Tattoo: What's funny, in a way, is that in all the time I've been thinking about it, there have been a couple of long-term ideas (a yin-yang on the ankle, some still-undeveloped design on a Dragon theme) that have always been there. And yet, when I finally acted on it, I went with something much more recently decided on (a slight variation of the ANBU tattoo - I know, I'm a geek) because it's a simple (and defined) design on a non-ticklish part of the body and I figured that's probably the best way to find out how well I can deal with the pain and the whole process (and it's seriously not that bad, at least not on the upper arm).
Politics: I've never followed much until the last couple years either. And I think I was happier that way. Not really equipped to have any meaningful political discussions either; politics in general tends to piss me off. So I totally hear you. Trying to break the husband's habit of pausing his channel-surfing on cable news channels, because he always ends up ranting. ^_^;
American'd Naruto anime: I give them props for casting, at least. It's obvious that there was effort made to match the 'feel' of the original seiyuu in most cases, and I've heard somewhere that at least some of the English cast studied the Japanese performances to help shape their own. But the mispronunciation of various names really bugs me, and the translation (while still less annoying than the Viz manga) makes me go 'grr, argh' here and there (they still call Root 'The Foundation' which, okay, I can see how 'roots' and 'foundations' are conceptually related but dammit, fandom had it cemented as 'Root' in my consciousness long before the licensed versions came out and it's jarring to watch/read around that). The thing that bugs me most about the anime, aside from all the filler arcs, is how. Bloody. Long. it takes for anything to f*cking happen. Things move at a much less frustrating pace in the manga, I've found. In any case, I hope your brother can eventually be convinced.
I recall you saying at one point that you guys had quit watching the anime at about the point where Sasuke defected and instead of going off to train with Jiraiya on the road for three years, Naruto went tripping about on dozens of filler arcs instead (you're not missing anything and I never finished all the filler crap either). Did you ever pick it back up again with Shippuuden? Just curious.
Manga: OMG, bless you both. Thanks for the link - I should be up to speed within the week, if all goes well. ^_^ I left off last about chp 490-ish I think - Kabuto just proposed teaming up with Madara. Oh, and also? Madara reminds me more and more of Ukoku (err, Nii, since I'm not sure how far you got with Saiyuki), somewhat. On a side note, it has been totally awesome to see Gaara and his sibs again for the Kage Summit, and to see him being all Kage-awesome and diplomatic and such. Sure he was in the first major arc of Part 2, but he spent most of it dead, y'know? ^_^;;
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Politics: I've never followed much until the last couple years either. And I think I was happier that way. Not really equipped to have any meaningful political discussions either; politics in general tends to piss me off. So I totally hear you. Trying to break the husband's habit of pausing his channel-surfing on cable news channels, because he always ends up ranting. ^_^;
American'd Naruto anime: I give them props for casting, at least. It's obvious that there was effort made to match the 'feel' of the original seiyuu in most cases, and I've heard somewhere that at least some of the English cast studied the Japanese performances to help shape their own. But the mispronunciation of various names really bugs me, and the translation (while still less annoying than the Viz manga) makes me go 'grr, argh' here and there (they still call Root 'The Foundation' which, okay, I can see how 'roots' and 'foundations' are conceptually related but dammit, fandom had it cemented as 'Root' in my consciousness long before the licensed versions came out and it's jarring to watch/read around that). The thing that bugs me most about the anime, aside from all the filler arcs, is how. Bloody. Long. it takes for anything to f*cking happen. Things move at a much less frustrating pace in the manga, I've found. In any case, I hope your brother can eventually be convinced.
I recall you saying at one point that you guys had quit watching the anime at about the point where Sasuke defected and instead of going off to train with Jiraiya on the road for three years, Naruto went tripping about on dozens of filler arcs instead (you're not missing anything and I never finished all the filler crap either). Did you ever pick it back up again with Shippuuden? Just curious.
Manga: OMG, bless you both. Thanks for the link - I should be up to speed within the week, if all goes well. ^_^ I left off last about chp 490-ish I think - Kabuto just proposed teaming up with Madara. Oh, and also? Madara reminds me more and more of Ukoku (err, Nii, since I'm not sure how far you got with Saiyuki), somewhat. On a side note, it has been totally awesome to see Gaara and his sibs again for the Kage Summit, and to see him being all Kage-awesome and diplomatic and such. Sure he was in the first major arc of Part 2, but he spent most of it dead, y'know? ^_^;;