Luminos564

Man, it feels weird after coming back for so long. Life has a peculiar form of trolling you, I tell ya. I'd like to offer up my proposition in regards to Alpha-01 and her potential connection to Ragna. What if, hypothetically she were to be his sort-of "representative"? If Ragna is truly done having a physical presence within the BlazBlue universe (not in the story, just not there in the flesh to interact with the others) but still had work to to do, what if Alpha-01 was used to become his "avatar" as it were? Because remember, Ragna went after the desires of the Entitled to make sure they stopped abusing the Origin/Amaterasu Unit and screw over the world. Him returning as he was would no doubt be a bit counter-productive to that. I suppose I'm saying that Alpha-01 be made to Ragna, what Es was to the Azure in Central Fiction. This way she's every bit her own character but has a connection to the previous protagonist who is currently doing whatever it is that characters do in the sea of ambiguity.

So, I've been playing Susano'O for roughly a week now and hot damn do I love being able to pull off his stuff (though my combo repertoire be limited indeed). But I am also noticing a lot of drawbacks to him as well, the most glaring of which being that unless you unlock his DP ASAP, most characters can just run a train over him until he dies. Even with 50 meter, his 632146D is not as good a reversal option since the opponent can just jump/bait it out. The fun doesn't stop there either, since most people know you need that DP right away and they know that as long as they jump over the standard 5B>5C>5D, then you're left wide open. His normals have range, but not the best speed. One thing that also bugs me is his anti-air options. I've been trying to use 2C for this but the move moves him forward and most of the time, its vertical hitbox isn't enough to him people trying to jump in on you. Am I doing it too early or is 2C even the dedicated anti-air in the first place? On the opposite spectrum, his jump-in j.B and j.C are easily anti-aired out meaning that his approach from the air is not the most beneficial. How should I be handling his approaches in this regard? This is also a bit character specific but, how should a Susano'O deal with Izanami's bone shield? Outside of trying to grab her of course? Because it seems like it outright shuts down virtually anything you might have unless you grab her or use the command grab yourself. Or is that true for most characters and Susano'O isn't the only one with this issue?

If it makes you both feel any better, Nu-13's situation isn't that bleak. Sure, getting a thrashing from Haku-men is the equivalent to getting rammed face-first by an 18-wheeler but her body will recover in due time. If there's one thing the Murakumos are known for, it's that they're extraordinarily resilient. She's also got both Noel and Lamb-chops to look after her so she's definitely not going to have to suffer through this alone. And as for losing her memories of Ragna, that situation is more dependant on your perspective of things. Granted yes, he was all she ultimately wanted and now that she no longer remembers him, it's disheartening. But the problem was that her wants (influenced by the Origin/Saya) were warped and twisted into something rather unsavory. Thus her perpetual madness regarding him. In that sense, Ragna removing her memories of him is the best thing he could possibly give her, considering what his ultimate fate ended up being. With no memories of him to "shape her", Nu-13 does indeed look empty in that last moment. But I prefer to see that little white bird that comes to visit her as more symbolic, in that she's now free to define herself outside of her obsession with Ragna. She can now grow up, have at least something resembling a happy life because unlike before, she's definitely not alone anymore. Yes, it will take time but the most important thing is that she is alive and as long as she has that, anything is possible.

Yeah? Tell that to Zato-1 in Xrd. Zato was canonically confirmed to be dead after GGX and Eddie took over the roster spot in GGXX: Midnight Carnival. Then out comes Xrd: SIGN and suddenly Zato is back among the living. Aria was dead even longer than he was and after the events of Revelator, she's been successfully revived as well. The chief ruling in fighting games is that, assuming that at some point you decide to kill off a character or 2, you need to either find ways to justify them coming back (Terumi self-observing against Time Killer, Nu-13 forcefully reconstructing after Lamb-chops' body was "killed" and her soul freed) or you need to create replacement characters to retain the unique gameplay that the characters you offed brought to the table. Story has a surprisingly small effect on what actually gets put on the roster at the end of the day. However, I am in agreement that doing so would render the past 4 games of conflict and build-up utterly fruitless. There is a deep sense of bittersweet satisfaction in seeing Ragna go all Black Onslaught on Terumi and finally impaling him. Nine had her final moments and closure. Celica soon followed. Arakune has thankfully been exterminated. Noel and Lamb-chops are taking care of an injured Nu-13, with Noel wanting to give them a happy life which is a fine way to end the sad tales of the Murakumos. Haku-men too played his part, let the old weary warrior rest. Almost everyone that didn't get buried 6-feet under is free to pursue more peaceful goals (NOL rebuilding the world, Bang restoring Ikaruga, Amane doing...whatever it is he wants). Even Ragna, despite erasing himself from everyone's memories can at least keep the last bits of "Saya" company within the Boundary. My only chief complaint about the ending is that Relius and Hazama are still at large. I was honestly hoping the both of them get imprisoned but nope.

Sweet Azure Jesus, so how many "Saya(s)" are out there then in total? I'm racking my brain more trying to piece all this clusterkluk of information than I had to when I watched Evangelion 15 years ago.

To be fair, she started indulging in her host body's "wants" (chiefly, growing more attached to Ragna as things went along) and even slowly came to the realization that she DID have a desire of her own. And as Relius put it "if you have a desire, then you have a soul". Trouble is, she came to realize this a little too late and had a really rather no-nonsense Ragna barreling at her doorstep. Along with cohesion, characterization/development for characters outside of Ragna, Jin, Noel (and her other selves) and utilizing what he's already written. I'll grant that Mori has very interesting concepts and that BlazBlue's story is certainly notches better than most fighters out there. But there's still just as many problems, like how very large portion of the cast is underused and exist as little more than narrative fodder or distractions (see Taokaka for a grand big example).

In other words, Mori picked up FFX (reMastered) and made Ragna into Tidus, although thankfully without the added baggage of daddy issues and wangst to go along with it. Here's hoping Ragna doesn't get his head blown off after he 5Bs a football in some side novella. As a side note, anyone else weirded out how Drives are suddenly integrated into the narrative? For instance, the big reason why people are forgetting Ragna is because he's going around and using Soul Eater to om nom nom nom all their memories of him and their would-be desires (because it can do that now). He also actively uses Devoured by Darkness on Nine (even though the shape is that of Dead Spike or possibly the Hell's Fang follow-up) and he finishes off Terumi by performing Black Onslaught. It's a little bit jarring since the past games never established a Drive's importance, though in fairness, Soul Eater is supposed to be "special". Lastly, I would love to point out that Ragna is a very protective bro to Saya. Especially after the Noel/Mu12/Izanami merger. Kagura decides that now of all times is the moment to flirt with the newly reborn "Saya" (in Noel). Ragna's response is to deck him in the face as hard as he can. Nine would be proud and have a great big thumb of approval.

So, having seen the story now, turns out that the reason Ragna was never an Entitled like the rest (barring Litchi) is because he is the titular "Central Fiction", for those that were still wondering how the title of the series ties in. He's what the Master Unit, or more specifically, the Origin dreams of and desires most of all and has been repeating all of this history just to reunite with him once more, which he obliges in the end. Like many of us thought, he was the "Hero" in that story that Rachel told. It's why Terumi/Susanoo especially goes out of his way to wreck what little happiness Ragna had (because Amaterasu wants him most of all and hurting him would pain her immeasurably). It's the reason why Nine became hostile to him after learning the truth. It is also the reason why he is the sole person who has permission to pass through the gate to the Azure and enter the "realm of the gods". Also for clarifications sake, let me see if I understand this properly. There are in fact 3 Saya out there (Origin, Noel/Mu-12 and Izanami). The Origin (Prime Field No.5) which is "Saya" and essentially the mother to Ragna, Jin and Saya. Izanami and Noel have 2 halves of Saya (the sister) and by the end of the game, the two halves were combined into Noel and thus Saya was effectively "reborn" and lives through her now. Am I missing anything? Because this whole business with so many girls sharing the same existence is kinda funky and a total mess.

Ever since the removal of the dub for CF, I've had time to reflect and take off my fanboying goggles for ArcSysWorks. Call it a long overdue wake-up call if you are so inclined, but this whole situation has made me realize how you shouldn't ever expect anything from a company looking to make money. I've been with BlazBlue for all these past 7 years. I've been with ArcSysWorks even longer, ever since GGXX: Midnight Carnival was a thing back on the PS2. For GG, I am more drawn to the Japanese voice cast since that was what I ended up hearing for all those years. The Xrd SIGN dub wasn't...what I expected, but some gems were definitely present (looking at you ENG Elphelt, Slayer and May). Seeing them not be reprised for Revelator was disappointing, but I paid it no heed since I didn't have time to grow with their voices. BlazBlue was different. I had the pleasure of listening to and grow attached to the English cast, especially for Patrick Seitz, Christina Vee, Cindy Robinson and Julie Ann Taylor for 7 years...until they were abruptly dropped. Had BlazBlue been a JPN audio only game or if the ENG cast wasn't well acted/directed, I doubt many of us would have cared. But people clearly did. About the only thing this whole situation did is make me understand just how much having the dub available to me meant. At the end of the day however, I still pre-ordered my copy. Digital for the first time in...ever, since I have been with the series for so long and at this point it is almost out of personal obligation. After this however, I am swearing off any and all games that ArcSysWorks puts out. They'll get no more money from my pocket until I see some drastic changes.

Survey leans more towards a "deader-than-dead", chief. His final confrontation with Ragna didn't end with him simply getting a very heavy, metal object shoved through his ethereal guts. Ragna devoured his very soul. Forget punching a god out, Ragna effectively erased him from existence. What Haku-men started, Ragna finished.

That might be because the Azure itself is a sentient force and to it all souls must eventually return. Mimicking Ragna's voice is likely the only way it can communicate with human life.

That's...actually pretty damn clever on Mori's part, I'll admit.

Specifically, they were the last 3 gods created by him during the final steps of the cleansing ceremony (misogi) to rid himself of the underworld's uncleanness (kegare). Amaterasu was born when he washed his left eye. Tsukiyomi from his right. And Susano'o was born from washing his nose. Speaking of Izanagi, was his potential identity revealed or at all confirmed during CF? I know he was mentioned by Izanami but that was back near the end of CP.

From what I could understand, Naoto is to Ragna what Raquel is to Rachel. I hesitate to use the term, but think something akin to a doppelganger or a parallel existence. Similar, but different. Unfortunately for the Bloodedge boys, at the time, the BlazBlue universe and system does not allow for multiple of the "same person" if they're too indistinguishable (which the two of them are) so Naoto was unintentionally being "overwritten" as the new "Ragna". This would turn out bad since Ragna himself would be removed and Naoto would then be bound to BlazBlue's universe, rendering his mission to save his own a failure. The general consensus is that when you're in the Boundary, Life Links are rendered kaput since one of the Life Linked partners now exists "outside" the observable system. Hazama tossed himself into a Cauldron and therefore into the Boundary (his actual fate remains unclear from thereon) so his link to Noel is null and void. Ragna now resides within the Master Unit and that too has been returned to the Boundary and the same rules now apply for Nu-13. Whether or not this means it would be reestablished if they were to return is not known. It's actually an entirely different Tsubaki Yayoi. The one we know remains within the NOL to help repair the world. The one that speaks to Rachel is a completely new element to the story. We do know she carries the Nox Nyctores - Ookami and judging by the length of the hair, it might be possible that she owns the Susano-O unit. She also laments that being called "Tsubaki Yayoi" is "nostalgic" and that she hadn't heard it in a very long time. She also talks to Rachel about her "promise", presumably that she wanted to die by Tsubaki's hand in case something happened to Ragna. This Tsubaki is also implied to have never even heard of Ragna the Bloodedge since he has no idea who the battered Bloodscythe belongs to. If I were to take a theory in the dark on who this Tsubaki Yayoi is, I'd wager that she is the "Ally of Justice" that Naoto speaks of when he encounters Haku-men.

That...can't be healthy. Anyone got the skinny on why Hazama has a gaping hole in his chest? Also, Amane was right to be worried about the corruption happening on Ragna's body in Act 3. By the time Ragna finally disposed of Terumi and has said his goodbyes THIS is what he looks like. Notable in that this was not present when he had that last hug with Jin and Noel. Fun fact: Terumi's final parting words to Ragna are "Suffer unto eternity...Ragna the Bloodedge" (romanji: eien ni kurushime) and one last cackle. I find this to be so damn appropriate for the character.