Well, it seems someone's trying to go for the logical
route. And we all know what happens to the logical
people. Look at Socrates. ^_^
Anyway, I was reading this and a few comments came into
my mind...
I'll be the first to admit that Soban's transformation in Part 3 of Chapter
7 had me doing a spittake, quickly followed by an email to Mr. Yonge
for information on what the frag she transformed into.
But, after recieving his reply, and thinking on the chapter some more, I
don't find myself as worried as some others. Or, at least, as upset and/or
disapointed.
Hell, I wasn't disappointed. I was more or less surprised and that almost
destroyed my keyboard since my jury-rigged orange juice holder was this
close...
I don't think you wanna hear about that. ^_^
Anyway, as I said before the "god-eater" concept was fascinating. Though
it made me worry about the focus of this story a lot.
As for the transfromation itself...let me just say that Soban could have
transformed into something from Urotsukidoji for all I care. It's Allyn's
story. He can do what he likes. I'm only concerned about the impact
this would have on what has been established as the story's focus by
the earlier chapters.
Let's get something out right now: I was expected a "normal" Sailor Moon
transformation too. I was wondering if it was going to be a crippled
Sailor
Moon, or if it was going to be a "whole" Sailor Moon; yes. And, if the
latter, I *was* wondering if she'd also become "whole" in her untransformed
state.
I was also expected there to be some modifications to the Sailor Moon
"uniform" due to Soban (as I recall) having short hair (so the hairpiece
jewels would have to go), and Soban's experimentation on whether "Sailor
Space" subspace pockets can hold handguns or not. And I was *hoping*
for quite a bit of cursing/swearing/fuming/railing at the Fates and
(non-)fashion consultants that came up with such a stupid combat outfit
too.
Something that I was envisioning myself. ^_^
<snip>
The first point is the easiest, again IMO, to deal with. The first thing
you have to remember is that - as far as I know - there was no "Sailor
Moon" in the Silver Millenium. The other Senshi existed back then, but
there was no Sailor Moon - just the royal house of the Moon Kingdom,
who had possession of the Silver Crystal (I'm not even going to *try*
spelling it's name - I have *some* idea what my limitations are :-S).
Which brings to mind, why did the transformation pen that Luna gave Usagi
(in the original timeline) transform her as it did? Was it some kind of
predesigned "template", or did it draw on the subconcious of a rather nice
(if vacuum-headed) young girl who watched too much anime and read too
many silly mangas? And, possibly, from her latent memories of the Sailor
Senshi she had known in her last life, as Princess Serenity of the Moon
Kingdom?
>From the way the timeline looks, this timeline was whacked out way
before Kunzite decided to do the past-present-future boogie...
Though I have to agree it is fascinating.
<snip>
If the latter possibility is even *partially* correct, at least in the
reality that Soban lives in, then her *not* transforming into a Sailor
Moon-ish figure actually makes sense. Earlier on in Chapter 7, we discover
that Soban has few - if any - conscious memories of her life before the
accident that killed her parents. Who knows *what* affect it, and the
various
traumatic events that followed, had on her subconcious mind - not to
mention
her latent memories of her previous life?
If we work from that assumption we get a Senshi in black leathers and
a few automatic weapons thrown in. ^_^
And, perhaps more importantly, Soban has grown up in a much different
environment than Usagi did; even if you were only to look at Soban's life
up
to the time that Usagi would have made her first transformation into Sailor
Moon. She doesn't have the "good/evil, black/white, right/wrong" view that
Usagi had (or that the other Inner Senshi have, when Sukeban Senshi
begins). She may not have Usagi's belief in the innate goodness of
humanity,
and (even if she does) it's probably been strongly tempered by her own
experiences with prejudice and the uncaring cruelty she's been shown as a
"ugly cripple." And I think it's safe to say that her opinions on things
like law,
order, and authority.... differ somewhat from Usagi's.
I agree. But from a Yakuza schoolgirl to God-eating monster from beyond
space and time? (Hey, that would probably be a Cthulhu connection. ^_^)
And again, I say I don't care what she transforms into as long as it doesn't
wreck the story.
The second issue, the power of her transformed form, is a somewhat stickier
issue. But still, IMO, one that can be dealt with. The core of the
problem
here, I think, is the fact that Sailor Moon is probably one of (if not
*the*) weakest Sailor Senshi; but, at the same time, Princess Serenity is
easily a match for any of the Senshi - Inner or Outer.
Technically the weakest Senshi is Puu the Plushy Bear Senshi. ^_^
<snip>
Although he hasn't clearly stated which of these two groups he is in, at
least as far as Sukeban Senshi is concerned, I feel that mr. Yonge is in
the second one. When a young girl manages to heal her little brother when
he was at death's doorstop, especially when she herself is so seriously
injured, with no training, preparation, or aides.... That, to my mind,
seems to
suggest that Soban has a great deal of potential. Of course, using so much
of
that potential when she was so young, and so utterly untrained, might have
seriously affected both her and that potential she holds within her. And
that
could have affected the transformation's results right there.
And again, logically that would have resulted in her becoming a warped
version of a Senshi (I personally prefer TKWarhammer's Dark Senshi
from his FTLOR) or a weaker one, not GOD-EATER(TM). ( Sorry about that,
the word kinda rolls off the tongue in a cool way)
As for the "unbalancing" aspect of her transformation, mr. Yonge has
already
brought up one counter to that arguement: if Soban's new form is a
god-eater, what is it going to do for food on 20th century Earth? For that
matter, I have difficulties seeing the "unbalancing" aspects of this
transformation;
when taken as a whole that is. True, the new form has
probability/reality-altering
abilities, but so does/did Princess Serenity (the form those abilities took
was different, but six of one or half a dozen of the other....). And while
it
has some very good close-combat potential, I don't see how that upset's the
negatives that comes with this form. After all, getting your hands on a
main battle
tank is all well and good in a fight, but it isn't that useful when the
only
ammunition
you can find is for a .22!
You don't call what that thing did unbalancing!?
Even I can't do that! (Like I can do anything remotely like that ^_^)
Seriously, P. Serenity had a crutch, and couldn't exactly summon
up the rearrange-the-universe-in-my-image thing automatically.
God-eater here did a couple of stuff that were quite incredible, and it
seemed to be used to doing it on a regular basis. And the Ginzuisho?
I don' need no stiiinkiiing Giiiinzuyshow!
The transformation itself is another negative to Soban's new form. While
it
could just be a one-shot deal, the pain she felt during the first
transformation is likely to cause her to hesitate before trying to
transform
again. For that matter, certain aspects of Part 3 lead me to believe that
the
"Sailor Moon" transformation item is no more, which leads me to wonder how
Soban is to transform (either back into her human form, or into her
"God-Eater"
form in the future) *period*. Given that her new form doesn't seem to have
the
necessary parts to speak Japanese, I hope she either knows sign language
or can develop telepathic abilities.
A pretty good point.
But I'm guessing the god-eater as a one shot deal as a trial period thing.
Another transformation maybe in the offing.
Maybe the next time she can be Guyver. ^_^
Another downside to her transformation is the inhuman nature of her new
form. The "God-Eater" form is more likely to be taken as some new
Youma than an ally you can trust by the other Inner Senshi (and if Neptune
and Uranus are currently pulling their "pull-the-heart-crystals-out-first,
worry-about-the-morality-afterwards" skit.... Well, they always struck
*me*
as "shoot first, search the remains latter" sort of people). And, given
the
nature of her initial transformation, while there be any changes to
*Soban's* form carried over from her "God-Eater" form? Golden eyes, or
hair that seems to be imitating the Medusa's would be a *tad* noticable.
For that matter, if Soban were too lose her scaring and whatnot, that would
also
be more than slightly noticable.
Losing the scarring... hmmm.... tons of cosmetic makeup could
put that back in! ^_^
Seriously, this is another valid point and well worth looking into.
BTW, you mentioned the Dynamic Duo...with all of the enemies
of the SM world converging, it is quite reasonable that H&M will
show up eventually in a chapter or two.
And in keeping in touch with the Allyn Younge tradition, 'Ruka will
probably be a wheel-chair bound paraplegic because of a car
accident. ^_^
The new form's *mental* issues, are also a potential negative to Soban.
The "God-Eater" doesn't (so far) seem to have access to Soban's memories,
or knowledge. The personality differences between the two are harder to
state, but likely exist. Will any of these carry over into Soban's "true"
form, and how will they affect her (and those she deals with)? Or will
Soban possibly not be able to recall *anything* about her "other" form and
what
occurs when she's in it?
A very valid point. I prefer that Soban be unaware of the havoc she
creates in GOD-EATER(TM) form.
Another thing to watch for in the next chapter.
As already stated, the "God-Eater" is going to be needing an unusual diet
to stay in shape. Will Soban be forced to pull a page out of the Dark
Kingdom's cookbook and start draining people of their energy? (Who knows,
maybe in this reality, instead of just vaping the Dark Kingdom and
everything/one in it, maybe Soban will end up as it's new ruler!) And how
are the various factions and groups, not just the Senshi and Dark Kingdom,
going
to react to this new player that seems to be *quite* powerful?
I think the unusual diet part is already addressed.
Allyn didn't call the thing "God-eater" for nothing. <evil smile>
<scenes of destruction ensue as gods and goddesses are gobbled
left and right by our Soban-chan. Belldandy looks real good with a
side-dish of fried Skuld> <Damn seems another anime is going to
be thrown in ^_^>
And maybe the "god-eater" thing can be relaxed a little to include
demons or devils.
<scenes of destruction ensue as demons and devils are gobbled
up by Soban-chan. Marller tastes good when she's sauteed. ^_^>
So, as I said before, I think that Soban's new form *is* a power-up. But
not an *unbalanced* one (depending on how the story plays out from here, of
course).
As always, the effect on the story is paramount.
Allyn has a chance to pull this off without making this thing degenarating
into something I wouldn't even touch...but I've got no idea how...
I'm more interested in things like why Mettalia hasn't woken up yet. Did
the timeline change somehow negatively impact on her? Have the Kingdom's
new "allies" been sabotaging Beryl's efforts to awaken Metallia (most
likely, IMO)? I'm hoping that mr. Yonge will be covering that when he
shows
us the "allies" in the next chapter or two.
My problem with the "allies" is they should have shown up earlier or not
at all.
With their arrival in a relatively late chapter, they are a jarring change
to
what most readers view as a stable enough world.
And yes, the sabotaging part is quite logical, but we're not talking about
blind idiots here. Beryl and her Generals are evil, yeah, not stupid.
They're
also most likely quite paranoid. And in my opinion, DK has the most
manpower of the lot and kick the shit out of most of the other factions:
youma from DK and the cardians from Ail and Ann are stronger than
most of the daimons, lemures and droids I've seen in action.
And also another issue, the Mistress Nine thing...if I remember correctly
Chibi-usa's heart crystal was neccesary to wake her up from inside
Hotaru-chan's consciousness, also that would mean major heart-crystal
harvesting, something the Senshi have to notice. Not to mention the
significant increase in death via cardiac arrest.
And how is the end of Chapter 7 going to affect Soban, on a more "down to
Earth" level. She did after all, fail to make her delivery. Never mind
that *two* supernatural groups decided to have their fights with their
respective "heroes" in the same area and at the same time. Unless Chapter
8 is a lot more merciful towards Soban then I'm guessing, she is still not
going
to make the delivery. And, while it's all fictional (and therefore of
highly
dubious source material), just about every book I've ever read about the
Yakuza suggests that they don't *care* about the unexpected circumstances.
All
that matters is that you *failed.*
Most likely, we get to see a John Woo-like thing happening in the Island,
though without the guns...
Hey, I know a cool sequence in a Yakuza movie I saw, where two men, armed
with a katana and metal pipe, massacred an entire yakuza clan!!! ^_^
Seriously, this will affect the power structure incredibly.
I'm getting the feeling that Soban might soon have to deal with people
trying to muscle in, or outright take over, her territory. Which probably
wouldn't be welcomed at the best of time, not to mention right now with
monsters,
and senshi and transformations. Oh my! And while some might be brave (or
stupid) enough to go after Soban directly, at least one of them might have
the brains to realize that Soban is still pretty damn tough...
But she seems to care about four creampuffs in the school she's going to
right now, doesn't she? And how hard could four cute little girls who are
just getting their toes wet on the "wild side" be for a group of
up-and-coming
Yakuza?
The Yakuza are going to experience the joyful experience of being
flash-fried, electrocuted, frozen and lasered...
And that's after Soban's gotten through with them.
Besides, the TAC owe Soban a favor.
I think a storm might be coming in for both the Inner Senshi and for
Soban in the upcoming chapters....
Yup. And I hope Allyn gets his story under control.
If you need any help Allyn, there's us fans, so just ask away.