A new year is about to start in 26 some odd days…and no Mako-cakes will not be reclaiming his manhood.
Well another year has almost past and overall it was pretty good. Much fun was had, many gut busting laughs occurred, and memories both good and bad were made. So here are some poorly laid out thoughts on 2008 even if Fall is not over. I might do one for fall once all is said and done, but even so this post is already rather long. I hope you all had a fun year watching anime, no matter what your genre. Feel free to add some of your own stuff as this is hardly exhaustive, otherwise relive the rage relive the joy, savor Shinichiro’s tears one more time.
Outstanding Lasses
Noe Isurugi (True Tears)
Poor Noe never did find love by series end, but still helping others does make her a better person…
Poor Noe never did find love in the end, but she did help along a couple idiots find happiness. While Shin and Hiromi were content with going nowhere fast, Noe leapt out of a tree and changed every thing, Shin art was thunderstruck, Hiromi was threatened, Ai-chan was forced to face reality, and Nobuse gained the courage to carry on. Still for holding back her true tears for a while after Shin poured out all of his, Noe was an Outstanding Lass for being that selfless and not so vile as to beg a rival for any sort of help or pity points. Besides, Jibeta appreciates her mercy. I hope she finds a good guy some day that understands how great she really is, who knows maybe one of her new friends has yuri tendencies, perhaps both…
Sheryl Nome (Macross Frontier)
By series end this was no idle boast…
I for one was pleasantly surprised when Sheryl stopped being a haughty diva with a bad attitude and became a brave young lass. For a character that was never meant to be much more than Ranka’s older sister figure, Sheryl like the great Misa took on a life of her own and compelled Kawamori to make some changes after episode five. Who have thought that underneath that haughty hostility was one of the more memorable Macross women to ever exist. If you told me that Sheryl would be saving people towards the end I would have laughed my ass off during the early eps. She was on top of the world fell to rock bottom and still with a bit of hime help was able to pull herself together to sing on the Bridge of Battle Frontier. She even sent of Mikhail with style, and risked her own life for the sake of others. Were she a lesser woman Grace’s revenge would have been complete over the Nome family. For believing in the power of her own song and helping out Ranka, and her rather thick headed hime, Sheryl prove to be an Outstanding Lass of the highest order.
Klein Klan (Macross Frontier)
She’s no Sinagporean that’s for sure.
Poor Klan lost her Mikhail, but she did mourn in her own way, the Meltran way. For some one who had her own fair share of grief it was most noble of her to try and help Mikhail’s friends now that he was gone. Besides some one still had to take care of the kids. As the only person that command Alto-hime’s respect I say she did pretty well in putting hime on the right path, she did prevent Sheryl from running away at least. After all only a foolish miclone picks a fight with a Meltran, those armor piercing slaps are the least weapons of their formidable arsenal. Alto-hime is very fortunate to have such an Outsanding Lass as his onee-sama. I hope Kawamori gives her a happy ending of her own someday, next Macross perhaps?
Katie (Gundam 00)
Still waiting for a Gundam 00 College Years spin off. I bet Katie was a Bio Major, and Prince Ali had a blast in theology class as well as chemistry. Bushido Bob was probably in Japanese studies and president of the anime club, and poor Patrick was still trying to pass his entrance exam. As for Sumeragi…Partying 101?
Poor Katie has her hands full with an irritable XO, an Innovator conspiracy, a devoted book dumb suitor, a pill popping yuri pilot, and a cosplaying ace to deal with. All of this while having to lead her brave band of men and women against CB and their magic GN particles that almost put Minovsky Particles to shame. Life is tough Katie, but never has the thought of defeat or angst crossed her mind. Even if she one of the unsung heroes of Gundam 00 I think Katie is an Upstanding Lass for not adding to the wangst that CB and Kataron keep pumping out. I wish her the best of luck so that Prince Ali might be put on the fastest route to kill more terrorists. Besides she made Patrick a man and mildly dangerous to the point that Patrick was actually able to cripple Lockon Mk I and filled Tieria full of lose for the second season. The Power of LOVE is indeed a curious thing…
Touma Minami (Minami-ke)
The really surprising thing is that Touma is technically being groped…
It’s hard to think for oneself and doubly hard to think for some other half wit as well. One cannot help but admire the camaraderie that Touma has for fellow cross dresser Mako-cakes. That swim suit gambit was damn clever and even greater deeds were done to protect Mako-cakes’ identity even as Touma had little reason to do so. Friends will do a lot of things for you, but few would genuinely help you cross dress for your lustful ambitions. When Mako-cakes was about to give up on going to the pool, Touma pulled through so Mako-cakes could see Haruka in a bathing suit, incidentally Haruka was tossed in optimal proximity to his last known position in the pool. For going above and beyond what a friend would normally do, Touma is an Outstanding Lass.
Sakura (Wagaya no Oinari-sama)
I bet she’d make a great writer, rated G and otherwise!
While Hosaka was under delivering on fantasies this year, it fell upon poor Sakura to fill in the gap. She did so magnificently providing plenty of imaginary fanservice. Oh the power of the girl’s imagination. Even if she was the only normal of the lot, she was able to kick ass and get a hell of a ride home thanks to Kuu-chan. Maybe one day she’ll realize that she only has one rival, but until then may her imagination run riot, Haruhi-sama knows that a fertile mind is more interesting than reality.
Louise Halevy (Gundam 00)
While Piloting Sumltron…with Soma in her arms…and sharing a passionate kiss.
Haruhi-sama knows how much I hated Louise in season one as the stupid air head with her undeserved wealth and poor choice in men. How gloriously she has changed since her family’s run in with Nena. In fact she has exceeded all expectations and has not become the morality pet that I dreaded would be. Joining the yuri side of things was awfully nice of Louise as is her proper attitude about kicking CB and Kataron’s ass to avenge herself against the protectors of Nena. May Prince Ali help Louise achieve the revenge she has so long been denied. Long may her yuri love for Soma power her fighting spirit, and may the pile of dead terrorists be tall in her quest for justice. Outstanding Louise just outstanding, may the superior pilots of the Federation teach you all they know.
Excellent Evil
Hayami-sempai (Minami-ke)
Sorry Kana, but your cooperation is not neccessary…I don’t know what happened, but I can tell.
It is always more fun with Hayami-sempai, her juice is much more fun than Akkiko’s jamu with far more interesting results. Besides where Maki lacked the chutzpah to fight Hosaka, Hayami slapped the guy over the stolen bento, she even kicked him hard. While there are many ways to be evil a great malicious being knows precisely where to apply their trade. Given that Hayami has few wants, her treatment of Hosaka carried the hallmarks of excellent evil. No one is safe from Hayami-sempai, even the smartest fall to her juice, and while Kana never takes a sip, we all know that even juiced Hayami is a force to be reckoned with. No one seriously thinks Hayami spared Kana…I may not know, but I sure as hell can dream.
Grace O’Conner (Macross Frontier)
I am proud of that technological terror, delicious villain is delicious and evil. ALL HAIL GRACE!
Who could have suspected a Kikoku Inoue voiced character was the real villain, still evil Belldandy is deliciously evil. Grace does it all, from managing and helping ruin the careers of idols to piloting a VF-27 Grace’s skills are many. One cannot help but appreciate how close she was in getting her vengeance on her erstwhile researchers. She made and broke Sheryl with Ranshe’s precious bugs and used Ranshe’s kids like pawns. Sure she was helped by the fact that Ranka was in way over her head, but in crafting her own nii-san as Ranka’s Prince in a Valkyrie was the most malicious and terrible thing that could be done. The only thing that could have made it worse was if Ranka was with Brera’s child, thankfully for Ranka that fate was avoided. Lord Grace was almost Queen of the Galaxy and used the descendants of her enemies to do it had she succeeded the name of Nome and Mei would have been cursed for all time. Fire could not stop her, dimension eater could not stop her, and if you think that Grace was killed by Alto-hime with Mikhail’s gun…well Grace has been dead before. With any luck Miss Kikoku Inoue will bless us again with her evil voice may her legacy be as enduring as Kamijin’s.
Kana Minami (Minami-ke)
Don’t underestimate the cruelty of Kana…
Being smart is not all its cracked up to be, and without a doubt Kana has wrought more havoc and broken more lives than your typical stupid girl. Kana not only gets to defeat Chiaki more often than not, and has also taken control of Chiaki’s clique of friends. The continued success of the Mako-cakes experiment is absolutely diabolical, Kana doesn’t have to do much more than give Mako-cakes a nudge and the rest just follows. From inadvertently leading on Fujioka to ruining any hope Mako-cakes has of ever being a guy again Kana may not know it, but if she was even a bit smarter the world might be dancing to her tune. Unless of course there was some one even more evil…
Haruka Minami (Minami-ke)
What occurred that dreadful I can never say for I am bound by wards and oaths of a terrible power, but I tell you this, when we say Haruka is AMAZING that applies to everything…
It’s always the kind and gentle ones who wreak terrible vengeance once you push their kindness to the breaking point. Like her Banchou legends it is hard to discern truth from legend, no one knows what Haruka did to Chiaki and Kana that day and neither have ever spoken of it…perhaps there are things in this world that are simply too terrible to mention.
Upstanding Blokes
Patrick Colasour (Gundam 00)
Patrick can fit only a limited number of thoughts in his head, and most of those some how involve Katie.
Sure the man is an idiot, but given how the series he’s in is stocked with characters with emotional baggage with loads of emotional turmoil Patrick is still the only real good guy in the series. He hasn’t done anything evil and his reason for fighting is the only honest one and the only one associated with love. Besides the more screen time he sucks up the less Haptism and Marie get to rear their hateful visages. Never will you see any angsting on the part of old Patrick, he doesn’t know much and he doesn’t give two shits what other people think. If nothing else the man is persistent and has been pursing the love of his life for over four years, that right there is loyalty and devotion of the highest order. If nothing else he annoys the hell out of CB fanatics because Patrick is better than Tieria. Patrick is like root beer he’s bubbly, happy, and the more you watch the more you begin to like the fact that he also takes time away from Saji, Marie, Haptism, Mariana, and Desu-Yellow. He’s not only upstanding for piloting for his Katie, but he’s insidiously happy as well.
Saotome Alto (Macross Frontier)
Hime takes after his mother.
While almost universally panned by every rabid shipper that followed Macross Frontier, my Alto-hime was still a reliable one in that he honored his promise to stick with Sheryl who lost everything, going against his boss, his crew, and losing for a time his VF-25. Furthermore he chose bros over hoes and remained a friend to Luca and saved him from the curse of Kak’s colors instead of running away with Ranka. Most importantly of all hime did not have the high level of emotional baggage that seems to plague mecha protagonists these days. Hime trolled the shippers and for that he is a most Upstanding Bloke. Besides I tell you all again the triangle was resolved it all depends on how sharp your ears are…
Nobuse (True Tears)
When can his glory fade?
O the wild charge he made!
All the world wonder’d.
Honour the charge he made!
Honour the Green Brigade,
Noble Nobuse!
Poor noble Nobuse got caught in a love triangle, were he a lesser man he would have killed his best friend turned rival in a fit of rage. He could have done it two since Nobuse was able to see off two interlopers with but a glance, truly that reputation was hard earned and done over a veritable mountain of vanquished foes! Instead of destroying his friendship this Upstanding Bloke took an altogether different path and not only spared his rival a beating, but also saved his ass from getting beat by others. Never sparing himself he even sought out a curse so that his beloved Ai-chan could get a clean break. In the end his undying love was felt and he got the start that should have been his the first time. While there are some who may still hate Nobuse for giving Ai-chan happiness, such miscreants ignore the fact that Nobuse was a better man than his best friend. He was decisive, where Shin hesitated, he was strong where Shin was weak, and he never set eyes on anyone else. His heart was inviolable and for such strength of character Nobuse is an Upstanding Bloke.
Prince Ali (Gundam 00)
God knows ’twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear . . .
But you’ve a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
You shall fail that rendezvous.
In this Noble Prince of Kurdistan is the will of Tomino reborn, while death’s door has become a Sunrise joke, Prince Ali has come forth to restore its permanence and cull the fat from a bloated cast. He kills not for some false morality, but for his own fun and it cannot be denied that it was Prince Ali who did the most noble thing in Gundam 00 so far by killing off roughly 66% of Team Trinity and giving Nena a taste of her own medicine. Truly Prince Ali has done more for the good guys than CB did all season and then some, after all it’s not as if Jihad-kun and his buddies killed any one who deserved it, hell even Ribbons one upped them when he gave Corner a broken heart… Also while the killing of Kinue was rather unnecessary it did set her soul free to be reborn in Macross Frontier as Sheryl Nome, a fair trade by any account. No genetic engineering will be found in prince Ali, for he is a GOD OF WAR who honed his martial prowess the old fashioned way, neither super soldier, newtype, nor Innovator, Prince Ali is 100% Bad Ass Normal. For killing off the greatest number of villains in S1, Prince Ali is an Upstanding Bloke.
Mako-cakes (Minami-ke)
Meido has changed…
It’s indistinguishable…(courtesy of Comrade Haesslich)
While Mako-cakes hasn’t done much more than give us all a good laugh, I think that in itself was service enough. Lord knows many of us will never see meido in the same way again and Mako-cakes has broken many an otaku. May Mako-cakes show us all how there is no price too high to get into the home of your crush, and incidentally attain more female company without being a loser harem animu lead. Oddly enough it is nothing short of astounding that this not so book smart kid has such discipline. Had it been anyone else the pretense would have ended long ago with some thing unseemly happening. For maintaining the pretense of being a girl and out girling Chiaki Mako-cakes is an upstanding bloke, more so because he has yet to jump Haruka despite ample opportunity to do so, Mako-cakes is an Upstanding Bloke.
Ozma Lee (Macross Frontier)
The cake was excellent by the way…
When the death flags were flying high and the hearts of fans stopped at the sight of his bloodied cockpit, Kawamori trolled every one with pineapple cakey. It was brilliantly done on the part of Ozma despite the womanizing myth it seems that baking might advert the bane of aces. He was a terrible squadron leader that failed to convince his crew to follow his lead, but he was a decent enough guy to Cathy who almost married that Leon fellow. If nothing else he’s upstanding because he broke the pineapple curse, nuff said.
Bobby (Macross Frontier)
Don’t worry Cathy Bobby will adopt you!
Bobby may have given up on love, but one can’t argue with the quality of his parenting nor the quality of his children. Along with Cathy he actually went to a pre-battle sale that made total sense 80% off everything is something no one in their right mind could pass up. Bobby even had a big enough heart to help out poor Cathy after she lost her dad. He did after all help raise the smartest crop of bridge crew we have seen this year that was not cursed with the stupid. For that alone Bobby is an Upstanding Bloke, besides I am not stupid enough offend the only ace cap ship helmsman of the year.
Memorable Moments (mecha and otherwise)
Hiromi wins twice (True Tears)
Cry, CRY! CRY some more!
Ugh…I wish I could forget about that false hope they instilled in me. Here’s to Hiromi not losing her lead, just remember how much you both owe Noe for stirring up the stagnant waters between you two.
Macross Frontier two part Finale (Macross Frontier)
My Happiest Moment of the Year.
Oh yes Kawamori ultimate troll against the shippers and delivery of the mecha battle to beat of 2008. If you believe that new age hippie in that he made a harem ending that is all fine and well, but if you had the Macross OSTs looping for a while now you will have noticed that the end of Prolgue F was only played for Sheryl and Alto-hime, moreover Battle Frontier capped off its score with the same tune slightly mixed. Thus were Sheryl and Alto-hime blessed by Battle Frontier, and every true fan of Macross will concur that Battle Frontier knows best. So that was the end in musical terms that Kawamori has been touting for 25 years, Battle Frontier hath mused and only a fool would argue with a big bad capital ship with huge Macross Canon after you realize Kawamori is rather eccentric and always high on something in public. When Battle Galaxy was previewed the end was no longer in doubt and we finally saw two and a quarter Macross class vessels duking it out to the death. The way was cleared the character shots were rushed to make way for Battle Frontier and Battle Galaxy as well as a host of ghosts, valkyries, ships, and bugs. It was epic and had ever real mecha fan on the floor twitching violently upon its conclusion after the sensory overload and GODLY mecha action that had been cooking in Kawamori’s hookah for 25 years. Epic fan wank to go with EPIC TROLL for Kawamori. If your mecha sense was not firing on all cylinders you are no fan of mecha.
Metal Gear Rex vs Metal Gear Ray (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots)
I wish I was that good… (Spoilers!)
When I first saw the MGS4 trailers my jaw dropped when I got a hint that this was possible. Sure it was really the end…but it was at least on par if not slightly better than the old man fight. It was so much fun to play, slightly hard at first, but by Tsuruya’s fang it was everything I wanted it to be. Sure Liquid was a cheap bastard, but a few AT missiles can take care of that…Thank you Mr. Kojima, I am satisfied with your conclusion of the Metal Gear Saga. I can also stop egging people on to send you death threats motivational letters to your office since MGS3 ended.
Liberty Prime (Fallout 3)
Better dead than Red. (Spoilers)
What more needs to be said about one of the most definitive mecha moments in gaming for 2008. Western mecha may not be as popular as it once was but mein gott I dare say Liberty Prime has the most personality of any mecha this year. It certainly has more motivation to liberate Alaska than Gundam 00 has for helping Jihad-kun. Sure the Liberty Prime was no Zaku but hell it lobbed nukes like grenades and has some of the most awesome lines ever in anything mecha. Without a doubt Liberty Prime had one of the most just causes of any mecha, it did not pretend to fight for world peace or any such BS, but was completely honest about what it would do…destroy all communists. The only people who did not have their mecha fancy tickled were agents of the Red Menace. We all know what Liberty Prime has to say about that…
Mako-cakes’ continuing slide (Minami-ke)
Just friends? Maybe more…?
For some reason watching a character slowly become something else is at times hypnotic, I bet many of us could not help but watch with terrified glee at how Mako-cakes became more and more girl than boy. It’s like a black hole the viewer is simply drawn in and cannot escape after reaching the point of no return. Kana has scarred the poor guy soon to be gal for life, and I doubt any of us would be surprised if Mako-cakes signed up for gender reassignment. Thankfully for him at least his slow slide into femininity has gotten him more female company than most boys his age, oddly enough those in on the secret don’t seem to mind at all and Uchida along with Touma seem keen on keeping Mako-cakes as is, so at least Mako-cakes has some faint hope for someone to take him in if Haruka spurns him. Funny how it was all his love for Haruka that made him what he is today, one cannot help but wonder if Mako-cakes even remembers his original objective. Scary thing is…I bet he kept that bag of clothes. So much for his wild manliness that cannot be contained… Hopefully next year there won’t be a damned Fuyuki.
Death of Team Trinity and the coming of Yazan’s heir (Gundam 00)
Now it gets fun…
I am still a cautiously optimistic about Gundam 00 despite my dismay and disgust at the sight of Desu-Yellow and Saji. However it has been some time since Gundam power levels have been taken down to the low that they have, I wish the Gundam 00 team the best, and at least for now they can console themselves that they have beaten out SEED (even if they aren’t getting as high ratings, at least Fukuda is out of the way) for the time being (Marie withstanding). Still the destruction of Team Trinity was by far a high point and presaged how Celestial Being has been doing less good for the world than Prince Ali. If nothing else it does feel as if Tomino is back in charge of things and with any luck Prince Ali will kill even more useless cast members. It was an awesome Gundam jack that made Anavel Gato look like an amateur and the losers of Cosmic Era look like a bunch sissies. Prince Ali simply flew up and kicked the shit out them BY HIMSELF, only the heir of Yazan Gable could be this bad ass, and when you are Prince Ali you don’t need no Permit the reputation says it all. Such a pity that the traitor Jihad-kun saved Nena from justice… The conclusion for season one was good, but this was the moment when Gundam 00 really started firing on all cylinders, the tech gap had been bridged and Ali had delivered the Earth Sphere from the depredations of the Trinities. It’s worth noting that after Prince Ali slew Johann the only wedding intervened on was that of the hated Azadistani occupier.
46 Comments
I u I
coughMechafanboycough!
coughSherylxAltoMacrosslovercough!
Oh yes indeed Alto-hime is epic win.
But this year had my favourite female character: Sheryl nome
Most female characters are incurable damsels in distress, insignificant, weak or lacking in any proper form of character or are just moeblobs.
Sheryl has the distinction of being the rare female character with a unique personality, ability to overcome adversity and achieve things however small or great.
Gundam 00 is pretty much a love-hate thing, because the protagonists are busy fighting an adversary that does not even come across as evil. They are fighting order and stability. If the chaotic Middle East suffering at the hand of Federation selfishness was a reason, it is up to the Middle East to change themselves and adapt rather than impose chaos on the more stable rest of the world.
Furthermore, CB has emo kids, traps and all the wierd things that dont make sense.
Minami Haruka. Too good. Too kind. Too fearsome if pushed. She be hawt and awesome.
Also I totally agree with Kana being evil. WTF? Most annoying character this year for me.
In my case, the glee was from 95% amusement, 5% miscellaneous. And I want to see how far his transformation can go, without him actually becoming a girl.
Panther also fails, and I commend you Crusader, for realizing how masterful Kana is, most of the time without even trying. She is indeed boss.
Great list, and Nobuse totally deserves a spot in.
Gundam 00 Fumoffu needs to happen! I doubt Ali would go to class very much, though. The Dylandy twins could be like the Kaoru and Hikaru gay side characters of the Meister Host Club, while Setsuna could be the shouta/bait.
How does Hiromi not get on this list? Sure Noe played a good (crazy) game, but Hiromi defeated all challengers with a huge target on her back!
Eh..no Code Geass? lol..
Anyway, great list.
I agree with all of them, except the ones that I don’t know of course.
Sheryl, Noe, Nobuse..all great people.
It has been a great year watching these guys.
I don’t like you anymore, Crusader.
A G00 spinoff would be hilarious (fumoffu, hahaha)! Colonel Smirnov may have been a stemcell researcher or liberal grassroots organizer thereof.
1 – Lulu for Magnificent Bastard.
2 – Ranka’s Show for the Zentran was a Memorable Moment of Shock & Awe of pure Loli Power.
3 – Sheril & Ranka singing togheter in the Hospital, another Memorable Moment.
4 – I still cant forgive Shinichiro.
I’ll admit I haven’t played any of the MGS games so I might have missed something. But how is the cyborg able to slow down that giant ship-thing, but anable to free themselves from the (much smaller) pile of rubble without much struggling and… extreme measures?
Nevertheless, it’s mighty impressive.
So much win in this list that I can’t possibly comment on all of them! But where I think Crusader is unique is in calling awesome on Alto. Seriously, no one gives Alto credit for anything, yet he’s quietly but inexorably built a case for being one of the best characters in the franchise.
Although I’m not a mecha fan, but Macross Frontier appears to be my best anime in this year
I just like Alto and Sheryl characters too much. No need to explain why for Sheryl (whom I disliked at first) and what I like in Alto (except for his hime appearance) is how he can separated responsibility and personal feeling very well. He may not be that awesome, but he got a prize from me for not being so stupid. Actually Ranka (whom won my heart at first) also left a great impression like other two did… but I’m afraid it’s not the same, hahahaha.
There’re other nice anime series which I had fun watching them too. Man, never in my life I have watched anime this much like I did this year (lol)
@JadeMatrix: Because as much as Metal Gear fanboys would love you to believe the whole series is some masterpiece of storytelling and realism sprung from the incomparable “genius” of Kojima it’s really just the “game” version of your summer blockbuster, where if it looks or sound cool or if it was popular in the previous games then it’s in.
And it’s not going to be the end of Metal Gear. One could only hope that Kojima would really pack it in this time but I stopped believing him after Metal Gear Solid 2 was “the last game” before he went on to turn the franchise into an interactive movie. I envision Metal Gear Solid 5: Single Action Army, a spinoff side story where you play as Revolver Ocelot during the 1970′s. Mostly since Kojima seems so obsessed with that character and like he’s been itching for an excuse to replace Snake with him.
Moving on to some musings of my own, as for who would have suspected Grace would be the real villain, nobody since she more or less came out of nowhere to take the title. It almost felt like Kawamori had realized halfway through that they didn’t have a suitable villain character and started throwing darts at a board with character names on it until he hit on 3rd tier character Grace O’Connor purely by chance. Though if they were going for a middle tier suspense feature villain in Grace then I’ll say they succeeded with flying colours. Of course in that respect I wouldn’t go calling her an especially will written villain. More of the Lord Djibril variety.
That said Crusader did manage to point out the aspects of Sheryl Nome’s character that I did like. Unfortunately you still won’t find me calling her a goddess and treating her like some perfect character to end all perfect characters. Also kudos for recognizing Alto’s bro’s before hoes aspect to his character and how he was still an integral part of the support triangle (not as much a love triangle in this one which was relatively fresh). In many ways things might have ended up very differently if Alto hadn’t entered into Ranka and Sheryl’s life. If there’s any character that doesn’t get enough love (this one goes out to Ghostlightning of course) then it’s Ranka though. She had her struggles and even if she made her bad decisions she was still an integral character in the end. I blame the overwhelming (bordering on absurd) trumpeting on the internet of Sheryl as the be all end all Macross Frontier character for Ranka not getting her due. I would have picked her as a solid character before generic supervillain Grace O’Connor, but I guess anything associated with Sheryl’s backstory (however forced in) is deemed automatically good now.
And this does remind me though that I better get cracking on my own personal fanboyish/antifanboyish post. The Second Annual Awards For Dubious Achievements in Anime (2008)
Kaioshin… people… were suspecting Grace was one of the main villains back in episode 9… as soon as we heard her “The Boss” voice speaking to Brera… it was also a little suss that a pop manager knew details of a court marshal involving Michael’s sister wasn’t it… please don’t act like it came out of nowhere… and even if it did why is it a problem? You’re a Sunrise fan you should be used to this stuff! lol 11and 12 pretty much sealed it too before 13 if you payed attention…
And really your “anti everything that is popular that isn’t by Sunrise + a few other assorted things” stance is getting tired.
… Ranka didn’t do all that much towards the end of the series, and if you were a shipper her non-action was a serious cause for despair – she was upset she didn’t know anything about Alto in Episode 10… but then did nothing to rectify that situation. About the only high points she had were when she decided (finally) to do something without being prompted (taking Ai-kun home) or doing so in order to please Alto (Episode 25, when she sung because she wanted to… even if it did take some urging on Brera’s part). Otherwise she was merely a damsel in distress without Minmay’s ability to even try doing something, as Minmay did during the post-war scenario where she basically told Kaifun off and went chasing after Hikaru. And with Grace, the fact she’d been hacking military transmissions in episode 7 and had been hacking a camera monitoring the leadership meeting aboard Frontier were causes for concern… although the fact she was ordering around that cyborg Brera who’d taken potshots at Alto a few episodes before pretty much cinched the idea that she wasn’t JUST a manager. The whole ‘dimension-eater’ reveal was melodramatic as hell, but not too surprising.
As for the shots posted above, I present one better for Mako-chan and another for Liberty Prime:
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/8596/makomaidzm5.png – Full-length Mako Maid
http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fallout3giant13sj4.png – Image is to scale, Liberty Prime is large… but not Top Mecha
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2372/fallout3giant10cn6.png – Another image to show scale
Oh, yes. Liberty Prime is the best part of the main quest in Fallout 3. He have the honesty to not sugarcoat his true purpose, he talks sh*t about his enemies and shoot eye lazors. What to not like?
Crusader, there’s but one more detail for “G00: College” – the part about Bob where he spends 3/4 of the latter half of the series off-camera and ignored by the writers, due to his pressing AFROTC obligations, earning scholarship by carrying the Flag as it were.
Oh, Sheryl and Grace… how the 2 of you have burst out of the mold of the copypasta female character to become the strongest and most awe-inspiring characters of 2008.
In my opinion, Macross Frontier is the best anime of the year
stupid Mnemosyne for ruining your chances after ep 3with orgasmic mecha action, songs (read: Sheryl no Aimo) and Inoue Kikuko voice + boob-grabbage. Ignoring the Gallia IV (can’t remember name) incident, character and relationship development was spot on with many characters (Sheryl, Cathy, Klan, Grace, Bobby) coming into prominence instead of being left behind as mere support characters. Then there was of course the main protagonist, Alto-hime, who I felt was going to be yet another male hero and was there just for androgynous lulz. However, he grew on everyone by becoming a (tsundere) man instead of a whining bitch who just wants to fight the forces that be all the time while dragging his “friends” along for the ride.Again, Macross Frontier is definitely my pitch for Best Anime 2008, Best Song from an Anime (Shinkuu no Diamond Crevasse), Best Female Character (Sheryl Nome) and Best Villain (Grace). The only exception may be Best Male Character which may go to Lelouch for being FABULOUS.
Damn you Sunrise, if you had given Cornelia-hime more screentime there would have been a slightly better fight for best female character and she would have been on this listWell, if Touma and Mako-chan ever hook up in high school, at least we’ll know in advance who’ll wear the pants in *that* relationship…
Maybe they’ll both wear skirts when the time comes? Either that, or Chiaki may give up on chasing Fujioka by that point and becomes Mako-chan’s husband. Certainly, later chapters of the manga have her doing things to Mako-chan as well… sorta.
@soso/karin lover
Bloody right ya are, though I see some one forgot to get their flu shot…
@kanzaki
I am sure no Macross Fan will ever soon forget Alto-hime, for various reasons…
Sheryl was a delightful surprise from the height of fame Minmei Diva we met early on. She’s fiery one to say the least. I can see why Battle Frontier blessed her.
May Prince Ali vanquish the CB menace.
@Panther
Kana might be irritatingly stupid, but you still have to admit she was responsible for much of the comedy.
@TheBigN
Kana is Boss, but i dispute your percentages, we all know if you have watched Minami-ke up to this point you are either broken or in denial of being broken.
@schneider
Poor Noble Nobuse did not get the credit he deserved for choosing bros over hos, fortunately Noe helped him attain happiness.
@Kabitzin
But comrade why don’t you do one for Hiromi? I am sure you are far more qualified than I…
Gundam 00 Fummoffu would be a brilliant idea, Katie can be the poor but smart indentured one making snide remarks about the idiots that surround her. Patrick can be Katie’s number one fan. Maybe we can reprogram Soma so she’d be the biggest fangirl with a pedestal…yes. We need to threaten Sunrise to fund this at once!
@Setsukyie
I didn’t feel like doing a fabulous category…
Indeed it was a great year that had many upstanding blokes and outstanding lasses.
@LDC
Bullshit, you love Mako-cakes and you know it.
@lelangir
I see Sergei as the weight lifting and judo instructor…Billy can be the hippie he’s half way there already flip flops plus pony tail and all.
@mareo
Indeed Noe might forgive, but not every one can…
@JadeMatrix
It’s soft science fiction in every sense of the word, thus the rule of cool is in full effect. Though as you say it is might impressive.
@ghostlightning
My Alto-hime will one day get the recognition hime deserves for sticking to his word and honoring his oaths. May we one day see Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho.
@Blist
Sheryl probably surprised a lot of people and in the end she rose to the occasion magnificently. There is nothing wrong with how My Alto-hime looks, Sheryl sure doesn’t mind, and neither does Klan onee-sama. If nothing else hime was as you say normal, earnest, and a decent fellow. Ranka certainly left an impression, but it was not as positive in the end.
@Kaioshin Sama
Oh don’t be a we blanket MGS4 was just fine and everything we had come to expect since it dawned upon us that Mr. Kojima was crazy, it’s his world, and I think it’s fine the way it is. Besides it’s not every day you get to play as a geriatric commando…If nothing else there is nothing else like it. It was a fun game at least for me.
As others have said we did get hints that Grace was more than just a mere manager, and in hindsight pairing Grace with Leon in the OP which you probably skipped time and time again kind of foreshadowed it. It did not come out of no where though the Dimension Eater sealed the deal on who the real big bad was, and it wasn’t Leon.
Sheryl wasn’t perfect, but she did exceed all my initial expectations for her and as a cynic I like being pleasantly surprised. This vile internet conspiracy to trumpet Sheryl is only real in your mind, honestly now, many of us saw her as little more than the most vile aspects of Minmei given form, when Sheryl rose to the occasion unless you had no heart you could not help but cheer her on as she found her own way after Grace discarded her.
Ranka was in my opinion a jab at the typical loli moeblob she id have her struggles, but in then end you can only blame Grace so much. Grace had been planning this for years and her revenge was as terrible as it was calculating, it reminded me of Glaurung’s vendetta against the children of Hurin from the Silmarillion, though it was not as devastating in the end. Had Ranka been a stronger character it would not have seemed as though Ranka was merely dancing to Grace’s tune, her faith in Brera was ultimately Ranka’s undoing. In the end Ranka was recycle shotted and budget was then expended on Battle Frontier and pretty much every one else. I wanted to like Ranka but after the roof top debacle it was pretty much the tipping point from which Ranka could not enjoy as much favor from the audience. Really now your persecution complex is getting a tad over done…Ranka was riding high and her fall lay in principle to her own string of bad decisions and misplaced loyalties. Grace was not awesome because she was associated with Sheryl, but rather because her revenge was much more methodical and brutal than most other revenge schemes. Many of us had no clue that at Kikoku Inoue voiced character being a villian was possible given her previous roles. Suffice to say hearing that evil voice of hers was quite a change, and no doubt Kikoku Inoue fans lapped it up and praised it for the unique role it was for her in this medium. I think you over simplify why some many people though Sheryl great and how Grace’s praise was sung across the series of tubes. No says Sheryl was perfect much of the praise was due to her being more than a vile amalgam of Minmei’s worst traits.
Make of it what you will, but I tell you now there was no conspiracy to trumpet Sheryl, Ranka did not meet expectations and in many people’s minds the damsel in distress act had become far too irritating to bear much longer. She was an integral part as you say, but that doesn’t mean we all have to like her for it. Not every majority is a conspiracy, for an optimist you sure seem to doubt the existence of consensus.
@Westlo
Indeed up until the Dimension Eater we knew Grace was more than what she pretended to be, but many of us were not quite sure if she was just being mischievious or outright evil. Of course she proved herself a most methodical villian whose behind the scenes machinations were delightful. Besides hearing her voice as in a manner most rare was enthralling as well.
@Haesslich
Ranka was indeed put on a bus, but by that point she had already sown the seeds of her destruction, Grace just proved to be a most skilled evil gardener. In hindsight may the first tip off that Grace was some how more than a manager was given in the OP as she was paired with Leon. I agree that the dimension eater was not too surprising, as we all knew Grace was up to no good, besides some one tipped of Kamijin II about hime trying to pull a solid snake. Given how they would have taken all comms from every one and no one visibly saw Alto-hime it was a further hint that Grace had plans. It was a nice build up though at first it seemed as if Grace was only a small time hacker that was harmless, but as you say she got bolder and all who were watching started getting suspicious. Part of the problem with Ranka was that Sheryl outshone her for the most part, and especially towards the end. Sheryl was exceeding most viewer’s expectations while Ranka struggled to meet the ones set for her. I think it was you or Myssa who said that it was as if Minmei was cut in two and Ranka got the better half to start with, sadly Ranka ended up just as worse as Minmei if not slightly worse given her complicity in Grace’s plans and even poorer decision making skills.
Wait was this the result of a glitch? In one of those it looked as if the enclave power armored guy was gigantic.
May I have permission to post that Mako-cakes image you just doled out? It is much more ideal in showing how meido has changed.
@Sheba
Liberty Prime can tell no lie, it makes not secret of how it will defeat the communist invasion. It was a crowning jewel of a moment in a great game. Abe Lincoln was sure badass back in the day…
BTW I heard rumors of an anchorage DLC pack later with any luck Liberty Prime
will fulfill its mission.
@Blacksmith
I am sure Bushido Bob will carry his cosplay and love for animu with him, besides we all know the Air Force lives a life of luxury, finding internet and electricity won’t be so hard for him…lousy flyboys.
@Li Shan
Macross Frontier made many memories for a lot of people, and it was very much a celebration for 25 years of Macross fun. Long may Kawamori smoke his hookah!
@Myssa Rei
I am with Haesslich on this one neither has to wear the pants, both wearing skirts would be just fine, nay it might even be desirable.
@Haesslich
Chiaki does things to Mako-cakes too? Hmmm…there is hope for season 3 yet. Still Hosaka better redeem himself with some better fantasies this time around.
There are three expansions for Fallout 3 in the works, according to scuttlebutt. One is Operation: Anchorage, another is an expedition into Pittsburg (now called the Pit), and yet another is Broken Steel, where the Brotherhood of Steel take back the Capital Wasteland from the Enclave once and for all.
Details here:
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=916357
@Myssa Rei
Thanks, been out of the game news loop for a while since finals started.
So did you experince unadulterated glee when you saw Liberty Prime initiate directive 7395?
Crusader: Alas, my faithful clunker of a CPU can’t handle any of the new games — pretty much only able to play Bioshock and Fallout 3 on my cousin’s PC — and I’m still torn whether I should dip a bit into my Master’s Degree budget for a new unit. And my laptop ain’t up to speed for anything more than Guild Wars (heck, it overheated on Dawn of War). I should be able to play it eventually. Like my bicycle, replacing my system will be a part by part process.
The scenario and DLC will be available by February next year, according to Bethesda.
@Myssa Rei
Maybe a 360 would be a better option, just make sure it’s a Jasper build. Graphics cards will run you a pretty penny anyway. Unless, of course, you enjoy building PCs.
Gundam already had it’s Fumoffu. It was known as SD Gundam and it was funny as hell. And at the end of the day I have to agree that Macross Frontier accomplished what it set out to do, being a celebration of all things Macross. In a way I see it as sort of being Macross’ Turn A Gundam.
@Myssa Rei: I have Bioshock on Xbox 360 and even there it lags from time to time. It’s a pretty intense game and I’m not sure the coding was as tight as it could have been. Still extremely playable and runs at the full 60 frames 99% of the time though. I’d recommend the Premium. The Elite isn’t worth the price unless you absolutely have to have an HDMI cable and a black chrome finish on the casing and the Arcade is just beyond neutered (256 MB storage which means DLC is a big no no) and comes with absolutely the bare minimum setup and none of the peripherals you need to play your games online. The Arcade is the one you see advertised for $199.99 in XBox game commercials and I get a chuckle out of it everytime for the poor sucker who would by that thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360#Comparison_of_features
One last thing though, the Jasper is not going to save anyone from the Red Ring. If your console is going to red ring it’s going to red ring so your best bet is to just keep everything spaced out and make sure that the vents are unobstructed.
@Kaioshin
Dubbed SD Gundam didn’t do it for me, though doozy bots made me laugh HARD.
The point of having a Jasper is because the older builds were loud…and were more prone to RRoD. Right now in the US at least there is a 29.99USD deal for a rebuilt 20 GB hardrive plus 3 months of Gold, it’s a cheaper alternative.
@Crusder: SD Gundam Force was the second go at an Americanized Gundam after the unfortunate Doozy Bots and not the one I’m referring to. The one I mean came out in the 80′s under the titles of SD Gundam’s MK’s 1-5.
http://www.mahq.net/animation/gundam/gundam.htm
I have a Falcon built and the only thing that’s really loud is when I start up a game from disc and even then it’s not as unbearably loud as the airplane takeoff some people like to associate the sound with. Imagine a person taking a deep breath and then exhaling and that’s pretty much the sound of an Xbox DVD drive. I can’t say anything about a Red Ring because the only thing I’ve had go wrong is a single red light (top left) when the Hard Drive came loose after our cleaning lady dusted it off rather roughly and somehow popped the disengage button. Other happenings include the time she turned my computer off (which shouldn’t have been possible by accident since you have to hold the button for a good 3 seconds as anyone knows), the time she knocked the plug out my modem causing my torrents to stop (although it does sit somewhat loose so I can see that one) and the time she managed to get the Windows Help screen up on my PC, all by dusting and vacuuming (the f***). I’m just waiting for her to actually break one of my $500 toys.
My sole experience with the Red Ring is through a friend of a friend has gone through 3 XBox 360′s and currently has 3 (I honestly don’t know how or why he would waste that much money) lined up to go because he’s paranoid and thinks it’s going to happen again or that MS is going to ban his live account for having a chipped system. Sigh…..in some ways I long for the simpler days. My old NES (the front loader) still works like the day I bought it with a few tries on inserting games here and ther and all of my games still work too. 20 year old technology and yet my DS breaks after 2 and a half years and 360′s are dying all over the place.
As for the Jasper, I think the major selling point would be the lower power consumption. 150 Watts versus 175 for the old model. It adds up.
Crusader: Go ahead and mirror the image locally – it’s the same one I sent Jason way back when to tell him to blog that episode of Okawari, although you may want to edit the image a bit to blur that obvious C&P line between the lower and upper half of the screenshots.
As for Liberty Prime being small? That was me playing with the command console – it turns out Liberty Prime is only set at Playerscale 4 or so, which makes him four times the height of the player… while I set it up to 10 for my Tesla Armor-wearing self, which made him tall enough to take up a good part of the lower bit of the Washington Monument. Notice the normal-sized Brotherhood of Steel soldier is only up to the ankle.
Oh, and Chiaki gets into dressing up Mako-chan as well, although I’m still not quite sure she realizes he’s a boy – there’s scanlations (in Chinese) of Chapter 114, where this takes place. A certain Danbooru-posted fanart was the result. No way in HELL he’s regaining his manhood.
And Broken Steel, for those who haven’t read the press release, is actually the continuation of the Main Quest, where the player helps the BoS clear out the last of the Enclave remnants along with the super mutants. It looks like they’re deep-sixing the crappy ending which was, according to the official guide, the improved version.
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@Kaioshin
Rich bastard…I have to clean my own place. I don’t think mine is a Falcon, the DVD drive and fan are loud has hell, though so far i kept it in running condition because it well ventilated and for now seldom used. My Cousin had a RRoD because he didn’t ventilate his, my 20 GB hard drive failed and was “lost” by UPS, so I splurged on the 120 GB since I felt a replacement 20 GB was a rip off. My NES broke many many years ago, though how you managed to break a DS is beyond me. Hell mine survived a combat loaded M-240 gunner landing on me then again I was squishy…
On SD Gundam Force though I found the dub voice work irritating and then I had to give up cable.
@Haesslich
Thanks will do in just a bit. Can’t edit though, lack of skills. So planning on motivating Jason to post something regarding the previous episode of Gundam 00? I suppose he might be need a bit of convincing…yes? I have something I would like to forward you something to help Mr. Miao get back to his blogging duties, please check your e-mail at you leisure comrade.
If I still remembered how to read Chinese that would have been great alas for my piss poor memory that wiped it clean for the sake of military basic knowledge…I recognize a few characters, but no longer enough to be considered literate, so much for nine years of my youth.
With any luck Minami-ke season 3 will be better than season 2. I am surprised 114 chapters in and Mako-cakes thinks he can be a guy again…
In regards to the Fallout 3 ending, you could have asked your super mutant friend to help, but no…still I look forward to the Liberation of Alaska and hopefully helping Liberty Prime clean out DC of Red Enclave Invaders.
Crusader: I’ve been trying to get him to blog 00 S2 Episode 8… but he hasn’t responded. I suspect Tieria in a dress (with breasts) sent him down the path of crossdressing and he’s been too busy being broken to blog anything. Right now I’m preparing to permanently derail his blog in order to continue the (non)broken tradition. Show ▼
Fallout 3 – as I said, the main quest is being retconned to judge by how they’re describing Broken Steel, so maybe Fawkes WILL be going in there to save your ass after the fact.
By the way – Player.setscale 10 means the player’s model is actually Zentradi-size; or about 60 feet tall, which puts Liberty Prime between 20-24 feet in height. And it DOES cause enemies to trigger their attacks sooner as they can see you earlier on… but at the same time, you can still attack them at maximum range.
@Haesslich
Another derailing? Please do tell. I wonder what will happen once the winter season starts Mako-cakes will be back along with some dude from Maria+holic. I am sure Jason will turn up sooner or later, but as you say we might end up with a Jasmine Miao.
Well I bet they will make it work, I tried to get Fawkes to do it but he cowardly refused. Such a pity no one really had to die to do it.
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@Crusader: Oh it’s not broken, it just won’t turn on anymore. Power supply is toast. In fact I’m fiddling around with it right as I type this. By the way, why are we so worried that Jason Miao isn’t blogging at the moment? I think the internet can survive without his “deep observations” and cult of personality. And if you ask me Haesslich is doing a much better job at running things at the moment then Jason ever did. Talk about fomenting discussion. Not to mention that without Jason there, for the first time in ages the website is actually being true to the whole derailed theme. Unpredictable and spontaneous. I’m all for a coup d’etat that puts Haesslich in charge there.
By the way, right now I’m listening to an MAHQ podcast and 08th MS Team and they are really hammering at the Shiro x Aina dynamic in the series as well as the tone change when the director had to be replaced. On the other side of things though they are countering some assertations that it’s not a true U.C series because it has Ground Gundams. There’s also a comparsion to Votoms in there too. Interesting stuff that you might want to check out since I know you’re really into that one.
@Haesslich: So Liberty Prime actually upscales in relation to your character model? I’m not sure how I feel about that. The A.C.E series sort of does something similar for enemy units depending on the size of the unit you are playing as, but that’s because it has to in order to keep the experience a little more realistic. So then is there actually no official size for the Liberty Prime then?
http://img124.imageshack.us/my.php?image=makochansw5.png
Slightly cleaned up version of the picture, and at higher res, from Ayako-sae sources. Please edit this post to remove link when you’ve got it mirrored.
Kaioshin: No, Liberty Prime stays the same size no matter what – but I’ve noticed that either I’m getting closer to enemy mobs just by taking bigger steps as a giant or else they see my 60-foot self as they start attacking sooner. Mind you, I also used the Console to create Colonel Autumn’s Laser Pistol, and it does 75 damage (base) and is full-auto like the Gattling Laser… but uses the easily-found Small Energy Cells versus the Electron Charge Packs. But Liberty Prime is set at PlayerScale 4 as far as its height goes… just as the Super Mutant Colossi are (4 times as tall as the player).
Behemoths, even.
@Kaioshin
If all else fails DSi and don’t look back. Jason has a right to open his filthy sewer the same as the rest of us, don’t forget that you are sharing this series of tubes with everyone else including all sorts of scum. Besides it’s only natural to want to know why he went silent…Besides every one has their uses.
@Haesslich
Done and done. May your coup be bloodless, only smotherings! Also I must inform you that should you fail in your adventure we will disavow any knowledge of your activities or existence. If any one asks you stole it.
Nice post, but might I suggest labeling what series each character is from next time?
@CatzCradle
Ask and ye shall receive.
Ouch, no Ranka? Guess I’ll just have to make do with Noe then. That nod to MGS4 also put a smile on my face, although while I enjoyed rampaging through Shadow Moses with Rex, the battle with Ray was just far too easy to be enjoyable. It was the CLASHING OF BONE AND SINEW between Snake and Ocelot in the final fisticuffs that stirred me up, with the various iterations of the health gauge popping up on screen. I shed manly tears ;_; As for Liberty Prime, I didn’t notice the hunk of metal until the very last moment it got activated, which caught me by surprise really, even if it felt odd having a mecha in the Fallout universe. Seeing it carve a path all the way to Jefferson Memorial was total lulz, as he blew away the Enclave in total Havok glory.
I completely agree Liberty Prime was the best thing to come out of Fallout 3. Doesn’t speak much about the quality of the game.
@Shin
What difficulty did you play on? It took me a while to figure how how to do it on Big Boss Hard. I struggled at the end part it was aggravating when Ocelot connected in the secnd and thrid parts of the fight, it really took down the life bar. Ranka wasn’t outstanding enough in my book, but Noe certainly earned her place. You did not even listen to Liberty Prime? Well it was a fine speech on how it was better dead than red. The Enclave were communist invaders, Liberty Prime merely executed it’s directives.
@Anonymous
The rest of Fallout 3 was pretty good, though it was all too easy to get loaded down with loot.
Like most other games, I play on its default difficulty, which probably explains why ;p Even then, I was struggling in the final melee too. Couldn’t hear it talk too clearly amidst the shooting and explosions, but I have a save there, so I guess I should. Hopefully mods will allow it to be a recruitable NPC, though it would break the game. THOSE LAZER EYESSSSS!
With the upcoming G.E.C.K. scenario and item editor coming out, people should have more reason to stop moaning about the default ending for FA3. Let the modding commence in full!
Though it has to be said. TDA. In Fallout. Make it happen modders.
@Shin
I see you were not up to the challenge, though I don’t blame you Kojima demoed the game on default difficulty, though at the harder settings the game dynamics do shift greatly.
@Myssa Rei
Well I am keeping my copy for the time being. Thanks for the info.
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