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!
One thing you can count on from an anime artist is attention to detail and Kiniro Mosaic produced something extraordinary.
Back in the late 80s, a Japanese couple visited Fosse Farmhouse in the British village of Castle Combe in the county of Wiltshire, they loved it so much that they opened their own British style B&B in Japan, over 20 years later, Kiniro Mosaic debuted and a full artist rendition of that same Farmhouse appeared as the household of lead character Alice complete with the Farmhouse owners car and even an artist render of Kemble Train Station.
The Farmhouse would get a massive increase in popularity particularly with Japanese tourists, at it's peak it even featured on national news and one look on their website references Kiniro Mosaic.
You can even book a room right now although you'll need a taxi or a hire car to get there.
I myself only live about an hour and a half away.
Castle Combe itself is a very traditional English village, attractive scenery, buildings dating back to 1600s and next door to one of the fastest motor racing circuits in the country.
I want you to read this quote from this anime and I'm interested to hear what you think of it, to set the scene, Jurai tells Hatoko, the girl in the picture, that she wouldn't understand, Hatoko snaps back with the following.
"I don't understand. I don't understand! I don't understand a single word you say, Ju-kun! I don't understand what's good about the things you call good! I don't understand! I can't understand! What's so cool about "Bloody"? I don't like blood. Bleeding just hurts! What's so cool about "madness"? I don't understand what's good about being crazy! What do you mean by "sinful"? What's so good about having sin? Is it cool being a criminal? And what's with "chaos", anyway? Chaos? What about it? What about "darkness"? You want it to be dark? Between justice and evil, why is evil better? Why do you prefer evil? Isn't it evil because it's wrong? What's so cool about your right arm aching? "I love the feeling of being unable to control my power"? What's that? That just makes you a fool! It's much cooler when you have control! That's worthy of respect! What's so awesome about hiding your power all the time? That's just slacking off! It's much cooler to face things head-on, at full strength, without hiding anything! Why do you give everything nicknames and aliases? Having so many different names only makes them hard to keep up with! Don't use English or Katakana for everything! I can’t remember those! Don’t write "elegy" and read it "requiem"! Don't write "forbidden" and read it "taboo"! Don’t write "holy war" and read it "jihad"! Greek myth, the Bible, Norse myth, Japanese myth... Don’t start talking about them just because you did a little research! If you don’t properly explain it, I can't understand what you mean! If you're going to teach me, teach me right! Listening to explanations about mythological weapons is not fun! Gungnir, Longinus, Excalibur, Durandal, and Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi all mean nothing to me! I don’t understand what’s cool about them! All your other terminology is confusing, too! Original Sin, Ten Commandments, Book of Genesis, Book of Revelations, Armageddon... What do you mean by "their names are cool"? It’s impossible for me to "feel it by their atmosphere"! Relativity, Schrodinger's cat, universal gravitation... Don’t act like you understand them because you read a little on the net! I can't understand them at all if you give half-baked explanations! Don’t quote Nietzsche or Goethe! When you start quoting people I don't know, I can’t understand what you’re trying to say at all! Talk to me in your own words! I'm begging you, speak so I can understand you! What is "chuuni"? What does "chuuni" mean? I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand! I don't understand! I don't understand a single word you've ever said at all, Ju-kun!"
For the record, the Japanese voice actress did that entire quote in one take, the people recording the voice was so shocked they allowed the actress to take time off before recording the rest of the episode.
In an anime that I could barely pass the first episode on, produced that quote, something I expect from Full Metal Alchemist or Fairy Tail, two anime that wear their hearts on their sleeves not a crappy harem anime with no understanding of it's subject matter.
Guaranteed you've met at least one weeb like this in your career, please share with me your experiences and whether Hatoko's quote resonates with you or alternatively you may not agree with it.
Me personally, I'm surprised no one has said something like that sooner.
I used to do a segment where I quickly cover topics I don't have time for full posts on, time to bring it back.
Monica Rial vs Vic Mignogna
A very ugly fallout that should've stayed private and not spill out so catastrophically in public, Vic is by no means innocent but Monica's Vitrolic towards everyone in the fallout upset me considering I've met her and she was a very nice person, makes it hard to hear her voice characters like Uzaki-Chan.
Never Released in the UK
Viz media made it so we never saw Ranma 1/2 in the UK, the best we got were the two films, in fact it's only now were getting InuYasha and were still not getting Rurouni Kenshin or Sailor Moon.
I doubt Kenshin will ever come out now and the old Sailor Moon stuff that did get released are lost to time.
Sub and Dub Actress
Voice Actress Sally Amaki plays Tomo-Chan character Carol Olston in both Japanese and English, the only known instance of a vocal performance performed in sub and dub, Ikue Ohtani playing Pikachu doesn't count as her original audio is the same in all languages.
So we have five more hot takes, let's dive in.
"All the Sailor Scouts are gay apart from Usagi, any suggestion otherwise is wrong"
I'm sure a few fanatics can out right state this as fact, but unless you've hit every possible form of media on offer from this franchise it really is up to the viewer to decide if the inner senshi follow Uranus and Neptune or not, my opinion is they are more likely to be bisexual.
"Deku is a bad protagonist"
No he's not, it really makes a change to see a protagonist who is not an idiot hero, a delinquent with a good heart or a try hard outcast, Deku is someone who is cautious, insightful and not hiding his weakness, it makes him the perfect character to go plus ultra.
"Near is better than L"
L doesn't agree.
Real talk, we were spoiled by L with his battle against Kira so anyone less than him would be considered inferior but Near is much better than critics suggest.
"Bakugo is a Bad Rival"
Yeah being permanently bad tempered doesn't offer much in the character development department, Bakugo really gets on my nerves.
"Oshi no Ko killed idol anime"
Yes and no, calling out all the bull shit that idols have to put up with on a daily basis was a bold move, the anime even got called out by the family of an idol who took her own life, it certainly made the subject touchy, throw in a bad vtuber agency and the problem escalates but the real killer is that for some time now the top idol anime have stagnated with no chance of recovery and unless the writing improves, the genre will drop off for a while. It did come back after Idol Densetsu Eriko killed it off in the 90s.
This ranking will use the characters English names, it will not include their Digimon and will be subject to change as I go through the Digimon Tri series, so let's begin.
Tai
The very definition of fiery leader and if he stayed that way, his ranking would be pretty awful but something changed at the beginning of Tri, he discovered the real weight and effect of the damage caused by the fighting Digimon, and while Matt was quick to call him a coward, it's a sign of growing up and in character for him considering that his selfishness has caused harm in the past, how Tai overcomes this will be interesting.
Matt
I've never liked Matt, he's so temperamental that you have to question why he has the Friendship crest, this hasn't exactly exited his system come Tri and throwing in a love triangle that involves Sora hasn't helped.
Sora
A lot of people didn't like her shedding her tomboy persona from season 1 but I'm in two camps with this one, her arc was reconnecting with her mother which was fully complete by season 2 but I also see her losing alot of her personality come Tri as her conflict is all romance with her friends.
Izzy
He hasn't changed at all, but I like how his social awkwardness is more on show in Tri, but yet his ability to produce tech on command is still a little too convenient.
Joe
He's somehow become the least reliable of the team in tri but at the same time, he's older and at a point where his actions have changes to his life, this especially prominent where he's actively failing exams, he brings up a good point about the whole Digi-Destined and why they have to be the ones to solve all these problems when adulthood is closer than ever.
Mimi
She started as the team Scrappy but is now hands down the most fun character in Tri, you could argue it's the American effect, but it works for Mimi as her arcs did nothing for her in the early seasons and this more expressive happier Mimi is very much welcome, her approach is rough but it works for Mimi and has made her the most evolved character.
TK
He went up massively in my estimation when he beat the crap out of Ken, now he's Matt's foil as he looks and acts way more mature than his older brother.
Kari
She's a fan favourite and a healthy balance of tomboy and feminine, she's largely unchanged in Tri but doesn't need it.
Davis
Worst protagonist ever, he's dumber than all his contemporaries combined, that includes people like Tyson of Beyblade and Ash of Pokemon, I've never seen a character so content with being that way, he's a waste of space and made season 2 such a weak series compared to even Digimon's worst.
Yolei
Yolei is at least salvageable, a balanced character with a hint of silly and brutal honesty, she's what Mimi is now in Tri and what Sora was in season 1, probably has the best traits of both those characters.
Cody
He's boring.
Ken
A villain turned hero was new for Digimon at the time, but I found that compared to his contemporaries, he really lost alot of his personality when switching sides.
Meiko
Meiko is an interesting one as there really isn't a shy girl amongst the Digi-Destined, so she fills a personality not been done before, however her role becomes redundant after Meicoomon is revealed to be causing all the disturbances.
Tai-8.0
Matt-5.8
Sora-6.3
Izzy-7.0
Joe-7.0
Mimi-8.9
TK-7.9
Kari-8.0
Davis-1.2
Yolei-7.1
Cody-3.0
Ken-6.0
Meiko-5.5
