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 What is this? In 1996, Kunihiko Ikuhara founded BePapas, a cohort of talented people involved in manga and anime, most notably himself and manga artist Chiho Saito, in hopes of launching a massively multimedia project. Saito was a talented manga artist and Ikuhara himself was the series director of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seasons of mega-hit Sailor Moon, as well as an episode director on the first season and the director of the first movie, Sailor Moon R: The Movie. Ikuhara recruited a collection of other highly talented people to work on a new project of his own devising, Revolutionary Girl Utena. Saito's manga would come out first, followed by Ikuhara's TV show (a 39 episode show that would air in three consecutive seasons over the course of basically the entirety of 1997), followed by this game in 1998, followed by the movie The Adolescence of Utena in 1999, the end of the project. Ikuhara would bring in talents from other anime, as well as pop singer Masami Okui, skilled composer Shinkichi Mitsumune who provided a Baroque-themed OST, and Japanese theater music indie legend J. A. Seazer's experimental choral rock to provide three wildly different genres of music to backdrop the project. So super-weeb garbage trash, got you, bye. Bye! Utena is not for everyone, and if you think all anime is automatically trash, I doubt you'll have too much interest in this thread. Utena is revolutionary for several key reasons that would be spoilers to mention, but will become clear over the course of this game for those who haven't seen the series before. That said, this is an anime visual novel, and if you're flat-out inherently opposed to that, this thread will not be for you. So what is THIS? This game? This game was released for the Sega Saturn in 1998. "Revolutionary Girl Utena: Four Days in Ohtori" is a fan name, it was released under the name Itsuka Kakumeisareru Monogatari, which translates as "Revolutionary Girl Utena: Tales From a Someday Revolution." I think the fan translation of the title gets at the point better, though. You play as a new character in a new plot set between episodes 8 and 9 of the anime, and you are in Ohtori for four days. What you do with that is up to you. So what is so "revolutionary" here?  Revolutionary Girl Utena, reflecting Ikuhara's sensibilities (he wasn't personally involved with this product, but his tastes are all over it), is very, very, very...interesting on gender issues. Ikuhara is on record as preferring settings where every character is bisexual because every possible love combination is a possibility, and this game goes with it.  For a visual novel from 1998, this leads to a truly startling result: you have five (Note: not actually five) love interests including two girls and three boys that you can pursue. Remember, though, this is Four Days at Ohtori. We aren't shooting for love for life. How many possible endings are there? There are 7 possible good endings, 1 standard bad ending, and 3 nonstandard secret bad endings if we make really bad choices. I am going to commit to getting to one (1) ending. If we end with the game over, that's just the way it is. How are we going to do this? Democracy! You all will vote on all of the major choices in the game, and the minor ones you don't vote on I will decide based on continuing the attitudes from prior votes. How often will this thread update? This game is super-easy to do as it is mostly transcribing text, with the only actual gameplay being the votes, and the gameplay entirely moving through text. Barring actual hiatuses due to real life considerations that may come along and will be noted in thread, I will attempt to update once a week, which should put us as done in ~3 months. (This game is REALLY short. If you wanted to, you could beat it in three hours, maybe two). Is this game true to the spirit of the show? At first, you will 100% have some doubts, but I guarantee by the end of the process, you will not. This show is truly Utena. So who are our possible lovers? And who are we?  We are a new character for the game, whom I have taken the liberty of naming Song Patter (the names are all rendered Asian-style by the translation patch, with first name last). There is one other new game-only character we will be seeing. All of the characters will be introduced in bonus posts when they appear. How are you playing this? With the Saturn emulator SSF, with the translation patch. Where can I get this game and the translation patch? Nice try. It's a big Internet out there, find it yourself. Feel free to play along if you want to. There are quite a few Lets Plays of this game on Youtube. Why should I follow this thread? What's your spoiler policy? ABSOLUTELY NO GAME SPOILERS. I don't care if you've played it before: you can still vote. However, no "this answer raises our rating with Touga by 9, but the OTHER option raises our rating with Touga by 9 and also raises our rating with Miki by 18" or anything. That is strictly 100% banned. You can collaborate with people to try to push a certain ending, but no telling what the options do. You're free to guess. I can't read your minds, obviously, but if you know better, don't say anything. Like I said, I'm 100% fine with you all trying to do something and ending up failing and getting a game over. I'd prefer that to everyone trying to look up what things do. As for show spoilers? This game is set between eps 8 and 9 of the series, but it references events way later on. I will do my best to avoid major spoilers (you know what those major Utena spoilers are if you've watched the show, so don't reveal them either) but some content past that point in the series will have to come out as we play. This game predates the movie, so any discussion of the movie is off limits. Please try to not make this Ikuhara general thread: I don't really care if you loved Mawaru Penguindrum because you are sexually fixated on railway maps or hated Yuri Kuma Arashi because it...um...I haven't actually watched Yuri Kuma Arashi, so fill in criticism there. If you want to say that you think a theme explored here was explored differently in one of those other works, go for it, but don't just randomly spoil Penguindrum or Yuri Kuma for no reason. Feel free to note similarities in character design or whatever with Sailor Moon given that Ikuhara directed that as well, but I also don't want to hear major spoilers about that show. Also, while I should hope this thread is dead by the release of his 2019 show Sarazanmai, if I'm somehow still doing this at this point, don't discuss it here. Can I watch the entirety of Utena legally for free in a conveniently-accessible place? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TQFlVcPyUA Knock yourself out, courtesy of the nice folks at Nozomi Entertainment. Is there a really stupid, tone-dissonant OP that would leave Ikuhara in hysterics laughing about how out of place it is? There sure is! This is a completely screenshot LP, but luckily, the opening is on Youtube already. You can watch the whole cringefest here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLQY9r1VPcM but I will be providing screenshots, lyric translations (courtesy of the friendly folks at ohtori.nu), and commentary on the opening below.  Roses are important in Utena. They're a commonly-reused motif, and, more importantly, every character is color-coded and a rose will be associated with him/her. The mouse/monkey is Chu-Chu, the comic relief cute animal. Chu-Chu is a monkey who looks like a mouse. He will be properly introduced when he's introduced in game (this goes for all future characters).  Akio, Saionji, and Touga sing together: "Now, gather here For the daily life of the Academy, together with us" These three male characters are all authority figures from Utena's perspective, and they're all supposed to be/are absurdly handsome. We will get into that as we progress into the game and meet them.  Mr. Touga "I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt So I always leave the jacket unbuttoned" Kiryuu.  Akio, we just met!  Not you too, Saionji! Sadly for Mr. Saionji "I Will Beat You Until You Love Me Like All Things Should" Kyouichi, his nipples get covered by Akio and Touga. Saionji will never get to shine with them around.     Supporting cast is also here. (We will meet all of these people in time, but they aren't date targets, so nope)  Cut to a Sunlit Garden somewhere:  Utena and Jury sing together while Miki and Anthy play the piano and Miki's twin sister Kozue looks bitterly on from the background: "Our wandering days flourish in a new time With no hope of halting the waves of reminiscence in either dazzling midday or night"  Ms. Utena "I Am Not Your Protagonist Even Though My Name is On The Box" Tenjou herself.  Ms. Jury "I'm Too Cool To Be In A Dating Sim And I Resent You Even Considering Taking My Path" Arisugawa reluctantly sings her lines, but full of condescension. She didn't even want to be in this game, you know, but contracts are contracts.  Mr. Miki "I'm the One Everyone Forgets About And You Should Definitely Not Take My Path Because I Am A Thirteen Year Old Boy What the Hell Is Wrong With You" Kaoru plays the piano with Anthy.  Would you believe that people mistake Utena for a boy?  Awww...Our Protagonist with Ms. Chigusa "I'm a Game-Original Character" Sanjoin herself.   Chigusa is in turquoise, we're in purple.    Utena and Jury sing: "Time goes on, and the curtains close Until time expires, let's compose our memories" Jury, at sunset, is haunted by her memories of Ms. Shiori "I Never Appear In This Game Outside of the Intro" Takatsuki. Luckily for us, we'll never have to interact with her!  If Shiori becomes relevant (that is, if we go down Jury's path), we will talk about this character. Otherwise, enjoy your two seconds of screentime! Utena is depressed. What could possibly cheer her up?   Oh, hey, these guys! Saionji, Touga, and Akio sing: "Now, gather here For the daily life of the Academy, together with us"   All sing: "Now, sing! Even sorrow is something shining at the End of the World!" Rapid montage ensues.  Hi there! That's a weird shot you're standing in front of. Are you even in this game?  Isn't Utena without sword duels and Anthy! Well, that does it for the opening. Next time, in Chapter I, we will get young Patter Song to Ohtori Academy and make our first choice. TABLE OF CONTENTS Day One Chapter I: Anime Dad Is A Jerk Chapter II: Saionji, Chased Off By Three 14 Year Old Girls Chapter III: Is Protagonist Us Just Blind or Something? Chapter IV: Pleased To Meet You, Won't You Guess My Name? Chapter V: My Student Council Didn't Have Ominous Organ Music Chapter VI: I Don't See Gender. Chapter VII: Touga! Touga! Touga! Chapter VIII: Really, It's Only Implied Incest, So It Doesn't Count Chapter IX: You Mean This Game Has A Plot? Chapter X: Sleep Alone or What? Day Two Chapter XI: Actually, Wakaba, the One I Like Is... Chapter XII: Life Sucks For An Ohtori NPC Chapter XIII: No One Told Me There Would Be Math Involved Chapter XIV: Going Clubbing Chapter XV: This Is What You Wanted, Thread Chapter XVI: Houou City Chapter XVII: I'm Upset Chapter XVIII: Patter Song Sucks At Fighting Games Chapter XIX: Kashira, Kashira, Gozonji Kashira? Chapter XX: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Day Three Chapter XXI: Who Are You Calling An Unpleasant Girl? Chapter XXII: That's a Red Card Chapter XXIII: Yes, This Thread Still Exists Fan Art Patter Song fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Feb 16, 2019 |
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Aug 9, 2018 04:38
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Chapter I: Anime Dad Is A Jerk OK, New Game is the obvious answer here, but what is School Handbook?  It's mostly untranslated Japanese, but it does have this screen. This screen should have all the routes I've successfully completed on it. It only has one and I should have three stamps. Nothing for it but to start the game! Music: The Sunlit Garden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQzaHyVqHag  Anime Dad and Anime Mom. Anime Dad looks a lot like Touga with brown hair, while Anime Mom looks a lot like Shiori with purple hair. You can tell we're saying the dialogue because of the red rose dialogue icon. Anyway, the track in question, The Sunlit Garden, is associated with two things in the series: First, with Utena's origin story, and Second, with Miki. We're getting it because this is our origin story. My comments are in italics Anime Dad: "That's right! You've heard of it before, haven't you? It's a place in Houou City called Ohtori Academy!" Patter Song: "Ohtori Academy? That's a really prestigious school, isn't it?" Anime Mom: "You know, a long time ago, your father used to teach at Ohtori Academy." Anime Dad: "Thanks to that connection, the Chairman of the Board asked if we'd like to send you there. So what do you think? Isn't it a nice offer?" Our parents never told us this, somehow. Poor Patter Song has been going to a school whose main attraction is the rabbit hutch for years while her parents were good friends with the Chairman of Ohtori. Patter Song: "Yeah..." Anime Dad: "Ohtori Academy is an excellent place." Anime Mom: "In fact, it's where your father and I first met." Patter Song: "Really?" And we never knew our Mom was a student at Ohtori! Patter Song knows frighteningly little about her parents. Anime Dad: "That's right! If you go, you should check out the fencing hall! It's the pretty, chalk-white building behind the library. You can't miss it!"  We know that about our father, but not that he taught at Ohtori Academy? Anime Dad: "Yeah! So when I was at Ohtori, I served as the Fencing Club Advisor." Anime Mom: "Your father was so dreamy back then!" Anime Dad: "You looked pretty cool too, in your fencing suit." ...So Mom was a student and Dad was a teacher. Just checking. Needless to say, being a true Utena character, Protagonist Patter Song will not even question this revelation. Anime Mom: "I may have looked cool, but I wasn't very good."  You're 100% supposed to hate Anime Dad's guts right now. That isn't a culture clash moment or something like that. Well, we're off to Ohtori to prove Anime Dad wrong, that we can be a strong woman who doesn't need anything...or we're going to agree with him, depending on who the thread thinks Protagonist Patter Song is. New track: "Eros of the Ball" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdd2ylk_GRg  Here we are. Protagonist Patter Song has purple as her color and is bright, cheerful, and naive as to what faces her in this place. New track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykMzAhogJ7E Campus Scarlet (Utena's Theme). This song is the theme of Utena the character, not Utena the show, just to avoid confusion.     To someone who watched the series, all these sets should take you right back. To other people, you may be wondering how a school is supposed to have a dueling forest, a giant penis-tower, etc. Ohtori is an odd place, and the architecture is weird. Just be glad this isn't a game based on the Utena movie.  Music is still playing after the montage, but we've settled on looking at the Birdcage. Patter Song: Even the way it's laid out feels extravagant. I mean, there's a forest on the school grounds!" Even dumb-as-hell Protagonist Us sees there's something off here...but she misattributes it: Patter Song: "Just like you'd expect from such a famous school...the campus is so huge! Let's see, where is the middle school? Elementary school, high school...there are so many buildings! It'll take a while to get my bearings. What's that traditional-looking building, a martial arts gym?"  Patter Song: "It figures! Huh? What's that?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgr3t2wEE7M New audio track: Invisible Roses (Anthy's Theme).  Patter Song: "Oh, someone's there!"  Main characters are color-coded, as said before. Saionji is green, so any dialogue he has will have a green flower. Saionji will be introduced when we first speak to him, but saying green's his color is safe for now. Also, I really didn't want to have to call him "man in green" for the rest of the update. Saionji: "Are you saying that our love is a lie? On that day, didn't you devote yourself to me?"  Anthy's color is purple. Anthy will be introduced formally when we speak to her, but she's the girl Saionji is speaking to. Also, honorifics are a thing in this translation patch. -sama indicates addressing someone of higher social rank. Saionji: "So you're saying you cannot accept my love?" Anthy: "Yes..."  Protagonist Us is such a voyeur. Patter Song: "Huh, I wonder if he's from the high school section? He looks grown up, and he's super-hot. Is he her boyfriend?" Protagonist Us is expressing interest in Saionji...will the thread agree? Is Saionji our destiny, our true love?  Saionji: "As...they wish..." Anthy: "Yes. As they wish."   Yes, everyone who knows anything whatsoever about Utena would've seen this coming, but Saionji did slap Anthy hard enough to send her to the ground. Poor Anthy.  Patter Song: "I don't know what's going on, but it looks like I've stumbled on a major incident! I can't just leave her alone...what should I do?"  Well, thread, the decision is yours. Do we confront the big, tough, green-haired Adonis in Anthy's defense, or do we just assume that a muscular man who will beat one woman will beat others and that discretion is the better part of virtue? The choice is yours: Will we be Anthy's Prince on a white horse and say I've got to save her, or, because there never was a Prince in this world, will we slink away and Watch the situation? I will see you next time. Until then, Absolute Destiny Apocalypse. Patter Song fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Dec 3, 2018 |
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Aug 9, 2018 04:38
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Kayten posted:Intervene. Team "gently caress Saionji" over here. Is that Team "gently caress Saionji"  or... Team "gently caress Saionji"  ? Only time and democracy will tell!
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Aug 9, 2018 06:39
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:I've beaten this game and gotten every ending I am the internet's foremost expert on this wonderful trash. This game is gorgeous and it is 100% voiced by the original cast, which is frankly, insane. It is super-impressive for a 1998 game and I love the voice-acting, but also the full original series soundtrack. For a game that fits on two CDs, there's some file suppression sorcery going on, given the sheer amount of audio. I will look into Bizhawk. I am mainly doing this thread because I was impressed by this little unassuming VN. It is way better than it has any right to be. If it weren't for the blurry 240p cutscenes, the visuals would be indistinguishable from the series, and the audio is on point. The plot wouldn't be out of place with the series and actually complements the series' plot quite well.
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Aug 9, 2018 17:10
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Randalor posted:Save Anthy and make Saionji's life as hellish as possible It's not a spoiler to say that every single episode of Utena has color commentary from a pair/trio of Shadow Girls, giving their views as to the morals of the episode, shedding light on deeper meaning, or just being weird and hilarious. As this game is structured like several episodes worth of Utena, yes, we will be seeing them, and yes, they will have thoughts on the events of the game. As for who they are in the series...they are the Shadow Girls! A-Ko, B-Ko, and C-Ko (Girl A, Girl B, and Girl C) are characters with their own arcs that you can follow through the series and distinct personalities (especially C-Ko, who is far stranger than the other two). They're here to lend their helpful color commentary. Also, you do see them in human form in the show.  Do the people Utena is talking to look familiar?
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Aug 10, 2018 04:07
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Dallbun posted:Main game translator here. Ayu Ohseki translated about half the text and I did the other half, then I did the final passes, editing, etc. Excoriate me as necessary. I promise I won't blame you if we find one of the untranslateably bad jokes. Also, thanks for your hard work.
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Aug 10, 2018 13:54
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...Yeah, calling the vote. Only two votes for sitting back and watching, so we will intervene and step up to Saionji.
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Aug 10, 2018 21:55
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:The game just forces us to watch Saionji slap Anthy again, like the show does in literally every iteration of the story across all media and I hate it. Not only that, it literally uses the clip from episode 1 (albeit in blurry 240p in a notable degradation of image quality). It comes to mind that if this game came out literally one year later on the Dreamcast, it could perfectly match the image quality of the series in addition to the way it already matches its audio quality. RickVoid posted:- Today is also the first day of the game! We get to see events play out after Saionji smacks the crap out of Anthy. Won't comment on the rest of your comments, but this isn't accurate. This game is set after episode 8. Saionji is just slapping Anthy again. Just like Utena's first day of school involves watching Anthy get beaten by Saionji, Our Protagonist needs to witness the same. Like I said, I'm going to do character profiles of all the main characters when they're officially introduced, and next time, that includes Saionji, Anthy, and Utena, so I will get into my thoughts about them at that point. I will also do my best to avoid ruining the viewing experience. For now, suffice to say that every (literally every) character in the series has more going on than they appear to, and this goes double for Anthy.
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Aug 11, 2018 03:25
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RickVoid posted:Well okay then! I'll refrain from further commentary though, since I don't know what's a spoiler and what isn't. If you stick with the show, you don't need to worry about spoiling the game until you get considerably farther, at least to the Black Rose Arc (starts episode 13). I'd be more concerned about the LP spoiling your viewing experience than the other way around, although I'll try to avoid doing that. It's totally OK if you or SatansOnion, who also said s/he was watching the show for the first time, wants to drop in your first thoughts on that first arc. That said, given everyone else is going to, you are 100% welcome to state your thoughts on the main characters as we meet them in the game and whether or not you want Our Protagonist to cozy up to them or remain more aloof or outright hostile.
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Aug 11, 2018 05:13
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Chapter II: Saionji, Chased Off By 14 Year Old Girls Last time we decided that we would live our lives heroically, that we would live our lives with style.  So we decide to get into a guy's face. A much, much bigger guy. Let's see how this goes. Patter Song: Hitting a girl like that...you call yourself a man?  This is a completely fair reaction for Saionji to have, to be fair. We've never met him before and we're walking up to him confronting him and challenging his manhood. That said, Saionji always seems stunningly clueless that the entire cast seems to hold him in contempt, and it looks like we've voted for young Protagonist Us to do the same. Patter Song: I'm Patter Song, a transfer student! Saionji: Kindly mind your own business.  We're sassy. I like it.  Saionji: Why are all transfer students this vexing? I think this is a continuity error. As we will see later in this post when I profile her, Utena is a transfer student to Ohtori in both the manga and movie canons, but in the anime, she's an established student with a fanbase and relations to the faculty, as seen right from the first episode.  Soundtrack: Scarlet of the Campus (Utena's Theme)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykMzAhogJ7E  Speaking of the devil. Utena Tenjou's flower color is pink, as this image is making abundantly clear, so assume pink dialogue flowers are her talking.  Anthy: "Utena-sama..." Utena: Stay away from Himemiya, Saionji! Saionji: You again? Hmph! Fine then. Soon I'll duel you and take back the Rose Bride. Anthy, please endure until then. Exit Saionji.  Kyouichi Saionji: A Character Study The script will resume after this brief digression into Saionji's character, so if you want to just keep on with the LP, just skip it.  Utena characters change in each iteration of the story.  None of them really seem flat or one-dimensional. None should just be written off as a one-trick pony.  But holy hell is it tempting with Saionji. In each and every version of the Utena story, Utena's call to adventure is horror at the mistreatment of Anthy Himemiya at the hands of their upperclassman, Student Council Vice-President Kyouichi Saionji, who is exclusively referred to by his surname. Saionji, in all three cases, serves as a sort of starter antagonist, an entry-level villain, an embodiment of the most crude and obvious forms of patriarchal power: possessiveness and cruel, open violence towards women. Saionji is far from the most dangerous antagonist Utena will encounter, but he is the most openly violent and basic one. Kyouichi Saionji, like most Utena characters, has a super-ultra-aristocratic name, and a more famous one than most. He is named after Prince Saionji, a major Japanese politician in the first half of the 20th century and one of the genro, a small group of super-elite nobles who guided Japan through the late Meiji era into the Taisho era. Saionji is a deeply traditional person, as befits his name, and his passions include pretty much everything with trappings of old Japan and Japanese tradition. He is the captain of the Kendo Club and a master of Japanese-style swordsmanship, and his interests include things like traditional tea ceremony. I would not be surprised if he turned out to also be obsessed with poetry, although that's never explicitly stated. Chiho Saito, the author of the Utena manga, had this to say about him in a 2001 interview (full interview here, http://ohtori.nu/creators/a_chihohime.html) Chiho Saito posted:He probably is a representative of the old fashioned Japanese male. And because of that, he goes through a lot of hardships... It's difficult to be behind the times... I have a lot of sympathy for him. Saionji is straightforward, blunt, and idealistic in his own twisted way. This means he's easily manipulable by the craftier characters (meaning, in his case, literally the entire cast), especially Touga, Akio, and Anthy. Saionji is obsessed with seeking eternity and hates that most things in life are temporary. Saionji is madly obsessed with Anthy, both seeing her as desirable in herself and in the power possession of her promises. Saionji is delusional enough to think that Anthy loves him. Saionji is 17 years old, an August 25th birthday (meaning he's a Virgo, if you want to pick our love interests based on astrology), has O blood type (if you want to pick our love interests based on crazy Japanese blood type astrology), and his chosen color is green. Finally, for all his faults, the man looks damned fine in an apron.  This concludes our digression into the life of Saionji.Soundtrack: The Sunlit Garden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQzaHyVqHag When we left off, Saionji had just left the scene, leaving Protagonist Us alone with Anthy and Utena.  Anthy: Yes, I'm fine, Utena-sama.  Patter Song: Patter Song. I transferred in as a middle school second-year today. Japanese middle schools are 7th-9th, so Patter Song is an 8th grader, much like Utena and Anthy. Utena: Yeah? I'm Utena Tenjou. This is Anthy Himemiya. And that love-struck idiot from before was... Don't worry, Utena, I just explained to everyone who he was, you don't have to.  Utena: Oh, right. I hope we end up in the same class. See ya! Exeunt Utena and Anthy. Patter Song: Ah...wait a minute! They already left. (So cool...and the girl with the glasses was cute, too.)  Text in parenthesis is Our Protagonist's internal monologue, not spoken dialogue. So far, Patter Song has fallen hard for Saionji, Utena, and Anthy, just like a true Ohtori student is meant to.  Relations bonus with Utena! A major one, too. The number of flowers indicates the size of the boost, and two is a pretty big deal. Sadly, we cannot yet see our compatibility with people until we meet all of them. Until then, it looks like this:  This screen will be very important later on, but for now, it looks like this. Anyway, this boost ends this scene, so it's that time again already: Character profile of Anthy Himemiya  Anthy is supposedly the secondary female lead of Revolutionary Girl Utena, but I like to think of her as co-protagonist.  Anthy is the Rose Bride, the keeper of immense power of a legendary (?) heroic prince named Dios, and the literal living sheath of Dios' sword.  The reigning champion of the dueling contest organized by a shadowy entity named The End of the World gets to be "Engaged" to Anthy. What that means and how literally that should be taken...varies a bit from version to version, but the idea is that at the end of this dueling contest, the Engaged will obtain incredible power, the Power of Dios, the Power To Revolutionize the World. Utena, in every version of the story, has no idea that that's the case at the start, is horrified at Anthy's position of servitude to the terrible Saionji, and is repelled by Anthy's passivity at first, chiding her to stand up for herself. That's where the various versions of the story start, but they go in different directions. Anthy Himemiya is "14," born on February 29th (!), making her a Pisces. She has Type AB blood (!!). She has a non-Japanese name (Anthy isn't even easy to pronounce in Japanese, so all the characters default to Anshii) and a non-Japanese complexion (!!!). Anthy throws up so many I'm Significant flags that it's impossible to miss. (Rarest possible birthday and rarest possible blood type?) Her features are Indian, right down to her bindi (much more prominent in her movie characterization) and her red Indian-style wedding dress, which seems to come down to Chiho Saito associating Indian characteristics with sexy and exotic. Are Anthy and Utena an item? They very clearly are not in the manga, and they...um...it'd be hard to deny they are in the movie. In the series, the version this game follows, Utena and Anthy is heavily hinted, but it's left ambiguous what the nature of their relationship is, while both of them have other, male love interests. That said, I think Utena and Anthy in love is a very plausible reading of the series and Kunihiko Ikuhara seems to agree, as shown in this interview http://ohtori.nu/creators/a_e37.html . Kunihiko Ikuhara and Chiho Saito posted:Saito: The thing is, the staff went on a workshop trip for the first time and we locked ourselves in the hotel. We barely got started and all Mr. Ikuhara could do was sleep! (laughter) I really wondered if he was going to do any work. I was continuously glaring at him. Anthy is seemingly passive, quiet, and reserved. She has a love of nature, gardening, and animals and a fear of crowds. Her only companion is her familiar, Chu-Chu. Or at least that's what she wants you to think. All of the above is some degree of half-truth at best. Anthy is always worth keeping a close eye on.  Now back to the update Soundtrack Lyrics of the Campus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=270vPdVVJ74  We're in class. Who knew they had class at Ohtori?  Teacher: Before you sit down, please introduce yourself. Patter Song: (A self-introduction, huh? First impressions are really important, so I've gotta do this right!)  Patter Song: I went to a public middle school, so I'm new to dorm life. I'm looking forward to finding out what it's like! Um...my dorm is... Ohtori is...generous...with housing accommodations, I'm sure you'll be fine. Teacher: Actually, your dorm hasn't been assigned yet. Please ask after school, when you go to the Chairman's Office to introduce yourself. Your bags should have arrived by then, as well. Oh, hey, we're meeting the school's Chairman! Utena didn't get to do that on her first day. Does the Chairman personally talk to every transfer student?  Let's talk to Utena, but first... Utena Tenjou Character Profile  Utena Tenjou is stylish, brash, straightforward, and uncompromising in her convictions.  Utena likes to wear boys' clothing, not because she wants to be a boy, but because she's an individual with her own style. She is bold, if occasionally a bit...dense.  She also sets up the central dilemma of the series. Can a girl be a fairy tale prince, or is she doomed to be the evil queen/witch or a helpless princess? In all three renditions of the series, Utena's quest to be a prince runs headlong into society's expectations. Manga Utena was saved from drowning as a young girl by a handsome, dashing prince she called Peropero-kun, given a ring, and told that they would reunite someday. Anime Utena had a rather more traumatic, if a bit less physically harrowing experience, and was similarly saved by a Prince who gave her a ring and told the ring would eventually reunite them. Movie Utena got her ring from a random white rose because that's how Movie Utena rolls. In all three cases, the ring was Utena's ticket into a harrowing world of duels, patriarchy, and lots and lots of roses. Utena is a brash, athletic girl, with little use for formality or delicacy. Utena is skilled at sports, individualistic, and popular, but, as the old saying goes, the nail that sticks out will be hammered down. Utena is, quite unwillingly, engaged to Anthy Himemiya, and at this point, though the two like each other, Utena is weirded out by Anthy's passivity and lack of friends, and insists she do better. Utena also hates the dueling games that trade Himemiya around like livestock, but due to her commitment to help Anthy, she is forced to participate and win them. Utena has shown very, very little interest in the Power To Revolutionize the World that motivates the other Duelists, instead fighting to defend Anthy. Utena is 14 years old. Her birthday is December 29th, making her a Capricorn, fitting her stubborn nature. Her blood type is B. Her roses are pink. Kunihiko Ikuhara posted:Ikuhara: Utena is someone I wish I could be. I want to be a fool. I want to be ignorant. I want to be naive. Anthy is, to me, the embodiment of reality. From http://ohtori.nu/creators/a_ikuhara1.html  End Utena Character Analysis  Patter Song: Oh, Utena-san... Utena: Just "Utena" is fine. In return, I'll just call you by your given name too, okay?  I have a feeling some of you are going to fall for her just for that.  Patter Song: (Getting to make friends with someone this cool on my first day is really lucky!)  Patter Song: (What should we talk about?)  Quite the thing to ask someone you just met! Are we going to ask Utena if she has a Boyfriend or are we going to ask if she has a Girlfriend? I will see you next time. Until then, The Absolute Destiny Apocalypse. Patter Song fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Aug 13, 2018 |
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Aug 13, 2018 05:06
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I'm going to play the update tomorrow, so if anyone wants to get in any votes, now's the time. Counting 3 for Girlfriend and 2 for Boyfriend.
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Aug 16, 2018 01:42
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Despite a valiant push, Girlfriend wins 7-5. Next update should be up Saturday.
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Aug 17, 2018 04:38
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Chapter III: Is Protagonist Us Just Blind Or Something?Xander77 posted:This video contains content from KING RECORD CO., LTD., who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds. I appreciate the feedback. As the soundtrack of the game is identical to the soundtrack of the show (minus the opening song of the game) and I'm putting up the titles of the songs and it's not like the Utena soundtrack is particularly hard to find, I am not going to be uploading all of those same tracks myself and risk having people have me take them down. Just look up the song titles. Dallbun posted:Looks like you're using the first version of the translation patch. There's a major error in my pronoun use in this post, which was corrected in later releases. Sadly, the initial release is the one that got spread around the net the most and is most readily available. This upcoming bit is one of the more unfortunate things this game does. I am also disappointed that they chose Girlfriend, because choosing Boyfriend involves a nice explanation of the Prince story that isn't actually explained here. Refer to my Utena Character Profile above, but I'd be happy to replay this section on the Boyfriend route just to show it off in a supplemental tomorrow. Anyway, on with the show: Patter Song: Hey, Utena. Utena: Hmm?    Patter Song: (I'd say Utena's a pretty good-looking boy! And there's those thin, smooth legs, and his chest...Huh? Ch-...ch...chest?)  Seriously, Protagonist Us? Do you need contacts? Let's go over this. Utena Tenjou does not look like a boy.  Boys don't tend to wear bright red short shorts around, and certainly no other boy at Ohtori does. The game actually does replay this whole bit as a cutscene here, but I went and got images from the episode just because the game does it at 240p and you deserve to see it in glorious 360p like originally intended by the show. Anyway, It is absurd to mistake a long pink-haired, buxom girl with smooth, shaved legs (as Protagonist Us pointed out!) as anything but a girl. End rant. Patter Song: (Oh my god! I just made a total fool of myself! Utena looks at a loss, and all the girls around me are laughing like they're going to pass out! The only one who looks unfazed is Anthy...Oh, man...) Damned right you made a fool of yourself. Anthy, of course, isn't going to be disturbed by the idea that Utena has a girlfriend. After all, they're engaged. Anthy might actually be slightly hurt that Utena didn't mention her...But Anthy plays her cards very close to the chest early on in the series. End scene. New scene: Cafeteria  Soundtrack: After School Girlshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-G1ipZvIjE There's not really too terribly much to say about this cafeteria. Outside of episode 6, the one with the wild animals, we don't spend much time in the Ohtori cafeteria. Most Utena students seem to pack their own lunches, or get lovestruck girls to make food for them, because let's face it, it's that kind of setting.  Finally, you're curious about the actual plot. Utena: Uh...that's..  I love Anthy's line deliveries. Always so matter-of-fact. Patter Song: Huh? Anthy: Whoever wins the duels becomes engaged to me...  Utena: Hold on, Himemiya! Is it OK for you to just freely talk about this stuff? Anthy: It's fine. Anthy wants a new duelist to enter the challenges, doesn't she? Poor Anthy, so oppressed by cruel, unfeeling masters...maybe we should save her. Then, we would possess the Power to Revolutionize the World, and THEN...wait, what am I saying? Get the hell away from there, Protagonist Us. Patter Song: Duels? You mean, where you hack at each other with swords? Anthy: Yes. Using swords, whoever manages to knock the rose off the opponent's chest wins. Patter Song: Are you serious!? Utena: I know! It's unbelievable, right? Any normal person would think so. Any sane person would have thought so, maybe, but you're currently 4-0 in the duels, having beaten Saionji twice, Miki once, and Jury once. Maybe you're just as crazy as they are. Maybe you just like the excitement, the intrigue, the walking into a living fairy tale, just as much as those you criticize do, but do a better job of hiding it. Patter Song: So that guy from this morning also...?  It's just as well we didn't get a whole arc of the show where Saionji was engaged to Anthy. The first episode was enough. Patter Song: Engaged?   Anthy: I'm presently engaged to Utena-sama. Utena: Himemiya, I keep telling you to knock it off with the "Utena-sama" stuff. Anthy: But I'm engaged to you, Utena-sama. Utena: Oh, come on... It's just like an actual episode...They just had to get that in. I do think leaving the honorifics works better than trying to make it "My Lady Utena" or "Miss Utena" or whatever. Patter Song: (Duels? Rose Bride? The Power to Revolutionize the World?) Metal Gear?  Patter Song: (I might just have befriended some super-dangerous people as soon as I transferred...Maybe I should back off before I get in too deep? Here we go...)  Well? Should we back off? We can either Announce That We're Joining the Dueling Game and chase the Rose Bride and that ultimate prize: eternity, that shining thing, the power of miracles, the Power to Revolutionize the World itself, and challenge Utena Tenjou for control of the Rose Bride, the key to it all...or not. After all, we just got here. Maybe we should Change the Subject around these potentially dangerous weirdos, with their sword cult and human slavery and the rest? Or maybe we should even just Make a Joke to defuse the tension a bit...but does Protagonist Us even know how to joke? Does she know what a joke even is? An exciting three way choice for you all this time. I'm sorry this update was on the shorter side, but next one should be a doozy. We're meeting several important characters who will need introductions. Until then, The Absolute Destiny Apocalypse. Patter Song fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Aug 23, 2018 |
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Aug 23, 2018 04:23
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Scalding Coffee posted:I feel stupid just reading how confused Patter was about Utena. Maybe doing a joke is less insulting. I meant the episode when Tsuwabuki was organizing various disasters to try to threaten Nanami. The episode with the boxing kangaroo.
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Aug 23, 2018 06:07
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Chuu posted:Oh wow I had no idea this game existed. This show really left an impression on me when I first saw it ~20 years ago and I can't wait to see what this LP brings. About the show though . . . There's no "this version," it just is the show (well, they replaced the end credits animation). And the show 100% holds up. Its strange angular style of character faces actually really helps: it looks very distinctive when much anime looks very samey. The show has a lot of personality and is not really...like...other things: whether you try to categorize it with fellow Ikuhara works like Penguindrum or fellow 90s surreal psychological dramas like Evangelion or Lain, Utena is distinct and very much its own thing. Speaking of Evangelion, I think there's a strong positive comparison between the game we're playing here and the tire fire that is 1999's Evangelion 64. This game and Eva 64 came out within a year of each other and both were about critically-acclaimed and popular groundbreaking series that pushed what could be done with broadcast TV anime, and both are fundamentally character dramas. The Evangelion game is an atrocious attempt at incompetently recreating mecha fights with what are essentially QTEs. The Utena game could very easily have been a terrible Virtua Fighter clone with terrible 3D models fencing awkwardly. It would have been awful and forgotten. SEGA and the game's team realized, clearly, that Utena could not be done justice by recreating it on hardware incapable of the job, and so went with a VN format where they could leverage the Saturn's CD use and put the original soundtrack and voice acting in and tell a character-driven story. This game didn't have to be good, but it was.
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Aug 24, 2018 16:27
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Flac posted:Yeah I recently rewatched and it was actually better the second time for me. Other non-show versions of Utena range from kind of interesting if disappointing in some aspects (the movie) to just offensively missing the point (the manga), but this game is....definitely something. I really want to see where this goes, just because the production values are higher than I'd have expected. I appreciate that, thanks for reading. Like I said in the OP, my biggest motivation for doing this is it's a real shame that this cool little game (11 endings! Full voice acting!) isn't better known. I just think it should have a bigger audience. I should probably thank Dallbun for doing such a good job with translating this (translating a text-heavy VN is no joke) and making it accessible to the rest of us. Vote is 7-5-1 for Joke over Engaged or Change Subject, so I'm calling it. Update either tomorrow or Wednesday. Next time, we'll see whether Protagonist Us has a sense of humor.
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Aug 28, 2018 00:33
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I will say that the manga plus the movie add up to make me way, way more sympathetic/soft on Touga than his anime version strictly deserves. More on that when we meet Touga, but it's totally possible for characterizations to bleed into each other. Edit: so far, the thread's first three votes have exactly mirrored my choices the first time I played through this. Patter Song fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Aug 28, 2018 |
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Aug 28, 2018 02:38
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Lol. It was all I could do to avoid writing a multiparagraph spoilered response to the Nanami discussion earlier. Tell you what: could you wait until Touga shows up to post it?
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Aug 28, 2018 04:07
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OK, so if I posted all the way until the next vote, this update would be way too long. As anyone who had played this game could tell you, the next vote is a long way off from where we were. Therefore, Chapter 4 here will have no vote at the end of it. I will try to get Chapter 5, with the next vote, out on Friday or Saturday. Chapter IV: Pleased To Meet You, Won't You Guess My Name? Soundtrack: After School Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-G1ipZvIjE  OK, Protagonist Us, defuse the tension. This whole dueling cult is a joke, right?    This is bad and you should feel bad. The game agrees and plays the "you made a bad joke" noise, which is something this game keeps track of, amazingly enough. That said, it's a hidden variable, so if you miss the musical cue, you'll have no idea. No indicator pops up on screen filling in a "bad jokes" roses meter. Utena: You think we're joking, don't you? Patter Song: What, you're not? Utena: Unfortunately, it's the truth. At least, those Student Council guys seem really serious about it. They say they're going to get the Power to Revolutionize the World. Patter Song: Huhh. Utena: But you probably shouldn't talk about this to anyone else. If a new transfer student started talking about stuff like that,  What do you mean, "misunderstand," Utena? We're a very dangerous girl, thank you very much. Patter Song: (I guess so. I'll be careful.) Soundtrack: Campus Lyrical https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=270vPdVVJ74  I would say "best character alert," but...ah, close enough. "Best character alert." Patter Song: (Huh? Who's that?)  Anthy's actually socializing! Way to go, Anthy! Utena: Hey, Wakaba! Over here, over here!!  Wakaba joins the table. What is that in her tea on the upper left? Utena: That's why I said you should just give up! Wakaba: But they had kombucha for dessert! Utena: Is it good? Wakaba: Totally! That's why the line was so long! Utena: Huh. Is...is that kombucha in her tea? Also, Wakaba is pretty much the target demographic for kombucha personified.  Wakaba: I'm in the same class as you, and I'm Utena's girlfriend. Nice to meet you. Patter Song: (Wakaba Shinohara...Compared to Utena and Anthy, she seems really normal. I'm kind of relieved...) She'll be normal unless you express interest in Saionji or Utena, at least...watch out if you do those, though. Patter Song: Nice to meet you too! I still don't know much about the school, so please teach me, OK? Wakaba: Got it! From the ways of love, to campus rumors, to the trendy local shops, just leave it to me, Shinohara Wakaba-sama! OK, so I'm usually unflipping the names to avoid confusion, but this one only makes sense surname first. -Sama is the honorific you would use to refer to someone of a significantly higher social rank...for Wakaba to refer to herself that way would imply a great deal of egotism, except that she's clearly making a joke. Patter Song: Thanks! If I have any problems, I'll be sure to consult with you.  Um...if Protagonist Us is looking for romantic advice, she should do it sooner rather than later.  Save point. Nothing much to say here, especially since we are using save states.  That said, if you were playing this game on hardware, this would be the first time you could save.You know what time it is, right? Character Profile of Wakaba Shinohara   No matter the version of Utena, some things remain the same.  Wakaba is always a joy and a vibrant addition to whatever scene she's in.  And her flirtations with Utena are always just that, flirtations. Wakaba seems to reference Japan's old Class S stereotype, as opposed to characters like Jury or even Utena and Anthy who might be more seriously into a same-sex relationship. Wakaba is interested in Utena, but is far more sexually attracted to her handsome upperclassman, Saionji. (An unhealthy crush, but who are we to judge?) Wakaba's interest in Utena seems almost like that of a mentee to her beloved mentor: Utena is a role model and a shining inspiration for how to live one's life with purpose, strength, style, and nobility, and Wakaba's here to take notes and hold her heroine to task when Utena fails to live up to her own standards. Wakaba does, however, know that she's a secondary character in Utena's story, and hates it. Wakaba is in a setting where everything seems to happen to other people and for other people, and, as the series says, people like her only get a brief opportunity to shine. Episode 20, Wakaba Flourishing, is one of my favorites in the series, just an aside. Wakaba is, like most female characters who aren't Utena, gaga over Saionji, but also resents Anthy for being the object of Saionji's affections and is only cordial with Anthy because Utena wants to make her that way. Wakaba is feisty and will not stay quiet if she thinks justice is not being served. She is not a romantic target in this game, for reasons that elude me. She doesn't seem to have a canon birthday or Zodiac sign, but her blood type is apparently O. End Character Profile Soundtrack Morning Lyricalhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn11eyxGY1k  Class Rep: Stand! Bow! Wakaba: All right, we're done! Utena: Patter Song, let's head home. Utena Tenjou knows my name   The hell do you mean, "and Anthy?" Anthy deserves her own exclamation point. Utena: Come to think of it, you still don't know what dorm you're in, right? Patter Song: Right. I'm going to go meet with the Chairman now and find out. Utena didn't get to meet the Chairman on her first day. Protagonist Us is special. Utena: Yeah? I guess we can't walk back together, then. Patter Song: Aww...can't I just skip going to the Chairman's office and go back with you? Utena: But then you wouldn't know what dorm you're in. We can start walking home together starting tomorrow, but today you're on your own. Patter Song: ...Yeah, I guess so. Hey, where do you guys live, Utena? Utena: Me and Himemiya are in the East Dorm. There's only us and one more person, so come hang out anytime. In any environment, Ohtori's policy of giving an entire building to a handful of kids would be ludicrous. In land-starved Japan? Yikes. Patter Song: Thanks! I guess I'm off to the Chairman's Office, then. Soundtrack: A Distillation Of Timehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTgFGlsgk2s  Are you sure this is a Chairman's office and not a Planetarium?  Patter Song: (Wow, what a cool guy! When I heard "Chairman," I was expecting some preachy old guy.)  Young Lady, didn't your mother warn you about handsome older men with power who...oh, wait, your mother married her high school fencing coach. Never mind, carry on. Akio: Your dorm is the East Hall, second floor, Room 22. Your luggage should have already arrived. Patter Song: (East Dorm? That's the same as Utena!)  We're moving into the dorm with only two (three?) other people in it! Akio's finally getting some use out of his land. Akio: Oh? You seem happy. Patter Song: Oh, uh...it's just that that's where a friend I met today is living.  There's that patented Akio gibbering nonsense that sounds profound and poetic. "An older brother is like the moon. You don't know what it is for, but sometimes you look up and it's there, comforting you."  Thank Dios for small favors, they never make us navigate Ohtori. This isn't Sakura Wars or something where you can select locations from a main map.  If you can't tell, we're in the head of the phallic tower.  Patter Song: (The chalk-white fencing hall. Just like my dad said.) The people in this universe are as into consistent epithets as Homer and his wine-dark sea. This hall will never be anything other than "chalk-white." Akio: And this is the East Dorm. If you go this way, it should only take you about five minutes. Patter Song: Alright, Thank you very much! Well, that does it for content for today, but stick around, because, well...it needs to happen. Character Profile for Akio Ohtori  Akio Ohtori claims to be many things. They're mostly lies, starting with his claim to be a 19-year-old college student in the manga.  Akio is a "mukoyoshi," a Japanese man who marries into a wealthy and powerful, but son-less, Japanese family so they have an heir to keep the family name going. This is why Akio's surname is Ohtori, like the school, and not Himemiya.  Akio is, in every version, utterly charming, handsome, and a total sex symbol. Why wouldn't he be? Akio Ohtori is the antagonist in every single version of Utena, unless you consider the antagonist of Utena to be societal control and patriarchy, in which case Akio, though a perpetrator and manifestation of those ideologies, is in some ways a victim of them himself. Akio is the Acting Chairman of Ohtori Academy and takes a special interest in Utena, his sister Anthy, and the dueling game in the school. There is nothing on the campus of Ohtori that Akio doesn't know about or have his fingers in (often literally). This realm of Ohtori is Akio's domain, and not just in the sense of a school headmaster. Akio is the living embodiment of the forces that constrict and attempt to control and mold young people into the same corrupt or broken archetypes the show critiques. That said, while Akio Ohtori is overtly sinister to varying degrees, he also consistently possesses the ability to be charming. He often gives profound-sounding advice and metaphors to nature and to astronomy. His passions are stargazing and classic automobiles. He has a...complex...relationship with his sister, Anthy Himemiya, which we will have to address much later in the LP (the degree to which we do depends on the route you all go down). Akio shares Anthy's Indian skin complexion and even has a bindi, which males most definitely do not actually wear. Ikuhara said that Akio reflects some aspects of his own personality, which is an amazing admission to make and shows just how much this show is exploring the toxic headspace created by gender roles and how even people very conscious of them struggle with how deeply internalized they are. Akio is highly dangerous in part because he is a shrewd judge of character and knows what people truly desire, not just what they claim to outsiders that they desire. Akio is never to be considered safe at any time. Some even say that he's...  But surely that's just hyperbole, right? His birthday is September 15th, making him, ironically enough, a Virgo, and his blood type is A, fitting his assertive, commanding role. End Character Profile Next time, we will wrap up some more introductions and reach the next vote! Until then, the Absolute Destiny Apocalypse! Patter Song fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Aug 30, 2018 |
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Aug 30, 2018 06:18
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PetraCore posted:Akio is a fascinating character and one of the few characters in RGU I absolutely hate. One of my favorite things is how in a lot of conversations I've seen people have about the anime, lots of people will take certain claims he's made at face value despite knowing he's the villain and that he lies about most anything, just because Anthy also backs up those claims a few times. I think it's interesting how tempting it is to accept the shared story presented by two extremely unreliable narrators because it fits a certain type of fairytale aesthetic and because it's all you have to go on, when if you read between the lines and accept that as a falsified version of events things get much darker. ... I really, really want to write a big, long, spoiler-blocked analysis of Akio that actually includes end of series and end of manga spoilers, but I'd be breaking my own stupid thread rules.
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Aug 30, 2018 16:49
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I love all of these "I never knew this game existed" posts. It's a real shame that it didn't released outside of Japan, but most of the Saturn's library wasn't, including most of the interesting games. Also, Utena didn't air until years later in the West and was the province of overpaying for VHSes for years. This game would be rated M for sure (we ain't seen nothing yet in this LP), especially in 1998. It would've also made SEGA a lightning rod for the Jack Thompson types due to its rejection of heteronormative dating conventions, too. Releasing it in the West would've been impossible as well as unprofitable.
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Aug 30, 2018 20:17
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Kayten posted:So you're saying the game was revolutionary for its time? As much as this is a joke, it's also true. How many dating sims are you aware of that are more than, say, 3-5 years old with both male and female routes, and not done as a joke "bad ending" or something?
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Aug 30, 2018 22:58
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Azza Bamboo posted:It was an innocent time before game developers had truly began to hammer the profitability of anime tiddy. ...really? Remember the show this is. Chiho Saito would be sad to hear that you're thinking of eye-candy in relation to Utena and are jumping to breasts rather than her beloved Touga-sama . Touga is 100% intended to be the "sexy" option here, not any of the ladies.
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Aug 30, 2018 23:28
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Azza Bamboo posted:Just the opposite. What I was trying to say is that the intent of this dating sim is probably a lot less skeevy than what you'd get today. Fair, my point was more that this game would be more instantly comparable to an otome dating sim today (girl protagonist has her pick of a slew of hot guys), except it's not really that either because you can still totally get with Utena or other girls if you want to. Like, the target audience of this game is clearly at least supposed to be girls. EDIT: That's another interesting thing about this game, actually. It goes against stereotypical video game marketing demographics from 1998 by targeting an older female audience. Patter Song fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Aug 31, 2018 |
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Aug 31, 2018 00:50
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You know what would really be awful? If the update I'm writing (ETA two hours) were posted at the bottom of a page. That'd really be unfortunate, wouldn't it? It'd be hard to find.
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Sep 2, 2018 04:52
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Chapter V: My Student Council Didn't Have Ominous Organ Music Last time, Protagonist Us met the Acting Chairman of Ohtori Academy, Akio Ohtori, and we were assigned to the East Dorm. Some new figures are not too thrilled about this new arrangement... Soundtrack: That God's Name is Abraxas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBXstKmqebE Touga: If it cannot break its egg's shell, the chick will die without being born.  Touga: We are the chick.  Touga: The world is our egg.  Touga: If we do not crack the world's shell, we will die without being born.  Touga: Smash the world's shell for the sake of world revolution! I was on my school's student council all the way through high school and I never got to hear that kind of a speech.  Anyway, this speech of Touga's is interesting: it's loosely based on a speech from Hermann Hesse's novel Demain: "The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas." Of course, Touga's speech is in the manga version, as well: But the anime turns it from a one-off statement of Touga's ideology into a mantra he recites at the start of every Student Council session he presides over. (Also, the manga version has Utena swayed a bit more by Touga's goofy pretentious monologuing than anime-Utena would be, but everyone has the hots for manga-Touga).  The Student Council meeting is now in session. Let's see what's on the agenda. (Also note that our focus character, Protagonist Us, young Patter Song, isn't here. We're privy to information she isn't sometimes. Touga: It seems the East Dorm has gained a new resident.  Meet Ms.  Saionji: Aren't the Rose Bride and the One Engaged the only ones allowed to live there? I believe you all are already acquainted with Mr. Kinmochi Saionji (goes by his surname because he's that sort of person), but here he is again. You can refer back to Chapter II for my analysis of him.  Meet Mr. Miki "Mickey" Kaoru. (Yes, his nickname is a ever so slightly longer vowel in his name). Touga: Exactly.  And here's the handsome devil himself, President Touga Kiryuu. Touga's reference to the Ends of the World is to the figure manipulating events behind the scenes...the anime translation went with End of the World and the manga with World's End, but I think Ends of the World is a nice middle ground in that it implies a place rather than a state of affairs. Jury: They say she's a new transfer student. Interesting, isn't it? Miki: It's an irregular event...Come to think of it, Tenjou-senpai was a transfer student, too. Saionji: A transfer student... Seriously, game, Anime Utena Tenjou is not a transfer student. Manga Utena: Transfer student. Movie Utena: Transfer student. Anime Utena: Not a transfer student.  Saionji: Hmph, do as you like. Jury: Sounds amusing.  Miki: Alright. Since there are no objections, I'll extend her an invitation to the masquerade ball under the Student Council's name. Is that all right? Miki is the ONLY member of the Student Council to do any sort of actual Student Council-related work. Touga: Yes. Thank you, Mickey. And scene. I didn't really want to do back to back discussions of Touga, Miki, and Jury here, because Protagonist Us hasn't met them yet, but we need to space them out, so let's knock off the most important one now: Touga. Miki and Jury can wait a bit. Touga Kiryuu Character Analysis Animage interview with Chiho Saito and Kunihiko Ikuhara posted:AM – Even that moment when Touga is baring his chest every week?  Touga Kiryuu is the Student Council President of Ohtori Academy, the main antagonist of the first of the show's three arcs, Akio Ohtori's apprentice in some ways, and is the sex symbol of Revolutionary Girl Utena.  He is supposed to be absolutely irresistible to every girl on Ohtori excepting (sometimes) Utena (and presumably Anthy), as well as a number of the boys.  Even in the movie where he has a diminished role, he's still supposed to be incredibly attractive and is, in fact, the only character other than Anthy in the movie Utena shows the least bit of interest in. Touga Kiryuu is the Prince of Ohtori Academy. He is devious and cunning beyond his years, and can use his immense personal charisma to talk people into behavior they would not usually engage in, especially if your name is Saionji. Manga-Jury has a blind crush on Touga, but the role of bitter and protective Touga fangirl in the anime is taken up by none other than Nanami Kiryuu, Touga's little sister, who is caustic and protective of her brother to a psychotic level. Touga's romantic mantra may well be "hit it and quit it." The Shadow Girls compare him to a fisherman who catches every fish he wants to but one (a koi, a pun on koi also meaning love), and they're not far off. Touga exists as a fanservice character for the girls (and boys who prefer men) in the audience, but is also a cautionary tale about popular womanizing men. He comes off far worse in the anime than either the manga or the movie: in the manga, he's basically the third spouse in Utena's harem along with Anthy and Wakaba, but in the show he's a legitimate menace even after he begins to develop real feelings for her. Touga's bloodtype is A, in fitting with his leadership style and dominant personality. His birthday is June 4th, making him a Gemini, surprisingly enough. He does have important ties to his sister, although they are certainly not twins. As thanks for reading this post, have your justly-earned reward: Touga beefcake.   End Touga Kiryuu Character Analysis  Soundtrack: Paradise of Reminiscence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyEj0E794XQ Patter Song: Here it is...the fencing hall that dad described. It's a really pretty building...like a Western cathedral. The doors are so huge, and the window frmes are so nicely decorated! I feel like I'm in another world...like I'm some sightseeing yokel. Still...I guess I'll poke my head in and take a look. So...why, exactly, did Akio tell us to stop by the Fencing Hall on our way back to the dorm? It is a nice-looking building, though.  Let's take a peek at the nameplates of the members.  Patter Song: There was hardly anybody in the fencing club at my old school. The very first of these name plates is the captain, right?  Patter Song: Hm? I don't see a name plate for the club's adviser...Do they not have one? But that's weird. My dad used to be club adviser. Has the system changed since then?  Patter Song: Yeah, looks like nobody is here after all. They must have today off from practice. (Huh? There's something drawn on that wall. What is it?) Wait, that gets a parenthesis? You mean you've been saying the rest of this out loud?  Ordinarily this would end the chapter, but this is a fake choice. The game expects us to do both options, but we can do them in either order. Soundtrack: Idea of a Memory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg8lEybyJIY   That's some wall you have there.  Wow, kudos to you, Protagonist Us. You're not completely blind. Patter Song: Yeah, looks like nobody is here after all. They must have today off from practice. You do, however, have the memory of a goldfish. You just said that.   If the constant mentions in the upper right corner of the screen every time we go to a new location eluded you, today is the 22nd...and this game has the fan nickname Four Days At Ohtori. Just throwing that out there. Also, I don't know why Protagonist Us dislikes the Snow White calendar this much. Patter Song: There's a circle around the 25th. I wonder if there's a tournament going on. Wait...this date? This calendar is from fifteen years ago! Weird. Patter Song: Yeah, looks like nobody is here after all. They must have today off from practice. YOU JUST SAID THAT. TWICE.  What? Why? Why would you do that? Next time: we look in the lockers, or do we? Get in your votes! Until then, the Absolute Destiny Apocalypse. Patter Song fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Sep 2, 2018 |
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Sep 2, 2018 06:24
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Just realized I forgot to include Touga's Zodiac Sign and bloodtype, so edited that into his info. I know the number of people here who are interested in that information is probably exactly zero (unless Nanami's posting here), but I want this thread to be relatively comprehensive on that sort of stuff.
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Sep 2, 2018 19:59
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Dallbun posted:And there's no reason to call her "Julie" unless you're going all-in 90's-style English dub and calling Touga "Tommy." ...Mike...for Akio? Why not have it be Luke and have him be all "It's actually short for something else" when he mentions he's named after the Morning Star, the Lightbringer Lucifer? Also, this show would be utterly impossible to censor enough to make it fit for American television of that time period unless you just stopped with the first 12 episodes, and even if you did, you'd have Nanami shoving the kitten into the river as a major plot point you'd really need to write around.
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Sep 2, 2018 20:26
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Sorry for the lack of real votes for a while. That's on the game, though. Day 1 is mostly introduction stuff and there's fewer opportunities for player input. Once we hit Day 2, we'll have more (and more significant) choices. This is easily the longest stretch of the game without real player input.
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Sep 3, 2018 00:09
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Kind of surprised no one has thoughts about the creepy image on the wall. Anyway, update tomorrow. Plot is going to thicken.
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Sep 4, 2018 00:47
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Sorry, no update tonight. The medication I was taking is making me too drowsy to write coherently tonight. Tomorrow for sure, though.
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Sep 5, 2018 04:21
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Chapter VI: I Don't See Gender Soundtrack: Temptation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5JxFGdRV1w  I don't want to break into a stranger's locker...but, as the ongoing Dragon Warrior LPs on this forum would say, "But thou must!" Patter Song: Huh? This locker's the only one that's open. Whose is it? "Sanjouin..." Oh, so it's the captain's? They must have forgotten to lock it. Let's see...  New character alert! Patter Song: (Who's this? Someone from the Fencing Club?)  OK, seriously, Protagonist Us. This person is wearing a corset that is open in front, revealing ample cleavage, and is wearing a choker necklace. Seriously. Do the math here. Patter Song: (Somehow they've got this air that's so magnificent, it makes them hard to approach...But it's not a bad feeling. This must be the sort of person they mean when they say someone's aristocratic. I guess people like this also exist in real life, not just in stories and plays...) ...What? All she did was say "Hands off" because you're peeking in a locker that doesn't belong to you. ???: Who is it?  ???: What did you say? Please, repeat your name. Patter Song: (You don't have to make such a scary face...Patter Song.)  This is unexpected.Patter Song: How did you...? ???: ... Patter Song: (She turned away. But isn't she still making that scary face?) ???: Only club members are allowed in here. There are personal things kept here. If you get accused of theft, you won't be able to make any excuses for yourself. Patter Song: Oh, right! I'm sorry! And we exit. That was...odd. We won't be getting a character profile of the new character, because she's, well, new, but if you must know, her birthday is September 24th, making her a Libra, and she has Type A blood. Anyway, let's leave Protagonist Us' gender blindness aside and leave the chalk-white fencing hall.  You think? Patter Song: (Anyway, that person was really beautiful. It was almost unreal. So were those three this morning, and the Chairman...Ohtori Academy really is different.) Hopefully you'll remember what this new person looks like and recognize her if you see her again a few updates from now, right? Just checking. Anyway, time to move in with Utena and Anthy! Soundtrack: After School Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-G1ipZvIjE  Patter Song: (Oh, it's Utena!)  Utena: Welcome to the East Dorm!  Patter Song: Thanks! Utena: Your room is number 22, on the second floor. It's next door to ours. OK, we're still the only people in this dormitory, and we live on the second floor!?!  It sure is...furnished.  Patter Song: Did you clean the room for me? Utena: All I did was bring up your bags. Himemiya's the one who cleaned it. Patter Song: Thank you, Anthy! Anthy: You're welcome.  Soundtrack: Memory of an Idea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg8lEybyJIY Now who could have a banana-shaped dialogue box?  ???: Chuu Chuu. Patter Song: (What's that voice? Nobody else is here...Is it just my imagination? After all, I am pretty tired.) ???: Chuuu. Patter Song: N-no, I definitely heard it! U-Utena, something's in this room!  Utena: This is the East Dorm's third resident, our friend...Chu-Chu. For whatever reason, Chu-Chu is not a romantic option. Chu-Chu was born under the Monkey Zodiac Sign and has Monkey Type Blood. What do you mean, "be serious?"  Chiho Saito herself said so! Anyway, that's all the analysis I'm going to give Chu-Chu for now. Back to the show. Soundtrack: Panorama of the Full Bloom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3HSgrrC3-I Chu-Chu: Chuu. Patter Song: So, wait, the third resident is... Utena: Yeah, this little guy. Chu-Chu: Chu Chuu. Patter Song: (It's a monkey...I think. Well, then...) Nice to meet you. I'm Patter Song. We'll be living together from now on. It's a pleasure, Chu-Chu. Did Protagonist-Us just "Yoroshiku" a monkey? I'm imagining solemnly shaking hands with a dog and saying that I hope we can do our best together.  Chu-Chu is basically a Pokemon, in terms of his vocabulary.  Series Utena really wanted Anthy to be more sociable, but I don't remember her ever pushing Chu-Chu to be more sociable. Chu-Chu: Chuu. Utena: Hey, Song, do you want to come to our room and have some tea? Himemiya's preparing it for us. Anthy: It will be done soon, Utena-sama. Patter Song: Really? In that case, I guess I'll impose on you. Off to Utena's room, the only other occupied room in the entire building.  Utena actually, you know, has a bed.  Patter Song: What is it? A message card? Some kind of invitation? No way it's a love letter, right? Anthy: And this one is for you, Utena-sama. Patter Song: What about you, Anthy? Anthy: Mine is right here.  Utena: Let's see, what is this...a masquerade ball? Anthy: Yes, it says it's starting at 6 O'Clock tonight and is sponsored by the Student Council. It says that transfer students should definitely also attend. Anthy, the last time you went to a ball, you went in a dress that dissolves when damp and had champagne sprayed on you. Maybe make sure you know what brand you're wearing this time. Patter Song: (A masquerade ball! At my old school, we just had folk dances...The more I learn, the more it feels like this is a totally different world.) Utena: Well, that's what it says. What should we do? Patter Song: Hmm...But I don't have any dresses to wear to a ball... Anthy: That's all right. I can lend you one. If we're wearing one of Anthy's dresses, could we wear the cool red one that comes with a tiara? Patter Song: Huh? Is that really OK? Anthy: Certainly.  Well, off to the masquerade ball.  Same place as Episode 3    Even at a school for the super-rich, this is a bit much.  Patter Song: (So this party is organized by the Student Council...? Woah, that chandelier is so high up! And the food on the tables is all stuff I've never seen before...)  Who's the teenage whiz kid all the girls like to see? MIC KEY K A O R U Patter Song: (My heart just thumped...What a cute boy! He has such pretty eyes. They're like round crystals...) STOP DOING THAT. This is the sixth person you've had that reaction to today.  That...sure is a mask.  Anthy color-coordinated hers! Miki: Wow, Himemiya-san, your dress is so beautiful! You look like a blooming rose. Anthy: Why, thank you.  Utena: It must be the power of love! Or it could be that she's literally the only girl on campus with that skin tone...  If you react like that, who could avoid teasing you? Miki: Tenjou-senpai, you're about the only person I know who comes to balls dressed like that. Utena: I don't like those fluttery dresses. Hey, never mind that: why aren't you wearing a mask, Mickey? Miki: Because we Student Council members are the hosts. It would be a problem if the guests couldn't mingle with us. By the way, who's this? Utena: Oh, I'll introduce you. She just tranferred here today. Her name is... Patter Song: Um, Patter Song.  OK, we're finally personally meeting a Student Council member who isn't hitting a girl to the ground. Let's make the best of this. Utena: Mickey here fences and plays piano at the national level, and he's taking university-level courses, too. He's totally brilliant. Miki's smart, sophisticated, and well-liked. Patter Song: Wow...(And he's younger than me. I wonder what I should talk about?) This is our chance to make an impression!  So we can either tell him about those lovely sapphire crystals that we think his eyes are...or we could make a dad joke. I'll leave this in your capable hands, thread! I trust you'll make the wise decision here. Before we sign off, we should look into our newcomer a bit. Miki Kaoru Character Analysis Miki Kaoru is a genius with a troublesome, delinquent twin sister.  Miki is the sort of kid adults love: serious and wise beyond his years, never causes trouble, and diligent. However, he's also incredibly naive and easily taken advantage of.  Especially by his aforementioned delinquent twin sister, Kozue. Miki has a crush on Anthy and wants to pursue her, and his fear that Anthy might be taken away from him by her current Engaged leads him to participate in the duels even while otherwise abhorring them. Miki is the youngest member of Student Council and his naivete and youth are hot buttons to let Touga and Akio and Anthy manipulate him. Miki genuinely wants to be a good, helpful person, but Ohtori is no place for the kind at heart. Miki's probably the least capable Duelist out of the lot.  Miki's birthday is May 28th, making him a Gemini, and he is Blood Type O. End Character Analysis.So, thread, until next time, get those votes in about whether we're going to Gaze into Miki's lovely eyes or Continue Protagonist-Us' comedy career.. Until then, The Absolute Destiny Apocalypse!
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Sep 7, 2018 05:28
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By popular demand posted:Comedy. As the official anti-romantic here, you're going to have a fun time with the next few votes.
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Sep 7, 2018 06:04
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At some point, we will probably talk about the elephant in the room of the three sibling couples in Utena and their varying degrees of inappropriate relations. For now, though, I'll just say: None of these relationships are portrayed as remotely healthy. I have way more to say on the topic, but it'll have to wait until we actually meet Kozue or Nanami. I don't particularly like to talk about Miki and Kozue, mainly because I find Miki far and away the least interesting character in the series and I constantly want him to get off of the screen whenever he gets on it. That said, if you are disgusted by Miki and Kozue as you should be, maybe that's a reason to vote for Miki here: give him a love interest that's not either A. Anthy, a girl he can never get without winning a sword fight that's way out of his league, or B. his sister. Vote's still ongoing. Right now I count 6 for joke and 2 for eyes. Also, any thoughts on our teal-haired new character with the "ambiguous gender?"
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Sep 8, 2018 02:00
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I didn't want to A. Start my thread with a naming vote, B. Try to make up a Japanese name, or C. (Dios forbid) use my own actual IRL name, so SA name flipped it is.
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Sep 8, 2018 19:40
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Sorry about the delay, real life stuff has gotten in the way. I will try to get the update up either tomorrow or the next day. We're going to tell a joke.
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Sep 12, 2018 02:47
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I should watch that. Anyway, we'll be seeing plenty of Kozue in game later, so I'll talk about her when she shows up.
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Sep 12, 2018 15:46
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Gideon020 posted:The only characters I ever liked in this whole hot mess of a story were the two shadow puppets. Those two were like the perfect mix of cute and snarky, haha. I feel calling this story a hot mess is off. The characters are pretty much all disasters to be around, sure, but the story is pretty tight (although I wish Tsuwabuki had less screen time). And yes, I wouldn't want to be around any member of the cast, especially Anthy, who would be absolutely terrifying to be around if you knew what was going on.
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Sep 13, 2018 03:19
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Chapter VII: Touga! Touga! Touga! This will be an insanely short chapter. I'm just now getting over a nasty illness and I just want to get the thread back up and rolling. I'm sorry for leaving you guys waiting. Anyway, last time you lot cruelly voted to see more of the dad jokes.   Dallbun will explain this joke, I'm sure, but it's some sort of pun. Miki: Huh?  This joke is far clearer and recognizable. Sadly, the voice actress did not use the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse music cadence. Patter Song: Don't worry, I'm not trying to 'Take the Mickey out of you!' You already have, young lady.  At this point, the gong indicating that we've achieved yet another Dad Joke Point rings. We're up to two, moving inexorably closer to discovering what cruel punishment the game has for Dad Joking too much. You can always turn back, you know. We don't have to keep going down this road. Miki: So, um, please enjoy yourselves! I've got to see to the arrangement of the food, and direct the music... Miki makes a hurried exit from the obviously crazy girl. Soundtrack: Eros of the Ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdd2ylk_GRg Utena: I shouldn't have come after all.  This was obvious within the first 10 minutes of the Adolescence of Utena movie. Also, I have to know if this was also a pun in Japanese or if it was just fortuitous in the translation. Patter Song: Then why did you come? Utena: Well, I thought it would be kinda rude to refuse. Besides... Patter Song: Besides, what? Utena: Nothing.  Is it just me, or does Anthy look really good in this outfit? Patter Song: Th..then you came to keep me company? Utena: H-Hey, since we came all the way out here, let's go grab some food! C'mon, Himemiya. Patter Song: (Utena's so kind...) Soundtrack: Campus Dandy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tRiOJ4J93g  Touga-sama! ...In all seriousness, though, as we discussed earlier in the thread, Touga is the eye-candy sexy option in this game, at least for its intended audience. We've had a lot of discussions about what makes Touga work so well as a character in this thread, and now we can judge if he matches up in-game. Patter Song: (He's wearing a uniform like Miki's...I guess he's in the Student Council, too? Anyway...Utena, this guy...)  Because Chiho Saito and Kunihiko Ikuhara. Utena: What do you want?  Touga, you're supposed to say Prince, not Knight. That's the way you trigger Utena. Utena: I guess you're free to ask. Touga: Well, well. And who's this? Utena: Oh, I'm not going to introduce you to her. If I introduced her to a playboy like you, who knows what would happen? Hopefully, lots of things... Touga: Hey, now. I'm the one who sent you an invitation, you know. Doesn't that count for anything? Or are you jealous? Utena: W...who're you calling jealous!?  Touga: If you have any problems, by all means, come to me with them. Cute girls like yourself are particularly welcome. Patter Song: (He called me cute...! I guess that stuff about him being a playboy is true.)  Well, here we are, thread! Do we Take the Compliment from Touga, or do we Refuse it? It's your choice! Remember, you already shot down Miki...will you do the same to the most popular guy in the whole school? Find out next time! Until then, the Absolute Destiny Apocalypse!
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Sep 17, 2018 04:43
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Potsticker posted:I actually do wonder how the game reacts to you shutting down the most popular guy at school, but I think we have to still Take the Compliment because how weird is it in media where we're told someone is super popular but the main characters always hate/oppose them? That's-- not how popularity works at all! Well, our character's lens on Ohtori is Utena showing us the ropes, and she doesn't have the highest opinion of Touga (although if this game were set just an episode later, this scene would be very different).
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Sep 17, 2018 05:50
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