you are reading this, hee. exclaim

Now this is an area I am totally familiar with!

Yes, I know Outlaw Star. A futuristic anime about two mercenaries, Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking, whose lives are turned upside down when a routine job ingratiates them with the police, pirates, and some irate aliens. Similar to Cowboy Bebop (which is in my lists of favorites) in style and subject matter, Outlaw Star focuses more on action and is just as entertaining. It has a large amount of tongue-in-cheek humor, characters that are just a little different, and nicely detailed art.

I first saw Outlaw Star on Cartoon Network's Toonami years ago. However the show was edited to be suitable for that channel. (Those were the pre-Adult Swim days.) Even edited the show was still good (though I'm not a fan of editing and censorship). When I finally saw the uncut version, it was so much more better than what I previously thought. My advice to anyone that's interested in viewing it is to check out Netflicks or the video store and rent the DVDs. Don't waste your time on the networks unless you have to.

I haven't seen that yet. It's on my Netflick's list, though.

Who's NOT a Miyazaki fan??

In some of the anime magazine they have areas where they list actors they think would play anime character in live action flicks. For my own amusement and because I seldom agree with the magazines picks, I decided to do my own actor/actress picks for animes.

Hellsing

Discription: A new breed of vampire are created using a special chip that will give them the characteristics of a vampire. The Hellsing Organization, headed by Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing, handles in dealing with these vampires who threaten God and Her Majesty (Queen of England).

Alucard, a very powerful (maybe one of the orginal) vampires serves the huamns of the Hellsing Organization to rid the Earth of these "vampires". After a fateful meeting with police girl, Seras Victoria (who agrees to be transformed into a vampire to save her life) battles alongside her master Alucard and the Hellsing Organization.

My actor/actress picks for a live action movie:

Alucard:
Billy Crudup would be my first choice to play this vampire. I've seen him in several films, and think he has the acting talents and the right look for this role.

Ceras Victoria:
This was the hardest character for me to decide who should play her in a live movie. After much thought, I decided on Keira Knightly. She may not be small and busty, but she is as cute as a kitten and has the acting skills to play both comedy and drama.

Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing:
Peta Wilson immediately jumped to mind when I think of Sir Integra. She has not only the ice blond cold looks, but she has the ability to convincingly portray a b***h.

Walter C. Dollneaz:
Billy Drago is one of my favorite character actors. He usually plays bad guys, but I think he'd be perfect for this part.

Commander Peter Fargason:
Christopher Plummer, with his distinguished older gentleman looks and his courtly manner, is my choice to play Commander Fargason.

Paladine Alexander Anderson:
Julian Sands is an old hand at playing demented characters. He'd make a perfect Alexander Anderson.

Incognito:
Steven Berkoff is another actor I like very much. He has great screen presence and has lot of experience playing a bad guy. And with a little movie makeup he'd be a brilliant Incognito.

Cowboy Bebop is an old spaceship owned by an ex-cop Jet Black. Together with his companion, the ex-mobster Spike Spiegel, they attempt to live the harsh life of bounty hunters, known as cowboys, traveling throughout the solar system in the year 2071. They team up with the intelligent Welsh Corgi Ein, the gambling-addicted Faye Valentine and the cheerful hacker-girl Edward, always looking for new bounties.

Cowboy Bebop is now a decade old but it is still considered to be one of the best anime shows of all time and for good reason. The series is by far one of the best animated shows I have ever seen period. It has a killer soundtrack, super action scenes, a cast of great characters, a dark comedic tone and setting that is very intriguing. The show is pretty violent in some episodes but it serves it right due to the theme. It is fairly easy to follow, you can watch an episode without seeing the one before it with no difficulty in knowing what is going on. My only real complaint about it was that is was far too short. I think it could have gone on a good deal longer without getting boring or repetitive.

I checked out Spirited Away from my library and now I owe SIXTEEN dollars to those frakkers!! It had better be worth it. (For 4 days overdue.)

Hellsing manga is even more incredible than the anime. I was pretty giddy after reading the latest book. It's not released very regularly, since the mangaka spends as much time as he needs to draw it, rather than having a schedule. I think that allows for a much better story, and higher quality art than stuff that's released weekly.

My current favourite anime is Mushish, and it will be released in the US this July. I'm using a friend's computer, or I'd write a summary of it. I'll just link to the Wikipedia article. I want to get ahold of the LA, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi

I believe the manga has more story than the anime does, but I've only read the first three volumes. The next time I get to Kinokuniya, I'll buy the last three.