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Messages - dooky

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 8
1
El-Hazard Online / Re: El-Hazard: The World of Ruling Women?
« on: October 07, 2005, 11:26:41 am »
This reminds me... some years ago myself and old-school El-Hazard expert Erin did some speculation as to how the Eye of God gene gets passed on. We concluded that it must be mitochondrial, as mitochondrial DNA is the only form to be passed on with 100% efficiency. However, there's no way of moderating what genes get passed on to what gender. Males would inherit the gene as well as females, although unlike females they would be unable to pass it on (mitochondrial DNA is only inherited from the maternal line). This would still lead to the problem of male offspring being able to utilise the gene (unless there was some other factor at work, I suppose). In my fanfics I proposed that the royal line had been engineered so that only female children could be conceived, although even this isn't a complete fix, as after several generations there could still be potentially scores of women, with a maternal royal ancestor, capable of activating the Eye of God. Which clearly wasn't the case in the series, as it would have been much easier for the Phantom Tribe to kidnap Fatora's distant cousin than Fatora herself. I suppose that reproductive activities within the royal house must be strictly regulated. Heh... maybe this is why Fatora's lesbianism is tolerated to such a degree ^_^

In any case, I agree with the view of Roshtaria as a maternal society. El-Hazard as a wider area is more debatable: the majority of rulers/diplomats seen in OVA1 are male, even if the dominant power is run by women (presumably out of necessity).

2
El-Hazard Online / Re: Question about Dubs
« on: July 27, 2005, 07:44:08 am »
The same goes for the ADV box sets of Sailor Moon (although these have been unavailable for a while now).

With regards to Son May bootlegs: They're all you're going to get now. The originals have long since been deleted, so Son May aren't really taking profits from anyone. Have a look at the Soundtracks section of the site for a bit more about this.

3
El-Hazard Online / Re: Problems, possible bug on el hazard game
« on: July 19, 2005, 08:18:38 pm »
It's been a while now so I can't remember too well. At the time, I think my theory was that I'd failed to unmask Galus, then gone too far elsewhere in the game, and so I couldn't find him to trigger his events.

Another thing that constantly drove me nuts was the "sobering up" Fujisawa thing. Locking him in the dungeon seemed pointless, as he'd only break out and get plastered again. I swear that on one occasion, I locked him in there, came back before he broke out, let him out, and then I still died becuase the game said he was too drunk. I began to suspect that there was some technique I was missing, but the guides just say "lock him in the dungeon".
I have completed the game twice, but in all honesty there's been more occasions when I've started the game and quit out of sheer frustration. When events do go my way it just seems like a fluke, and it's pretty rare for me to get beyond the point where you have to gather the priestesses.

4
Non-El-Hazard Topical Discussions / Re: Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot
« on: July 19, 2005, 07:34:44 am »
Ah! I love Opblaaskrokodil... I take it you've all seen the "French Erotic Film" Flash animation?

5
El-Hazard Online / Re: Problems, possible bug on el hazard game
« on: July 19, 2005, 07:21:43 am »
I had a similar situation where a scene was repeating: in my case it was the one where Ifurita crashes into the palace...

6
El-Hazard Online / Re: Conversation with Associate; OAV3, EHOL
« on: April 28, 2005, 09:22:15 am »
Well put, Mr Spanner sir. Precisely what I was aiming for, but in a fraction of the verbiage.

7
Non-El-Hazard Topical Discussions / Re: Maria-sama ga Miteru
« on: April 11, 2005, 09:47:26 am »
More to the point, how would you refer to a lesbian femme catgirl? Nekonekoshoujo?

8
Non-El-Hazard Topical Discussions / Re: Maria-sama ga Miteru
« on: March 16, 2005, 06:51:25 am »
http://www.yuricon.org/essays/whatisyuri.html

Not in print, but from a fairly knowledgable source nonetheless.

As an addition to that article, there's also Yuri Shimai and Yuri Tengoku: regular(ish) manga anthologies in Japan. The term Yuri is used in both titles despite the magazines having little or no sexual content: really, the content is precisely what Western fans would term "Shoujo ai".

And as for the origins of "dooky"... well, that's a mystery for another day ^_~

EDIT: Oh yeah, I found out about "neko" and "tachi" just recently. Such adorable terms...

9
El-Hazard Online / Re: Conversation with Associate; OAV3, EHOL
« on: March 14, 2005, 07:59:06 pm »
I always got the impression that AW would have featured Ifurita had they been able to finish the series the way they'd originally planned. If not, then why all the foreshadowing in the first episode. Granted, it's still a burn to Ifurita fans no matter what the reason, but I find it a little more acceptable than the use of Ifurita 2 in OVA2, which did seem to be a rather cynical reuse of an old character design. I'd have preferred it if they stuck to the different Demon God they used in the radio dramas, but there you go. At least they had the courtesy to give her a different voice.

And Ken, I can't really disagree with you about the Makoto/Ifurita thing, because I think it is a matter of personal taste. Their romance was obviously the pivotal factor in your love for the series, but it really wasn't in my case. I can't say why, other than that we probably look for different things in anime. I could well be in a minority with this opinion, but I know there are a few people around here who prefer Wanderers to the original, so I'm not the only one. I hope I didn't seem overly critical of your point of view- I was just pointing out, in my indelicate way, that different people like the series for different reasons. Which might be why it's proven so difficult to make an effective sequel.

10
Non-El-Hazard Topical Discussions / Re: Maria-sama ga Miteru
« on: March 13, 2005, 11:44:02 pm »
Hmm, you could be right there, but I'd heard that the opposite was true. As far as I'm aware, most of the terms we use to describe gay content in anime are kind of outdated, and have since taken on different meanings in Japan.

Yaoi used to refer to series with (male) gay content of any kind, but has since come to refer specifically to pornographic content. In Japan, to describe a manga as "yaoi" would imply that it's all sex, sex, sex.

Shounen ai arose as a term for softer, more romantic yaoi, but it too has changed. It now basically means shotacon (yep, that's the male equivalent of lolicon).

Boys' Love is the current term used to refer to "yaoi" in Japan. As far as i can tell, it's pretty much all-encompassing.

Yuri terminology is much less complicated. Another reason that (CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENT!) yuri is better than yaoi.

Yuri originally meant, and still means, anything with lesbian content. In the West it's sometimes used to refer to more explicit stuff, but this isn't the case in Japan.

Shoujo ai, as far as yuri's concerned, is a term created by Western fans as the equivalent of shounen ai. At least up until a few years ago, it was basically meaningless in Japan, although I do wonder if it's since been created seperately over there as the equivalent of the Japanese meaning of shounen ai (if you follow my logic).

Girls' Love is a very recent term, which seems to be interchangeable with yuri, although sometimes seems to imply "softer" yuri.

Interestingly, MariMite is sometimes said to belong to the "S" (sisters) genre, which, I assume, implies our old friend, the Oneesama Complex. I could go into one of my favourite rants about how there probably isn't any such thing as the Oneesama Complex really, but it's long and boring and you really don't want to hear it ^_^

Personally, I always use "yuri" to refer to, well, yuri, because it's unambiguous... at least in Japan. Over here I ofetn get chastised for referring to non-sexual yuri with this term because "it's really shoujo ai". Without wishing to sound like a pedantic fanboy, "shoujo ai" just strikes me as a term invented by Western fans who had a poor understanding of the scope of "Yuri", as am equivalent to another term that has since lost its original meaning. I can sort of understand the desire to create a new term because "Yuri" was often associated (however wrongly) with sex and only sex, but "anime" has had a similar image problem in the past, and we still use that, right?

And nobody mention "Japanimation" ^_~

11
Non-El-Hazard Topical Discussions / Re: Maria-sama ga Miteru
« on: March 10, 2005, 11:49:53 am »
Ah, this is my absolute favourite series of the moment. Lovely, lovely MariMite. I'm still not sure what it is that makes me love this series so much (other than the yuri, before you say anything... I acknowledge that's a reasonably big factor ^_^) but I find it hugely compelling. I suppose it's just a change to see something so utterly character driven.

Rob: I'd suggest watching a few more episodes. I still can't guarantee that you'll like it, because it's certainly not for everyone, but my initial response was pretty much the same as yours. The first episode really does throw you in at the deep end, with very little in the way of character introductions and a lot of strange, long-winded French/Latin names to get to grips with. But once you get to know the characters, the series really comes into its own.

The series, for the most part, doesn't really deal with anything that big or important, and it's impressive how much you end up caring about, for example, whether or not Sachiko likes chocolate (I swear, Yumi spends two episodes agonising about this ^_^). One plot twist regarding a very minor character towards the end of the first series left me literally open-mouthed.

There's not a great deal of comedy on offer, but it's still a factor in the series. Sei and Yoshino seem to be the primary "comic relief" characters, although even the stern Sachiko can be the source of humour (her date with Yumi was the source of some nicely understated comedy).

Actually, if I had to choose a single word to describe the series, it would be "understated"... It's very calm and sedate, which only serves to highlight the moments of melodrama even more. And wow, can Sachiko do melodrama...

Regarding the yuri aspect of the series... it's always there as a background theme, although how much of it there actually is is highly open to interpretation. It seems certain that Sei is indeed a lesbian, and at least one of the main cast (Eriko) is apparently heterosexual, but for the rest of the girls, it's much less clear, and you're free to make up your own mind ^_^ There are broad hints that a lot of the characters fall on the yuri side of things, but nothing definite.

Assuming that there are others watching this, which of the characters do you like best? Sei seems to be the most popular overall (for those who haven't seen it, she's kind of the Fatora of MariMite, what with her flirting and glomping), but for me, she's just beaten by Rei. Rei is too adorable for words. The idea of masculine, hard-as-nails tomboy Rei being totally under the thumb of weak, cute little Yoshino is far too funny to pass up...

Plus, it's a well-known fact that butch women rule ^_~

12
El-Hazard Online / Re: Conversation with Associate; OAV3, EHOL
« on: March 10, 2005, 10:56:05 am »
(dooky is back! Shower him with MariMite plushies and unobtainable Disgaea merchandise!)

Hello all, and hello to Ken, long time no see. And what better way to reacquaint myself than by disagreeing thoroughly with what you've just said? ^_~

El-Hazard has always seemed to have a very diverse fandom, and I put that down to the fact that it's very multi-faceted. Everybody has their own reason for liking it: some people are attracted to the fantasy element, some like the romance, some like the drama, and some like the comedy. For me it was the latter. The comedic side of El-Hazard was what made me love the show, and for a long time I didn't really consider the Makoto/Ifurita relationship to be that interesting... it was just one of those elements of the show that didn't appeal to me. More recently, I've warmed to it somewhat, but neither character has ever really been a favourite of mine, so while I acknowledge their importance to the plot, they were never really a factor in my liking of the series.

One of the other things that made me like El-Hazard initially was the sheer scale of everything. Not only was there a huge, unexplored world as the setting, there was an impressive ensemble cast. Contrary to allegedly similar series such as Tenchi, the main character wasn't the only focus of romantic attention. Relationships were established that had no bearing on the Makoto/Ifurita situation at all, and everyone had their own story, their own little subplots. It was nice to see the whole cast of characters treated so well by the writers: the fact that they all had their own stories helped to establish them as real people, not just plot devices to drive the story along.

So while I see where you're coming from, I just think that your point of view seems to do the rest of the characters a disservice. I'd argue that your view of the series is only one of many ways of looking at it. Of course, it could be that I'm totally misinterpreting the series, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who didn't have that much interest in the Makoto/Ifurita thing upon first viewing.

It's worth mentioning that Wanderers dropped the relationship, and seems to be a very popular series in it's own right. It's also worth mentioning that I was far more disappointed by the lack of Fatora than I was by the absence of OVA-Iffy... although that, I suspect, is just a little quirk of mine ^_^

And you can put the general dodginess of OVA2 and AW down to many things, but the lack of Ifurita doesn't have to be one of them... although I can see how that would be a big disappointment for Ifurita fans. I'd blame lazy writing more than anything else, although I still maintain that AW could have been much better had circumstances been different, and that OVA2 episode 1 is (at least in its dub incarnation) El-Hazard's finest half-hour ^_~

13
El-Hazard Online / Re: Anyone got Shayla Art?
« on: December 09, 2004, 12:27:02 am »
Perhaps Ohkiyi is referring to one of the endings from Alternative World? There was some fairly unusual Shayla art used there.

dooky

14
El-Hazard Online / Re: N00b... looking for help for my site...
« on: December 02, 2004, 04:49:27 am »
I'll certainly help with a bio for Alielle. I'm a big fan of Melissa too: El-Hazard was what introduced me to her, but I was thrilled to hear her in Invader Zim. She does a great job as Sora in the Oh My Goddess movie too (although it's hard not to smile at hearing the line "I'm excited, because it's a girl!" in Alielle's voice...)

dooky

15
El-Hazard Online / Re: Conversation with Associate; OAV3, EHOL
« on: November 22, 2004, 12:06:14 am »
Bloody buggering hell, this is potentially excellent news...

I sincerely hope that this (if it happens) will be a continuation rather than a remake. Other than that... well, it's all speculation.

Personally, I'll be hoping for the long-awaited Princess Fatora spinoff series ^_~

dooky

PS- Rob, did you get that EH/Sailor Moon thingy I sent you?

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