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Alphabet Meme, F
Jul. 1st, 2011 10:54 pmA little out of order, all right?
Francis, Angelique: Francis was the only one of the Étoile guardians who really took, wasn't he? Leonard is too abrasive and of the real world for Ange, and Heuye never really distinguished himself sufficiently from Randy (there's really not much characterwise you can do with "wild boy"; not much that's appealing, anyway). I am deeply fond of the idea of the Guardian of Darkness being a psychologist, someone charged with giving peace to others, but I've never seen that aspect of his character/profession actively employed. Characterwise, Francis is usually one big bundle of emo - which makes him redundant, as Tanaka Clavis fills that role already in the Étoile era. Why did Francis stick, then? My best answer is that he has a character design that's unique enough (distinctive yet attractive hairstyle, looks somewhat Victorian), has a somewhat interesting (if unexplored) premise for his character, and his temperament fits in with the Ange aesthetic. He's a nice enough guy. (Heuye is nice but not a gentle grown man, and we have enough genki kids in Ange, anyway, and his design is too derivative, Lunar tribal motif notwithstanding.)
Other thoughts on Francis - a) was his habit of inserting random French into the conversation inspiration for another dark Ange gentleman? b) despite the attempt at tragedy, his rabbit backstory is kind of ridiculous; c) Francis's seiyuu's notoriously bad singing (early on; he's better now, supposedly) inspires sympathy rather than derision, as it must be heck to have your work in your chosen profession screwed up by lack of such a demanding and rather irrelevant talent; d) I never did find out if Francis's boozy doppleganger from Koi Suru Tenshi was a coincidence or a previous incarnation or what.
Forrest Kaysen, Deadly Premonition: Omega spoilers go: I think the ending of Deadly Premonition was spectacularly wrongly chosen, and while Kaysen's character handled the abrupt transition from folksy bumbling lug to vicious, visceral sadist surprisingly well (the transition from there to giant MadBall not so much), it would've been far better for the integrity of the game's themes and mood had he remained in the former mode, an unwitting vector of a drug that turned his customers homicidal. I kinda liked him as a plain-spoken yet unexpectedly helpful ally in the hunts for Thomas and George.
Faithia, Lunar: Faithia doesn't work as a character. (I'm talking about the game Faithia here.) Rather, the process that created her doesn't work; splitting the complex emotions spurred by the mazoku's situation into separate spokeswomen makes the cast less complex than would portraying these various warring viewpoints within one conflicted leader. Faithia's meant to be the great conscience of the magic race, but instead, she's a character as thin as cardboard.
(Not much to say about the manga incarnation save that she serves her purpose and I like her dress.)
Fran, Final Fantasy XII: I haven't played FFXII - a decision only reinforced by Unskippable's screening of its opening, during which I was struck by its remarkable resemblance to the Star Wars prequels - but the total blase acceptance of Fran's character design is a bellwether of how ridiculous reductions of characters to T&A can get in gaming. A race of Playboy bunnies whose native dress is lingerie and whose pedal bone structure requires them to wear stilettos? How do you suspend your disbelief after that? How can you take anything seriously? It's the Death Bed of game writing.
And, finally:
Fëanor, The Silmarillion: was right.
.
Francis, Angelique: Francis was the only one of the Étoile guardians who really took, wasn't he? Leonard is too abrasive and of the real world for Ange, and Heuye never really distinguished himself sufficiently from Randy (there's really not much characterwise you can do with "wild boy"; not much that's appealing, anyway). I am deeply fond of the idea of the Guardian of Darkness being a psychologist, someone charged with giving peace to others, but I've never seen that aspect of his character/profession actively employed. Characterwise, Francis is usually one big bundle of emo - which makes him redundant, as Tanaka Clavis fills that role already in the Étoile era. Why did Francis stick, then? My best answer is that he has a character design that's unique enough (distinctive yet attractive hairstyle, looks somewhat Victorian), has a somewhat interesting (if unexplored) premise for his character, and his temperament fits in with the Ange aesthetic. He's a nice enough guy. (Heuye is nice but not a gentle grown man, and we have enough genki kids in Ange, anyway, and his design is too derivative, Lunar tribal motif notwithstanding.)
Other thoughts on Francis - a) was his habit of inserting random French into the conversation inspiration for another dark Ange gentleman? b) despite the attempt at tragedy, his rabbit backstory is kind of ridiculous; c) Francis's seiyuu's notoriously bad singing (early on; he's better now, supposedly) inspires sympathy rather than derision, as it must be heck to have your work in your chosen profession screwed up by lack of such a demanding and rather irrelevant talent; d) I never did find out if Francis's boozy doppleganger from Koi Suru Tenshi was a coincidence or a previous incarnation or what.
Forrest Kaysen, Deadly Premonition: Omega spoilers go: I think the ending of Deadly Premonition was spectacularly wrongly chosen, and while Kaysen's character handled the abrupt transition from folksy bumbling lug to vicious, visceral sadist surprisingly well (the transition from there to giant MadBall not so much), it would've been far better for the integrity of the game's themes and mood had he remained in the former mode, an unwitting vector of a drug that turned his customers homicidal. I kinda liked him as a plain-spoken yet unexpectedly helpful ally in the hunts for Thomas and George.
Faithia, Lunar: Faithia doesn't work as a character. (I'm talking about the game Faithia here.) Rather, the process that created her doesn't work; splitting the complex emotions spurred by the mazoku's situation into separate spokeswomen makes the cast less complex than would portraying these various warring viewpoints within one conflicted leader. Faithia's meant to be the great conscience of the magic race, but instead, she's a character as thin as cardboard.
(Not much to say about the manga incarnation save that she serves her purpose and I like her dress.)
Fran, Final Fantasy XII: I haven't played FFXII - a decision only reinforced by Unskippable's screening of its opening, during which I was struck by its remarkable resemblance to the Star Wars prequels - but the total blase acceptance of Fran's character design is a bellwether of how ridiculous reductions of characters to T&A can get in gaming. A race of Playboy bunnies whose native dress is lingerie and whose pedal bone structure requires them to wear stilettos? How do you suspend your disbelief after that? How can you take anything seriously? It's the Death Bed of game writing.
And, finally:
Fëanor, The Silmarillion: was right.
.
