AMF

cool another Touch fan!  =D

Amf seems tobe gone =( thankyou for the site recommendation hope all is well xxx

Rest in peace Asakura Minami Fan.

Our friendship was brief and you will be missed. ~ Alex

*lick*

I don't mind keeping your off-topic comment. I responded too, so I guess it'll make sense to keep it. :)

I've always taken an interest in the arts for as long as I can remember, specifically art and design, so naturally I've acquired an aesthetic and spatial awareness. It's hard to say whether this was innate or something I gained from having an interest. I'm inclined to say the latter. I actively engage in artistic practice and also spend a large part of my time observing and appreciating artwork, in all its variety, whether it be by attending an exhibition or simply online. Of course, having undergone a formal education in this area, in addition to employment, has helped. That said, regarding you can acknowledge what is aesthetically pleasing (in the case of anime and manga, whether the line work and proportions of the characters are correct, for instance, or that the CGI has been integrated well) is usually sufficient, without having to be an artist or designer yourself. Of course, you wouldn't be able to technically comment on the various techniques employed, but you could make a partial judgement. I don't spend all of my time highlighting whether a particular studio has used a certain animation technique well or not, that would be silly. Anyway, I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, and I lack the inclination to go over what I've typed, so I'll stop here and hope you get what I'm saying... 

Having read the novel series sometime before the anime adaptation, I was perhaps less critical, nor did I make a comparison. The only comparison I did make when choosing a rating (bearing in mind that I signed up to A-P much much later) was with other anime series. As such, I felt that Juuni Kokuki was one of the better anime series I've seen, even if it wasn't an entirely sincere adaptation of its source.

My avatar is of Kafuka Fuura from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I really liked the series, largely in part to its animation by Shaft. However, there's no real reason behind having the avatar, I just like the aesthetic and haven't bothered to change it (or rather, haven't found anything suitably memorable to replace it). As such, I probably never will. :P

One last enquiry, I was chatting to Cara on MSN last week regarding anime and manga (hardly a surprise) and the topic of new members to the Anime Society on TSR came up, namely Jenni (skipp) and yourself. In particular, I commented that you have brought a different angle and stance when we discuss anime, which I actively embrace. Anyway, you know all of this... Cara mentioned that some of the series you have seen have not been subtitled, fan or official, and are particularly difficult to obtain (coming from her, it must be true). I'm rather ignorant of subbing and dubbing, as a whole, because Japanese is my native, nor do I know what is readily available via western sources. So, I was just curious... I'm supposing you have an understanding of Japanese, enough to watch anime without subtitles? If so, do you import what you watch from Japan?