Kurogane: I’ve fought with kudan, so I know even if your kudan is able to fly, your muscles are your body’s normal muscles.
Syaoran: You mean the ability to float and dodge like he’s as light as paper is Fai-san’s own ability?
Kurogane: Yup.
Digging more into Windy X Windam only leaves me with more questions. Hopefully some will be answered when I finally figure out how to get a working ROM (I’ve seen a couple, but I’ll admit I’m no emulator expert and I really don’t want to fuck up my computer by downloading something sketchy), but based on the couple of playthroughs I’ve found it hasn’t made much sense and that only endears it more to me. I’m a little bummed because I get the impression that there was at least a modicum of effort put in regarding the character concepts. I mean, basic as it is, the cover art style has a decently charming style to it
But everything else just fumbles the bag so hard it’s sorta cute.
That and I’m still amused at the GG bootlegs they got away with. I know no tropes are exclusive to one single game, but...come on. Nearly half the base roster is like this. Just look at them:
First, Big
AKA Not-Potemkin, also holder of the most creative name. You literally could have just called him ‘grappler’ and it would not have been more on-the-nose. I know I only found so much gameplay info but for what little I saw of him he has no personality. The most interesting thing about him is that in his stage there’s a sign with a scantily-clad woman on it, and the only reason it was noteworthy is because that’s the most un-Potemkin thing about him. I have confused his sprite for pre-Xrd Potemkin’s numerous times now. The color palette is literally the same minus the tiny hint of white
Jack
AKA Not-Slayer, also holder of an incredibly generic name, though I’ll admit I have a bit more fondness for this one (because he reminds me of Slayer. I choose to believe they’re related) The fact that he fights with his shapeshifting scarf does give off Millia vibes but tbh it’s just charming enough to where I actually sorta like him. He also throws lanterns as a weapon, and that plus the magic scarf and sunglasses gives him just enough unique quirks that I’m kinda bummed he’s not in a better game
And Stin
The not-Bridget. He’s basically the only character I’ve seen that has any kind of fan content and only one of two that I could find gameplay for (gee, I wonder why...) but concept (and lack of pants) aside, he does have a few interesting quirks. Instead of a mechanical teddy bear, he fights with the moving hands on his hat, which is a neat concept that predates Cerebella from Skullgirls by a couple of years. His brief storyline reminds me a lot of Taokaka, in the same genre of ‘I have no idea what I’m doing here and I don’t care about the (admittedly minimal) plot stakes bc I just wanna mess around.’ And, while I can’t say this for certain due to the limited info, I believe it’s implied that Stin is some sort of artificial human/robot thanks to his mechanical hat, super move that involves a rabbit mech suddenly appearing, and his final cutscene mentioning his ‘programming’ (which could also offer some explanation towards his name, as I have seen it translated both as ‘Stin’ and ‘Stein’) Curious...
The original character concepts and designs aren’t necessarily bad, but I think of the remaining roster Ashley and G are the only other ones that invoke any sort of reaction in me. It’s still a bummer I can only find so much info on the internet about the game in general
Syaoran: We’ll have to find a way up!
Fai: I might be able to get up there.
Syaoran: You know where the staircase is?
Fai: No, but I should be able to get there.
Kurogane: Yeah? How?
Fai: My kudan may be willing to help.
Sakura Kinomoto's first Magic Circle, which is Clow Reed's Magic Circle as depicted on the Clow Card Fortune Telling Guide.
A brilliant six pointed Sun being protected by the Moon, meaning this magic has a tendency to be masculine since its Clow Reed's.
That's why when the Sakura Card's come into existence, Sakura's magical circle also changes since she's using her own magic to power the cards.
Similar to Syaoran's, this Circle also indicates the proper cardinal directions, starting from the topmost going around clockwise.
北、東、南、西 - North, East, South, West
Now for the fun stuffs,
We have the mashin/rune god symbols depicted:
Rayearth: NW, Windam: North, Selece: SE
Water and Fire are on opposite sides while Wind is North. Maybe the first card that Sakura used was intended, or maybe it's a coincidence...
But as a wise woman once quoted, "There is no such thing as coincidence."
Well, here's Yuuko Ichihara's circle too. Western zodiac is displayed around the Cephiro mashin/runegod sigils... featuring one that's not in MKR thats honestly just a stylized infinite symbol.
The beautiful iconography of the moon cycle in the center, featuring a full moon for the element or water and a new moon for the element of wind. Even magatama are featured.
While Clow Reed's Circle is very Western/Chinese influenced and Yuuko Ichihara's is very Western/Japanese influenced, they still prefer to refer to the elements using the 'Cephiro Sigils' as opposed to Alchemical Symbolism.
... also Fai D. Fluorite's staff is featured... or at least a similar design?
D?
D.
Look really closely at the bottom of Clow Reed's Circle....
D...
Clow Reed potentially was a part of The Magic Association and maybe even stole their secrets, hence why he's been able to do inhuman feats while being shockingly human.
Dies?... He'll just fracture his soul in 2 parts just to put the association off of his trail.
It's not too crazy to jump to that logic either since he knows of Cephiro (and True Mokona too) and the magic they have access to, including whatever training the magic association put him through.
I think the main question is, was the Clow Card's actually made by him or did he steal it from the magic association? Do the cards attach themselves to their most powerful user, meaning they had another owner and another name in the past?
Certainly a neat design for a Gundam, especially the shell unit making up the face. The kit itself is solid like most G-With builds, but also suffers from those awful C clip ankles. Honestly my biggest issue with the kit is the same one I had with the Calibarn: the clear plastic for the shell units is just too dark, and while that may be more accurate, it unfortunately keeps the colorful permet lines from standing out.
You can, however, flip off people with the big arm.
SDEX Gundam Aerial
My very first SDEX kit, and I'm in love with this little Space Oomfie. From what I've gathered, it's a bit of a step up from previous SDEX kits (the backside is fully designed, even with color correcting stickers), and it looks great sitting on my desk. My only caution is: I spent more time applying stickers to this kit than actually building it, and while it certainly looks good with most of the stickers properly applied, it needs A LOT to reach near color accuracy, and poorly applied stickers can definitely hurt it. If you want to paint it accurately, you're in for a long project.
HG 105 Dagger + Gunbarrel
I've wanted this kit for years, and it finally got a reprint! As a lover of funnels, bits and all manner of remote weaponry, I've always loved the Ganbarrel Striker; it's my favorite of the bunch. The kit itself certainly shows it's age (2004) with basic part design, limited articulation and poor color separation, but the simplicity was almost refeshing after building nothing but modern WFM kits the past year. I had to paint a lot more details than I initially expected, but the results were worth it.
Absolutely in love with the Gunbarrel Striker though, and of course I had to attach it to my favorite OMNI suit, the Windam.
HG Rising Freedom Gundam
Oh, I love it. The body itself is probably my favorite iteration of the Freedom series of Gundams, and if it wasn't for the wing stripes and lack of Dragoons/Wings of Light, it would be my favorite of the Freedom line. The kit itself is well designed, although back wings for the MA mode interfere with the wing articulation. 90% of those stickers are for the backpack (and the rest are basically for the gun), and if you don't intend on transforming it, they can be pretty safely ignored. I think it looks WAY better without the white stripes on the wings.