Sunday, April 13, 2025

Wonderful +30:

The three male leads of the three Io Sakisaka manga that are in my manga hall of fame but were kicked out of '100 Waifus' representation due to having repetitive names, Ren, Rio and Haruki, can be added back in to my Wonderful list.  These boys are all quite cool despite not having any super powers.  They're normal boys who can only do normal things on this very normal Earth, but they do the right thing when they can, which is basically to treat their significant others well.

While I'm at it, I may as well add Juani and Gallica from Metaphor Refantazio to my fictional character hall of fame.  They're both cute, brave and helpful throughout the game.  Juani is a songstress and Gallica is a fairy who also produces music for the hero Prince to cheer him up, and we all know music is the beauty closest to God.

Most Western authors don't produce 'heroes,' preferring complex characters with lots of weaknesses and flaws that do more to describe the times or the human condition than sculpt a wonderful person.  This is why you won't find a hero among Charles Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Tom Wolfe, George Eliot, Jane Austin or James Clavell books.  There is one refreshing exception, though, and that's Johnny Moreau from Timothy Zahn's Cobra books.  Johnny accepts painful body modifications that lead to an early death in order to become a supersoldier capable of fighting aliens on an even par, and goes on to save mankind with his new abilities.  He also fathers many more Cobras who are proud to continue his legacy, meaning his contribution to mankind's victories in war goes exponential.  His ingenuity and courage in finding effective ways to use his weapons to overcome larger and larger enemy forces and traps is awesome and fits the concept of 'hero' to a T.

While we're at it, Timothy Zahn also produced a very awesome villain by the name of Grand Admiral Thrawn.  It's rare for a villain to be the underdog, with fewer resources than the heroes, but be so smart that he keeps winning and posing a greater and greater danger all the same.  It's a complete reversal of the classic trope.  Thrawn was a very serious person, who treated his subordinates fairly, kept his word, and tried his best to understand his opponents rather than denigrate them.  He's the type of man who inspires loyalty.  The fact that he was employing all his talents in the service of reviving the Galactic Empire was his only flaw.  (Honestly, I have a soft spot for racist dictatorships, but the Galactic Empire really did do a lot of evil deeds in Star Wars lore, so fighting for them is still bad.  Blowing up whole planets in order to teach rebels 'a lesson' is going too far, as is employing false flags to start unnecessary inter-galactic wars.  The Empire also had draconian economic restrictions, a predilection for obeying the Sith who represent pure darkness and evil, and cooperated with various evildoers like Jabba the Hut while cracking down on honest businessmen like Lando Calrissian, so I'd say all in all reviving the Galactic Empire was a bad idea.)

So allow me to present Johnny and Thrawn as the next wonderful fictional characters.

Seita from Grave of the Fireflies was kicked out for lack of room, but he's welcome back now in this expanded list.

Bruce Wayne is a little over the top silly/grimdark in a lot of his appearances, but the Christopher Nolan trilogy was really good.  I think on the basis of that work I can grant Bruce an appearance in my list.  Batman has entertained me for a long time, it's only fair I finally give him some credit.

Marty McFly is pretty badass in Back to the Future.  Lastly, John McClane is the hardest of hard men, overcoming divorce and losing child custody while fighting a giant band of thieves single-handedly, taking injuries left and right, putting up with incompetent police 'support,' and still finding time to make good jokes like 'now I have a machine gun, ho ho ho.'  If there's anyone who personifies 'dying hard' it's John McClane.  He just won't go down, he keeps going and going all the way to victory.

Cow Girl from Goblin Slayer has a pretty jimi existence.  Basically all she does is herd cows and welcome Orcbolg home after missions.  On the bright side she has big breasts, but as a lolicon that doesn't actually shift her favorability favorably for me.  But so long as we're inviting the likes of Marty and Bruce to my hall of fame I should at least extend an invitation to Cow Girl.  No but to be fair, her devotion to Goblin Slayer is what every man seeks in a girl.  Love makes every girl beautiful.  I could go so far as to say a pre-existing beautiful girl who on top of that seriously loves a boy and tries her best to aid him instantly becomes 'wonderful.'  A role model for all women everywhere.

Speaking of love making people worthwhile -- Junker's love for Yumemi in Planetarian transformed him from a random guy into a hero.  He started as a sort of primitive lifeform concerned only with food and survival, but his love transformed him into a visionary concerned for humanity's future.  He turned into a straight out philosopher because of her influence.  I love the man Junker became by the end of the visual novel, and I also love that he was wise enough to fall in love with Yumemi -- that his soul was stirrable shows he has a proper appreciation for the Good at least when it lands directly in his lap.

Ichitaka is also a good guy who at least falls in love when given the chance to fall in love.  In I"s, he properly identifies Iori as an unworldly-quality girl and does everything he can for her.  He almost dies protecting her in battle and multiple other times through his consideration for her saves her physically or emotionally.  Though he's desperately in love with Iori and lusts for her like crazy, he always puts her first, sacrificing his own happiness for her shyness, career ambitions, etc.  And even though multiple other beautiful girls confess to Ichitaka, he always stays loyal to Iori.  He's really amazing for such a normal guy.

Nanoka is another girl who doesn't have much going for her except that she's a devoted lover.  I respect how far she'll go for Mao, not just risking death for him, but even changing her way of life and goals to fit his.  She goes so far as travelling back in time and forgoing the benefits of the modern world just so she can share a life with Mao.  Nanoka has annoyingly short hair, but otherwise she's rather pretty.  And she is a brave, strong warrior.  But her dedication is definitely her strong point.

These are the last 15 characters from works already featured in my various Halls of Fame.  If I want more wonderful fictional characters, I would have to start reaching outside of valid channels.  But I set the rules to this game, so I'll go ahead and violate this longstanding rule.  There are some fictional works which aren't all that great, but still have amazing characters hidden like diamonds in the rough within them.  I'd like to honor those characters too:

Ojamajo Doremi's Onpu.

Saber Marionette's Cherry.

Growth Cheat's Caro.

Kemono Friends' Serval and Kaban.

Charlotte's Ayumi.

Hyakuren no Haoh's Yuuto.

Gundam's Char.

World Dai Star's Yae.

16bit Sensation's Konoha.

Henjin no Salad Bowl's Sara.

Medalist's Inori and Hikaru.

Ginga E Kickoff's Erika.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Raphael.

A lot of these series are very close to being great, and I've even granted 'greatness' status to them previously, before taking it away again, but for one reason or another fell short.  (Mainly because my standards are really high.)  But it feels unfair that the characters within these series should be shunted aside just because the show as a whole didn't work out.  When it comes to 'moving and memorable,' all these characters definitely did their part.  In a nice parallel this 'out of bounds' group is also 15 strong.

By stretching my boundaries to their utmost limits, that bags me another 30 wonderful people.  Until I consume some new artistic masterpieces, this is as far as I go.  I'm in the midst of consuming 'Tenshi Souzou Reboot' so it may not actually take long to find a new wonderful character, but for now this is the limit.

Honestly, I'm not lowering my standards.  These are really good people anyone would fall for if they got to know them.  I'm just stretching my standards a bit here and there.  For the greater good.

Now for the fun part:  Which songs were assigned to each of these lovely boys and girls?  I'll sort the characters by franchise to make it easier to comprehend:

2 Medalist:  Inori got the invincible blade (mitsurugi's theme).  Hikaru got where springs not fail (leixia's theme).

2 Kemono Friends:  Serval got Cosmo Canyon.  Kaban got You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet.

2 Metaphor ReFantazio:  Gallica got Outo Grand Trad.  Juani got Jiryuu no Tsubasa.

1 Ginga E Kickoff:  Erika got across my world.

1 Henjin no Salad Bowl:  Sara got Hyrule Symphony.

1 16bit Sensation:  Konoha got Richer.

1 World Dai Star:  Yae got The Stage is Set.

1 Gundam:  Char got Just Communication.

1 Hyakuren no Haoh:  Yuuto got The Final Battle (FF4).

1 Charlotte:  Ayumi got Yake Ochinai Tsubasa.

1 Growth Cheat:  Caro got Nalbina Fortress Underground Prison.

1 Saber Marionette:  Cherry got Battle with Seymour.

1 Ojamajo Doremi:  Onpu got Na-i-sho Yo! Ojamajo.

1 Mao:  Nanoka got faster than a howling wind (natsu's theme).

1 I"s:  Ichitaka got Tower of Bab-il.

1 Planetarian:  Junker got Battle vs. Erde Kaiser Sigma.

1 Goblin Slayer:  Cow Girl got The Riverlands.

1 Back to the Future:  Marty got Within the Giant.

1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:  Raphael got promised pain.

1 Batman:  Bruce got Main Theme (Terra Battle).

1 Grave of the Fireflies:  Seita got The Prelude of Empty Skies.

1 Star Wars:  Thrawn got The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme).

1 Cobra:  Johnny got Veiled in Black (Arrangement).

1 Die Hard:  John got Stand your Ground.

1 Strobe Edge:  Ren got Kouneria Shiro.

1 Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare:  Rio got Last Dungeon (FF6).

1 Sakura, Saku:  Haruki got Bran Bal, the Village Without Souls.

Kaya from One Piece used to have Yake Ochinai Tsubasa, but obviously Ayumi takes priority so she was given 'Welcome to Our Town' from FF4 instead.  Jun'ichi from Akaneiro used to have Just Communication, but obviously Char takes priority so he was given Judgement Day from FF7 instead.

Gallica and Juani needed Metaphor themes to represent them, so I promoted Outo Grand Trad and Jiryuu no Tsubasa to 3-star, demoting two classical songs to make room.  The promotions are well deserved, too.

These 30 extra song slots allowed me to use the Soul Calibur songs I had previously wanted to use, all the remaining unused 5-star vocal tracks, and all the remaining Xenosaga 5-star songs.  Now all of Xenogears, Xenosaga and Xenoblade is represented by someone.  I added Final Fantasy songs from many different games, but FF4 especially got some love.  FF4's soundtrack is so amazing, it's a shame I don't have a representative for all its songs yet. . .  There's still 155 5-star unused songs despite all my efforts.  But at least I got some things done.

P.S.:  Okay I think Ochako is good enough to qualify as a wonderful fictional character too.  She gets 'Into the Darkness' from FF4.

No comments:

Post a Comment