harmless kitten

The official translations make it less obvious. IIRC, when Mu goes on her I'M A DOLL DOLL DOLL speech in the True End he responds that he's a doll/was artificially created as well. Some of the Setting Material Collections talk about artificial humans created using some of the Black Beast's DNA. It's quite possible that Ragna is one of these, or was created as a prime field device. Some BB interviews/story information Mori did just prior to CS console release said that Lambda only has a fragment of Nu's soul. She was never whole. I didn't save the interviews, but I know p-kun translated them here...if the thread wasn't deleted or merged with another one, that is. So Nu is still able to function, she's just missing a part of herself. That or Lambda's fragment wound up back in the Boundary (provided Ragna didn't eat it or something).

Sector 7 doesn't look so good when you realize Azrael's "eating" isn't literal. Azrael lives to fight strong people, and refers to defeating a strong person as "eating" them. Just to hammer in the crazed dog comparisons. Wonder what the other scientists at Sector 7 want with the Azure Grimoire.

I dunno about that. He tells Hakumen the same thing--that Ragna is suffering in his own private hell (or something along those lines), and that Jin wants to save (read: kill) him. I had the impression that their conversation took place after Jin put Yukianesa in its place. I'll replay Hakumen's CS mode and see.

Tsubaki sure loves her Imperator. Mikado-sama this, Mikado-sama that... It makes perfect sense to me, at least if you view it within the context of Jin's special logic. From Jin's own mouth (lol like that means anything; he changes his mind on this constantly) killing Ragna will "save" him. He says that he thinks Ragna is suffering immensely, and he wants to end his brother's suffering. In his mind, Ragna is fated to suffer--unless he is killed by Jin. Conversely, Tsubaki is innocent and is only being used as a puppet. Thus, the seemingly contradictory motivations. On the subject of No. 00, I don't think it means much, but... Relius does mention a "number zero prime field device" in Phase 0. In context, it sounds like he was referring to the forging Kusanagi (despite that it's been called the first prime field device), but whatever. I don't think it means a lot, and is just a cheeky teaser. (plus I got the impression that Izayoi was a Murakumo prototype, not a numbered prime field device.) Who knows! Guessing at BB is like seeing a duck's bill and assuming the animal is a duck but then the damn thing turns out to be a platypus.

Here's the image that flickered quickly in Ragna's arcade mode. If it's not the same thing as this and this and this, I'll eat my hat. Static seems to further symbolize observation or phenomena intervention, or in a couple of cases, seeing a past/future image or what happened in another timeline... (the symbols on the thing are very similar to ones found in other places, such as Ragna's tattoo). edit: a friend of mine says that it reads "Amaterasu descends," or more accurately, "arrives/visits." 3 stories, although that's still pretty cramped. Sadly, some characters are probably going to end up shortchanged, and we won't see much (if anything at all) from their point of view. 23 characters is a lot, although obviously some will be conflated (Izayoi and Tsubaki, Noel and Mu). Unless the stories are LONG and switch POV more than CTR. I would hope Kokonoe summons robots, sadly I do not think she will summon Golden Tager for her Astral.

It's the image with the crests of Ragna, Nu, BlazBlue, and CP. Here's a crappy image of it altered to make the crests more visible. Says: The point of no return is already far behind. Crumbling away under your feet, the world will never be the same. The path is clear. Now, break in to the maelstrom of fate. BLAZBLUE And above that, in Japanese: AMATERASU Below: Awaken? I cannot for the life of me remember and I do not comprehend Also, the crest has some of the same imagery going on as Tsukiyomi, mainly the square in a circle with crescents, only it has MORE circles and squares and squares within circles within squares and looks a lot more "eye-like" in the title crest, with a sort of visible lower and upper lid. At least to me I already know I'm thinking about this too much.

It reminds me a lot more of what Amaterasu's could be, imo. What with the whole ray thing going on, the emphasis on the myth of luring the goddess out from her cave (paralleling getting the Master Unit out of the Boundary) and the bright yellow/orange (solar colors), but then the thing kind of looks like a weird open Cauldron too, especially with the wings. Of course, the emblem might not belong to a playable character at all. The BlazBlue emblem is only seen in the series as the symbol of the Azure/Azure Grimoire/Black Beast, and no playable character (so far) actually has it as a crest. edit: There's also the whole AMATERASU, AWAKEN (or was it activate?) text from the CS True End that also had the title symbol.

I think that was just because Celica showed up. It seems like she passively nullifies the seithr around her. Explains why it keeps randomly seemed to work sometimes in P0.

In Phase 0 Ragna's arm is present, just practically useless. (from here)

It's not quite the same as the one in the CSSMC... I spot a few differences (the relationship line between Ragna and Jin is different for one), and it's laid out differently. It looks like a relationship chart updated for Chrono Phantasma.

You mean how long they've existed? A very long time. The timeline says the first one was being tempered in 2099, but that's probably not right since Ayatsuki writes that Terumi wanted Relius to create a special prime field device. So, it seems like they existed some time before even then. (Unless this is Phase 0 being inconsistent or another retcon :v)

Izayoi was a Murakumo prototype. Prime field devices existed long before the first Murakumo Unit was even conceived of, long before even the first Ars Armagus was created.

In the English version the line about Amaterasu is translated as "I have brought ruin to the Master Unit." Which is pretty ambiguous when you pause and take a look at it, although it seems like she's boasting that she killed Amaterasu after all. But, I think earlier confusion over whether or not the Imperator had destroyed Amaterasu had a hand in convincing people that she had. She speaks in archaic Japanese, iirc, and that further compounded the confusion. I think the earliest reports of the True End said that Amaterasu was destroyed. I think CP story mode will be a lot like Calamity Trigger Reconstruction, only with somewhat more focus on more minor characters. I think it'll be an easier way of handling the story, especially wrt what really happened in the canon timeline and what didn't, but the story mode is probably gonna feel really bloated. Shame. I missed the little discrete chunks that were previous stories.

Tao taking a nap is always relevant! Here is the CSSMC timeline. @Tokkan: Yeah. I think it might be the same in the CSSMC timeline (something about Tager and Kokonoe in AD2193), but I can't say for sure.

This timeline from the CTSMC says that Tager was "remodelled" by Kokonoe sometime in AD2193, although it's completely possible the circumstances have changed and that is no longer the case. (There's an updated timeline in the CSSMC, but I can't read it.)

Character profiles were released. Amane's bday is 11/15 (Shichi-Go-San), Bullet has 8/2 (couldn't find anything, but it may not be something immediately obvious much like a few other characters' birthday), and Azrael's birthday is 10/10 (not sure, although the first thing I thought of was Health and Sports Day even if it doesn't always take place on 10/10...or it could be just for fun like Ragna's birthday date). @Tokkan: OH, completely misunderstood.

I think you need to take it easy. You got really riled up about it in your deleted post. Not like the whole argument has any relevance on the story anyway. 9th Hierarchical City of Akitsu. At least, that was what was listed on her profile last time I checked. edit: Oh it's Ibukido now? Argh, I thought all they changed was her birthday.

It was a joke, dude. A joke I made over two years ago. Sorry, I'll drop it. Anyway, to get on topic, means that Kushinada's lynchpin can be used in CP huh? That doesn't bode well if Relius finds out, especially if he gets his hands on her. Will it be possible to get arcade story footage of CP once it comes out in however many days, or is the no recording rule in many arcades going to shut this down?

Taking things at face value also means that you can't assume he was bitten in every timeline either. I said it was linked to the grimoire, not necessarily that he got it exactly when he touched it. Because there is actually nothing inside the game or any other piece of material that supports it. It was fanwanked way, way back when BB was still young and the story was vague. Why would he become a half-vampire just from being bitten anyway? There's not even anything in BB that says whether or not half-vampires can exist. People jumped to conclusions based on Ragna's white hair and red eye. The game itself doesn't ever bring up the possibility that Ragna is anything other than a human . That's why I express confusion over how the half-vampire thing got around everywhere. I used to believe it too, I just think it seems so damn flimsy in retrospect and yet almost everyone believed it for a time. (People used to say that his drive was related to his vampiric power too, and it's obviously not with more info on the Azure Grimoire.) I was that someone else, so yes I know. The text is from Rachel's arcade ending. People get the impression he's half-vampire because she bit him, but like I said there's no confirmation. The voice clip is not exactly confirmation. I don't remember the particular number of the voice clip, but Ragna says, "I'm not suckin' your blood 'cause it tastes good!" You don't even have to hack into it. It's right there in the sound gallery of CT. (It actually might be used after all. I can't remember.) No one's arguing that she never bit him. I'm only arguing that she only bit him once. that's so silly Why would it affect solely his arm and eye then? The arm is obvious. But why just the eye then? Ragna's right leg works fine. He can move the rest of his body on the right side. So for whatever reason, he just loses function of his eye. I dunno about you, but it seems easier to come to the conclusion that his eye is intrinsically linked to the Azure Grimoire than it is to potential vampirism. If you want to take the most nitpicky, purist stance, there is nothing that hard confirms whether or not Rachel bit him or not outside of a single, previous timeline. There is nothing that confirms Ragna is a half-vampire, as it's never brought up in the game itself and never touched upon. Your post is just as much interpretation as my own. It teleports! Considering the jacket and shirt seem to recover any cut, mark, or damage, I can easily accept a teleporting jacket Lack of an active general story thread means that any and all story discussion is likely going to take place in this thread for a while.

It's not from the bite at all. It's from the Azure Grimoire. I'm not sure exactly where people got the half-vampire thing at all, really, even though I once believed it myself. It seems like it developed within the time span from CT arcade to CT console; someone made it up (or believed incorrectly) and people ran with it. It's never stated directly in any of the games (and I don't exactly have a quote to pull from one of the Setting Material Collections to support it), but it really doesn't seem like she did at all. Not quite, she gets embarrassed and dismayed when she brings it up. Translation flub Not seeing it Sort of, she mentions it, stops as she gets a little flustered, and then looks down at him. It's never mentioned whether she actually bites him or not, and given that Ragna's life is saved by him contacting the Azure Grimoire (which she seems to have unsealed), there's really no need for her to bite him at all. His eye is red from the Azure Grimoire. He uses only his right eye to search for the Azure Grimoire, it becomes blind in Phase 0 along with his right arm becoming useless. If anything you could say it's symbolism for hosting the Azure Grimoire since Ragna's, Nu's, and the Black Beast itself are all associated with glowing red against black. Even if she bit him there's not any evidence at all for Ragna being half-vampire, aside from a single unused voice clip.

Temptation? Rachel regards that time as a sin. As far as I know, it's only mentioned in her CT arcade mode and in her short story... This is what her arcade ending says about the subject: "With eyes like jade, she stares at me. Those eyes remind me of my sins... ...of a far, distant past. The boy whose blood I drank...the only one... The day I sunk my fangs into an innocent, helpless human. The day I had no choice but to act as the vampire I am. My first and last... ...sweet, sweet sin..." And then she brings it up in Endless Waltz, only to get embarrassed. It seems like she's only drank his blood once. Maybe the first time she didn't have the means to help him, and tried to save his life. And then somehow Ragna being a (half-)vampire popped up from this. That may have been in the cards once (Ragna has an unused sound clip in CT that points to it), but it probably isn't any longer.

I think Rachel only bit him in the first loop. Even then, I don't think he was ever a vampire. Dhampir (wow, what a silly word), whatever. The red eye is connected to the Azure Grimoire. He gets it a little while after Rachel unseals the Azure Grimoire under the church, and it goes blind when he loses its power in Phase 0, just like his arm. edit: I was late, ah well.

I thought Ragna's white hair was a simple mistake. That, or he was a platinum blond all along and it only looks pure white in that picture. The Azure Grimoire then bleached his hair gray-white. Hair doesn't just spontaneously bleach white after trauma anyway. It falls out first and then grows back white. I think SlaveRed is most likely referring to Tsubaki. IIRC, the mind control spell Nine used on Terumi (and the same spell that is being used on Tsubaki) was Ruby: Mind Eater. Ruby. Red. SlaveRed. No idea on Enchant Dragon though.

As far as I understood, it's because the grimoire isn't actually "there." Nu absorbed Ragna's Azure Grimoire, creating the Black Beast and leaving Ragna's arm as nothing but a husk of seithr concentrated into solid form. Hence why it doesn't work outside of close proximity of the Black Beast (barring that one time Ragna was pissed enough to make it move). Although, hell, maybe it's because it needs seithr to work and the amount of seithr is just too low for it work except when close to the Black Beast since it exudes seithr. I don't think any possibilities are explicitly confirmed. They're caused causality weapons, phenomena weapons, causality phenomena devices, etc. It's just differing translations. Same reason why Boundary Contact Medium suddenly got changed to prime field device.

http://imgur.com/JODnR.png Made an Azure chart. Was going to provide sources and quotes for everything but I got lazy. If anything is wrong or has been changed let me know and I'll fix it.