Someone once pointed out to me that there's a fundamental similarity between the magical girl and mecha genres, and that in a way they're both pushing some of the same buttons, just with different audiences.
1) In both magical girl and mecha fiction, the underlying premise of the work is in a sense similar.
2) The characters are, as a rule, merely mortal beings, ordinary humans by nature.
3) BUT they have the ability to put on an idealized, physically powerful 'upgrade' of the human body.
4) In this powerful body, they are immune to the threats that would endanger normals.
5) In this powerful body, they perform violence against the plots' antagonists.
5) But the characters' emotional well-being is not protected by the powerful body.
6) Therefore, they need something more than their physical power.
7) As a corollary to (6), without that 'something more,' they languish and suffer.
The main difference between the genres is whether the idealized powerful 'upgraded' body is an enormous robot man (the robots are rarely but occasionally female-gendered) or a regular-sized spellcasting woman (the spellcasters are rarely but occasionally male-gendered)
That's literally only one example, my complaint was more how surprisingly rare it is for the Magical Girl & Mecha genres to cross. I mean, freaking heck, some Super Robots are either literally magic and/or effectively gods. First Church of Mecha is even a thing.
Now, while the Sailor Senshi using mecha would be weird, I'm all for Idolmaster Xenogolssia happening. Hmm, yes, an idea... forming. Unfortunately it'll either be super non-canon or a while off, but I am extremely amused by the idea of MCAT linking up their Artificial Magical Girls to a personal Mech to serve as a giant power amplifier. Oversized magical robots may or may not be intelligent. Much funnier if so. My definition of funny might be distorted.
Through this discussion, I realized that my lingering hopes for a Harry Dresden crossover once we reach the international level are not likely. Not just because the White Council that Harry is a part of is intended to be an international organization, but because magic itself works VERY differently in the Dresdenverse.
1. When a human gains the ability to cast magic, they become "separated" from the rest of society. In modern times, this manifests as anything with a microchip shutting down in a wizard's presence. Back in World War I era, gunpowder wouldn't ignite, and in the Dark Ages, milk would spoil in their proximity.
2. There are certain magical acts deemed black magic, which include using magic to murder, mind-manipulation, enthrallment, and necromancy. These are not merely social conventions; using these types of spells directly "sours the soul", creating an addictive effect that drives the wizard to further depravity. These mages are called warlocks, and are hunted down by the White Council with extreme prejudice.
As we have seen no evidence of Point 1, and Point 2 would mean that the IMO would have achieved unsustainable levels of Stupid Evil by now, the settings don't really mesh. Also, the first book in the series takes place closer to the year 2000, meaning that in 1992 he's probably still training under his mentor Ebenezer at this point.
And Rayearth is a second, but I can't help you with numbers three and on.
But as to my point, my argument contains a possible reason why the genres don't cross often.
Namely, they're the same genre, in a way.
Magical girls who get into mecha or mecha that have magical girl transformations or what have you? They'd be redundant, in most cases. That would be the idealized empowered form of the hero(ine) getting an idealized empowered form of their own.
...
Now, that's not entirely unheard of in either genre. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has smaller mechs used to pilot larger ones. Sailor Moon itself effectively gives Usagi a "magical girl squared" transformation in the form of some of her higher-end powerups and arguably Princess Serenity. And there very much are true crossovers such as, again, Magic Knight Rayearth, which is an alternate-world story in which the protagonists are magical girls who gain access to mecha to fight the big battles later in their plotline.
But giving the idealized empowered body an idealized empowered body of its own is relatively rare in either genre, and that rarity probably makes crossovers less common.
Now, while the Sailor Senshi using mecha would be weird, I'm all for Idolmaster Xenogolssia happening.
I'm not comfortable with the moon exploding. We some of our best stuff there.
Hmm, yes, an idea... forming. Unfortunately it'll either be super non-canon or a while off, but I am extremely amused by the idea of MCAT linking up their Artificial Magical Girls to a personal Mech to serve as a giant power amplifier. Oversized magical robots may or may not be intelligent. Much funnier if so. My definition of funny might be distorted.
The big problem is how to get them involved in the action without insane levels of collateral damage, since so much of what we do takes place in an urban setting.
Through this discussion, I realized that my lingering hopes for a Harry Dresden crossover once we reach the international level are not likely. Not just because the White Council that Harry is a part of is intended to be an international organization, but because magic itself works VERY differently in the Dresdenverse.
1. When a human gains the ability to cast magic, they become "separated" from the rest of society. In modern times, this manifests as anything with a microchip shutting down in a wizard's presence. Back in World War I era, gunpowder wouldn't ignite, and in the Dark Ages, milk would spoil in their proximity.
2. There are certain magical acts deemed black magic, which include using magic to murder, mind-manipulation, enthrallment, and necromancy. These are not merely social conventions; using these types of spells directly "sours the soul", creating an addictive effect that drives the wizard to further depravity. These mages are called warlocks, and are hunted down by the White Council with extreme prejudice.
As we have seen no evidence of Point 1, and Point 2 would mean that the IMO would have achieved unsustainable levels of Stupid Evil by now, the settings don't really mesh. Also, the first book in the series takes place closer to the year 2000, meaning that in 1992 he's probably still training under his mentor Ebenezer at this point.
The explicit existence of magitech, including magitech that can interface with modern technology (which I'm pretty sure Ami's canonically used the Mercury Computer to do) works contrary to (1). And the extent to which Sailor Moon can, for example, visit a hospital without shorting out electronics is decidedly unlike Harry Dresden. You could in principle handwave it by saying that senshi, being powered by giant inhuman planetary magic wells, are magically "neutral" enough that their magic doesn't care about human technology and isn't inimical to it... But then you run into the problem of the IMO's society being compatible with credit card readers.
But then yeah, you run into (2). To be fair, one could again handwave things like this and say that the IMO has fallen down the Stupid Evil curve precisely because they regularly use magic to kill and do similar other things. But you more broadly crash into the problems that the White Council and other major institutions are explicitly global, not regional. Anything the White Council wouldn't tolerate, forces a major rewrite of Dresden's overarching setting. It's much worse than trying to patch Harry Potter in, because you can squint a little and just say "well yes there are overtly international institutions but none of the ones we see on-screen necessarily extend outside of Europe very much, so it's possible that magical governance takes disparate forms in other places and that the character of yokai in different lands is very different."
Nozomi can't help but hum as she makes her way down the road. School is over for the day, and tomorrow is Sunday, which means that the girl doesn't have to spend the hours and hours struggling to finish her homework that is due Monday until tomorrow.
Of course, the pink haired girl knows that most of her new friends would chide her for putting off the homework until tomorrow, but... but Math is boring, and English is Hard, and the girl doesn't even understand why Japanese is a Class. Especially when it involves so much reading.
And even worse, the reading is all so boring, which is something that Nozomi will only ever think in the privacy of her own mind, because one of her friends, Komachi wants to grow up and become an author, so saying that Reading is boring would be mean.
That is something that Nozomi would never want to be.
And anyways, it's not like tomorrow isn't going to come. Nozomi has plenty of time to work on her homework tomorrow. So long as... No no. Negative thoughts like that are bad.
Everything will be fine. Taking a breath as she nods, Nozomi lightly slaps her cheeks, banishing those bad thoughts to the very back of her mind, all the while ignoring the little part of her brain that speaks with Karen's voice, saying that those thoughts aren't bad, they are responsible.
Instead, Nozomi is going to continue on with her plans for the evening. She is going to head over to Natts House, and see if there are any new necklaces or the like that Coco and Natts have made over the week. As the girl thinks about that, she can't help but remember the slim pieces of paper hiding out in her pocket.
Maybe... Maybe she could get Coco to get her something since her grades have improved as much as they did.
Sure, going from a 25 to a 37 isn't a major increase, but she's still getting better, and like... Aren't people supposed to give presents and stuff to congratulate you when you get better?
Not that she really wants anything to be honest, but... Oh, Nozomi can't even think those kinds of thoughts, they make her face go all red. But maybe... Maybe Coco would even pat her on the head and tell her she did a good job! That's all she really wants.
But to say that aloud... Nozomi can't do that. not when Coco is... No. Nozomi already decided that there aren't going to be any bad thoughts today, and that is very much the plan. And it's for the best that the girl made that decision, as there it is.
Stepping through the door, there is the cheerful chime as the bell connected to the door rings. Under normal circumstances, that is more to let either Coco or Natts know that they have customers, and to come down from the living area above the shop, but it looks like both Coco and Natts are already at the counter.
That isn't entirely too surprising, this is a shop after all... but...
Nozomi can't help but notice that the person who they are selling to is by far and beyond unlike any of their regular costumers. Which... does make sense, as at least half of all the customers that come to the shop tend to be girls from Nozomi's school who are almost more there to swoon over Natts as he works.
But the woman standing at the counter isn't anything like the love struck girls who normally hang out. She's tall and tanned, with long green hair and eyes sharp as diamonds. It takes Nozomi a moment to realize that the woman at the counter had turned to face her. The young girl freezes, mind going blank as she is unsure of what to do when faced with a woman like this. The oddest of thoughts is the one that manages to pierce the sudden freeze of Nozomi's mind - 'Eyes like wine'.
Finally, the woman's gaze turns away from Nozomi, a soft chuckle on her lips. "She's adorable." The woman says, and Natts chuckles, but there is a strange look on Coco's face. Unbidden, there is a thought that Nozomi has tried to bury time and again, but it always comes back when she least expects it, and least wants it.
Coco is... so many things. He's smart and wise, who has a way with words beyond anything that Nozomi herself is capable of. Since the very first day that she met him, he's been there to help her when she needed it. Part of the reason that she tried so hard during her mid-terms was to try and impress him...
And here he is, some impossibly beautiful woman leaning over the counter and making eyes at him. Nozomi is just...
She's just Nozomi. In the girl's mind, all her accomplishments as Cure Dream fall away, not something that the girl even considers in this one side fight of femininity. If anything, there is a part of Nozomi that almost counts those things against her.
While the girl is able to pull her thoughts back together, those small fears still manage to worm their way into Nozomi's brain, and it is an oddly shaken Nozomi that starts to look through the various pieces of jewelry that the store has for sale, all the while the girl is keeping an ear out to listen to the conversation that the stranger is having with the two.
"Hmm..." The woman says, glancing over to the TV behind Natts. "Excuse me, sir. Would it be possible for you to turn the TV on?" She asks, "I know that the news is about to start, and I'd rather not miss anything interesting going on."
with a click, the screen lights up, and even before the screen is finished warming up, there is already sound pouring from the speakers. "-nd we go to our man on the scene live." A newscaster's voice says.
"I'm here at the corner of-" The on scene journalist starts to say, before there is a mighty cracking sound. Confused, the man holding the camera must have looked up, and Nozomi's eyes go wide as she realizes that there is a massive chunk of stone falling towards the man. The girl's every instinct is to leap forward, but she knows that what she is looking at is on a screen, and that there is nothing that she can do.
However, it seems that she isn't the only person to think that way. A blur of white shoots, resolving into a dark haired girl dressed in white who whirls about, before unleashing a kick that cracks even louder than the stone as it is blown apart by the blow. "You've got to get out of here," A new voice says, and once more the Camera is pulled around quickly, this time showing a red headed girl wearing black.
"Wh-who?" The journalist tries to say, but the girl cuts him off. "I'm Cure Black, but we don't have time for this." She says, "It isn't safe here."
As if to punctuate the girl's words, there is a crash as a towering beast that looks like a train car with arms and legs and a massive angry U shaped brow slams into the ground. The beast gives a powerful roar of "UZAINA!"
"SPIRITS OF THE EARTH!" Another new voice calls out, and yet another girl drops out of the sky, her hands held wide as a blossoming wall of golden light shines out, blocking off the beast.
At this point, Nozomi has crossed the room, eyes glued to the screen as she watches... That girl called herself Cure Black. Are these another group of Pretty Cure? And who are those other girls, the ones in distinctly different uniforms. Nozomi might not be the smartest girl around, but she even she recognizes the middle of Shibuya. To get from Shikoku to Tokyo would take hours upon hours. There is just no way that Nozomi could get the other girls and get up there before whatever this is ends, let alone nightfall.
The tall woman smiles as she sees Nozomi watch Sailor Moon and her allies fight off the unexpected ambush that was set for them. Her mission here is done. Turning her smile to the two men standing at the counter, both of whom now seem to be far more guarded than they were before, she gives them a smile. "Well, I think that is enough of teasing the future queen of the Palmier Kingdom." That statement first throws the two off guard, before Natts's face turns harsher, and Coco's face gains just a hint of a red tint. "When your girls have time, you should take them on a trip to Tokyo." Is all she says, before turning and walking out of the store.
THE EARTH
- While discussions continue about the nature of the different forces that have begun to assault the world, the United Nations has finally released an official declaration, not only condemning the Dark Kingdom and it's ilk, but calling for the Nations of the World to put aside their differences in light of this ongoing attack on the four corners of the world. It is only by coming together that the threats assaulting all of Mankind can be pushed back. As such, the United Nations has decided to form a committee to look into the development of methods to stand against these forces. Reactions have been varied across the board, ranging from those who believe that the UN has no right to ask such things, to other saying it's a good idea, to others still who believe that a committee is an entirely useless result and the people of the world are clearly going to have to fend for themselves.
NORTH AMERICA
- It is still only hours following the speech given by Democratic Candidate William 'Bill' Clinton, and America is still processing the very nature of what he spoke of. Saying that the speech was 'Matters of Security the World Over' had caused many over the course of the week to theorize as the nature of the speech, everything had been brought to the table, a plan for dealing with the threats to American Soil to announcing his resignation or stating that he was allying himself with the Dark Agency.
What no one expected however, was for the president, backed by the Cherokee Nation to reveal Cryptids to the world. Apparently, for generations now, there have been other sentient species living among out in the wilds of the world, hiding away from a world that they believed would hate and fear them. And in a way, that is the very crux of Bill Clinton's new political platform. There are those who have been born and raised on American Soil, but who are not Americans by right. Clinton says that such is a travesty of Justice, and should he be elected president, he swears to put into place measures to accelerate the Naturalization of these Native American Sapients. As proof of his words, Clinton introduced the American People to Pablo, a Sasquatch who has been born and raised in the Texas hill sides. Standing at nearly nine feet tall, there is absolutely no way that this is a man in a suit.
- The Dark Liberator Political Movement scored a massive win this week, having managed to push one of the major Cartels entirely from Mexican soil. Additionally, there are unsubstantiated rumors that it is due to a strange device that Liberator Agents are giving to Mexican Citizens that allowed them to fight and push out the members of the Cartel.
SOUTH AMERICA
- Mexico isn't the only place that the Dark Liberator Movement is growing. The Movement is surging across Brazil, however there things are far more complicated, as a massive tower of Brass and Silver has appeared atop one of the peaks of Pico Dos Marins. Where it came from, and how it appeared without anyone realizing is a mystery that is still to be solved. What is known is now anyone who approaches within a mile and a half of the tower disappears, reappearing three hours later with no memory of what has happened in the intervening time.
AFRICA
- The only major news that is coming out of Africa at this time is coverage of Phantom Empire Attacks.
EUROPE
- Rumors continue to abound across London of a masked vigilante known only as Sailor V, all the while the memory plague continues to spread across the nation. Scotland Yard has said that it is unable to comment on ongoing investigations, but that there are high hopes for an end soon to the Memory Plague, what exactly Scotland Yard means by this is unknown.
ASIA
- Tensions across Russia and former members of the USSR are continuing to build as evidence of the Life Energy Drug being used are beginning to pop up across the northern half of the continent.
- China is demanding reparations from the Dark Kingdom which is apparently beginning to enact attacks across the nation. However, the information about the attacks taking place are very limited. Some whispers are being brought forth that believe that the attacks may be being faked.
AUSTRALIA
- The mysterious organization known as the Dark Circus have been spreading across Australia. The organization is well known for it's use of the strange drug known as Life Energy which has also been found in Japan.
JAPAN
- Sailor Moon is the name on the streets in Japan. That is the name of the leader of the strange sailor suited warriors who have continued to face off against threats that the Japanese people seem to be unaware of, and has gained a particular amount of acclaim after somehow teleporting into a museum and somehow managing to pull a girl who was supposedly trapped in a painting out of the painting. The strange attacks and occurrences are only becoming more and more common as the week goes on, ranging from the island to Shikoku all the way to Hokkaido.
Out of everything that could have been revealed I did not expect bigfoot.
Wait there are hairy man myths in just about every corner of the world that raises the question are they all real? What about things like Nessie or the Mothman?
Ah, partial masquerade breach in the direction of Youkai and the like rather than magic. Pro-masquerade factions are probably going to want to keep it at that, but there's little chance in hell of that happening.
(OngoroQuest continues to have a horrible turn or several)
- While discussions continue about the nature of the different forces that have begun to assault the world, the United Nations has finally released an official declaration, not only condemning the Dark Kingdom and it's ilk, but calling for the Nations of the World to put aside their differences in light of this ongoing attack on the four corners of the world. It is only by coming together that the threats assaulting all of Mankind can be pushed back. As such, the United Nations has decided to form a committee to look into the development of methods to stand against these forces. Reactions have been varied across the board, ranging from those who believe that the UN has no right to ask such things, to other saying it's a good idea, to others still who believe that a committee is an entirely useless result and the people of the world are clearly going to have to fend for themselves.
What no one expected however, was for the president, backed by the Cherokee Nation to reveal Cryptids to the world. Apparently, for generations now, there have been other sentient species living among out in the wilds of the world, hiding away from a world that they believed would hate and fear them. And in a way, that is the very crux of Bill Clinton's new political platform. There are those who have been born and raised on American Soil, but who are not Americans by right. Clinton says that such is a travesty of Justice, and should he be elected president, he swears to put into place measures to accelerate the Naturalization of these Native American Sapients. As proof of his words, Clinton introduced the American People to Pablo, a Sasquatch who has been born and raised in the Texas hill sides. Standing at nearly nine feet tall, there is absolutely no way that this is a man in a suit.
Nice, that fits neatly with Democrat political positioning. Although I fail to see why the genteel George H. W. Bush won't just support a bill in congress to do just that. This is the time when the Republican party is controlled by the likes of Bob Dole, and the New England branch of the Republican party still exists. And as the incumbent, Bush doesn't really have to worry about winning the primary (in fact at this point the primaries are over).
Short answer is SPOILERS
Slightly less short answer is that Bush has something else he is wanting to push as his own front runner, and the original plan was to reveal it in two months time, but that may need to be pushed up.
Hm, Pluto is helping from the background, nudging the Pretty Cure 5 to learn of the Senshi and other Precures, encouraging them to meet with the others when they can. Though understandable, there is no need for apprehension on Coco and Natts' part. Hopefully, they will understand the next time they meet Pluto.
As to Nozomi, she is in such a similar state to Moon at the start that it is uncanny. As it is, improving from 25 to 37 is hardly something worthy of bragging. It is still a miserable F. If she is to be the future Palmier queen, then she must improve herself tremendously, just as Moon has done and is continuing to do.
I mean, in the episode that is specifically referencing, that is the jump she made, and her friends were planning on helping her reach a 50 in time for finals at the end of the year.
Because I apparently lost the bit talking about Brazil while editting. Give me like ten minutes to see if I can find the sketched notes, and I'll get that fixed.
Really interesting stuff in that update. The US political situation in particular interests me even if it's admittedly extraneous to the plot otherwise. That and go into it at all probably veers increasingly off topic.
so long as it doesn't end up going on for pages and pages, it is something that was just straight up mentioned in story, and theorizing about how it will affect the future of politics for a country that will eventually be someone that you need to keep an eye on isn't exactly off-topic.
So good thing, we don't need to actively recruit Sailor Pluto given she's already doing a lot in the shadows. I'm pretty sure she's willing to join the others, but will probably reject any recruitment attempts until she's ready. Still curious why the PreCure fascinate her so, but I'm guessing that's because she's trying to engineer alliances between the Senshi & PreCure given both have future rulers.
The thing that is worrying is that it sounds like, somewhat unsurprisingly, South America is faring poorly. Other places where Dark ___ are as well. We might need to step up to the stage of being able to launch attacks on the Dark Liberators soon if want any of that area to still be intact, with how they don't appear to have any real resistance there.
The thing that is worrying is that it sounds like, somewhat unsurprisingly, South America is faring poorly. Other places where Dark ___ are as well. We might need to step up to the stage of being able to launch attacks on the Dark Liberators soon if want any of that area to still be intact, with how they don't appear to have any real resistance there.
honestly even with the teleportation from our side who wants to enter South America, those of DW sure have already lost 90% of their kidneys they have been kidnapped infinite times. Honestly, at this point they may be considering the change of headquarters to exit LATAM
Unfortunately the UN's dreams of XCOM have come too little, too late.
Clinton says that such is a travesty of Justice, and should he be elected president, he swears to put into place measures to accelerate the Naturalization of these Native American Sapients.
Be interesting to know how many of those people actually want to be naturalised. The human natives of north america have always been rather reluctant.
Eh, it will play well with the voters at least.