Welcome to the Fantasy Zone

This Zone is dedicated to the lesser known elements of anime hosted by the cast of Victory Script.

What weapon is the best?
Who will win in this Death Battle?
Is this costume practical?

You name it, it's all covered here in the Fantasy Zone!

Character Ranking: Straw Hat Pirates

Let's try the Strawhats now.

Luffy
Not really much I can add to a Shonen Protagonist, he ticks all the boxes and followed the same path, nothing is really that different.

Zoro
He takes his role the most seriously to the point where you wonder what his end goal is, the current chapter being crucial to where his next stage of development will be.

Nami
Were starting to see a more capable Nami who may yet prove to be one of the stronger members of the Strawhats.

Usopp
Usopp's journey up to now has been the best and peaked at the God Usopp part, he may yet become the great warrior of the sea.

Sanji
We finally saw some background to Sanji Vinsmoke, pity it was in such a disappointing arc. Nevertheless he now looks more sympathetic.

Chopper
Chopper is the only one that hasn't really changed that much, his impact on the story is getting less and less especially when Trafalgar Law has done more to aid Luffy's injuries in recent times.

Robin
I'm eagerly awaiting the next chapters to see if she can reveal the true history if the world. Definitely a character that could easily win more points.

Franky
His appearance and abilities are keeping him more interesting than his actions. Likely won't get another major role unless Sunny needs a serious upgrade.

Brook
I always found Brook's position to be token but he is proving to be quite formidable especially in the previous cake arc but I doubt he could repeat this.

Jinbe
Showing some great swag standing up to the series top villains but I'm still waiting for his position to be permanent.

Luffy: 8.0/10
Zoro: 8.0/10
Nami: 8.0/10
Usopp: 9.0/10
Sanji: 8.8/10
Chopper: 6.0/10
Robin: 8.0/10
Franky: 7.5/10
Brook: 7.7/10
Jinbe: 7.4/10

Character Ranking: Tenchi Muyo

This character ranking is based on their appearance in Tenchi Muyo Ryo Ohki 1 and 2, Universe and the Universe film trilogy, I may return to this post to add characters and change scores but as of now lets get going.

Tenchi
As far as harem protagonists go, he's the best. The joke is that he's not really needed because he appears seemingly normal compared to his harem but his personality makes the difference in how other characters act. He's strung along a bit but if he were any other harem protagonist then he'd be unlikable.

Ryoko
The term no personal space comes to mind. Her infatuation with Tenchi has never felt natural and usually has to learn the hardway but when she does keep her hormones under control she easily has some of the most powerful emotional moments in the franchise.

Ayeka
I find it difficult to recommend Ayeka as a character because she's not really that much different to Ryoko and lacks many of the traits the quieter part of Ryoko has which makes Ayeka quite a selfish character.

Sasami
Her appearance is little sister at best, token nice kid at worst.

Ryo-Ohki
On par with Pikachu for cutest mascot, but some of the stories she has are not great.

Mihoshi
Gives new meaning to the term dumb blonde and can be unbearable with her ditziness but thanks to her partner in Universe, she has a place she fits into.

Kiyone
And that partner is Kiyone and a character I can easily relate to having to deal with asinine decisions made by clueless people and having no affection for Tenchi gives her the important audience surrogate role alot of harem now lack.

Washu
She's a fun character and has some of the best line reads but like a mary sue, seems to bend the plot to her will far too often. Much of the story plots are started or finished by her.

Yosho
He's fine, it's clear that he messed up alot during his time but if I were to compare him to another character like himself say Genma Saotome from Ranma, I'd say Yosho is only slightly better.

Tenchi: 9.0/10
Ryoko: 8.0/10
Ayeka: 7.6/10
Sasami: 7.5/10
Ryo-Ohki: 7.6/10
Mihoshi: 7.2/10
Kiyone: 9.7/10
Washu: 8.0/10
Yosho: 7.0/10

Character Ranking: Love Hina

Were back with another character ranking, this time it's Love Hina.

Keitaro Urashima
I'd like to say he has very poor taste in women which may or may not set the tone for the rest of the ranking but he's hardly the butt monkey degenerate like those that followed, when allowed to be a character he's actually quite a decent guy.

Naru Narusegawa
It's hard to look past the fact that she's violent for no reason but trust me she's not the worst offender, I do like the fact that her insecurities bite her later on making her less high and mighty.

Mutsumi Otohime
Easily the best character and way more devious than her ill health lets on, she ended up being the biggest cheerleader to her two best friends.

Shinobu Maehara
She acts her age surprisingly and that should be a plus but her anime counterpart is dreadful.

Motoko Aoyama
Easily has her own insecurities which flare up due to her feelings over her older sister marrying and she does get over most of it but much of her early character is difficult to like.

Kaolla Su
Combining eccentric genius with ADHD borders on Western cartoon tropes, I wish they explored more of her background instead of making her more intolerable.

Kitsune Konno
I'm glad they remember that not all girls need to be in love with the lead and Kitsune is a good balance when it comes to observation and acting big sister.

Haruka Urashima
Another no nonsense observer of chaos but gets a happy ending she never saw coming and is richly deserved.

Noriyasu Seta
Proving that the dandiest of men can be as big as a goofball as Keitaro.

Sarah McDougal
The anime equivalent of Scrappy Doo, never liked her nor gave me a reason to like her.

Kanako Urashima
Shall this be patient zero of the sister love thing? Kanako easily borderlines yandere with some of her actions but is saved by the fact that she helped change Naru's character for the better towards the end.

Keitaro: 9.3/10
Naru: 7.2/10
Mutsumi: 9.6/10
Shinobu: 7.4/10
Motoko: 7.8/10
Kaolla: 6.4/10
Kitsune: 8.6/10
Haruka: 8.8/10
Seta: 8.0/10
Sarah: 2.0/10
Kanako: 7.9/10

Otaku Insight: 10 Popular Characters Who Aren't That Great

This will be fun, looking at characters who really aren't as great as their popularity suggests. No order in this one.

1. Tenten from Naruto
Tenten is the resident weapons master of Konoha and had so much potential only to be humiliated in the Chuunin exam and be thrown into the background despite standing on the same level as Rock Lee and Neji. She had practically no role afterwards.

2. Tyson Grainger from Beyblade
For the supposed leader of the Bladebreakers, he's a terrible leader, it's any wonder his much more popular teammates left for their own interests in G Revolution, not to mention he ignores much of the advice given by his team overall.

3. Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon
I'd forgive Usagi so much more if the original didn't make her so incompetent, needy and whiny, it's any wonder Precure destroyed this series in ratings.

4. Iona Hikawa/Cure Fortune from Happiness Charge Precure
Speaking of Precure, a Cure at worst is forgettable, generic or plain. Iona is a bitch; she blames Hime for all her problems despite the fact that it was her own fault that her sister got taken. Even when she joins the team, it's hard to forgive her for her behaviour.

5. Hatoko and Suzuka from Angelic Layer
She was built up as the main rival to Misaki and Hikaru and was wise above her years but she was defeated before given the chance and even burst into tears afterwards, child or not, you cannot build a character like that and then expect her to act her age afterwards.

6. Chao Lingshen from Negima
Supposedly Negi's descendant but her motives are confusing, does she want to reveal magic or not? Sadly this doesn't get answered. As for her non canon roles she's just a seat filler. Even her canon role is reduced to nothing once it ends which fills half the manga run.

7. Char Aznable from Gundam
He's the eternal rival of Amuro but looking on his history, he has an unhealthy obsession with underage girls. One out of possibly five female characters was actually an adult, the rest were teenagers.

8. Gary Oak from Pokemon
Was built to be Ash's eternal rival, he lost before Ash in the Kanto league, made little to no impact in 90% of his appearances, when he did battle Ash it was the best episodes of the franchise but after that his job was done. Paul from Sinnoh was a better rival.

9. Fuko Kirisawa from Flame of Recca
For the lone female fighter of team Hokage she's awful! Gullible enough to fall for enemy tricks twice, wasted Fujin's powers, got lost, trapped, brain washed multiple times and rescued by Raiha just as many times. Are you sure Fuko is meant to be the fighter? Yanagi is stronger despite not even being capable of fighting.

10. Future Trunks from Dragonballz
Controversial but justified, his only real contribution is killing Freiza. If you consider the Android 13 movie canon, he failed to mention six other androids next to 17 and 18, inadvertently unleashed Cell on the very timeline he tried to save, even when battling Cell he performed worse than Tien and even when he has to save another future he gets called out on all the times he messes with time and how frequently it brought about worse scenarios including attracting the attention of Babidi and Majin Buu triggering Super Saiyan Rage. It gives Vegeta much more father points when you consider the original Trunks to be a better character who even calls out his own future self.

Otaku Insight: Gundam Easter Eggs and Facts

Looking around the net to see if I can write anything Gundam related seeing as there are a ton on Project 1000, so instead of trying to watch over 100 episodes of classic era Gundam let's break out the facts and Easter Eggs you may have missed.

Amuro Ray is Canadian
It's difficult to pin point nationalities in a series where Earth is a 2nd thought or war torn. But it is revealed that Amuro Ray was born in British Columbia Canada, making his dub voice (Canadian actor Brad Swaile) the perfect choice.

Char Aznable is named after a real person
Char was named after World War II civilian and singer Charles Aznavour, who also played a pivotal role in establishing peaceful relations between France and Japan.

Familiar Titles
Gundam has a few quirky subtitles like Stardust Memory and Endless Waltz, actually those two are real titles in other media.
Stardust Memory is a Woody Allen Film from 1980.
Endless Waltz is a tragic Japanese Romance Novel.
Like Gundam's penchant for having controversial content, both these titles were considered controversial in their own media.

Io Fleming
Easy one to spot, Gundam Thunderbolt's protagonist is clearly a take on James Bond author Ian Fleming.

Relena Peacecraft was based on Audrey Hepburn
Right down to her mannerisms, default dress and looks but what hits it out of the park is her Queen of the World dress taken straight out of Hepburn's Roman Holiday.

Elpeo Ple's Unfortunate Name Origins
Elpeo Ple is short for Lemon People, a hentai magazine with a reputation for Lolicon content. Doesn't help that Elpeo looks 12.

Torinov Y. Minovsky Particles
Anyone who knows Gundam is familiar with Minovsky Particles, the accepted explanation for Gundam's unique universe. But when you break down the name of it's founder, you are basically reading Yoshiyuki Tomino if he were Russian.

Loran Cehack was Supposed to be Female
Tomino expressed interest in having a female protagonist for Turn A Gundam but Sunrise were against it, so Loran's design was deliberately made Gender Neutral and features him cross dressing out of spite.

Cancelled Gundam Works
Among Gundam's cancelled media includes the Gundam Seed movie which was cancelled when it's screen writer sadly passed away from Brain Cancer.
The Doozy Bots, an attempt to make Gundam a Saturday morning cartoon, it's worse than it sounds.
Gundam MSX, a rejected OVA set between the original series and Zeta Gundam.
And Polka Gundam, which was meant to be after Victory Gundam but due to it being a financial flop and the growing popularity of the returning super robot genre, G Gundam was made instead which saved Gundam but that's another story.

Gundam ZZ References to Akira
Judau Ashta's clothing is similar to Kaneda's helped by the fact that he to is part of a teenage gang, if that's too vague, Kaneda and Tetsuo cameo in the show as extras, this is taken from the manga of Akira as Gundam ZZ predates the film Akira.