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Messages - rowan_a._seven
181
« on: February 08, 2003, 06:50:02 pm »
Anyway, what you say is a pretty good idea to some degree, although I really don't believe that there is TWO Eye of God's at all. Even Makoto finally states towards the end that it is THE Eye of God that was transported with everyone else. (Which took him long enough to figure out.) Actually, wasn't Jinnai the one who figured that out? Makoto: Lalalala, here I am in Cretoria investigating a beam of light and making Gilda suspicious. 1 week later... Makoto: Lalala, I'm still here in Cretoria investigating a beam of light except now Gilda is actively against me. Oh dear. Jinnai shows up. Jinnai: Makoto, this is all your fault! Say, isn't that part of the Eye of God behind you? Makoto: Gee, you could be right about that. How could I have missed that? And so on. As for Makoto stating that it was the same Eye of God, I'm willing to believe that he was mistaken. After all, the AW Eye seems to have been there for quite some time, and I doubt that Makoto has the expertise to discern between the El-Hazard Eye of God and an exact duplicate. A different way to look at this is that Allujah IS ancient technology. Possible and arguably probable, but my main point is that we don't know what he is. Arjah/Allujah's origins are left as a mystery. I don't really believe there IS much of a "future"; we're looking at Makoto and co. being there for maybe 5 years max. Who ever said they'd ever permanently return to Earth, though? Sure, Makoto does find a way to return home, and the ending to the first OAV series shows clips of various El-Hazard cast members in Japan, but the Shinonome group seems to have settled down rather nicely on El-Hazard. They might visit Earth to let their families know that they're all right and see the sites, but El-Hazard could be considered their home now. "and a large component of the Trigger of Destruction"? All he did was pick up scrap metal, likely what was welded into walls to build his new hive. Well, it was a pretty big chunk of scrap metal.  Concidering his demonstration on the understanding of technology ...("Maybe something technical... *KNOCK KNOCK* Hey, you in there! Come out!") ... That approach worked, didn't it? At any rate, his knowledge of the Eye of God has improved considerably to the point where he appears to able to recognize components of it even faster than Makoto, and he knows enough about ancient technology to figure out successful ways to unseal it, though admittedly it doesn't seem to be very hard. Just kidnap a priestesss and a hostage and threaten to harm the hostage if the priestess doesn't unseal it. I don't have a whole lot of faith in him. He'd sooner run for president then build a robot.
Currently, yes. However, I'm thinking about the future. Jinnai knows just how powerful ancient technology can be and will probably, at the very least, attempt to locate a counter. I don't see him building a robot either, but I can picture him discovering an ancient lab, finding robotic parts, and putting together a robot provided he also finds some sort of instruction manual.
182
« on: February 08, 2003, 02:56:56 pm »
Very loosely, I suspect it could be a mid-point time period, somewhere after the great wars of El-Hazard, but before all the technology had fully died out. That was one of my first theories too, but upon additional consideration I've developed a second idea that goes something like this. The dates are just guesses. 0 - End of the Ancient Wars One or several countries on the receiving end of the Eye of God are transported through time and space and arrive on the Alternative World. Before they were defeated, however, they succeeded in stealing the schematics for the Eye of God and, wishing to return to their homeworld, begin building their own duplicate. Unfortunately, they succeed so well that the two Eye of Gods become unknowingly connected through some extradimensional link or component which allows Arjah to later interfere in both worlds. 50 - With the Eye of God finished, the Ancients genetically link it to their leaders, and everyone begins a massive military build-up to prepare for the invasion of El-Hazard. 100 - The Ancients are ready to renew their war, but before they can open a portal to El-Hazard their Eye of God goes haywire, devastates the Alternative World, and shatters, beginning a new ice age. The Ancients, realizing that if they hadn't built the Eye of God in order to return to their homeworld and obtain revenge none of this destruction would've happened, regret their actions and instead of rebuilding the Eye of God convert its surviving pieces into floating farms and construct a power generator out of its core to provide sustenance for the nations until the ice age is over. To make sure nobody ever tries to reconnect the Eye of God, they construct an elaborate seal to keep it locked down and separated. Times passes, their history is forgotten and fades into myth, and the descendants of the leaders are scattered till only the Cretorian royal family can still be certain of their lineage. 3000 - The Alternative World begins. What's the deal with Dall and Gilda?
More specifically? I just meant that at the beginning of the series there did seem to be some shared history between the two, which was later verified to be true and explained in later episodes. We [that's me and my brother, speculator extraordinaire] have had several working theories, but ultimately, the one we've agreed on is that he is, essentially, the Operating System of the Eye of God. After all, he appears primarily when Makoto is interfacing the big Eye itself, and is also trapped when the hulk is sealed. Makes sense that he is merely the "software" of the ancient computer systems. Some sort of sentinent user interface gone crazy.
We HAD tried the "creator" approach, and no one's sure to deny that our OS UI isn't possibly a recreation of the creator himself (we didn't get that into depth with it), but we don't assume him directly as the creator himself.
And I don't think Jinnai at all, never even occured. Allujah looks nothing like him, although I guess the personality is similar, at least enough to entice Jinnai. Jinnai also never really came off to me as the technology type, so I don't believe in this in any form. The prospect that Arjah is a future version of Jinnai comes from a fanfiction I read on fanfiction.net by Eponymous called Something Different. Its main purpose is to provide an origin for Qawool, but it also reveals aspects of a possible future. This theory gained additional plausibility in my mind when I spotted the similarities between Arjah and Jinnai's personalities, and I wouldn't put technology past Jinnai. He is Shinonome's second best student and has access to at least two partially intact ancient ruins and a large component of the Trigger of Destruction. Given some spare time, I wouldn't be too surprised if he gained a working knowledge of some ancient technology in the future. Still, objectively speaking, Arjah could be just about anybody or anything. The series revealed very little about his origins. We know that he's sealed in the Eye of God and can travel or at the very least communicate between the two worlds, that he can create elaborate mental projections or illusions on a level rivaling or surpassing that of the Phantom Tribe, appears to be able to synchronize with technology much like Makoto's ability, can possess and possibly hypnotize people, knows how to use Ancient technology and might even understand how it works, has considerable knowledge about both worlds and the people in them such as Jinnai, Gilda, and Makoto, and seems to want to conquer the world. He is also incredibly cunning and patient and is quite skilled at manipulating people. His only mistake in the Alternative World was underestimating Makoto's resolve to do the right thing in the face of temptation. We are given a lot about his powers and knowledge but almost nothing about his background and true identity. A few more speculations on the Alternative World I'd like to present... Termite (White) Bugrom - If you subscribe to the theory that the Ancients made the Bugrom as weapons who later became obsolete upon the invention of Demon Gods, the Termite Bugrom could be the original Bugrom race that the Ancients genetically enhanced and altered to create the current Bugrom. A hive of Termite Bugrom could've been transported to the Alternative World with the other nations by the Eye of God where they carved out a niche for themselves while on El-Hazard they died out due to climate changes and warfare. Destruction of the AW Eye of God (in 100) - I suspect that Arjah caused this. If the Eye of God can transport objects through dimensions it would make sense for it to be able to do the same thing for time. Now, let's just assume that either in El-Hazard or the Alternative World Arjah is sealed within the Eye of God sometime between 100 and 3000. In 3000 he attempts to free himself on the Alternative World, a process that we are told will devastate the world. In 100 the Alternative World was devastated. Arjah, after failing in 3000 might've licked his wounds, waited for another opportunity, and tried again...possibly in the past. There is no evidence to show that Arjah is limited to acting in the present. So in 100 Arjah could've tried to escape and succeeded, thus causing the destructive Eye of God activation and explosion. Which I feel means you need to think a little more about it I think I've succeeded in the regard, Rob. I just wish that I had more concrete facts to go by. Pretty much everything I just suggested is merely educated speculation.
183
« on: February 07, 2003, 09:00:00 pm »
Magnificent World 2 vs. the Alternative World, eh? Well, these are my thoughts on the matter.
Characters:
MW2, while not as strong as the 1st Magnificent World, still had a fair share of good character moments and was, at the very least, consistently decent in this regard. There were a few moments here and there that made me do a doubletake, and I feel that more could've been done with Kalia, Ifurita 2, and Yuba, but watching the El-Hazard cast here never greatly frustrated me.
The Alternative World, on the other hand, did not, in my opinion, do much for the regular cast. Upon a first viewing, most of the cast came across as bland or cardboard cut-outs of their OAV1 selves. A second viewing upgraded this to tolerable but very irritating. Conversely, though, the new and supporting characters fared rather well. Gilda was terrific, and even Dall was enjoyable to watch once he stopped chasing Quawool and became brooding and serious. Groucho received some character development, and Arjah had much promise. I have ambivalent feelings towards Quawool and Parnasse.
Winner: Magnificent World 2
While the Alternative World dealt the supporting characters a better hand, as a whole the characterizations annoyed and bothered me more. In the 2nd OAV series, the characters were, on average, pleasant to watch.
Animation Quality:
The animation in OAV2 was more consistent than that in the Alternative World, I believe. OAV2's animation quality was fair with a little bit of good and bad mixed in, but the Alternative World seesawed somewhat. A lot of scenes felt less...alive than their OAV counterparts, though there was at least one outstanding locale that really caught my attention.
Winner: OAV2
Except for one odd scene with Kalia's facial expression, there isn't much that continues to stick out as glaring in my mind for OAV2. The Alternative World, while having its better moments, seemed more generally lackluster.
Story:
As much as the Alternative World aggravated me, I do have to admit that buried in there lies fantastic story potential. What is the connection between the two worlds? What will happen to Rune's new relationship? What's the deal with Dall and Gilda? What's the story behind this new world? Who is Arjah? Unfortunately, the producers appear to be happy with raising questions and not answering them. Rune's farmer boyfriend seemed to completely disappear, very little of the Alternative world's backstory is given, and Arjah remains a mystery with theories of his identity ranging from the personification of the Eye of God to the creator of the Eye of God to a future version of Jinnai and practically anything in between. About only Dall and Gilda had any closure.
OAV2 had a decent story that, to my knowledge, succeeded in doing what it set out to accomplish. Certain characters received some good development, and a bit more of El-Hazard's past and ancient technology were revealed.
Winner: The Alternative World (barely)
Despite its many pestering points and loose ends, the Alternative World did make me think more than the Magnificent World 2 did. For that, I'm willing to rate it a little bit higher.
Powerful Moments:
I felt that OAV2's tension was undermined at times by the dialogue, and that its scenes were more fair than outstanding. It does have some really good moments, though. However, the Alternative World has what I consider to be an incredibly powerful scene near the end that continues to stick in my head more than any of the Magnificent World 2's. For those of you who have seen the Alternative World, I'm refering to Makoto's temptation by Arjah.
Winner: The Alternative World
Arjah's scene was the deciding factor in this one.
Overall Enjoyability:
To me, a lot of the Alternative World was irritating and boring, but it was interlaced with several noteworthy and enjoyable spots here and there that make it worth watching at least once or twice. OAV2, in contrast, was reliably pleasant with a few scattered annoying moments. It also features what I consider to be better character interactions and dialogue. Jinnai and Kalia had some entertaining scenes in the beginning, and Kalia's "LGJ" comment is worth a few chuckles.
Winner: The Magnificent World 2
Totals:
OAV2: 3
AW: 2
Victor: OAV2
184
« on: January 18, 2003, 07:10:21 pm »
No, in OAV 2, Diva was only featured once for a few moments in the first episode (poor Diva never gets screen time). Even so, at least she dresses better than her closest rival in the ruler-with-very-little-screentime category, Rune Venus. Also, it's probably not so much that Diva wanted it (whether or not she did may not be relevant actually); if you read the El-Hazard RPG&R book by Guardians of Order, the author has a very insectoid-research approach to the Bugrom behavior. Most likely Diva demanded this because it was in the interest of the hive overall, not so much personal enjoyment. Probably, though I often suspect that her feelings for Jinnai go deeper than religious faith and respect and at least border on love. Diva is also probably the only Bugrom with a sense of unique individuality and personality in the OAV series, though Groucho seems to be gaining one as well thanks to Jinnai's influence. As for Bugrom reproduction, I believe that, in light of the extraordinary versatility of the Bugrom, that the genetic codes for every Bugrom variation are stored within the queen and that the only thing needed to begin the egg-laying process is the proper *ahem* stimulus. Either that or Bugrom larva are neutral and develop into the different variations based on how much food they eat before entering the pupal stage.
185
« on: January 15, 2003, 09:33:50 pm »
It's true, she practically made OAV2 and Alternative World. And I'd advise taking Alt World Ep 13 with a pinch of salt... the entire cast were out of character in that episode, not least Alielle and Fatora (I think I'll save my Episode 13 rant until a more appropriate time, though). Just episode 13? Most of the Alternative World's run bothered me with characterizations, what with Makoto being so bland (He reminded me of Tenchi!), and Jinnai acting like a cliched caricature of his Wanderers counterpart in many scenes. If Gilda and Dall (once he entered his apathetic alcoholic phase) hadn't been so interesting, I would've been sorely tempted to rank the series on the same level as Tenchi in Tokyo. As is, I've just rationalized the entire thing by asserting that Makoto had spent far too much time alone in his lab and that the food Jinnai ate was drugged. As for Fatora, my feelings are kind of mixed. I'm not fond of her as a person, but I do like her as a character. There's a certain captivating aspect to her as we, the audience, watch and worry about what she's going to do next. I just wish she had more scenes with Makoto. Oh, the crazy adventures those two could have...
186
« on: January 11, 2003, 09:54:07 pm »
Looks like I should've made my first post here, but better late than never, I suppose.
Name: Rowan Andromeda Seven
Age: 17, born 2/23/85
Sex: Male
Location: Maine, USA
Personality: Quiet, polite, somewhat of an introvert, a dry sense of humor, imaginative, and generous.
Hobbies and interests: Reading, particularly fantasy and sci-fi, writing, fluting, walking, nature, history, classical and alternative music, and RPGs.
Favorite non-anime movie: Probably "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" but I generally don't choose favorites.
Anime I've seen: Windaria, Sailor Moon, Dragonbal Z, Big O, Tenchi (all series except the newest), Dragonball, El Hazard (all series), Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam (some), 8th MS Team, Slayers Try, Neon Genesis Evangelion (some), and a few other movies here and there.
Religion: Christian
How did I find El Hazard Online?: I found a link to it somewhere, either on another El Hazard site or a search engine.
Miscellaneous: I'm a big Jinnai fan.
187
« on: January 10, 2003, 03:53:27 pm »
What series? OAV or TV? That would, if memory serves me correctly, be in the first episode of the tv series Magical Project S where Mihoshi asks the class what they want to be when they grow up, and Konoha answers something to the effect that her cousin (Jinnai) and she are going to conquer the world. I guess Jinnai's not the only megalomaniac in the family, after all.
188
« on: January 10, 2003, 12:39:53 am »
I'm not sure, but actually that's the one idea I do toy with (Jinnai / Shayla coupling) since the one bit of fanfiction I read (of a whopping total of two El-Hazard stories ever ;p) *snickers* Looks like Fish's "Fault" strikes again. Man, that is probably one of the best El Hazard one-shots on the internet. Anyway, speaking of odd couples, I think I have one in mind. How about Nahato and Alliele? Best wishes, Rowan A. Seven
189
« on: January 10, 2003, 12:33:04 am »
*nervously stands up and waves* Hi everyone. My name is Rowan A. Seven, and this is my first post here. Let me begin by saying that this is probably the best El-Hazard fansite I've come across, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to the site owners for the hard work they've put into this. If I ever obtain something El-Hazard related to contribute, I'll do so.
Anyway, being a halfway decent fanfiction writer (in my obviously biased opinion, at any rate) and a big fan of the El-Hazard series, a story idea has begun to solidify in my mind, and I'd like to attempt to compose it. However, there are two questions I have in regard to the world of El-Hazard before I attempt this. The first is whether or not any decent maps of El-Hazard exist so I can avoid making geographical errors. The other is just how long ago the Ancient wars ended. For some reason the numbers 1,000 and 10,000 years keep popping up in my head, but I can't recall if the exact date was ever specified.
Thank you in advance to those who respond.
Best wishes,
Rowan A. Seven
P.S. Rob, thanks for the suggestion to buy the El-Hazard Roleplaying Resource Book. Being the big Bugrom and Phantom Tribe fan that I am, that book was full of neat facts and ideas and really helped to add depth to El-Hazard.
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