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Realistic Development
Topic Started: Dec 6 2009, 08:05 PM (1,847 Views)
Tristan
Moon Fairy
BTW I have got a funny idea about character development , after all living all alone and being (or posing to be) a tomboy makoto didn't have many ocasions to learn how to be lady-like you could implement couple of funny situations when Minako is taking her shoping or showing her how to stylishly dres , It could be something really entertaining to watch!
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flamesoul32
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Persona of Will
I'm all for the realism. I don't really like the idea of a kleptomaniac Makoto but the other ideas for her were very interesting. I also love the idea for the dark Ami in the game. Nice to see that getting some personal attention.

As fo Rei...I think she has enough trust issues and basic antisocial problems to not need an uncontrollable anger. Her getting angry easily is one thing. Her not being able to control it is another. Plus there is the fact that she is supposed to be a shrine maiden...with great mental clarity and focus. Having her have an uncontrollable aspect to her mind causes issues with this. Of course it could be explained that she is still in training...

You could make it work but it would be slightly complicated. I haven't decided if I like the idea or not. I think I'll just stick with the stance that Rei has enough problems at the beginning. Although it would be interesting if the anger problem was solved only for it to reoccur later. That would cause some interesting drama.

...As for Minako...I got nothing. Her taking the senshi job too seriously made perfect sense with her being alone for so long.
Edited by flamesoul32, Dec 8 2009, 02:16 PM.
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Tristan
Moon Fairy
flamesoul32
Dec 8 2009, 02:00 PM


...As for Minako...I got nothing. Her taking the senshi job too seriously made perfect sense with her being alone for so long.
Just out of curiosity , how can you take world saving bussines "too" seriously?:-) I mean if they fail entire planet will be nothing but ashes and dust ... I call it pressure.
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flamesoul32
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Persona of Will
Tristan
Dec 8 2009, 02:13 PM
flamesoul32
Dec 8 2009, 02:00 PM


...As for Minako...I got nothing. Her taking the senshi job too seriously made perfect sense with her being alone for so long.
Just out of curiosity , how can you take world saving bussines "too" seriously?:-) I mean if they fail entire planet will be nothing but ashes and dust ... I call it pressure.
Think of the attitude she had during PGSM. The Senshi mission was all important to the point where the mission of her past life ended up being more important then the future of her present life. Granted in PGSM her present life didn't have much of a future. That type of attitude along with the fact that she isn't really a part of the team when they first meet was what I was talking about. Plus the whole "Sailor V is the princess" manipulation.

VenusPose MarsAttack
Edited by flamesoul32, Dec 8 2009, 02:25 PM.
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Tristan
Moon Fairy
sorry I didn't watch PGSM, the entire series was
1. underbudget
2. With totally crappy actors (I always thought they supposed to be pretty girls)
3. With special effects that looked like it was created during lunch time by some underclassed incompetent fools
So even if plot was good I simply couldn't withstand it long enough to see it.
It's really hard to create film basing on this kind of manga/anime even with nowadays tech and high budget it would have been difficult (look at Harry Potter , costed milions and magic still looked poorly and plastic) So I cannot say anything about development in PGSM .
All I wanted to point out is that what they do is pretty serious stuff so it is good if someone is determined and understood the weight of a mission
(It was always so depressing to me that mina from C series , profesional and really classy became Usagi 2.0 in the next series :-( )
And as I understand this manipulation was to draw away enemies attention she was like a king dubble, very dangerous postion to be put in
Edited by Tristan, Dec 8 2009, 02:46 PM.
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Chains Of Fate
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President of Crystal Tokyo
There's a lot of talk here but I tossed out the idea of Rei having uncontrollable fits in favor of her just being extremely rude in that she is not afraid to call out someone's flaws and being really pushy and not willing to lose an argument. XD

We explored the idea that Minako could have a tendency to lose her cool and yell at her friends in dire situations, kind of not willing to sugar coat things but instead trying to control the situation with too much assertiveness. Working alone for so long would make it hard for her to be a team player, I'm sure. She likes to take all the responsibility and does not know how to really get the help she deems necessary from her partners.
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Tristan
Moon Fairy
Hey and about this umino guy, what about you show him as almost maniac of Usagi (if i remember corrently he had serious crush on her) you may show parts when umino is making photos of usagi or have a shrine dedicated to her hidden in the room , he was reallycreepy guy always bumping out of nowhere so this kind of "pervertion?" would fit him very well
[Remember like he once make a picture of his teacher when she was training]

BTW In one of the books I read "Siewca Wiatru" (The windcreator?) I have read amazing idea , entire story is irrelewant to the thread BUT there was motive about really powerfull beings (archangels or Archdemons) going to earth with no other reason than to drink a beer , or have a good meal , and i thought what if Nephrite and others also sometimes visited earth just like that , to be around someone who don't want to kill/humiliate them , outside of this entire competetive enviroment in which they lived . You could show them from another side , Maybe Jadeit sitting in a bar talking to a perfect stranger being more honest that he could ever be with his fellow "comrades" or Nephrite playing guitar in some abandon warehouse with homeless listening to him , thru this epizodes you could show there "other side" it is just loose idea thought
Edited by Tristan, Dec 8 2009, 03:21 PM.
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Chains Of Fate
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President of Crystal Tokyo
LOL Umino definitely has his creepy moments. He is a very interesting character in the game.

There is a whole series of sidequests related to him collecting memorabilia of his favorite star.
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Chains Of Fate
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President of Crystal Tokyo
A very good thought, Tristan.

In the game, the Four Heavenly Kings already have human disguises/personas that they take on while in the human world, and you do get to see the humanity in them and learn about their passions/likes/dislikes/goals/views of the world.
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ArtemisX
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Moon Fairy
Chains Of Fate
Dec 7 2009, 06:48 PM
Yumiko is a boy crazy flirt/source of gossip and Kuri is a self conscious girl with a food obsession. Writes itself. XD
Poor Kuri, well at least she got a nose this time...

I'm all for this obviously, but nothing to add that hasn't been already suggested for the girls.
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Keysha
Meatball Head
I know this one's kind of an old topic, but I wanted to give my opinion on the matter anyway. First off, I'd like to say that bringing in life problems to round out characters is a good idea, as long as it doesn't change who the characters are. That's the thing that you really need to watch out for when doing something like this. Now, if I were to do issues for the inners, this is what I'd choose:

VenusPose Minako: We're starting with her cause all anyone seemed able to suggest was her being "bossy", which while it sort of works still really lacks a lot of the weight that makes for a real problem. This is a girl that started off in Sailor V as a tomboy who chased idols and was always falling in love but never actually getting her guy. She had to kill the first guy she confessed to (at least as far as we know) and the guy that gave her her first kiss, who she had spent months chasing after--sort of her first boyfriend in a way--was also her enemy who she watched die. This is a lot of trama for a young teen, and on top of that she's trying to be an idol. Now, while some may argue that this is just a little girl's dream of "I want to be rich and famous one day!" it can also be believed as "I want people to see me and love me!" If you take it from that angle, Minako can easily become an insicure girl who puts on a brave and bubbly front to the world just trying to get people to notice her and like her no matter how far she has to twist herself from who she really is. And with all the times she falls in love, with how demanding on appearance the showbiz is, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to have her develop some sort of eating disorder. It would start with "I have to watch my carbs, there's this audition coming up!" "I'm supposed to be Venus, the representor of the planet of Love and Beauty, I'm not pretty enough, I have to make myself look better!" "If I was more beautiful, he would have loved me back." "I put on three pounds, I need to cut back on how much I eat or I'll never get a part!" And it goes on, becoming more and more an obsession about her looks until it becomes clear to her family and friends that something is wrong and preventitive messures have to be taken.

MarsAttack Rei: Here we have a girl who's father got rid of her for the sake of his carrier, who's grandfather is a pervert who won't stop chasing girls, who's schoolmates either put her on a pedistal for being mystic or call her a fraud and a loonie but neither way do they understand her, who's only true friends are a pair of crows that live on the temple grounds. Here's a girl who hears things, sees things, knows things but whenever she attempts to explian to people, warn them or give them advice, they say she's just doing it for attention. She has a lot of dreams about being self-sufficient and confident, of not needing to rely on others and of being seen for a worth she's worked hard to prove she's worthy of. She's sharp tongued and cynical because people have attacked the thing that she feels makes her special, or tried to make use of it through her for their own gain. So she stopped trusting people, stopped talking about it to people, but it's something so much a part of her that she can't really get to know anyone without it being an issue. So in exchange she doesn't get to know anyone, and gets a reputation as a bitch, or crazy, or some mystical miko in a temple. But they're all just steriotypes and say nothing of the real her, and it angers and hurts her that people would claim to know *her* when they just stop at the surface like that and don't care for what's underneath. So it gets worse, she doesn't trust anyone anymore, and is so busy looking for their alterior motives that she lost her few chances at real friends that she had in the past. And she's in danger of doing so again with her fellow senshi if something can't be done to remidy the situation and open her eyes to the fact that she can actually care for these people and let them get to know the real her.

JupiterConfused Makoto: Again, not a fan of the idea to have her become a theif, especially when there's so much that can be done with the situation that's already there. In the begining, Makoto is very much the image of a gangster girl. She has no support from home life, no natural tallent in school, has to do everything on her own and so ends up with an obsession over being strong and independant. She basically learned to say "up yours, world!" and tough it out on her own because she hasn't had the option to do anything else. It was either learn to get by or die. If someone messes with her, she messes back with the attitude of "One of us is going down, and I don't want it to be me, so I'm going to take you out before you can take me out." She's used to having to do things on her own and to her own schedual, so she doesn't like athority telling her what to do. Where was athority when she was struggling to get over her parents death? Where was athority when she was counting her pennies in order to bujet for food that month? Where was athority when she was sick and alone and scared and couldn't get to the hospital to see a doctor because she couldn't make it all the way there on her own? What has athority ever done for her to warrent her bending over backwards and doing whatever they tell her to? So she doesn't do what they tell her. She fights back when she's bullied or when she sees wrongs being done that she can't bring herself to stand for. She skips school if she decides she's got something else she wants to be doing with her time instead. And because people are all too quick to judge, the rumors go round and before she knows it, she's painted a much darker shade than she really is. So up theres! She doesn't need to put up with that! So she switches schools, but the rumors follow, intensify, and the teachers don't try as hard to understand and make alowances as each school gets behind her. She never ASKED to live this life, but it's what she's got and she's doing everything she can to survive on what understanding and abilities she has. And to hell with everyone's "shoulds" and "would have dones", they're not her and they don't have to live her life. They're not the ones coming home every night to a little appartment without even a cat to keep them company, trying their hardest to make it seem warm and something like a home so that they can forget--even for a minute--that they don't have anyone in the world. That their parents are dead and nobody wants them. And while she longs to be a pretty girl with nice clothes and lots of cute things and everything girly, she doesn't dare because if she slips--if her conviction fails to hold even for one moment--she knows she'll break under the weight of who she has to be in order to survive.

AmiPose Ami:You seem to have a pretty good idea of what you want to do with her, so I left her for last, but I didn't want to leave her out completely. Ami, in my opinion, suffers from loneliness. People really underestimate how big a deal it is to be lonely, how huge a driving force it can be, and how wide a variaty of ways it can be expressed. Lets go back to Ami's childhood: Mom's a doctor, dad's an artist, parents are devorced in a culture where at that point in time it was really rare to do so. It meant that there was something fundimentally wrong with your family if they couldn't conduct themselves in an orderly fashion like all other families do. So not only does Ami have to face the "if I was a better daughter, my parents wouldn't be fighting and would still be together" thing, but she also has the social stigma of the time saying that there's something fundimentally wrong with her parents for not being able to stay together. So mom stays with her high-stress job because it's practical while dad leaves to persue his dreams and passions and little Ami finds herself alone. At home, she's trying to make mom happy by proving that she's a good girl, and at school she's an outcast and a nerd because she's smart. With her mom having such a difficult job, even while Ami understands, it still means birthdays spent alone, planned mother-daughter time interupted by a call in to work to deal with some patient, long hours that leave her exhausted so she's sleeping most her day off. And Ami is left alone. To fill her time, her void world, Ami begins reading, gets smart, and while it makes mom proud to have a genius for a daughter, having top grades in class also means the other kids start disliking her. She becomes "teacher's pet" and "the book worm", the one unpopular girl of the year that people avoid being seen talking to so they aren't associated with her. The only thing you're alowed to do is use her to copy homework from or other such mental situations. And she knows she's only being used, and that no one really likes her, but for a while she goes with it in hopes that she'll have a friend from it. But then they start talking. She becomes the "tag along", the "wannabe", the "dog", and she's smart enough to know that she has to make a choice and so chooses to give up on them because they don't care for her or respect her anyway. So she looses herself in her books, fills her world with her studies, and drifts farther away from everyone. Anyone who talks to her does so to use her smarts, be they classmates, teachers, or random people she meets elsewhere. She's not loved or respected for herself, and she's horridly lonely, but becomes a workaholic to deal with it all. She wants to be a doctor because it makes her mom proud when she says it, because it means helping people who really need the aid, and because it means making good use of the brains she was gifted with. Slowly over the years it's become a real dream, and one that requires the heavy study that she gives. But she's driven and determined with single-minded clarity. As an ending note, due to her dad's leaving the family at an early age, she fears deep inerpersonal relationships--especially witht he oposite sex whom she has no real experience with and is very nervous around. Hense her "alergy" to love letters. You could play on that if you're having Ryo in this game...

As I'm sure you can see, there's a lot of overlap in these four as far as their issues and insecurities go, and it would really work to build up their friendships and character deapth by having them realizing that they're not alone in these things. By the knowledge that they've finally found others who understand them, they can realistically overcome their problems by working together via the support of their friends. Not that there won't be issues along the way and struggles they each have to face, but I think it's really much more realistic to just have four people who are truthfully lonely due to varying cercumstances than it is to try and stretch things too far and create disorders for them so that they can have "depth". Therefore their problems arise not from any outlandish mental disorder but rather each girl's individual coping mechanisms as they attempt to deal with their problems.

So you end up with Minako trying to become what she thinks will make her popular and ending up with a first level eating disorder in a frantic attempt to become beautiful, Rei being cynical and sarcastic and full of biting remarks when she's feeling cornered, Makoto skipping school and getting in people's faces when they mess with her, and Ami being a workaholic with poor social skills that leave her perfering to hide behind the cover of her book than deal with the world around her. Four very different results to one very common problem. And recurring cases are as common as patern recognition leading to relapse for the sake of personal sanity.

Anyway, I think I may have writen more here than most these other posts combined, so I'm going to stop rambling now and get back to my homework. Keep up the good work!
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51793Moeman
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Arche Fan <3
Holy crap. Keysha, you're BRILLIANT! Chains, hire this girl on as help or something. She deserves it.
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Keysha
Meatball Head
...Did I do something strange? All I did was give my opinion on the matter, and it wasn't even fully flushed out or touching on all the issues at hand. Not to mention that it breaks off before even begining to examine how they get over their personal problems. I'm flattered that you liked it, really, but there's so much left untouched that it's really nothing more than an opening statement on the matter. I mean, I didn't get at all into Mako-chan's dreams, or Ami's swimming, or Minako's heavy athletics. I barely touched on Ami's insecurity around men (almost too little to even warent it being a point), or on Rei's abandonment by her father (or her grandfather's perversion and what that would do to a young teen's self esteem). Really, Rei's reaction to her father would likely either be an all out refusal to have anything to do with the man ever again or an irational need to please him so that he would notice her and acknowledge her existance.

Andd then there's compair and contrast between the girls: what do they have in common as far as their histories are concerned? Such as how Ami, Mako, and Rei were all in some way abandoned by their parents, or that Mako and Mina both are always falling in love but never getting the guy, or that Ami and Rei both know what it is to be only looked at for the gain others can get out of them.

So you see, lots wasn't touched on (some of it on purpose so it didn't seem I was trying to re-write the story from under anyone. I'm sometimes accused of doing that when I get going too much on character or plot...) and if you wanted to know more on what I have to say on the matter, I'd be happy to talk, I just don't want to seem rude or pushy, seeing as I'm new to the forms and all... I just like character analasys. I'm good at it and it's fun...
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Chains Of Fate
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President of Crystal Tokyo
You're definitely spot on with the type of realism I'm looking to include in the game.

I can agree about the stealing thing with Makoto, because I think someone who steals not for gain is probably doing it for attention, and Makoto would really have no reason to do that. On the other hand, she might get into stealing because of a kind of "Well, people think I do this sort of thing, so why not just do it?" dilemma. She might even resort to it when she's really struggling to get by, and not feel guilty because hey, her situation is partly society's fault so she's just doing what she has to. It just depends on how you look at it. It doesn't have to be something major, either. It could be something as small as in one act, one of the character's witnesses her stealing something and then they discover her hatred towards authority and help her deal with it a little. I do like your idea of making Makoto a little more angry and gangster-like, but we don't want to make her too much so because I think one of the appealing things about her, is that despite everything she's had to go through, she really is a big sweetheart and people just get the wrong idea because of her false reputation and her physical appearance. But I do think at the point the story starts she would be giving off a fake front (living up to her reputation) in order to keep people away and keep her from getting hurt.

I think that perhaps deep down Minako could maybe be weight conscious and whatnot, however the problem with that is I feel like because of her maturity level compared to the others (because of the ordeals she faced when she acted as Sailor V alone) she wouldn't have the time to think about her figure and her own dreams, because she's too busy worrying about accomplishing their mission to care about such things very often. Which is where the bossiness comes into play. Because she acted on her own for so long, it's very natural that she would be trying to call the shots and think "I have much more experience than everyone else so they need to listen to me and trust my judgments because I know best." I just think Minako is too busy and too strong and confident to be that self-conscious. I think as she realizes it her destiny to protect Usagi, she comes to realize that her failed love exploits are because she is meant to put Usagi before herself, which in itself could eventually cause a lot of self-hatred and a lot of doubt, but I don't think she would personally doubt or look down upon herself.

Ami and Rei are pretty spot on and more or less that's how I've incorporated their characters. I think all four of the girls suffer from loneliness for their different reasons, and it is their loneliness that binds them together and you're right, it's their friendships and how they help each other that helps them form an unstoppable team and grow past their imperfections.

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Keysha
Meatball Head
I'm on another Sailor Moon kick, though I don't know how long it will last, so I figured I may as well come back here and compare the characters with you again.

JupiterConfused The thing about Mako-chan that I see is that she suffers from the same problems that all strong women suffer from. In order to maintain their personal strength, scociety seems determined to tell them that any show of femininity is a show of weakness that they should be berated for. If they can't make it in life without liking flowers or enjoying being in the kitchen, or wearing pretty dresses, then they aren't actually strong. Scociety is so focused on the idea that the only way a woman can be strong is if she basically gives up her womanhood and becomes one of the men instead, a fourteen year old girl struggling to survive would be rather suseptable to peer presure telling her "this is what you have to do to be a strong woman". It's not that she's really like that, but if she ever showed her gentle, nurturing side people lable her as weak and try and take advantage of her or walk all over her. She would have learned this early on, and would have done her best to stamp out anything that could be seen as weakness because a weak little girl living on her own would never survive in the world. But in doing so, she's also denying herself--rejecting her true nature--which leads to an unhealthy state of mind. Mix that with the abandonment issues that she faces, and we end up with a sweet young girl clinging desperately to her self-image of a tough, confident, capable person as she slowly drowns in her own hopelessness. She becomes angry at the world because she blames the world for her state in life and for the fact that she feels she must deny herself in order to get by. In that way, Usagi doing things like complimenting her cooking--a traditionally feminine skill--would be both like a slap in the face and the best praise in the world. As she gets to know the others better, she learns that it's ok to be herself, it doesn't make her any less strong, or selfsufficient, or anything like that. In that way, it becomes a message in being true to yourself to find your truest happiness in life. It also ups the other senshi's value for Mako-chan as they are the first people in her life in a very long time to value her for herself and not for some image that she puts up for the world. They would become her everything as they become more than friends to her and she would go to any lengths in order to protect them so she doesn't loose them as well.

As for the stealing: a poor person stealing because they have no other choice and it's their only way to get by is one thing. As a person who grew up below the poverty level, I know from experience how one clings to pride to keep them from falling into complete dispare. Not everyone who steals does it out of nesessity or for attention. Some people who steal do so because they look and say "I want, therefore I desterve. I am better than you so it doesn't matter that you are already in posession of it, I'm taking it anyway." Which is deffinately not the sort the Mako-chan is. Nor is she the sort that would do it just to get someone's attention so that they could focus on her even in a negative way. But to keep her out of that line, you'd have to look at what she would be stealing. Trinkets and parafinalia are things that she wants, not that she needs, and so for her to steal something like that would be in one of the wrong catagories. However, doing something like sneaking an apple out of the cart of a street vender because it's 2 o'clock and she hasn't had anything to eat all day because her cupboards are bare and her next allowance check doesn't come for another week and she's already gone to the foodbank and can't go for another 2 days... is a very different case that paints a very different picture of who she is. In that last senario, the important thing is the feeling of guilt and shame when she's caught. "I had to to survive, I wouldn't be doing this if I had a choice, but what other path can I take?" As well as perhaps the shame in being so in need and how she can't bring herself to ask her freinds for assistance because it's not their duty to provide for her and if she's always asking them for these things than she wont have them for friends for very long and it wouldn't be right to begin with. So instead she suffers alone and in silence, scared of loosing her friends or of admitting her own short-comings. And it's only when she is caught that she fesses up to them and they devise a means of helping her.

VenusPose "she wouldn't have the time to think about her figure and her own dreams" That... I just REALLY have to disagree with. To say that "there's more important things going on right this minute" is one thing, but to say "they have to give up their own chance at happiness and their own dreams for the sake of their missions" is something very different intirely. And the second one I just CAN NOT accept. Her life ambitiion that she's been dreaming of since childhood is to be an idol and be famous. At 13-14, she's still got time for it, for finding love, and for making herself happy. So she puts those things on hold from time to time because more important stuff is going on, such as people being hurt/killed and her freind's life being in danger. But putting them on hold until the situation at hand is dealt with is not the same as not caring about them anymore and not aiming for them every time the option arises. To have her name written in the stars and be loved by the whole world over is a pretty ambitious goal, and I think it says a lot about her character that she is that ambitious, but that's the sort of ambition that requires sacrifices in order to achieve. The same maturity that you say would be the cause of her forefitting her dreams (which I have to disagree and say is not a sign of maturity at all) would also let her see the reality in how cutthroat a career in the spotlight really is. The only way she'll make it is if she surpasses everyone else in beauty, gracae, etc. The frustration in having limitted chances because she has this other destiny along side that she has to keep in mind and that comes first would probably weigh on her heavily. She's got only one shot at this where other girls have dozens cause she's got only limitted time, so it's all the more important that she succeeds in this one chance. I'm not saying that an eating disorder would be what she starts off with, but look at the things models have to go through: every carb is counted, they are on the strictest of diets, and it is fed into their minds continually that they can't do this or that because it will make them fat and unattractive. And it's not something that happens all at once, but if you keep grinding away at something it doesn't matter how confident a person is, they are going to crumble if they continue to be fed the same input. A single point of dropping of water can put a hole in a mountain given enough time. So her eating disorder wouldn't be a problem like Mako-chan's that she comes into the story with, but rather one that builds as the story progresses. And builds with the thoughtless unintentional remarks like "Wow, Mina-chan! Did you loose some weight? You look great!" which is meant as a compliment but in truth works to reinforce the "if I'm thin, then I'm pretty" idea. And from that, "thin=pretty" so therefore "thinner=prettier", and to reach her goal in life she has to be beautiful and she can't afford to take forever to get there becase who knows when trouble will brew again? So she starts by counting carbs and cutting back on the amount she eats to fit the carb-intake level. Which there's nothing wrong with so long as it's not taken to unhealthy levels. The problem comes in when after watching her waistline for a while, that it's still not enough to get her to her dreams. So bit by bit she takes it further and further until it really does become unhealthy. But because it's such a slow prosess, no one really notices until it has gone too far.

So basically, from the auditioners she's been hearing this constant preaching of "more, more, more, you're just not good enough for what we're looking for, come back and try again next time" and from the guys at school she's been hearing "more, more, more, you're just not good enough for me to want to date, come back and try again next time" and from her friends she is hearing "we support you in your dreams, keep trying, keep fighting for what you want in life, even if it means making sacrifices, don't wory about us we understand." Because I really do think they'd support her and tell her to chase her dreams with all she has, just as they told Ami to go to Germany and become a doctor rather than stay and fight with them in the anime.

It is no fair that the only one who gets to be happy and achieve her dreams in the story is Usagi. The others put just as much--if not more--into saving the world, so they deserve just as much happiness as she does. To say that she gets everything she ever wished for: the man of her dreams, her life as a princess/queen, the beautiful castle, the fairytale-esque happily ever after, everything. Her life ends up perfect just because she was born the reincarnation of the Moon Princess, and everyone else is forced to give up their own dreams and romances because DESTINY decided that only Usagi would get her happily ever after and everyone else is reduced to lives of servitude towards her as her guardians, living to do nothing but ensure that SHE gets her happily ever after no matter the cost? All because in a PREVIOUS LIFE TIME they swore loyalty to the crown of the day when they were CHILDREN? I don't buy that in the least, and if Usagi was the sort of person that would be happy with that then I'd hate her even more than I already do.

So if Minako is a little bossy from time to time in the beginning, so what. She's used to runing solo and would act in the way she sees as best and probably scold others for getting in her way or doing things that her experience has already said it wouldn't work, that's fine. If it causes problems in the beginning because she is unwilling to yeild to the wills of the others, then so be it. If she's ruthless in battle and willing to kill the enemy because it's "us or them", great, it gives her a deapth that she learned from having to do all that stuff as Sailor V that the others don't share and that is a hurdle that she has to get over and learn that maybe her way isn't the only way. That's all wonderful and good, though I don't really see "she's bossy" on the same level as the others and so it comes across in my mind as a superficial character flaw. But if you try and tell me that eight smart, strong, and confident girls are going to just give up their dreams of the future so they can live in complete servitude of someone else just because of who she was in a previous life, that is one thing that I can not accept as realistic.

It's one thing to say "Someone's life is in danger over there! My date/audition/race/test/insert-appropriate-goal can wait until I'm done saving them!" is one thing, and is a very admirable quality that I definately think all the girls share. It's something else entirely to say "At some point in time, at an unknown date in the future, your life may or may not be in peril! So I'm going to give up everything I worked for so far in life so that I can always be at your side and protect you because someday you may actually need me there for that purpose! So goodbye falling in love, goodbye all my dreams of the future, I'm going to do this now instead!" Which is what it basically boils down to them "happily" doing if they live for their mission instead of their dreams.

Sorry if this came of as sort of flaming or rantish in anyway, it could very simply be that I misinterpreted what you wrote, but incase I haven't said it enough already, I REALLY disagree with the idea that anyone would abandon their dreams like that. Especially not someone as goal oriented as Minako is shown to be with her ambitious dreams of the future. If you don't want to do the eating disorder thing that's fine, I was just trying to come up with an example of a problem that could be faced farther in the future of the story so that not everyone's problems were all things that happened right in the beginning when they were introduced. But yeah, I don't think anyone should abandon their dreams like that, at least not without a far better explaination than "because of destiny". Perhaps if written well, you could make a subplot out of someone loosing hope and abandoning their dreams of the future because "how could I possibly do that and this mission at the same time?" and then show them that the reason they're fighting is so that dreams of the future and those happy moments between the fights can all continue.

...But yeah, I'm gonna shut up now before I go off on another rant.
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