Chernaudi

Well, it took me forever it seemed, between work, doctor's appointments, finding out I have diabetes, and not feeling well due to weather changes, but chapter 8 is done. I'll try and start on chapter 9 soon. But right now, I'll probably be going to sleep soon, so no work on that tonight. So far, there's been some TMI moments involving the Guyver males (Agito, Sho and Aptom), a Twilight male (Jacob) and a male OC (Camel), with all the girls listening in to their amusement. Also, the man antagonist at this stage got arrested when Shizu called the cops on him--she, perhaps, might regret not using her powers to kill him or maim him more than she did. However, it's up to Lia (an OC, vampire hybrid and Camel's wife) to find out what may happen next. So that's what I've gotten done so far, and I'll try and get back to work soon.

Mild fan fic spoiler: At the conclusion of the chapter that I'll try and finish for Bio-Booster Armor Twilight, the males get into a discussion/argument/whatever you wanna call it about their significant others (Camel, Agito and Sho talk about Lia, Shizu and Mizuki, respectively, and Aptom also joins in, too, as does Jacob from the Twilight Saga). Mostly what makes a girl a girl, and a man a man. Just a stupid argument because Camel seems to the be the least "mascuiline" of the males and why girls like him. Of course, the girls (Shizu, Lia, Mizuki, Natsuki, Bella, Melinda, Jess, et al) just listen in for their entertainment...

Hi everyone. Well, I'm gonna have a pretty crappy 18 or so hours. I have to start fasting at 2:00 this morning because I have a Doctor's appointment for blood testing to see if I may have diabetes. So that means no food, coffee, tea, or anything else other than water. So that sucks. At least Audi got a 1-2-3 finish at Spa last weekend, and I get to eat somewhere new tomorrow after the Drs appointment. But other than that, I'm not looking forward to the next day. I'll be back later

I had my Doctor's appointment today, and the bad news is that my vision is crap and I need new glasses. Good news is that I might not have diabetes, or it I do, it can easily be controlled with medication. My blood sugar reading was 198, while normal is 100-160. That number probably was screwed up by the fact that I ate before I went to sleep (only a few hours before I went to see him), and I had coffee, too. So I have to have blood tests done within the next week or so, and that'll be great, since I hate needles and the thought of fasting for 12 hours. Easy as far as food, but the only things I can drink aside from water is black coffee and plain tea. That's gonna suck as bad as the needle bit. But at least if my numbers come back within the good range, I have nothing to worry about for right now. So that's basically how my day went. It also sucked that I got a late night and an early start, but at least this day's almost over and I can start a new later tonight. I'll be back later

Hi everyone. I've decided to start this topic off with just some random stuff. For those of you who read my sports topic, I'm a huge auto racing/motorsports fan. Sadly, now isn't a good time to be a fan of American based motorsports. The United Sports Car Racing (USCR) group is made up of the merger between the American Le Mans Series and Grand Am. Grand Am and the ALMS are hence now majority owned by Jim France of France Family/NASCAR fame. Reports are that GA team owners got together for a meeting with series brass at Road Atlanta a couple of weeks ago and stated their case that they didn't want the ALMS classes aside from GTLM (as USCR calls it, it's known as LMGTE elsewhere). It's basically believed that the NASCAR-backed factions want it this way, in spite of an agreement and a written contract with the ACO and the FIA over the issue that USCR would follow certain request from the FIA and ACO. Since this seems to go against those agreements and against what most sportscar fans want, USCR's management is just pissing on their own feet it seems. And if the Daytona Prototype teams are afraid of LMP2s and a potential Audi V10 powered DP, I know of how things can be worse, namely if the ACO bullied USCR into keeping LMP1, then they can have to deal with cars such as the Audi R18 e-tron quattro and Toyota TS030 hybrid LMP1s kicking their asses every weekend. DP's can barely out run LMGTE cars at most tracks, and are 5-6 seconds slower than an LMP2, with an LMP2 only costing as much as a DP. There's a whole bunch of egos involved, and those egos remind me of a quote from the film "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane": "So many a**h***s, so few bullets", which leads to this comment which is my commentary on the situation: "You're 10 seconds away from the most embarrassing moment of your life." And NASCAR itself has had a few of those this year already. There's a few things that I'd like for Sho or Agito, or even Griselda, to do to NASCAR's management. Speaking of sportscar racing. The Spa WEC race is this weekend. Audi will run, once again, 2 of their "sprint" spec R18 e-tron quattros, and one Le Mans spec "long tail" car, while Toyota will have a 2012 spec TS030 hybrid, and one 2013 spec car in LM trim. Audi dominated Silverstone against Toyota, but it probably won't be until Le Mans when we get the full picture. As for me, I had a pretty good day at work, but I've been kind of tired most of the day, and since I have work tomorrow, I should be getting to bed soon. I did get done most of what i wanted to get done today. Tomorrow after work, I plan on spending most of the night playing some VGs and finishing up my fan fic chapter and working on another, and maybe soon going back to one of my more Twilight Saga themed fan fics--the current chapters I'm referring to is my Twilight and Bio-Booster Armor Guyver crossover. I'll be back later

Hi again. This is the first time that I've worked on my fan fic in about a week. It does take a while for me to get a chapter done because of work and other things. But with it getting warmer out and and me having more energy and free-time, I should be able to start to work on it more often. I got a few pages done, but nothing major aside from some plot stuff which I'll describe later on if anyone's interested. I do plan on working on it this weekend and I hope to get the chapter that I'm working on done soon, and I'd like to share with anyone the plot and the story so far, but there may be spoilers.

I don't see it exactly that way, though I understand where you're coming from. We do have to remember that the Zoalords in Chronos are centuries old: Barcas is about 500 years old, Shin is almost 400 years old, and so on. Agito, of course, being only like 21-22 years old, is obviously much more modern. But there's a certain irony to my statement, too. Agito does seem to be far right wing socialist or right wing militant in a lot of ways, almost verging on him almost being portrayed as almost a fascist. But for all that seemingly right wing mentality that he has, he none the less had Shizu volunteer to become the Griselda and lead the Libertus. Of course, that's probably as much down to practicality as much as speaking to any liberal views he may have from his POV. After all, Shizu has shown to be pretty willing most of the time to do anything that she thinks will help Agito, often without him even asking her for her assistance. She's one of the few people who Agito can trust with his life and limb and his deepest secrets, and she's a willing participant in a lot of Agito's schemes, due to her wanting to wipe out Chronos out of his desire for revenge, and since Chronos is responsible for her grandpa's death, Shizu is probably fighting to get her own measure of revenge, too--she possibly wants Imakarum dead as much as anyone for what happened to Yohei. But back to your point, I do have to agree that the protagonist have a more liberal/modern view of women than most of Chronos does. Shizu is the action girl and a leader of men, as well as being aggressive and brave when she has/wants to be (she never seemed to be phased by Zoanoids unless Agito and to a large extent Sho and his friends were in some danger--but that only angered her much more than scare her), that's an obvious one. Natsuki is a sci-fi nerd and the brainy chick (not to slight Mizuki, who did well in school, but Natsuki is the one who can figure out stuff about Zoanoids and doesn't seem to be afraid of them), and she helps out Sho and Tetsuro with their research. And Mizuki, being Sho's true love, is a major motivator for him to fight against Chronos. As for Chronos, they seem to have a more traditional view of women in modern society--stay at home mothers, clerks, librarians, office workers, stuff like that. An exception might be Shin, but I can't say that for certain. But then again, this could just be that unless people pledge their services to Chronos voluntarily, most of the Zoalords seem to be largely indifferent to humans. Of course, for an antagonist POV for a liberal/modernist view, we had Purg and we still have Shin. They show concern for normal humans, and all employees of Chronos, and unless he's surprised and extremely angered, Shin treats even the most lowly of Chrono's workers and normal humans with the same or similar respect that he reserves for Barcas and others roughly equal to him in rank within the organization or above him. But as I mentioned, Chronos by and large just seems to hold to a lot of old fashioned views, while the younger people, especially protagonist (though with some exceptions, such as possibly Shin), have a veiw that seems to be more inline with modern western culture. It kinda goes back to the deal with Natsuki with the crucifix necklace. I believe that Takaya is aware of western culture and modern world views in general, and he seems to be commentating on the strengths and weaknesses of varying views to show that one isn't necessarily superior to the other.

Just like the TV Tropes thing, the guy who wrote this seemed to just be in the state of being a smart ass. I did see the original article, when I was doing a Google images search for Shizu/Griselda stuff, and that was my opinion back then. This person bashed Guyver without having much if any basic knowledge about it. I rip on film reviewers who crap on the Twilight films without even reading the damn books. My feeling is that if one wants to comment about something and not look like a total dumb-ass, at least cheat and read about the stuff on Wikipedia! That's better than nothing. Granted, it would be better if someone who wants to crap all over something would do a bit more than that and actually educate themselves first. It's like me and Twilight. I was indifferent to the novels until I found out that Kristen Stewart (who I liked in Speak, among other films) was in it, and I read the novel first before I watched the film. Since then, I was hooked to the whole Twilight deal, and if I didn't give that stuff a chance, it would've passed me by. But then again, I don't think that some people research stuff because it might change their view of something. That's ignorance at its finest (or worst) right there. Of course, we're talking about a shonen manga comic, but when it extends into other, more important areas, that's when the crap hits the fan. In all, the guy who wrote this article just comes off as obnoxious and he clearly didn't do his homework. Ironically, all he'd have had to do for some decent research to back up his arguments is come here and search for some info. Of course, had he done that, his article might have to be renamed Why Guyver is Cool, instead of Why Guyver Sucks, but, uhm, whatever...

I don't know if it's a generation gap or what else it could be, but, as some have put it, Chronos is largely a "sausage fest". Aside from the traditional roles of secretaries and office workers, it seems that only Val really got up into the upper echelons of Chronos. But then again, that seems to be going against the more open-minded types at Chronos such as Shin, it would seen at least. Of course, we don't know exactly how Shin believes about women, as he's never really seen interacting with them. Yes, he seemed surprised when he discovered that Shizu was Griselda and that she was leading the Libertus. But to be fair, it seemed that he was in general surprised that Agito would have access to the abilities to process any Zoaform from anything, male or female. That can be open to interpretation. I do believe that maybe it's a commentary by Takaya to have Shizu being the main person who leads the Libertus and that Agito let her volunteer for such a role. Also it can be seen as a commentary also in that Shizu is a girly girl and she has/had little if any actual combat training, though it should be pointed out that she's extremely lethal and dangerous in close quarters combat, and that pissing her off as Griselda has often been a decision that many haven't been able to live long enough to regret. Maybe he's trying to make Chronos to a large degree seem like they're old fashioned and that such old fashionedness and not moving with the times can cost them big time for not adapting. So that's another thing with how Chronos seems to have little to do with women having any major role in the organization. And it does sort of make one wonder how they would view gays, too. Shin seems to be a lot more compassionate and caring about basic humans, while the other Zoalords view normal humans with varying degrees of indifference. However, if Shin has more liberal views towards women and gays, that's a question that doesn't seem to have an answer.

I'm sort of inclined to say that the person who wrote that entry probably was trying to be a smart-ass. I don't believe that there's much in the way of proof that anyone can call certain characters in Guyver gay. Of course, some have said that Aptom and Hayami, as well as Alky and Murakami have a homo-erotic relationship, but at least they add the tag that "some fans see it this way" and put it under the "Your Mileage May Vary" section. And at least they list Shin and Purg as being "heterosexual life partners". I also don't get where they get some things, especially with some female characters, as far as being a tomboy or a girly girl. They listed Shizu under "real women don't wear dresses" becuase they said that she shot at a Zoanoid, yet dresses more femininely than most female characters in Guyver. The latter point is true--she does tend to dress more femininely than Mizuki or Natsuki. However, I can't recall her picking up a gun and shooting at anyone in the manga or the OVAs, and since I can't recall her doing this in the TV series, I'm doubtful that she shot at anyone. She does fight with and kill Zoanoids, but that's only after she becomes Griselda--before hand, she's about as helpless as any other normal human being would be. And then there's Natsuki being a tomboy--and TV Tropes even puts Shizu in that category, too. That's a bit understandable, as Shizu's the main action girl among the protagonists, but I wouldn't say that she's a tomboy just because she fights and helps the Libertus in combat. But back to Natsuki--so what if she has shorter hair than most of the women in Guyver, it's still something I'd consider a feminine hairdo. And her being a T-shirt and jeans girl to a degree? What woman isn't nowadays? And besides, Natsuki actually often dresses more femininely than a lot of the women I work with, or at least as femininely. But back to the point that Ryuki brought up. I do think that as a society that we do close ourselves off from a lot of things--a lot of good things, too--when we just start to classify people with stereotypes. I can't see Tetsuro as being gay--he loves Sho as a brother, and what's wrong with that? After all, Sho is his sister's BF and they (Mizuki and Sho) are lovers, so it would be a benefit if Sho and Tetsuro have that friendship. And also, Natsuki and Tetsuro might not have a BF/GF relationship like Mizuki and Sho have, but it's much deeper than casual friendship. Does that count for something? Not to say that I have anything against gays. I'd think that it'd be neat if Takaya was able to portray gay friendships in a positive light in Guyver. I'm not gay myself, but I see them as people, like every other human being on this planet, and should be judged individually on character as opposed to lame-ass stereotypes.

I think that Kenji explained it pretty well with those links--and it's the first time I found that initialism. In Guyver, that's been used to described everything from the Guyver units themselves, to their abiliities, to Sho overcoming every obstacle thrown in front of him (such as his use of strategy in his battle against Evil Aptom), to Shizu being processed into Griselda and her and the Libertus' combat abilities, to Guyot seemingly being a cockroach to kill off, to the Exceed, and the more recent cliffhangers. Basically stuff that we don't see coming until it happens or something very phenomenal that seems to happen out of the blue. I wouldn't be surprised of Takaya chooses one of the more shocking possibilities for who Valkyria is, such as being Lisker's daughter, or love interest (if the latter, wouldn't it be a bit shocking if she was Lisker's GF or wife?!), or if she's got ties to someone else within Chronos. It's entirely possible that Val is just a power hungry person who stole that Guyver unit to fight against Chronos, but Takaya already sort of did that with Agito, so I don't think that he'd re-hash that angle without some major changes. I think that he'll go for a more shocking, "holy s***!" type of explanation on who Val is. I can't rule out a more mundane explanation, but I wouldn't bet on a mundane explanation, either.

That's the problem and that's what blows this whole thing open. If she's younger than I think that she is, that opens up everything, on top of her being an inspector before she defected. The big thing here is that Lisker's backstory...there really isn't any, not really. He got killed off very early in the manga and he had no character development. But, what if Takaya-san makes Val his daughter, or a love interest? That would blow the HSQ of Guyver pretty high, considering how long ago, be it in the manga and in real life chronology, that Lisker died. And to blow the HSQ off the scale of Guyver is pretty hard, seeing what we've seen, but Takaya pulls it off every time, and quite convincingly. And on top of that, there's what Valkyria knows from her time as an inspector. Agito knows a bit about Chronos, but he was only being prepped to being an executive officer of the Japanese Branch to replace his uncle. Since inspectors have at least as much authority and are privy to more in the way of secret info, it does make since that Shin and Baracs sees here as a serious threat. Add to that the fact that she stole a synthetically made Guyver armor unit--obviously a top secret project--that's more cause for concern for Chronos. But where we're all really up the creek without a paddle is that it seems that we go a few chapters into something and often we get to a cliffhanger and then we shift to someone else's POV and we're left to wonder what's gonna happen next. This has actually happened quite often recently. Mizuki and Tetsuro end up on Shila, there's a house built for them to live in while there, and Alky is asleep in that house, what happens next? Same thing with Sho and Agito and their truce or possible alliance. We haven't gotten much of an explanation of that, aside from a flashback to the Mansion being destroyed and Sho and Agito talking things over afterward when Shizu found Agito at the grave-site. Even though we got some answers, it's not much to go on. I think that the expression that Shizu had on her face sums it up, considering that she seemed to be a bit confused or wondering about something. I can agree with that if that's her assessment--I think that we're still a bit confused and wondering about the details and if Sho and Agito can really become allies again because of their ideological differences. And, on top of that, what info did Sho share with Agito following their battle? Another pretty big cliffhanger. But for all the complaining that we've in general done about it here--and I'm adding my piece now--there's a reason for it as far as the suspense element. I don't think that if Takaya just layed everything out for us, that Guyver would be as interesting as a story. I mean, the beat'em up aspects of Guyver would not be as interesting if it weren't for the story behind it, and the beat'em up action would def. get pretty stale after a while. And of course, the wait has been worth it in the past, because things do get explained, and those explanations often add up to one really major event that becomes the basic story arc. This time, it's who is Valkyria, what was her role at Chronos, what may she know, and, possibly, why has she aligned herself with the Rogues. If she's fighting Chronos, why not align with Sho or Agito? It's been hinted that Guyot offered her something, and it was obviously something that Val wanted above an allegiance to Sho or Agito, or going it alone. And then there's the whole deal where in which it seems that Shin is co-operating to a degree with Sho and Aptom against the Rogues and such. How long will that last? Shin's about the only moral and sane person within Chronos who's active, but he does place his allegiance to Chronos above about anything else. Desperate times mean desperate measures? I think that this will be answered possibly the next chapter when it comes out in the next few weeks and I'll be monitoring the discussion. It there's one thing that all of this does make us do is talk about it

Quote: "if lisker was in his 30s, he could have a daughter around age 14, who would now be a young adult I am sure. Valkyria is... i don't know she is young that is certain, she is an adult that is certain, but specifics such as in her late 20s? I don't know if you can say that." I do still doubt that Val is Lisker's daughter, mostly because she seems to be older than the younger females in Guyver. We all know that if at the start of the story that if Shizu and Natsuki were 18 and Mizuki was 16 (manga) or 17 (TV series), then if that estimated 3-4 years have passed, they'd all be in the early 20s basically (Shizu and Natsuki would be 21-22, and Mizuki would be 19-21 based on those starting ages), and Val doe seem to look a bit older than that, certainly in her late 20s quite possibly. Also, I don't believe that one would get promoted to being an inspector at Chronos "overnight"--I'd think that to rise that position one would have to be a remarkable leader and organizer, and be a impeccable investigator of very high order above all else, but even that'd take some time. No matter how phenomenal one is, it'd take a while for someone to get promoted to that position. Lisker was about 32 when his malfunctioning Guyver armor and Sho combined to whack him, and while I'd bet that he'd been an inspector at Chronos for a few years, I can't see him reaching that position before his late 20's unless he showed up at Chronos right out of college and impressed the hell out of the management. Of course, I can see Val as being that good, but I don't see her as being very young, either, certainly at least my age, but probably a couple of years older--she doesn't strike me as being "young" young (early adulthood) like the other girls in Guyver are. But then again, the daughter angle can't be entirely ruled out yet as being possibly possible. There's one big card that can be played there: outside of his being a Chronos inspector, we don't know anything really about Lisker's personal life. Did he have a child, did he have kids, was he married and had a family? None of this we really know, and since he got killed off so early, he got almost no other character development aside from his being marked as a supervillian incarnate/supervillian in the making, especially if he was allowed to play a bigger role in Chronos' operations against Sho, as in the TV series. But outside of all of that, nothing else is known about Oswald Lisker as a character. That is a card that can be played. And even if Val is younger than I think she is (barely older than Shizu or Natsuki), that opens up Lisker maybe having a family/wife and kids that his job separated him from, and that maybe Val joined up with Chronos out of revenge for her father's death, that's if Val's Lisker's daughter. As unlikely as I see that being, it can't be rule out, and only Mr, Takaya knows where he would want to go with this. And the knowing so little about Lisker's personal life also leaves all the other possiblities open--Lisker's sister, Lisker's love interest (if he was single and didn't have a family), or just a co-worker who really liked him and is out for revenge. Either way, Val does seem to really be pulling what Agito did, perhaps on a grander scale. Agito used Genzo to get him to places within Chronos where he could gather info and use that to stab them in the heart at the right opportunity. And when one considers that Val's allegedly an inspector, that just multiplies her means and opportunities to do the same. She obviously knows so much that Chronos wants to stop her before she can do much more damage, especially since she's seemingly alined herself with the Rogue Zoalords who Shin has been going after and keeping tabs on. About the last thing that Shin wants or needs right now is someone who can damage Chronos and threaten the stability of that organization any further. And if she's an inspector, she's obviously got some dirty laundry about Chronos that she can air if she wants to to achieve that very end.

In that chapter I mentioned, Natsuki when Toki asked her if Val was related to Lisker, and she said that it's possible, but at this stage, that would only be speculation. I don't believe that she's Lisker's daughter, because within the canon of the manga, only like about 2 or so years passed since Lisker met his end. Of course that brings up an off-topic point that probably deserves it's own topic--what is the timeline of Guyver, as in what era does it take place in, considering that only 2 years seemingly have passed within the manga, but we do have to remember that it was first published in 1985, and here we are almost 30 years later and it's still being written and published. But back on topic, if only about a couple of years has passed within the manga, then it's very doubtful that she's Lisker's daughter, considering that Val looks to be in her mid-late 20s or early 30s herself, and she has been described as being a Chronos inspector who defected from them. She could be a co-worker or Lisker's former love interest, especially if she's not related. Or, there's the possiblitity that she has no relation or ties to Oswald at all, and she got power hungry and pulled an Agito on Chronos. That could also be possible. Of course, until maybe next chapter, we don't have much to go off of, aside from the fact that Val was originally a character created for the stand-alone OVA Guyver: Out of Control, and she's been canonized in the manga, just like the Hyper Zoanoid Synvite (who appeared in the late '80s Guyver novel and then found himself in the TV series), and Powered Zerebuth, who was created for the TV series. It's been hinted that she had a very important role in Chronos, however, at least equal in position to what Lisker had (ties in to OOC, of course) if they're so concerned about her airing some of Chornos' dirty laundry. They're certainly more concerned with her doing that than even with Agito or Sho.

We do have to remember, though it was a while ago (sometime in 2010 or '11 to be exact) that just before Shizu and Agito returned so the latter could confront Sho and either get him to join with him or goad him into fighting, Natsuki was asked if Val was related to Lisker by Toki. Based on what Aptom told her, Natsuki couldn't make a guess, though she did hint that it could be possible, but it was in reality speculation, as she didn't know. Of course, we're at the same point that Nats was back then--guessing as to what place Val had within Chronos and why she preferred to be called Guyver II Female, considering that it's technically more correct, explanation not withstanding, for her to be called Guyver IV as Toki brought up. So there's obviously an explanation to that naming scheme and why Shin and Barcas consider her to be even more dangerous to Chronos' reputation and secrets than even Agito is, as well as Takaya planting that seed back then to give us some questions to ask on top of just who Guyver II Female is.

Hi. I'd like to share with you something that I've been working on for a while in my free time. It's a Twilight Saga/Bio-Booster Armor Guyver crossover fan fic that I've been working on. It's mostly meant to be a comedy/sci-fi/action adventure item that I've been writing mostly for fun. It's got all the important Guyver and Twilight characters, and a few OC's. Of course, I've fallen into the same "cast of snowflakes" deal that Stephanie Meyer and Yoshiki Takaya has, though I only have a few OC's that feature often in the story. The basic plot is this: strange goings on have been happening in the forests near Forks, Washington. Both Chronos and the Volturi (Twilight's main antagonist) have been defeated and have abdicated power. But if you think that our heroes aren't busy, well, you'd be mistaken. Intregued by what's going on, Sho, Mizuki, and especially Natsuki and Tetsuro go to Forks to investigate, and are joined by Shizu and Agito (who own a home in the area in my story), and are also joined by the Cullen vampires, as well as various vampire hybrids, such as Christian, who prefers to go by the nickname of Camel, who is a retired US Army Major, Army Ranger and Paratooper, and his wife, a Dutch-born vampire hybrid named Lia who's as powerful and talented as all-hell, as is Camel (Lia can screw around with electo-magnectic and gravitational fields, Camel can transform himself into about any creature imaginable if he can get in contact with it's DNA), and Melinda and Jess, two sisters who have strange abilities as far as aletering people's perceptions and implanting visions into their heads, and can use magic against her enemies, respectively. They are opposed primarily by a cadre of nitwits and amoral buffoons who want to take over the world and rule. The organization is a parody of the Volturi and Chronos, as well as poking fun at some of the Nazi and Soviet stuff from the World War II period of time. So it's a bit of a history lesson at times, as well as the historic aircraft, cars and other vehicles that feature in. In the end, it'll probably have something for everyone because of how many areas that it covers with items. I did mostly write this because I wanted to introduce people to Guyver, which I've been a fan of since my childhood, and because I got a bit tired of Twilight being seen as being just for girls. So I decided to try and kill two birds with one stone, and, besides, I always wondered what could be done with a Twilight Saga/Guyver crossover with all the characters and powers/abilities. Just a couple of notes before I discuss more later, because I'm cooking right now while I'm trying to post this, but these are a couple of very important points. First, Natsuki, as we all know, is a major sci-fi fan, but she also becomes interested in vampires and werewolves and other urban legends in these stories. She's one of the major research catalyst in the stories, and she forms a friendship with most of the OCs and Cullens. Also, in my fan fic stories that she'll feature in, Shizu is a vampire hybrid, but, unlike the others, she wasn't born that way. She was processed into one in an attempt to extend her short life since her Zoaforming. Not only does she become virtually immortal, but her Zoalord powers are magnified, and she possesses a phenomenal combat and psychic abilities even in her human form. She also forms a friendship with the Cullens and OCs. So that's all I have for this moment--time to focus on dinner, but I wanted to get a post down as a bit of an intro into what I'm trying to do with this story.

Thing is, I'd assume that if the aliens were going to create a bionic battle armor that enhances a person's strength, stamina, resilience and give them all kinds of weapons, it would seem natural that the host's senses would be enhanced to allow them to take advantage of those weapons and abilities. Of course, I read the VDF under the manga tab here, and there seems to be little if any mention of how the Guyver armor enhances a person's senses beyond the hyper-sense organs that we've discussed and there's not much in the way of how vision or hearing is effected. IMO, it would seem to be a bit of a short-chain to give the armor and its host all of those abilities, and not the enhanced senses to use them to the full. But, as I typed, there seems to be little if any mention on how Guyver units effect a person's senses or sensory perception as far as vision or hearing outside of the hyper-sense. That's something that's greatly enhanced and it's usefulness has been very clearly demonstrated by Agito, Val, and Sho. Bot back to the Guyver vs Twilight stuff, Twilight vampires I do know can see in the ultraviolet and maybe infrared spectrums outside of what we would consider to be normal vision, and that sense is heightened because they can see clearer and further out. Interestingly, my father told me once quite a few years ago that a normal human being with decent vision can, in theory at least (without visual obstructions and on a clear, bright day) see stuff up to 30 miles away if those conditions are met. So take that and magnify that, and you'll get what a Twi-pire can do with their sight as far as just basic vision, though I don't know specifically to what degree that gets enhanced--at least Takaya does try and give us hard numbers on such things so we can imagine what such enhancements might be similar to. And Twilight vampires can also sense things such as movement, the presence of something, and changes in an object, though such things are different than a Guyver's hyper-sense. Twilight vamps can sense the presence of something or changes in the physical state of something just because the sensory perception of those senses are far enhanced compared to normal. For example, Bella could sense changes when Renesmee would grow in height or her hair would grow, Bella sensing both changes even if it was just a couple of millimeters. However, it is sort of hard to make a guess at which is superior, because Stephanie doesn't give out numbers or percentages on how such things are superior to average human beings, though Takaya does whenever he can.

I don't know if I should post this in the other Guyver/Twilight thread, but since this is a question more about the Guyver units and how they function, I though that I'd post this question here. One of my friends at a Twilight forum and on Facebook asked if/how Twilight vampires can see in a sandstorm. That did make me think of Guyver, and how Agito has at times used his hyper sense orbs to "see" though things, like a wall and the Gigantic chrysalis when Sho was in there. Those orbs, from what I can remember from discussions here and the VDF pages under the Guyver manga tab, detect electo-magnetic abnormalities and disturbances in electro-magnetic and gravitational fields--of course, Twilight vampires don't really have these. But to get to my real point and question, Twilight vampires can see not only in the normal visual spectrum like we can (albeit in a much enhanced form), they can also see in the ultraviolet and, possibly, infrared spectrums. I assume, obviously, that the Guyver armor enhances it's host's vision as far as being able to see much further and more clearly, and can pick up on things as far as that sense much faster than normal humans can. But aside from that, can Guyvers also sense other things with their vision, such as the ultraviolet and infrared spectrums? As I wrote, I don't know if this is more suited for here or my other Guyver/Twilight topic, but I did try and search for this earlier using the search function, and I didn't really get much of an answer on this as far as what the search located.

After re-reading the Nov 2012 chapter and seeing how Shizu and Agito conversed, I do believe that Agito did realize a few things after Sho didn't go in for the kill against him and exchanged some data with him, and the mansion being destroyed and Shizu/Griselda nearly getting killed in her confrontation with Val. As I said before, and as Matt also mentioned, Agito seems to have learned that power means nothing without the proper control. Agito used to question Sho's will power, and he had to go and see for himself if Sho really has will power at least equal to his own, and the outcome of the battle where Agito had to give up confirmed that Sho has now virtually equaled him in basically every way, if not surpassed him in some areas. In other words, being a cold-hearted manipulative SOB can get one pretty far, but it can hold one back if there is a benevolent power that proves to be superior. I mean, to most of us, which is the superior power or desire: to rule the world and gain revenge, or try and save mankind as we know it? It seems that Sho's desire to save mankind as we know it does sort of outweigh Agito's quest for vengeance in the canon of Guyver, now doesn't it? It's not like Sho isn't fighting Chronos partially out of revenge--they forced him to kill his father and put his other friends and himself though a living hell, after all. However, Sho isn't overdoing it with the revenge quest, and it's not his only motivation, his overriding one being to help others and save his friends and others from evil and Chronos' amoral ways. For his part, Agito's desire for revenge is understandable, but his quest to gain that revenge and to obtain power though it, he overdoes it, and, as such, at times has done things that could be compared to giving someone the death penalty for jaywalking. Naturally, it does make one question if Agito is really much better than Chronos. And then there's the angle with Shizu. She's now about the only one who Agito is used to receiving generosity and kindness from who's still alive. Going back to the Nov 2012 chapter, I did gather from the reaction that Shizu had for Agito setting up a cemetery for the fallen Libertus, Grandpa Yohei, and Hayami was of an emotionally strained young woman, for sure, and she was probably surprised, too. Shizu seems to be staring to get extremely frustrated and tired of fighting and seeing the tole of what Agito is the driving force behind. Granted, hearing about the cemetery and learning that the dead Libertus were entombed there probably made her crack/snap a bit, but I think that it wasn't just that which has been weighing on her. I think it's just a collection of things that have been building up for her over the previous months and even going back into her own childhood, with her parents dying when she was very young, the deal with Agito's parents and Genzo, which Shizu herself likely witness to, and watching her grandpa die while trying to save Agito from an Enzyme III. She's been though a lot of pretty negative crap in her life. However, it's interesting in how Shizu and Agito deal with that trauma differently. Shizu's definitely been hurt by all of that stuff, but it hasn't warped her like it has Agito. She still at her core is a very nice, gentle, respectable young woman. Mean while, Agito is, at least up to this point, been very amoral and had at times def. had a "there's no kill like overkill" mentality with Chronos. Even Hekkelring said that him letting Shizu volunteer to become Griselda without even simply asking her if she really wanted to commit to it and show any actual reservations at the time could be construed as overkill in his quest for power and vengeance, which Shizu has actively helped him with, even if she's not as personally driven by power. I think that realizing that Shizu is about the only real sympathizer that he has left, and her nearly getting killed and the fact that she probably has a relatively short time to live also woke Agito up to a few things that he had blinded himself to. He has a young woman who is basically his wife in all but formalities who is willing to do damn near anything for him, and though he has returned her affection at times, he's never really seen himself as her lover, at least not in the same way that Shizu holds herself to Agito as far as that goes. Maybe her volunteering to put her life on the line for him several times has awakened him to the fact that she genuinely loves him. It would be better if Agito was that way to her all along, instead of seeing her as just his friend and his second in command, but better late than never, I guess. What leads me to think about that is the last few pages of that chapter where Shizu found Agito at the grave site, and she found out about what happened after she nearly got killed and the fashback to his and Sho's conversation, and finding out that her grandpa and Hayami were also buried there. The last panel that showed Shizu speaking to Agito, where the only thing that she said was "Agito-sama" ("Master Agito"), I have been puzzled by her facial expression, almost like she looks slightly happy, but above all else confused or even surprised, or coming off of being shocked and realizing something has changed. I do believe that Shizu herself was surprised at what Agito did with the cemetery and him and Sho being on speaking terms again even with all that happened. As V Guyver said above, it seems that Shizu genuinely believes that she's Agito's other half (personal commentary: a lot of people probably see her as Agito's "better half" for sure), but she's had a hard time dealing with some of the things that he's done in the past, and she seems to be a bit confused or surprised--maybe in a good way--that Agito does seem to be at least somewhat apologetic for some of those things. And we do have to remember that Shizu is pretty much the only person now who Agito not only considers to be a true friend, but she's also about the only person that he'd confide such things in, aside from maybe also Sho now. I don't know what to think of this as far as being a permanent change, but Agito's quest for revenge, IMO, has really sealed him off from a lot of things that life had/has to offer.

But then again, that's the issue with using online translators: they can give you the gist of what a foreign phrase means, but outside of that, it's a shot in the dark. Google Translate is, in my personal experience, very dodgy. You can just about usually decipher what is being said, but it's by no means very accurate 90% of the time. The big problem is that it seems to take the sentence or phrase you put in the box, and it translates word for word, giving a literal meaning of that word. Why that doesn't work is that it ignores the context of the collection of the words and what the words as they're arranged mean as a whole. One thing that I'll never say about Guyver Advocacy is that you guys get it wrong. Being well versed in Japanese, I have to say that there's an extremely good chance that about everything is 100% accurate. Of course, and I don't want to sound like an a-hole about it because I don't want to come of as such considering that it's something pretty minor, I did notice that in the chapter (Nov 2012 issue) after Shizu and Agito return to Zeus' Thunderbolt's HQ in Colorado, there was one instance where Shizu in her conversation said "has died" when "have died" probably would've sounded a bit better, but that's probably me being pretty anal retentive with the English language and me being a writer. Besides, as has been pointed out if this was "real life", unless she's fluent in English and has used it very often, we can't expect Shizu to get things right every time with use of English words that have similar meanings, but different spellings and phonetic contexts. It's her second language, after all, and English is one of the hardest secondary languages for people to learn. I can be stickler for that, but I also have to be fair--at least her meaning was clear (which is all that I can ask for), and as translators, you guys can only go off of what you have to work with. And besides, it was only one minor mistake with context, and not really a big deal. It sounded a bit off mostly, but the meaning wasn't really damaged, so I've let it pass--I even missed it the first several times I read it. That's not a knock in away way, but it is a difficult job to say the least to translate a lot of that stuff. And then, there's the issues with slang and colloquial stuff that's probably often a pain, and, of course, words that exist in one language that don't really exist in another or there's on direct equivalent in that language, such as the profanity stuff mentioned earlier not really existing in Japanese as it does in Western languages. Another reason to take the word of a pro as far as translating stuff over most online translators if one wants accuracy.

As far as the language deal, one can put the whole Kanji phrase in to Google translate, all one will get back is "Guyver", with no reference to the "Bio-Booster/Boosted Armor" part unless it's put in separately. That part is rendered on their translator as "Bioboosted Armor Strength", though that's probably a nuance of their translation system. At least it manages to get the "Guyver" part right--others render Guyver as "Gaybar" or something like that. As I said, using online translators is usually hit or miss unless it's a really good one. Google at least lets you get a sense for what is being said, in that such translations are at least decipherable most of the time, but it's by no means very accurate most of the time, either. And for the record, in a manga guide called "Manga: The Complete Guide". under the section on Guyver, the full English title, of course, is posted as Bio-Booster Armor Guyver, which is what Viz called the translated manga, and what US Renditions used on the title cards for their English translated OVA tapes (and used that same title on the back panel of the Act II VHS tapes and on the Guyver: Out of Control VHS). However, the author also listed the Japanese and Romaji titles as literally meaning "Strength-Boosting Armor Guyver" To be fair, both are probably accurate in context: Strength is one of the things that the Guyver armor enhances for it's host, but I believe that the "Bio-" part comes in as far as a descriptor of the armor as being a living, quasi-sentient biological creature in and of itself. The Guyver armor isn't an inanimate metal, it is a living creature that can, to a degree, think for itself when it's host is unable to, such as the times that Sho was unconscious (Unit merger, regeneration in Chronos Japan's HQ, battling the Enzyme II that his father was turned into), or when the control medal teaches Sho how to use the unit's various weapons. That could be the translator taking some liberties with the translation, or simply adding a descriptor that covers more than just "strength-boosting". Of course, on the actual manga issues, the title is rendered in English as being "Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor"(probably should have a hyphen between Bio and Boosted, that would seem to work better in English), so it's something that seems to fit, even if it's not what the Japanese title directly translates to. Now, to try and move on to another topic, I'd like to talk about the roles of female protagonist in Guyver and Twilight. Of course, I'm gonna defend both Mizuki and Bella a bit. To be fair, they're both in a world where it can be argued that "normal" humans don't really belong. Bella is in a world where her BF/husband Edward and his whole family are vampires that normally hunt and kill humans as a food source (the Cullens don't kill humans for their blood, preferring to hunt animals), while Jacob is a shape-shifting wolf, and such creatures were known for having violent mood swings where they--albeit unintentionally--can injure or kill normal humans. In Mizuki's case, her BF/probable future husband Sho is a host for an alien-designed suit of bionic battle armor that turns him, in short, into an (especially initially) unwilling armor-plated superhero. Also, Sho battles against Chronos and their army of Zoanoids, mostly to protect the likes of her and Tetsuro and their friends at first, and, more recently, to right the wrongs that Chronos has committed. In both of their cases, it would be fair to say that they don't have a chance in hell to survive if they had to fight, not at least until Bella becomes a vampire in Breaking Dawn. However, they do symbolize the types of people that the male protagonist, who happen to be their romantic interests, are trying to defend. Mizuki symbolizes the people who Sho wants to defend and wants to see more of as far as influencing the world. Edward sees Bella as representing the reason why he abstains from the "normal" vampire life and his admiration and respect of human life. And it turns out that neither Bella or Mizuki are as weak as they at times think that they are. Bella bailed Edward's ass out of a few situations in spite of her being a "weak" normal human, such as him trying to kill himself in Volterra, and also getting him to "see the light" as far as him ultimately dropping his self-loathing nature. Mizuki's emotional connections to Sho has helped him overcome quite a few situations and problems, such as giving him the will to fight, and, like Bella with Edward, got him to see past his thoughts that he's a monster, and that he's still got his humanity, which also helps with his will to fight against Chronos. There's two more things that I'd like to write a bit about (and yes, I'll probably drive Ryuki insane with all of this text should he read this, if I haven't already), but these are things that are important to me with the female character deal, and those are the "action girl" and "tomboy vs girly-girl" aspects, and I'll work on the action girl stuff, first. In Twilight, we do have Alice (vampire), Rosalie (vampire), and Leah (shape-shifter) as action girls, with Victoria being a dark action girl. Bella also becomes an action girl (more so in the film than in the novel) after she becomes a vampire. In Guyver, we only have two action girls in the true sense, those being Shizu/Griselda and Valcuria/female Guyver II (and yes, I'm well aware of the multiple spellings of her name). I've seen Natsuki being referred to as a "sensible action girl" once during a chapter discussion on this forum, and that may be. She doesn't fight, but she seems to be more enterprising and adventurous than Mizuki is, and she's definitely not afraid of Zoanoids, at least in their human form. But in a traditional sense, at least among protagonist, Shizu is about all we have as an action girl in the commonly perceived sense. Of course, it's fair to term her as such; as Griselda, she can cut Zoanoids apart, has the physical strength to rip them limb from limb, she functions like an army General within Zeus' Thunderbolts as a leader of men (she a girl who commands men and instructs them as to what to do), and she does all kinds of things that someone who seems to be overtly very girly most of the time don't do stereotypically. That does have a bit on the "tomboy vs girly girl" debate, but that's later. However, for all their action girlyness, Rosalie and Alice are still very much overtly girly, and Shizu takes that to 11. Rosalie can be bossy and stuck up at times, but she calms down as far as that goes after Bella gets pregnant with Renesmee, and Alice does all the things that women are associated with as far as events within the Saga, and she's the upbeat, kind, good-natured type. And for her part, Shizu may be an action girl, but she's never overly harsh and she's definitely not nasty to others. She's def. kind, good-natured and gentle. Of course, she can also be pretty damn dangerous when she's acting out of Agito's interest, or her and Agito's combined interest. And it can be argued by how she follows Agito and, for the most part, is quick to do whatever she thinks will help him, that she's a bit of a push over--similar arguments were made of Bella as far as her relationship with Edward. Of course, Shizu and Bella were both acting out of their own volition and felt that they owed to them and their partner to do what they did. Lastly, there's the "tomboy and girly girl" stuff. I already touched on it with the "action girl" discussion. Bella is for sure a tomboy--she hates getting dressed up and wearing makeup. TV Tropes does say that Natsuki is the most tomboyish of the female Guyver protagonist. There's some reasoning to that, as she seems to shy away from getting really dressy, but at the same time, I don't see how she's really much different than most girls today in that respect. Everyday where I work, most women (and where I work has an overwhelmingly female staff) dress like Natsuki does; jeans or slacks, flats, and tank tops or sweaters. Mizuki, for the most part, doesn't seem to dress much more femininely than Natsuki does. And her hairstyle is sometimes seen as being a bit tomboyish. However, I'd call it "edgy" or "chic", but not really tomboyish. The only things that I'd say that Natsuki is overtly tomboyish with is with her interest in science fiction and how she's taken it upon herself to help out Sho and Aptom and their friends/allies, not to mention how she can guess at what type of a Zoanoid people could be, or who might be a good candidate for such a thing, even if she's appalled by the very idea of Zoaforming. As for Shizu, well, she's sort of femininity incarnate: she's often been shown wearing dresses and sandals in the manga, dresses/skirts with feminine tops and dress flats in the TV series (it seems that she rarely wears jeans and such as casual wear), has seemingly insanely long hair styled in a feminine fashion, and she acts like what we stereotype how feminine girls act: kind, considerate, gentle, compassionate. However, she does have a side that we might consider being tomboyish, and that's when she's helping out Agito. She, even before she became Griselda, showed a bit of an aggressive side, namely when Neo Zx-Tole tried to kill Agito when Shizu was by his side. In both the manga and TV series, when Zx-Tole insisted that she move or die, she stood up, yelled at him, and basically told him to kill her if he wanted a shot at Agito. And she, even as a human, wasn't very afraid of Zoanoids, either, and was usually never far from Agito while he was fighting after she was introduced. So she's pretty brave and aggressive for a girly girl as far as Guyver goes, let alone after she became Griselda. Those are my thoughts on the subjects of action girls and tomboy vs girly girl as far as Twilight and Guyver go. They have a balance of both, including those who can do both tomboy and girly girl. Of course, if I think of more stuff, I'll add later on, but I'd like to read some thoughts on my observations and opinions.

Well, Ryuki, this thread has been pretty much off the rails since I mentioned the stuff with Natsuki being a Christian in the first post, so in that case, it's probably as much my fault as anyone else's. It was originally a Twilight Saga/Guyver thematic comparison, then it turned into a discussion about Natsuki and if she is/isn't a Christian and the evidence to support either case, and now we're talking about usage of profanity in Guyver vs Twilight. This all does connect with the Twilight Saga--Natsuki not seeing eye to eye with Chronos with a lot of the stuff that they're doing, and others holding the Volturi in a similar light in Twilight, and the fact that profanity is used in both stories, though not in an extreme fashion. However, as far as intensity, the edge goes to Guyver--no one gets called a "bastard" or a "son of a bitch" in any of the Twilight stuff outside of fan fiction. Meanwhile, those two profanities are used a fair bit in all English versions of Guyver canonizations as insults during fights or confrontations. But again, it's in the English translated versions that such things are prevalent--I even saw some Guyver OVA episodes on You Tube that were posted of the Japanese speech/English subtitled versions. They featured much of the same profanities and swearing that were in the English dubbed VHS tapes that I have at home, but that was probably the translator taking liberties with the translation in relation to the context of the usage of the word or phrase for those subtitles. As far as Shizu and Agito being English speakers, they'd probably in general--not just profanities and suggestive phrases--have the normal issues with it being their second language, and English, because so many words sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings, it's very hard to learn and it takes a lot of practice, so what you've said about them using swearwords would take the same amount of practice for them to get the meaning across that they want to, hence, the might not (at first) use profanities until they get the rest of using the English language down. Most people who do learn to speak English fluently as a second langauge usually learn it in their youth. The Netherlands is an example of this, where almost the entire population is reasonably fluent in English, though it's not an official language in Holland. This is mostly because American or British TV shows are never re-dubbed and are rarely subtitled, and because American and British songs are popular, so they also pick up English words, phrases and sentences from the song lyrics. Also, English is taught in most Dutch high schools, since English is the #1 preferred language of the international business world. When it's considered that Agito was basically being groomed to become the head of Chronos Japan (in other words, an executive officer of an international corporation), he probably learned at least conversational English when he was a teenager, so he may've been pretty fluent in English for a while by the time he formed Zeus' Thunderbolts. And of course, there's the whole "Shizu has learned so much in the past three years" that Grandpa Yohei mentioned to Agito in the manga and TV series. Of course, we don't know exactly what Shizu learned, considering that she was pretty much home schooled. However, considering that it seems that she was taught some pretty advanced stuff (Nursing, for one, as well as probably any thing else that she and Yohei could think of as far as helping Agito out), Shizu might have learned some English in case she'd have to use it. Of course, I can't say for certain, because, after all, it's never really discussed that Shizu learned in those three years aside from anything we could imagine that a teenage girl could use to be of help to her boyfriend. But, long story short, they'd probably catch on fairly quick to how the English language works, but, even with as intelligent as they are, it's still a second language, and as far as swearing/profanity as we know it not really existing in the Japanese language, I'll have to take your word for it--it does seem to be more an issue of context than anything else, and the translation has to make sense more than anything else. Just try translating about any foreign language text in Google Translate--it's hit or miss to say the least. And in context, just to use an example from the Guyver universe, the familiar 強殖装甲ガイãƒãƒ¼ is usually translated as meaning either "Bio-Booster Armor Guyver" or "Guyver: The Bio-Boosted Armor", and both are correct in context. But literally, the actual meaning of that Japanese phrase is "Bio-Strength Boosting Armor Guyver". Again, we have to go with what makes the most sense in a Japanese to English context. Also, the well known Audi advertizing phrase "Vorspurng Durch Technik" is usually rendered as meaning "Advancement/Progress though Technology". However, there's no true 100% accurate word in English that means what "Vorsprung" means in German, so again, the translator had to take a few liberties to get an English phrase that made sense. Of course, as I mentioned, this topic has been derailed for a while as far as it being a true Guyver vs Twilight thematic topic. That's been discussed, but it's also gone down the "Natsuki Christianity" and "profanity" tangents, too. So, I'd like to try and right the ship that I do feel that I did sort of capsize. And I wonder what anyone would think of me discussing the roles of men and women in Guyver vs Twilgiht. There's for sure some similarities and differences there that can be discussed.

The profanity deal is derived from the fact that in English translations of Guyver media (translated manga, be it the stuff that GA does or the Viz releases that I've read, the OVAs or even the TV series) do feature occasional mild profanity, mostly what in the US would be dubbed as "PG" rated stuff--hell, damn, ass, the occasional s-bomb. Of course, I can't really question what you've posted about there being no true profanities as we know them in the English speaking world--you're well versed in the Japanese language, I'm not, to say the least. I know various foreign phrases and such, but the only foreign language stuff outside of that is the now long forgotten French and Spanish classes I took in junior high. Of course, I do wonder why in the English translations why it seems that the female characters shy away from profanity use, while the male characters on occasion swear. As I said, I don't think that it has much if anything to do with Natsuki being a Christian--Shizu and Mizuki also seem to never curse or use profanities of any type. As mentioned, it could be the context of the Japanese words or phrases that the translators have to use, though I do wonder if there's a bit of a gender issue there. Shizu is seen as being very lady-like, and hence, her cursing like Sho, Agito, and Aptom might be seen as being "beneath her", and that seems to apply to the other female characters. I don't think that it's a case of Natsuki being religious, but it seems to be, as you've mentioned, context and, as I'm wondering, maybe a gender perception deal. After all, large scale use of profanity, even today, though not frowned upon often, is still seen as a "rough around the edges/edgy/aggressive" trait for most women in western society. But then again, in the Twilight Saga (yes, this connects to Twilight, too!), there is also PG-rated profanities that are occasionally encountered. And, ironically, one of the biggest "offenders" is Bella. However, seeing as how Bella is a pretty evident tomboy, it seems that she gets a bit of a pass. Also, Stephanie Meyer is an American, and Yoshiki Takaya is Japanese. Probably not a huge factor, but their audiences might have an impact on those decisions as far as what's "lady-like" and "edgy" for a woman. Kinda goes back to Natsuki and her crucifix necklace. She only wears it once (from what I've seen), but I doubt that she did it because it was "cool and edgy". I do believe that it had a spiritual and sentimental value to her. But none the less, the women in Twilight do their fair share of profanity usage, with Bella being as big an offender as Edward or Jacob would be. And with Shizu and Agito having spent time in the US and possibly learning English so they can talk to/lead their Libertus, most of whom were born and raised in North America it seems, I'd bet you that they probably know a lot of swear words and suggestive phrases. If that's the case, then it can be argued that Shizu doesn't use profanity, but she probably knows most if not all the words That's something that sort of sticks out when I've read the translated manga, or watch the OVAs or the TV series episodes, that the guys swear and use profanities every once in a while, but it seems that the female characters seem to shy away from that stuff. I've just sort of wondered if it's a gender issue or a translation issue (sorting out context of words and phrases), or a mix of both. Because in the western world, quite often women seem to be as proficient at profanity usage as men are.

As I pointed out, everything that Mr. Takaya puts into Guyver has a reason, usually an important one, and I do believe that him maybe inferring that Natsuki is a Christian is a thematic hint. The "hint" being morality and personal beliefs and ethics and responsible use of free will. Natsuki might be a Christian, but she seems to be an advocate of people using their own free will, which is why she's pissed at Chronos for using their propaganda to basically brainwash people into volunteering to become Zoanoids. And, I do have to admit that I'm slightly surprised that Yoshiki hasn't used much in the way of a historical perspective for a story commentary, such as the Fascists in Italy and the Nazis in German, and the Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union. Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and Joesph Stalin weren't afraid to use propaganda to lure people to the causes of Fascism, National Socialism, and the Stalinist/Soviet brand of Communism within their own spheres of influence and to sell their ideals to the world at large. Of course, a minor note on the history deal that surprises me is that Takaya does seem to bust his balls a bit to do some detailed research on the historical notes that he does use that are based on real events in history. And since Tetsuro and to a lesser degree Natsuki seem to be somewhat of an avatar of Takaya-san, I'm a bit surprised that neither Natsuki or Tetsuro seem to be history nuts, even if to a lesser degree than they are sci-fi addicts, because that would seem to be a good fit for them as characters, and it seems that Yoshiki is also interested by history, too. But back to Natsuki and Christianity. It seems that Natsuki also represents the voice of reason as a character when she comments on events. And she also may be a Christian, but she doesn't seem to be a stereotypical "religious zealot". She doesn't seem to get offended when Sho or Tetsuro use swear words around her. It seems that she doesn't swear, or it's extremely rare that she uses swear words/profanities when she talks, but that's not unique to her; Shizu and Mizuki very rarely if ever swear, either (even when Val cut Shizu's arm off in their battle--she just expressed a moan of pain, while when Sho did similar to Agito, the latter dropped a S-bomb), so it seems to just be something that Takaya doesn't deem to be "lady-like" or it's his own personal choice to have most female characters shy away from using profanity, even if they themselves (characters) don't find it offensive, or if in the real world he doesn't (though it could be suggested that the "cat" graphics used when Natsuki got frustrated when Sho expressed regret about her nearly getting killed at the Mansion--feeling like he drug her into his problems--could be a veiled demonstration of the profanities going around in Natsuki's head that she chose not to verbalize). She also doesn't dress or act like a stereotypical Christian. She does demonstrate an "edgy" fashion, but that's mostly from her bob-cut hair style and the fact that she at times dresses and acts a bit like a tomboy. Also, her hair style and some of her choices in clothing (the black outfit that she wore when she and co. first showed up at the mansion) seem to show that she's edgy and chic in terms of fashion, but I don't see her wearing a cross just for that, and Natsuki doesn't strike me as a goth-lolli or an emo-lolli or a punk-rocker type of chick. Most of the girls who do that actually usually have much longer hair--similar in length and sometimes style to what Shizu has, for an example (though not a good one; Shizu isn't a goth- or emo-lolli or a punk-rocker, either, but I'm using her for a hair style comparison)--and, even in everyday life, girls like that dress quite a bit differently than what Natsuki does. The closest that I've seen Natsuki really dress like something like that is the coat-stripped T-shirt-Capri jeans and hiking boots deal that she had when she and Toki talked at the cafe and when Apollyon abducted Mizuki and Tetsuro. Other than that, Natsuki dressed like you'd think that any other 20 or so year old young woman would--tank tops, jeans and flats, or a T-shirt and shorts. And above all else, and I believe that this is probably the most important point, Natsuki doesn't exactly wear her religious beliefs on her sleeve, let alone show a belief that her religious ideals are the only ones that are "right" or "how it should be" or are "superior" to others views. She seems to be way, way more open minded than that. Granted, she does act like a bossy big sister on occasion, but everyone knows why she's doing it, and its her playing the voice of reason, not because she's a Christian--it seems that religion is irrelevant to Natsuki as far as being the big sister/group mom, it's just her nature to support others and help solve problems. Shizu has a nature to be nice and gentle and helpful to others, Natsuki has a nature to be cheerful and help people, and to keep order, and if that means in her case she has to get a bit bossy or show her frustration (albeit in a civil but firm fashion), than so be it if needed (Note: even Mizuki has shades of the grouchy sister at times if somethings nagging her, though she is also helpful and kind to others--common traits among Guyver's female protagonist, it seems). It doesn't mark her out as an arrogant you know what, let alone a religious zealot, but she can act like a grouchy big sister at times if you really push her buttons. That's personality, not religion. She also doesn't ram her religious views down others throats, which goes back to the top of this paragraph. She seems to believe in people having free will, and in people using that free will for good, not evil, but that it's also their choice, even if she doesn't agree with or approve those who commit evil out of their own violation alone. And now to try and steer this discussion back to it's original subject (Guyver vs Twilight thematic comparison), it should be noted that Carlisle was a Christian before the became a vampire, and that he still adheres to those beliefs, though, like Natsuki, it seems that he doesn't like to force those beliefs onto others and, also like Natsuki, is very respectful of others beliefs, even if he doesn't exactly agree with them. It could be posed that the Volturi are trying to create their own "religion" like it can be argued that Chronos seems to be doing. That goes back to the "god complex" that I mentioned in the past; taking one's beliefs, trying to get others to follow them though force or advocating them though propaganda, and making how one's believes seem like the "be all, end all". In Guyver and Twilight respectivly, Natsuki and her friends, and the Cullen vampires and their allies, don't see things that way.

We all have to remember that Twilight is fiction, which isn't much of a defense, aside from the fact that fiction doesn't have to make sense. There's plenty of stuff that in Guyver that doesn't make sense as far as actual reality. There's plenty in Guyver that does work in theory as far as the weaponry of the Guyver armor, and genetic mutation is something that does happen. However, the ancient alien conspiracy is something that's never been 100% proven to be fact, which is why Guyver is classified as science fiction. Also, we don't currently possess the ability to make humans into powerful mutants, even if it's something that can be unlocked within a person's DNA, by putting them in a processing tank for a few days. That's just beyond our abilities, at least for now. And to the best of my knowledge, vampires don't actually exist in any from as far as folklore goes, be it Dracula or the Twilight Saga. Most of the main stream vampire stuff has been derived from urban legends about Vlad the Impaler, the ancient Romanian ruler. I'd believe that Stephanie tried to do a few things different to try and mark her vampires as unique and didn't feel like doing the same vampire stuff--and yes, Stephanie did do research on basic vampire lore before she took off completely on writing Twilight. It's just like how Yoshiki Takaya created Bio-Booster Armor Guyver as a tribute to the Kamen Rider and Ultraman shows that he grew up with as a teenager in the 1970s. That was then combined with his editors suggestion that he make his idea a bit more violent, scary and edgy for the teens out there, and Guyver as we know it was the outcome, and it's been that way pretty much since 1985. Guyver has hints of the other Japanese armored heroes, but it still goes down it's own unique road in it's own right. But it must be remembered that the Twilight Saga is mostly a romance story, read mostly by women. It's the guy fans of the Twilight that think about things like what can the vampires and shape-shifters do, and how might they stack up against other creatures. I like the romance aspect, and the Twilight Saga isn't really an action story, but there are still those who in fan fic like to inject an action/adventure aspect.