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!
Everyone knows a good transformation when they see one whether it be a makeover, power up or a magical transformation, there are your iconic ones like Sailor Moon but there are others that may not be as well looked at as you might think, got a whopping 25 entries with no restrictions, in no order either.
1. Beyblade G Revolution
Ming Ming is a magical idol of sorts as she's very much younger than the rest of the main cast but when she blades, she shows up in her true age dropping the UwU act.
2. Akazukin Chacha
Chacha is another unique one as not only does she get older everytime she transforms into her princess warrior form but requires rings worn by her two best friends to work.
3. Tenchi Universe
Azaka and Kamidake were often seen as mobile logs that protected Ayeka at all times but Universe gave them prominent forms as Royal Guards more akin to what were used to seeing whenever Tenchi and Ayeka battled, honourable mention to Achika for her battle form.
4. Sailor Moon
We've seen the scouts transform enough times to the point that it has it's own official run time in the Anime Encylopedia, but during the Sailor Moon S movie we were treated to Luna's human form, argubly one of the most beautiful transformations in anime.
5. Kiss Him Not Me
Kae Serinuma throwing a sulking tantrum over a dead anime character stops eating only to emerge as a bishojo attracting every guy in sight.
6. Suite Precure
Precure is no stranger to villain face heel turns but the former feline Cure Beat not only becomes a Precure but loses her cat form in the process, on the bright side she has guitar hair.
7. Wedding Peach
I like how utterly pointless the wedding dresses are in the transformations but they still showcase them every episode anyway.
8. The Incredible Hulk
A rare western example from the 90s cartoon of the Hulk in She-Hulk. Following the blood transfusion, the radiation doesn't make her so much angry but trigger what I can best place as pleasure making her flirty rather than angry.
9. Cinderella Monogatari
The simplest transformation on this list, an extra petticoat, a bow and an elaborate hairdo is enough to see out the royal ball for Cinderella.
10. Pretear
Himeno gets several costumes to wear but come with the added bonus of all her husbandos transforming into her costumes.
11. One Piece
Nico Robin going all giantess demon with Demonio Fleur, utterly terrifying to witness and insanely brutal to watch.
12. Dragonball Super
It's not Ultra Instinct or whatever passes for Gohan's latest Saiyan form it's Trunks' Rage Saiyan form after he snaps fighting Black Goku, his look resembling Broly in the eyes.
13. Mahou Shounen Majorian
We've seen young girls become teens to battle but how about young boys become teen girls, the dynamic here is less the TG transformation and more the dynamic between the duo as their relationship is bullying because the victim is too feminine, the irony.
14. Kiddy Grade
Eclair and Lumiere go through so many forms that it needs it's own entry to explain it.
15. Uta Kata
Here's the Kiddy Grade creator releasing a magical girl show with a different costume designed by a different mangaka every episode.
16. Magical Emi
The green haired magician girl is another girl to teen transformation but with a design that can only exist in the 80s.
17. Card Captor Sakura
The only time Sakura ever went through a transformation was the first time she gave herself wings complete with a dress that Tomoyo didn't design.
18. Hime Otogi Lilpri
Aikatsu and Pripara follow the same theme of costumes on cards but Hime Otogi Lilpri has the element of surprise on their side.
19. Miraculous Ladybug
Our second western entry focusses on Shrinking Violet Goth Girl Juleka who becomes Purple Tigress.
Looking at the pictures, you wouldn't guess it was the same person, well it is the power of clout.
20. Interspecies Reviewers
Our randy Reviewers decide to transform into women to see what sex feels like in their shoes, five star ratings all round.
21. Marchen Awakens Romance
The talking hammer weapon Babbo comes with some extreme forms including a gargoyle, a sexy goth angel and OP Puss in Boots.
22. Kuragehime
I could include any character makeover in this show but Mayaya's is the most dramatic, goes to show what the promise of capsule toys means to an Otaku.
23. Tokyo Mew Mew
The best choreographed transformation sequences in all of anime.
24. Star Twinkle Precure
They sing their transformation sequence, why didn't anyone else think of that?
25. Ranma 1/2
Will need it's own entry really, girl Ranma you always wonder who's really in control of the body, Ranma or the cursed drowned girl.
Considering I'm taking alot of these takes from today's fans the well will dry up quick so if you got a few Hot Takes of your own, I shall give you my two cents.
"Misty's still the best Pokemon girl"
That's a funny way of spelling Dawn. Dawn is the only female character in Pokemon history to have equal billing with Ash and the only former female companion to actually turn up in person to his Championship match, Misty was memorable but has very limited appeal.
"Gundam Wing is the best Gundam"
Even Heero thinks your statement is a load of bull.
Real talk, there is no definitive best Gundam series as each series brings something to the table that it's contemporaries don't have, looking at the latest series Witch from Mercury has Utena vibes for instance, anyone who does name a best Gundam series is likely to have only seen that Gundam series, another issue the franchise has, is that it's very difficult to like more than one Gundam series because of how wildly different the content can be each series.
"Goku is not a good character"
I've seen this alot, in fact it's the most common hot take next to the argument on fan service and subs vs dubs, don't think we'll be seeing the last of it anytime soon. Goku's status is usually helped by the fact that funimation made him act more heroic but he's still raised in the boonies and taught martial arts by a known pervert and it's pretty obvious when Toriyama has more input as his sense of humour is utterly juvenile, I can see where the argument is coming from, at the same time like the grandmother that voices him in Japan, it's a familiar face that reassures you that the world is okay, not every hero is written to be perfect but can still be a symbol of peace.
"Modern Isekai is the worst anime genre ever created"
It's not, you're just sick of the over saturation of the genre in recent years, the actual worst genre is surreal comedy, if you don't believe me, watch the Super Milk Chan Show and you'll be begging Truck-Kun to send you to another world.
"Sailor Moon has aged like milk, and there's nothing it did well that Nanoha and Precure haven't done significantly better since"
Precure's existence relies on homaging previous ideas from older magical girl shows, even the original referenced the Dirty Pair; Precure even had the director of the Sailor Moon anime direct Hugtto Precure.
Nanoha is just a trashy magical girl show that's trying way too hard.
While the content of the 90s Sailor Moon anime is a little dated, it still has a charm that keeps people invested, most anime fans when asked to name a magical girl show, the same three shows will turn up, Sailor Moon, Madoka Magica and Card Captor Sakura, it has the strongest staying power in all of anime along with Evangelion and the Dragonball franchise.
Welcome back to confessions as I look at my mishaps with Dragonballz in my youth.
I Injured Myself Attempting the Kamehameha
Who doesn't want to perform this attack? The stance itself does bear a resemblance to a technique I believe comes from a form of Kenpo and me having some interest in Martial Arts decided to give it a try.
Only I went into the stance so hard I sprained my ankle.
I Discovered Dragonballz Through Ice Cream
What many English speaking nations may not know is Dragonballz existed in many European nations long before an English Dub, one of which was Spain where I had many holidays in my youth. On one visit I discovered Dragonballz Ice Cream, orange candy ice cream with Bubblegum centre. Think large Dippin' Dots with sour Bubblegum in it. I was never allowed to have it, probably because it was the most expensive thing on the list, that moment was my first experience of Dragonballz.
I Thought Yamcha Knew Spirit Bomb
I blame a translation error as well as viewing the episodes in an odd order due to fighting my sister for TV rights, a battle she usually won. What didn't help were the attacks looking similar in design.
I Knew Who Trunks was Before his Introduction
The opening sequence Rock the Dragon, one of the better English Translation songs showed a character that didn't start off with the main cast, it was only when Super Saiyan became a thing that I questioned who he was, having remembered what was mentioned about the last remaining Saiyans in the run up to the Freiza Saga, I deduced that he could only be Vegeta's son, since there's no way they would throw in a new Saiyan with no explanation. When he did appear, I was right.
I Believed Tien's Arm Could Grow Back
Censorship is weird but considering I saw Piccolo do it several episodes back and Tien not really being 100% human, it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
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.
This unique character ranking tackles very normal characters in action shows, by definition these are characters who would never compare to the super powered individuals around them and through the most part, obey real world physics.
I'll be marking them down on their achievements and roles in their anime.
Sir Integra from Hellsing
Takes out Nazi Vampires despite being surrounded by thousands of them, keeps Alucard in check and speaks to her enemies like a teacher disciplining a group of delinquents.
Garrod Ran from Gundam X
One of only a rare selection of lead Gundam Pilots to not have Newtype powers or the non UC equivalent, you could argue that by simply owning a Gundam he doesn't qualify but I disagree considering how much the narrative relies on being able to be a special human.
Meiling Li from Card Captor Sakura
Has fought a couple of the clow cards on equal footing with just her martial arts training to fall back on.
Usopp from One Piece
Has fought against and beaten opponents he has no chance in defeating under normal conditions mostly through clever weapons and exploiting weaknesses, has even battled Luffy as well as prevented his defeat a couple of times.
Mumen Rider from One Punch Man
More points for bravery and commitment over actual strength but somehow manages to remain top of C rank
Drake Anderson from Read or Die
A very capable mercenary that is kept on in the British Library despite being among Paper Masters and an assassin that can phase through objects.
Genjo Sanzo from Saiyuki
Debated, but it's brought up quite frequently that he lacks the same fighting ability as his travel companions, relying on buddhist scriptures and a banishing gun, it even became a plot point in Requiem.
Gourry Gabriev from Slayers
His travel companions can level entire towns in one blast so he relies entirely on his own sword skills to help defeat bad guys, he usually has his own special enemies to defeat as well.
Joey Wheeler from Yu-Gi-Oh
Always seems to make it to duelist tournament finals lacking many of the traits of better duelists, in fact had his body not given in, he'd have beaten Marik Ishtar.
Mr Satan from Dragonballz
Survived encounters with Cell and Kid Buu who both had their fair share of kills, Kid Buu especially. Also the one to convert Fat Buu to the hero side. Still legit won the martial arts tournament at least once.
Sir Integra: 9.3/10
Garrod Ran: 8.0/10
Meiling Li: 7.0/10
Usopp: 8.7/10
Mumen Rider: 4.9/10
Drake Anderson: 6.2/10
Genjo Sanzo: 6.5/10
Gourry Gabriev: 7.7/10
Joey Wheeler: 7.9/10
Mr Satan: 5.3/10
Notes: Lower scores can be attributed to low impact on the story or most of their success coming from the sheer luck of not dying, in Sanzo's case it's more his position as a normal human being debated.
