Jernlov

Kana and Reki are probably my favourites from Haibane. It's rather emotional and touching in a pretty unique way. I don't think you'll find an anime that replicates that feeling anywhere else. Some say it's preachy, but I say it's amazing. As for Hidamari: let me put it this way. If Lucky Star is crack, Hidamari Sketch is weed or acid. Random psychedelic things happen all the time (there's even an entire trippy episode in season 1), and yeah, it's incredibly mellow and easygoing. Also, implied yuri. So very much implied.

Good album. I definitely like the softer, progressive rock side of Opeth much more than the death metal. Asobi Seksu - Sooner

Yep. That's basically what Baccano! is! It has its hilarious moments too, but most of it is more like 'holy f*ck, this is awesome!' I watched it all in one go. And I can't recommend it enough to any fans of TTGL, Code Geass, etc.

Heh. ;P If you look back in my post history, I assure you there would be loads of posts praising metal to the high heavens. I was big into metal when I first joined here. I totally get the "not sure how I feel" part - part of me feels as if I've grown a little too old/or weary of the stuff to really enjoy metal with little deviance from form, and another part is saying that I should focus on finding newer stuff and listening to music I enjoy more than loud guitars and death growls. I can't really bring myself to seriously say that I hate metal. I do it to wind up metalheads, but I'm thankful to the genre since it was pretty much my big gateway to music in general. If it weren't for metal I would be living in musical ignorance, only buying the odd classical CD now and again once I was bored of everything else. This also goes the same way for many of the people who are into similar music to me whom I've met on the internet - started off pretty much with metal, and then listened to a non-metal band properly and explored genres such as progressive rock, shoegaze, hardcore punk and its derivatives... etc.

Baccano! isn't too light-hearted (it actually gets pretty intense at times), but yeah. Completely different atmosphere from Haruhi, EL and Lain. Baccano! reminded me that anime doesn't have to be set in the present or the future to be good, and it's also the only action anime I ever got into. Most likely your thing if you enjoy brilliantly-animated badassery.

Never got into Elfen Lied myself. I'm not a fan of gratitious violence and gore. I think you'd like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni also. Elfen Lied is even the top recommendation there for fans of it. Despite the large amount of gore and violence in it, I thought it was great. Watching Lain quickly is kinda hard because it's just so oppressive, but yeah. You'd probably like it.

If you do the math he's like 15. ;) Heh. Sure doesn't act it. Anyway, as everyone has said, and since I was put in a similar situation when I was around 11, all you can really do is sit tight and see how things progress. It's definitely uncomfortable having a new parental figure about the house at first, but you'll eventually adapt to how they like things done. Some of the things you were complaining about are a bit petty, but I was also like that too. I would get annoyed with the slightest thing that new parental figure did that I didn't like, and complain about it to my mum, who of course wouldn't have any of it. Trust me, give it 6 months and you should be absolutely fine.

Hahaha how old are you kid, 13? Because I remember acting exactly the same back when my mum met her current boyfriend.

Unwound is weird. ;D They span noise rock, post-hardcore and minimalism, and the music sounds quite empty and calming at times, which is why I call it ambient post-hardcore.

Between the Buried and Me - The Need for Repetition

Haha I used to do the same thing of cramming anime last summer. I burnt out on it after a while though, and didn't watch any until about September. I tend to watch stuff kind of randomly now. For example, I'll go days without watching anything at all and then suddenly watch a whole 13 episode series in one go. Generally I tend to watch 2 episodes of something a day. Any more than that feels like a chore.

I Hate Myself - Kind of a Long Way Down

I disagree. I didn't find it all that sad. Episodes 16 and 21 (After Story) are sadder than 9 (The one you mention). I found episode 18 (when Tomoya finally starts acting like Ushio's father) and episode 19 (where Tomoya settles things with his dad) to be sad as well as those. If I didn't play the visual novel before watching, then maybe it'd have a bigger impact or something. And I'm doing the same thing for Kanon right now. Going through the VN first then anime. Visual... Novel? You mean manga right? There is a game of Clannad. It's basically a novel with pictures and text that you 'play', hence 'visual novel'. I call them reality escapism games, but whatever floats your boat I guess.

I know geography dude. But you said half-Korean, so go figure.

Hyakko is... well, in a league of its own really. Rarely does an anime make me crack up laughing, but Hyakko had me in tears a couple of times. I don't know of anything directly like it, but have you seen Hidamari Sketch? I think that would be perfect for you. Also, thanks for the compliment on my taste. ;D Although to be honest, I barely watch anime nowadays.

Prebuilt - format it. Built myself - boot into BIOS, configure boot order, set clock, check temps and fan speed and so on. Then after I've installed Windows and booted into it, I then install all of my applications and set them up. Also, switch theme to Windows Classic if on XP.

No. the second to last episode of after story is sadder by a long way. In fact, most of the back half of the second series of just pure sadness. Kanon was sadder. The car accident and aftermath particularly hit me hard - but yeah, Clannad had its tearjerking moments too. Also, it doesn't get much more depressing than Serial Experiments Lain. It's not a bawwfest, but I couldn't help but feel like sh*t after watching it - cyberpunk anime is f***ing awesome for this reason. @Nadril: depends on what you're looking for. Although I'm not really a fan, Melancholy is probably a good starting point as far as anime goes - it's (fairly) unique and, uh, interesting if you're new to anime. Also, Kyon reminds me of myself. So much of myself (the snarky comments and attitude). My taste seems to differ a fair bit from people in here, so I'll recommend some stuff I've really liked: - Haibane Renmei: My favourite anime. Involves several winged girls going about their daily lives and dealing with stuff such as loss, sin and repentence. - Baccano!: An action anime set in 1930s America. Lots of trains, gangsters and badassery. I recommend this one pretty highly, seeing as it's not something you have to get too much into. It's fast-paced no-brains action. - Serial Experiments Lain: A cyberpunk (technologically-based futuristic stuff) anime. I'm going to cut to the chase here: you either get it, or you don't. If you do happen to understand this anime, I'm pretty sure it'll be a favourite. Not recommended if you're easily depressed, or frightened by weird sh*t. It's also not as deep as people like to make it out to be, but as I've said - many have been saying "what?" after finishing it. Plot involves a lot of technology-related weirdness. - Boogiepop Phantom: Similar stuff to Serial Experiments Lain, so if you're at all interested in either of these series, watch Lain first. Boogiepop Phantom is even more weird and surreal than Lain. This, coupled with the terrible video quality and very, very old-school animation makes this something pretty special, in my opinion. My friend dubs it "a crap version of Lain", but I couldn't disagree more. Plot involves weird murders, disappearances, and general surrealist horror. (I apologise for my lame descriptions of some of these, but I really don't want to spoil the intricacies.) Now for something completely unrelated: - Nodame Cantabile: A music-based slice-of-life/romantic comedy/romantic drama. Unlike most anime that have tried to do music, in Nodame Cantabile the music is the second main plot element. It follows two music college students, one of which declares herself to be the male lead's girlfriend. Hilarity ensues and it's well worth the watch.

Agalloch, most definitely. @kalphite: Try Unwound. An ambient post-hardcore band. They sound a little like Cult of Luna in places, and some of their stuff is pretty hard to listen to. Get Leaves Turn Inside You - it's an amazing album.

That album is really good. You should check out Bath as well. http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Destabilise/strm_a/maudlin+of+the+well/1 Yeah, that's pretty much my opinion on PTS and the motW discography. (Ignore Coaltar of the Deepers there) Not listening to anything right now, but I thought I would just post that.

I'll have to check that one out. Thanks for the link. maudlin of the Well - Bizarre Flower/A Violent Mist

Alamaailman Vasarat. They're an avant-prog/klezmer/jazz-fusion band from Finland. In earlier albums they used primarily distorted cellos instead of guitars, which made their sound pretty heavy and driving. Their newer stuff is good, but it doesn't really match the raw power and intensity of their first two albums. Kaarmelautakunta is my favourite album by them, so get that if you're interested at all. also they sound nothing like Apocalyptica. 100% better than that. [yt]I-PlKlsOdZA[/yt] Excuse the awful quality. But yeah, that's the only way I can really describe them to you.

maudlin of the Well - Stones of October's Sobbing An emotional, abstract masterpiece of modern progressive music, no less.

^ Hey, that isn't Crystal Logic! np: The Flashbulb - Eyes of June

Broken Social Scene - I Slept With Bonhomme at the CBC

Yes, and from what I can tell when you become comfortable with them it kind of stays with you. I remember learning barre chords years ago and I'm still relatively comfortable with them even though they don't feature heavily in anything I play. If you play barre chords enough, certain points along your index finger will start to callus up, making them easier to play as well. I play drop-D most of the time, and due to power chords being a bar of the E(D) A and D strings, I've got a huge callus where my index finger meets the high D string. It's more the stretch of my hand than my fingers hurting. Say, if I'm doing a root 6 Fm barre, I can barely get my 3rd and 4th fingers onto the respective frets, and I often end up playing a B and an E when I should be playing a C and an F there. If I move my thumb, I can't barre well enough; so I've often resigned myself to using a capo if I play anything that low down (pretty much up to 5th fret root 6). For that reason I find myself playing higher up root 5 barres instead when it would generally be more musical to play them lower - and they happen a lot in the sort of music I play. I usually play in standard also, unless something calls for E-flat.