General Discussion Mark II

Right, forgot to post about the rest of the con. Might as well post about it now.

So, Day 2, Saturday!

We got into a panel about How To Anime Club. Didn't really learn much, and it wasn't terribly interesting, but I guess it was kind of neat. Then one of the highlights of that day for my sister and I; we went to see a showing of Tiger & Bunny: The Rising. We're big fans of the show, and the movie managed to surpass our expectations and completely blow them away. One of my few complaints with the show was actually addressed, the animation was even better - of course, that's an anime movie for you - and it really improved our moods, since the panel before was a boring way to start.

Then we split up, since I wanted to get Yoko Shimomura's autograph, and she wanted to go to the karaoke room, since she'd signed up for the contest the day before, and that was when it was happening. Then I ran around for an hour trying to find out where the signing panel was, then finding out that I had to go to a different place than listed to get in line for a <i>ticket</i>. I actually had a chance to sneak in when the ticket check guy just let me past without asking, when I asked if I was at the right panel. Then I heard him ask the people behind me for tickets... so I left, since I couldn't stand to soil my memories of such by exploiting a mistake to get in. That, and I might've gotten caught anyway, and I didn't want to make a disturbance in that panel. Getting thrown out would've been a huge downer. And I'd hurried along a drawing just for that event, too...

...Oh, I already talked about that? Never mind then.

Well, since I had free time, I went to the karaoke contest. It was really good. Since it's a contest that you register in advance for, and there was a limit of twelve contestants, only those most confident in their skills would sign up. The second singer absolutely nailed Cruel Angel's Thesis, and went on to win the contest. There was also somebody who sang the second end theme to Kill La Kill. My sister was entered as a "Wild Card", singing Aria of the Soul, and got second place. The third place winner was the other "Wild Card", who sang... something I didn't recognize, but he was relying on star power to win, since he did a lot of moving around and playing with the mic, but his singing wasn't too great. He got third place, so I guess it worked.

There were a bunch of prizes, so we had to stick around while she received them all. One of our party actually went as Yukari that day, which was neat, and we all talked for a while. I think I had a picture taken of me at once point, and in and early part of the contest, I ran out to catch a Haseo cosplayer - Haseo, from .hack//GU? Yeah. - and I was the first person to recognize her! No other .hackers at the con, I guess. I'm really glad, since she seemed happy to finally be recognized. It sucks to not get recognized at a convention. Unless you hate being photographed, but you can always just say no.

After that, we rushed to catch Bad Anime, Bad, which we also saw last year. It's a massive panel that takes place in one of the auditoriums, and it's all about the worst things put to Japanese animation. Like Garzey's Wing! Last year managed to really strike a nerve with Defenders of Universe, some Korean bootleg animation thing that rips just about everything off, and anything it doesn't directly lift is just terrible and poorly-thought-out. It was entertaining, but one of our party slipped out, saying he had to use the bathroom, and never returned. Frankly, that kid's kind of a bastard about that sort of thing...

Ah well. The sad thing is, we missed JoJo's Bizarre Adventure!? AND MANLY POSES!?? as the other panel ran it right over. And there was a cool t-shirt we saw in the Dealer's Room with silhouettes of characters and the caption "Do you even pose?"

Come to think of it, there was that one Caesar Zeppeli cosplayer. He was a dedicated one.

We caught the second half of LGBT in Anime: Yaoi, Yuri, and Beyond. I think. My memory's really fuzzy, and I keep confusing it with that one panel about magical girl anime and the one about Sailor Moon, for some reason. I don't know why. No, wait, did we? I think we did.

After that, we met up with some other friends. We wanted to make another panel, but it was full when we got there. Then my sister got a headache and we had to wait for our ride before leaving. And it was cold out, the wind was murder, and our ride got confused about where to pick us up, plus traffic was bad... since my sister was wearing a skirt, I had to lend her my jacket just to keep her legs from freezing.

We promised we'd meet up with one of our friends at the train station at 9:20 the next morning and gave her a ride home.


And here's the pictures I took that day, or at least most of 'em. Doubt you wanna see the duplicate shots that I screwed up, or that one where I somehow photographed the floor. I'll just post any text about the picture ABOVE them this time, so you see that first.


The hero of Dragon Quest VIII:


A Saber cosplayer:


The best P5 Protagonist:


The one on the left is from Hyperdimension Neptunia, but I don't know the one on the right, sorry. It seemed rude not to take a picture of her, too.


Agent Carter?! Holy crap, she's good.




This one definitely caught me by surprise.




Finally da man makes an appearance!


...There were a lot of RWBY cosplayers. I wished I'd photographed more of 'em.


Wish this guy had been there the day before...


It took me a while to get a picture of these two, and no wonder. There were a bunch of other people snapping pics, too. They were just kind of nearby when I was eating lunch, so...

...And for the record, that's Agnes Oblige and Edea Lee from Bravely Default, not a pair of random belly dancers with swords.

It's a shame I didn't catch that Jin Kisaragi or Ragna the Bloodedge I saw before, but those were near the checkpoints, so... oh, well, BlazBlue got SOME recognition. A buddy of mine managed to recognize Noel even without knowing about her costume change in Chronophantasma, so props to him, and props to that Noel cosplayer.


Anyone a big fan of Kill La Kill? There was a bit of a gathering at near the escalators...


Ran into Tao here while I was chasing down that signing panel...


Sorry about the red-eye stuff, I don't know how to fix that.


I saw Guy, but couldn't catch up to him. Saw this Kratos in a panel before, and managed to get a pic. Shame I didn't ever find Princess Natalia, who I'd seen in another panel...


I actually had to move to take this one, since the light from the window got in the way.


This one was pretty awesome. My buddy seemed to be confused, though, so maybe it's a bit of a hodgepodge of both Jango and Boba Fett? KH, help me out here.


I can't help but feel like I was being a bother to this man... hrm.


This is the Haseo I mentioned. First Form. Not as many belts as the real thing, but to be fair... that character has a LOT of belts.



Ten points to whoever identifies this one. (It'll be KH, I bet.)


Did someone order... Jean Pierre Polnareff!?


Hey, Haar, bet you know this one.



The last one that day, I think, was of the floor. Ah, well.

Looks more like Jango, but he also might have just been trying to do something original and go as a random Mandalorian. Or he could be a character from the EU not familiar with.

I think I recognize the cosplay you mentioned, but I can't put my finger on where I've seen her, or who it is. I want to say Power Rangers, but I'm probably talking out of my ass.

That Peggy Carter, though! Holy crap.

The girl is Lina Inverse, the hero(?) of The Slayers. See, I know you'd mentioned seeing that episode with the Drag-On... or was that someone else? Maybe it was Malak, but I thought it was you.

Yeah, she's even got the right facial shape! I'm not exactly picky about cosplays being like the real character, but when it happens...

That definitely wasn't me. I'm not even sure I've heard of The Slayers.

*had post ready for last set of photos before it got erased*

Lot of cool ones here, too. And yes, best P5 Protag. Takes dedication to carry a TV around with you. Think his arm gets tired from doing that?

Lack of explanations would have lost me so many times here. As for that last photo...being called out makes me think I definitely SHOULD know, and the more I look at it, the more familiar it seems. I'm guessing you made note of it because of Fire Emblem, it being one of the few things that only I appear interested in. I don't know a lot of characters with that hair color, either, so it's a pretty short list regardless. Kinda looks like Ninian from FE7, I guess?

I was not expecting TWEWY right beside Xiaolin Showdown either, now you mention it.

*has no concept of keeping things in order*

My arms were sore just from carrying a bag and alternating arms. And they stayed sore for two days afterwards. That young man is probably the most badass glasses-wearing delinquent I've ever seen.

Maybe you'd recognize her better if she had an oar and spoke with a British accent, Haar. She's no Fire Emblem character, make no mistake.

Alright, so a quick update.

I'm officially done with high school May 15th. The graduation ceremony is May 24th, with a practice on the 21st.

I'll try to get caught up with any posts for RPs tonight. If I dont, fuckin tear me a new one in any story or PM. XD

I may start doing guitar covers soon!

Ah, so it's Botan, then? Been a year or two since I've seen that show and I've started re-watching a couple others lately, too (Jackie Chan Adventures and DBGT), so they're on my mind a little more. Speaking of which...

Yep, I've been watching it for the first time in ten years or so. In fact, I could've sworn I saw Yusuke Urameshi after the first day, but I couldn't catch up to him in time.

I pulled my usual dumbassery and realized I could have gone to the Con that Admin's college is hosting. I just had to request work off for this weekend -.- Pissed.

Man, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear about that.

Well, I'm gonna post the rest of my con stuff so Admin doesn't feel any need to wait on posting his stuff.


So... Sunday, Day 3. Woke up and went to the train station with my sister. I went in casual clothes instead of a costume. We met up with our friend and went on our way. I had to meet up with my brother before we could do anything else, since he was at the convention and didn't have something he needed; but after that, we went to the Cosplay Chess event. There's probably footage of it on Youtube now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZUcFTX1rSM

Yep, there it is. It's pretty silly, to be honest. They plan it all out beforehand, since it would take too long and be much less dramatic if they literally just played chess on the spot with people. If you've got no tolerance for hammed-up, subpar acting, I recommend you not bother with it.

After that, we had two hours before the closing ceremony, so we went to look at what was left in Artists' Alley. Afterwards we wanted to go to the karaoke room or get lunch, but our friend had to leave, since none of us could pay for her lunch at that point, and she was too hungry to wait several more hours.

My sister and I got lunch on our own, and went to the closing ceremony. The ceremony consists of everyone gathering in the huge auditorium and seeing the winners of the AMV Contest, some skits by the people there, seeing off the guests... that kind of thing. They also told us that next year's theme is Field Day. So, like... sports anime, I guess.



Here are the winning AMVs, from what I remember.


Best Drama: Nefarium Psychologica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ-dnuFItAE

Editor's Choice: Throwback
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlk16O3CR6A

Best Action: Vintage Misery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xZ3bZiIl-Y

Best Romance: Heart Shaped Hole
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWehlDLGfak

Best Upbeat: The Fangirl Chronicle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNfb7fJuAvM

Best Comedy: The Bradley Campaign
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy9D5SI0juQ&index=16&list=PLAOiBUpQByLe6zH8UTaOpTMYNeyamntUe

Best Editing: Whoarriors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtssLWT0QLo

Honorable Mention, Drama Finalist: A boy in funny red boots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51cssqUYMC0

Judge's Choice: Reiterate Things
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSR_JeO_LzE

The One Everybody Else Wanted To See: Immortal Chimera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdcCEOoBop4&list=PLAOiBUpQByLe6zH8UTaOpTMYNeyamntUe&index=18

The Sexiest: My Nipple Can Pierce the Heavens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGwey8x8bV0

Best Fun/Comedy: Anime 404
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NXrTujMP50&list=PLAOiBUpQByLe6zH8UTaOpTMYNeyamntUe&index=21

Best Concept: Awake to the Sky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJTfoGJzN1A

Best of Show: Bleeding Heart Effect (Audio is removed; link in the description is copied below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq_q_tZQGas
https://www.copy.com/s/H1OnkhzdMlQ8zDB2



I might've gotten a few categories mixed up. Don't think I missed any, though!



And here are the rest of the pictures! I didn't take all that many on the last day, but here are the ones I did take.


After seeing My Nipples Can Pierce the Heavens, I had to take a picture of these two:


I guess he's supposed to be the Ultimax version of Ken. It found it funny that Ken became basically the new Akihiko at Gekkoukan.


A pretty good Kenshin and Sanosuke. They had a flyer for this one guy who does professional props and teaches people, has a panel at some other convention...


Bianca from Pokémon! I know I got some other trainers, but I didn't post them, did I? I'll take a look, then maybe post it.


And the last picture, which I got while waiting for my brother so we could go home together! Anyone feel like playing a card game on motorcycles?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjrcjzLxDBk

JOJO BONUS ROOOOOOUND!


Caesar Zeppeli! First one's blurry, but I had to get that pose. These folks are insanely dedicated.



Dio Brando - Age Twelve-But-Looks-Like-He's-Eighteen-At-Least! And look at the sound-effect symbols! That's dedication, man!


Josuke, I think! He said his buddy somewhere was Johnny, but I never ran into him.


Giorno Giovanni and Jolyne Kujo, two-for-one deal! Lots of Rule 64 around here.


Jotaro Kujo! ...But no Star Platinum.



ZA WARUDO! Man, there were a lot of iterations of Dio. I swear I saw Dio-who-was-drinking-at-the-port-and-then-tested-the-stone-mask-on-a-dude, too. You know, with the top hat and the gaudy feathers? And what a time for red-eye to rear its head! I feel that it enhances the experience.


Two-for-one JoJo deal, Joseph Joestar, old and young! "Your next line is 'OHHH NOOOH!!', to you!"


And here, one last look at Jean Pierre Polnareff!




...Okay, that's out of the way. The only things I haven't posted are leftover pictures, so feel free to tell us all about your con, Admin!

Man, I could never stand Ken. Then I saw his entrance in Ultimax's Story Mode and I was like "Ken you are suddenly the best." It's like they realized he was a hateful little sh*t-bird and decided "Eh. Let's just roll with it."

Oh YuGiOh 5Ds. I should get around to watching that just for the sake of it. I wonder if it obliterates the rules as much as the original did. GX sure as hell cut back on the rule-breaking at any rate.

Personally, I don't like Josuke that much. Everyone's always like, "Josuke is the nicest guy in town!" but the things I remember him for are spite, rage, and that one time he exploited the little fat kid, Shigechi. But seriously? Drunk Mask-testing Dio? That's pretty awesome. And Caesar is awesome. Joseph is forever the best JoJo.

Yeah... I thought Ken was alright, until I played the game. The kid's first concern on 9/20 (Was that the date? Maybe it was 10/20) wasn't "my god what have I done" or "you saved me", it was "now I'll never have my revenge". HOW DO YOU SYMPATHIZE WITH THIS PERSON. I mean, I can understand the behavior, but for somebody who's constantly stated to be smarter and more mature than his age...

I think they tightened up on it. I've seen a good chunk of it, and the decks are actually... thought-out. They have mechanics to them and themes, and seem to rely more on strategies than luck. People win by outfoxing one another, not by being lucky enough to draw the one card that happens to be able to save them. And as for sub vs. dub, the last season or so isn't dubbed, and the dub makes the slums look a lot less hellish, somehow.

I'm only on Part III, so I haven't met Josuke yet. I think I also saw a Dio from after the fight at the manor, with his new clothes that he wears for the rest of Part I.

It was 10/20, October is the Fortune/Strength fight. I noticed Q (beat it earlier today) tries to make him a little more sympathetic, but because continuity, it still doesn't impact much, so I still detest the kid. But, Ultimax Ken starts out by saying something along the lines of "Don't leave yourself so wide-open all the time. Dirty amateur." This after hurling his spear at Shadow Ken. Ultimax Ken is cool. Pre-Ultimax...one of the weakest characters in anything ever.

Yeah, saw a few episodes, and it seems...better-planned. Like, they actually made sure everything made sense, as compared to the mess of a first show (which I can't find subbed anywhere, so I only have the dub to judge by), and the "School devoted to playing card games" GX.

The one with the kinda-silly bandana around his neck? I like that Dio. More than I like Part III Dio, in fact, by virtue of being willing to involve himself, as well as just being depraved.

I notice a sudden influx of JoJo is going on here. Suddenly things have become more relevant to my interests. Hmm... must be the work of an enemy stand.

I'm surprised by how many JoJo cosplayers there were. I almost found a full set of main protagonists. Plus Polnareff.

Yeah, I like 5Ds. The premise is stupid on paper, but it's pretty neat. I should continue watching it sometime. Of course, in the case of the original Yugioh, to be fair, Duel Monsters didn't have very clear rules in the manga to begin with. It wasn't even supposed to be a big thing, but then Kaiba happened twice, and then Duelist Kingdom happened. And it was supposed to be about games in general, so... very much not-planned. The anime was technically made to promote the trading card game, so they would've planned out the rules, but then reconciling it with the manga's way duels happened... probably difficult.

Actually, things are getting a bit trickier on my end, too. Only three weeks left of the semester. Well, I've got some chunks of Recompleted I could post up in the meantime, if that helps at all. Doesn't take too much effort to put up what I've already written.

That's something I really wish YuGiOh would become more about as time goes on: More games in general, instead of just the card games. Like yeah the cards are cool and all but come on, I want more shit like Dungeon Dice Monsters and whatever awesome shit they might have cooked up!

Please note that the reason Ken is so precocious is because he had to mature quickly and come to terms with a world that doesn't believe him about how his mom died and tries to whitewash him, the man who killed his mom dies for him and thus all the hate he had was for nothing, and he's probably left empty, and then finally: he's a young kid. I forget how old and fuckin'... all Persona characters tend to staunchly fall under Child, Teen, or adult sizes and proportions, with no in-between. :/  So let's say he's 11. That means that his mom died when he was 10, and he got orphaned super hard really early in life. He then spends a whole year hating the man who killed his mom, and then finally gets accepted to the group that he was a part of, and wants to kill him. This rage and premeditation takes so long that it probably has inwardly consumed him. He is then suddenly left with nothing, and if someone wants to know how Nemesis evolves into... Kala-nemi. And it was the resolve to never look back, and look at it dead-on. So what if he doesn't give a shit any more? He's dealt with a whole bunch of shit, and I respect that. He's certainly a shitlord, if what y'all say is true, but he's got his reasons. I find that super sympathetic.

Also YEEEEE KILL LA KILL! YES. One of those cosplayers (the Ryuko wearing Senketsu) seems to have employed a cosplay technique made popular on Tumblr that allows for a more "true" representation of the outfit without actually exposing so much chest.

It IS nice to see new rules, instead of having them work within the same rules the whole show. Still, I do NOT think they'll go in that direction. If you want that, look at the other Yugioh anime ('Season Zero') or the original manga.

I understand Ken, and I think Haar does, too. We just don't like him very much. I think I'd have been fine with him if he had more influence on the plot beyond that point, but he really doesn't. Once he joined, the team was so big that the kind of events that happened in early missions could no longer be done without adding restrictions to the player - you know, like Junpei running ahead on the train, then in the next full moon mission, insisting that he go with you and Akihiko to make up for it, that kind of thing, since those times required that you have him in your party to begin with, so it didn't feel like a restriction as much - but later on, imagine if Ken had to be in your party. You could go the whole game without using him once, and it wouldn't matter. I wish it mattered, so that we'd get bitten in the ass if we left him underleveled out of spite! And when somebody's biggest, most iconic moment involves the death of a beloved character - who, by the way, is getting more sympathetic the more P3 stuff they release containing him - it's not even his fault he's despised. Technically.

Huh, I was wondering. Because there were definitely some daring cosplays, I now notice. Like Makoto Nanaya, for one. Of course, there was also this one Chi-Chi - from Dragon Ball, not Z, so her teenager self - who had on a skirt and her vest thing covered more of her belly. Not everybody can walk around Boston with so much exposed, especially with the weather the way it is.

I watched the Season 0 anime. It was pretty good, though some of the imagery can be...eh? I found it disturbing while a friend found it ridiculous to the point of hilarity. Depends how you take it.

I get Ken, but it's exactly what Nebula said--the badass gives up his life for him and his first reaction is "Now I'll never get my revenge!" After that, I just can't stand the kid. I would like the stuff they did with him in Q a bit more, if not for the fact that continuity does things that make Q almost irrelevant. That said, everything involving Shinji in that game only serves to make me sympathize less with Ken, just because of how he and Akihiko play off each other. It's fun to see Shinjiro act so childish. Also the fact that Castor's evolved form is just Super-Castor. But the fact that Ken not only takes that away from us and it isn't even the first thing on his mind, but then he also proceeds not to try and make it up, not with resolve, but by running away? I mean, sure he gets that resolve afterward, but it required prompting. Left on his own, he would have done the single shittiest thing he possibly could have. That's my personal reason for hating him.

Chi-Chi from Dragon Ball? Geez, you'd have to add to that. It's very little more than underwear and a cape...

You see? It's not that we disagree, Edgar; we don't think he's just a bad character or that he's a terrible person through and through. In fact, I remember that I liked a few moments with Ken, particularly after his development, and his love for sentai shows and the like is a nice trait. It's just that he's not useful enough in battle to stand out, he's the second-last party member to come along (so you already have all the options you really need), and that the bad parts overshadow the good. If he'd somehow come to be even more good and likeable than the man who died for him, then we'd feel differently.

...But was it just a year? I was always under the impression it was a bit longer. Didn't Mitsuru recruit Akihiko in middle school, and Aki dragged his best friend into SEES right away? And then he left after the incident, which can't have been all that long after, I imagine. So my money would be that Ken was lusting for revenge for two or three years, actually. ...Kind of a side note, but it bothered me.

By the way, I'm trying to be vague here to avoid spoilers, but I'm wondering if it matters much. I'm not sure, but I think everyone in this conversation already knows, and the chance that somebody else will stumble on it without knowing is pretty low. ...Then again, best not to take chances.


Oh, and I think I'll post in Recompleted in, like, a day or so. I feel like it's been long enough that I should review the writing before I think about putting it up.

No way it was only a year. He's stated to be in elementary school (though I'm not sure what that means by Japan's standards), but by Persona 4 AU he's attending Gekkoukan, and that's ~3 years later. I seem to remember them saying he was 10 somewhere in there, but given that Japanese high schools are the last three years, not four like the US, that'd put him at 15 at the very least, meaning he'd be 12 in P3. Or, in shorter words, I have no freaking idea.

Wait, who came after Ken? Was it Koromaru? Because otherwise, I have no clue. Either way, Ken's elements are Lightning--which is common as all hell so who cares--and Light, which is useless against bosses. The only useful thing I remember about him is that I seem to recall him having Diarahan, but...well, Yukari, Mitsuru and MC all do that job better. So he comes in handy all of...that one fight with the enemy that's weak against Pierce. Not the most helpful of companions, which only compounds my distaste for him.

The other thing is...his design. I don't know how to describe the reason I don't like his hair, it's just...I guess it just looks out of place. Everyone else's is somewhat normal, yet still distinctly anime. His is just...weird. Also, why does he wear an orange sweatshirt? Why orange? And what the hell's up with his shorts? It creeps me out when guys wear shorts in video games, especially 10-12 year old guys...

Shinjiro joins after Ken. I remember because he only joins when he hears that Ken has. I definitely remember how quickly he changes his tune. It's funny, because I think that was after Akihiko said "nah, I'm not gonna bother asking you this time, I just wanted to let you know about this kid who we let join SEES."

I figure Ken's supposed to be more useful for random battles. Honestly, I'm not a fan of characters who are only useful for random battles, since I like to focus on the team I'll be taking into the big fights. Naoto in P4 was like that, but she was much more useful, and the only one other than the hero who had access to Light or Dark at all. Plus she had Almighty and Physical, and she's an awesome character. And not useless in boss fights, just very SP-inefficient, since Megidolaon is expensive, and she gets Mind Charge.

I rationalize his hair by the logic that he's just a big Astro Boy fan, since of the slight resemblance. As for the shorts, I played Battle Network games, so I think I just don't care about male protagonists wearing shorts. I dunno, in Japan it's usually warmer than in the US, in general, so I suppose that people there, particularly kids, would wear shorts more? Again, I dunno. But I think orange and black go fairly well together. Though now that you mention it, him wearing a sweatshirt under his school jacket is weird. Maybe he's just prepared for a warm, rainy season?

...Oh, right, that is what happens.

Well, the difference between Ken and Naoto is that 1. Naoto can learn four elements (Light, Dark, Almighty, Phys), and in Golden, she also gets the elemental skills via bike rides. 2. Naoto exists in a game where there's only one Phys element, meaning that "physical attacks" are more useful than Ken's "Pierce attacks." Plus, Naoto gets Light AND Dark, and if the enemy is immune to or resists one, they're probably weak against the other. Sure, Naoto is better for horde encounters, but that doesn't mean that bosses are out of the question. Whereas with Ken...

Man, I grew up with Battle Network. It bothers me less in those games, though. I think it's because they're sprites, not full 3-D models. Plus, Ken's seem...shorter. It's the same with Rolf in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, or, depending on incarnation, some of the Youngsters in Pokemon. I dunno, it's just...weird.

Just a quick post to clear up Ken's age, he's 13 in Ultimax since he's in Gekkoukan's Middle School. And Ken is actually built to replace Akihiko if the player would prefer a magic oriented fighter. This is bolstered by higher Ma, a resistance to Light and Elec, and his Pierce standard attack which more enemies are weak to than Strike if I recall. I'm kind of neutral on the small fry because I don't like his build all that much for him in P3 but I main him in Ultimax.