Tell us about.......

Topics on anime/other animation TV series, OVAs, specials, and movies
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JWR
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Tell us about.......

Post by JWR »

I am sure that with all the people here that one can believe that most collect from a few series one or two characters that are not considered leads but due to design or actions in the story have found a place with you and your collection.

So tell us a bit about what makes the special to you. Use spoilers if you need to.
"Like the wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we are, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment." Harlan Ellison
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sensei
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Re: Tell us about.......

Post by sensei »

I'm not as obsessive as I used to be, but I can think of some examples of characters that I've been drawn to, as a collector and as a fan of the series/art:

Meilin from Cardcaptor Sakura. She comes in with all the cards stacked against her: no magic, irritating personality, a love interest that we know is doomed from the start, a non-canonical character to boot. And yet she makes quite an impact on the plot and matures into a genuinely admirable and likeable character.

Natsumi from Tennimon. A normal character in a bizarrely surreal plot, she seems totally out of place. Then as we learn more about her backstory and her inner demons, we slowly realize that she is not peripheral but at the very center of the story.

Kotomi from Asatte no Houkou. Another non-canonical character who like Meilin seems an irritation on the sideline. But somehow when there is something important going on, there she is, somehow helping the plot move forward in some unobtrusive way. Which makes me think that she, like Natsumi, is at the center and not on the sidelines.

and of course...

Baaaaaaaaad Girl from Condition Green. Why? Because her character design is soooo baaaaaad!!!!! (In the popular admiring sense of the word ... the art is cracking good in its over-the-top way.) And you can find NOTHING out about her, even by investigating Japanside websites with a translation engine. She seemingly exists only on plastic and in my active elder imagination.
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Re: Tell us about.......

Post by teggacat »

oh gosh between JWR & Sensei, you guys are making me think way too hard here.........
I guess I'm pretty lame and focus on only a few select main characters now, but I always have
had a side interest in collecting cels/sketches of Okita Soji from any series....
:badass
Last edited by teggacat on Sun Nov 17, 2013 4:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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JWR
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Re: Tell us about.......

Post by JWR »

The one character I would like to focus in is Risa Fukuyama (Lisa in the dub)
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Long blonde hair, purple eyes and a realistic body type make her "easy on the eyes".
One character that fits the thread for me would be from the series Girls Bravo which I can admit has a limited audience. While having a great story a lot will give it pass due to a lot of nudity and sexual situations (actually seems tame compared to newer anime such as High School DxD).
In the 1st season of Girls Bravo Risa comes off as a total wack-job, into the occult she becomes convinced that Yukinari (the male lead) is her soulmate. This happens because when she listens to her morning horoscope which states that if she finds a person who has a bandage, a checkerboard hankercheif and a "Kilty keychain"(an anime character that whose line is "I'll Kill You" simular to Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan). Of course before meeting Risa, Yukinari gets hit by Kirie(childhood female friend prone to violence) needing the bandage, is give the checkerboard hankercheif by her and then is given the Kilty keychain by Miharu (female lead). So when Risa and Yukinari accidently walk into each other she sees these items and believes her fortune has come true.
It is because of this Risa becomes devoted to Yukinari and works very hard to help him overcome his problem
He is allergic to all girls due to being bullied by girls when younger. Only girl he is not allergic to is Miharu who is from a different Earth
Later in the second season there is a lot more of her backstory explained which sheds a lot of light on why she acts as she does.
It turns out she has grown up in a large mansion with no playmates. Risa when exploring finds a book of spells and reading one makes her doll “Eli” to life giving her the friend/playmate she has so desperately longed for. Later the magic wears off and Risa spend most of her time attempting to find a way to make the magic work again
Risa is very dedicated to Yukinari with his ailment.
Later in the story due to Risa and the other girls Yukinari gets cured of his allergy setting up the final story arc in which Miharu feeling no longer special gets taken back to Seiren (the other Earth). During the final adventure Risa risks her life to protect Ebi (a shape changing creature that can take the form of a child).
"Like the wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we are, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment." Harlan Ellison
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Re: Tell us about.......

Post by GuyvarIII »

It’s hard for me to choose characters that aren’t the leads in Anime; as most of the side characters exist to solely, in some way, accentuate some aspect or trait of the protagonists or antagonists. That being said, there are supporting characters I enjoy:

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First on my list is Ohta from Patlabor. He started out in the series as gleeful, trigger happy, comic relief, but the show really built on his character, especially in the It’s Called Amnesia episode. And, from little off handed remarks, you could tell that despite the gruff, gun nut exterior, he really cares about the other members of his team. Though, the scene of him that comes first to my mind is from Patlabor Movie 1: Ohta holding a ton of huge bullets in both arms, saying, “I’m going to enjoy myself … And HOW!” :badass


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Next is Della (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e19S44k5gCQ) from Desert Rose. She stands out from the rest of the team as she is always wearing huge, aviator sunglasses 8) . And, while the other members of the anti-terrorist squad CAT seem to mostly react to the action around them, Della seems actively involved in her action scene, showcasing a lot of her … personality.
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Re: Tell us about.......

Post by cutiebunny »

Mine would be Kobato. Pretty much anything from Kobato.

Kobato seems to be a largely unloved work, maybe because it just didn't get the push stateside that CCS and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle did, but I think it's one of the better CLAMP stories. The manga ending is different than the anime ending, and that's because the anime finished before the manga did. As with most of CLAMP's work, characters from previous stories pop up - Touya (from CCS), Watanuki (from xxxHolic) and Kohaku (from Wish) all pop up.

The story revolves around a young woman named Kobato, who arrives on Earth in Spring. Her traveling companion is a little blue stuffed dog with a bad attitude, Ioyogi, who is responsible for helping Kobato achieve her wish of "going to the place where she belongs". Kobato is given a special bottle in which she has one year to completely fill it with konpeito candy. For every heart that Kobato heals, she earns a konpeito. Kobato is incredibly ditzy (as would be expected of someone who has just arrives on Earth one day with no knowledge of how things work), and she spends a good portion of the first 12 episodes making friends and earning konpeito.

But then, episode 13 marks the transition to Autumn, and Kobato is confronted with a new concept - Death. At first, even with Kohaku's help, Kobato doesn't quite understand what death signifies and she tries to return to the helpful, bubbly girl that she is.
But when Sayaka, Kobato's teacher friend, becomes very sick in Episode 17, Ioyogi begins to worry that this trama may force Kobato to recall her previous life. And she does - In Episode 20, the first few cuts show Kobato's previous life in a pre-WWII era Japan. Her father was a reincarnated version of Fujimoto, the same man that she met in this life, and has fallen for. In Episode 23, she is approaching her last day on Earth, or her 'death'. She hasn't filled the bottle and she knows that her wish is not going to come true. But instead of spending the last day trying to fill it up, Kobato spends it by saying 'goodbye' to everyone she knows. During the last moment of her existence, Fujimoto discovers Kobato's secret, and begs her not to leave. That act fills her bottle, and thanks to him catching some magical fairy dust generated by her departure, Fujimoto manages to be the only one who retains his memory of Kobato. A reincarnated Kobato, who incidentally looks just like her, returns to Earth the following Spring, and Fujimoto meets up with her while on a business trip. After playing the same song on the piano that Kobato sang during her previous existence, Kobato's memories return and they kiss. Yays!
The manga, though, takes a diferent turn, but also helps explain the background behind certain characters, such as Ioyogi's friend, the bear in charge of making Baumkuchen.
Kobato is a well known angel, and while singing one day, she manages to fall from a tree and onto the Demon King (Ioyogi), who is on his way to defeat God. Ioyogi falls in love with Kobato and fails in his mission to overtake God. As punishment, he's sent to Earth to monitor Kobato. The manga's end, however, ends with Kobato reincarnted, and the angel Kobato having split from the human version of Kobato. Angel Kobato stays with Ioyogi, and Human Kobato stays with Fujimoto.
Madhouse was the studio in charge of this production, and as with other series, they farmed out the work to DrMovie. The only original sketches I can find from this series are all from DrMovie. Every Madhouse layout is a copy. The backgrounds have been largely destroyed as most of them appear to have been folded to fit into circular wastebaskets once they were no longer needed. While most of these were obtained through YJ, I also had been lucky enough to have gone to Japan in 2010 and found a couple background lots there. I feel quite fortunate to have what I do (about 500 backgrounds), but there are some episodes where I have nothing.
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