Thoughts on Overture (morning after remix)
Jan. 8th, 2008 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rallamajoopAs promised, a bit more of a run down of what we actually got out of Overture once the story mode hit the web.
The not-so-good
Much as I try to claim I'm never in a fandom purely for the yaoi, it's hard not to feel let down. I mean, I'm sure no-one would ever expect the Sol/Ky thing to get full canonical confirmation, but we *know* they've been deliberately playing it up over the years - very likely just to draw in the yaoi-fan audience, so this was seriously out of the blue. I don't know how many people have bothered to watch that particular video, but believe me when I say that hearing Ky declaring how deeply in love he was with... er, what's-her-name, didn't do my fangirl heart any good. ^^;
It all gets pretty messy from then on in. We've got a major character romantically involved with someone who probably isn't someone we know, in a storyline that probably is an AU. Some interviews apparently support the AU theory, but people can play right through the game without knowing for sure one way or the other. I was originally working on the theory that GG2 wouldn't be strongly connected with GGX/GGXX but probably set chronologically after - so maybe they'd wrap up the PWAB plot in the X timeline then move on to finish off That Man with Overture, right? But if GG2's entirely AU but GGXXAC+ is still promising to include That Man's plans into its plot, then they appear to be trying to resolve the same plotline in two places at once, and that could get ugly. Awkward. Very awkward.
Eh, while I'm at it, I'll get the rest of my complaints out here before I move on to the positive stuff.
If That Man really was unmasked as promised, I must've blinked and missed it or something. We do see him fight, but he has a completely different voice and seems to be in a completely different form to usual. More confusion.
The explanation for why Ky no longer uses the Fuuraiken is about two sentences and implies it happened last week. How he got a new weapon so fast I don't know, it didn't seem well thought out. There's not so much as a hint as to where the Fuuenken's gone.
Still don't like Sol's new voice actor. He's tolerable, but quite apart from him not being what I'm used to, he doesn't even seem to be able to act as well as the rest of the cast. Sol may not have much emotional range, but some of his lines felt a bit flat. What worries me even more is that if they couldn't get his usual Story Mode VA for Overture, I don't really like our chances of them getting him for AC+.
The antagonism between Sol and Ky is gone - and I'm really not sure where. Ky clearly knows all about Sol's past, he doesn't even blink when Dr Paradigm starts calling him Frederick. I'd probably be all in favour of this if they'd given us the slightest clue when or how. Clearly, they must've made up well before Ky entrusted his son to Sol, but that's not much of a clue, and I really wouldn't count on the Overture series ever bothering to go back and clear that up. If this is meant to be a sequel to the original GG, they must've skipped a hell of a lot in the middle. Really, if the whole world is set in some complete AU where Sol never stole the Fuuenken and left the Order at all, it would explain a lot more.
The not-so-bad
All that's a bit of a shame, really, because up until the middle I was really enjoying the story. There's a lot of interesting stuff in it about the nature of magic, the Gears, Justice - and there was quite a lot more interesting stuff towards the end too, now I've found some proper translations. It's just a bit hard to know whether any of it applies to the GGX universe, which makes me that bit more uncomfortable about it.
I did really like the new characters too - though Valentine didn't make much impression on me. Sin spends a lot of the latter half of the game acting like a moody teenager. He's got some kind of issues with Ky which I couldn't fully make sense of, but I still did like him overall (hell, he probably *is* about in his moody teen phase in Gear years).
And, y'know, considering that they married Ky off to some faceless, nameless source of ongoing confusion, a lot of parts of that side of the story were actually handled surprisingly well. It may have come out of the blue, but in their (limited) defense, it was obviously supposed to have done. Izuna and Dr Paradigm nearly had heart attacks when they found out. And while we never find out much about what's-her-name, they did put some decent effort into underlining just how important she was to Ky and Sin. Not enough to really mitigate having this sprung on us, but it doesn't hurt. I do wonder whether we're actually going to see anything of her in later installments to the series. The funny thing is, I wouldn't actually count on that either...
Overall... well, really quite disappointing after all that build up (on the sales front as well, apparently). And there's no helping that I'm still stuck on the issue of Ky's new girlfriend. Sol/Ky fandom's never been exactly huge and a plot development like this isn't going to help any, and I'm selfish enough when it comes to wanting new fanstuff to enjoy that that irritates me. =P
Guess we'll just have to wait and see what Accent Core Plus has in store.
But hey - no sense being all gloomy about it. So here's an off-the-top-of-my-head list of what you can re-interpret out of Overture from the Sol/Ky perspective.
1. The game has added a lot of support to any interpretation where Sol and Ky have gotten over their antagonism, told each other all their secrets and are generally Getting On with each other.
2. The game has stated quite clearly that Ky has no compunctions - religious or otherwise - about making it known what he's been doing in private with someone he's not married too but still in love with. XD
3. Turn it how you like, Sin still has two Dads. Sol is obviously very much part of the family.
4. C'mon, how much can we be expected to care about a relationship between a lead character and someone they're so very determined not to tell us anything about, huh?
I'm also coming up with all these terrible ideas for 4-koma parodies of certain scenes, but they're not going to be much good until the full contents of the story mode are a bit more common knowledge >.>
The not-so-good
Much as I try to claim I'm never in a fandom purely for the yaoi, it's hard not to feel let down. I mean, I'm sure no-one would ever expect the Sol/Ky thing to get full canonical confirmation, but we *know* they've been deliberately playing it up over the years - very likely just to draw in the yaoi-fan audience, so this was seriously out of the blue. I don't know how many people have bothered to watch that particular video, but believe me when I say that hearing Ky declaring how deeply in love he was with... er, what's-her-name, didn't do my fangirl heart any good. ^^;
It all gets pretty messy from then on in. We've got a major character romantically involved with someone who probably isn't someone we know, in a storyline that probably is an AU. Some interviews apparently support the AU theory, but people can play right through the game without knowing for sure one way or the other. I was originally working on the theory that GG2 wouldn't be strongly connected with GGX/GGXX but probably set chronologically after - so maybe they'd wrap up the PWAB plot in the X timeline then move on to finish off That Man with Overture, right? But if GG2's entirely AU but GGXXAC+ is still promising to include That Man's plans into its plot, then they appear to be trying to resolve the same plotline in two places at once, and that could get ugly. Awkward. Very awkward.
Eh, while I'm at it, I'll get the rest of my complaints out here before I move on to the positive stuff.
If That Man really was unmasked as promised, I must've blinked and missed it or something. We do see him fight, but he has a completely different voice and seems to be in a completely different form to usual. More confusion.
The explanation for why Ky no longer uses the Fuuraiken is about two sentences and implies it happened last week. How he got a new weapon so fast I don't know, it didn't seem well thought out. There's not so much as a hint as to where the Fuuenken's gone.
Still don't like Sol's new voice actor. He's tolerable, but quite apart from him not being what I'm used to, he doesn't even seem to be able to act as well as the rest of the cast. Sol may not have much emotional range, but some of his lines felt a bit flat. What worries me even more is that if they couldn't get his usual Story Mode VA for Overture, I don't really like our chances of them getting him for AC+.
The antagonism between Sol and Ky is gone - and I'm really not sure where. Ky clearly knows all about Sol's past, he doesn't even blink when Dr Paradigm starts calling him Frederick. I'd probably be all in favour of this if they'd given us the slightest clue when or how. Clearly, they must've made up well before Ky entrusted his son to Sol, but that's not much of a clue, and I really wouldn't count on the Overture series ever bothering to go back and clear that up. If this is meant to be a sequel to the original GG, they must've skipped a hell of a lot in the middle. Really, if the whole world is set in some complete AU where Sol never stole the Fuuenken and left the Order at all, it would explain a lot more.
The not-so-bad
All that's a bit of a shame, really, because up until the middle I was really enjoying the story. There's a lot of interesting stuff in it about the nature of magic, the Gears, Justice - and there was quite a lot more interesting stuff towards the end too, now I've found some proper translations. It's just a bit hard to know whether any of it applies to the GGX universe, which makes me that bit more uncomfortable about it.
I did really like the new characters too - though Valentine didn't make much impression on me. Sin spends a lot of the latter half of the game acting like a moody teenager. He's got some kind of issues with Ky which I couldn't fully make sense of, but I still did like him overall (hell, he probably *is* about in his moody teen phase in Gear years).
And, y'know, considering that they married Ky off to some faceless, nameless source of ongoing confusion, a lot of parts of that side of the story were actually handled surprisingly well. It may have come out of the blue, but in their (limited) defense, it was obviously supposed to have done. Izuna and Dr Paradigm nearly had heart attacks when they found out. And while we never find out much about what's-her-name, they did put some decent effort into underlining just how important she was to Ky and Sin. Not enough to really mitigate having this sprung on us, but it doesn't hurt. I do wonder whether we're actually going to see anything of her in later installments to the series. The funny thing is, I wouldn't actually count on that either...
Overall... well, really quite disappointing after all that build up (on the sales front as well, apparently). And there's no helping that I'm still stuck on the issue of Ky's new girlfriend. Sol/Ky fandom's never been exactly huge and a plot development like this isn't going to help any, and I'm selfish enough when it comes to wanting new fanstuff to enjoy that that irritates me. =P
Guess we'll just have to wait and see what Accent Core Plus has in store.
But hey - no sense being all gloomy about it. So here's an off-the-top-of-my-head list of what you can re-interpret out of Overture from the Sol/Ky perspective.
1. The game has added a lot of support to any interpretation where Sol and Ky have gotten over their antagonism, told each other all their secrets and are generally Getting On with each other.
2. The game has stated quite clearly that Ky has no compunctions - religious or otherwise - about making it known what he's been doing in private with someone he's not married too but still in love with. XD
3. Turn it how you like, Sin still has two Dads. Sol is obviously very much part of the family.
4. C'mon, how much can we be expected to care about a relationship between a lead character and someone they're so very determined not to tell us anything about, huh?
I'm also coming up with all these terrible ideas for 4-koma parodies of certain scenes, but they're not going to be much good until the full contents of the story mode are a bit more common knowledge >.>
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-10 03:41 am (UTC)Well, I don't know if you've glanced at any of the other comments around here, but I have been rather having fun with the idea that if Ky's making such a big deal about what he and she did to produce Sin, clearly this is a matter of great personal pride for him because that was the only time he ever managed to get it up for her. >D And others have been helpfully suggesting other possibilities. Anyway, as you say - very difficult, but never impossible.
Hah, just don't ask my about where the worst of my own fangirl brain has been going. >.>
Personally, I hope very much it's not Dizzy, because 1) 'They're in love in one world only not in the other' is a pretty retarded premise for an AU, 2) Even if she's awfully mature for her age, in my own head, Dizzy still counts as a three year old. Ew. 3) Damn it, I *like* her with the Jellyfish Pirates. Maybe the most irritating part for me is how many people are still convinced that there's no AU involved and that's officially who she is. Curse all this timeline ambiguity. ><
no subject
Date: 2008-01-10 05:33 am (UTC)UH, I MEAN
He loves her, he just uh, has issues in bed. And he'd rather not talk about what she was wearing that got him up. XD BUT SEE. That could work! Being all pure "wuv <3333" and not so much on the sexual. (Ky is just a bit slow and doesn't quite get yet that sex is Good, even in God's eyes, and a good part of love. Or at least he pretends he gets it, but we see through that.)
It can't be worse then where mine is. You didn't ask me about where I played with AUs, or why I kept calling it the kid and not Sin >> I uh, have Thoughts. But it involves OC so we won't talk of it even if crazybatshitinsane!Gear!Ky is a very amusing idea, and the not!twin not making me feel so bad with the incest that is Overture now. "....You are playing the twin card far too much." "That's part of the point."
Again. I withhold my pedo comments. But yes, I also prefer her with the Jellyfish <3 And if I was to pair her... I would go with T. Not Ky XD
Though I-noDizzy might be a fun crack pairing, if one brought S&M into it...no subject
Date: 2008-01-10 06:01 am (UTC)If I ever get through my existing unfinished backlog, that is. And felt like being really evil to poor Ky.Me personally, I'm automatically squicked by the idea of Dizzy being paired with almost anyone older than May. (Though Dizzy/May could be awfully cute...) My own mental classification system dumps her firmly in the 'still a child' camp.
Wouldn't I-no/Anyone wind up in S&M sooner or later?no subject
Date: 2008-01-10 07:34 am (UTC)You say that like it's a bad thing. I just make note of the fact in some bio I read for her it made a comment where she has a lot of fun with Dizzy.I am currently staring at your drama CD related I-no one, but then I am obsessed with both the XX and X ones.
Who does Ky's voice doesn't help either, once I realized who it was. Torturing Ky is fun. I think that's part of the reason I'm liking him so much. And uh, being the torturer is part of why I am liking I-no so much...
Sadist tendencies you say? That's only half right!I manage to not think of her as a kid. But then, I uh, okay 3 is low for even me, but tween I could even deal with. Also helps I just think of it like dog years, or something >> Meaning 2 months = 1 year.
....Which would make 180 human years!Sol 1080 gear years, but shh >>and gosh, I abuse tags. But I do like my html *has done anchors on LJ posts before*
no subject
Date: 2008-01-10 07:59 am (UTC)Oh, she has fun with everyone (except Sol. Though Dizzy more than most of them.) Have you seen some of the dialogue she exchanges with Baiken?My fic, you mean? XX = the jailbreak one, and X = the Millia one? Well, in that case, the XX one is off with my beta-reader now.
Discovering who did Ky's voice cracked me up to no end, but possibly not for the same reasons. The only trouble with torturing Ky is it's just too easy. >.>
With Dizzy, it's personal interpretation mostly, other's milage may vary. ^^; She *is* pretty damn mature for a three year old, she just still doesn't strike me as being past mid-teens, let alone old enough to be a mother, hence the 'ew'.
Yeah... Gears don't age in a very linear process.no subject
Date: 2008-01-11 03:04 am (UTC)But I did like those two :) Then really, I liked all the bits I read XD
I suppose it has to do with the fact how much I've actually interacted. GG was a series I knew story of, vaguely knew characters, but mainly knew about from crack thing we did in this one RP where some GG fans in the RP compared some of the muses to GG people. My character was Anji, and had a cosplay outfit for it 8D He had fun with that. But yes, it's only now I'm really getting into it and learning all the facts. WHO KNOWS, MAYBE I GET UNCHEEP AND ACTUALLY BUY ONE OF THEM SOON Yeah right. Capcom is raping my wallet in Feb with DMC4 and GS4, and I'm saving up for a Newtype subscription since I took it as a sign when you get five out of six issues in the last six months you should get the subscription.
Eh. That's part of it's charm to me :) I get torture with him, but I also like other parts about the boy. I find it interesting how.... important? he is. How much he was the hope of the world. I think of a certain quote by Kingsley;
“One good man, one man who does not put on his religion once a week with his Sunday coat, but wears it for his working dress, and lets the thought of God grow into him, and through and through him, till everything he says and does becomes religious, that man is worth a thousand sermons — he is a living Gospel — he comes in the spirit and power of Elias — he is the image of God. And men see his good works, and admire them in spite of themselves, and see that they are Godlike, and that God's grace is no dream, but that the Holy Spirit is still among men, and that all nobleness and manliness is His gift, His stamp, His picture: and so they get a glimpse of God again in His saints and heroes, and glorify their Father who is in heaven.”
As for his voice.. god, well. I'm a fan of that seiyuu, so I felt dumb that it wasn't till I was through three of four disks that I realized it was him. I don't know many, but those I do know... :/ And a few of his roles, when compared to Ky are amusing or make me cackle. Mao and Ky sharing a seiyuu? Cracktastic. Now that he also did Krad... Oh, playing with that verse where yes, I'm sure you could play with Sol as Dark. But more then that, total fucking insane angel Krad having the same seiyuu is fascinating. Listen to Rakuen ~Fanatic~ sometime if you haven't, it's actually sung by Kusao.
I think of it in an on off terms. Two months = year, then they're adult. And then it doesn't matter. Hell, we have no idea of how long Gears naturally live yet, do we? I mean Sol is not too far off from his bicentennial, right?no subject
Date: 2008-01-11 04:25 am (UTC)Oh, I did catch that, I just wasn't certain what you meant by 'the XX and X ones'.
But I just think I really fell in love with Side Black and Red, for whatever reason.
Probably because Side Red/Side Black were all kinds of awesome. Really, when did Ishiwatari forget how to do good AUs, huh? ;_;
But I did like those two :) Then really, I liked all the bits I read XD
And I shall be doing my darned best to get them all finished and posted before too long!
I find it interesting how.... important? he is. How much he was the hope of the world.
Oh yeah - how well they showed that was one of the great things about the Side Red/Black CDs. He spends so much time in Sol's shadow strength-wise, and yet he still manages to be so important in his own right. It's really neat.
And somehow, he even manages to do the devoted religious thing without getting obnoxious about it, and he's even gradually getting the hang of the idea the world isn't all black and white. They really did such an awesome job with his character.
What got me about Ky's seiyuu was that he was the same guy who did Trunks from Dragonball Z, who was something like my first anime boycrush from back when I was, oh, fourteen or something? So here I am ten years later, and it was like my taste in fictional guys had not evolved at all. Man, did that crack me up. XD
The only problem with Dizzy is that despite her moments of surprise maturity, she still looks and acts like someone in her mid teens most of the time, and that makes me awfully uncomfortable about her being paired with an adult. But it's mostly just a personal interpretation thing.