Analysis/Commentary/Review/Discussion of GG's story

[danceljoy]

This is a huge wall of text response to FormerlyUnknown and DoctaMario here and here

Since I have no site not blog, the only place I can post this kind of writing is this forum; well I think it’s appropriate anyway. I made analysis for people who like GG better than BB, but are frustrated that many BB lovers find GG’s story “inferior” to BB. After I examine this situation, I will present a discussion on Guilty Gear’s story, plot, themes and hopefully, characters too that will explain my choice of liking it better than BB. I like BB but I love GG.

I will not prove that BB or GG’s story is better than the other; for I think that they are not in the same level of development. Also, quality in terms of gameplay will not be discussed here. There are three primary reasons on why it will be difficult for a story-mode oriented BB player who's a newcomer, to love GG on the same level. It is perfectly understandable. Of course, there are exceptions, but we all know that BB is more popular than GG now.

Let us start with the context:

1. How they started

The start of new series marks its way to videogame history, it could be either be bad, okay or phenomenal. With the release of Continuum Shift, BB has received good reception and a growing number of fans, exponentially more than GG:Missing Link can ever have. But every logical person needs to take account technological differences between PS1 and a PS3.

When Missing Link entered videogame society, besides gameplay of course, it has: creative characters, awesome music, a plot set in an interesting universe, story that is more serious and makes more sense than other fighting game ever has, a nice opening and a cool Justice boss scene.

But when BBCT entered the scene a decade after, we get everything Missing Link offered plus anime cutscenes, more story illustrations, more colorful and hi-res graphics and a true ending that wonderfully wraps everything up. Besides those, BB has a good publicity and information about it is spread by the most trusted and credible human invention ever: the internet.

The results of these facts about GGML and BBCT are this; in game, BBCT has more story packed in it than GGML, and on fan reaction, BBCT made more impact and has earned a bigger fanbase and audience than GGML.

2. How they are continued

There is actually little analysis possible on BB’s history since it is pretty much still young, has just released two official story lines (CT and CS) plus side materials. So this part is more dedicated to GG. I am not really sure on what is the true reason of re-releasing GGXX a couple of times. Yes, it may be for game balancing but GG stagnated over the past years because it seems that Arc Sys milked it. Maybe it is the matter of IP problems as Arc Sys had an issue with Sega I think.

All in all I think the real point is this: BB benefited more from good company choices while GG suffered more from bad company choices. One real example of this is creating GG2 Overture.

I’m not saying that GG2 Overture is a bad game, I actually like its story and setting. However I believe that creating it is a bad choice for Arc Sys. It is not what gamers want. It is not what GG players want. It was a mistimed and the not best game to create at the moment. There are exceptions of course, as some players love it very much, but this game already has a bad reception from more players who didn’t even give it a chance.

What I love about GG2: fleshed out Ky more, gave us a new angle of Sol’s personality, presented us the mystical and metaphysical aspects of a 3D GG universe you can travel to. If I have money I would buy an Xbox right now and buy that game.

What’s bad: WHY ARE THE OTHER CHARACTERS GONE? And how the hell did this happen!?

3. Fan access

BB ‘s story is more accessible and easier to learn and follow than GG for reasons more than cutscenes and illustrations. Technological capacities and of course, bold ideas of the creators fleshed out the characters and the universe of BB more than GG in-game. The “Teach me Miss Litchi” explained a lot of stuff that side materials are actually just supplemental materials. And this is just the first game of BB.

In GG, side materials are actually more in-depth than the main games because of their flexibility. We have Drama CD 1 and 2, Side Red and Black, Night of Knives and the two GG novels. Besides that, we have 7(I think) Overture short stories on which only two are translated. In GG, side materials are actually necessary for appreciation.

If you think that GG has a less deep plot that BB just read That Man’s Overture short story and think.

Oh before I forget, the manga sucks. But at least it has an eye-wetter scene with Ky meeting Kliff for the first time. We have a Ky vs Baiken and the Sol vs Ky fight which makes reading the manga worth it. Just ignore Tyr and Mizuha and you’ll at least be modestly satisfied by it.

--

I think we can use FFVII and FFT as an illustration, with BB as FFVII and GG as FFT. Both actually have deep universes, good music and good stories. However, FFVII is easier to appreciate than FFT for many reasons and has a very huge fanbase. In FFVII, Aerith dies, Cloud has a huge sword and Sephiroth is sexy. (I never even played FFVII but I understood the story very well just by reading wikis, novellas, watching ACC and playing CC.) However, in FFT, you have to spend time reading all the tedious personae section that is updated many times. If you don’t read them, you won’t know what is happening in the universe. And I have to play it twice to understand the story.

( Of course Square Enix and Arc Sys are different games and I’m not saying that BB and GG are like FFVII and FFVII in all aspects. THOSE GAMES ARE DIFFERENT.)

And with this kind of context presented I now present you my analysis of GG's themes. It’s too big to post it here so I posted it in TV Tropes where people can add stuff. Here is the reason why I love GG more than BB, and why I think it has lots and lots of potential despite being older: Analysis of Guilty Gear. The page is full of UNMARKED SPOILERS, be warned.

You’re free to disagree, to criticize or to comment. I will be happy to revise my work. Okay, I TRIED TO BE FUNNY but I can’t And if you think that I’m overanalyzing, remember that I haven’t mentioned many characters yet so there you go. (But anyway, many characters in GG has no hidden depth in them anyway.)

AGAIN THIS THREAD DOES NOT PROVE THAT GG IS BETTER THAN BB OR THE OPPOSITE. I LIKE THEM BOTH AND I DON'T WANT A FAN WAR.

----

UPDATE: Added more examples in the religion section, added trichotomy and added real-life events

UPDATE: "Finished" for now, but very open to suggestions and additions

Edited July 5, 2011 by danceljoy

[Seku]

Aside from the GG/BB thingy, I find this to be a good read.

Thanks for your time and effort~

[DoctaMario]

Ahh, sweet. I was really hoping you'd make a thread on all this. I'm looking forward to reading more of your analysis because as I said in the other thread, it's kind of hard to find the supplemental materials one would need to read to fully appreciate the story. I'm more of a GG fan than BB but it seems like they learned from their mistakes in terms of GG's story mode being too vague at times (which is why I think the "Teach Me Miss Lichi" thing was put in BB)

As for the analysis, I thought Dizzy was a bit older as well. How old is she supposed to be in the story?

[Blade]

As far as this analysis goes, I have no complaint except that a lot of the story is extrapolated from both the glam and horror that is Heavy Metal imagery. In other words it is two parts fantasy (think LotR) and one part grim reality (think Shindler's List).

The gaps from GG to GGX and GGX to GGXX are "somewhat covered" by the novels and drama CDs, but they are still gaps. Knowing that they learned their lesson on continuity with BlazBlue, I can only hope that the next Guilty Gear will fill in all those gaps with valid information on the activities of various characters and confirm all those who died and those who survived, etc.

[danceljoy]

As for the analysis, I thought Dizzy was a bit older as well. How old is she supposed to be in the story?

She's just 3 years old in GGX, but it is stated in her profile that her mental age is above 20.

As far as this analysis goes, I have no complaint except that a lot of the story is extrapolated from both the glam and horror that is Heavy Metal imagery. In other words it is two parts fantasy (think LotR) and one part grim reality (think Shindler's List).

Okay, I revise. I really would like to write about the dark parts of Guilty Gear, especially that some people claim that BB is darker and edgier. It might be true or not, but indeed GG has a lot of grim things in it too. However I would still like to see more visuals of the GG world, and study it more. Here are the possible dark stuff GG can show:

1. The Crusades, lots and lots of gruesome deaths.

2. People starving. I mean, with poison type Gears around the ecosystem might have been damaged hard. And how is food production during the war?

3. Gears after the war. Most likely they are burned, mutilated, experimented on and there is a possibility that they are fully conscious while people are doing these kinds of things to them, it's just that they cannot function in a life-like state.

4. Orphaned children being brainwashed into assassins.

5. Slavery in Zepp or Zepp in general. There was a revolution it means a lot of deaths.

6. Life of the Jellyfish girls before being adopted, I bet one or two of them were prostitutes, I'm serious.

7. Dr. Baldhead killing people on the operating table.

8. Countries destroyed beyond recovery especially Japan. What happened to South East Asia(my home haha) and Africa?

9. Marina and the rest of the people who drank the Vitae in the novel that survived. If we know how Gear cells work, it's possible that they are never completely "cured" and may mutate in the future.

And many more...

Edited August 2, 2011 by danceljoy

[Blade]

If I had to say, GG applies itself more to real-life history than BB does. So in fact it IS darker.

Examples: Raven's backstory relates to the early portions of OUR Crusades. The foundation of the United Nations Organization. Metaphysics. Cauchian Theory on Time Travel. Geonomes and DNA mapping. Universal theory that the universe has "layers" comprised of energy which could be interpreted as "data". Computer Science...and a whole lot of other stuff.

Ask Suzaku about it, he knows more about it than I could even explain.

[Wirya]

No, BB is darker than GG!

...But by the time you finish it, the dark stuff don't matter anymore.

GG, on the other hand, is less dark. But even long after you finish reading all the story, the darkness still haunts you.

[danceljoy]

Ask Suzaku about it, he knows more about it than I could even explain.

Okay, gonna ask him. I really want to deepen my analysis more. There's a lot more in GG I haven't mentioned yet. There's a lot of Metaphysics in GG I'm not fully knowledgeable of. My next goal is to write about all those stuff that you mentioned. Hopefully I can do it by next month or within this year. Or if anybody else want to do it, it's fine with me.

[Blade]

No, BB is darker than GG!

...But by the time you finish it, the dark stuff don't matter anymore.

GG, on the other hand, is less dark. But even long after you finish reading all the story, the darkness still haunts you.

I'm gonna say no to that one, sir. Mostly because a lot of BB stories are lighthearted and congenial in nature, with only a few dark spots. Even the sidestories aren't that dark to begin with, novels included.

Whereas in GG you have long prodding sections of darkness and mystery (Practically the whole of the Crusades alone accounts for a large section of GG's story. It doesn't start getting "light" until the first GG,

(2180) and even then it isn't remotely as light as GGXX onwards. GG2 Overture is mostly dark anyway. Oh sure the end of the stories are happy, but that accounts for maybe...what? 10% of the story?

[Suzaku]

First of all, I'll say that the biggest difference between Guilty Gear and BlazBlue is Toshimichi Mori and Daisuke Ishiwatari.

Daisuke Ishiwatari may be far more creative, and a better artist, but Mori's setting for BlazBlue is developed much more clearly.

I feel like Ishiwatari has a basic outline he's working with, but heaped a bunch of cool characters onto it that don't necessarily fit into the grand scheme. The setting is fluid, the plot changing as he adds and subtracts ideas here and there.

Whereas with BlazBlue, Mori has been deliberate. Each character has a part to play, and was created to fill a role, both for players and for the story. He's got everything outlined, mapped out probably, and knows where things will go. Much less fluid.

I'll also say that Guilty Gear is much darker, and more violent, and more realistic. Guilty Gear is post-apocalytpic in a way that BlazBlue just isn't. And honestly, I'd sooner compare Guilty Gear to Blade Runner and BlazBlue to the Jetsons than I'd compare them to FFT and FFVII.

That's not to say BlazBlue isn't a little dark. It's got some minor Lovecraftian elements with Arakune, and a clean, polished, Orwellian sort of oppression with the NOL. Ghosts and monsters and Carl's mutilated sister and whatnot. Even so, it's still bright, and clean, and sometimes even cute. Moreso than Guilty Gear has ever been.

Guilty Gear's brand of fantasy just veers closer to dark fantasy, where BlazBlue's veers towards high fantasy. I think that really sums it up.

[danceljoy]

Oh sure the end of the stories are happy, but that accounts for maybe...what? 10% of the story?

And we're not even sure which AC endings are canon, Millia and Eddie could be dead by now...

I feel like Ishiwatari has a basic outline he's working with, but heaped a bunch of cool characters onto it that don't necessarily fit into the grand scheme. The setting is fluid, the plot changing as he adds and subtracts ideas here and there.

Agree on that one, but there's always a possibility of Executive Meddling.

First of all,

Guilty Gear's brand of fantasy just veers closer to dark fantasy, where BlazBlue's veers towards high fantasy. I think that really sums it up.

Thanks for the comparison Suzaku, and I was really surprised when you blatantly compare BB to Jetsons. I avoided doing that in fear of angering fans, but I'm relieved to see Loremasters confirm that GG's dark stuff is what I perceived it to be. I mentioned in a thread once that BB is mostly anime themed, while GG has more universal themes than many "real-life" fiction. But if it's possible, I really would like to focus on the analysis of GG rather than the comparison with BB.

--

Anyway, I've added some stuff to my analysis. I included the "Trichotomy in Sol, Ky and Dizzy." Here's also what I added to the "Politics, society, economics and history" section:

!!Real-life events/organizations

Guilty Gear is a fantasy world which is heavily based on reality. The game takes liberty in using factual entities to connect the events in the 22nd Century to the past centuries.

*Old Crusades- Raven's backstory reveals that he was a German Crusader during the Holy War in the middle ages(11th-13th century). He was shot by multiple arrows but got revived afterwards. This is when he finds out that he is immortal.

*World War I and II - These wars led to the formation of the Post-War Administration Bureau. The PWAB is said to have done its purpose, but it continues to operate in the shadows.

*United Nations - Since their formation, they have been active for more than a century. In the game's story, it holds more power as it acts like a world government

*Human Genome Project- Though not out-rightly stated or specified, this real-life project coincides with the development of the Gear project in Guilty Gear. The Gear project is also most likely to have taken place in the USA, the leader of the Human Genome Project.

To be added under "Politics, society, economics and history section"

!! Real-life issues (Blade's suggestion)

* '''Racial Segregation'''- to be written

* '''Migration'''- to be written

* "'War and refugees"'- to be written

* '''Illegal trade''' - to be written

* '''Police corruption''' - to be written

* '''Political corruption'''- to be written

* '''State formation'''- to be written

!! Post-New Crusades (I'm going to refer to it as New Crusades for convenience)

Mostly the stuff I wrote earlier, just going to be reorganized and more emphasis and explanation will be added to the PWAB, IPF, and the formation of Illyria. I will also include the cases of human experimentation in GG Judgment and LtA novel.

---

I will also add a "Metaphysics, Science and Philosophy" section, please suggest as much as you can.

* Time Travel- to be written

* Alchemy- to be written

* Bio-Ethics- to be written

* Universal data- to be written

* Causal Evolution- to be written

* Apocalypse- to be written

[McArthur]

seeing all this stuff, can i ask where one can read the story of GG? from start to end/current

thanks

[danceljoy]

Hello there kababayan!

Anyway, for basics there's the GG Wiki, TV Tropes, guiltygear.ru and a nice Ky fansite that's Ky oriented (read the history section, though those sources aren't fully reliable and has errors in it. The wiki needs a lot of love and editing. For advanced and deeper stuff, click Blade's sig and read the Faq section, or go to gamefaqs and read the faq there.

Actually, there's no complete summary of GG's story or a chronological list of ALL that has happened. The best you can get is the GG timeline and Blade's notes at the end of the GGX and GGXX scripts. You may also visit the Canon Plot and Settings Q&A thread and dig old posts in Guilty Gear Stories found in Zepp Museum.

Again this is a review/discussion/commentary/analysis of GG's plot/story rather than a fact finding thread.

Edited August 2, 2011 by danceljoy

[Blade]

seeing all this stuff, can i ask where one can read the story of GG? from start to end/current

thanks

WIP = "Work in Progress"

Storyline goes like this:

(Gear Project > Crusades) > Check my GGR Data (WIP).

Guilty Gear Drama CD: Night of Knives (WIP check Zepp Museum)

Guilty Gear: The Missing Link

Guilty Gear Novel: Lightning the Argent (WIP summary here)

Guilty Gear X Drama CD (Part 1 Part 2)

Guilty Gear X: By Your Side G. Gear

Guilty Gear Xtra Manga

Guilty Gear XX Drama CD (Side Red Side Black)

Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival

Guilty Gear Judgment (WIP check here)

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (WIP, unavailable at this time)

Guilty Gear Novel: Butterfly and Her Gale (WIP summary here)

Guilty Gear 2 Material Stories (WIP, raw data here, otherwise you can read this and this)

Guilty Gear 2: Overture

Pheewwww....I hope that covers it.

[McArthur]

thanks! it's been a while since i wanted to know the story of GG

[Anbicion]

Hey Blade,

It's has been a while since i played GG:TML.

Well, my English was never good, but i am sure that

Justice was referred as a man/male

?

And didn't

Sol, Baiken and Justice create the gears

(sequence after or befor you unlock Baiken)?

[Fenrir Werwolf]

Hey Blade,

It's has been a while since i played GG:TML.

Well, my English was never good, but i am sure that

Justice was referred as a man/male

?

And didn't

Sol, Baiken and Justice create the gears

(sequence after or befor you unlock Baiken)?

None of those.

Japanese doesn't have a difference for female or male names so it wasn't clearly stated in the beginning.

Also, Baiken was just an extra charachter. You could use her only in vs mode, so there's no real reference on what you're saying.

I think that 90% of GG story is contained in the first chapter for ps1 and in its booklet...you should all check it out before talking.

[Blade]

@Anbicion: What Fenrir said, but also, localization was done by Atlus, so they weren't sure, and to add to the troubles, Justice had a male VA (Takuya Moritou), while Testament had a female VA (Takami Akkun) at the time. Regarding Baiken, there was a Tips & Tricks magazine article that erroneously labeled Baiken as a Gear. If anything Baiken swore to get revenge on That Man for being behind Japan's destruction.

Also keep in mind I quoted the Instruction Booklet's story word-for-word in my FAQ. I did this for all the GG games as much as possible so there is no mistake.

[Fenrir Werwolf]

In fact, the first GG was the one with better story, design and charachter, but worst gameplay...and it's obvious why. It was, in fact, a console only game, born from the idea, draws, music and mind of a single man (Daisuke Ishiwatari).

Still, the game sucked, but it get a nice feedback.

The X series is intended, on the opposite, for the arcades: that's the reason why "story" is just a background. In fact, X story is thin, as well as ending. The story mode for XX is just, for me, as an extra for console releases. If you see in that way, the new charachter born in the arcades version do not have detailed background, relationship or story for this reason: they was born for an arcade game, so gameplay was the most important thing (think, for example, to Venom).

@Blade

I think that in the begininning Justice wasn't thougt to be a female... I think that the fact it was a female came later. as you state, Baiken was just an extra charachter, based on rurouni Kenshin :3

[Blade]

As far as production goes, yeah, they probably didn't think of Justice's gender at that time, but...that was all retconned in Overture when it was said that Justice was pregnant.

Anyways, I'm adding this document: http://www.gearproject.onehitcombo.net/Guilty_Gear/Novels/Butterfly_and_Her_Gale_II.txt It's based on a Wiki article I found, it's more accurate than my original BaHG Summary, don't laugh too hard, I don't own the book, lol.

[Anbicion]

Okay.

My fault, i thought that a question mark always indicate an interrogative sentence.

Next time i will use smilies.

Just one more question

Why the Gears hate (I-No and Justice) Japan and japanese people:?:

e.g. I-Nos encounter with May (GGXX#R)

[Blade]

That question has been asked before, I'll direct you to the answer: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?7000-The-OFFICIAL-Guilty-Gear-Canon-Plotline-Q-amp-A-Thread&p=922264&viewfull=1#post922264

Save any more questions for THAT thread...

[BioLogIn]

And for God's sake. I-no is not a Gear.

[danceljoy]

Hey, I revised a section and updated my analysis. Some of the parts of my analysis were originally intended for a journal, hence the informal tone. I'm continually revising my analysis to make it as formal as possible. Here's the TVTropes link.

Post-New Crusades

The population is recovering from the war that ended five years prior to the first game. It seems that only European countries were able to recover well or protect themselves more effectively. The In Ky Kiske’s story, it is stated that Europe organized itself into three main kingdoms to unify the fragmented groups; also, Europe becomes a melting pot for different races, cultures and religions. Countries like the USA got dissolved or restructured while others have vanished. The United Nations becomes a world government, granted with political, economic and judicial power. It established an International Police Force that has the authority over any nation or area to exercise international laws and regulations like the banning on old technology or "Black Tech." The Post War Administration Bureau, which has been hiding from the public as long as the even before the Crusades, carries out top secret orders from the UN, collects Gears and Japanese people and experiments on them. The nation of Zepp, wanting to preserve traditional science, isolated themselves in a floating continent away from the UN's influence.

Specific Real-Life Issues in Guilty Gear:

* '''Racial segregation'''- The Japanese are forbidden to leave their designated colonies and concentration camps. Those who try to escape are punished and those who are successful in doing so are hunted to be detained again. Even though the threat of Justice's genocide is long over, the international community continues to treasure the Japanese' special attributes while other national groups aren't mentioned at all.

* '''Human Experimentation'''- Zepp enslaved people and modified their bodies by the use of enhancement drugs- Potemkin an example. And it is also hinted that the Japanese are detained for the purpose of experimentation, since they have a high and natural affinity to "ki." Testament is unwillingly turned into a Gear by the PWAB, possibly for research on empowering a human's magical ability. Solaria is converted into a Gear by a private drug company who is attempting to control dormant Gears, her sister, Marina, was saved before she suffered such fate. The Assassins themselves are experimenting on their members with Forbidden Beasts, anti-Gear species.

* '''War, refugees and state formation'''- During the events of the first game, a successful revolution in Zepp, led by the now president Gabriel, freed slaves like Potemkin, establishing a democratic and transparent government in the process. The Crusades left people state-less and Europe is the ideal place for migration. In response to this influx of migrants from different cultures, the UN reorganized Europe into three kingdoms, Illyria being the capital.

* '''Illegal trade''' - Piracy, prostitution and illegal trade is rampant (GG Drama CD.) Sol even refused a prostitute who needs to feed her children, instead, he just handed her a huge sum of money. Considering this environment, Johnny can be considered truly noble by taking in several girls who can be exploited by others.

* '''Police and political corruption''' - The United Nations tolerates the presence of the Assassin's Guild on the political arena and it is highly possible that they ally with each other depending on the purpose. One instance where the Assassins are directly interfering with a national affair is when Erica Bartholomew is appointed to be the president of a certain country. In Ky Kiske's short story, it is revealed that he gave in into accepting the position as the puppet king for Illyria since the government already knows about his wife(who was pregnant that time) and could possibly use her as a hostage. The police force is hardly effective on mitigating crimes as seen by the amount of illegal activities and is unsuccessful against assassins. Also, there are police officials who abuse their position for self-gain. There is an instance where Ky’s subordinate betrayed him and attempted to shoot him take a Black Tech tablet for himself.

Metaphysics, Science and Philosophy

''Guilty Gear'' melds real scientific theories, philosophical queries and fictional elements.

* '''Time travel and Multiverse'''- ''Guilty Gear'' taps into the theory of a '''multiverse''' by including two characters that have the ability to travel through time. It is illogical impossible for two beings to exist at the same time, like Axl and Sol fighting themselves but this could be because of the possibility of two universes meeting at a common point. I-No can travel back in time without meeting her other self, but rather, she can take her original spot in the event. When Order-Sol is killed, either Sol is erased from existence or continues living. Sol surviving implies that there is a separate timeline where he is killed while his timeline remains unaffected.

* '''Genetic engineering, environmental ethics and bio-ethics'''- Since modern technology is deemed to be destructive to the environment, magical science is strongly advocated. Eventually, the shift from science to magic was successful, However, nations also used magic to wage war with others and the creation of Gears is the result. Gears are originally for the advancement of evolution, possibly a more radical genetic modifying. But the utilization of this technology reaches the point where humans are also modified to be weapons. Human modification is taboo in real-life while cloning and stem cell research remains controversial.

* '''Non-natural biological and physical database in a parallel dimension''' - Parallel to the world of ''Guilty Gear'' is an alternate dimension called the "Backyard" where the entities of the universe manifest as data. Magic is the process of tapping to the Backyard and manipulating real world data, however advanced skills and talent are necessary since magic is divided into chords and data has complicated mappings. Magically adept species like Gears have a higher capacity in utilizing the Backyard, and likewise creatures can be born in the dimension. Valentine, the antagonist in ''Overture'' is born from the Backyard and makes up for her lack of raw power with very advanced magic and her innate capacity to rewrite data in the Backyard. Given enough time and preparation, she can disable human magic and cast huge area spells like the Gear sublimation.

* '''Causal evolution''' - That Man debated with Frederick about the existence of a third party in evolution. He theorizes that species are led to take a certain path and a supernatural entity is responsible for the missing links in evolution. The possibility of an extinction event is also mentioned as creatures become extinct when the next stage arrives, through the will of an "Apocalypse."

--

I need help for "Alchemy." And if you disagree or if you see errors, please bring them up here. I'm really open to more suggestions on how to improve my analysis, it's finished for now. And if you want to add some things, feel free to post them here! My next project is to analyze characters like Ky Kiske and the Millia/Zato/Venom trio, though I'm not sure when I can do this, probably it'll take a long, long time.

Again, I want to remind people that this is not a Q&A thread on basic GG facts. You can ask questions in this thread but let's stick to opinions and analysis shall we?

Edited July 5, 2011 by danceljoy

[Blade]

First of all, nice article, but you should grammar check it. But also, as for PWAB's relationship with the U.N....it's spotty as far as I know.

There are some parts of the U.N. who don't know that PWAB still exists. I don't know exactly the details of why it was determined the PWAB should be dismantled, but I'm fairly certain the Sacred Order had a hand in trying to do this (even though it never happened).

But if I were to add to this...the PWAB that exists today and the PWAB that exists in the GG Universe are different entities, the original PWAB was meant to clean up any official problems after a war has ended between countries, offering negotiations for both parties, possibly offering aid to any survivors. The PWAB of the GG Universe is more of an enterprise or a business (similar to a Private Military Company or PMC from the Metal Gear Solid 4 game), they are aiming to market their weapons, militia, and research findings to various countries, similar to a black market arms dealer, they also have ties to the Mafia, Yakuza, and the Triads. You could say that the PWAB that was dismantled for it's inhumane practices became splintered into it's own business, despite retaining it's name. I have no doubt these are the same type of people who dragged That Man into the Gear Manufacturing business, but he somehow managed to hide his research enough and escape, so that it took them this long to make a Justice Copy.

In Butterfly and Her Gale, Erica Bartholomew is trying to pass a bill that will effectively cut ties with the Assassin's Syndicate politically. I'm not entirely sure what the contents of this bill are, but the Guild's ties with the PWAB are (or were) fairly close...it wasn't up until recently that the Guild decided to wage war against PWAB (though this might be considered a proxy battle, since the public isn't aware of it). If PWAB's links with the U.N. and the IPF remain, I'd assume they are anonymous individuals who act as spies for the Bureau, reporting back any political findings, such as the recent alliance between A Country and Zepp.

As for Alchemy, a huge chunk of that probably could be explained in FullMetal Alchemist. It relates to exchanging life to create life, or to generate something composed of like material as an exchange.