Luminos564

Wait, if she was "devoured" by him, how'd she get out since we know Celica was treating her after the fight? Then again, perhaps by rejecting her powers she was catapulted out of there. The Black Beast is a walking, rampaging Cauldron after all and we do know they're used for all sorts of shenanigans in BB. Possibly. It could be that opening said gate leads to catastrophic results though what that means isn't explained yet. The funny thing with gates in any form of fiction though, is that most of the time, they will be opened. What, the "Blazblue is the past to Bloodedge experience" not a big enough kaboom for ya ? We've yet to see the rest of the cast's arcade runs too. So let it slowly build up.

She hasn't so far. Though the gal within the Amaterasu is positioned in the "crucified" position so there is that. But this is all spiraling out of control. The world is in total chaos and everyone is gunning for each other's throats and ironically, the man called the Grim Reaper is the only one saying "This shit is dumb. You're all dumb".

Ask for and Zedar shall deliver. Thanks a bunch. Looks like it. Or at least protect Ragna (I don't think she ever refers to anyone as "that person" other than him). Seems like the titular "Central Fiction" might actually pertain to that scary-looking gate with the Black Beast's emblem. But, Noel was "devoured" by Black Beast Ragna? Back in CP Finale? That's the only canon time Ragna went berserk unless suddenly his Bad Ending in CT is now simultaneously canon as well. Curiously, it seems like opening the gate begins a merger between Noel and one other being. Your guess is as good as mine as to who that is though.

OK so we've got Ragna being resolute and that's all kinds of awesomesauce. I must admit, reading that he jumped in to protect Mu-12 against Nu-13 brought a small smile to my face. And all so that he can save the both of them (please include Lamb-chops in this plan too). I just hope this plan of his, as indicated by his speech to Amane, doesn't amount to another "Zero Requiem". That little scenario has been done before and it's not even that good a plan to begin with. For the unawares, here's how it boils down: -Protagonist attains suitable amount of power. -Said protagonist begins making himself be the "villain" in the eyes of others. -Protagonist declares himself the enemy to everyone in the known world. -Everyone in the world is united by having a common foe to fight against. -Protagonist fights the person he has deemed to be the "Hero" for the scenario (in this case that'd probably be Jin). -Protagonist dies in the fight, his name dragged through the mud for the rest of history while the world moves on in supposed unity. With that out of the way, has there been any summaries for either Noel or Mu-12? Given how much focus has been placed on them again, one would think they'd be one of first ones to be spoiled. Then again, we are not even 24 hours into Act III so I'll try to contain my hype/confusion (blame Mori).

Blazblue is not the future to Bloodedge Experience but rather the past. -Uuuum, hello. WHAT!? Nuts to this. I am not going to fry my brain tackling this one. Azrael wants to kick the BB-verse's pantheon into oblivion. -Sally forth Azu-nyan. Leave this man alone and he'd eventually want to take on something like Elder God Demonbane for funsies. Looks like Arakune is in the process of becoming a Black Beast or something similar. The color scheme is spot on when Ragna merged with Nu-13 in CT, as well as when he went berserk on his own in the now infamous CS Bad Ending and CP finale. The image could be from either Relius or Arakune's arcade runs, but I'm more inclined to think it's the latter due to the angle presented. What interests me is what/who is that in the bottom right corner of the image? It kind of looks like hair to me, but whose is it in that case? By the way, anyone notice that when Trinity greets Platinum, they're standing behind that scary monolith?

The Power of Order is pretty vague, but I always thought it functioned something like "the power of will". It's not equivalent to observation, but more like the ability to "deny" things on a smaller scale, so long as your willpower is greater than what you're trying to deny. It worked for Jin against Izayoi's Immortal Breaker and looks like it works for the whole disappearing act Luna and Sena were pulling. Power of Order is pretty spiffy if you ain't got the luck to have pulled reality warping powers when you were born. If nothing else, while it may not be able to make coffee out of thin air, it could take your cheapo $1 McDonald's "coffee" and turn it into some premium, dark roast. By the way, I notice the Blazblue emblem on that monolith. Perhaps it's the ancient Black Beast that appeared all those centuries ago?

Ragna racks up death flags like it's going out of style. Then again once you've died 725 times throughout the very muddled history of BB, you might consider it a blessing to put an end to it all forever. Alternatively, if he deliberately tries to invoke his own death, the universe might just not kill him and opt to keep him alive for future suffering. This is a series spawned from Mori's head after all. So all his life Terumi wanted to be a fancy-shmancy Rubik's Cube? OK, well either way the cube is something completely new and was not alluded to before. Hopefully we get an explanation as to how it works because otherwise this is just...random.

Or just nabbing the Susano-O Unit since he was kinda eyeing it in the last Act.

Bad news for Makoto I guess. Not only does she have to run for dear life from Papa Relius, Izayoi, Sol Badguy but now she has to run from Crazy Carl too. Then again, I've long since disliked Carl because of all that "Sis, sis...help me" so if this ends up making him a little creep, then meh I'll take it. Looks like we were right though: no overarching villain for everyone. Everybody gets a personal final boss that drives the hype train forward instead.

Perhaps they're kinda based on Trinity's memories? I mean, Trinity created them and all. Now why Luna is a total brat and Sena a meek boy I don't know but that's the best I could come up with.

Holy shit Ragna you've grown. I'm kinda digging this new, no-nonsense composed Ragna. I guess having that amnesia was the best thing to happen to him which is ironic considering how in any other circumstance, he could have been used by the villainous forces to do their bidding. Surprising that Amane would offer to be his Observer, but does that mean Rachel was his up until now or was planning to at some point but her power loss means she can't? It figures that Ragna would come up with the solution that nobody ought to get their wishes granted. Especially if it requires the beating of other Entitled to get it. Plus let's be honest, given the option would any character in the BB verse even be able to make a world objectively fair and equal to everyone? Doubtful.

Ragna isn't meant to become an Entitled. The Embryo is, supposedly, been created in order to shape him into a "god" (whatever passes for the category in the BB-verse at least). Litchi I figure is for the same reasons Arakune isn't an Entitled either. Remember, Litchi is also slowly becoming a blob monster like Arakune and I imagine whatever it is that drove them to that state is why Amaterasu didn't give them the honor. Or, if you don't like that answer you could always make a crack joke about how Amaterasu doesn't like Litchi's boobs because of the person within it . The funny thing with Haku-men (and one of the reasons why I loved his character wholeheartedly) is because, as no-nonsense a stiff as he is, he does at the end of the day love his brother Ragna. Enough so that even after murdering his guts for 700+ times, the act still fills him with grief to the point he would gladly take his own life afterwards (as demonstrated in his CT endings). The current Jin seems to be slowly going down this route. He wants to kill Ragna, not outta craziness caused by his Antibody nature, but because he knows it must be done. Ragna for all intents and purposes seems to agree in a sense if his open invitation to Jin to fight him until death from CS is any indication. Which makes Ragna's wish all the more heartbreaking since all he wants is his family back but Mori the universe is utterly devoted to making his life as difficult as possible.

Oh, I hadn't thought about the line being directed at Noel. I keep forgetting that for all the central focus that Ragna gets, she is just as much the main character as he and Jin are (the latter is to a bit smaller degree). I only figured it'd be Rachel as the speaker since...well, she's usually the gal that gets top pick as the "narrator" of sorts to this series. And I kinda figured the line was more in tune to what she told Ragna in CT all those years ago back when this series was just getting on its feet. Ah, don't take my comment as anything more than a playful jab/joke at her expense. If I wanted to criticise Rachel I have far harsher words in mind. I just like referring to her as a "leech" since Ragna refers to her as "bunny-leech" in English and I like the sound of it. Curiously, for all that talk she's never shown drinking blood beyond the one-time mention of when she drank Ragna's in that way off distant loop. Heck, not even the joke endings exploit this. I know full well what her circumstances are this go around. There's also that little matter where she asked Tsubaki to kill her if Ragna dies a natural death as well. So bottom line: no I am not dissing Rachel seriously. It's mostly a joke on my part. Alrighty ?

Ah you're right. Upon re-watching the trailer it seems like more characters are also dashing towards something, like Litchi and this time Naoto (guess it's meant to signify he'll finally make his move or become more prominent). For Mu-12 though, I am not sure. These 3 Acts have been a rollercoaster since day one. Also this is a small change, but in Acts I and II, it was Hazama that had a sinister glowing yellow eye. In Act III, it's Terumi that has it. Not sure if that signifies that the two are now completely separate (since Hazama has his own agenda) or if Terumi overtook Hazama once more for his "kill'em all" plan. By the way, now we have the words "Leave no regret behind". Originally we started with "Exceed the limit" in Act I. Then it was "You cannot exceed the limit" for Act II. Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that these words were spoken by the representative bosses before? "Exceed the limit" could have been spoken by Nine as she wanted the characters to get stronger (or at least Ragna in particular) to go kick Izanami across the floor. "You cannot exceed the limit" could be Izanami pointing out the futility of each character defeating her as none of them can override Amaterasu (especially poignant in Ragna's arcade run). This last one though, I am having trouble finding a suitable speaker. Best I could do would be Rachel encouraging Ragna to sort this whole mess out (Amaterasu knows she ain't gonna do squat, the lazy leech) but I am not wholly convinced of this. The line itself kinda confuses me. For starter shouldn't it be "Leave your regrets behind" instead? As it is written, it sounds like whoever is saying the line is telling the listener to "live with/never forget their regrets". Unless of course the line isn't meant to be encouraging in the first place

Anyone else notice during the introduction shot for the 3 Murakumo ladies (Lamb-chops, Mu and Nu) from Acts I and II is now suddenly replaced with Mu arriving at the usual scene but this time...she's all alone. Before, you had the 3 do a quick pose like the BB-verse version of Charlie's Angels. Now the other 2 are nowhere to be seen. Also that Ranga running shot now meets Jin who has his sword drawn. Seems like a final Ragna vs. Jin showdown was inevitable after all. Too bad. I had hoped the two would settle things without spilling torrents of each other's blood since that never went swimmingly for Haku-men. But eh, that's just trailer images and not necessarily indicative of what will actually happen.

That we know of. While it is definitely true that it hasn't displayed any ability to actively fight as of yet, that doesn't mean it isn't capable of combat itself. And even if the unit itself cannot fight, the one within it certainly has the power to do so if Izanami being the girl's Drive made manifest is any indication. Plus, Izanami pulling her best S-ko impression fills me with a sense of foreboding. Some big shit is going down. The kind that is damn near guaranteed to shock me, I just know it. That being said, I do share the sentiment that fighting Amaterasu is a bad idea. We've had the fight against Take-Mikazuchi and that was enough. I am in no mood for a repeat of the same "Giant enemy fires beams, lasers and whatever" stage again. The buildup and climax of that fight in CP was actually one of the better points in CP's otherwise trudge of a story. I feel like if ASW pulled the same with Amaterasu, the impact would just not be there.

The funny thing is, I think Nine is well aware that Kokonoe tried (though failed) to use Celica as an anti-Seithr Missile. Nine's Arcade Act II has her encounter Kokonoe and Nine brings up one of "Kokonoe's crimes which she cannot forgive". She does not specify what that crime is, but considering this is Nine we're talking about, it's likely Celica-related. It's probably why Nine seems to only have some degree of respect for only Ragna in the new world (though not enough to not want him offed at the nearest convenience) while everyone else can go die in a fire...one preferably using the Amaterasu unit as the fuel.

Well Blazblue kinda dumps all over the whole "only one" deal. Remember how Noel was the only one Amaterasu deemed to be the Eye of the Azure? Yeah, CP decided to steamroll over that by making Nu-13 synchronize with her, thus bypassing the ruling and we ended up with 2 different girls who shared the same power. But something tells me the Hunter's Eye will not get much focus in CF as opposed to his overall connection to Ragna and Raquel, so I won't dwell on this anymore. Now see, here's what I do not understand: when you say "immune to Phenomena Intervention" what exactly does that entail? Does that mean they recall the events that happened prior to the time reset? Because Ragna's Azure arm more or less does that in CP when he recalls his arcade run, recognises Bullet by name (despite meeting her for the first time now) and keels over in pain as all the injuries he got. There's even snippets in past loops where after he falls into the Cauldron with Nu-13 that he thinks to himself that "this event is happening again" before wondering how would he know that. Now, I am very likely wrong in calling him a Chronophantasma but there it's not like he's completely susceptible to Phenomena Intervention either. He's even able to recognise PIs when they happen when most people shouldn't be able to tell. Then again, Mori's explanations aren't exactly consistent all the time so if you've got a more sensible explanation I will gladly listen to it.

Alrighty. Thanks for pointing out any potential mistakes on my part. It's a learning experience and it helps others better understand the BB lore. I dunno man. Documents can always be forged and memories altered. Naoto inheriting a genetic trait from the Terumi clan could easily be the machinations of an outside force. But since I haven't the proof, I'll go off the rest assuming he is a naturally born human. In the case of Ragna, Jin and Saya however, they are all but stated to not be normal people. Well, perhaps Jin is (Power of Order notwithstanding) but Ragna and Saya are definitely not "normal". I called both Ragna and Naoto "Chronophantasma" because the way I interpreted the information, "those that shouldn't exist". Naoto has constantly been told to get back to his world and that "he doesn't belong" in BB. Similarly, Ragna could technically be called one when he travels to the Phase Shift era. If that is ultimately wrong of me, I'll gladly rescind the claim. But something is definitely up with both Naoto and Ragna. Haku-men senses "the Dark One" within Naoto's arm. Ragna is familiar with the Bloodedge Drive. Naoto is actively seeking Ragna out along with Raquel (though she's his primary focus). And lest we forget the big whopper: Naoto's "presence" is apparently identical to Ragna and his own existence is slowly overriding Ragna's. The only question that remains is "why" that all is. Well it depends on which Touya we're going for. The one in Code Embryo was in reality the Grimoire of Origin and was merely masquerading as "Touya" due to Hinata wishing to bring the original Touya back to life. This is why he doesn't actively use that Drive during that time and instead his power manifests as something straight out of Ragna's repertoire until he gains XBlaze. Touya in Lost Memories recovers the original Drive he would have had in Code Embryo. However I am with you in that leaving it unnamed is particularly confusing. Unless of course revealing its name would give away a big secret. And we all know how Mori loves to keep those don't we? Ultimately, I think we just don't have enough to connect all the dots. We've certainly got pieces but not the string to tie it all together. Least not yet.

So here's a neat little tidbit. Looking over Haku-men's Act II arcade run it seems upon finishing his fight with Izanami, the Shinto Bling Miko refers to herself (in this translation at least) as "that woman's" (referring to Amaterasu's occupant) "antonym". Antonyms are words that are the direct opposite in meaning to another one, like "happy" and "sad" or "strong" and "weak". I thought this particularly curious if Izanami truly is the manifestation of "that woman's" Drive. I bring this up since XBlaze brought up the point that Drives are the embodiment of one's soul. Now, here's the other fun part about this: antonym is merely the definition of what Izanami is, but it does not confirm what her alignment is (like say "good" or "evil"). Meanwhile, I am intrigued by how Haku-men senses "the Dark One" within Naoto's arm. I remember making claim that both Naoto and Ragna are Touya's "Chronophantasma" or at least parts of him. It's possible, what with Drives being souls and whatever, that Naoto is the "soul" since he wields Bloodedge while Ragna is the "body" for which it is meant to inhabit. He's already had to form the body for the Black Beast before so perhaps there lies a connection. Though there is a bit of a mess, namely in Ragna's Azure arm. We know because of CP that the thing basically copy-pastes injuries he sustains even when phenomena intervention resets time. But if Ragna's body is "soulless", then how can the Azure arm inflict wounds on him in the first place? Unless of course he DOES have a soul, just not the one his "body" was meant to have. But in that case: whose soul is it?

Because the plot has taken a left turn at Albuquerque and Batshit Lane. Both games have a plot that is about as twisted and impenetrable as a granite octopus and require so much source material to make full sense of it all. Especially now that we're pulling in Bloodedge Experience and none of those novels will see the light of day in North America through any official means. Curiously, despite all the time travel, alternate timelines, Golden Tagers and shit, I still find BB's plot to be less confusing than Metal Gear's. Mori needs to pull in Taro Yoko's madness if he wishes to match/beat Hideo Kojima's diarrhea dialogue plot.

Better question is: why exactly are they attempting to toss her into the slammer? Embryo brainwashing or not, they should know that even when weakened, Rachel doesn't exactly succumb to typical vampiric weaknesses. Also that they need someone like Nine to pull off an effective jail in the first place. Much as I don't care for little miss Bunny-leech, I sincerely doubt she can be held prisoner by NOL mooks even if say Hibiki is up to the task of arresting her. Note that I am not saying that Hibiki himself is an NOL mook. I'm sure the lad is perfectly capable to making the capture. I'm just questioning how he and the rest plan of keeping her restrained since I doubt Hibiki has the luxury of playing warden at this time.

Then again, we do need to call the girl confined within the Amaterasu something. We can't just constantly refer to her as "Her", that'd just get confusing for anyone tuning in. But I do understand that calling her "True Noel" does imply that somehow the playable Noel is a "fake", which we have no current proof of. So what do you propose we call the entity inside the Amaterasu? We do know the name ("Noel"), but calling her that without distinguishing from our playable Noel is just going to create a mess. Speaking of Noel, I dunno about anyone else but I always hated when a character in any medium gets "depowered". In this case, it seems like Noel lost the abilities of Kusanagi (Mu-12). Personally, I find it distasteful considering a good portion of Noel's CP character development was finally coming to terms with it and obtaining its power for her own use. Granted, she only got mileage out of it in the Arcade runs as it was one-shotted by Beastborg Ragna, but that still doesn't change the effort put in to get it. And all so we can continue having more identity crisis scenarios for the gal. Le sigh, I guess I'll just have to hope she regains it by the time we roll out in the Highwind and land in the Northern Crater to go kick Sephiroth's...wait, wrong game.

I know, is it not grand? It's almost funny how their temperaments have switched with Ragna becoming more stoic and level-headed (story-wise, since gameplay mandates the man shout like everyone in the world has gone deaf) while Rachel is becoming more and more irate, impulsive and irrational, especially towards Naoto. You could make the same argument for their power too. Rachel has been getting progressively weaker since the end of CT/beginning of CS, while Ragna has only climbed in power with the implication that by the end of CF, he'd have reached "godhood" or whatever the equivalent that is to the BB-verse. As...interesting as the idea of Ragna being the final Arcade boss of Act III sounds, I can't shake the feeling that another lovely lady will be given that honor and he be given a sort of Order Sol treatment. Of course, I have no evidence to suggest that this will happen outside of ASW's "tradition" of sorts (most of their past arcade bosses have been female, dating back to even the first GG) so don't dwell on my musing too much.

That, or ASW hasn't gotten around to making Nine and Izanami's Unlimited forms plus whoever they plan to/or not to add in later. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get them until console release. Story-wise, Unlimited forms were usually always restricted to Ragna, Hazama and Hakumen with the occasional Murakumo showing up here or there (this isn't counting the Arcade back in CT where Unlimited Rachel was also a thing for Nu-13) with it in tow, and most of the time, it was a for a big climactic finish. The list of people he'd want to protect is pretty extensive...assuming he can recover his memories in time. As he is, he only vaguely recalls certain people (as is the case with Rachel) in CF. I'm more intrigued on how he'll be able to play the role of a "guardian" (as in, acquiring the amount of power needed to do the role). Powerful as he is, Ragna is still not the biggest fish in the pond.