Angelique meme from Tumblr.
1. Favorite Angelique (Limoges, Collet, etc)
I'd say game Neo, probably. I find it remarkable how the heroines seem relatively down-to-earth and proactive in the games, yet more vapid and helpless in other media.
2. Least favorite Angelique?
Probably Limoges in the video/drama/etc. incarnations. Characters in Japanese games & comics who are lavishly venerated for no reason other than being the Chosen One, particularly when held when held up as the Gallant to the supposed Goofus of characters who actually do struggle and work to overcome their shortcomings, drive me up the wall.
3. Favorite rival? (Rosalia, Rachel, etc)
Rachel. She has a welcome spark of can-do, pallsy proactivity. I like Rosalia, too, though, as she takes her duties seriously and is one of the few characters who grows & changes over the course of the series.
4. Least favorite rival?
Probably Rosalia in the first game, I guess. They're very aggressive with her "ho ho ho" antics, and the game's early-SNES lack of a text-skip feature means you have to hear her insults like 50 times.
5. Favorite Guardian (Beast, Bird, Neo)
If we're including the Neo fellas (we never got to the point in Neo where we got Guardians, alas), I'll say Mathias. He dedicates his life to high ideals, and all he gets for it in the end is a knife to put in his own heart because he's not the designated special one. I find it interesting to see an Angelique character wrestle with that issue, since it hews so closely to what I consider my own difficulties with the franchise. I also like his color palette.
If we're going actual Guardians, I will be boring and say Clavis. He has the tragic backstory and the Kaneto Shiozawa performance and the Farewell, Labyrinth dream world.
6. Least favorite Guardian?
Leonard's not a bad character, but he doesn't really fit into the Angelique tea-party milieu. He's kinda...sleazy. Oscar can kind of be a real self-centered jerk at times, but it wouldn't be Angelique without him, I suppose.
Also, in view of Mathias's troubles, I don't have much patience for OVA Rene and his entitlement and told him to take a hike in the game.
7. The Guardian you never expected to like but do now?
As I've said previously, I've come around on Julious a good deal. It's easy to hate him for his handling of the Clavis/255 affair and for being Mr. No Fun, but he was really put in an impossible position by 255, and in listening to the drama CDs, at least, he does really have more dimensions and subtleties in his leadership role than you'd see at first glance; he does really care for the people he's supervising and, as the cliche goes, really is the toughest on himself.
8. A Guardian that you used to like but don’t any longer?
Even though I picked Clavis as my favorite up there, I do kind of tune out every time we have to go through said tragic backstory. My attempt at a run through Koi Suru Tenshi stopped cold in part because the next episode I had to watch was entirely dedicated to it. (Well, it stopped more because the Guardians in the last episode I'd viewed were depicted as utter abusive jerks, but still.)
Oh, hey, you know who's not a Guardian but who suits this question? Arios was never a particular favorite of mine, but I...had more tolerance for him, I guess you could say, before I learned about Leviath's story. Arios is, literally, Leviath with all the conflict & character development taken away.
In answering this, I realize that it's not so much individual Guardians I like but the interactions between them. Clavis & Lumiale's easygoing, doubly-protective friendship, and Sei-Lan's laughable attempts to break it up. Zephel kind of resenting Marcel's genki innocence yet opening up to him because he's completely nonthreatening. Charlie & Olivie clowning around. Mel kiddishly doting on Ernst, who is ill-equipped to respond but finds a way anyhow. Even stuff like Kiefer sadistically toying with yet weirdly latching onto Cain for protection in moments of weakness is well-done.
9. Favorite Knight (Levias’ Knights)
Cain is the easy answer, but him being ensnared in Leviath's dark designs despite knowing better (and despite, or perhaps because of, his nature) and his sardonic resignation to his fate is well-done. Gerhard in the game is also growing on me.
10. Favorite game in the series?
Of the ones I've played (Neo, Maren, the original), I'd have to say Neo, though that's not saying much. The game is stupid easy. I do like how it offers a huge number of variations on the concept of talking, though.
11. Least favorite game in the series?
I'd actually say the first one. While I admire it for actually attempting to include a degree of challenge (something I gather is pretty much abandoned by the rest of the series), it has a bit of a nasty streak in it with the candidates trying to dehouse or kill the population of each other's continents, and the creators haven't really ironed out the world or characters yet.
12. A game within the series that you haven’t played but want to?
Tenkuu no Requiem, for seeing the first incarnation of the Leviath story, for the novelty of playing an Angelique RPG, and for seeing all the combo attacks and exchanges between the characters if you have them in the same party.
13. Favorite ship with Angelique?
I had a big answer of this up on Angemedia but am not in a position currently to go searching through the archives. In brief: I think Limoges & Randy's youthful, earnest enthusiasm goes well together; I think Rosalia & Julious's upper-crust upbringing (and attendant loneliness) and dedication to work & duty allows them to understand each other, and I can kind of see the manga's pairing of Rosalia with Luva if I squint (but think the Zephel pairing is a disaster in the making); I would not break up the series's one present-day canonical love story in Collet & Arios (despite my reservations with Arios above); and I think Rachel with Ernst is just a fun pairing - they're intellectual equals and understand each other's work, but she can provide a needed spark to him, so to speak. I can see Rayne & Neo Ange matching each other's youthful energy, but for the more complete & involved Abyss storyline, I prefer Nyx.
14. Favorite ship among the guardians (if you have one)
You could find pairings of everyone with everyone in the franchise's heyday, but I'm searching my mind, and I'm not thinking of any. I'd probably say Clavis & Lumiale; I know it's labeled as boring, but sometimes, you just want someone who understands you. Plus, you have the entertaining Sei-Lan sideshow, which is best represented in the bit in the White Dream CDs where Sei-Lan enters Clavis's manor and makes a lot of snide comments about the "dank" decor; pointedly ignores Clavis while trying to butter up Lumiale (in his own manner, which involves patronizing comments about Lumi's "old-fashioned" artwork), get him to be artist friends, and invite him to a tea party; finally prompts Lumiale to come along, albeit unexpectedly & uncharacteristically accompanied by Clavis; and, while Clavis is allegedly asleep at said tea party, ends up choking then shoved & locked in a wardrobe for a good half-hour in an incident that I will never, ever be convinced is not 100% Clavis's doing.
Also, I don't see Leviath being earnest about or acting on any of it, but I do like in a skancewise way Leviath encouraging unhealthy devotion that borders on or shades right into romantic infatuation among his supporters (Eugene, Giovanni, Kiefer, etc.); it's an excellent choice for a villain in a romance series to abuse love.
15. Duty/Cultivation or romance?
Duty! I can't fuck around with you, motherfuckers; I got Rosalia breathing down my neck!
16. Ever achieved the ‘perfect’ ending? With whom?
In my Neo game, I told the queenship to fuck off and Rene was cut out entirely, and *I* consider that a perfect ending.
17. Favorite anime OVA?
I can't think of any of the OVAs I like, really; they're relics of the day when the game media of the era had limited space for movies and it was a rare treat to see the characters fully animated. They're mostly collections of glamour shots of the guys - the exception being 4, though I gather 4 has its own problems in the Limoges-veneration department.
I liked the Neo anime greatly while it was ongoing, though the writing blew up three-quarters of the way through.
18. Favorite opening/ending theme song?
"Silent Destiny" from the second half of the Neo anime has just terrific energy and is really well-performed.
19. Favorite character song?
Mathias's "Shikkoku no Lament," which is awesomely dynamic and bitter - the last kind of song you'd expect from a gentle holy man - and provides a great showcase for the mellifluous strength of the seiyuu's voice. Other good ones off the top of my head: Luva's "Jasmine no Oka," which is just a breezy yet beautiful song for a sunny day that makes you feel great singing along to it; Julious's "Byakuya," for being awe-inspiringly slutty; Randy's "Evergreen," for the sheer quality of the singing in it - Canna's vibrato is awe-inspiring; and Sei-Lan's "Sekai de Ichiban Ai no Uta," a really sweet and understated love song from the most unexpected source.
20. Favorite duet song?
Julious & Clavis's "Sunrise, Sunset" is really beautiful musically as well as an excellent character contrast.
21. Favorite live event/festival?
Never seen one and have not seen any videos of them. I feel that it's unfair, in a way, for the voice actors to have to be live performers as well. They're supposed to embody the characters vocally, and that's it.
22. One thing you want to happen in a live event/festival that hasn’t happened yet?
Nada. Id' like more of the event-exclusive songs to be released in a more accessible format, though. Koei and accessible media formats go together like water and oil, though.
23. Favorite character design? (Original, 2, Trois, Etoile, etc)
Have to go with Sei-Lan's Trois, which is very soft yet well-coordinated, or Rosalia's Trois dress, which is genuinely elegant in a color the series usually doesn't do well (for women). Trois had a lot of lovely character designs.
24. Favorite drama cd?
"Farewell, Labyrinth" features some really excellent writing that's imaginative yet poignant; I wish all Angelique media showcased the characters this well. Second would be the Mugen Onkai 4-CD drama featuring Lumiale befriending a boy on a lonely aquatic planet, which also features some great characters writing - and some real gut punches.
25. Favorite radio cd?
I don't think I've every actually listened to one! This refers to the talk-radio ones that Oscar & Luva and Hyuga & Bernard's seiyuu did, right?
26. Do you input your actual bio information, or do you cheat and make adjustments to make affinities more in your favor?
You make it sound as if Scorpio/A is not the canonically best zodiac/blood type pairing in the game as well as in life.
27. Which sacrea/element would you want to be guardian over if given a choice?
Light seems to be It, but I'm really more yin than yang and would be a better fit for Darkness. I got typed as Luva, the Earth Guardian, when we did a whole What Guardian Are You? over at Angemedia, and I can see why, since my interests concern amassing & sharing weird books & information, but - man, Earth is boring.
28. Would you want the game(s) localized with English audio or just the text translated?
Take a stab at English audio, but I think just the text translated would be OK. English voice acting has come leaps and bounds in recent years, but I don't think we're at the point where we can fully voice a romance game and not have it be a disaster.
29. How would you advise a newcomer into this series? (i.e give advice)
Treat the Koi Suru Tenshi TV series as if it were radioactive. (Also: each incarnation of the franchise - manga, anime, game, drama CD - has its own feel; it's best to sample everything to which you have access to see which suits you best.)
30. Ask your own question!
OK: What stuff do you have? Here's mine:
- A bunch of CDs. Most of these were gotten really cheap through Amazon third-party sellers (search "angelique", then narrow to Imports) or in this big lot of mostly drama CDs I got off Yahoo Japan once.
- Most of a full run of LoveLove Tsuushin, save for the last six issues or so. (This was another one-lot Yahoo Japan find. The advantages of being a fan of a once-prolific but fading franchise: you can get a ton of stuff for cheap.)
- A set of the six Trois-era chibi keychains.
- A couple gag doujin, though they're packed away.
- Trading cards from a few assorted packs that were released around Trois, I think.
- A PSP copy of Neo and a special edition copy of Maren.
- Books I can recall offhand: a Trois artbook/strategy guide (actually this was the half of the two-book combo that had no start info; it's more like a strategy guide); a guide to Fushigi no Kuni no Angelique (though I have never played the game; I think this was on deep discount on eBay); the Kuroki Tsubasa Leviath & Knights backstory novel; a Sacrea typing/fortunetelling book; a book with the script from the PS version of the original game; Vol. 1 of the Neo Ange manga; Vol. 2 of this series called Angelique Carnival or something that was a potpourri of fan submissions and was basically the predecessor to LoveLove Tsuushin; the 20th anniversary artbook with the goddamn stubbed corner.
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