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Messages - frizbon
1
« on: July 27, 2003, 06:04:00 pm »
Continuing his research of his new Ifurita unit, Jinnai attmepted to use his fledgling psychic powers to read her subconcious mind... only to find it a complete and total blank... the horror... the horror...
2
« on: July 21, 2003, 01:52:00 pm »
As you can see, Makoto, ever since I got this stud in my right ear, I have replaced you as the biggest pimp at Shinonome high school. This letter from Hayashi of the Science fiction club
"Umm... he's a guy"
What...? Jinnai glances at his assembled letters, "These are all from guys... NOOOOOOO"
3
« on: May 22, 2003, 10:04:00 am »
Wonder twin powers activate... wonder twin powers activate.... Makoto, why the heck aren't you helping.
"gasp... ran here... from last scene... so tired... gonna barf..."
4
« on: May 24, 2003, 03:26:00 am »
For the first time Jinnai realized just what Diva had been hinting at for so long.
5
« on: May 24, 2003, 02:45:00 am »
I 've almost got it... just a few steps more... finally after over 10,000 years I 've found a change of clothes.
6
« on: August 01, 2003, 09:50:18 pm »
OVA Jinnai all the way.
As much flak as OVA 2 and alt world get, few things can match the joy I got out of watching Jinnai in his Bugrom suit. Why it was there, I don't know... but it was still darn amusing.
7
« on: July 26, 2003, 01:46:27 am »
I like Tv version, don't get me wrong. She's cute and bubbly and really kicks but when she's not paying attention, much like my younger sibs with video games. However, OVA ifurita does have any of those nasty memory problems, and even if she didn't like what she was doing, she was still pretty darn good at it (nuking towns, cities, civilizations, etc.) Besides, OVA Ifurita would eventually get dimension hopping powers, which could prove quite useful in a battle between the two.
I can see it now:
TV: We're like... supposed to fight or something... giggle...
OVA: No, I don't think so. Here go spend some time in the Alternative World of suck.
OVA beams TV off to Cretaria, then sits down to eat tacos. Why tacos... why not tacos....
Admittedly that made no sense, but ehh, I'm not going to let that get in the way of bad idea.
8
« on: July 24, 2003, 10:36:20 am »
To paraphrase the tick:
Makoto has Carey Grant Karma, because he always prevails, whereas Jinnai has Mussilini Karma. Everything was going great until he had a really really bad day.
In short, Jinnai might prove some difficulty to Makoto, but in the end, in a physical fight, Jinnai would be going down. Saddly I have absolutely no reasoning for this that has not already been mentioned so...
9
« on: July 23, 2003, 01:17:14 am »
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their help. With a little luck, I didn't mess it up too bad, and it will be on the pike sometime next month.
Anyways, thanks again.
10
« on: July 21, 2003, 07:14:12 pm »
Once I had figured out to place links in the article I was going to place a link in reference to the non official translation as well as a spot in the attributions section. This website is one of the best sources of El Hazard related materials I have found on the web, and despite it being listed on Anipike already, I thought that mentioning it again would be only appropriate. To that end, I would like to mention the version of the game you have put out, but am unsure of how to go about it.
Do you have any suggestions?
11
« on: July 21, 2003, 05:59:58 pm »
So that it, the paradox resolved, nothing more to see here, right? Wrong, El Hazard proved too popular, and more importantly, too profitable to be let go quite so easily, and so a number of continuations and retellings were produced. The first of these was the Wanderers, a TV retelling of the events of the first OVA. Roughly around the same time, a Manga version of El Hazard was released, retelling the events of the OVA yet again, but in a slightly different way. Next the second OVA series was released, continuing the canonical tales of the El Hazard cast. Later a video game retelling of El Hazard was released for the now defunct Sega Saturn. Finally, a third installment to the OVA continuity was made in 1998, in the form of a 13 episode TV series entitled, El Hazard: The Alternative World. The following are brief summaries of the various continuations and retellings
El Hazard: The Magnificent World 2
It finally happened, Miz Mishtal got Fujisawa dead drunk one night and told him he had proposed to her in the morning. However as the wedding date approaches, Fujisawa finds himself with cold feet. Eventually he ditches Miz at the altar and leaves to loose himself in mountain climbing. It's a good thing he does too, because while the rest of the cast is searching for him, they just happen to stumble upon Jinnai's latest evil plot.
It seems that Jinnai has found himself yet another Evil Demon Goddess, and while she claims to have no real power herself, Kalia does promised to lead Jinnai to really nifty new toy. Kalia is, of course, lying through her teeth. She is more than capable of defeating the Ifurita unit and her , Ifurita's, master Yurius who guards the weapon to which she is leading Jinnai.
When our plucky band of heroes accidentally collide with Jinnai, Kalia, and the missing Fujisawa at the site of the weapon, the ensuing chaos allows Kalia to activate it. It is then revealed that the weapon, The Trigger of Destruction is actually a doomsday device, meant to negate all of existence. Now Makoto and company must sneak aboard the trigger, rescue Miz from it's innards, and stop Kalia before she brings about the end of his adopted World.
For all intents and purposes, the second OVA series is very similar to the first, wacky hijinx and characters abounding. The only real difference was a slight change in animation style. In the second OVA , the characters had a tendency to become a bit more super deformed and the character designs were changed. As the OVA was made after the Wanderers TV series, it seems that many elements of the Wanderer's character design were incorporated, resulting in characters that were, on the whole, simpler in design and in some cases less appealing.
El Hazard: The Alternative World
With Miz Mishtal happily married, the time has come for someone else to take up the mantle of Water Priestess. During Quawool Towles induction ceremony, her use of the lamp of water causes a bizarre reaction with one of Makoto's ancient artifacts, most of which were scavenged from the Eye of God. As a result, several of the people present at the ceremony, the entire cast among them are transported to an entirely different dimension.
They arrive in the crumbling nation of Cretaria, a once great empire whose times of glory are long since past. With troubles from nations abroad, Bugrom tunneling in from below, and an incompetent emperor on top, the whole cast is dropped in the middle of a trully dire situation. Of course thats not the least of their problems, with a demented dimensional priest popping up at odd moments and overly suspicious military officers reading them the riot act. Makoto must now figure out how to survive in this strange new world, and get back to his newly adopted home, but Makoto hasn't to date had much luck figuring out how to get back to his original home, much less anywhere else...
The final installment of El Hazard produced to date consists of a thirteen episode tv series that is quite a departure from everything which has come before. The series seems to take a turn for the serious, with the Thousand and one nights setting of El Hazard replaced with the Soviet Bloc style of Cretaria. Generally the story is quite a bit more subdued, and the cast spends most of their time divided into smaller subgroups. Even the animation seems to be darker in tone, making much less use of the bright colors which were a hallmark of earlier installments in the series.
What is really noticable about this installment of El Hazard is the haphazardness that seems to have gone into it's creation. The story proceeds at almost a snail's pace for most of the series before rushing into an ending that resolves little and seems poorly thought out. Whole plot threads and their accompanying characters are unresolved and in some cases dissapear completely. It is unknown whether the series was planned this way or if some problem occurred in its production, but for all intents and purposes this is the series that ended the El Hazard Franchise.
El Hazard: The Wanderers
This 26 episode series retold the events of the first OVA series in a slightly different way. Perhaps the most notable differences were the fact that Makoto's double, Fatora, was no longer around and that Rune Venus was now roughly the same age as Makoto. Ifurita's role as tragic heroine was excised and replaced with that of comic relief. With the age gap gone, and Ifurita removed as a serious contender, Rune Venus became the main love interest for Makoto. Also MIA were the entire Phantom Tribe, and so Nanami gained her brother's ability to communicate with the Bugrom instead.
Given that this was a TV series, much of the animation was watered down, with simpler character designs and less fluid motion. Additionally, much of the risque humor and T and A were completely removed to make the show more accessible to younger viewers. Still the show is amusing, and it remains fairly true to the mostly light hearted mood of the original OVA.
El Hazard: The Magnificent World the Manga
This Manga version of El Hazard was originally released in 1995 and was rereleased in 2002 by Viz. Written and illustrated Hidetomo Tsubura, it presents yet another view of the events of the first OVA, this time in a continuity that is an odd amalgamation of both the OVA and The Wanderers. Makoto retains both his science wiz skills and his techno manipulation, though the absence of Fatora spares him from crossdressing. Alliele is still about though, remaining true to her roots as a tail chasing guide. Rune Venus is in the running as a potential love interest again, but she proves no match to the tragic might of Ifurita. The Phantom Tribe also make a return in a big way. They now control an additional two Demon Gods, who prove able sparring partners for Ifurita.
Of all of the retellings, this one is probably closest to the original OVA in terms of actual events and outcome. Graphically, the characters most resemble their OVA counterparts, with the exception of Alliele and Rune Venus. Still there are a few differences, Mr. Tsubura drew many of the characters a bit bustier than they appear elsewhere. Additonally, Tsubura's comic has a tendency to use quite a few SD sequences, which are actually rather funny to read. A well done series of comics, but probably of little interest to anyone not already a devotee of the franchise.
El Hazard: The Magnificent World The Sega Saturn game
Released in 1998, this Saturn game plays out as a kind of 'choose your own adventure' story. The player gets to make decisions throughout the game which will affect the overall outcome of the story. As a refreshing change from the lack of any real resolution provided by the OVA continuity, the proper choices in this game will allow Makoto to end up with any of his female admirers. Storywise, this continuity is most similar to The Wanderers, with elements of the OVA sprinkled in. Young Rune is here, as is comedic Ifurita. Fatora does exist in this continuity, but only shows up for a cameo appearance. The Phantom Tribe appears yet again to meddle with Eye of God. As an added bonus however, an extra priestess, Ishiel, has been added. This gives some incentive for even the most jaded of El Hazard fans to take a look.
The game's visual style is virtually identical to the Wanderers TV series. It should be noted that game features original voice acting, animation, and music as well. Still the fact that it was only released on a now dead system, only in Japanese, proves to be quite the barrier to the common player. That is why a recent effort was undertaken to produce a PC version of a fan translation of the game. Regardless, much like the manga series, unless one is already a fan of the series, the game alone will probably not captivate you.
Conclusions:
Since the first OVA, El Hazard's greatest strength has been its characters. While no single aspect of anyone character is particularly unique, they are combined in innovative ways to create a synthesis that is more than the sum of its parts. Some of the main themes which lurked underneath the surface of the plot were best expressed by the character that embodied them. Mr. Fujisawa, for example, gained superhuman strength only when enduring the rigors of clean living. This served not only as a useful plot device, but also a humorous warning of the dangers of smoking and drinking.
For the most part, all of the El Hazard series are character driven. Regardless of the circumstances into which the cast is placed, the production remains amusing thanks to the interactions between the cast. Unfortunately, the large cast size limits the amount of screen time anyone character gets, and so the average viewer will find him / herself spending most of the time waiting to see their personal favorite make an appearance. However, let it not be said that there are no plot elements deeper than character interaction.
Perhaps the most developed theme in the El Hazard franchise is the danger presented by weapons of mass destruction, and the fragility of a peace maintained by their use as detterants. Perhaps more interestingly, another well developed theme is the danger presented by simple misunderstanding. More times than I can conveniently count, El Hazard's greatest danger was a complete and total lack of understanding of the nature of whatever new threat came about. The Bugrom hordes and the human alliance could never come to a complete peace for the simple reason that they could not understand each other. The Phantom Tribe was persecuted by the other races of El Hazard, simply because they were different, etc.
Visuals:7/10
Visually, El Hazard peaked in OVA series 1, with its interesting costume designs, lush backdrops, and fluid animation. The color choice was superb, with bright almost pastel colors that fit well with the mood of the series and did not look drab or boring. The backdrops were themselves, highly detailed and quite beautiful to look at, and showed that a great deal of detail went into each shot. In general, each of the other productions were still quite good, but did not match the visual tour de force provided by the first one.
Audio: 8.5/10
The audio in El Hazard has been fairly consistently well done, with pieces that set the mood for the scenes but do not overpower the action. Ranging from symphonic to synthesizer the music has remained fresh and different, throughout the many continuities. As for the voice acting, the japanese tracks are superbly done both technically and dramatically. However, the english tracks are something unique: they are both exceedingly humorous and exceedingly unfaithful to the japanese script, if the subtitles are anything to go by. Still it is refreshing to have an enjoyable English dubbing, and I recommend that anyone watching the series try out both tracks.
Subtitles: 5.0
Well timed and functional, but a bit bland. Sometimes the subs don't seem to correspond to the action on screen, or certain lines don't seem emphasized enough.
Overall 9/10
To conclude, El Hazard, overall is not a perfect set of series, but it is an amusing and well crafted one. I would strongly recommend the first OVA to anyone, and would recommend the rest of the franchise to anyone who enjoyed the first OVA. With it's mixture of comedy, action, T & A, and some fairly interesting sci-fi elements, El Hazard is sure to have something to entertain almost anyone.
Well, thats all I got. Now to edit it, with the suggestions I get and send it off. But first, to go and put some ice on my wrists. As I mentioned before, I appreciate any and all help / suggestions/ corrections anyone could offer, and I thank you all for putting up with me so far.
A small attributions bit will be attached to the end as soon as I can figure out the proper formating for URLs, anyways... off to get some ice.
12
« on: July 21, 2003, 12:08:30 pm »
Okay, so I'm a bit behind schedule, curse my need for sleep, but I've found a way around that, thanks to the local Drug stores clearance sale on coke.
My thanks for everyone's help. You have been most kind, and if I can ever return the favor let me know. Anyway here is a bit more of the article:
It began, ironically enough, with Tenchi Muyo. Director Hiroki Hayashi and screenwriter Tsukimura Ryoe, met while working on Tenchi in 1995 and decided to work together on a new animation project that would share many similarities with the Tenchi franchise. Mainly, it would feature a single male protagonist, who would attract a number of female companions. There were of course differences, but enough similarities existed for the two to become almost sibling projects.
The problem inherent in discussing El Hazard is not the series' length, for many shows are longer. The difficulty lies in the fact that El Hazard is not monolithic; the franchise consists of several different realities, all featuring roughly the same cast and setting. If one is conservative in one's estimation, at present, there are no less than five separate, self contained, El Hazard story lines. As the OVA story line came first, is the most developed, and has served as the general basis for all the other story line, it would be fair to say that it is canonical. However, to make matters even worse, there are many, director Hiroki Hayashi among them, who would say that only the first OVA series is in fact canon.
All of the above being true, combined with the recent release of the DVD box sets of El Hazard: The Alternative World (TV series 2, but third series in the OVA's continuity) and El Hazard: The Wanderer's (TV Series 1), it seems that a brief summary of the events of the original OVA series might not be amiss, as it is from these events the majority of existing El Hazard storylines spring.
IN THE BEGINNING
Makoto Mizuhara was staying late after school one day when time froze. Guided by a mysterious force, he made his way to the ancient ruins buried underneath his school. There he met a beautiful woman whom he had never met before, though she seemed to know him. After a rather cryptic exchange, she drop-kicks, figuratively any ways, him through time and space; his destination being El Hazard. However, Makoto was not the only one to take the trip. Other hapless member of his high school were carried along for the ride. These included his rival, Katsuhiko Jinnai, Jinnai's sister Nanami, and Makoto's teacher Mr. Fujisawa.
El Hazard, the magnificent world, is a land on the brink of war, and has been so for a very long time. In ancient times, civilizations much more advanced than those currently inhabiting El Hazard existed. Little is known about them, in a large part owing to what is known about them: they waged terrible war on each other. All sides built weapons of mass destruction, and all sides used these weapons. As a result, El Hazard's present landscape is littered with unpleasant reminders of the past: ancient ruins, sealed weapons, eon's long legacies of hatred, etc.
THAT'S NO MOON.
El Hazard's two largest factions consist of the Terran Alliance and the Bugrom Empire. These two groups are separated by the Holy River of God, which presents a geographic barrier, but only an inconvenient one. The bugrom would love to invade, but the Alliance holds them in check through their control of the eye of god, perhaps the most destructive of the ancient super weapons. Proving once again that it's a mad MAD world, the two have been locked into a stalemate for quite sometime. However, the phantom tribe is currently agitating the two sides against each other. Having kidnapped one of the princesses required to control the Eye, they have now unbalanced the fragile peace. As such, the El Hazard that Makoto and company arrive in is a powder keg, and their arrival put the flame to the fuse.
Katsuhiko Jinnai materializes deep within Bugrom territory and soon discovers he has a singular gift, the ability to understand the giant insects. He quickly capitalizes on this fact, convincing the ruler of the Bugrom, queen Diva, that he is in fact a holy messenger sent to lead the Bugrom to victory in battle. He thus assumes effective control of the Bugrom forces, and starts the war.
Meanwhile, Makoto and Mr. Fujisawa arrive just in time to save Princess Rune Venus from a Bugrom contingent. Fujisawa makes short work of the giant insects using his newly found super strength, a byproduct of the dimensional travel. The grateful royal soon notices that Makoto is, bizarrely enough, a dead ringer for the kidnapped princess Fatora. Hoping to quell fears stemming from her sister's absence, Rune pleads for Makoto to fill her sister's shoes, and well ... Everything else while he's at it. Makoto is reluctant at first, but a night in the royal dungeon's is all the coercement he requires. After the proper makeover and some lessons in what Princess Fatora spends her free time doing, Makoto is dispatched, along with Fujisawa and Alliele to seek out the three Priestesses of Mount Muldoon, and request of them that they unseal the Eye of God.
In the Twain the Three shall meet?
On the slopes of Mount Muldoon Makoto, Jinnai and Fujisawa share a tearful reunion. Wait, scratch that, Jinnai commits assault, with intent to kill using his Bugrom forces. Luckily, Shayla Shayla, the priestess of fire, puts an end to things, and in so doing fouls up a Phantom Tribe assassination attempt aimed at Makoto. As it turns out, Makoto has arrived just a day too late, for the priestesses are about to fly for their annual hot springs retreat and simply can't be bothered at the moment. This leaves Makoto and company no choice but to follow them.
A few comedic mishaps later, the group does eventually make it to Arliman, the holy hot springs. Once there the earthlings are reunited with the last of their number; it seems that Nanami is catering the event. Sadly she spills the beans as to Makoto's gender, which isn't taken too well considering he's in the middle of hot springs full of Priestesses. However, her unique ability does allow her to thwart yet another Phantom tribe sponsored assassination attempt.
YOU'RE MY LITTLE ENERGIZER BUNNY DEMON
Meanwhile Jinnai, having completely misunderstood Makoto's change of wardrobe, is desperately searching for a super weapon to counter the Eye of God. Queen Diva provides him with information on one, the Demon Goddess Ifurita, though she expresses reservations about using Ifurita. Jinnai promptly ignores her and heads out. The three Priestesses learn of Jinnai's attempt and rush immediately to the secret Island where Ifurita is entombed, dragging along the rest of the cast. Jinnai promptly follows them, having never known where the island was in the first place.
After a race between all three factions, Makoto, by freak accident, manages to get to Ifurita first. She is in fact the woman who sent him to El Hazard in the first place. Sadly it is Jinnai, not Makoto, who takes control of Ifurita, and he is only to happy to test out his new toy against the assemble protagonists. Things look pretty grim for our heroes until Makoto touches Ifurita, touching her and diving inside her mind. There he finds records of the atrocities that Ifurita committed, but finds also that she didn't like doing any of it; she is a slave to her controller. Regardless, Makoto's actions allow the heroes to beat a hasty retreat, and Jinnai is forced to settle his blood lust by having Ifurita nuke a city.
ALL IT TAKES IS ONE BAD APPLE...
Back at the royal palace, Galus has been busy. Despite having been the one to capture Fatora, he could never expose Makoto's impersonation, as that would incriminate himself. Instead he has been deliberately massaging the belligerent elements of the council, forcing them to demand that the eye of god be unsealed. This is all to Galus's advantage, for he has, through his research of Fatora, found a way of controlling the Eye using only his one captured princess. Nanami exposes him, however, which forces him to speed up his pacing.
Soon Galus make his move, seizing control of the Eye of God. He launches his first attack at the Bugrom invasionary force, but is stopped by Ifurita before he can launch a second. Forced to flee, and now having lost Fatora, Galus activates the doomsday circuit on his way out, which does nothing... yet. Ifurita, noting Fatora's resemblance to Makoto, captures her and returns to Jinnai.
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN, INTO THE FIRE
Jinnai is ecstatic about Fatora's capture. His enemies can't use their super weapon and he now has a high ranking prisoner to ransom. Jinnai demands that the alliance surrender, threatening to kill Fatora should he be refused. Rune makes the sensible choice and declines, but Makoto takes it upon himself to lead a volunteer rescue force deep into the heart of Bugrom occupied territory.
The mission is a resounding success, Fatora is rescued and Ifurita is freed from Jinnai's control. However, Bugrom forces continue to advance and they are nearing the capital. The alliance decides enough is enough and the two Princesses deploy the full might of the Eye, devastating the bugrom. Unfortunately, this prompts Galus' doomsday circuit into activating.
THE WORLD WILL NOW END, HAVE A NICE DAY
Galus's monkeying prompts the eye of God to go wildly out of control. It becomes an indiscriminate engine of destruction, and if left unchecked will completely destroy the world of El Hazard. Makoto and friends won't be having any of this, so they confront Galus directly on the Eye itself. Unfortunately, the phantom king's defeat does nothing to halt the Eye's destruction. It is decided that only Makoto's techno manipulation ability will save the day, but that getting close enough to use it will probably result in his immediate departure from El Hazard.
Ifurita wisely offers to act as a conduit for him, having already figured out that this is the only way to close the existing causality loop. Thus the world is saved and Ifurita is flung to earth, far into the past. The viewpoint returns to that of Makoto's high school, where Ifurita, having only just sent Makoto to El Hazard, prepares to expire, energy completely depleted. Luckily for her, Makoto appears a few seconds later, bearing her power recharger and apparently now in possession of the ability to jump dimensions himself. Cue the credits.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Below are the new Profiles:
Groucho / Katsuo
This purple bugrom is not exactly a new character, he's been around since OVA 1. However, it is only in Alternative that he really gets enough screen time to be his own character. Groucho is Jinnai's loyal underling, and occasionally tries to be the voice of reason to Jinnai's madness, not that it works.
Queen Diva 2.0 (Alternative)
The alternative world apparently also has alternative Bugrom. These rather diminutive little mites are lead by their own Queen Diva, who looks like Diva classic with a color palette change. Regardless, the new Diva is just as interested in Katsuhiko as the old one was, though her desire is more for cuisine than for conquest.
The Eye of God 2.0 (Alternative)
This fully operational battlestation is currently in a deplorable state of disrepair. Scattered across the landscape of Cretaria, some pieces have even been retrofitted for use in farming. Still, it does currently act as the prison of one insane dimensional priest, and at least it's doing that correctly...
The Cretarians:
Dimensional Priest Arjah (Alternative)
The true identity and purpose of this nut job are a complete mystery. It can be inferred he has knowledge of the future, and that he exists in a location outside of conventional time and space. This self proclaimed ruler of the universe seems to have been directly responsible for Makoto and company's change of venue.
Dall Narcis (Alternative)
Emperor of Cretaria, though not a particularly good one. His ineptitude may have something to do with the fact that his libido may be a match for Fatora's and his love of the drink may be equaled only by Fujisawa's. When not wrenching or wining, Dall is often morose, seemingly very upset about something.
Gilda (Alternative)
This beautiful female commander originally came to Cretaria to marry Dall Narcise. The two were very much in love until Dall abruptly terminated their engagement. Not content to give up her love without a fight, Gilda joined Cretaria's military and worked her way up through the ranks. Motivated to the point of obsession, Gilda will do what she thinks is best, regardless of conflicting evidence.
Chabil (Alternative)
A farmer on one of Cretaria's floating colonies, Chabil has been taking care of Rune ever since her arrival. The two have grown quite attached, though Chabil is taken aback by Rune's inability to commit. A kind, gentle man, it is a shame that he was negated from existence for unknown reasons.
Quawool Towles (Alternative)
With Miz hitched, somebody had to fill the job of Water Priestess, and that somebody is Quawool. Despite high marks at the seminary, she suffers from one potentially debilitating weakness: she absolutely flips out at the sight of insects. More interestingly though, she thinks that she and Makoto may have met before, and her family crest bears a striking similarity to an artifact found inside the eye of god.
Parnasse (Alternative)
The younger brother of Alliele, Parnasse quite inexplicably looks exactly like her. He also shares his sister's drive and focus towards women, but with one important difference. Parnasse is a run away success with the ladies, even if he is too young to capitalize on it. Still if he had to choose one girl as his favorite, it would be the Princess Fatora. Shame that he keeps hitting on Makoto by mistake.
Galus
Leader of the Phantom Tribe, Galus is responsible for much of the current turmoil in El Hazard, playing as he is the Alliance against the Bugrom. Currently he is posing as Rune Venuses fiancé, though she is unaware of his true intentions. Galus is cold, calculating, and a bit of a sociopath. Still it may be that he is just a product of his environment...
Nahato
Loyal servant of Galus, Nahato seems to have quite a bit of authority amongst the Phantom tribe, despite his age. As a member of the phantom Tribe, Nahato has access to mysterious technology and the ability to create lethaly realistic illusions. Still he is Galus's pawn, and will do quite literally anything that is asked of him.
13
« on: July 20, 2003, 01:19:13 am »
My thanks for your response. Just to clarify, as you pointed it out, the article does in fact consist of more than a character list. However, the OVA 1 and 2 list were pretty much done so I went ahead and put them up. OVA 3 list is also pretty much done, but I've always had a nasty time with the names on that one and was too tired to push through till the end. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon, a bit more of the article in general will be up, with the whole thing up sometime monday morning.
14
« on: July 20, 2003, 12:08:39 am »
Hey everybody, it's me again.
To make a long story short, I'm writing a feature review of El Hazard for Anipike. It's due fairly soon, and I've put the majority of it off for longer than was probably ...wise. Anyways, over the next day or so, I figured I'd post what I'd finished so far and see if anyone had any comments, concerns, or death threats that they thought I might find useful. I would greatly appreciate any help, anyone could offer. Without further ado...
Meet the cast, a guide to the denizens of El Hazard and beyond.
Makoto Mizuhara
This all around good guy is currently a student at Shinonme High School. At least he was before a mysterious woman sent him screaming through the dimensional wall. Now in El Hazard, Makoto is getting the chance to do things he never got the chance to do at home: play the hero, cross dress, meet new and interesting girls and be pursued by them, delve deep inside ancient technology, etc. With all these distractions will he ever figure out how he got here and what he needs to do to go home? More importantly, will he ever want to leave?
Katsuhiko Jinnai
Petty, vain, and meglomaniacal, Katuhiko Jinnai is, in his own mind anyway, Makoto's life long rival. As a side effect of his dimensional transport, Jinnai became the only human able to communicate with the insect like Bugrom. Using this ability, he has set himself up as holy messenger / military leader of the Bugrom empire. His mission: nothing less than global conquest.
Nanami Jinnai
Nanami fills El Hazard's resident skinflint / business person position. Backing up her greed is an astonishing amount of cooking talent that allows her to take money from where your mouth is. Nanami's special power is the ability to see through the disguises of the phantom tribe, a useful, if somewhat specialized, ability. Additionally, this fiery red head might be Makoto's girlfriend, if they ever get around to talking about it.
Masamichi Fujisawa (commonly called Professor Fujisawa)
Professor Fujisawa is a proud member of a long line of anime lushes. There is a catch, however. Fujisawa's dimensional wanderings have given him super strength, but it only works when he's sober. Now this kindly history teacher must use his "cursed gift" to keep the rest of the cast out of trouble. Really though, he'd just rather be climbing mountains and drinking sake.
Queen Diva
Diva is the oddly humanoid leader of the bugrom empire, and she is using Jinnai nearly as much as Jinnai is using her. However even Diva is unprepared for the full depths of depravity to which Jinnai is willing to sink in order to win. Still it is lonely being queen, and Jinnai is quite literally the only non underling to whom she can talk. Perhaps it is understandable that she should come to feel some ... attachment to him.
Ura
Ura is the pet of one Princess Fatora, and she is quite the handy feline to have about. In El Hazard, cats are not only pets but also highly intelligent speaking pieces of battle armor. When wrapped around Makoto, Ura is capable of providing protection from everything from cliff falls to laser beams. Perhaps El Hazard's most obviously toyetic character, Ura is destined to be reincarnated somewhere as a plush toy.
Alliele
Alliele is a maid / love slave in the service of Princess Fatora. As such, she is extremely devoted to Fatora, serving her every whim, when Fatora is around that is. In Fatora's absence, Alliele is likely to hit on every comely female within reach. When not chasing tail, Alliele is surprising knowledgeable about the background of El Hazard, especially considering her young age, and often serves in the capacity as a guide.
Princess Fatora
Fatora is Rune Venus's sister, and a royal princess of Floristica. By bizarre coincidence, she looks almost exactly like Makoto. To make things even stranger, they have very similar tastes in female companionship; Fatora would like nothing more than to steal some of Makoto's flock for herself. The similarities end there however. Brash, rude, manipulative and outright brazen, Fatora is single-minded in her pursuit of female companionship, whether they be willing or not.
Rune Venus
Ruler of Floristica and leader of the human alliance, Rune Venus is devoted to serving her subjects as best she can. If it is necessary, Rune will put aside all personal feelings and make any sacrifice necessary to fulfill her duties as a monarch. However, heavy is the head that bears the crown, and Rune would prefer to live a simpler life.
Shayla Shayla
The fire priestess of Mount Muldoon has a personality to match her element: Impatient, hot tempered, and always itching for a fight. Still, however bold she may be on the field of battle, it's another story all together on the fields of love, where she is as timid as a schoolgirl . Unfortunately for her, Makoto's actions force her onto these unfamiliar grounds, and she becomes one the main contenders for his affections.
Afura Mann
The wind priestess of Mount Muldoon is arguably the most mature of all three priestesses. Cool and collected, she is often the voice of reason for the three. She can manipulate the air to do anything from flying to producing devesting vacuums capable of sinking capital size ships. Sadly, the wisest of the three priestess is also the least loquacious, and so relatively little is known about her.
Miz Mishtal
Eldest of the three priestesses of Mount Muldoon, she controls the powers of water. Miz has been a priestess for about 10 years, sees in Professor Fujisawa her last chance to escape the celibate priestess gig for the happy married life. As such she is pursuing a relationship with him with an aggressiveness that would leave invading armies astounded. Anything Fujisawa has to say on the matter in unimportant at best.
The Phantom Tribe
An entire race of cyan skinned humanoids. Endowed with mysterious powers that include teleportation and lethally realistic illusions, they manipulate events from the shadows. While their agenda is highly secretive, it is clear that they are playing the alliance and the bugrom against each other.
Ifurita
A weapon of terrible destruction created during the war of the ancients, Ifurita was single handedly responsible for the deaths of entire civilizations. She is known as the most powerful demon god, and is capable of instantly learning and reproducing any attack used against her. Powered by the winding of her power key staff, she must obey the commands of the staff's holder, Jinnai. However, she is also the entity responsible for Makoto's journey to El Hazard...
The Eye of God
This Death Star like weapon was created during the war of the ancients. Now it is used by the alliance as their final trump card, the weapon which allows them to keep the Bugrom at bay. Capable of boring through the dimensional wall, the eye of god can send things hurtling through time and space. It can only be controlled by two princesses, both in possession of a spiritual gene unique to the ruling family of Floristica.
Ova the Second
Kalia
Kalia is Jinnai's latest ancient evil demon goddess. Constructed by the enemies of the ancients who built Ifurita, she is not a nice robot. Kalia can absorb any energy used against her and use it as her own. She is quite capable of taking out Ifurita, and of defeating Makoto's techno manipulation ability. While Kalia seems to get along well with Jinnai, she in fact has her own agenda, much darker than anything Jinnai might think up.
Ifurita 2.0
Why make one ultimate demon goddess when you can make two for twice the price. Found by Yurius at the site of the Trigger of Destruction, Ifurita awoke with only the name of the trigger in her mind. Identical in every way to Makoto's Ifurita, except that this one is all Yurius's.
Yurius
As a young man, Yurius was dragged forcibly into El Hazard just like Makoto and crew. Also like Makoto, the trip left him with the ability to manipulate technology. He has spent the last several decades living at the site of the Trigger of destruction, along with his Ifurita unit. He cares deeply for Ifurita, but strongly believes in doing the right thing, no matter what it may cost him.
The Trigger of Destruction
Built for revenge by the victims of the ancients El Hazardian's, this battleship is the ultimate in nihilistic weapons. Like Kalia, it can absorb energy and redirect it to it's own purposes. Much more sinister is the Trigger's ultimate purpose. The Trigger destroys its current universe, then utilizes the energy this process generates to form an entirely new universe, which it then also destroys. Not terribly efficient, but it gets the job done.
15
« on: June 07, 2003, 08:23:27 pm »
As the title suggest, this is a moment where I am shamelessly patting my own back.
Some of you may remember the Radio Free Bugrom AMV I posted some time back, which Rob was kind enough to post in the goodies section. Well anyways, I submitted it to the local anime con (Animazement) and was awarded honorable mention... go me... whee....
If anyone wants to see the final version in a larger file format than that provided, head over to animemusicvideos.org and search for Radio Free Bugrom.
This concludes my moment of shameless self back patting.
Of perhaps slightly greater interest to everyone else, one of the guests at Animazement was none other than Kazuto Nakazawa, the character designer for El Hazard. He gave two panel discussions on the ins and out of character design, and was greatly entertaining for all. Having some spare time at the end of the second panel, he started sketching people in the audience. If any of you should ever be at a convention where Mr. Nakazawa is giving a panel, I highly recommed the experience to you.
Well thats enough of my random mutterings, congratulations to Rob and Neil on a year of successful operations.
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