Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Sailors Uranus & Neptune! Sailor Pluto! Sailor Saturn!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Batgirl III wrote: Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:58 am Image
BEST EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Tuxedo Mask! Sailors Uranus & Neptune! Sailor Pluto!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Batgirl III wrote: Fri Apr 09, 2021 2:46 am Look, the whole “Sailor Pluto” thing was clearly just a weird phase that the Doctor was going through after the Time War. The Doctor was a little bit tired of the United Kingdom and thought to try hanging around on that other tea-loving island archipelago over in the far east...
This... actually makes more sense than the whole "botched regeneration" idea.
"You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”

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marcoasalazarm
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Sailors Chibi-Moon! Tuxedo Mask! Sailors Uranus & Neptune!)

Post by marcoasalazarm »

MacynSnow wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 12:21 pm Battle of the Planets, Speed Racer, He-Man, Thundercats, GIJoe:RAH, Transformers G1, MASK, Inspector Gadget, Real Ghostbusters, Filmation Ghost Busters, Bravestarr, She-Ra(don't give me that look, Ken!), Scooby Doo(All Series), and Garfield was my Childhood Jams ...
When Toonami hit, i added Cowboy Bebop, Oulaw Star, Reronin Kenshin, Samurai Champloon, Afro Samurai and Samurai Jack to the list.
I saw She-Ra when I was a kid (and in retrospective, a lot of cartoons back then were pretty big broken records when it came to using leitmotifs, especially the Filmation shows... then again, the themes for Panthro and the Thundertank were awesome big band numbers). The Netflix remake... well, I’ve seen it, I’m kind of “meh” about it, I’m honestly quite disturbed by the lengths some people go on Twitter to hate on it.

I was a kid, a lot of shows that I didn’t knew were Anime aired on Costa Rica. Minky Momo, Captain Harlock, Captain Tsubasa... I actually liked the Ewoks and Droids cartoons, I guess that would label me a madman by current “Star Wars” fan standards.

Over here, the only versions of “Gatchaman” I remember seeing was “G-Force” and “Eagle Riders”. “G-Force” was awful because of one thing... it replaced like 90% of the soundtrack with this dramatic sting that sounded like the rhythm section of “Fortunate Son”.

No, really, like the rhythm section of the opening seconds of “Fortunate Son”. At least, it used the same instruments.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Sailors Uranus & Neptune! Sailor Pluto! Sailor Saturn!)

Post by Skavenger »

When I started to phase out of the Sailor Moon fandom was when suddenly everybody online was 100% about Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn. To me, it seemed so weird to build up an entire supporting cast for the main character, and then in the end introduce four new characters who seemed to completely outpower the main cast in every way. It would have been one thing if they had different elements (though, I guess there's only so many of those unless you start going with the Infamous "Neon is an element" logic) so they'd eventually fit in to the puzzle in a unique way, but the whole thing felt so off to me, like all the classics were being tossed aside for the "newer, cooler versions."

I wonder if this is what Dragonball fans felt when DBZ threw aside all the old, established characters to make it about "more powerful world exploding characters screaming at each other."

As for my childhood cartoon memories, it's probably easier to list what I didn't watch at some point. Otherwise I'd be here all day trying to remember things like The Power Team, Bionic Six, and remembering my unconditional love for the madness that was the Unico movies.
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Naru Osaka

Post by Jabroniville »

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NARU OSAKA
Dub Name:
Molly Baker
Role: Youma Bait, The Best Friend, Demoted to Extra
Hair Colour: Red
PL 1 (10), PL 3 (10) Defenses
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Persuasion 4 (+4)

Advantages:
None

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +0, Fortitude +1, Will +4

Complications (Early):
Relationship (Nephrite)- Naru falls heavily in love with the handsome, brilliant Masato Sanjouin, and her feelings hold even after he is revealed as an evil member of the Dark Kingdom. Her feelings are so strong that they set off his Dark Crystal, and she risks her live in a failed effort to save his.
Relationship (Melvin/Umino)- After Nephrite's death, Naru's feelings for Umino grow. Not charming or handsome in the slightest, he is nonetheless very devoted to her, and she appreciates him.
Responsibility (Monster Bait)- At least once a season, poor Naru will be trotted out to be attacked by the Monster of the Day.
Relationship (Rui)- Her "older sister".

Total: Abilities: 0 / Skills: 4--2 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 8 (10)

-Molly/Naru took the ever-important role of "The Schoolgirl's Best Friend", a common-ass trope in nearly all of fiction (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, this show, CardCaptors, etc.). You sorta NEED this character as a pillar of normalcy, or else the main character just talks to herself or her mascot all the time. Given a goofy Osaka-ban dialect in the original (common for comedic side-characters), she was modified into a Brooklynite in the Original Dub, which is actually considered a pretty good match of the general "stereotype" that Osakans get in Japan (they're seen as a bit jovial, opinionated and entertaining). Not that some fans didn't find the over-done Brooklyn accent REALLY annoying, but I was fine with it- it makes her distinct. Of course, her MOTHER not having the same accent was a little weird.
-The New Dub makes her normal-voiced, which has the troubling effect of making her sound exactly the same as every other high-pitched female in the show. But it does make her a little less goofy.

-Naru's relationship with Nephrite was pretty well done, considering it should be creepy on absolutely every level (he's a 30-something-odd man who has feelings for a tiny, teenage girl half his size). Just a schoolgirl crush at first (the usual "hearts in the eyes" immature spasms that we see from Usagi nearly every time a handsome man shows up), she pretty quickly develops a huge infatuation. The weirdest part may be the time he, as Masato Sanjoin, blatantly hits on her in public, acting like a complete sleazeball by complimenting her looks and leaning in towards her. SO WEIRD. But you really get the sense that she authentically cares for him, such as the way she nearly sacrifices her life in order to save him from the Tiara attack.

-When he picks up on her feelings, he plans to just "use" her to find Sailor Moon, but he ultimately can't bring himself to hurt her, and grows real affection for the young girl. To the point that when she's kidnapped by Zoisite to put him in an awkward position, he flies into an uncontrollable rage and nearly executes her three subordinates, only stopping because he doesn't want to kill people in front of Naru. There's even that fun bit where he confesses that he's a born liar and will probably continue lying to her, and she innocently reveals that she'll probably be happy to be with him regardless. It's just so INNOCENT, particularly since Nephrite shows no physical affection. After he dies, she goes into a long depression, only taken out of it later. In fact, the show actually shows a pretty strong example of the grief process, as Naru doesn't recover immediately, and actually needs recurring support (and the advice of a helpful Priest... who later turns into a Boxing Angel- "Lovely PUUUUUUUUNNCH!") in order to get better.

-She later grows romantically close to the class dork Umino, tolerating his clumsy displays of affection thanks to his bouts of bravery (his "Tuxedo Umino" outfit makes her roll her eyes, but his authentic attempts to save her life actually impress her), while on her way to becoming a redundant supporting cast member. And redundant she indeed becomes, as by the second season (Sailor Moon R), Usagi now has a full cast of four female supporting characters to support, plus her relationship with Mamoru. So as the plot develops, and Usagi leaves behind normalcy once and for all, Naru becomes less and less important to the overall narrative. By R, she's being assaulted by the villains in so many episodes in a row that even LUNA is breaking the fourth wall to talk about it ("that girl sure does get her energy drained a lot..."), and once the Black Moon Family Arc begins, she's almost completely irrelevant.

-Sadly, however, it's soon time for her role in the show to end. After a few appearances (mostly as a victim) in Sailor Moon R, Naru takes a HUGE nap and drops out of sight until the very end of the story, appearing to Usagi and more or less confessing that "I know you can't really talk about it... but you know what that thing is, don't you?", regarding the huge spaceship in the middle of Tokyo's Juuban District. It's a neat little moment, as the two girls more or less bond over the fact that Usagi IS, in fact, Sailor Moon, but they refuse to verbalize it, making it an unspoken moment between two friends, while Naru quietly moves on and gets out of the way. Naru is of course destined to act as the Victim of the Week in the later Seasons, but she no longer truly matters.

-Not a bad character overall, but she REALLY outlived her usefulness about half-way through Season 2, especially since she never discovered the team's secret IDs in a big way. There was some cute stuff, but after that, she was just there to get attacked by a Youma once a season.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Sailors Uranus & Neptune! Sailor Pluto! Sailor Saturn!)

Post by Batgirl III »

There were some teases with Naru that she might be one of the Senshi, prior to all of them being revealed. There was a lot of chatter about it in fandom when the series was still ongoing, I don’t remember all of the “evidence” that fans came up with, but it was pretty compelling.

For one thing, she’s the only girl amongst the recurring characters to have an officially stated birthday and zodiac sign (a big deal for the show). Her zodiac sign was Capricorn, which is apparently the sign of the zodiac associated with Saturn.

Naru’s name is also never written in kanji, instead hiragana is used: なる. All of the Sailor Senshi have names that are some sort of wordplay that relates to their planet and/or element. If you read Naru’s name backwards in English, it doesn’t work (Uran) but if you do it in Japanese なる (na-ru) becomes るな (ru-na)... Or “Luna” as pronounced with the famous Japanese R/L pronunciation.

“Osaka,” her family name, refers to the city and prefecture of the same name. Literally translated it means 大 (ō, “large, great”) +‎ 阪 (saka, “hill”). I’m not nearly knowledgeable enough to speculate on their being alternative ways to read the name, but it’s common in Japanese wordplay to have a word that means one thing in its normally used characters that has a completely different meaning if you substitute characters with the same pronunciation but different meanings.

Now, obviously, we know that Naru never did become a Sailor Senshi... But the popular fanfic fuel that she was “Sailor Earth” or even “Sailor Saturn” wasn’t entirely without merit.
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Jabroniville
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Umino Gurio

Post by Jabroniville »

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UMINO GURIO
Dub Name:
Melvin
Role: The Nerdy Kid, The Unwanted Admirer, The Love-Sick Puppy
Hair Colour: Brown
PL 1 (17), PL 3 (17) Defenses
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Expertise (Science) 3 (+6)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+7)
Technology 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Interpose

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +0, Fortitude +1, Will +4

Complications (Early):
Relationship (Usagi/Serena)- Melvin spends the early part of the series doggedly pursuing the uninterested main character.
Relationship (Naru/Molly)- Umino/Melvin's feelings shift to Naru, and they eventually start dating as high school students do.
Prejudice (Class Dork)- Melvin is one of the least-popular kids in school, and most people actively avoid or disparage him.

Total: Abilities: 2 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (17)

-Characters like Umino (he'll always be "Melvin" to me) show up a lot in media targeted towards girls. Like Boq in Wicked, he's more or less a creepy, nerdy stalker who drools over the main girl- a contrast to the nerds in male-targeting media, which typically paint them as poor, bullied nice-guys who get the girl in the end. I have a feeling that the "girls' side" often gets it a little more true-to-life. That said... Umino DID get a girl in the end!

-Umino/Melvin was initially just a really dorky kid at school who constantly hung around Usagi & Naru, and got insulted for it. A real Butt-Monkey type, he got attacked by villains almost as much as Naru did, and got a similarly-huge de-push as a character once all the other Senshi got introduced. Heck, once the other Sailors arrive, there's not as much reason for him to be around filling time- that said, he gets some fun moments in the end, when he's decided to go after Naru, and defends her against various Monsters. He even ends up impressing her with his "Tuxedo Umino Mask" disguise ("Tuxedo Melvin" in the Original Dub was much better), as he draws aggro on a monster and takes a horrible beating. Eventually, all of this heroism earns him the lady-prize. They were a pretty cute couple, though. Especially in the Super S episode where he constantly tried to prove his love (in a "Prove Your Love" contest, no less), repeatedly getting the wrong answers, but for the right reasons (remembering Naru had a bandage on her finger that he cared for... six weeks ago).

-Umino is pretty hopeless as a fighter, though is decent enough at getting the bad guys to pay attention to him and draw their aggression.

Umino & Naru in Sailor Moon S:
-Both characters are notably for only appearing in ONE EPISODE of Sailor Moon S, establishing forever that they're basically not even a consideration any longer. But what a doozy. Another famous one for the Haruka/Michiru thing, plus one of the last episodes to prominently focus on the old supporting cast. I heard about this one in whispered legend for years, so it's neat to get the "real" version. Naru & Umino are worried the other is falling out of love, so they enter themselves into a "Relationship Contest", and are cheered on by the Sailors. Ami is ADORABLE, insisting she's here because "I might learn something!", but being shocked into embarrassment when the others are all "... LIKE?". Rei has to console poor, face-buried-in-her-hands Ami. Haruka & Michiru of course enter because they can feel the Daimon's presence in the contest's logo, and of course Ami immediately goes "I wonder if they really are in that kind of a relationship", and is them immediately embarrassed AGAIN when the girls all give her the "Huh?" face. Adorbz. Embarrassed Closet-Romantic Ami is Best Ami.

-Also best: Haruka trashing on Umino's horrible attempts at the game (which are all over-eager failures full of drama), with Michiru chiding her "Maybe, but he has the purest heart. Look at how hard he's trying", with Haruka begrudgingly admitting "I'll give him that" with a smile. And of course our girls effortlessly win every contest. But they drop out in thet end, with Haruka getting uncharacteristically bright-eyed and telling the audience "Love is EVERYTHING!" And then Umino awkwardly fumbles around, trips and falls, and we're waiting for disaster... and he BRINGS THE GODDAMN HOUSE DOWN by shyly confessing how amazing Naru is, and how diminished he feels before her, but that to see her smile "I, Gurio Umino, am willing to die." And the audience is in TEARS.

-Goddamn this episode.

Umino & Naru in Sailor Moon SuperS:
-And finally, years after they were last important, and with so much added to the plot since then, we get our final appearance of both Naru & Umino. Targetted by Tiger's Eye, Naru rebuffs the lothario's advances much to his annoyance, so he makes up some B.S. story about how he's dying soon, and wants to know what love is like before he goes. Hearing of his desire to be her boyfriend until he dies, Naru is like "I don't know..." but UMINO overhears this... and is so moved by his plight that he demands Naru go with him. Tears in eyes and everything- he's a kook. But eventually he just attacks her and she's the Victim of the Week as usual. In the end, this is it- she and Umino don't even get a really good send-off Sailor Moon S naturally had the best version of that), and she disappears. Meanwhile, Motoki's SISTER, Unazuki, gets a bunch of appearances early in the season as the Crown Parlor seems to be an early hang-out, so she gets more appearances than a character with a lot of history (though I guess also a lot of baggage).

-Ultimately, these are two characters whose time passed even in Sailor Moon R- with a cast of a dozen heroes and tons of villains to showcase, and Naru's role being a joke even by then ("This girl sure gets her energy drained a lot..."), there was little reason for the Normal Friends to stick around the cats of crazies. But it's still kind of sad, and I mean... why not give them a moment in the final season? They had a ton of episodes left, and even the Series Finale couldn't at least give them a cameo? Most shows at that point would have shown Naru & Umino among the masses being harvested for Star Seeds.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Sailors Uranus & Neptune! Sailor Pluto! Sailor Saturn!)

Post by Batgirl III »

And when Umino grew up, he got into all the best universities and got multiple doctorates in medicine, genetics, and biomechanics. He also dabbled a bit in esoteric Jewish mysticism and Jungian psychology, because he’s something of a renaissance man and liked to keep himself busy.

He met a nice girl, they had a son, he got a job with a multinational NGO, and then they went on a research trip to Antarctica...

Tragedy struck and he’s devoted himself to rescuing his long lost love ever since.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Sailors Uranus & Neptune! Sailor Pluto! Sailor Saturn!)

Post by marcoasalazarm »

Ok, this is most definitely a good twist for a SM/NGE crossover.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Sailors Uranus & Neptune! Sailor Pluto! Sailor Saturn!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Canonically, Neon Genesis Evangelion takes place in the year 2015 and the various Sailor Moon series take place between 1992 (the main girls are in Grade 8) and 1994 (grade 10). So, it could almost work...
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Jabroniville
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Usagi's Family

Post by Jabroniville »

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USAGI'S FAMILY:
-Usagi's family life was a big part of the early show, and each season typically had them appear to be "Victims of the Week" at least once as well. They were based off of Naoko Takeuchi's own family (even sharing their names), which makes things funny since Sailor V's family was ALSO based off of Naoko's family... meaning that Sailors Moon & Venus had identical family groups. But of course Venus's never showed up in the anime.

Like most supporting characters, this gang stops appearing after a while- Kenji, in fact, stops appearing as of Sailor Moon R! Ikuko and Shingo appear in select episodes later- Shingo's final appearance is in SuperS, crushing on Ami, and Ikuko is seen a bit thereafter.

IKUKO:
-A very typical housewife character, Ikuko appears cheerful and nurturing, but is also a strict, domineering woman to her daughter, frequently screaming at the lazybones to wake up and get ready for school, or to do better on her assignments. She's frequently seen befuddled and exhausted by this daily grind. Typical of many early '90s anime characters, she has a bizarre hair color- dark blue. A funny gag in one of the episodes has her husband moon wistfully over the idea of retiring and doing nothing else in his life, which provokes Ikuko into OUTRAGE, as she insists that he constantly needs to work in order to support his family. Kenji's sheer terror makes it pretty clear that Ikuko has him SUPREMELY whipped. She also finds Mamoru hot, and insists Usagi bring him by the house more. They coulda done a lot more with her.

-Ikuko's last major appearances is in SuperS, when Hawk's Eye, a man who appreciates a fine MILF, chases after her, finagling some story about a dead mother so he can try to get in her pants. This naturally doesn't work, but Usagi is positively mortified at the notion that her mom could be having an affair. "In the name of my dad, I'll punish you!".

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KENJI:
-Usagi's father was pretty fun. A magazine photographer (Editor in the manga), he was seen at home more often than the typical "Salaryman"- just enough to be seen annoyed at Ikuko & Usagi hollering at each other. A lot of humor is derived from his worrisome, fussbudget nature- when he sees Mamoru for the first time, he basically loses his shit, demanding that Usagi dump this boy that he found much "too old". Kenji's protective nature shows up a few other times, often leading him to defend his family in glorious manner... with severe ass-kickings resulting. The "Laser Tag" episode features him & Shingo repeatedly fighting the monster and trying to be brave, which leads to some funny scenes where they are cleary terrified, yet doing their damndest to help. It's pretty endearing. Kenji disappears the earliest of the family, not appearing once after Sailor Moon R- this is pretty weird, given how 90% of SuperS features a lot of Chibi-Usa at the family home, and how the rest of his family keeps showing up.

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SHINGO:
-Usagi's younger brother is quite typical- he's annoying, bratty, and constantly teasing his older sister. He's also a tiny bit more level-headed (not that that's saying much). He appears a lot more early on, and one episode actually does a good job of portraying the relationships of young children. He has this young female friend, and is getting teased by the other boys for it. So when she makes him this heartfelt gift of a well-made doll, he feels shamed by the others, and so rejects it publicly- abruptly shoving it back in her face while saying he doesn't want it, thus breaking the thing she'd worked so hard on. And he felt like SHIT because of it, realizing what he'd done. This ends up much more heart-wrenching than your typical anime gag story.

-Shingo gets a doozy of an episode as his final appearance in the anime. It features the adorable subplot of Usagi's brother Shingo getting a schoolboy crush on Ami after she saves him- given her maturity and kind-heartedness, it's completely adorable. The episode is amazing right out of the gate, as the girls start boy-watching at the beach, and Rei gets the binoculars literally the moment a dorky guy's saunters up in his speedos, complete with moose-knuckle bulge, as he and his loser friends hit on the girls. Shingo, roped into acting as "bodyguard" against undesirable males, sees them off. And then Ami acts all nice to him, he blushes, and the girls kind of "aww" over how cute it is. And it's really astonishing that a show with FIFTY-SIX EPISODES LEFT in it couldn't find the time to show the MAIN CHARACTER'S BROTHER even once in all that time.
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Motoki Furuhata

Post by Jabroniville »

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MOTOKI FURUHATA
Dub Name:
Andrew Foreman
Role: The Handsome Older Boy, First Crush, The Nice Guy
Hair Colour: Dirty Blonde
PL 2 (33), PL 4 (33) Defenses
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Expertise (Computers) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Game Center Employee) 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+3)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Attractive

Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +1 (DC 11), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications (Early):
Relationship (Reika Nishimura, aka "Rita" in the Original Dub)- Motoki/Andrew hooked up with a brilliant Archaeologist years ago, and he still waits for her to return from her assignments.
Responsibility (Job at Game Center Crown)
Relationship (Mamoru Chiba)- Though the two have very different personalities (Mamo is cool and taciturn, while Motoki is outgoing and friendly), they are quite close. Though we see all of one private conversation between the two of them.
Relationship (Unazuki Furuhata)- Unazuki is a cute redhead, and is generally attacked by monsters once per season.

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 16--8 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 4 (33)

-Motoki/Andrew is a very common concept seen in Shojou anime, that of the friendly older boy that serves as an crush for the major character (she calls him "Motoki-oniisan"- a term of respect for an older, but still young, boy). Helpfully, he also worked at the Local Hangout- the Game Center Crown, a video arcade (which are shockingly still huge in Japan). His personality to begin with was pretty stock and bland- just a one-note Nice Guy who was generally smiling and kind.

-In the manga, only Usagi liked him, and he eventually discovered the Senshi's identities (though promised never to reveal it). In the anime, his role was extended a bit, as it was a recurring theme early on that Usagi had a thing for him, and once Sailor Jupiter showed up, SHE developed a crush on him, too! This was always depicted as an innocent, childish infatuation, as he was basically a generic friendly boy, the two hardly knew anything about him (he never even shared with them the fact that he had a FIANCEE!), and they would frequently bounce between other crushes (Tuxedo Mask for Usagi; every other boy in the universe for Jupiter).

-One episode features Usagi fantasizing about marrying one boy or the other, unable to decide between the Mysterious Stranger and the Nice Older Boy. A later episode (one of the few to show him & Mamoru just hanging out as pals, in fact) has him reveal to Mamo that he's aware of Usagi's crush on him, but that he thinks of the girls as "little sisters" and "they're so cute!', and sees nothing wrong with just hanging out with them. Mamo (and the audience) are taken aback by his naivete, with Mamo hilariously thinking to himself "he can't possibly be that dense, can he?". I actually kinda wish we got more of the two hanging out- the show's basically a Reverse Bechdel Test winner most of the time, with only women's relationships mattering, but Motoki brings out a more "normal" side of Mamoru- he doesn't have to be all intense or romantic around his best friend- he just acts like a normal guy.

-His worth to the plot was generally minor (especially once Usagi goes after Mamoru full-time), though he got a bit of focus here and there, such as when his fiancee Reika is revealed to be one of the Seven Shadows, and she has to deal with the fact that she could get the scholarship opportunity of a lifetime- but would have to leave Motoki in Japan for a full semester as a result. Jupiter, eager to have Motoki be "free", actually eggs her on ("Aren't you serious about your vacation?!"). The Original Dub gave her the name "Rita", which is a bit too similar to "Lita" (Jupiter's name in the dub). Another weird thing about that episode was that his girl looked WAY too old for him- he barely looks older than a teenager (never mind his low-end servile job), while she looked like an elegant, stately woman- with long flowing hair, long narrow eyes (contrasting the giganto-cutesy eyes of teen girls in the anime), and an adult woman's sense of style. But they had some pretty good stuff with them, oddly- Motoki is patiently waiting for her to finish her degree so they can marry. In one episode, almost eighty episodes later, they find out that her education will take TEN MORE YEARS to complete, and the girls are aghast. And in one particularly funny/cruel moment, the girls trick Motoki into crying out to the heavens over how he'll wait for Reika, "no matter how long it takes!"... while she's standing right behind him.

-Later on, we would discover his little sister, who would go on to become an infamous "once a season" victim of one of the various Mooks. Motoki, like many other Supporting Cast members, disappears into the ether save for the occasional spot- he only appears once in Sailor Moon R, for example. His role in the show is so minor that in my Episode Reviews, he only appears three times! His final appearance in the anime is a guest spot in the SuperS finale, watching Unazuki help Sailor Chibi-Moon empower the Golden Crystal. He does not appear at all in Sailor Stars, and he'd been a "once or twice a season" guy before that anyhow.

The episode review:
Episode #129: The Dead Moon Circus discuss Tiger's Eye's failure, and the backgrounders repeat from last time- I guess that's new "Stock Animation To Waste Time", giving us new ways to get out exposition. The Sailors, meanwhile, investigate the site of the battle and HOLY SHITBALLS IT'S REIKA!!! OMG I had no idea she recurred in this show!!! Yes, it's Motoki's old girlfriend, back from Africa!! And... she's now involved in equestrian sports? This is weird.

So Reika quickly explains things to this group she barely knows (she only really knew Usagi & Makoto from before)- her archaeological research has garnered her "recognition", and now she's been invited to a university in Europe... which will keep her out of Japan for TEN YEARS. The girls are shocked, and she explains that Motoki was just all "I'm happy for you" but now won't see her. This is actually kind of neat, as it shows "Adult Problems" in a way that seems so confusing and strange for the teen girls that make up the show. It's... different. Usagi and (of course) Minako just go bonkers, declaring that they're getting to the bottom of Reika's "Love Probelms" right now, to the horror of their cats, and to Reika's astonished reaction (she can only mutter out "... Okay..." before they're off).

Holy Hell- Unazuki is back, too, chiding Motoki's stubborn, "I don't wanna talk about it" nature- he refuses to get involved, wanting Reika to make her own decision. Usagi is more or less projecting her own relationship foibles onto Motoki & Reika as well, declaring herself lonely. Hilariously, her "problems" are only existing because she's been tying up the phone lines complaining to her friends that Mamoru hasn't called her... thus PREVENTING MAMORU FROM CALLING HER and explaining that he's away on a college seminar. Oh, the days before e-mail.

Since Reika's obviously our Designated Victim, she's targetted by Tiger's Eye, who hits on her... but in a neat bit, she shrinks back when he gets too familiar. And so he rapidly chains her to a board and looks inside her dreams. The ENTIRE Sailor group shows up to fight this time, but the Lemures starts deflecting their stuff back and makes them tap-dance around her whip. Pegasus arrives, empowers Sailor Moon, and that's that- our new "Episode Template" is thus set.

In a cute bit, EVERYONE is now harrassing Motoki to explain himself, and he poutily explains that he didn't want Reika to give up her dreams just for him- "I'll wait ten years if that's what it takes". And of course this was a SET-UP, as she's hiding behind something. Oh, now that's just dirty pool- the poor guy just poured his heart out unwillingly.

A pretty neat episode, though the Template is already pretty established in this show- Pegasus just replaces Tuxedo Mask as a Last-Minute Rescue/Power-Up thing. And Chibi-Usa is super-prominent twice in a row, now, AND gets to be the sole character in the ending sequence! Basically, they're telegraphing that this is "The Little Girl Season", complete with the love-interest-is-a-talking-unipegasus thing.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Unazuki Furuhata

Post by Jabroniville »

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UNAZUKI FURUHATA
Dub Name:
Lizzy Foreman
Role: The Cute Girl, Miss Fanservice, The Frequent Victim
Hair Colour: Red

-Unazuki was a very peculiar character in the anime- she was NOT in the first season (she debuts in Episode 69), and is the Suddenly-Introduced Sibling of side-character Motoki. She's initially just a red herring- Usagi thinks that Mamoru, who has broken up with her (because of a bad dream), has found another girl, and she finds this cute, perky redhead hanging onto him while he rides his Bad Boy Motorcycle! Heartbroken even further, Usagi is at least happy to discover that Mamo was just giving a ride to Motoki's sister, and that she already HAS a boyfriend!

-This leads to a curious thing where Unazuki actually keeps appearing in the anime- generally as another Victim of the Week. As they had over-used Naru in this role so often that even LUNA was cracking jokes about it, it was at least a change- a chance to see a different character get attacked once in a while. And she oddly appears just as much as Motoki after a point- the male animators seemed to enjoy her short skirt (she bends over REALLY FAR in one episode), cute appearance, and "non-main girl"-ness, so she's there all the time in the middle seasons, as the Fruit Parlor Crown restaurant serves as the new "Gang Hangout" after a point- the girls are often seen there, sipping on green drinks or eating ice cream or whatever. She's actually one of the earliest Victims in each season thereafter, until she disappears by Sailor Stars.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Ryo Urawa

Post by Jabroniville »

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RYO URAWA
Dub Name:
Greg
Role: Short-Lived Love Interest, Future-Seer
Hair Colour: Brown
PL 2 (33)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 0 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+2)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)

Advantages:
None

Powers:
"Future Sight" Senses 4 (Precognition) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +0 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +0, Fortitude +1, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Father Moves Around A Lot)- Ryo is always forced to move around, thanks to his father's job. He rarely sticks to a school for more than a few months.
Relationship (Ami Mizuno)- Ryo, who knows Ami is Sailor Mercury, has a bit of an unspoken crush on the studious girl. He spends a lot of time around her, confesses the nature of his powers to her, and even carries around a candid picture Usagi gave him.
Responsibility (Future Sight)- Ryo's "Future Sight" power comes with a price- he knows he'll turn into a Monster, and sees himself murdering Sailor Mercury with blades. He insists that the Sailors kill him when he finally turns. He's a bit of a fatalist.

Total: Abilities: 16 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 4 / Defenses: 9 (33)

-Ryo Urawa (who I will always name "Greg", thanks to the Original Dub) came about in two different episodes of the anime (to which he is an exclusive character)- the first being an interesting one where he confesses an attraction to Ami, but points out that he can't be with her- he's destined to turn into a monster and attack her. Ami, never having been interested in someone before, is intrigued (and Usagi is of course being SO helpful, by giving him a candid picture of a shocked Ami about to bite into a burger), and refuses to allow his fatalistic point of view to go on. Ryo actually manages to fend off Prince Endymion for a while, but is transformed into a giant Monster Of The Week. Ami is able to help stop him and gets him transformed back to human, but he has to move away. He reappears a few episodes later, in a gathering of the original Rainbow Crystal Carriers, prepared to die fighting AGAIN, but is rescued. Sadly, despite there being a hundred and sixty more episodes, they never see fit to bring him back- he's just a brief illusion in the Season Finale (Ami sees through the deception). All the friggin' filler they had to make, and this guy never gets to show up again? Crazy.

-Urawa is thus never even mentioned again, and Ami isn't shown to be attracted to another man for a good long while. She appears to blush around a brilliant musician, whose song has touched her heart and inspired her to write lyrics for it, but soon meets his wife and is a bit embarrassed. Much later, in Sailor Stars, Ami now OPENLY crushes on boys, fawning over the Three Lights in an uncharacteristic move, though she quickly drops interest in the aloof, cold Taiki.

-Ryo has one of the better Precog-based powers out there, to the point where he got perfect grades on tests by being able to see the answers ahead of time. No GM should ever give a player a Sense this good in M&M, but since Ryo's a wuss otherwise, it works.
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Davies
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Sailors Uranus & Neptune! Sailor Pluto! Sailor Saturn!)

Post by Davies »

I'd say he should have Beginner's Luck tied into his Precognition, to represent that.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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