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El-Hazard Online / Humbly requesting a little help
« 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.
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.