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!
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.
It All Started with Ranma 1/2
I've likely mentioned that my first interaction with anime of any kind was Ranma 1/2, despite my age at the time being around 6-9, I fully understood that Ranma was changing into a girl with water, so I was exposed to LGBT content at quite an early age and saw it as normal, so when I was introduced to it properly later on, I really wasn't questioning it.
Chun-Li Was My First Fictional Crush
To this day, I still don't know what attracted me to Chun-Li to begin with, maybe it was her vivid colour palette, her dress or maybe it was because it was the first time I laid eyes on a fighting woman. As an adult, there are more obvious reasons to love the character.
Pokemon TV is Back
The Switch had a fantastic app showcasing seasons of the Pokemon anime but was dropped after a couple of years for unknown reasons, it has recently returned as a Youtube channel and is uploading season 1 sporadically as we speak, so if you want a free legal way to watch old seasons of Pokemon, you can now do so.
I used to do a segment where I quickly cover topics I don't have time for full posts on.
Kenpachi is Dumber Than You Remember
A young impressionable weeb would remember how Kenpachi of Bleach would beat the established hierarchy by being a deliberate badass, but when you consider how much he holds back, he could've solved alot of the most drab moments in the anime by going all out sooner, I get that a creative license requires a shonen anime to build tension but Kenpachi would've been more popular if he wasn't forced to take losses all the time, I can say the same about Rock Lee.
Davis is Actually Self Aware
Davis is very unpopular in the franchise as he took a position meant for TK and Kari but in the V-Tamer manga he actually says that he doesn't want to return to the real world because he believes no one would care to see him come back.
Now I feel bad.
Continuation vs Remake
With Ranma being remade and seeing the comparisons between the original and remake, the designs feel somewhat lacking, something about the 80s and 90s aesthetic really made the characters pop out and you'd think over 30 years of tech would make it better but no.
By contrast Fairy Tail's 100 year quest series hasn't changed one bit since the original series ended and I love it for it.
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.
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.
Inspired by Otaku Confessions which can be linked below, I've decided to do my own Confessions and the very first one is based on my first ever encounter with anime.
http://www.theotaku.com/worlds/otakuconfessions
In the early 90s at around 7-8 years old, I loved the Gameboy, it was my first console, although my lack of understanding behind the games lead me to end up with flash carts, a compilation of bootlegged and legit games on one Gameboy Cartridge. One of these had a Ranma 1/2 game called Ranma 1/2 Kakuren Bodesu Match, a puzzle game where you push blocks around to defeat enemies and find special items to complete each stage.
Gameplay footage below
So how did I work out the plot to Ranma 1/2 based on just this game?
It actually comes from another game also on the Gameboy called Catrap.
In that game you play as a Catboy and a Catgirl. The Catboy pushes blocks that go across the screen, the Catgirl pushes blocks one space; based on that information, I worked out that my character was transforming into a girl everytime I hit a bucket and back into a boy everytime I hit a kettle. I even worked out that the girl looking for you at the end of each stage must be the girlfriend and every enemy was trying to separate you from her, pretty much the plot to 90% of Ranma. Only a few years later I finally watched Ranma and linked it to the game I played.
This isn't the only time this sort of thing happened. The next confession will explain this.
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