Anime Champions?

[Susano]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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

 

Quite.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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' date=' 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.[/quote']

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Yes' date=' 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. [/quote']

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

The great thing is' date=' everything Hero does wrong when it’s trying to be realistic is actually right for anime. Especially from the mid to late 80’s.[/quote']

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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)' date=' "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).[/quote']

 

And a dad who looks a lot like Tony Stark.

[Guest Major Tom]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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

[PhantomGM2602]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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

Touche`Du, Touche`

Another example of a super team[if you can call them that] are the

Mew Mews from Cafe Mew Mew,or 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?

[SKJAM!]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

Susano is right there Alice' date=' 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 [i']Bounce Ko-gal[/i] 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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

And if you want to go down the Horror Hero route' date='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).[/quote']

 

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

[PhantomGM2602]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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.

[Susano]

Re: Anime Champions?

 

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

 

1. Appleseed/Dominion/Ghost in the Shell (near future Cyber Hero/Dark Champion police action)
   
2. Battle Angel (far future Champions/Cyber Hero/Ninja Hero action/adventure with emphasis on cyborgs)
   
3. Blade of the Immortal/Ninja Scroll/Samurai Champloo (all variants of the samurai-era Ninja Hero action/adventure setting)
   
4. Bubblegum Crisis (near future Champions/Cyber Hero/Dark Champions police/mercenary/vigilante action)
   
5. Cowboy Bebop (near future Dark Champions/Star Hero bounty hunter action/adventure in the solar system)
   
6. Hellsing (modern day Champions/Dark Champions/Horror Hero action/adventure with vampires)
   
7. Hyper Police (near future Champions/Dark Champions/Fantasy Hero police/bounty hunter action)
   
8. Ikkou Tousen/Tenjho Tenge (modern day Champions/Ninja Hero martial arts action/adventure in high school)
   
9. Outlaw Star (far future Champions/Dark Champions/Fantasy Hero/Ninja Hero/Star Hero action/adventure in space)
   
10. Sakura Taisen (pulp-era Pulp Hero military action with monsters and demons)
    
11. 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.