There's always a concern when a great series gets a spinoff anime whether the spinoff will live up to the original. Brave Witches did. Luminous Witches didn't. Luminous Witches plays fast and loose with the rules of the original. As opposed to Strike Witches, suddenly there are all these magical 'familiars' around, and to go magical the witches merge with the familiars. This is completely wrong and different from Strike Witches where there are no familiars and witches go magical on their own. Now in the latest episode they suddenly say that each witch produces their own color shield, while in Strike Witches every single shield by every witch in the world was the same light blue color. I'm tired of Luminous Witches screwing with the consistency and canon of the original.
If Luminous Witches wanted to do its own thing it should not be set in the universe of Strike Witches. On its own the story is fine, but as part of a larger whole it's nothing but an act of sabotage. I no longer consider Luminous Witches as part of the Strike Witches franchise, it's filler just like that Take Off comedy series. Watchable filler that I'll continue to watch until the end, but filler nevertheless.
Meanwhile, I changed out 3 names in my fictional character hall of fame in '100 Waifus.' Rolf returns from Empire of the East to replace Bart from Xenogears. This is because Empire of the East shares a continuity with The Book of Swords so adding him in doesn't change the total franchise count of 300, which is nice. Also because anyone in the west who sees the name Bart immediately thinks Bart Simpson, so unfortunately I can't really use that name without confusing people who I'm referring to. No one in their right mind would want to honor Bart Simpson. Bart from Xenogears was actually really cool, it's unfortunate they share the same name. Also it sounds a bit too much like 'barf' which is also unfortunate.
Also, the two new protagonists from Xenoblade 3 replace two side characters in Xenogears -- Noah and Mio ax Billy and Maria respectively. There's no comparison. Billy is a joke character modeled after Billy the Kid, whereas Noah is a serious person made up from whole cloth with deep characterization and an infinitely more detailed character model. Maria is only really memorable for being small and cute while riding a gigantic and uncute robot. Mio, on the other hand, is a beautifully detailed modern graphics catgirl, fully grown with all the right curves. She also has an enormous story and background to her as co-protagonist, instead of a short side story that the side character Maria received in Xenogears. Mio can be dressed up in an enormous variety of outfits, all of which look great on her because she's Mio. Maria only got the one dress. Mio can play the flute. (As can Noah for that matter.) Maria doesn't play any musical instrument. Maria is a unique name and Mio isn't, but when the contest is this one-sided even that isn't enough to tip the scales. I'd rather have 799 unique names and Mio than 800 unique names and Maria.
I've been waiting for Xenoblade 3 to come out so I could replace Xenogears characters without losing the total tally of Xeno-related characters to be honored. This way I could continue honoring the franchise while upgrading its content, a win-win for all involved. Someday when I get a PS5 and I can play Tales of Arise I hope to do the same with the Tales franchise. Only then will I be satisfied with my name gallery.
Tomorrow the latest manga volume of Choyoyu is set for release, so the fun times roll on.
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