Anime Champions?

[PhantomGM6101]

I just had a thought,no an idea. Has anyone considered doing anime and manga heroes in the Hero system? Any input would be welcome.:confused:

[Doug Limmer]

I suspect you'll see a flood of responses shortly (or, maybe shortly once Monday comes around). To start you off with some Hero Games published stuff:


"Anime and the Hero System" is an article in Digital Hero #8
Ninja Hero covers some anime and video game topics
Kazei 5 (PDF from 4th edition, but still available in the company store) is cyberpunk with anime flavoring
Robot Warriors and Robot Gladiators (4th edition supplements; one or both may have PDF versions in the store) help with some types of anime
The Ultimate Vehicle (5th edition) also has some stuff regarding anime-type robots and vehicles

[yamamura]

What Doug said plus Susano's site has a ton of anime chara. I even have a couple on mine...

[Edsel]

Yeah. What yamamura said. Susano's site has a lot of really good stuff. The link is here. (http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/archive.html)

[Susano]

I suspect you'll see a flood of responses shortly (or, maybe shortly once Monday comes around). To start you off with some Hero Games published stuff:


"Anime and the Hero System" is an article in Digital Hero #8
Ninja Hero covers some anime and video game topics
Kazei 5 (PDF from 4th edition, but still available in the company store) is cyberpunk with anime flavoring


Yeah, I did all that and run Surbrook's Stuff (http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/) as well.

"Anime and the Hero System" is about 17,000 words on anime conventions and such, with some HERO comments and two sample characters -- a mecha pilot and a magical girl (what did people think of that, BTW? I never saw any feedback.).

Ninja Hero discusses anime and video game martial arts and includes the following sample anime NPCs: Tsukikiage the ninja (who clocks in at around 500 pts of shadow-magic whoopass), John Wa the Monkey King (my play on the original Songoku the Monkey King), and Kayli the Destroyer, who's a pastiche/homage to a certain well-known manga/anime series featuring super-powerful martial artists.

Kazei 5 is my never-ending project. It combines a lot of 80s anime influences into a near-future "old-school" cyberpunk world. If you liked Appleseed, Bubblegum Crisis, Akira, Ghost In The Shell, Silent Mobius, and Battle Angel odds are you'll like this.

[PhantomGM6101]

Yeah, I did all that and run Surbrook's Stuff (http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/) as well.

"Anime and the Hero System" is about 17,000 words on anime conventions and such, with some HERO comments and two sample characters -- a mecha pilot and a magical girl (what did people think of that, BTW? I never saw any feedback.).

Ninja Hero discusses anime and video game martial arts and includes the following sample anime NPCs: Tsukikiage the ninja (who clocks in at around 500 pts of shadow-magic whoopass), John Wa the Monkey King (my play on the original Songoku the Monkey King), and Kayli the Destroyer, who's a pastiche/homage to a certain well-known manga/anime series featuring super-powerful martial artists.

Kazei 5 is my never-ending project. It combines a lot of 80s anime influences into a near-future "old-school" cyberpunk world. If you liked Appleseed, Bubblegum Crisis, Akira, Ghost In The Shell, Silent Mobius, and Battle Angel odds are you'll like this.
OK robots ,cyborgs and Martial artists[If you count the DragonBall Z and GT Characters] May be all good and that, but what about roleplaying Magic Girls[Sailor Moon,Rayearth],Monster trainers[Pokemon,Digimon,Monster Rancher],
Space Warriors{Yamato],Sentai Teams,[ Power Rangers] and Fantasy Fighters[Lodoss,Slayers,Inu-Yasha]
Not to mention Pop Music Idols[Mink,Pop Chance Session] and Sports.
Any more inputs besides mine?

[ParitySoul]

Still would be nice to actually see a collection of this in a book. With other ideas on how to flavor any of the other genres. A good kick at games like OVA and BESM that make it out like HERO and such can't do good Anime.

[Susano]

OK robots ,cyborgs and Martial artists[If you count the DragonBall Z and GT Characters] May be all good and that, but what about roleplaying Magic Girls[Sailor Moon,Rayearth],Monster trainers[Pokemon,Digimon,Monster Rancher],
Space Warriors{Yamato],Sentai Teams,[ Power Rangers] and Fantasy Fighters[Lodoss,Slayers,Inu-Yasha]
Not to mention Pop Music Idols[Mink,Pop Chance Session] and Sports.
Hope that would whet your Appitite?

I'm not sure I understand your question... Whet my appetite in what way? "Anime and the HERO System" covers some of the stuff you mention here. My website won't because I tend to write-up stuff I like, which means I own it, and have it to reference. I certainly am not going to buy Dragon Half just to do a Mink character sheet. Same for most everything else you mention.

If given the change to write an "Anime HERO" book, I'd do my research sure, but I doubt that will be happening anytime soon.

[Doug Limmer]

I certainly am not going to buy Dragon Half just to do a Mink character sheet. Same for most everything else you mention.I think he meant Mink from Cyber Idol Mink by Megumi Tachikawa. Of course, you wouldn't buy Mink just to do a character sheet any more than you would buy Dragon Half just to do a character sheet.

I'm not quite sure what PhantomGM6101 is looking for. If he's looking to design characters, then anime characters aren't really any more difficult to design than any other characters. (Heck, I even did one.)

If you're looking for inspiration for things like play style and character style, to get you in the right "mood" for anime gaming, then frankly I'd suggest looking at BESM (since a new edition is coming out, you might be able to pick up an old one for cheap). Not for the game, necessarily[1], but for the anime-play-style advice. I seem to remember that it had some good sections on that, and gaming advice can always be ported to another game.

[1] Not that it's a bad game or anything.

[yamamura]

In certain aspect manga/anime is too broad to be easily pigeon holed into nice catergories with easy to follow rules. Let us take shoujo for example, if I was running Utena, I would run it differently then if I was running Sailor Moon or Land of the Blindfolded. All three are shoujo and all three have romance in them, but just as Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea is different in feeling and telling then J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, so are these different from each other. You can isolate certain themes and tropes but to catch the spirit of each, you need to watch it with the people you are going to be playing with and work to together to emulate the feelings. A system can give rules for handling the tropes (for example sanity checks in horror) but I feel they can bind you and trip you up.

As I have said I do have 2 characters that are not based on a particular anime/manga but inspired by anime/manga and even one though horror based;
http://wanderingthoughts.net/Chara/tamaki.html
http://wanderingthoughts.net/Chara/princesscandy.html
http://wanderingthoughts.net/Chara/Kawakami.html

I think your list alone shows the varied series and the problems it would involve trying to write a book and not leave somebody upset that you didn't do their favourite series. But I am saying a book can't be done, just it would be hard.

Also a plug for Michael Hopcroft here; check out Heart Quest, it does cover some of the basic shoujo tropes and is alot better then the book BESM published under their Magnus Opus line.

http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_6878.html

[Major Tom]

I've been in two anime-based campaigns myself; the first was based on the
Aura Battler Dunbine series, and the other was based on the Saint
Seiya series. Both were short-lived campaigns, but fun while they last-
ed. I think that the GM also ran a mecha campaign based on Mobile Suit
Gundam before I was part of the game group; I do know that he had a
lot of mecha writeups for the campaign that he let me have copies of.


Major Tom :cool:

[steriaca]

What can I say but...

...creating a "fanticy swords and sorcery" anime charater is not that difrent than creating a standard Fanticy Hero charater. All you realy need is to sit down and watch both Lodus Wars series, pluss a few other anime series. And make shure your players knows ahead of time what to expect.

By the way, I recomend eather the BESM version of The Slayers and/or the D20 version of the same book.

[Lethosos]

"Slayers" is your best bet for a fantasy anime world--not too high fantasy; just enough that your players will get a little jaded at the idea of throwing heap big magic around.

Full Metal Alchemist is excellent for a Steampunk-type campaign; just add mad scientists who make big mecha/golems and you've got a framework. I would reccomend moving to America instead of rural Germany, though.

Kazei 5 is close to a Sci-Fi anime world as you can get it and not change a thing--I'd have gone with Silent Mobius itself for the fun in it, but YMMV. It depends on how high or low you want it.

Magical girl stuff is prolly the best for a modern-day game--you can't go too over-the-top, as cheese is inherent in this genere. :D

[Susano]

"Slayers" is your best bet for a fantasy anime world--not too high fantasy; just enough that your players will get a little jaded at the idea of throwing heap big magic around.

Full Metal Alchemist is excellent for a Steampunk-type campaign; just add mad scientists who make big mecha/golems and you've got a framework. I would reccomend moving to America instead of rural Germany, though.


Although it's not anime, I'd recommend investigating GIRL GENIUS to go along with FMA.


Kazei 5 is close to a Sci-Fi anime world as you can get it and not change a thing--I'd have gone with Silent Mobius itself for the fun in it, but YMMV. It depends on how high or low you want it.

I didn't know as much about SILENT MOBIUS then as I do know... and the players might not have taken to the magical spells and extra-dimensional monsters.

[RomanMetal]

Curious that I’m reading Kazei 5 right now. :thumbup: :thumbup:
I’m half the book now and is a good recourse for anime and non-anime alike.


Not to mention Pop Music Idols[Mink,Pop Chance Session] and Sports.
Hope that would whet your Appitite?
In Kazei 5 there are a few powers mentioned related to music like “Power: +1/+2 with all music related skills” and “Power: Mimicry 14-, Perfect Pitch”.
==========
Other RPGs converted to HERO System (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23298)
Check out under “BIG EYES, SMALL MOUTH”, “DRAGONBALL Z”, and “ROBOTECH”

[Susano]

Curious that I’m reading Kazei 5 right now. :thumbup: :thumbup:
I’m half the book now and is a good recourse for anime and non-anime alike.

In Kazei 5 there are a few powers mentioned related to music like “Power: +1/+2 with all music related skills” and “Power: Mimicry 14-, Perfect Pitch”.


Thank you. I am hoping to be able to do a second edition of the book and have done up some 5th Edition character sheets for some of the major players (Ran, Shion, Kitten, Marta, and so on).

[Samuraiko]

I'm still trying to figure out how to do Kurenai as a Champions character... the immortality is the easy part, it's the everything ELSE that's a major pain!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko

[Intrope]

Although it's not anime, I'd recommend investigating GIRL GENIUS to go along with FMA.

BTW, Girl Genius has moved to the web at http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/gg101.cgi?date=20050221

And it would be a very good world to base a game on. Very open ended and many mysteries to explore!

[NuSoardGraphite]

I just had a thought,no an idea. Has anyone considered doing anime and manga heroes in the Hero system? Any input would be welcome.:confused:

I've used the HERO System specifically for that purpose since I got it way back in '92. (actually, back '90 when a friend gave me his copy of Robot Warriors)

In my opinion, its the only system around that can get close to a lot of the madness you see going on in anime. BESM is merely a simplified version of HERO for quick and dirty task resolution, so their claim that HERO can't do it right is pure bull....

[Susano]

I've used the HERO System specifically for that purpose since I got it way back in '92. (actually, back '90 when a friend gave me his copy of Robot Warriors)

In my opinion, its the only system around that can get close to a lot of the madness you see going on in anime. BESM is merely a simplified version of HERO for quick and dirty task resolution, so their claim that HERO can't do it right is pure bull....

Agreed!

[Ura-Maru]

The great thing is, everything Hero does wrong when it’s trying to be realistic is actually right for anime. Especially from the mid to late 80’s.

Swords slicing down trees in one stroke: Check.
Priss getting whaled on for 15 minutes by boomers without serious injury: Check.
Athletes jumping three times their height: Check.
A martial arts kick knocking the target back 10’ and imbedding him in a wall: Check.
Target getting back up with only light bruising: Check.
Laws of physics working differently depending on who’s doing what: Check.
Annoying DNPCs showing up 90% of the time and getting in trouble: Check.
Fighting unimpaired for 10 rounds even with bullet holes in most of your vital organs, only to collapse once all the bad guys are taken out: Check.
Never changing your equipment load, even when hideously inappropriate, because that would require redrawing all your cels: Check.
It’s surprisingly hard to kill people. Almost impossible without an edged weapon: Check.
Changing your equipment and armor halfway through the series, after a ‘radiation accident’ (and to market the new action figures): Check.
Soliloquy-Improved Presence attacks: Check.
Dive for Cover: Check.
The more @#$!!ed up you are, and the more personal problems you have, the better you are at everything: Check.
All genres working eerily the same: Check.

Just remember. All genres are superheroic. No matter how few points you’re built on, EVERYONE has to pay for their equipment.

And Ablative is your friend.

---
“There’s one rule above all for men’s battles: The big, macho gorilla guy can never win when fighting the slender and incredibly handsome main character! This battle was over the moment you showed up with your ugly face!!”

[Major Tom]

Let's not forget one of anime's more interesting ways to screw around with
a character's life, courtesy of Kimagure Orange Road:

Being in love with one girl while being pursued by yet another girl who thinks
that you're equally in love with her.

Of course, the corollary to the above is that Girl No.#2's boyfriend is always
beating up on you because he thinks you're trying to make a move on her.

Ain't love grand?


Major Tom :snicker: :lol: :lol: :rofl:

[PhantomGM6101]

Don't forget Ranma1/2 in which a guy is persued by a gaggle of girls all over japan--dispite the fact that HE turns into a girl when he gets splashed with cold water.

[Susano]

Don't forget Ranma1/2 in which a guy is persued by a gaggle of girls all over japan--dispite the fact that HE turns into a girl when he gets splashed with cold water.

Or Tenchi Muyo! in which Tenchi ends up with around 1/2 dozen women living at his house.

Or Ah! My Goddess! in which Keiichi has 3+ goddesses living at his house at any one time (actually an old temple).

Or El Hazard in which Makoto must deal with at least three women who have fallen for him (a schoolmate, a priestess, and a city-destroying warmachine).

Or.... well... you get the idea. "Harem" anime is a common theme.

[yamamura]

All which is to say that Love Hina is totally original;)

[Susano]

All which is to say that Love Hina is totally original;)

Quite. :)

[Michael Hopcroft]

Or Tenchi Muyo! in which Tenchi ends up with around 1/2 dozen women living at his house.

Or Ah! My Goddess! in which Keiichi has 3+ goddesses living at his house at any one time (actually an old temple).

Or El Hazard in which Makoto must deal with at least three women who have fallen for him (a schoolmate, a priestess, and a city-destroying warmachine).

Or.... well... you get the idea. "Harem" anime is a common theme.
Actually Ah! My Goddess doesn't quite count because only one of the goddesses (Belldandy) has any romatnic interest in Keiichi. The other two (her sisters Urd and Skuld) are basically there as busybodies -- urd is trying to bring them together more, er, "intimately" while Skuld is trying to tear them apart 9at elast intially). It's more like being in the situation where living with the girl means you have to put up with her relatives, who in their efforts to "help" end up getting in the way a horrendous amount of the time.

If you msut base an RPGT on a Kajishima work, consider You're Under Arrest!, a buddy-cop comedy where the buddies are female. Fabulous characters there, and not just the central "partnership" of demure, clever Miyuki and brash, strong Natsumi. One could have a lot of fun with the gossip-hound dispatcher Yoriko, with macho but shy motorcycle cop Ken and with Aoi-chan (who would be very difficult to describe....)

And of course, the ultimate Anime Champions setting would be Graviton City, home of A-ko.

[Susano]

Actually Ah! My Goddess doesn't quite count because only one of the goddesses (Belldandy) has any romatnic interest in Keiichi. The other two (her sisters Urd and Skuld) are basically there as busybodies -- urd is trying to bring them together more, er, "intimately" while Skuld is trying to tear them apart 9at elast intially). It's more like being in the situation where living with the girl means you have to put up with her relatives, who in their efforts to "help" end up getting in the way a horrendous amount of the time.

Yes, but in defense of the "harem" description, Urd has put moves on Keiichi several times, and he has run into trouble with Peorth, Sayoko, and others.

As for the ultimate anime city... there's a lot to be said for Mega-Tokyo from Bubblegum Crisis. Although that one only works well if you want to play near-future cyberpunk.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Yes, but in defense of the "harem" description, Urd has put moves on Keiichi several times, and he has run into trouble with Peorth, Sayoko, and others.
Urd's usual reason for this is because she believes the reason keiichi and Belldandy are not more, ahem, 'active" is because keiichi is afraid and thinks he needs experience. Plus Urd is an extaordinarily sexual being and is probably getting very furstrated in heaven with nobody to satisfy her.


As for the ultimate anime city... there's a lot to be said for Mega-Tokyo from Bubblegum Crisis. Although that one only works well if you want to play near-future cyberpunk.
But if you want to play super-heroic, it doesn't get much weirder than Graviton. Someone built an entire alternate DC Universe around A-Ko as the new Supergirl. And if A-ko ever learns to fly she'll have all the requirements.

As it is A-Ko has the three classic Superman powers: "Faster than a speeding bullet" (runs to school every day at Warp 10 with C-ko flying behind held by the wrist), "more powerful than a locomotive" (I feel sorry for any skyscraper she punches) and "Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" (she certainly has extremely prodigious jumping ability and precision). The only thing stopping her from being the new Supergirl is that she refuses to call herself Supergirl. And her rival B-ko is much closer to a Lex Luthor figure than she realizes (she has the wealth, the skills, the unholy obsessions, and the power armor, with the addition of a percieved romantic rivalry).

[Samuraiko]

The great thing is, everything Hero does wrong when it’s trying to be realistic is actually right for anime. Especially from the mid to late 80’s.
True. Very true.


Swords slicing down trees in one stroke: Check.
Priss getting whaled on for 15 minutes by boomers without serious injury: Check.
Goku getting whaled on by the villain of the saga for 2-7 DVDs and surviving. Until he voluntarily commits suicide.


Athletes jumping three times their height: Check.
A martial arts kick knocking the target back 10’ and imbedding him in a wall: Check.
Target getting back up with only light bruising: Check.
Laws of physics working differently depending on who’s doing what: Check.
For example: Everyone knows how to fly. Everyone (except Krillin) knows that to fly you must concentrate.


Annoying DNPCs showing up 90% of the time and getting in trouble: Check.
Like ChiChi showing up to harass poor Gohan and Goku. Or Master Roshi trying to be tough and failing miserably.


It’s surprisingly hard to kill people. Almost impossible without an edged weapon: Check.
Unless you're Trunks. Or even Yajirobe.


Soliloquy-Improved Presence attacks: Check.
Although I think you should have negative Presence if you're doing the whole "I am [whoever], this can't be happening to ME!"


Dive for Cover: Check.
The more @#$!!ed up you are, and the more personal problems you have, the better you are at everything: Check.
Also very true.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko

[Susano]

As it is A-Ko has the three classic Superman powers: "Faster than a speeding bullet" (runs to school every day at Warp 10 with C-ko flying behind held by the wrist), "more powerful than a locomotive" (I feel sorry for any skyscraper she punches) and "Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" (she certainly has extremely prodigious jumping ability and precision). The only thing stopping her from being the new Supergirl is that she refuses to call herself Supergirl. And her rival B-ko is much closer to a Lex Luthor figure than she realizes (she has the wealth, the skills, the unholy obsessions, and the power armor, with the addition of a percieved romantic rivalry).

And a dad who looks a lot like Tony Stark.

[Major Tom]

Another possible choice for an Anime Champions campaign would be Moldiver.
This anime mini-series is only slightly less insane than Project A-Ko, but
is similar in that the main character is a girl. The major difference is that while
A-Ko's powers are natural, the heroine in Moldiver (I can't remember what
her name is) relies on an energy exosuit for her powers -- which, when it runs
out of power, leaves her somewhat starkers. She's also somewhat of a ditz
(If Japan has an equivalent to America's "Valley Girl", she'd qualify hands
down).


Major Tom :cool:

[PhantomGM6101]

QUOTE=Major Tom]Another possible choice for an Anime Champions campaign would be Moldiver.
This anime mini-series is only slightly less insane than Project A-Ko, but
is similar in that the main character is a girl. The major difference is that while
A-Ko's powers are natural, the heroine in Moldiver (I can't remember what
her name is) relies on an energy exosuit for her powers -- which, when it runs
out of power, leaves her somewhat starkers. She's also somewhat of a ditz
(If Japan has an equivalent to America's "Valley Girl", she'd qualify hands
down).


Major Tom :cool:[/QUOTE]
Touche`Du, Touche`
Another example of a super team are the
Mew Mews from Cafe Mew Mew,or [I]Mew Mew Power as it's called in the states.
You have five girls inbred with powers from endangered animals fighting some sleazeballs from outer space who want to destroy the Human race.

Did I forget to mention the mighty Muscle League from Ultimate Muscle?:cool:

[SKJAM!]

The more @#$!!ed up you are, and the more personal problems you have, the better you are at everything: Check.


An interesting variant of this is in the anime/manga Zatch Bell (Gash Bell in the Japanese). The theory the fans have is that the more angst a person has, the more powerful a mamodo (demon, basically) partner they can attract. So the hero Kiyo, who is absolutely miserable at the beginning of the series due to bullying, gets Zatch, who's very powerful. Folgore, an internationally beloved superstar, gets a mamodo that couldn't fight its way out of a wet paper bag.

"Suzy", Kiyo's rather dim but very optimistic DNPC, has been rated at "gets a rock with a smiley face on it."

[AliceTheOwl]

Another possible choice for an Anime Champions campaign would be Moldiver.
This anime mini-series is only slightly less insane than Project A-Ko, but
is similar in that the main character is a girl. The major difference is that while
A-Ko's powers are natural, the heroine in Moldiver (I can't remember what
her name is) relies on an energy exosuit for her powers -- which, when it runs
out of power, leaves her somewhat starkers. She's also somewhat of a ditz
(If Japan has an equivalent to America's "Valley Girl", she'd qualify hands
down).


Major Tom :cool:
It's called a kogal, best exemplified by the main character in Peach Girl. (She's not actually a kogal, but she looks like one, so people treat her like one.)

Basically, kogals bleach their hair, get really dark tans (often fake bakes), and are obsessed with designer labels. They often have older, richer boyfriends, and some accept money in exchange for dates.

[Super Squirrel]

I played Hanabishi Recca from Flame of Recca in my first Champions campaign. I might even still have the write-up around somewhere. The two hardest parts were getting the dragons built so that I could cover combined dragon forms. Now that I'm more experienced with Hero System, I could probably do a much better version of him.

[Susano]

It's called a kogal, best exemplified by the main character in Peach Girl. (She's not actually a kogal, but she looks like one, so people treat her like one.)

Basically, kogals bleach their hair, get really dark tans (often fake bakes), and are obsessed with designer labels. They often have older, richer boyfriends, and some accept money in exchange for dates.

I thought hat was called "ganguro" or some such.

[yamamura]

Susano is right there Alice, though the two types can overlap. Kogals do go on pay dates and are concern with fashion. Ganguro IIRC are much more concern with hip hop and appearing Afro-American. But as I said they do over lap. I would suggest Bounce Ko-gal for a movie that shows aspect of ko-gal life and there is also one from the guy behind Neon Genesis called Love and Pop which I haven't seen. These are both live action movies BTW.

[Black Omega]

True, definiate overlap. Kogals go for the tans and dying their hair, but ganguro seem to take it a step further with the mega bleach blonde tanning bed abuse look. I'm told a group of ganguro doing para para in unison is a scary sight.

I'm more fond of the gothic lolita style myself.:)

[Michael Hopcroft]

Another possible choice for an Anime Champions campaign would be Moldiver.
This anime mini-series is only slightly less insane than Project A-Ko, but
is similar in that the main character is a girl. The major difference is that while
A-Ko's powers are natural, the heroine in Moldiver (I can't remember what
her name is) relies on an energy exosuit for her powers -- which, when it runs
out of power, leaves her somewhat starkers. She's also somewhat of a ditz
(If Japan has an equivalent to America's "Valley Girl", she'd qualify hands
down).

This is a common character type in anime. Her name is Mirai, and she bears certain resenmblance to such seemingly-less-than-competent heroines as Usagi Tsukino and Miaka Yuuki (Fushigi Yuugi).

As for the Moldiver "suit", it came about because Miaka's mad scientist brother really wanted to be a Western-style superhero. In this case, though, his wish-fulfillment fantasy got way out of hand. My understanding t=is that the OVA series that was released here was based on a much longer TV series that has never been screened in the US.

Moldiver also has one other thing that is common to heroic anime -- a tragic romance between Mirai and a candidate astronaut who, if he achieves his goals, will not be returning to Earth for some twenty years.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Susano is right there Alice, though the two types can overlap. Kogals do go on pay dates and are concern with fashion. Ganguro IIRC are much more concern with hip hop and appearing Afro-American. But as I said they do over lap. I would suggest Bounce Ko-gal for a movie that shows aspect of ko-gal life and there is also one from the guy behind Neon Genesis called Love and Pop which I haven't seen. These are both live action movies BTW.
See Super GALS! Kotobuki Ran (released in America simply as GALS!) for an anime example of a somewhat more ethical kogal heroine (not to mention some surprisingly honest dealings with some serious issues like pay-dates).

Kogals are a distinctive subculture of relatively recent vintage, so I'd be hard pressed to call early-'90s heroies liek Usagi and Mirai kogals.

[Lethosos]

And if you want to go down aways the Dark Champions path... I suggest looking at Devil Hunter Yohko and Iczerlion.

Yohko is geared towards a world where demons do lurk in the shadows. Devil Hunters, usually trained in a long family line of the same, are the protectors of the Earth Realm and have the power to destroy demons using a fusion of martial arts and mystic powers. Consider it "magcal girls vs. more than just tentacle demons."

Iczerlion, spawned from the Iczer movies, is about a group of ladies who were chosen by intelligent battlearmors to defend Earth from a cyborgnetic-like alien army with the power to move between multiple sub-dimensions. (They purposely target the Iczerlions, since they are quite powerful.) Very superheroic, with big booms and not so much property damage.

[Southern Cross]

And if you want to go down the Horror Hero route,there's always the Guyver series (though the Viz translations stopped just when Alkanphel,the mightiest (and leader) of the ChronosZoalords gets sucked into an artificial black hole created by Gyro,the newest (and traitorous) Zoalord).

[Susano]

And if you want to go down aways the Dark Champions path... I suggest looking at Devil Hunter Yohko and Iczerlion.

Yohko is geared towards a world where demons do lurk in the shadows. Devil Hunters, usually trained in a long family line of the same, are the protectors of the Earth Realm and have the power to destroy demons using a fusion of martial arts and mystic powers. Consider it "magcal girls vs. more than just tentacle demons."

My take on Devil Hunter Yohko:

http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptionsanime/dhyohko.html

[NuSoardGraphite]

And if you want to go down the Horror Hero route,there's always the Guyver series (though the Viz translations stopped just when Alkanphel,the mightiest (and leader) of the ChronosZoalords gets sucked into an artificial black hole created by Gyro,the newest (and traitorous) Zoalord).

Chronos, Zoanoids and Zoalords found their way into my Star Hero campaign.

[PhantomGM6101]

This is a common character type in anime. Her name is Mirai, and she bears certain resenmblance to such seemingly-less-than-competent heroines as Usagi Tsukino and Miaka Yuuki (Fushigi Yuugi).

As for the Moldiver "suit", it came about because Miaka's mad scientist brother really wanted to be a Western-style superhero. In this case, though, his wish-fulfillment fantasy got way out of hand. My understanding t=is that the OVA series that was released here was based on a much longer TV series that has never been screened in the US.

Moldiver also has one other thing that is common to heroic anime -- a tragic romance between Mirai and a candidate astronaut who, if he achieves his goals, will not be returning to Earth for some twenty years.
You may put in the MEW MEW team as magical girls as well
Known in Japan asTokyo MEW MEW Five girls were chosen and imbued with powers from endangered animals in order to fight a band of pollution bred aliens called the Cyniclon who want to take over earth via alien infused monsters or Yoma,called predesites.
the Girls are:
Zoey who has the abilities of the African Wildcat
Corrina, a rich girl who has the abilities of an endangered bird.
Bridget:brainy student with the abilities of the Blue dolphin
Kiki:acrobat with the powers of the Lion Monkey
and last but not least
Renee`: Movie star/Model with the abilities of the timberwolf.
All five girls work at Cafe` Mew Mew under the gaze of Eliot and Wesley thier boss and coordinator.
There's also a series being imported called MAGICAL DOREMI it's about three little girls who train to become witches by using magic wands and spell drops and getting assisted by fairies.
Spaeking of magic girls here's a CS of my magic Girl DreamStar.
it's in HDC BTW.;)

[AliceTheOwl]

Gah. Name translations. >.<

Their names in the Japanese version are Ichigo, Mint, Lettuce, Purin (sounds like Pudding, the way they pronounce it) and Zakuro.

Ichigo is Japanese for 'Strawberry.' I know Zakuro is another dessert-like thing, but I forget what the translation is for her name.

>.<

[Michael Hopcroft]

You may put in the MEW MEW team as magical girls as well
Known in Japan asTokyo MEW MEW Five girls were chosen and imbued with powers from endangered animals in order to fight a band of pollution bred aliens called the Cyniclon who want to take over earth.
the Girls are:
Zoey
Corrina
Bridget
Kiki
Corrine

I'm sorry, but I'm a purist when it comes to my magical girl shows. The main reason I haven't seen any Tokyo Mew mew is that it is not available here in its original form. American Sailor Moon, Cardcaprots, and whatever they are going to do to Ojamaho Doremi tend to get my goat faster than any other topic you can mention, even though I have no objection to dubs that do not do substantial aletrations in setting, location, theme or content.

Idol/actress is a popular cover for magical girls, actually. In the new live-action Pretty Guaridan Sailor Moon, Minako-chan actually is a superstar idol (a status she only aspires to in the anime) in addition to being the mysterious superheroine Sailor V. Apparently something really bad happens to her near the end of the series, but I haven't seen that far.

Watching a live-action Sailor Moon with a blonde wig on the heroine form only and Power Rangers-level visual effects can be very odd. But in a sense it reutrns the franchise to its roots, as Naoko Takeuchi was actually attempting to combine the sensisbilties of the magical girl series previous with those of sentai. So PGSM is a throwback, somewhat updated to 2004, to what she originally had in mind.

[AliceTheOwl]

I'm sorry, but I'm a purist when it comes to my magical girl shows. The main reason I haven't seen any Tokyo Mew mew is that it is not available here in its original form. American Sailor Moon, Cardcaprots, and whatever they are going to do to Ojamaho Doremi tend to get my goat faster than any other topic you can mention, even though I have no objection to dubs that do not do substantial aletrations in setting, location, theme or content.

Idol/actress is a popular cover for magical girls, actually. In the new live-action Pretty Guaridan Sailor Moon, Minako-chan actually is a superstar idol (a status she only aspires to in the anime) in addition to being the mysterious superheroine Sailor V. Apparently something really bad happens to her near the end of the series, but I haven't seen that far.

Watching a live-action Sailor Moon with a blonde wig on the heroine form only and Power Rangers-level visual effects can be very odd. But in a sense it reutrns the franchise to its roots, as Naoko Takeuchi was actually attempting to combine the sensisbilties of the magical girl series previous with those of sentai. So PGSM is a throwback, somewhat updated to 2004, to what she originally had in mind.
It's because it's "a kid's show."

*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*

'cause we all know kids are just too dumb to grasp things like cultural differences or names they've never heard before. :rolleyes:

[Susano]

Off the top of my head, the anime settings best suited for on-going campaigns would be:


Appleseed/Dominion/Ghost in the Shell (near future Cyber Hero/Dark Champion police action)
Battle Angel (far future Champions/Cyber Hero/Ninja Hero action/adventure with emphasis on cyborgs)
Blade of the Immortal/Ninja Scroll/Samurai Champloo (all variants of the samurai-era Ninja Hero action/adventure setting)
Bubblegum Crisis (near future Champions/Cyber Hero/Dark Champions police/mercenary/vigilante action)
Cowboy Bebop (near future Dark Champions/Star Hero bounty hunter action/adventure in the solar system)
Hellsing (modern day Champions/Dark Champions/Horror Hero action/adventure with vampires)
Hyper Police (near future Champions/Dark Champions/Fantasy Hero police/bounty hunter action)
Ikkou Tousen/Tenjho Tenge (modern day Champions/Ninja Hero martial arts action/adventure in high school)
Outlaw Star (far future Champions/Dark Champions/Fantasy Hero/Ninja Hero/Star Hero action/adventure in space)
Sakura Taisen (pulp-era Pulp Hero military action with monsters and demons)
Silent Mobius (near-future Cyber Hero/Fantasy Hero police action with monsters and demons)


I based my picks mostly on how expansive the universe was. For example, in Sakura Taisen, it is established there are multiple military bases (Tokyo, Paris, New York) each with 6-8 primary characters working there. Outlaw Star has an entire galaxy (well, a chunk of it anyway) to play with, while Cowboy Bebop has an entire solar system. Most of the settings don't have hard absolutes either, meaning you don't have to worry about the PCs showing up the original characters in the setting (Except for Hellsing. No one, and I do mean no one can be more powerful than Arucard -- but then, any GM who lets a PC in at that power level deserves what's gonna follow.).

Most of these settings also don't have hardwired plot elements (Except for Silent Mobius where a lot of the original plot centers on Kasumi Liqueur), meaning the GM can do what he wills with regards to campaign direction. I also picked settings that don't limit PC choices. For example -- it seems to be nigh impossible to run a Sailor Moon setting and not use the original characters, since there are no more senshi to call up (right?). Same with something like Tenchi Muyo!. There's just Tenchi and his granddad -- it's not like there's a whole colony of Jurai hiding out on Earth. With things like Hellsing, Silent Mobius, and Sakura Taisen one can easily create additional agencies and groups with missions similar to the original ones, and place them in areas unexplored in the original anime/manga.

Anyway, these were just a few suggestions I had.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Gah. Name translations. >.<

Their names in the Japanese version are Ichigo, Mint, Lettuce, Purin (sounds like Pudding, the way they pronounce it) and Zakuro.

Purin is pudding, although the Japnese version looks more like a flan than what an American would refer to as pudding. The title of the fantasy comedy Dekatato Princess ("Suddenly Princess") is a double pun, because the charatcers for "pudding" are used. The heroine just happens to be totally addicted to pudding, to the point that she will wither and die if deprived of it for long periods.

That is not as bad as some of the anime puns I've come up with. "Look out! it's Naga! Hide!"

[Susano]

That is not as bad as some of the anime puns I've come up with. "Look out! it's Naga! Hide!"

Not to self: Kill Michael for that one.

:yes:

[yamamura]

Note to self assist Susano on eliminating the punster..

[Michael Hopcroft]

At the risk of giving ym enemies more ammuntion.....

Back when I was watching raw anime with commericals on it in the mid-'90s with one of my friends, there were commercials for the cookies that we call Koala Yummies. The Japanese refer to them as Koala no Maachin ("Koalas on the March"). They are manufactures by Lote, a leading Japense confectioner. And I knew none of this when I heard those guys at the end of the commerical name the product. I thought they were saying "I love the Koala Machine."

You don't give me an opening like that. "I love the Koala Machine! Push this button, get a koala! Push this button, get another koala! I love the Koala Machine!"

Cross-langauge puns. I will never live them down.

(One of the other in-jokes I had with one of my friends was that there was a time when I had difficulty remembering how to pronounce the name of the city of Orlando, imporant because I was a basketball fan. Whenever I found myself fumbling over a word or a phrase, my friend and I would look at each other and say, with one voice, "Or-LAN-do!")

[Samuraiko]

Another great one for running a long-term campaign in (I think) is the world of SAMURAI 7 (I just got Volume 1 last night, and man it kicks major butt so far).

John nearly flattened me with a pillow for referring to it as ROKUGAN 40K, but it's actually quite good, and the whole world makes for a great setting, I think! (I also think that the initial fight between Kanbe and Kyuzo was a great reference in how my L5R character and John's would be fighting it out...)

Hey, Susano, you're the uber-anime-geek, have you seen it yet? What'dya think?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko

[Susano]

Another great one for running a long-term campaign in (I think) is the world of SAMURAI 7 (I just got Volume 1 last night, and man it kicks major butt so far).

John nearly flattened me with a pillow for referring to it as ROKUGAN 40K, but it's actually quite good, and the whole world makes for a great setting, I think! (I also think that the initial fight between Kanbe and Kyuzo was a great reference in how my L5R character and John's would be fighting it out...)

Hey, Susano, you're the uber-anime-geek, have you seen it yet? What'dya think?

I was able to watch about 1/2 doz. fan-subs and was interested, but heard some reviews/reports on how (animation-wise) it starts to fall apart, and that made me leery of going any further. Oh, and I also discovered Samurai Champloo. If I could rent/borrow it, I'd like to watch it, but I'm not spending any money to buy it.

[yamamura]

Bubblegum Crisis (near future Champions/Cyber Hero/Dark Champions police/mercenary/vigilante action)

Just saw the first 3 episodes of the orginal and all I can say is that it rocks over 2040.... Now I know what I have been missing.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Note to self assist Susano on eliminating the punster..
You know what amazes me? That anyone realizes that was a pun. Naugahyde, a form of artificial upholstery, has not been used commonly for nearly twenty years, and very few people know what it is anymore.

So nobody has been searching for raw Naugha pelts for decades.

[yamamura]

Careful Michael, you are indicating our age;)

[Ura-Maru]

Cause if there's one thing no Slayers series would ever do, it's have Lina's sidekick make a stupid pun.

Never.

Well, hardly ever.

:)

---
Only at plot points!

[Black Omega]

I was able to watch about 1/2 doz. fan-subs and was interested, but heard some reviews/reports on how (animation-wise) it starts to fall apart, and that made me leery of going any further. Oh, and I also discovered Samurai Champloo. If I could rent/borrow it, I'd like to watch it, but I'm not spending any money to buy it.I'm only 9 or so into Samurai Champloo and very much enjoying it. And it's getting to the point where it's likely to become less one shot episodes and more storyline. Or so watching several other series suggests to me. Samurai 7 I have several of, I just never find the time to sit down and watch them. Maybe Labor Day Weekend...of course, I'm also starting to watch Bleach...

[zefiris]

Just saw the first 3 episodes of the orginal and all I can say is that it rocks over 2040.... Now I know what I have been missing.

Ep 7 is probably one of my favorite episode of all times in all animes

[Susano]

You know what amazes me? That anyone realizes that was a pun. Naugahyde, a form of artificial upholstery, has not been used commonly for nearly twenty years, and very few people know what it is anymore.

So nobody has been searching for raw Naugha pelts for decades.

I still recall the Grimjack issue with the same joke/pun.

[Samuraiko]

I was able to watch about 1/2 doz. fan-subs and was interested, but heard some reviews/reports on how (animation-wise) it starts to fall apart, and that made me leery of going any further. Oh, and I also discovered Samurai Champloo. If I could rent/borrow it, I'd like to watch it, but I'm not spending any money to buy it.
Really? Damn. Still gonna get it though.

Personally, I think the biggest letdown I've gotten from an anime in a loooonnnnngggg time was SPIRAL, coz I really did want to find out "WHO ARE THE BLADE CHILDREN?" And it doesn't even answer the question! ARGH!

And I've seen both BGC:2033 and BGC:2040 and I personally (YOMV) prefer 2040. To each his or her own. (Although admittedly John likes the boomers better in 2033, but that's his preference...)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko

[Southern Cross]

I've only seen a few videos of the original Bubblegum Crisis and haven't watched any of the DVDs of the Bubblegum Crisis 2040 series.My cynical self tells me that if it's much easier to find the remake of a series than the original than it's because the new series is greatly inferior to the original.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Cause if there's one thing no Slayers series would ever do, it's have Lina's sidekick make a stupid pun.

Never.

Well, hardly ever.

:)

---
Only at plot points!
I don't know. Naga the Serpent must think all her enemies, most of her allies, and numerous random objects are extremely amusing. Her infamous laugh (which has been known to cause entire cities to be evacuated) is used at every opporutnity, reasonable or otherwise. And there is nothing more firghtening than a gang of ten Nagas bearing down on your, laughing and bouncing and looking like they could do you grevious bodily harm without exhibiting a care in the world.

Except possibly the 200-foot-tall Naga golem, poweered and piloted by the real thing. I bet you didn't think it was possible for fired clay to bounce like that.

And naga is not Lina Inverse's sidekick! She is Line Inevrse's greatest and msot supreme rival! At least that's what she things. To Lina, Naga is a pain in the rear that annoys her and that she cannot seem to shake (although eventually she does, as Naga never appears in the TV series except in brief shots.)

Gourry isn't like that. Lina can (and frequently does) shake Gourry, particularly after he says something stupid. But deep down she likes the guy a lot. And even that is probably too light a term -- you generally don't place the entire universe on a silver platter and offer it in sacrifice just to save a guy if you only like him. But Lina Inverse is incredibly stubbornh and not always very honest with herself, so....

[steriaca]

Cause if there's one thing no Slayers series would ever do, it's have Lina's sidekick make a stupid pun.

Never.

Well, hardly ever.

:)

---
Only at plot points!

Humm...if you think that pun was bad, I once, over in a play by e-mail freeform RPG, played a martial artest who was a master of the Nekoken ("Cat Fist") style. Later, he started learning real magic. Except all he learned was cat related spells. He was Ken Tahaka, Nekomancer.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Humm...if you think that pun was bad, I once, over in a play by e-mail freeform RPG, played a martial artest who was a master of the Nekoken ("Cat Fist") style. Later, he started learning real magic. Except all he learned was cat related spells. He was Ken Tahaka, Nekomancer.
Nio pussyfooting around for this guy, clawing his way to the top.

Since I am already under sentence of death, I can get away with that.

That and I don't live in Fremont, home of Casey, Andy, Mary (who likes to dress up as a cop and put several bullets through anyone who tells a pun in her presence) and the being I refer to as Satan-chan.

[yamamura]

Really? Damn. Still gonna get it though.

Personally, I think the biggest letdown I've gotten from an anime in a loooonnnnngggg time was SPIRAL, coz I really did want to find out "WHO ARE THE BLADE CHILDREN?" And it doesn't even answer the question! ARGH!

And I've seen both BGC:2033 and BGC:2040 and I personally (YOMV) prefer 2040. To each his or her own. (Although admittedly John likes the boomers better in 2033, but that's his preference...)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko

It is the story I like in 2033 better then 2040 especially toward the end where seemed rush, and had to get over while the money held out. It also felt that they had no idea of how to resolve the story line. So 2040 left a bitter taste in my mouth. Another thing I liked about 2033 is that it didn't have that clean Next Generation feeling about it. Things in 2033 feels dark, grimy and capture beautifully the whole Bladerunner thing. Now I will say that over all the characters in 2040 (other Sylvia) seem alot friendlier then their 2033 couterparts. But once again that making the series safe and takes off its edge. But to paraphase Baz Luhrmann, as long as you like it, who cares what others think (this was in regard to the Academy during the Oscars).

[Michael Hopcroft]

Bubblegum Crisis is one of those stories where part of the question of "How do we save the city?" is "Should we bother? Is the city worth saving?" MegaTokyo thematically is very similar to the Gotham City of Batman Begins: a stinking pit with a glittering surface that all but the most quixotic have given up on.

The Knight Sabers, of course, are prettier than Batman, but it's balanced out by the sheer number of dead cops in MegaTokyo.

Arguments of 2033 vs. 2040 are sort of like the arguments over whether the Ghost in the Shell theatrical films are better than Stand Alone Complex. Both deal with the same issue (in a world where almost everyone is at least part machine, does the word "human" still have any real meaning?) in different ways. Stand Alone Complex is especially notable for the tachikoma, a series of robot tanks with artifical intelligences who are used by Section 9 as cannon fodder despite the fact that they are developing feelings and emotions.

[Michael Hopcroft]

And on a completely different note:

Nagisa Ootori, better known to the Japanese public as nagisa Shiratori or simply "Nagisa-chan", is the heroine of the extremely strange comedy I'll Make a Habit of It. She is an example of taking an anime stereotype and turning it around completely on its ear.

About fifteen years old, nagisa is the heri of the Ootori School, a martial arts form that combines techniques from jujutsu and karate. However, her school was so poor that the only students it could attract were forest animals like Kumakichi, the large bear that was nagisa's favotire sparring partner. Nagisa had to find disciples. Her plan was to become an idol.

Despite Nagisa's complete lack of anything approaching musical talent, a well-orchestrated media blitz soon made her the most popular idol iin Japan, selling gazillions of records and selling out stadiums. Unfortuinately, this got her no closer to her goal. she then stunned her manager by chopping off her trademark pony-tails and announcing that she was going to enroll in a "tough" school -- as a guy, under her real name of Nagisa Ootori (she uses the stage name Nagisa Shiratori when performing). Alas, this didn't work either, as the gang at her new school proved to be rather below her caliber.

Then Nagisa's luck changed completely, and her life turned completely upside-down.

The gang from her school told her that a rival school's gang was going to have a brawl with them. She went to the brawl and there found the leader of the rival gang was an incredibly handsome boy named Hiroshi. For Nagisa, it was love -- instant, total and extreme. Unfrotunately, she was dressed as a guy! So all Hiroshi saw was a boyish-looking but extrenmely strong martial artist, who he swore to meet again on the battefield. The next day, Hiroshi turned up at one of Nagisa Shiratori's record signings, and revealed that he was in love with the female Nagisa! So in lvoe with her, in fact, that he proposed to her on the spot. In the process, he also revelaed that he was on a paralell to nagisa's own quest, looking for strong men to be disciples of his family's failing school of martial arts.

Eventually it all got sorted out when they finally fought. Hiroshi caught Nagisa in a hold and -- well, let's just say he found hismelf grabbign something he didn't expect. having discoeverd Nagisa's secret, the lovestruck Hiroshi agreed to keep it.

That's when things started getting weird around Nagisa. the way to happiness was open to her, but standing in her path were rival idols, strange martial arts schools, the presitigous Women's Academy for World Conquest, music-happy gangsters, a classmate with a head like a volcano and a temper to match, and the surprising fact that just about every idol singer in Japan but her had gotten their hands on pet alligators. Nagisa also ended up foiling a plot to re-establish the Tokaguwa Shogunate (it's kidn of hard to explain). worst of all, Nagisa has beooem the target of Red Beetle, a secret cabal which controls the music industries of every country except Japan and is determined to place their own idols on top of the charts.

Not that Nagisa really cares. The most surprising thing about her life is that nobody believes her when she tells the world how untalented and graceless she is, even though she is telling the absolute truth. All of Japan loves Nagisa-chan, forcing her to take refuge at the junior high school on the wrong side of the tracks where nobody is aware that the toughest boy in the school is really the nation's greatest celebrity.

[yamamura]

And on a completely different note:

Nagisa Ootori, better known to the Japanese public as nagisa Shiratori or simply "Nagisa-chan", is the heroine of the extremely strange comedy I'll Make a Habit of It. She is an example of taking an anime stereotype and turning it around completely on its ear.

About fifteen years old, nagisa is the heri of the Ootori School, a martial arts form that combines techniques from jujutsu and karate. However, her school was so poor that the only students it could attract were forest animals like Kumakichi, the large bear that was nagisa's favotire sparring partner. Nagisa had to find disciples. Her plan was to become an idol.

Despite Nagisa's complete lack of anything approaching musical talent, a well-orchestrated media blitz soon made her the most popular idol iin Japan, selling gazillions of records and selling out stadiums. Unfortuinately, this got her no closer to her goal. she then stunned her manager by chopping off her trademark pony-tails and announcing that she was going to enroll in a "tough" school -- as a guy, under her real name of Nagisa Ootori (she uses the stage name Nagisa Shiratori when performing). Alas, this didn't work either, as the gang at her new school proved to be rather below her caliber.

Then Nagisa's luck changed completely, and her life turned completely upside-down.

The gang from her school told her that a rival school's gang was going to have a brawl with them. She went to the brawl and there found the leader of the rival gang was an incredibly handsome boy named Hiroshi. For Nagisa, it was love -- instant, total and extreme. Unfrotunately, she was dressed as a guy! So all Hiroshi saw was a boyish-looking but extrenmely strong martial artist, who he swore to meet again on the battefield. The next day, Hiroshi turned up at one of Nagisa Shiratori's record signings, and revealed that he was in love with the female Nagisa! So in lvoe with her, in fact, that he proposed to her on the spot. In the process, he also revelaed that he was on a paralell to nagisa's own quest, looking for strong men to be disciples of his family's failing school of martial arts.

Eventually it all got sorted out when they finally fought. Hiroshi caught Nagisa in a hold and -- well, let's just say he found hismelf grabbign something he didn't expect. having discoeverd Nagisa's secret, the lovestruck Hiroshi agreed to keep it.

That's when things started getting weird around Nagisa. the way to happiness was open to her, but standing in her path were rival idols, strange martial arts schools, the presitigous Women's Academy for World Conquest, music-happy gangsters, a classmate with a head like a volcano and a temper to match, and the surprising fact that just about every idol singer in Japan but her had gotten their hands on pet alligators. Nagisa also ended up foiling a plot to re-establish the Tokaguwa Shogunate (it's kidn of hard to explain). worst of all, Nagisa has beooem the target of Red Beetle, a secret cabal which controls the music industries of every country except Japan and is determined to place their own idols on top of the charts.

Not that Nagisa really cares. The most surprising thing about her life is that nobody believes her when she tells the world how untalented and graceless she is, even though she is telling the absolute truth. All of Japan loves Nagisa-chan, forcing her to take refuge at the junior high school on the wrong side of the tracks where nobody is aware that the toughest boy in the school is really the nation's greatest celebrity.

Liked the back story Michael, will look at character form later.

[Black Omega]

I've only seen a few videos of the original Bubblegum Crisis and haven't watched any of the DVDs of the Bubblegum Crisis 2040 series.My cynical self tells me that if it's much easier to find the remake of a series than the original than it's because the new series is greatly inferior to the original.Really a matter of preference. I started watching anime because of BGC 2033, since a friend was just getting into anime at the time, watched it and let me know there was a character in it exactly like a PC I had, including the name. So I had to watch the anime.

2040 can do things 2033 could not, like show a little more of how the group started and developed as well as develop relationships more. Things aren't as friendly in 2040, where 2033 they all know and basically trust each other. no matter what, Priss is always a loose cannon.:)

[Heroman]

But if you want to play super-heroic, it doesn't get much weirder than Graviton. Someone built an entire alternate DC Universe around A-Ko as the new Supergirl. And if A-ko ever learns to fly she'll have all the requirements.

As it is A-Ko has the three classic Superman powers: "Faster than a speeding bullet" (runs to school every day at Warp 10 with C-ko flying behind held by the wrist), "more powerful than a locomotive" (I feel sorry for any skyscraper she punches) and "Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" (she certainly has extremely prodigious jumping ability and precision). The only thing stopping her from being the new Supergirl is that she refuses to call herself Supergirl. And her rival B-ko is much closer to a Lex Luthor figure than she realizes (she has the wealth, the skills, the unholy obsessions, and the power armor, with the addition of a percieved romantic rivalry).

Actually, isn't the hinted premise that she in fact is the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman (from the last scene where you actually get to see the parents)?

[Heroman]

Bubblegum Crisis is one of those stories where part of the question of "How do we save the city?" is "Should we bother? Is the city worth saving?" MegaTokyo thematically is very similar to the Gotham City of Batman Begins: a stinking pit with a glittering surface that all but the most quixotic have given up on.

Hrm been a while since I saw that. Isn't the premise of BGC pretty much, for every episode..."BGC member 'X' has friend 'Y'. 'Y' gets into trouble with subtle, evil, gloating person 'Z'. Optional confrontation between 'X' and 'Z' where 'X' realizes something is amiss. 'Y' is violently killed by 'Z'. GBC member 'X' gets mad/pouts. They go nail the killer 'Z'." I don't remember there being much story beyond that to the point that after a while watching it, I generally thought "Hrm...that person is not a BGC person. They are a friend. Boy, are they toast!!!!" It is amazing they knew anyone in the city by the time it was all done... :)



Arguments of 2033 vs. 2040 are sort of like the arguments over whether the Ghost in the Shell theatrical films are better than Stand Alone Complex. Both deal with the same issue (in a world where almost everyone is at least part machine, does the word "human" still have any real meaning?) in different ways. Stand Alone Complex is especially notable for the tachikoma, a series of robot tanks with artifical intelligences who are used by Section 9 as cannon fodder despite the fact that they are developing feelings and emotions.
I liked the first movie far more than the second, but the SAC more. I love the politics and philosophy they draw up, but in the second there were just too many points where I thought to myself "just shoot someone already!!!!"
The series I think help flush out the support cast far better than in the movies.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Actually, isn't the hinted premise that she in fact is the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman (from the last scene where you actually get to see the parents)?
That's part of the joke. A lot of the other jokes make sense when you reali8ze the first film was originally planned to be an episodce of the satiric hentai OVA series Cream Lemon. yes, the original script for Project A-ko was openly pornographic. C-ko, for all her annoying qulaities, has the Essence of Desribaility. EVERYONE wants her. To the aliens she is their Beloved Princess. B-ko fantasises about her eveyr time she pleasures herself, and is determined to make her hers in every sense imaginable. Kei, a guy so ahndsome that he even makes B-ko resonsider her orientiation, also wants to take C-ko into the sack. C-ko is Ayumi-sensei's famorite student despite the fact that she has the intellect of a rather uninformed kindergartner.

Poor A-ko, on the other hand, has to put up with her heroine-worship and eat her cooking.

However, at the very, very end of the film series we see a more grown-=up C-ko who is really cute, not cute-to-the-point-of-parody, and apparently much more emotionally mature as well. It seems likely that C-ko and A-ko will end up as a true couple after that, and C-ko expresses the desire for everyone to put aside their rivalries and become friends, which means that even A-ko and B-ko could reconcile.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I liked the first movie far more than the second, but the SAC more. I love the politics and philosophy they draw up, but in the second there were just too many points where I thought to myself "just shoot someone already!!!!"
The series I think help flush out the support cast far better than in the movies.
The epsidoe of 2nd Gig where the major finds that shop had me nearly in tears. It may have been setting up a story point, but it was to my mind incredibly moving -- a tale of sorrow and loss for the ages.

Have you seen the Tachikoma-kun omakes for SAC? Although they are mostly comic, they are ina way sad too. The Tachikoma really do ahve feelings, needs and desires, yet they are essentially disposable weapons. Are they any less worthy than the heavily-cyberneticized beings referred to as "humanity" in that series? Is a being any less of a being because it was manufactured rather than born?

[Susano]

Are they any less worthy than the heavily-cyberneticized beings referred to as "humanity" in that series? Is a being any less of a being because it was manufactured rather than born?

Welcome to the replicated humans of Kazei 5.

[Susano]

However, at the very, very end of the film series we see a more grown-=up C-ko who is really cute, not cute-to-the-point-of-parody, and apparently much more emotionally mature as well. It seems likely that C-ko and A-ko will end up as a true couple after that, and C-ko expresses the desire for everyone to put aside their rivalries and become friends, which means that even A-ko and B-ko could reconcile.

I never saw C-ko and A-ko becoming a "true couple" in a romantic/sexual sense. A-ko obviously has a liking for guys (at least in the alter films) and C-ko is so childish to have zero-sexual inclination that I can tell.

A-ko & B-ko on the other hand....

:D

[Susano]

Actually, isn't the hinted premise that she in fact is the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman (from the last scene where you actually get to see the parents)?

Actually, if you frame-by-frame at the every end of Project A-Ko you see mom (who looks like Linda Carter as Diana Prince) pull a blue outfit with the edge of a big red "S" out of the laundry, while dad looks over the top of the Daily Planet.

And yes, as per my previous comment, B-ko's dad does remind me of Tony Stark, right down to the mustache and ownership of a huge industrial concern.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Actually, if you frame-by-frame at the every end of Project A-Ko you see mom (who looks like Linda Carter as Diana Prince) pull a blue outfit with the edge of a big red "S" out of the laundry, while dad looks over the top of the Daily Planet.

And yes, as per my previous comment, B-ko's dad does remind me of Tony Stark, right down to the mustache and ownership of a huge industrial concern.
You'd never see Tony Stark put on a swimsuit like that, though, at least not on camera. Apparentrly Daitokuji-san is the sort of doting father that scares a lot of people, and there is a throwaway gag in which he and B-ko are framed more like lovers than like father and daughter.

If you think about Project A-ko too hard, you will go mad. Utterly, completely mad.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I never saw C-ko and A-ko becoming a "true couple" in a romantic/sexual sense. A-ko obviously has a liking for guys (at least in the alter films) and C-ko is so childish to have zero-sexual inclination that I can tell.

A-ko & B-ko on the other hand....

:D
You must be one of those people who think the best couple in the history of American animation is Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.

Although getting Harley out of that relationship with the Joker would do her a world of good..... hmmm......

Isn't ironic that the least dysfunctional couple in all of animation is Sailors Uranus and Neptune? Compared to them, Usagi and Mamoru are amateurs at this love thing.

[Susano]

You must be one of those people who think the best couple in the history of American animation is Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.

Considering I never watched B:ATS, I never really cared much one way or the other.

[steriaca]

Isn't ironic that the least dysfunctional couple in all of animation is Sailors Uranus and Neptune? Compared to them, Usagi and Mamoru are amateurs at this love thing.

Acualy, if you think of it, Usagi and Mamoru ARE amateurs. I mean, in there past life, at there most sereous moment in there relationship, thay were killed (Prince Endymon, Murdered by Queen Berly, with Princess Serenity jumping into the beam to die with her prince).

[Michael Hopcroft]

There is one phrase that both Usagi and her cat have obviously thought at one point, as a consequence of magical tiem travel:

"She's my what?!?"

which implies that sometime in the future both of them will either a.) finally get it right or b.) forget their protection. (when i was involved with the AVA community I wrote a script for someone in which Artemis proposed a romantic night out: "You, me, a dead fish. It'll be perfect." Ah, sapient feline live.)

By the way, there's a nice little riff on the magical-girl paradigm in the new series Ask Dr. Rin! which I thought was amusing. A middle-school girl with the power of Feng Shui secretly runs a website to give advice, but can't advise herself properly. Strangely enough, her castings are alwasy right, but in her case they often work in unexpected ways. Unfortunately for her, someone with their own mysic powers is trying to get at her -- and seems willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. So the comic premise (mystcially powerful girl who is inept in her own life) is crossed with a more serious adventure saga.

[Southern Cross]

Sounds interesting....

[Heroman]

Have you seen the Tachikoma-kun omakes for SAC? Although they are mostly comic, they are ina way sad too. The Tachikoma really do ahve feelings, needs and desires, yet they are essentially disposable weapons. Are they any less worthy than the heavily-cyberneticized beings referred to as "humanity" in that series? Is a being any less of a being because it was manufactured rather than born?
True, but they do serve a higher purpose of introducing the question of who actually has ghosts in the age where organic and inorganic are freely traded. They themselves, I believe, resolve that they do indeed have ghosts and not just developed feelings. They are never really just thrown at the enemy, they actually are used quite tactically but are expected to be heavier in the firefight due to their armoring and nimbleness. I would think that any person equally powerful would be used the same though yes, the big difference is that few feel remorse when they get hit. I do wonder if it also had any correlation to hired mercenaries and how they may be considered 'disposable'.

One thing I must have missed...when they were taken away, was it ever explained why they were brought back? Were they 'fixed'?

[Heroman]

However, at the very, very end of the film series we see a more grown-=up C-ko who is really cute, not cute-to-the-point-of-parody, and apparently much more emotionally mature as well. It seems likely that C-ko and A-ko will end up as a true couple after that, and C-ko expresses the desire for everyone to put aside their rivalries and become friends, which means that even A-ko and B-ko could reconcile.

Hrm, I really never got the feel that A/C-Ko were a couple. C-Ko, while having the "Essence of Desribaility" also has the "Essence Of Naitivity/Innocence". Hers is much more of a big sister/best friend worship at most. I think A-Ko's lack of interest in boys merely comes from no time between C-Ko's need for attention and B-Ko's rampages.

Related, Blue/Gray was a pretty interesting twist on the 3 characters.

[Michael Hopcroft]

True, but they do serve a higher purpose of introducing the question of who actually has ghosts in the age where organic and inorganic are freely traded. They themselves, I believe, resolve that they do indeed have ghosts and not just developed feelings. They are never really just thrown at the enemy, they actually are used quite tactically but are expected to be heavier in the firefight due to their armoring and nimbleness. I would think that any person equally powerful would be used the same though yes, the big difference is that few feel remorse when they get hit. I do wonder if it also had any correlation to hired mercenaries and how they may be considered 'disposable'.

One thing I must have missed...when they were taken away, was it ever explained why they were brought back? Were they 'fixed'?
One thing that is lost in the translation is that when the Tachiokoa return at the start of 2nd Gig, they introduce themselves with the Japanese word that is used when meeting someone for the first time, implying that the government had wpied their memories. Batou in particular took that very hard, and the reaction of the viewers I talked to was the kind of horror you egt when reading about someone doing something really emotionally nasty to soemone.

The implication is that sentient life in geenral has little to no meaning to the people who employ Section 9 and the society they protect. the tragedy of Major Kusanagi is that she often finds herself fighting on behalf of people who are unworthy fo her protection, both in terms of capability and in terms of morality.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Hrm, I really never got the feel that A/C-Ko were a couple. C-Ko, while having the "Essence of Desribaility" also has the "Essence Of Naitivity/Innocence". Hers is much more of a big sister/best friend worship at most. I think A-Ko's lack of interest in boys merely comes from no time between C-Ko's need for attention and B-Ko's rampages.

Related, Blue/Gray was a pretty interesting twist on the 3 characters.
Reminds me of an interesting cultural question that might come up in some anime-related games.

One of the hot shows on the current fansub scene is Honey & Clover, a comedy drama set at University. The female lead is hegu-chan, a frresman art prodigy who is, in all other respect completely childlike in appearance and perosnality. She is even about as tall as a pre-pubescent girl. Here's the kicker -- the girl is actually eighteen years old. Yet if you put her and a fifth-grader side by side and dressed them the same way, you could not tell which was older.

The question is this: at least one of the male characters is in love with Hegu. Does that make him a pedophile?

(Actual, subsantial age differences pose another cultural problem for American anime fans. Characters like Kaho Mizuki and Namura-sensei are much more despised by American fans than Japanese fans. Of course, eevryone despises Kimura, but he's such a piece of work that you're supposed to hate him.)

[Susano]

The question is this: at least one of the male characters is in love with Hegu. Does that make him a pedophile?)

Is it just her, and any girl that looks like her?

In other words, if he is turned on by women/girls who all look to be 5th graders, then yes. But if he's fallen for her due to being around her in college, but otherwise likes women who look 18+, then no.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Is it just her, and any girl that looks like her?

Just her. Hegu-chan has a great gift and a buetiful spirit. She just looks like a child, and sometimes acts like one.


In other words, if he is turned on by women/girls who all look to be 5th graders, then yes. But if he's fallen for her due to being around here in college, but otherwise likes women who look 18+, then no.
This coulkd pose problems down the road, as Hegu has a cousin who is a teacher at that school and who still thinks of her as a vulnerable child. Much like how I, as an older brother, had a hard time accepting that my little sister Alida had grown up, even when she was a teenager (and, to put it bluntly, a knockout).

[Major Tom]

You'd never see Tony Stark put on a swimsuit like that, though, at least not on camera. Apparentrly Daitokuji-san is the sort of doting father that scares a lot of people, and there is a throwaway gag in which he and B-ko are framed more like lovers than like father and daughter.

If you think about Project A-ko too hard, you will go mad. Utterly, completely mad.


Just like trying to apply logic to the plot of a Hollywood movie will ultimately
get your ticket to ride the Crazy Train punched by the conductor.


Major Tom :D

[Michael Hopcroft]

Just like trying to apply logic to the plot of a Hollywood movie will ultimately get your ticket to ride the Crazy Train punched by the conductor.


Major Tom :D
How mad will you go from over-analyzing David Bowie lyrics? And isn't it odd that the first four letters of the word analysis happened to turn out to be what they were?

[Major Tom]

How mad will you go from over-analyzing David Bowie lyrics? And isn't it odd that the first four letters of the word analysis happened to turn out to be what they were?


Who said anything about over-analyzing David Bowie lyrics?? The last I heard,
Crazy Train was an Ozzy Osbourne song.


Major Tom :confused:

[Michael Hopcroft]

Who said anything about over-analyzing David Bowie lyrics?? The last I heard,
Crazy Train was an Ozzy Osbourne song.


All I can say is that I'm a hippopatamus, and I've got noodles on my back.

[Mutant for Hire]

Giant Robo is worthy of a recommendation here. The Experts of Justice and the Magnificent Ten are some of the greatest superheroes and supervillains respectively in any medium. They just ooze style and class, even the villains. Especially the villains.

While it does have giant robots in it, they're far from the focus of the series. And for that matter, there are no underage schoolgirls in uniforms either.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Giant Robo is worthy of a recommendation here. The Experts of Justice and the Magnificent Ten are some of the greatest superheroes and supervillains respectively in any medium. They just ooze style and class, even the villains. Especially the villains.

While it does have giant robots in it, they're far from the focus of the series. And for that matter, there are no underage schoolgirls in uniforms either.
Along those lines, there's The Big O, whose look seemed to be openly modeled on that of Batman: TAS. Whikle Giant Robo is, for the msot part, high-class adventure, The Big O attempted to do seomthing ore serious in its concepts (beyond a ceretain point nobody has a past, and Roger Smith is trying to figure out why).

[PhantomGM6101]

I'm sorry, but I'm a purist when it comes to my magical girl shows. The main reason I haven't seen any Tokyo Mew mew is that it is not available here in its original form. American Sailor Moon, Cardcaprots, and whatever they are going to do to Ojamaho Doremi tend to get my goat faster than any other topic you can mention, even though I have no objection to dubs that do not do substantial aletrations in setting, location, theme or content.

Idol/actress is a popular cover for magical girls, actually. In the new live-action Pretty Guaridan Sailor Moon, Minako-chan actually is a superstar idol (a status she only aspires to in the anime) in addition to being the mysterious superheroine Sailor V. Apparently something really bad happens to her near the end of the series, but I haven't seen that far.

Watching a live-action Sailor Moon with a blonde wig on the heroine form only and Power Rangers-level visual effects can be very odd. But in a sense it reutrns the franchise to its roots, as Naoko Takeuchi was actually attempting to combine the sensisbilties of the magical girl series previous with those of sentai. So PGSM is a throwback, somewhat updated to 2004, to what she originally had in mind.
Saw the clips not the whole series.
BTW as for Ojamaho Doremi,it's being imported as Magical Doremiwhich will premere this fall in 4Kids TV.:rolleyes:

[SKJAM!]

Saw the clips not the whole series.
BTW as for Ojamaho Doremi,it's being imported as Magical Doremiwhich will premere this fall in 4Kids TV.:rolleyes:


Judging from the preview episode, Doremi is less viciously cut than Mew Mew, but then it's aimed at a younger crowd. While the name changes grate, a nice touch is that the magic shop is now named after all three girls, rather than just the leader.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Judging from the preview episode, Doremi is less viciously cut than Mew Mew, but then it's aimed at a younger crowd. While the name changes grate, a nice touch is that the magic shop is now named after all three girls, rather than just the leader.
The Arsitocrats aired on BUY-TV would be less viciously cut than Tokyo Mew Mew was.

But then we've had experience of that with Card Captor Sakura. But at least we finally got the original on DVD, giving us all the lovely little CLAMP touches and the marvel of marvels that is Tomoyo Daidouji in her full glory. With Tokyo Mew Mew and Ojamaho Doremi part of the license is that the roiginals will never be released in North America. That's why we haven't seen subtitled Yu-Gi-Oh! or One Piece.

[Southern Cross]

What kind of idiot thought up that license agreement? If there's one thing that anime fans complain about,it's that their favourite show has been brutally censored.
(Just like British horror fans,only with even more justification).

[Southern Cross]

And just like I was just now.Evidently a certain five -letter word beginning with "b" isn't acceptable to the board censorware.

[SKJAM!]

That's why we haven't seen subtitled Yu-Gi-Oh! or One Piece.

Actually, uncut subtitled YGO episodes have been released on DVD here in the states. But only the first six episodes or so, and they really didn't do a good job of publicizing it, so sales have been poor.

[Michael Hopcroft]

What kind of idiot thought up that license agreement? If there's one thing that anime fans complain about,it's that their favourite show has been brutally censored.
(Just like British horror fans,only with even more justification).
They named their company "#Kids Entertainment", and that pretty much sums up their attitude. Anything they touch must be rendered completely safe for the North American juvenile market. That means airbrushing out cigarettes whenever needed (the Japanese have a much less stringent anti-smoking taboo), not translating the Pokemon episodes in which James sprouts bigger breasts than Jessie, and -- mot importantly -- doing everything possibly to keep the image of their characters as pristine as possible. The otaku community does not matter to them, except as a possible threat.

There were indeed bitter complaints when 4Kids went on their current spree of licensing and editing new stuff before the fans really had a chance to lay onto it.

[SKJAM!]

Shonen Jump USA #34 has a preview of Death Note, which is nicely creepy.

Basic Premise: A bored Shinigami (death spirit) named Ryuk drops a Death Note, a magical notebook that kills anyone whose name you write in it (With a set of rules, of course) into the human world to see what happens.

A bored teenager named Light (Raito) Yagami finds the Death Note, and decides to try it out. He's smart, so he finds someone who "deserves it" and can't be traced to him to test the notebook. Once he establishes that it does in fact work, Light comes up with a plan to improve the world.

Ryuk is very impressed by Light's plan...though not because of its brilliance, but because it's fun to watch what will happen.

Naturally, subsequent chapters feature a number of bizzare twists.

Light would be best used as an NPC mystery for the heroes to solve. Strangely enough, this is one instance where having a Secret ID is a good thing, because he can only kill you if he knows your name and face.

[Southern Cross]

So what exactly does Light need to do in order to use the Death Note?

[SKJAM!]

So what exactly does Light need to do in order to use the Death Note?

I'll just quote the manga (with comments in parentheses) here:

I. The human whose name is written in this note shall die. (The Death Note does not work on Shinigami, and presumably any other non-human.)

II. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. (And presumably, it has to be the person's "real name".)

III. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. (The limits of how ludicrous you can make the cause of death are unknown at this point in the manga.)

IV. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.

V. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds. (This appears merely to be for bookkeeping purposes.)

[Southern Cross]

THAnks for the info,SKJAM!.It was quite helpful.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Judging from the preview episode, Doremi is less viciously cut than Mew Mew, but then it's aimed at a younger crowd. While the name changes grate, a nice touch is that the magic shop is now named after all three girls, rather than just the leader.
Speakiing of Ojamaho Doremi, a series I rather like, I recently got to download a short (25 minute) theatrical film made to coincide with one of the later seasonhs. The group has grown to five (including one girl, Momo, who spent a lot of time in America and sprinkles her speech with English phrases).

Cosmic issues are not the thing for this series -- the little witches use their magic to deal with the real-world problems of their friends and others. And the movie, which involves a visit to Doremi's grandparents in the country, is actually a bittersweet story in which a local legend causes one of the girls to confront a painful part of her past -- and it ends with intonations of a greater tragedy that is going to befall soon and that no amount of magic power is going to cause to go away. (It is on a personal scale, and not a cosmic one, but it's still a very sad ending to the film.)

[Michael Hopcroft]

I'll just quote the manga (with comments in parentheses) here:

I. The human whose name is written in this note shall die. (The Death Note does not work on Shinigami, and presumably any other non-human.)

II. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. (And presumably, it has to be the person's "real name".)

III. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. (The limits of how ludicrous you can make the cause of death are unknown at this point in the manga.)
I've seen come clarification of that. What you suggest has to be physically possible in the time allowed -- not neccesarily easy, just possible. When Light tried to have someone who was in a jail cell in Tokyo expire at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it didn't work.

Of course, the guy still died. Just not the exact way Light specified.

Also, Light can dictate the actions of the victim in the period immediately before his death. He has used it to leave taunting notes for his adversaries, as well as to cause enemies to betray their comrades so that he can kill them too.

Lovely piece of work, Light Yagami.