The Pleaides Revolution {Toshinden Subaru}

Toshinden Subaru - The Miscellany

Highlights of the Game

(at least in my opinion ^_^;;)

Highlight #1: The incredibly sweet anime intro.
Why?: It's anime. Why not? Not to mention it kicks the OVA's ass in terms of quality. I think I forgot to breathe when I watched it for the first time. ("Meg, get the defibrillator -- I think my heart stopped." ^_~) The best part of the intro? Definately the part where Subaru just narrowed his eyes and did a COMPLETE smirking fang-grin. LOVED it! ^^ When a Shinjo smirks like that, you KNOW it's not good...and it's just then that you know yeah--this kid's gonna kick some ass. (The only bad thing I have to say about the intro is that Kayin was in it for a grand total of half a second >_<) If they are making a new Toshinden anime, and if it's a Toshinden Subaru one that looks as good as this intro did, then I'm going to be one happy little Empress.

Highlight #2: The various arts throughout the game.
Why?: Because Kotobuki is a godlike artist, that's why. Those loading screens and character bio pictures were pure sweetness. Of course, I can't say I'm too fond of Chuzenji Rei (...I'm starting to hold him [her?] in the same respect that I hold Nakazawa Kazuto...), but Kotobuki's arts make up for it. Love those bio portraits in the Database, the gorgeous loading screens and those Nitoshinden-esque arts in the mini-games!

Highlight #3: The voice actors (!!!).
Why?: ...Okay, so this isn't something that EVERYone goes nuts over. But I'm writing this page, and one of the big highlights of the game for me is identifying the seiyuu, and I'm a rabid voice actor fanatic, so live with it ^_~ Oddly enough, about a month ago when I was trying to guess who would be cast as who (as well as my fervent wishes for Imai Yuka (yes, a girl) to be cast as Subaru, Minaguchi Yuko for Naru, Ueda Yuji for Rook and Araki Kae for Puella), I ended up saying to my stepsis Alicia, "You know, I wouldn't even be surprised if they cast Midorikawa Hikaru as Subaru. He could do it, sounding way too much like David in the process, but sure, he could do it." And guess who plays Subaru? ^_^;; I knew it as soon as he yelled "IkuZOU!!" when he did the Ryuseikyaku for the first time ^_~ Yes, Subaru does end up sounding a lot like David (he played him in Toshinden 3), but I bow to Midorikawa-sama's talent -- he plays Subaru with a multitude of emotions, sounding like a joyous kid ("Kore gurai nara kari-kari!"), to a tragedy boy (the last, whispered, choked-out line of his ending), to a pouty little brat ("Waruku nee naa!"). On the topic of his ending, I have to comment that was so well-voiced it nearly made me cry (though it was on the part of Onosaka Masaya too). "Tou...san..." -- it's right then that every Toshinden otaku's jaw drops in shock ^_~ ("He's Subaru's WHAT???") Also, when first listening to Lancelot, I said, "I've heard that voice before--definately somebody from Utena." And it was Hisakawa Aya, who plays Kaoru Miki of Utena--a near-lookalike of Lance ^_^;; I think I see an inspiration here... Anyways, the Japanese voice acting is, as always, top-notch - Okiayu STILL kicks ass, even if Kayin only makes a quick cameo - further endowed by the fact that there are NO English actors in this. YES!! I'm praying to Aeris that if TSD4 gets ported over here, that they only translate the writing in the text boxes to English -- please leave the attacks, quotes and endings ALONE!

Highlight #4: The attack animation.
Why?: I really, really like the graphic work in this game. Sure, it's nothing compared with Soul Calibur or whatever, but it's miles ahead of what Toshinden 3 looked like. And the graphics for the attacks are terrific, as well as the smooth playing animation, which surprised me. The graphics aren't as revolutionary as the first game's were, but I was happy to see they weren't as pixellated and weird-looking as Toshinden 3's.

Highlight #5: The character endings!
Why?: I'm a complete sucker for good game endings (Final Fantasies...*drooool*), and I get really annoyed when endings suck. Fortunately, I'm in love with a lot of the endings of Toshinden Subaru (I've seen Subaru's ending an embarrassingly large number of times ^_^;;). The CG sequence with the combining of the four weapons is nicely done, and as mentioned above, the voice acting is great. Subaru's, Naru's and Puella's all feature cameos by their respective parents from the original generation: Sho, Kayin and Uranus. Loved it all, though the fact that those three are all dead nearly made me bawl T_T ("Come back, you shawl-wearing bastard!! You've got a kid to look after and your little brother to kill!!! *sob*" Though I'd never thought I'd see the day when I'd want Sho to knock off my beloved Eiji...I can't help it! Eiji is SUCH a bastard in this game, even I want to kill him! Don't get me wrong, I still love Eiji, just not...THIS one. Grrrrr...)

Highlight #6: The CHARACTERS!!
Why?: Oh good God, you really need to ask? Then again...maybe the doubtful of you do. Especially the fans who were e-mailing me in sobbing / anger / hysteria fits over WHY none of the originals were coming back. (My response to all of them: "Yeah, and what do you think I can do about it??") As I've mentioned many times before, the characters have always been one of the best (if not THE best) aspects of the Toshinden series, and these kids of the "new generation" do a decently good job of filling in for our favorite weapon-wielding heroes. While there have been some...complaints about (not counting the few who've practically been boycotting this game because of the lack of the original cast >_< Okay, um, GET OVER IT.), I'm a big believer in the newbies being able to hold their own as ORIGINAL characters, not just ripoffs or replacements for the old cast. Never, EVER doubt Kotobuki -- this is practically HIS game, and he does it complete justice. And hey, like it or not, we're stuck with `em. If you end up feeling really nostalgic while playing, pull out some of the previous games and play them. I just really wish there was more information on how the rest of our beloved group is doing now, ten years later...

Highlight #7: The mini-games.
Why?: The mini-games included are a blast to play, and they nearly make you forget that they aren't the whole game in itself ^_~ Ones like Puella no Tamago and Scoop! Toshinden will keep you going for hours, and you get cool special pictures if you win ^_^ You just have to love some of the shots of the fighters in Scoop...they range from absolutely adorable (Subaru singing karaoke, Naru hugging a Kayin doll), to weird (Eiji chasing after a picture of some girl who BETTER not be Emi, and Verm...um...never mind), to downright embarrassing (Miyabi wrapped in a towel, Lance in a dress). The Toshin Dance is completely and utterly addictive, and even Origin and Toshinden on Hockey are starting to grow on me. They're all worth the hassle to get ^_^ The mini-games are a terrific addition to the game, and if it comes to North America, no doubt will they be one of the highlights as well.

Highlight #8: Database Mode.
Why?: This a great new feature to the Toshinden series as well--a webpage-like setup that allows you to view lots of character-related stuff (including bio pictures, loading screens, ending pictures, character info, anime intro sketch frames, what goods you've won for the character, and more), as well as your typical records in the different Modes, the URLs for Takara and TamSoft's pages, arena themes and voice clips (with unused voice clips as well...sorry, but Naru STILL doesn't say "Jigoku de au ze, baby!", the classic Amoh quote -_-), a "Rejection" gallery with all the rejected character designs (...judging by some of them, you can tell when Kotobuki had his off-days...), and more little goodies. I waste more time in here than I do playing Goods Mode ^_^;;

Top Ten Lists

TOP TEN PICKUPS OF TOSHINDEN SUBARU

10. The addition of aerial blocking
9. Finally, a good use of CG (the Four Weapons sequence)
8. The graphics are pretty sweet...better than TSD3's, at any rate
7. Story Mode returns and is better than ever!
6. It's more than just a fighting game, and has loads of replay value
5. The story and characters are enough to make up for the loss of the original cast
4. The godlike Kotobuki art (*drool*)
3. MINI-GAME MODE!
2. After four years of constant clones, it actually put a new face on Toshinden by trying out some different and welcome additions
1. The anime intro!!! Come on, what else?

TOP TEN LETDOWNS OF TOSHINDEN SUBARU

10. Trying to read the Japanese text (which is mostly complicated furigana-less kanji that goes by in two seconds)
9. The music's not done by Bang Heads
8. Super attacks are still too few and too cheap
7. TamSoft still hasn't fixed the unbalance between characters (Verm's waaaaaaaaay too insanely powerful)
6. Lack of spoken dialogue outside of the matches and character endings
5. Subaru & Naru don't maintain enough of Eiji & Kayin (eg. win quotes, poses, relationship)
4. Subaru & Naru don't HAVE a relationship!
3. It may not be coming out here in North America...
2. ...and if it is, it'll probably be dubbed
1. Evil, ugly, CREEPY Eiji!!! With all of his freaky pictures and scary ambitions and just NON-hotness!

Toshinden Subaru Desktop Wallpaper:

"Goodbye, the future's sold out..."
800x600
Windows 9x
215 Kb

...And here's a present for all the rabid TSD4 fans out there, a product of Corel Photo-Paint 9 and me with too much time on my hands. This is a collage-style desktop wallpaper that I whipped up in about an hour, using any and every piece of Toshinden Subaru art and anime screens that I had in my possession. (Not counting fanart; trust me, I was SO tempted at times...there's so much delicious Japanese TSD4 fanart out there...) This was inspired by another TSD4 collage-thingy that I made (it's at the main Gallery page), as a huge art that showed all the facets of the Toshinden Subaru cast. I tried to use an even amount of pics for all the fighters; however, it's pretty obvious that Subaru-kun got more than his fair share ^_^;; Chalk it up to the fact that he's the main character of the game (and therefore has more art) combined with him being my favorite character. (Nothing better than a Shinjo boy...) That be the Pleiades itself in the middle. And the title of the pic is obvious for fans of alternative Canadian rock: "Goodbye, the future's sold out" is the first line from the song "Is Anybody Home?" by Our Lady Peace, which I think - along with "Heaven Coming Down" by The Tea Party and "The Kids Aren't Alright" by the Offspring - personifies the game's characters in a song ^^ (You might have also seen that lyric, along with the two lines that follow ("There's no use screaming / Who thought we'd ever get this far?"), on the main image at the Fighters section) Me likes lyrics. And if you like this wallpaper, I also have another one that I made in the "collage" style, of (good) Eiji and Kayin. For 1024x786 and Windows 9x, and you can find it here:

http://geocities.datacellar.net/priestessofduomaxwell/eijikayin_dsktpbg.jpg

[Slightly Useless, But Fun] Factoids of Toshinden Subaru

"Subaru" is the Japanese name for the star cluster the Pleiades [PLEE-uh-dees], which is located in the Taurus constellation and consists of over 300 young stars. The brightest seven stars in the cluster are named after the daughters of Atlas in Greek mythology: Asterope, Taygeta, Maia, Celaena, Electra, Merape, and Alcyone, with the star on the farthest end being Pleiane. Hence, yet another name for the cluster is the Seven Sisters. Source: Peterson Field Guides: Stars and Planets.

This is what the Pleiades looks like, with the stars labelled:

Image is from Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. (Go check out the page if you're interested in astronomy, like me ^_^)

Eos is the Roman name for the winged goddess of the dawn, Aurora in Greek mythology. Additionally, between Eos and Zero, a large number of names from Greek mythology were used for attacks, such as Galatea (a statue of a woman created by Pygmalion, which Aphrodite brought to life), Hyperion (the Titan father of Eos), Charon (a son of Erebus who ferries the souls of the dead over the river Styx), Calypso (a nymph who saved the life of Odysseus), Proteus (a Greek sea god), and Triton (a son of Poseidon and demigod of the sea). Source: Classical Mythology in Song and Story Part II.
Most people know this already, but the Four Sacred Weapons (or Four Holy Weapons) are named after the four directional gods of Chinese mythology: Seiryu[u] (Blue Dragon, east), Suzaku (Phoenix, south), Genbu (Snake or Tortoise, north), and Byakko (White Tiger, west). They also all have distinct colours set to them; Seiryu has blue, Suzaku red, Genbu green (or black), and Byakko white. The animals appear in the game as well, during the ending sequence with the combining of the four weapons, and whenever a character with one of the weapons performs Kishin Kourin. A Chinese-style picture of the animal appears briefly on both occasions. Source: A hell of a lot of Fushigi Yuugi. ^_~
...And speaking of Fushigi Yuugi, it shares more than one coincidence with TSD4. For those who don't know, FY is an anime series (and a really incredible one too, a sappy-shoujo love story that makes you feel all mushy inside ^_~) that also has a heavy basis on the four directional gods. While no weapons are mentioned, this series is a pretty decent way to learn more about the animal gods and what they represent. (The series plotline revolves around the basic story of a Miko [priestess] of an animal god (Suzaku no Miko, Seiryu no Miko etc.), and their seven Seishi [warriors] who protect them. The names and symbols of the guardian warriors are tied into their position in the sky -- north, south, east or west. For example, Tamahome is one of the Suzaku Seishi, his constellation [Tamahome, or Oni / Ogre] is in the south Suzaku-ruled quadrant of the sky, and the same constellation symbol appears on his forehead.) One of the biggest coincidences is that one of Byakko no Miko's Seishi's name is Subaru (it's a woman though ^_^;;). No doubt it's the same kanji that's used as her constellation symbol (while Subaru's name is always spelled in katakana, you can see the 'Subaru' kanji in the logo and on one of Subaru's loading screens), and this fact claims that the Subaru [Pleiades] constellation is in the west (and Byakko-ruled) quadrant of the sky. It's a safe assumption that Kotobuki gave the newest Shinjo boy the name 'Subaru' with that fact in mind ^_^ Some other smaller, and not necessarily purposeful similarities include the fact that the main male character, Tamahome, was voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru. He also voices Subaru ^_^ Also, Fen and Chichiri speak the same Japanese dialect (Osaka-ben[?]), using 'oira' for 'I' instead of the usual watashi / boku / ore or whatever, etc.
If you look really closely when Rook performs his "good" or "tough" win pose, you can see him do the People's Eyebrow ^_^ (If ya smell...what the Rook...is cooking!!)
...Just so everyone gets it straight (thanks to all the mispronounciation from the car commercials -_-;;), 'Subaru' is pronounced "soo-BAH-ru", with accent on the middle syllable and a short 'ru' at the end, not "soo-bur-roo" like the car ads claim >_< Took me three freakin' months to stop pronouncing it wrong, so please pronounce it this way, or I beat you with my dead trout.
The word "puella" means "girl" in Latin. (Her last name, Marionette, may either be a small advertisement or just a nod to Kotobuki's subsequent set of heroes, the shoujo-esque cast of the anime series Saber Marionette J)

return to the revolution...

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daga, kore mo unmei ka...

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