|
Post by TheMisfitDragon on Jul 14, 2004 2:23:34 GMT -5
In response to Perentie Fan (hey, I recognize you from SBA ^^), I've now downloaded the scanlations and it's a bit clearer. Yeah... there's definitely a part where Urd's thinking how she could cleave the planet in two (*cue hysterical laughter*). So I think I agree with what you are saying about Urd's taste of first class power possibly being equivalent to Belldandy at First Class Unlimited with her seals off.
And as for Urd as a villainess... well, if anything upset the balance between her two sides, I think it's a possiblity. I don't think she'd be Urd anymore, just as The Lord of Terror wasn't really Urd (I'm thinking of that little spirit that they show crying out to Belldandy more as being the actual Urd). But then again, I didn't view the full goddess Urd (the arc where her halves were seperated) as Urd either. Demoness Urd was a real witch though.^^;
I think all in all... she's a bit of a nutcase, but her real intentions are to help. Sometimes she loses track of what the real goal is and gets annoyed or is only in it for her amusement. Belldandy is the one who's tolerant, even if her message doesn't get across the first time, she believes that it will eventually. But yeah, unless something drastic were to happen, she's one of the "good guys".
(please excuse anything that's too vague... or where I rambled... it's late... I believe I did have examples in mind when I read this... I'm sure PF will comment if I left lots of huge gaps... : ) I haven't posted much at the SBA board but I do keep up with the two OMG! sections and you're pretty good with relevant comments and actually, some pretty hard core debating^^; )
|
|
|
Post by Jimmy C on Jul 14, 2004 9:56:36 GMT -5
Hi all. I'm the one who supplied the raws to Les. I'm glad to see the favourable response.
Not in this age where machinery can make forging even the most intricate stamp easy for an idiot. I read an article about the Japanese use of such stamps in 2002 or 2003. There have been forgeries and even outright thief of stamps. Moves are afoot to replace stamps with signatures, but these regulations will take time. If they pass at all.
|
|
|
Post by Timotheus on Jul 14, 2004 10:56:20 GMT -5
I didn't know that, but then a lot of my Japanese cultural sources are from 10 - 20 years ago, but then so's a lot of the manga we've gotten in the states. I hate to think how long baggy socks were standard issue for girl's uniforms over there before we started seeing them in the artwork over here.
Thanks! I'll just file that for future reference. Any other insights?
|
|
|
Post by TheMisfitDragon on Jul 14, 2004 13:36:03 GMT -5
Yeah, thanks so much to you, Jimmy C and all the others who contributed to the scanlations. You guys did a wonderful job (at feeding my addiction...9_9;). No, but really, you guys did a nice job.
Oh, and if you read this, I was wondering if it had already been done or... well, this is just a suggestion... but since Nekomi Kodai hasn't been updated in awhile, are there any other places that host the translations only? Like in nice printable form? Or could that be a possibility for the future? Thanks for your time.^^
|
|
|
Post by Jimmy C on Jul 14, 2004 14:13:59 GMT -5
Regarding the sigil? All that has been said is that they are Heaven's version of official signatures.
I could talk about the flashback showing Urd's first shot at getting a 1st class license.
the way the goddess in charge talks to her is interesting.
[spoilers, but you should know that by now]
She tells Urd she has a feeling that Urd shouldn't become a first class. She tells Urd to think about the meaning of becoming a 1st Class. Urd promptly walks away.
I find the sequence interesting because it implies that Urd was the one asked to be tested. Much like a professional decides to take a certification exam. Some would argue that Urd was ordered to take the test. I don't think so because of the following:
1. Who could have ordered her? It wasn't the goddess Urd was talking to. She disuaded Urd from taking the test. It wasn't some other authority because
2. Had Urd been ordered to take the test, she would have disregarded that goddess' words and took it.
Therefore it was Urd who decided she was ready to become a 1st class at the time. I leave the implications of that to you.
Another interesting matter was the senior goddess knew Urd was a half-demon. Makes you wonder if it's common knowledge in heaven. Way back in volume 5, the implication was that it wasn't.
Finally, the other examinee goddesses very rather negative about Urd being able to take the test. Even Heaven isn't free of prejudice.
When Urd got back to Belldandy after leaving the exam site, she told Bell that "liars were ineligible for the test". A lie.
And the last question for this exam was happiness. Peorth gave K1 a badge that would show his "happiness index". Urd has to let K1 have 500 points of happiness by 6pm the next day to pass. Urd isn't off to a good start... I wonder how they run this question in Heaven where mortals are in short supply.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Jul 16, 2004 16:38:32 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Timotheus on Jul 16, 2004 18:39:40 GMT -5
Thank you, Jimmy C!!
It sounds like much of my projected backhistory for Urd is being confirmed. Yeah!
I've just gotta figure out how to see these chapters, darn it! So far attempts at getting 188 have been less than successful.
|
|
|
Post by Jimmy C on Jul 17, 2004 1:59:44 GMT -5
Tim, if you go to the chat channel of G2G, you'll be able to track down a scanlated 188. If you're looking for the japanese original of 188, let me know if you find it. I doubt I'll be able to locate it until vol 29 comes out in japanese.
|
|
|
Post by PerentieFan on Jul 19, 2004 17:19:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments on my comments TheMisfitDragon. I have nothing to critisize about what you said, only that you seems to not give Urd's good nature enough credit. She's more fun-loving and playful than she is nuts, although it can appear otherwise at times. All in all most of Urd's more extreme behavior (i.e when she appears to be almost outright cruel or completely selfish) can probably be blamed on her dual natures. Urd herself has told Belldandy that her Goddess and Demon sides are constantly warring against each other within her, hence why it is essential to Urd that she maintain her goddess identity, for fear that the Demon nature would become more powerful than the Goddess nature and she would lose who she is/who she wishes to be. And thanks for the picture Les! ;D It's incredible how teenage Urd is unbelievably cute AND gorgeous at the same time. *saves* She tells Urd she has a feeling that Urd shouldn't become a first class. She tells Urd to think about the meaning of becoming a 1st Class. Urd promptly walks away. Another interesting matter was the senior goddess knew Urd was a half-demon. Makes you wonder if it's common knowledge in heaven. Way back in volume 5, the implication was that it wasn't. Finally, the other examinee goddesses very rather negative about Urd being able to take the test. Even Heaven isn't free of prejudice. Indeed, it is interesting to think about. Many fans have long speculated that Urd's already difficult childhood (due to struggling with her dual natures) was made all the harder by prejudice from her peers and elders, who either knew or suspected she was half demon. While clearly she was respected for her power, knowledge, and skill with Yggdrasil, that would not necessarily have meant Urd was well-liked in Heaven. Judging by how she seems to prefer not being there, and what we know about her past, it's safe to say her friends up there are few and far between. So she lied about lying? Does that mean that she never actually took the test due to the harrasment from the other goddesses, and therefore automatically flunked? So what exactly happened? Do you mean that Urd has to give Keiichi more happiness or that she has to keep him from losing happiness he gets every day? One would suspect that this would be difficult. After all, Urd's ideas of happiness-bringing things don't often match up with Keiichi, or rather they do but hers usually get too extreme, wierd, frightening, or otherwise for him to handle. And what kind of happiness exactly? If it's allowed to come from pleasure, Urd will probably at some point try to make use of her "feminine charms," for better or worse. Ah the mysteries of their reality continue to mount. One wonders if they'll ever explain what is the full extent of the relationships between Yggdrasil and mortals, and where beings go when their bodies die.
|
|
|
Post by TheMisfitDragon on Jul 19, 2004 19:26:55 GMT -5
heh I dunno.. I keep going back and forth. She can sometimes be so childish... and then other times extremely wise. Like I think a lot of the complaints she gets about her potions don't take into account the third party tampering. Ok, so the Valentine chocolate incident she kinda dumped a whole container of who knows what on accident. But there was the love potion that Skuld added stuff to, and then the one Peorth put into a pop which messed it up, Keiichi randomly taking doses of stuff, the one the mouse/rat ate (so that was a little off... Peorth wasn't looking for longer appendages... but it worked in the sense that it did make the mouses legs long... Urd just had the wrong goal in mind), and even the latest medicine in Volume 28 that Belldandy took... Belldandy took it with something Peorth gave her and I'm pretty sure it was implied that the combination of the two changed the effects of the medicine. But at the same time... she kinda tends to use them all as guinea pigs. And I didn't mention the Mini Goddess series exploits of Gan-chan and Urd's creations.
And I really could go into so many tangents... like do their personalities change over the series or are they altered? Is it a combination? But I have to go... I'm also interested in the Urd's past issue, too. About her treatment and who knew about her heritage, etc. etc. It'd also be interesting to see more of the past relationship between Urd and Hild. Because obviously they've interacted before Volume 21.... well, I'd like to say obviously but perhaps it is too strong a word. But I really do have to go. Ah! And even though it probably should be in a different topic... there's a spread from the latest Newtype that has an ad for the OVA (OAV... whatever9_9 ). I think it's up at SBA. I'll try to post a link later (or if anyone decides to look it up... they can do whatever with this information... I'm probably not the first to find this out).
|
|
|
Post by Timotheus on Jul 20, 2004 0:18:30 GMT -5
Kotetsu (I hope that's how its spelled) has a translation of it in a reply to her latest blog. Nothing really new that I could see.
The only pre-history of Urd and Hild I've found was a drawing by Mr. Fujishima showing an extremely maternal looking Hild holding a content looking baby Urd. From this admittedly slim evidence I've deduced that Hild really loves her daughter and would very much like her back, but being Hild she's going about it in some very contrived ways.
I also feel that Urd probably had a close relationship with her mother for a couple years, then Hild shipped her off to live with daddy because she felt it would be safer for her. In her position as leader of hell anyone she had a close tie to could be a target for Hild's enemys. Also, however bad the suspicions of Urd were in heaven, I got a feeling it would have been far worse for her in hell.
Urd, however, feels like her mother abandoned her, which is one reason she won't accept her back into her life and why she's so grimly determined to be a goddess. (That and it confirms her relationship to Belldandy and Skuld.)
P.S. As a chemist, My conclusions as to Urds potion brewing are that she takes it very seriously and is very precise in her work, her stock potions always work and her custom jobs are usually close. Well within experimental random factors. As noted, it's usually interference that causes the chaos.
|
|
|
Post by TheMisfitDragon on Jul 20, 2004 1:07:02 GMT -5
heh... and since I'm typing a response... yes.. TV series isn't the same as OVA. 9_9
Anyway, yeah, the picture of Hild and Urd is from Volume 22. It's not a flashback scene or anything. It's just one of the pictures on the start of a chapter, I think. I let someone borrow that Volume so I can't really check right now. But I'm excited that Mr. Fujishima is revealing more about the past. I mean, there's been little snippets here and there but I guess 189 seems like it's a rather large flashback in comparison to what's been shown so far. (and little Belldandy and Urd are so cute!)
And yeah, Kotetsu's translation was pointed out.
All I've gotta say is... Urd's eyes are green yet again.^_- I wonder how they decide this.^^; All their eyes seem to change color.. except maybe Skuld's. Belldandy's eyes were brown on the cover of Volume 27. But, as far as I can tell, it's not anything too significant.^^;;; But that was one of the first things I noticed because I was curious. It switches with every new series or spinoff. Well, actually most of the animated versions gave Urd green eyes. Except the movie.. but yeah... going to stop there. I'm really looking forward to the series.: D
|
|
|
Post by Jimmy C on Jul 20, 2004 1:27:13 GMT -5
She didn't flunk, because she never took the test in the first place.
As to the last question, I won't say much to avoid spoiling it. Let's just say Urd's attempts have more of an opposite effect than she intends. As usual.
|
|
|
Post by Timotheus on Jul 21, 2004 14:50:23 GMT -5
Oh.... My..... That was a surprise.
Thank you to everyone responsible for getting that up and available. Something big's in the OMG universe's works.
In reference to a earlier question. It was Skuld who didn't know about Urd's past. I believe it was shown (especially in the later chapters) that Urd's parentage was fairly well known in heaven, especially within her generation and above. The younger gods might not be as well informed though and there was a conscious effort made to keep Skuld in the dark.
I'm not sure, but I think one of the candidates in that room was a boy. What do others think?
The situation does seem to support my theorys about Urd and Belldandy's childhood. I'd place Urd at about 16-17 in that scene, the age you can get your first license (motorbike) in Japan. And the testing goddess's attitude certainly fits in. (She looks just a little too smug at the end.)
And I'm impressed by the similarity between the scene of Belldandy with the bird and the same scene in the movie. (Possible cross-reference?)
I've got a strong feeling where this is headed. The next couple chapters may see a question resolved between Belldandy and Keiichi that's been foremost on a lot of fans' minds.
|
|
|
Post by AstroNerdBoy on Jul 22, 2004 2:13:36 GMT -5
Hey Les, it you are getting translations, does this mean that we'll soon be seeing the next manga volume released? ;D
Which reminds me...must study Japanese...
Must finish AMG articles too...
Edit: Heh! Nevermind. I'm scanning the board and found what I wanted. YATTA!! Can't wait to get home and score those chapters.
|
|