Ehecatl

As sadistically messed up as it'd be, I'd lol so hard if he ends up saving Tsubaki, getting close to her, then turns around to go after Ragna all crazy-like as he's want to do, and then by some cruel stroke of fate, she dies protecting him. Bonus points if Hakumen is there to facepalm.

I hope so. I really thought his last story developed him better. I mean he started to dominate Yukianesa's influence, starts to listen to Jubei, goes off to get trained by Jubei, is starting to become more empathic and less selfish, etc. I thought for sure he was going to start facing his destiny to fight it rather than run from it and let his influences carry him along. But I don't see that kind of development in the Arcade mode. I mean, we haven't seen much on him yet. But I'm really hoping to see more out of Jin because this is going on 3 games where he's been loopy and irregular with people swatting him aside like a bug. Ragna's getting awesome and finally isn't getting his ass kicked by everyone. Noel's getting awesome and not letting assholes push her around. Jin? Come on man. Make me feel how I did when you went all "I am the cold steel!" on Tsubaki. :D Don't get me wrong. I don't want him to be Hakumen. To be honest, I want him to surpass Hakumen and in some way prove his superiority. But not while he's still all crazy and "Niiiisaaaaaaaan".

Oh. Well, awesome. lol

I thought the reason that Lambda only had a fragment was because Kokonoe basically erased her memories and tried to seal away her emotions and personality, unless doing that has no effect on reducing the soul which I don't believe is explained. I'll have to play through Lambda's story again. I don't recall it mentioned that Kokonoe put Nu's soul in her. But I suppose it's possible. Yes. She was expecting Noel destroyed. So she basically shows up, sees Noel there and, staring at her, asks that. But she does call Noel a cauldron, basically treating her like a tool. Which is how everyone's treating the girl. I'm honestly looking forward to Noel being a little badass. She seems to be becoming that. Now Jin... I just hope for some actual character development with him. Tired of seeing him as a crazed, pathetic little wasp that everyone swats aside and lols at.

She's calling Noel a cauldron. She's not calling her by a name or anything. She's talking to her like a "thing". Kind of makes sense if you don't consider your opponent a person.

She's talking about Noel. She was staring at her the whole time and says "YOUR existence, cauldron... irks me." Which also makes me ask, why didn't she just kill them? Ragna's bleeding out of his shoulder. Noel is basically useless. Jin and Hakumen are a little beat up. Rachel just went through hell and probably isn't in top condition. Takamagahara isn't an issue anymore so no worry about a system reset. Hazama himself was perfectly confident he could kill them all there at once. It's understandable why Hazama didn't kill Ragna at CT's ending. Rachel was there (and Jubei if you go by the manga) and he wasn't sure he could beat them all himself. I guess we'll just have to wait until this game comes out but I wonder why Saya and team douchebag didn't kill the others.

And what's to say any of the prior prime fields WEREN'T Nu as well if Lambda was?

Are you so sure? This game does have a lot of body-hopping with souls. Nu even went into Lambda 11's body if you'll remember. She calls herself Nu then. And that's a different prime field. What's to say she couldn't have been in other prime fields before the 13th? Thing I'm trying to work around is if Saya was able to perform the task they wished, why even put her to "sleep" (I think this probably means deactivated), then go through a crap-ton of clones of her? What were they trying to compensate for that Saya could not do? I'm trying to justify Noel's role in this as well. "Saya" seems... threatened by her. She even says her existence "irks" her. As for Noel having Saya's soul, I dunno. That's my personal hope. The one thing I really hope doesn't happen is "Saya" changing sides. If all this turns out that the Imperator was just under Hazama's thumb but is really just Ragna's sweet little sister underneath after all-- where does that leave Noel? Because Saya of Ragna's memories is basically Noel, right down to the small details. So if Imperator Saya "comes around", we'll just have... two Noels running around with the same personality and everything? I don't want Noel to end up pushed to the background from this or made irrelevant and I don't want that for "Saya" or whatever she is either. I don't think that'll happen. At least I hope not.

Jesus Christ how many times have we been here, having to compare what the English localization department has translated something as verse what REALLY was said in the original Japanese?

Not to worry. :D I was figuring you were having some fun. Please, forgive me if I come off bluntly. You're speaking to a man who has mastered the skill of being both an asshole and an asshat all at the same time. I do mean well though... mostly. I dunno. It just seemed convenient. We have nothing on him as to why Ibukido would ever be personally important for him for him to willingly get a tattoo of a 5. But I seriously do hope the tattoo is more than just some fashion statement and I believe it is. I believe there's something there. Maybe even something to do with Ibukido. Writers don't just... "forget" these things. Good ones don't anyway. Perhaps not Murokumos exactly but Nu's other base bodies were still considered Prime fields right? Probably assigned some number even? I dunno, like Iota or Kappa or something? Interesting idea. But I would love to know more about how this is done. Also, Saya bothers me-- like everything about her. She's just one big quagmire wrapped in a conundrum. I mean, here we go down Ragna's memories and he remembers Saya as the sickly little kindly sister that he protected. She has blonde hair, sounds VERY much like Noel, and acts like Noel. We have Jin, who looks at Noel and hates her guts because she's so like Saya. We have Noel who has very specific memories and not just "feelings" in concerns with Ragna. She can black out and have a complete dream of him checking up on her and asking if her fever is down and telling her to rest because she needs to get better, and it all ends off with him telling her, "Sweet dreams, Saya." Then we meet the so-called Saya, and she's this purple-haired looking girl that looks NOTHING like anything out of Ragna's memories, doesn't have her voice, doesn't have her eyes or face or anything really. And yet he calls her Saya. I'm left here scratching my head and wondering just who the hell she is. I'd like some kind of insight on that if anyone has it. My theory up until now has been that Noel basically has Saya's soul. It wouldn't be out of the question considering how much body-swapping souls do in this game, what with Terumi, Hakumen, Nu... Hell, a part of me even wants to believe Noel IS Saya, even physically, despite the game saying everything to the contrary.

Maybe it is a Red Herring. Until I'm given reason to believe that though, I think it early to call bullshit. http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/a/image/1349/13/1349134738719.jpg It's not most easily visible and there are better pictures that enhance that mark on his chest, but there is an 05 there. If I find it, I guess I'll post it. Also this picture was made for Continuum Shift II. That's pretty recent; not concept art. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't believe I've ever seen an official open-shirt picture of Ragna before that one. And if there was one (which I'm not excluding, I may just have missed it after all), then if they really wanted to retcon it out, it's so hard to see anyway, they could just do it. I doubt people'd even really make a fuse. EDIT: Found an enhanced image of that tattoo. http://www.subeimagenes.com/img/ragna-numero-5-wtf-193509.jpg

Yes, his tattoo has been known for a while. I'm not claiming to be the first to notice a goddamn tattoo. And yes, it is different. But one must ask why he has it at all. If he's not a prime field, there's probably a story behind that. I seriously doubt it coincidence that this place where everything is coming to a head (for this game anyway) just so conveniently is the same city number from which he bears that mark. Again, likely a story there. But coincidence? Hardly. You're really gonna bust my chaps over a capital E? I got lazy and decided not to use the fancier "ε" symbol. Sue me. On that note, what theory do you subscribe to?

By the way, I just noticed something interesting. I'm probably not the first but this thread HAS gone for 186 pages. Anyway, Ragna's got a tattoo of a number 05 on his chest. This, along with Hazama telling Noel about her having "brothers" as well as "sisters", would seem to imply there are male prime field devices and that him himself is likely one. Now, remember when we all fought V-13 in Calamity Trigger? Where was the Cauldron for V-13? In the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. Where has the "boss" encounter been located for Ragna in Chrono Phantasma? A cauldron in the 5th Hierarchical City of Ibukido. I believe this more than simple coincidence. There's a connection there. This will probably have a lot to do with how he was "born" or made. Also totally calling his Prime Field name is Epsilon or E-05.

Yeah after FAILING time and again for 724 phases because he takes his life for granted and gives up when the going gets tough! Perhaps I wasn't clear or you completely failed to understand the point of his character development not to mention the theme of the whole series? He's a loser. He bitches about everything. Sometimes for good reason; I mean, he's got to deal with the worst bullshit. But he has a tendency to forget what he's fighting for, and when he does-- he fails. Why do you think Jubei and Rachel harrass the living hell out of him? Hell even as a kid, Jubei. Had to beat the ever-loving shit out of him because he kept talking about how he can't do this or that. Jubei had to run him hard to whip him into shape. And Rachel spent many a timeline bitching him out for not allowing himself to realize his full potential. His whole development is about him learning to never accept defeat or allow others to control him. It's about him fighting for himself and refusing to give in to his impulse to take the easy way out. He's a badass and I personally find it inspiring considering it's a lesson I have to relearn time and again in my life. And I love his character and can relate to him because of it. But that is his development and his main flaw as a character.

Holy shit yeah it was. Some beautiful animation work in CT. In CS, I was asking myself "What happened?". The reconstruction also had a great intro animation scene when those scientists tried to temper Noel and got roasted from orbit. As for Ragna, I wouldn't say he's an idiot... He's about like an average Joe save for a few facepalm moments. His main flaw is that he's a quiter and tends to take everything for granted-- which when you consider that the world is at stake, would make him an idiot, heheh.

Kushinada's Lynchpin is mentioned in CS, or at least CS Extend. As for the cross-media stuff, I'm pretty sure Chrono-Phantasma will retell all of what we've read in the books for the sake of making the plot easier for everyone to follow, so I'm not really concerned about that. I see the books as really just a sneak peak in what the games will end up telling us anyway. Oh but rest assured, if they DON'T, I'll be right there bitchin' and leaking butthurt-ness all over the place. That would just be poor story-telling after all. And no I won't disagree with you there. The story is very much structured in a way to where you HAVE to play the next game to understand the plot of the last. It's quite a cobbled-together plot that loves to just throw words and phrases at you and then says "if you want to even remotely understand what we're talking about, wait until the NEXT installment". I mean, I wouldn't mind it if the story was all self-contained and would have no problem with it being cryptic and obtuse if by the end, it pieced it all together and we all could go "Oh my god! It finally makes sense! *mindgasm explosion*". But that doesn't happen and we're left scratching our heads until they release another sequel which we have to pay for lol. As a rule, I abhor this method of story-telling as well as any story that relies on a sequel to make it's plot work. And, while it's an excellent business strategy to retain interest and profit, it's a terrible way to tell a plot. I mean, the video game industry is a volatile market to attempt this kind of writing in, probably more so than even the movie and book industry. It's incredibly presumptuous to assume you'll have the success, money, time, and stability to tell a video game story across a 3-6 year period spanning 3-4 installments. From a writing perspective, if that business fails, changes management, losses money, is pressing you for time, etc. it will affect the quality of the writing or even end it all together. And that's assuming your story is actually worth the time when its all said and done anyway. We can reach the end of this plot and think to ourselves "lolwut... That's it?" And with any story like Blazblue where every installment is reliant on all the others, a single link in the chain falling apart is all it takes for the whole thing to become crap. So yes, I generally on principle despise this means of story-telling. Were it not also a good fighting game (and thus still fun even if the story ends up garbage), I probably wouldn't even spend my money.

Oh so you know the quote which I spoke of then. Lol then it's quite an ironic circumstance if so. Worth a shot I suppose. Still, been playing through Calamity Trigger a lot lately and was pleasantly surprised at a lot of the foreshadowing. Gives me confidence that Mori actually had this plot thought out and wasn't just pulling it out of his ass as he went along. Refreshing all things considering. As a rule, I tend to despise sequelized story-telling. This is about the only game I'll break my one rule on that.

He knows. Funny thing about Calamity Trigger -- go back and play it after Continuum Shift. It'll blow your mind with how much was actually forshadowed and no one picked up on it. For instance, everything that had to do with observers, Ragna not "thinking the power of the azure grimoire s own", etc. A lot of this was subtly foreshadowed. And then we have this. Lose to Hakumen in Ragna's story and this is one possibe thing Hakumen says at the end. "Whatever power you may possess will wither and die before my blade. This is your fate, Bloodedge. You would do well to accept it." Note that he doesn't say "Ragna the Bloodedge" or "Dark One", just "Bloodedge". Then there's Hakumen telling Jubei " I understand. I understand far more than you know" when Jubei apologizes for getting worked up over his "friend's" death. Its ambiguous and can have multiple meanings, but yeah.

He certainly pushes the envelope and may be becoming a sociopath, but I don't think he's quite there yet. Antisocial? Absolutely in the extreme. Maybe even some disassociative personality disorder. But he's still capable of empathy, in regards to what happened to his sister and mother and genuinely cares for Litchi and Bang, even if he wishes he didn't. Honestly, I feel his development could go either way but probably will go toward him gaining a more... Healthy perspective. Litchi and Bang aren't just nice people. They're the only adults in recent years he's felt he could trust, and role models he at least hopes he can aspire to be. His ending in CS ends on this note. And he may well not become as his father because of them. But his development is far from over in that regard. Needless to say, Relius's involvement isn't good for him on any level.

It's NEVER implied that she ever bit him in CS at all, whether to save his life or otherwise, period. Play it again. Interviews have confirmed that Ragna's hair is white thanks to trauma. Phase shift books confirm his eye and arm are linked to the azure grimoire which is why Caelica's presence which negates the Azure (for whatever reason), also has a negative effect on those parts of his body. CT is the only source that references that Rachel bit him once. We have yet to know how that is relevant, where vampires come from in Blazblue, why vampires exist, what their purpose is, etc. I've a feeling it's linked to magic and perhaps similar reasons as why Beastkin exist. That is speculation however.

Let's face it. Bullet is really just Ragna after Amane used his flamboyant magical powers to concentrate three-fourths of Ragna's muscle-mass and weight into breasts...

I'm still calling arm. Seriously isn't this like the 3rd or 4th time he's lost an arm in this story? It's like a running gag by now. If he doesn't have an arm, they'll give him an arm so he can get it cut off by the end of the story. Beginning to think Jubei should have taught him how to fight with a blade in his teeth considering Ragna's luck with apendages.

Not really a good analogy. Ragna was blonde with green eyes. His trauma changed his hair to white and the azure changed his one eye to red. Skin complexion is similar too. They do look related. But Linhua and Bullet? That's a stretch unless you're basing this on something more substancial.

*Watches the Special Intros and Tsubaki's Arcade Story* Oh goddamn it-- Jin will you CHILL THE FUCK OUT!?! What is up with you charging at Ragna screaming "NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSAAAAANNN let's murderificate each other! I want to feel your big sword inside of me!"? I thought we were past that shit. I thought in the last game you turned the crazy down a couple of notches and developed past that nonsense. I was looking forward to you acting like a sane, rational human being for once, like Hakumen without the armor. But here you are... still talking about killing your brother, still being a douche, still flying off the handle... Goddamn it. What happened to the fucking character development? I was liking him at CS because I thought he got over that, but now this just makes me wish he would die. Noel made me feel that way for two games but it seems she's got her shit straight now. This series has one thing I absolutely have always hated in stories, particularly anime stories as it's so common in anime. Characters just go nuts, loose their shit, and react completely abnormally to the point they are completely unrelatable. I mean it's just like Noel going all "Ohhh I'm a clone and the world hates me so I'm gonna go all psychoshit and destroy everything" when the plot clearly gives us people in her life that care about her and who SHE KNOWS cares about her like her friends and her parents. I couldn't begin to possibly feel sorry for her. All I felt was "really? Then fuck you. Kill yourself you selfish childish bitch." Ditto Tsubaki. I feel nothing for this woman. She's pissed because the man she's codependent on (I won't call whatever that is "love"-- it's needy, clingy desperate stalker shit) isn't paying enough attention to her so... she just says fuck it all and decides to turn 180 degrees into a psychopath who'll kill her friends? Izayoi's influence or not, screw her! I don't feel an ounce of humanity with her character. She's pathetic, like Noel was. And lets not even talk about Litchi. All three of these women sicken me to no end. You know I can understand someone who's life sucks and they want to kill themselves. I can understand someone who's desperate and trying to save someone they love. But anytime someone's like "I want to destroy the world or everything and everyone I've ever loved and who has ever loved me because x doesn't love me!", there's no way I or any sane human being can relate to a character like that. That's the kind of thinking psychopaths have. I am relatively sane and stable. When writing a story, you don't write your characters which people are suppose to empathize with them... in a way to where no one can empathize with them. It's just bad writing. Jeez most of these unstable characters are women too which says all kinds of misogynous things but again-- anime. This is why I gravitate and run to characters like Rachel Alucard and Makoto. They're like the only two women in this story who act with a modicum of sanity and self-respect-- and one looks like a loli and the other a friggin squirrel pornstar who barely dresses herself in the morning! It's like they enjoy making their "normal" women look as off and ridiculous as possible. Considering everything, it's also why I love Rachel's sarcasm, impatience, and contempt. I'd be a total bitch to everyone too if I had to deal with these people for how many thousands of years. You want a good reason to destroy the world? I think Rachel has the best out of any of them! I can barely tolerate this shit for more than a few moments anymore. Apparently she's been doing it since forever. Anymore I can relate with Ragna's lack of motivation to save the world. I wouldn't want to save this world either. Everyone in it's an asshole! Anyway, with Jin, he had a weapon screwing his mind over and making him act manic but seemed like a rational and normal person aside from the influence of yukianesa and his "Power of Order" or whatever the hell that is... So I could pardon Jin. And he seemed to be doing alright when he overcame those influences. But here we are again watching this reverse-character development. Sigh...... Sorry for the rant but I'm getting a little tired of seeing this circus of crazy melodramatic characters who go off the deep end and act completely unrecognizable for idiotic reasons...

I would go ape shit if it turned out to be about Rachel and Clavis. There's still a lot that needs explained about her, her family, and her role in all this.