Craig wrote (edited)
Same here. And I'm sure a lot of the fans out there who
are afraid or to lazy to write in probably feel the same
way.
I'd have wholeheartedly to agree.
As a member of the normally "lazy readers" I have to agree too. I was
wondering what Sailor Moon would arrive - crippled, or whole, and what
the consequences of that act would be. The whole mystical evolution to
the god eater was a huge disappointment.
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.
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.
But I'm giving the current transformation the benefit of the doubt. And,
actually, the more I think about the way Part 3 ended the chapter, the
more I like it.
IMO, the problems that others (and myself, originally) had with Soban's
transformation can be summed up into two points. The first is that it's not
a Sailor Senshi transformation. The second is that it seems to be
*extremely* powerful.
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?
(The Apprentice now pauses to hide in his patented Fruitcake Shelter.
That's right, make your nuclear/chemical/biological/informational/nanotech
shelters from fruitcake! Not only is it one of the strongest and most
durable substances currently known to man, but people will actually pay
*you* to take their fruitcakes away!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reading on the FFML.
<small print> Brought to you by the Fruitcake makers of North America.
Building less edible foodstuffs. </small print> )
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?
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.
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.
Cutting through all the layers of arguement, the main question (again, IMO)
is whether or not the Princess' power is due to the Silver Crystal, or due
to her own potential? Many take the former viewpoint, using some
"anti-theft"
features of the Silver Crystal to explain why it's used only by the line of
Serenity - or, potentially, by individuals such as Beryl and/or Mettallia
(who have a great deal of power, mystic knowledge, and arrogance - thus
explaining just *why* they feel they could use the Silver Crystal).
However,
some authors (like Zaxxon) take the latter viewpoint in their opinions and
stories. To them, the royal line of the Moon had/has a great deal of raw
power on it's own. This group tends to portray the Silver Crystal as either
a
focusing agent, or an amplifier (or both). After all, a large mass of
weapon-grade plutonium won't create a mushroom cloud unless *something*
is used to begin the necessary reaction.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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?
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?
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).
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.
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.*
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?
I think a storm might be coming in for both the Inner Senshi and for
Soban in the upcoming chapters....
The Apprentice
Student of the Dark Side. Keeper of the Vlad `Assassins are
People Too!' Taltos shrine. Wage slave at the J-C Corporation.
Darkness is the true state of the Universe. It existed before the
Light came. It will exist after the Light is gone.