Larger Retour website up; info on new love interest Brian

[indigozeal.livejournal.com]

http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/ange_retour/index.html

Has character profiles, full-length art of everyone, and info on the three editions of the game scheduled for release. It also has info on one of the new characters: the mulleted "Brian." I can't stop thinking of Family Guy. Here's Brian's profile:

"A mysterious boy you meet from time to time on the continent. His age is unknown. He's very wise but is self-centered and talks about nothing but his own affairs, so he's not very approachable. He treats even the heroine with contempt on occasion."

The quote on the side reads: "Swear to me, here and now, on the Queen's throne - that you won't speak of me to anyone else, ever. Why? Because I'm a criminal." Which explains the mullet, I suppose. (ETA: Sorry for my confusion about the quote before; odd punctuation led me astray.) He is a love interest, apparently, based on info in the descriptions for the special editions.

Speaking of the special editions, here's info on what they contain, below a cut:

Normal Edition:

• Jes' the game

Treasure Box:

• Game
  
• Settings book with game background documents, including sketches from "Hachiko Hachiroku" and packaging illustrations
  
• A "Photo Library" with 85 event stills from the game (no word on whether this is physical or digital or what)
  
• Original soundtrack
  
• Special "bromide" art cards (so we're getting into Lunar territory, then)
  
• "Fastener charms" of the 10 main characters
  

20th Anniversary Box:

Everything in the Treasure Box plus:

• 30-minute "Romantic" drama CD, "Dear My Queen," with the Guardians & Brian: "A cheerful & pleasant daytime date with Queen candidate Angelique, and a night date of hidden pain with Queen Angelique."
  
• Tarot cards using original & promo art by Hachiko Hachiroku
  
• Prints of two original illustrations
  
• Original comic pamphlet: "Angelique: ~Secret Sacrea~" with secret info on the Guardians
  

Any edition of the game purchased from Koei's Gamecity website also is planned to come with an A4-sized full-color "character book" and a "corsage clip" modeled after the Smallney Academy crest. These items are subject to change, though.


Nothing out of the ordinary for the usual suspects, except a) Marcel is noted specifically as being occasionally "babyish" (in a spoiled way) and "selfish," and b) Rosalia is a classmate of Angelique's at Smallney now.

We do, however, as noted, have full-body character art for Oscar & Clavis now. Oscar, IMO, looks pretty good, red-white-'n'-blue generously & smartly touched with gold, but that dull steel leg armor is hugely unbalancing. (As darkheart noted, the artist seems to have a problem with balancing visual elements.) Clavis has interesting touches (is that a metaphorical crown of thorns?), but the designer seemingly couldn't decide whether his theme was going to be gothic, outer space, or neo-Japonisme, and just decided to throw everything in there. They seem to be forgetting that Darkness is the Sacrea of simplicity to contrast with Light's opulence. And that hoop bangles + spandex right arm is atrocious.

Also, they changed that awesome character art for Rosalia. Damn.

Comments

Yes, I'm commenting on my own post

[indigozeal.livejournal.com]

And now, a bit of speculation on Brian.

Two possibilities arise:

a) His black-and-silver color scheme and vaguely (*vaguely*) military fashion sense recalls Leviath; he's pre-emptively involved with Leviath somehow.

b) OK, a long time ago, I posted about Angelique's earliest drama CD, Hikari to Yami no Sakuria (http://angemedia.livejournal.com/406649.html), which features a tenth Sacrea, "Black Sacrea." (There's actually an eleventh Sacrea, "Gold Sacrea," which is formed by combining the main nine, but let's stay on topic for the moment.) Could Brian's elevation, in a way, to the same status as the other nine in being made a love interest, as well as his dubbing himself a "criminal" and his general self-involved attitude, mean that he might be a Guardian, of sorts, of Black Sacrea? (Going even more into left field: could he have been involved with the renegade Queen candidate who made Nadralga?)

Or, of course:

c) He's not involved with either of the above, and the creators just wanted an Arios figure before Arios had a reason to be around.

[btamamura.livejournal.com]

First, thank goodness for seiyuu reprisals! I would've probably cried if Tobita didn't voice Lumiale.

Speaking of Lumiale, I can't say I go for him in dark colours. I guess I just feel more drawn to his past light blues and aquas along with white. The dark comes across as too bold to me. (Also that large gem at his throat is making me think of Haruka 3's Hakuryuu).

Marcel being a bit babyish and selfish? What?! He's meant to be one of the sweetest characters in the series! Sure, he's young, but he's never seemed babyish to me in the past...

I am curious about Brian (heh, Family Guy comes to mind when I hear that name too, even if there are two Brians in my family).

Even if I had no way of playing the game, I would probably get the treasure box or 20th anniversary editions just for the goodies! (Especially the fastener mascots)

[indigozeal.livejournal.com]

The odd thing for me with the whole Family Guy association with "Brian" is that I've seen like two episodes of Family Guy, and that was more than ten years ago.

[beldarius.livejournal.com]

I'm actually pretty happy with all the new character designs. ...I'm probably one of the few who just ADORES Zephel's new look. XD I want both Marcel and Zephel's outfits.

I also love Olivie in darker colors. They kind of suit him~ Besides, now he looks more like the fashion designer he's supposed to be, instead of an okama.

One thing I just don't get... Clavis with nail polish. What. The. Hell.

I was also hoping Lumiale would have looked a little girlier since he's supposed to be the prettiest Guardian...

That said, I'm starting to fall heavily for Oscar. *facepalm* He wasn't one of my favorites in the original, but with THAT face? He looks sexy. Ugh. The eyes and smirk dksjgdskg @___@

...In b4 Brian gets Ken Narita's voice. I actually wouldn't mind that. XD (Though I'm kind of hoping for Kaito Ishikawa now. Since picture Brian sounding like this (http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/touken-ranbu/images/e/e9/8904_Obtained.ogg/revision/latest?cb=20150511060151)... see what I mean?)

[darkheart54.livejournal.com]

Glad to know I wasn't the only one stuck on Family Guy when the new guy's name came out. I think they could have come up with a better name than "Brian". It seems so plain to me.

I guess Brian is supposed to be the Arios-esque character this time around, as you mentioned. I get the feeling that they aren't reaching too far back into canon here, since they've murdered Marcel's character and already thrown Oscar under the bus in the manga. They might just want that stereotypical "bad-boy" to be around (maybe as a foil for Oscar - he won't look so bad next to a "criminal"?).

I agree on Oscar's design - it's good as is, but it would be fabulous if we lost the leg armor. Those boots really kill him in my opinion. The knees, too. They're awkward and clunky, nothing like the Oscar we're used to. If the artist wanted armor, why not put him in a cuirass, like he's been before? I guess it fits in with the artist's tendency to imbalance the designs... Can somebody please translate Oscar's profile, by the way? Google Translate is good for a laugh, but he has "kidnapping" and "children" in there, and I'm worried what they're trying to say.

Clavis is just a hot mess. At least his head looks slightly better now? His clothes, however, do not. Like you said, it looks like the artist just couldn't pick a style and stick with. The colors are contrasting; the designs may have looked nice on their own, but they're awkward together; and those bangles - apparently they defy gravity? The fabrics don't even look like they match (and this is ignoring how many tassels he has; come on people, he's not Julious >_>). Surprisingly the nail polish doesn't bother me at all. He's already been shown with long nails, so I guess painting them was just the next step of his character. Although I am wondering something: I'm not sure if it was somebody here, or on another site who mentioned this, but are those tattoos on his neck? It could just be the collar to a shirt, but Clavis doesn't strike me as someone to wear something that looks like lace. He never struck me as the type to get tattoos, either, but I guess concessions must be made in remakes?

One more thing to toss in: I absolutely ADORE Rosalia's design. She made out like a bandit in this. Best redesign of the lot, easily. She's so elegant and pretty.

Alright, I'm done. Night everyone.

[beldarius.livejournal.com]

I feel so OLD now, even though I'm just 27.

The first thing I thought of when I saw Brian was Monty Python. ._. "The Life of Brian", anyone? ...Not Family Guy... XD