I've read it. It was a school book. It wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was awesome like apparently so many readers... but then maybe I didn't get under that tip of the iceberg.

I can agree that good writing is good writing, but there are definitely scenarios that I don't like. They turn me off. Like Return of Condor Heroes, the main female is raped, and I still love the story, it's just that when I reread it, I always skip that part, rewatching too.

@sunandshadow

Thank god, I'm not the only one that thought Berserk went downhill from that part. I came into it knowing it'll be a demon type story, but when it got to it, I was like.... why?!

Fushigi Yuugi, I stopped around there too, maybe went a bit further, but I have to agree with that as well. I think the final thing that knocked me out of it was the "other team."

Stellvia was indeed awesome, however, I didn't like all the romance in it. I thought it was overplayed and some of the match ups were just... stupid. Uninhabited Planet Survived was good as well, but I never finished it, after around episode 35 to 40, I felt it was getting dragged out way too long.
I enjoyed Fruits Basket, but I didn't like how it ended. I was rooting for the other rat.
Death Note was a masterpiece imo, until L died, then it just seemed stretched. The main characters in these series was definitely one of the ideal type of main character. But Raitou(Light) became rather pitiful in the end (I skipped to the end) that he just lost cool points for it.

I think one of the main reasons I like these stories is because of one, the way anime seems to hype everything up and two, the main character gets a very good role and does it admirably. And I mean hyping things up... I mean something like Hikaru no Go. Go is..... not very exciting in my opinion (since I don't play) but even though I have no idea what is going on, the music and drama they put into it just sort of glues you in.

That reminds me of someone I used to work with who couldn't stand foul language but claimed to be a bibliophile. When she confirmed that she'd read Joyce's Ulysses, she was then asked what she did whenever she had to read a swear word. "Skip over it," she said. It went down hill for her from that point when she had no answer to questions like: so how do you know there's an offensive word to skip over unless you read it in the first place?

Sorry, this doesn't help, just rang a little memory bell for me..

Hah, yea. As for the case of Condor Heroes and Journey to the Past, I watched before I read, and pretty much after that I just skip the "episode" or part in the book that it appears. Also, another one is a manga that my friend read before me, I never finished it though. But he told me the ending (which, for the most part I don't mind since one sentence really shouldn't ruin paragraphs of details). But I was getting bored with it in the first place so it wasn't that much of a deal that it happened...

I tend to like epic tragedies, and books where the proper ending isn't exactly a happy one; Songmaster By Orson Scott Card, or Total Eclipse by John Brunner, for example. In many ways, I consider it more of a feat to write a book that is unsatisfying yet intriguing than it is to write one that is enjoyable yet forgettable.

I blame Shakespeare.

Quote: Original post by Elhrrah
I tend to like epic tragedies, and books where the proper ending isn't exactly a happy one; Songmaster By Orson Scott Card, or Total Eclipse by John Brunner, for example. In many ways, I consider it more of a feat to write a book that is unsatisfying yet intriguing than it is to write one that is enjoyable yet forgettable.

I blame Shakespeare.

I can..... agree to that. If a tragedy is done really well, I would tend to like it too. But more likely than not, I won't read it more than once. But what keeps me reading it again is the parts where the hero is having a more enjoyable time.

What I do strongly dislike is stories where the character gets super powerful combat skill from "the power of love" Give me a breack! love doesn't make you fight better, it makes you realize fighting tend to be useless. That's why I swore never ever playing Final Fantasy againg, nor anything like that.

Also I don't like stories that change the goal and kinda pretend it was always the same goal. Like in Matrix, in the first movie it was to free the people from the Matrix, but at the end of the last one Neo saves the Matrix and kills a lot of innocent people in the way (think when he flies super fast leaving a wave that destroys cars and buildings behind him), then its happy ending, people living happily in the Matrix unaware of the crude war happening outside. That just betrays all said in the first movie.

Quote: Original post by klefebz
What I do strongly dislike is stories where the character gets super powerful combat skill from "the power of love" Give me a breack! love doesn't make you fight better, it makes you realize fighting tend to be useless. That's why I swore never ever playing Final Fantasy againg, nor anything like that.

Hah, I definitely agree with the "power of love" thing. But I actually don't mind if a character gets resolute due to his love. Which is of course different from what you said. I still like the older FF games however.
What I think of when I think of the "power of love" is Harry Potter... Oh my gawd, I cringe every time I hear Dumbledore talk about it.

Quote: Original post by klefebz
Also I don't like stories that change the goal and kinda pretend it was always the same goal. Like in Matrix, in the first movie it was to free the people from the Matrix, but at the end of the last one Neo saves the Matrix and kills a lot of innocent people in the way (think when he flies super fast leaving a wave that destroys cars and buildings behind him), then its happy ending, people living happily in the Matrix unaware of the crude war happening outside. That just betrays all said in the first movie.

I can't say I really agree with your assessment. I do believe you are correct on how his Neo's standard's change, from saving the "world" so to speak to killing thousands to get to your girlfriend to save her was just a wtf, he could've easily flew a little higher for better sight and not kill people.
Agent Smith however, was supposed to be a huge threat to both Neo and the Matrix, hence the fragile alliance.

Still, I don't think the Matrix is too bad of a thing, ignorance is bliss after all, and not everyone was happy leaving it. I never understood the ending with the oracle though, hardly peace if you are trying to gun eachother down, its more of a temporary ceasefire.

Agreed, I remember in FF6 the girl said she lost the will to fight and love gave ger a reason to do it. About HP I've never read those books nor seen a movie completely, just by parts.

On what I like, I love stories about fighting opression, strange worlds, team work and those stories that splitthe characters in diferent places.