Hey, Answerman!

My attitude is this - if I had an idea for a good narrative, I'd choose my medium very carefully. I think it's a little false to specifically come up with good ideas for an anime series, especially since these days (after obsessively editing the preview guide for the last 2 weeks), constructing an average anime series seems to be about as difficult as assembling a Colorforms diorama - pick your personality stereotypes, your well-worn plot device and setting, and hit "blend". Bingo-bango, mid-range hit, first week special edition DVD sales hit 5,000, and you start all over again.

But to speak frankly, I'd probably create the sort of show I personally want to see more of - serious action shows with well-written serial plots that move along at a fast clip, have uniquely troubled characters and generally go for a "dark" tone, with a little sci-fi buggery as possible. I personally am probably not capable of writing something like this with any degree of skill or competence - my speciality is being a snot online and speaking in a very specific voice. I also don't believe that I could come up with a remotely original idea for a fiction series without dedicating myself to it full time and spending years absorbing whatever books or television shows or films I could that were related to whatever my idea was.

To be frank, making "your own anime series" is basically impossible for your average fan, unless you're uniquely talented in Flash, have a lot of free time and don't mind not being paid for your work. If I came up with a concept that I thought would make a good anime series, I'd probably try to find a more accessible medium - maybe it'd also work as a series of novels, or something I could post as a serial online, or perhaps a webcomic. Something that's actually a viable venue for me to get my work out there.

And, to sum up, here is a bunny who looks like he's smiling.

I used to be a huge Berserk manga enthusiast.  Once I reached a point where I was caught up to the current chapter releases, however, I found out a terrible truth:  Kentaro Miura has an incredibly erratic release schedule.  It seems like every third chapter, he takes a month-long break (or in the latest case, a four month break). 

My question is this:  Are manga-ka required to sign any kind of contract promising X number of chapters per year?  Or are they paid on a "when we publish it" schedule?  I realize that the answer may simply be "it varies from magazine to magazine," but I'm curious as to how Miura can have such a light release schedule when authors like Kishimoto crank out something like 50 chapters a year.  I can only imagine what would happen if Naruto dropped to a quarterly publication rate...

Unfortunately I have to give you your simple answer - it depends on the artist, the title, what publication he's working for, what his contract is like and how many competent and reliable assistants he has.

Berserk is gigantic in Japan - a huge seller. The new tankoubons usually hit #1 on the book charts and stay there for a little while. Not only that, but it must be incredibly demanding to actually draw - the art is nothing short of insane. So it doesn't surprise me that after all these years, something like that takes its toll on the author and he starts flaming out a little, taking longer and longer hiatuses. I doubt Young Animal cracks the whip too much over Miura, given that his series is a giant cash cow. Note: thanks to Dormcat for the tip on this correction.

For someone like Kishimoto, he is likely paid out the nose by the biggest and most imposing manga publication in Japan, has a much simpler drawing style and likely also has a gigantic army of assistants, not to mention a more hectic publishing schedule. So while Miura needs a few months off every now and then, Kishimoto can keep crankin' out chapters, if not only because he's used to the crunch, but few artists likely defy Shonen Jump.

And now the heartwarming tale of a kitty who adopted a baby bunny. You've probably seen this before but WATCH IT AGAIN AND ABSORB THE CUTE.

Cost.

Dubs are expensive, and Galaxy Angel X was likely being planned just as we saw the anime market start melting down earlier this year. It's likely they paid for the first 8 episodes to be dubbed, saw the writing on the wall and changed their plan for the show, instead releasing it as a brick rather than in singles, which is potentially more profitable for a niche title like Galaxy Angel X. So they probably just couldn't justify paying to finish the dub when sales expectations and the way the market was behaving didn't predict that they'd recoup their investment.

Admittedly it's a pretty sloppy thing to do and is only going to anger fans, but I have no idea how diehard the Galaxy Angel fanbase is nor if they've proven that they're going to show up and buy R1 DVDs, so hey, I have to assume they made the right decision when it came to their pocketbook.

And now, a dog sleeping on another dog.

I have a flake but I don't feel like ripping on someone after all that adorableness so here's A GIANT IMAGE OF AN AWESOME RED PANDA

Here's last week's question:

From Charles Sadnick:

But to even my surprise, a more polarizing series is probably the one I've watched most.  Call it the romantic in me, but the Keitaro/Naru relationship in Love Hina has led me to view the entire series at least a half-dozen times, and the Christmas special and other particular episodes even more than that.  And even though I abhor fan service and find Naru mildly annoying, I find myself coming time and time again to this series to fulfill my need for romantic comedy.  I now realize that it has taken the place of When Harry Met Sally… in my life, which was for the longest time my favorite film, and the one movie I could watch over and over and never tire of.

So, what is it about Love Hina that requires so many viewings?  Is it the crazy characters?  The warm animation?  The over-the-top comic violence?  Yes, it's all that, but it's more.  It's the feeling that Naru and Keitaro belong together.  They are severely flawed, Keitaro no more than Naru, whose pretty and smart exterior belie major emotional issues.  Keitaro, as much of a loser as he is, proves to be the perfect match for Naru.  But more than proving worthy of her, we find that in fact, she might not be worthy of him.  But Keitaro sees Naru for who she is and realizes that all of his dreams mean nothing if he can't be with her.  It also helps that the series has some of the most touching scenes I've ever watched.  The Christmas special can't help but put me in a great mood!

So for all of its shortcomings, Love Hina is still the most rewatchable anime I've ever viewed.  When it comes down to it, the most important part of any anime to me is the characters and their relationships – and Keitaro and Naru score perfect tens in this category.  What more could one ask for?

From Erik Frederiksen:

There's two shows I've watched more than twice that I really matter to me: Slam Dunk and Initial D.

Beside the tense matches and battles each show has, what really gets me are the characters.  There aren't any wasted characters in the shows - everyone has their own thread and they're each interesting in their own way.  The main characters, Hanamichi and Takumi respectively, get to grow throughout the series.  The growth is very organic and human, and it makes the characters infinitely likable.  With Slam Dunk, by the time you get toward the end of the series, you're standing up just like you would watching a real game. 

I guess I'll also mention Kaze no Yojimbo.  It's one of my favorite shows, I bought each disc the day it hit the shelves, and I still have no idea how it made it out here.  With its bizarre pacing, realistic visuals, and offbeat music, it's not the kind of show that sells well.  But it's a great detective story, a solid retelling of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, and there's just nothing else like it.

I'm really bad at this...

From Ian Harper:

From Jenny Lin:

There are a couple of anime series that I've watched more than two times, but to keep my answer short, I'll only be naming two.

First one: Yakitate Japan. Why? Because it's so hilariously ridiculous. The reaction they have to bread (you've got to love pierrot), all the parodies they've managed to fit in, the plain fact that the whole series is about bread...It's just too ridiculous. But it can always make me laugh, no matter how many times I've seen it.

Saikano is another one of those series I can keep watching. As stupid as it sounds I love crying and Saikano makes me cry every episode (well, almost every episode) and that the main reason why I like to watch Saikano.

From K Wichacz:

From Daniella Orihuela-Gruber:

From "DarkSheWolf":

Finally, from Chris Rivers: