#i have two hissatsu concepts for him

[churro-on-a-unicycle]

You ever think about a blorbo so hard you get lightheaded?

[miximax-hell]

...This should have been published the 10th of January. I queued it ages ago (back when my last post was published), but Tumblr farted and decided not to post it. Which is just fantastic. It’s not the first time it decides to screw up the queue, but it’s the first time it happens to me on this blog. So annoying. This means it’s coming a few days late, but I hope you all still had a fantastic EnYaga Day!

As I prepared for True EnYaga Day back in October, I found again this old doodle of mine--the base for what would later become the final design of EnYaga. I thought it might be fun to share it and use it as an excuse to talk about this subject AGAIN, and... that was good enough for me, really.

You guys know me and there’s probably very little reason to do so, but I have never really talked about the reasons behind this miximax, have I? Well, if there is a day to indulge in that, it’s EnYaga Day, so let’s get to it!

As usual, more under the cut.

Despite Tumblr’s betrayal, this does have a perk: I get to revise this post before it’s published, which is great, because I’m happy to report that things are better now than when I first wrote it. In the original version, I mentioned that my life at the time was a little... paused, so there wasn’t really a lot to say. Among the only news worth sharing, I sent an oil painting to a friend a couple of months ago and it arrived very fast and completely safe, so that was great! It was a Professor Layton-themed painting, but now that I don’t have it at home anymore, I’m tempted to make another one... (If I do, chances are more FudoLay content will arrive here swiftly after lol) Other than that, I’d just started my classes again, but I was still desperately looking for a job. At least, classes made me feel like I wasn’t completely wasting every single day, so I was more cheerful than I was during summer. (Funny, because my group of friends at uni used to say that they could only smile during summer, but I was pretty miserable during those months. ww;)

Thankfully, though, I can say I now have a job! And it’s great!! ...The conditions aren’t so great, but at least I’m back to work as a game designer. I’m learning so much and I feel very motivated to work, even if it’s technically a collaboration and I will only get money once the game is published--in other words, when the game starts bringing money our way. This is far from ideal, but I honestly had no other options and I’m having a blast working on this, so I hope something cool will come out of it! For now, I would ask you to keep your eyes on Eskema Games and maybe check out the company’s latest game, Delta Squad? I had absolutely NOTHING to do with that game because it was released way before I joined, but supporting it supports the company I work for, which always comes in handy! It also underperformed, so it could use all the love you guys can give it.

Also, let me quickly point something out: about a year ago, an anon asked me if i was going to include Danganronpa characters in this project. The question is here, in case anyone needs a reminder: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/181991994534/hey-there-since-youre-doing-miximaxs-with-game Well, I FINALLY got my hands on the DR Trilogy for PS4, so I’ll be looking into that and seeing what I can find! If that anon is still around, I hope I can make them happy.

But let’s cut to the chase already!

As I always make sure to clarify, yes, I do massively ship Endou and Yagami. But there’s thankfully much more to EnYaga (the miximax--if I need to talk about the ship again, I’ll just call it Endou x Yagami) than just “yeah, I ship them.” In order to understand the reasons behind this combination, though, we must venture into two very different subjects: what reasons there are to choose Yagami to begin with, and the life story of yours truly. I swear both are important to get the full picture, but I’ll keep the latter as brief and free of unnecessary information as possible, even if it’s definitely the longest and most complex part. So, without any further ado, let’s see what makes this miximax valid within the logic of this project.

A big chunk of what makes EnYaga work was explained exactly three years ago, here: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/131215636268/when-the-king-enters-the-room-the-world-stops-and

The tl;dr would be that Endou plays as a goalkeeper, but also as a libero! Being such radically different positions, it’s to be expected that he would need two different miximaxes, because it would be rather difficult to find an aura that improves his field skills (shooting power, speed, etc.) and his goalkeeping abilities at the same time. Thankfully, Yagami gives him the exact abilities a good libero needs to be able to excel--especially when that libero has the pressure of being part of most of the strong hissatsus the team can pull off. So, for more info on EnYaga’s powers, please check the link above. (And note that, of course, this miximax only marginally improves Endou’s goalkeeping capabilities.)

I have also talked in length about the relationship between Endou and Yagami, but here’s a very brief summary. During the in-game events of IE2, Endou gave Yagami hope when all she wanted was to die to atone for her sins, thus saving her life in the process. In return, she wanted to give him the strength to fight when he needed it most as a way to repay his kindness towards her.

Yagami’s innate abilities and the bond they share are the more logical reasons behind this miximax. There is, however, one extra reason to include this miximax in the project.

There have always been three main rules here when it comes to choosing auras:

1. Only characters that come from universes predominantly inhabited by humans (or very human-like creatures, like Zelda’s Hylians).

2. Only one character from every franchise, unless they are Level-5 franchises. In that case, I may use up to two per franchise. Examples of this are Danball Senki/Little Battlers eXperience (with Toramaru and Megane) and Professor Layton (with Fudou and Shishido).

3. One aura coming from every single (and proper) Inazuma Eleven game on the market. Those being Inazuma Eleven, IE2: Fire, IE2: Blizzard, IE3: Spark, IE3: Bomber, IE3: Ogre, IEGO: Light, IEGO: Dark, IEGO Chrono Stone: Raimei, IEGO Chrono Stone: Neppu, IEGO Galaxy: Supernova, IEGo Galaxy: Big Bang, Inazuma Eleven Strikers, IE Strikers 2012 XTreme, and IEGO Strikers 2013. I’m not counting Everyday, SD nor unreleased titles. So far, I have 7 out of 15.

From the beginning, I have wanted Endou to have nothing but Inazuma Eleven-only miximaxes. I mean, he’s the main character and all!

Needless to say, Yagami is part of the Inazuma Eleven miximaxes--in fact, she takes the IE2 Blizzard spot, if anyone is curious about that very specific detail. She is obviously a very predominant character in that game, having a relevant impact during the final match against The Genesis and even (spoiler alert for a 10 years old game) by injuring Kazemaru earlier, because he didn’t just leave like he did in the anime--Yagami sent him to the hospital when he started matching The Genesis’s power. Since she’s a main character in that game, and considering that many of the other important characters introduced in it become part of the teams that make up this project (such as Hiroto, Midorikawa and maaaybe Saginuma), Yagami was the perfect candidate. She was also arguably the strongest among the remaining main characters of IE2, and the only midfielder. Not to mention the bond she shares with Endou, which only rounds it all up even more.

So, as a brief summary, Yagami is an Inazuma Eleven character (which is exactly what I wanted for Endou) and a very strong player, she provides Endou with everything he would need to be a good libero (incredible speed, great shooting strength, being a midfielder and the stamina that inherently comes with it, powerful hissatsus, and so on), she shares a canonical bond with Endou, the contrast between their personalities is super interesting to explore, and there are reasons why even she would want him to take her power. He can hardly have it better! It makes a lot of sense, and it’s all heavily based on canon, so I don’t need to explain much in that regard. That’s always convenient.

But there is another side to all of this. My side.

I first started working on miximaxes with the idea of only making 4 or 5. I simply meant to give extra love to some of my favourite characters to make myself and a few friends happy. This never became a full-fledged project until my good friend Heather, who used to be on Tumblr under the username @ishidoshuuji, said she wanted to be able to reblog the Seitei x Yuuichi miximax I had drawn for her. In other words, this: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/129863262149/well-it-was-about-time-i-started-using-this-blog

Before that, miximax-hell used to be a private blog: one of those you can only check out if you have the password. I never thought ANY stranger would be interested in it, so why expose myself like that? It would only make me feel bad. I could have never imagined over a hundred people would follow me here, and even less so considering that only about 10 of my friends follow this blog. So I have to thank Heather because, even if 100 isn’t a big number at all here on Tumblr, I still appreciate each and every person who stops by and it’s helped me meet some incredibly lovely people.

Back to the subject, though. This story is directly linked to MamoDai’s. The important part of it was that EnYaga’s design isn’t mine, and so isn’t MamoDai: the former is completely not mine (even if, as the sketch above suggests, the concept was first doodled by me), while the latter was only partially mine. The thing, though, is that the same person made EnYaga and “collaborated” on the creation of MamoDai, which meant I let them into this very personal solo project twice. If you want to check out the full story, though, you can read it here: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/142160652319/you-should-have-seen-this-one-coming-come-on

As I was saying, miximax-hell is a solo project. It’s something for me to enjoy, for me to think about, for me to develop, for me to improve at designing character, and for me to decide on. I set the rules and I come up with suitable matches--or what I think are suitable matches, that is. ww I’m definitely open to suggestions if anyone is willing to share their thoughts with me, and fanart is always, always, ALWAYS welcome, of course, but I don’t borrow other people’s ideas nor designs. Not because those designs and ideas aren’t fantastic, nor because I’m not allowed to, but because the point of this blog is to have fun and improve my skills. If I don’t do it myself, it’s kind of pointless, so I prefer a bad design made by me over a great design by someone else. Also, if people were to check all of these things out, I wanted it to be because of my work, not because someone super well-known was part of it and people were desperate to get more content from them.

When I first came up with this project, though, someone very close to me wanted to be part of it. Not because they found it interesting per se, but simply because it was mine. I had previously declined an offer to join one of their projects because I lacked the necessary skill, so they wanted to join mine instead. And don’t get me wrong--I appreciate the interest even now! But, again, it beat the point and I had to refuse. Looking back, I’m very glad I didn’t give in, but I felt awful back then and this person must have felt really bad too.

That’s why I made that exception and suggested, “Hey, why don’t we create a miximax together?” That’s how MamoDai was born. But while the interest in working on MamoDai seemed... scarce, this person came up with and gave me something out of their own accord: the EnYaga miximax design I still use to this day.

Now, here’s the thing: EnYaga was a proper gift that person made for me, and I always honour gifts. If it had been a random doodle, like I have received others in the past, it would have ended there. But when someone puts true effort and time into making something especifically FOR ME, regardless of what happens between us later, I still treasure it forever. And this gift came from a person who, apparently, really wanted to be part of this project when I first came up with it, which, honestly, put me in a tight spot. The least I could do was accept this design, which I loved almost as much as I loved them, and incorporate it to my lineup.

EnYaga was going to happen regardless, because I was working on it myself, but this person beat me to it (with such incredible quality, too, which I would never be able to hold a candle to) and, after what I made them go through with my continuous rejections, I had to honour them somehow. It was my way of saying, “I can’t let you do this for me, but I deeply appreciate the thought.”

This person is now out of my life, though. This means that, honestly, I could just get rid of the design. They would never know, and I would be happier with something of my own even if it sucked in comparison. They would never feel offended either--not like they would even if they knew, because it’s obvious they don’t care about me anymore. It would be easy and 100% painless for all parties involved.

But EnYaga is a token of the bond we once shared and I treasure that, even though I don’t want anything to do with that person anymore. It portrays the fun and happy times, not the sad and bitter ending. Happiness is always something worth remembering, isn’t it? And maybe, just maybe, thanks to the wonderful people I’m close to and my eternal love towards Endou x Yagami, I might one day be able to completely forgive the bad and focus on the good, so I can smile when I look at EnYaga and think of this person. I look forward to a day when there isn’t an ounce of bitterness left in my heart (although I am one revengeful and spiteful piece of poo, so it might never happen). And for that possibility alone, it might be worth it to keep making this one exception and let this miximax be someone else’s. Especially now that I have DoYaga to call my own.

So that’s it, folks: not only do Endou and Yagami make for a sick combination in theory, but it’s also a miximax with deep sentimental value for me in so many different ways. So even if it had been someone else’s idea and the two characters were a terrible match in all senses, chances are I would have still kept it. Thank goodness it wasn’t the case. ww

And all because I didn’t finish the design fast enough on my own. May that be the lesson to learn from this: hurry the heck up, self.

[doubledoe-blabs-about-sakka]

Top 11 Inazuma Characters

Tagged (sorta) by @jounetsulovers ! I am not nearly as eloquent as her but I'mma try my best.  These aren't in any particular order, because it was hard enough as it is.

Kidou Yuuto

I love this little weirdo so fucking much.  Kidou is arguably one of the best, if not the best, characters to come out of inazuma when it comes to pure craftsmanship, in the sense that he has both a lot of complexity and a lot of subtlety.  Even his design itself is a bit genius, his trademark cape simultaneously portraying strength and childlike vulnerability, telling you a lot about his character from the word go.  Just a fascinating little lad in all aspects, and I adore him.  And worry about him.

Endou Mamoru

Before I got into Inazuma Eleven I would have probably told you I was largely #done with shonen series, and I would have cited stale generic protags as one of the many reasons why.  So I'm endlessly impressed by how much I love Endou.  He's pretty typical in many respects for a shonen hero, he's not terribly deep or complex, but I just find him so endearing.  I believe his hype. I want him to succeed.  Why, exactly? I don't know, and I don't care.

Matsukaze Tenma

And as if once wasn't impressive enough, Inazuma had to go and do it twice.  Tenma is somehow both very similar and completely different from Endou, and I love him just as much.  I especially love how he's low key kind of...weird.  He has so much personality despite being so simple.  Soccer is smiling, indeed.

Tsurugi Kyousuke

Go was my very first exposure to Inazuma, and "Did that mall goth looking lad just kamehameha that soccer ball, the fuck is this" was a pretty #iconic first impression.  And much like with it's two protagonists, with Tsurugi inazuma took a pretty standard trope and made me Care.  I knew Tsurugi was gonna have a tragic backstory and eventually heelface just from looking at him for five seconds, and was expecting to roll my eyes.  But by the time it happened I was so proud of him.

Aphrodi

I have a weakness for angels.  I have a weakness for creepy angels in particular.  So it was inevitable that Aphrodi would be My Son.  Even after his heelface he's still  a little ethereal, a little odd, a little unsettling, even,  while also being (as outer code beautifully illustrated) a genuinely kind and vulnerable boy who just as human as everyone else, and that's an interesting duality.  and he has Wings.  Wings are Dope.

Megane Kakeru

I feel like Megane is low key a very important character, thematically (hear me out).  The central message of the series has always been that soccer isn't about being the best, or winning, it's (essentially) about you becoming the best You.  This can get a bit muddled when so many characters ARE legitimately The Best, but then there's Megane.  Megane never really gets any better at soccer, but grows so much as a person and truly becomes the best little nerd he can be.  And that's beautiful.  Also he's hilarious.

Fubuki Shirou

Fubuki is another great case of taking a tried and true concept and making it unique.  I've seen a lot of Ice Dudes, I've seen a lot of duality themed characters, I've seen a lot of characters with tragic backstories, but I've never quite seen a Fubuki.  I love him in the games in particular, and PARTICULARLY in the britdub of the games, where his lines are all such a weird mix of dreamy, sarcastic and...colorful that's really memorable and endearing.  I also personally relate to his redneck but like with snow backwoods lifestyle on a deep spiritual level.

Kira Hitomiko

I think, out of all the adult characters, hitomiko has the most realized arc.  Her story and development have some, to put it bluntly, shockingly hard hitting emotional notes.  The scene in the games where she pries open the burning door to help the team is particularly moving and #iconic and I am Very Sad it wasn't in the anime because I think it was the perfect cap to show her growth.

Haizaki Ryouhei

I'm largely leaving out ares/orion characters because I want to wait until I've got all the material to form an opinion, but Haizaki is just...delightful.  from his endearingly contradictory personality, to his subtly creative character design, to his amazing penguins (who were once precious little babies), to his fun and weirdly touching relationship with Kidou, I just love this lad and I hope he continues to impress me.  I know he will.

Minaho Kazuto

I honestly love all the galaxy kids, and the writing of galaxy in general, for so many different reasons that would take far to long to list, but I'm picking Minaho as the ambassador of that love because A) look at his adorably weird little face. look at it. look. at. it. and B) Asokoni UFO is the greatest hissatsu of all time.

Sakuma Jirou

A tie between Sakuma and Genda might actually be more accurate for this spot because the things that most interest me really apply to both of them and their relationship, but Sakuma is getting the spot due to being more developed overall.  Shin Teikoku is simultaneously one of the most ridiculous and most horrifying arcs Inazuma has, and playing the game made it even moreso by explicitly saying they both ended up on the operating table.  The more I think about this storyline the more it fascinates me, and the more thankful I am that they came out of it okay. I’ll never get his scream out of my head.

I honestly love tons more characters just as much as the ones listed here, but they are the 11 I feel like I had the most to say about.

Tagging....anybody who wants to do it igss

[thelightningawardsofficial]

Review | The Unfinished Avatar

Judged by Shawn (Snowwhitewolf09)

Category: General

[ Author: Rainbow_Phoenix2006 ]

Title (2/5): While the title got me thinking about how a Keshin would be 'unfinished', it did very little more than that. The title struck me as a tad odd, as once I read through, I figured that it wasn't about the beginning of the Keshin. I also think it reveals too much about the story without a hint of subtlety, immediately making you look out for every instance of a Keshin to see which one would be 'unfinished'—that would have added to the story... but you'll hear more on that later.

Summary (3/10): I'll give it to you straight. Your summary doesn't look like one that would be for a book. It looks more like an overview of the first few chapters, with no explanation of what the plot really is and what else we should be looking for. It basically is just a lengthened version of saying "This is an Inazuma Eleven Go fanfiction."

It's quite bare, with absolutely no details to hook the reader or give any information about the book itself. If I had chanced upon your book without it being shown to me, I would've just skipped past it, as the only thing you promise to your readers is that events would be different. Which is something that is a given in all fanfictions.

Your sentences are a bit rough to read, a tad choppy. That isn't the main problem though, so that's not what should be worked on much. It's just a side observation.

Two points for effort, and one for a method that almost forces the reader to read the book—because there's no overview of it on the front.

Plot (5/25): As it stands, your book is quite bluntly an edgy retelling of the first season of Inazuma Eleven Go. Hopefully, you aren't going to make one of those fanfictions were there is just one small change, but that is what it looks like right now. It seems like the story will run us through the events of the Holy Road, except with a bipolar Tenma who has an overpowered Keshin and can one-man an entire team of SEEDs. If you're trying to make it deviate much more from canon, it certainly isn't evident.

A number of the chapters have passed, yet the only things that have happened so far are Tenma showing how broken his power level is, people talking about his 'hidden power', the Raimon team basically whining, and the revelation of the 'Unfinished Avatar'.

It's the last one I want to talk about now. You revealed and lost the only bit of intrigue you had very early on. You planted a seed and immediately harvested it without letting its roots sink in. This, combined with how you showed Tenma, didn't even make it a surprise. And because nothing else had come up to make the readers invested in the story at this point, the book would just seem like dragging of whatever happens next. You didn't build up well to the revelation.

I gave you 5 instead of the initial 3 that I wanted to give. And that is because I can see an avenue that you can explore. It seems that it is this Avatar that gives much strength to Tenma. Struggles and character moments can be made if he has to go on and face bigger foes without it.

Here's the best advice I can give you right now: deviate. You haven't laid down all the playing cards that can be laid down yet. There's Fifth Sector, there's Tenma, and there are a whole lot of other things in the background. Change them, shape them. As it stands, your Unfinished Avatar looks like it has little to do with things. Make it bigger. Change Tenma's backstory if you have to. Connect it to the antagonists. Connect it to all of the terrible things happening. Take the plot—no matter how much you like it, you'll have to bend it now—and stretch it to places that aren't usual. Put more emphasis on characters, even if they aren't usually highlighted in the show.

Characterization (3/20): I didn't find any characters, per se. I found Tenma and his cast of accessory cardboard cutouts. If you tried to make them more than just background, your efforts weren't exactly good enough. I'm not sure if it's poor presentation, bland dialogue, or the odd pace and emphasis—or a combination thereof—but there was little to no character in the story. They were all just dancing around Tenma, either whining or being little more than plot devices to show off Tenma's power.

Tenma himself seemed to an especially stereotypical bipolar/depressed edgy kid character. He was also very inconsistent—which might be attributed to the Avatar, but it just seems like a lazy excuse if it is. One moment he's enthusiastically bowing, another one and he's self-hating and self-defeating. He switches from one extreme to another. And as a character, his struggles feel superficial. Like they aren't there for more than plot. I don't get any sincere suffering from Tenma, nor do I feel like he conveys his plight well.

It is the beginning. There are still chances for you to correct this, by giving us more glimpses of their character. Dialogue, actions, and just quiet moments allow readers to get a feel of the character and connect with them. Right now, your protagonist has nothing to make him keep readers reading on. He doesn't have a shining quality that tugs. And your other characters don't feel like any more than decoration. But if you can manage to set aside the displays of power and action to show the more human side of them, then even these fictional characters can make us feel for them just as we empathize with real people.

Grammar and Writing Style (10/15): Your best suite. Writing mechanics and vocabulary are decent, just minor errors here and there that can be avoided if you run over them a bit more. Some of your sentences are a bit bland and a tad monotone, which bleeds into your dialogue. Your presentation of the events is a lot of showing and there is a little bit more to be desired. I feel like some characters could have been more than just background if you had just executed them a tad better. Overall, you've just got little problems here and there for this category.

Originality (3/10): When I advised you to deviate, I also mean it for this category. Not much you've provided so far other than your Hissatsu techniques and maybe some concepts behind Night strikes me as something that isn't common. One point was added for making slight deviations so far, as well as Tenma being a lot more of a shooter type.

Feels Factor (3/15): I don't feel that you've led my thoughts for long. I only had one itching thought, which was to figure out the 'unfinished avatar', and you dropped it rather quick. There's not much that I feel is being built up other than the revelation of Night. Aside from that, the non-characters and Tenma don't invoke any sort of sympathy. The players whine about their uselessness, and Tenma's struggle isn't so impactful. The only thing I feel is pity for Aki since she has to deal with Tenma and Night.

Total [Raw] 29/100 [Final] 29%

Banner by -artxyuki

[miximax-hell]

Oh my, if it isn’t more @inavember stuff! Don’t get used to this, as there isn’t aaall that much I plan to do for this month, and not everything I want to do is related to this blog. Anyway, let’s try to make this enjoyable while it lasts!

I randomly found a MamoDai doodle I didn’t publish last time and I don’t really want to simply edit a super old post to add it since no one will see it, so I might as well do SOMETHING for once in my life and use this chance to write more about MamoDai, since it seems to be at least a couple of people’s favourite concept within this blog. And I don’t blame then.

This doodle is especially interesting, as it shows MamoDai’s early concept before my friend took part in it. …If you can call that “take part,” that is, but I explained that in the past and I won’t go over that again. ww As you may see, it isn’t very different to the final design, so it comes to show that there wasn’t much experimenting done because of how straightforward the whole process ended up being. Even today, MamoDai’s has been one of the easiest designs to come up with, as pretty much every single idea I ever had ended up making it to the final design due to the special conditions it was created under.

But we’re not here to discuss MamoDai’s design, as I did so thoroughly in a previous post. Instead, it’s about time to cover everyone’s my favourite subject, one I can’t believe I haven’t talked about yet. It’s time to talk about MamoDai’s powers!

For more information about that, please look under the cut.

As usual, let’s add some updates now that we’re done with the intro and past the cut! As some of you know, a couple of days after my last post about Hiroto, my girlfriend came to visit me and we spent almost two weeks together, roaming around my city and being extremely cheesy. Needless to say, after walking around for 10-12 hours everyday, I didn’t really feel like doing much else. Thank goodness I had nothing else to do and we could enjoy ourselves to the fullest. (And play KH lmao) And this same lovely, perfect girlfriend will help me by proofreading and editing 1-2 old stories of mine and making them presentable so I can finally post them to Tumblr during Inavember. Don’t worry, though—those won’t be posted here.

I have also been struggling with mail. I sent some parcels that my friends (including @ishidoshuuji @karasawr and my own girlfriend) never got, so I’ve been trying to fill out claims to try and locate those packages and make sure they either go where they should… or at least try to get my money back. It’s been a pain and the results have been terrible so far. Sigh… The only good thing is that I got to talk to a REALLY nice USPS worker. The second one I talked to was a little shit, but that’s karma, I suppose.

On the bright side, I… beat Super Mario Galaxy 2 and completed Portal? Well, they’re both top-notch games, so I guess it counts. And The Witch’s House too, along with my girlfriend! …Oh, and a super old and very terrible Star Wars game for PSX. That wasn’t so great, but at least it’s out of the way. I won’t complain.

And last, but by no means least, as you all know (and if you didn’t, you will now), 10/1 was EnYaga Day and 10/15 was True EnYaga Day. What you all must know by now is that I’m a very fervent EnYaga king shipper, so I have to celebrate those days properly with nice illustrations!

…However, there was an EnYaga Day on January that I didn’t celebrate (1/10) since I had just moved to America and all, so I want to do something special for this blog to make up for that day I missed. So, if you have any requests regarding Endou’s miximax with Yagami, be it in terms of what you’d like to know more about or what you’d like me to draw next, please let me know! I’m open to all kinds of suggestions!

Well, the rant’s out of the way, so it’s time to start! To do so, let me quote myself: “MamoDai is Endou’s true miximax, and the one who turns him into the incredible monster of a goalkeeper he was always meant to be.” After mentioning that in my last post about him, I said that that was a story for some other time, and that time has finally come.

The sentence I just quoted makes it pretty clear, but I’ll say it properly just in case: MamoDai is strong. Now, don’t get me wrong here. GouYuu is strong. SomeKyu is strong. Super Zanark is strong. But MamoDai is strong. Remember when I said I was trying to make my characters strong and nonetheless flawed because that’s what really spices things up?

I LIED.

Nah, just kidding. ww But MamoDai really is super strong, to the point where he might very well be the strongest character and miximax in this project. Is he undefeatable? Of course not—that would be no fun. However, he is indeed very, very tough to beat.

As you may know if you’ve read other posts, I always try to find a niche for everyone to make them all actually useful and relevant. I do this so no one can simply outclass someone else. I want them all to be good enough on their own. That’s why their perks aren’t usually “HE’S STRONG AND FAST AND WILL KICK YOUR SORRY ASS TO OBLIVION,” but something a bit more specific and unique. Megane’s outstanding luck, Someoka’s sheer bulldozing power, Tamano’s resistance, Midorikawa’s aerial plays… Something special no one else can have. And MamoDai’s perk is quite cool.

You all have watched or played Inazuma—you wouldn’t be here otherwise. Now, tell me: what happens whenever Raimon/Inazuma Japan/Chrono Storm/Earth Eleven comes across one of the strongest teams in every season/game? There’s always someone in the team saying, “How are we supposed to defeat people this strong?! It’s impossible!!”

Well, MamoDai makes the opposing team say this. His perk is having a strength so overwhelming that enemies can barely even believe someone that strong can exist. MamoDai is, quite literally, the Drama Destroyer, as it turns the tables around by showing overpowered people the true meaning of that word. This is part of the reason why Endou is the last one to get his miximax in this project—it would be completely ridiculous otherwise. As I said, MamoDai is not undefeatable, but you ought to save the best for last. It’d be stupid in terms of storytelling to show the absolute best miximax first and then bring miximaxes that can’t stand up to it coming one after the other. I guess no one would have seen that one coming, but still. ww

Anyway, what exactly are MamoDai’s powers? Let’s cover hissatsus first.

The boosted hissatsu here is quite tricky to point out, as many of Endou’s hissatsus are originally Daisuke’s. However, I think this calls for a middle point between classic and powerful. You could think God Hand would get boosted, but God Hand is rather weak, so even evolving it beyond Shin wouldn’t solve much. Same goes for Nekketsu Punch, Grenade Shot or Bakuretsu Punch. You could boost God Catch, since Daisuke inspired it and all, but he didn’t have much to do with it to begin with. Same goes for Ijigen The Hand, Ikari no Tettsui or even Triple Defense and Megaton Head (not to mention Endou boosted Megaton Head to the very limit himself, as shown by the fact that it turned into Gigaton Head).

Our last options would therefore be The Earth (which Yagami already boosted, so scratch that), Seiji no Tekken (which Daisuke never mastered himself, even if it was his idea), Omega The Hand (TEMPTING, but it doesn’t make a super ton of sense) or… Majin The Hand. In fact, this last idea is the most logical one, if you think about it coldly.

Majin The Hand was stated to be Daisuke’s strongest and signature hissatsu, after all—the one he used when he was a pro soccer player and all. Sure, Majin The Hand is far from Endou’s best hissatsu, but in terms of game canon, it’s always been pretty dang strong nonetheless. Boosting this hissatsu beyond all known limits (within the first trilogy, at least) could be rather useful, as it could easily be as strong as his more energy-consuming hissatsus—or even stronger—while still taking a much smaller toll on him. And it’s just a really cool technique overall! Did you all see the Ares version?! I’M SO HYPED.

As for what hissatsu Endou would get from Daisuke… Well, that is a very difficult question. Endou has pretty much learnt everything Daisuke ever created, after all. You could go for one of the techniques Endou didn’t learn himself, like Inazuma Otoshi or Mugen The Hand, but the team already has both, so it wouldn’t be very interesting. You could also go for God Hand X, since Rococo learnt how to use God Hand from Daisuke to begin with (the X variation might have been Daisuke’s doing too—who knows) and he even taught Sangoku how to use it, but, yeah, Sangoku can already use it. What’s the point, then?

The most interesting options are a bit more obscure. There is this one technique, exclusive to young Hibiki, called God Hand Triple. Hibiki, as we all know, was trained personally by Daisuke, so, much like God Hand X, it could very well be Daisuke’s creation. Even if it weren’t, though, it’s an extremely tempting option. The only downside is that it’s a combo hissatsu, and I try to avoid those as much as I can. However, Chrono Storm did get a combo hissatsu at the very end: Saikyou Eleven Hadou. This could be our chance to create some, uh, parallelism with it? We got a shot last time, so a catch would be nice now. I guess.

Anyway, the other good option is, luckily, a single player hissatsu. It’s one that I will get complaints for, though—mostly from myself. Since Endou is receiving Daisuke’s powers, he could borrow Daisuke’s God Hand, combine it with his own and, therefore, get God Hand W. Now, I’ll list every problem I see with this idea. Let me know if there’s any I missed.

1.       In terms of anime (or movie) canon, Tenma can already use this and I just said it’s pointless to repeat techniques. You could go around this by saying that it makes no sense for Tenma to use a catch hissatsu or say that the movie isn’t canon since it happened in an AU of sorts, but still.

2.       Daisuke never used God Hand W himself, so it doesn’t make all that sense. Then again, for example, Big couldn’t use Ouja no Kiba and Fei got it from miximaxing with him. (Yes, I know you can scout Big’s gijinka in Galaxy and he can use that technique, but we all know that’s not canon at all, much like Nobunaga being able to use Setsuna Boost, etc. ww)

3.       In terms of game canon, young Endou can already use God Hand W, so getting this technique from mixitransing would make little sense. You could argue that this is young Endou within his own universe and he got that technique in the Go games, so it isn’t canon plot-wise, but I’ve already talked about other IE characters using Go techniques, so you all would have many reasons to be mad at me for twisting the rules as I find it fitting (even if the case isn’t exactly the same). What am I, a politician?

I’ll let you guys (assuming anyone reads this) decide whether God Hand W would be a good option or not. But, for now, let me suggest something else.

How about going way, way, way back to the first time this concept was ever shown, back in episode 13 of the original series? This is what we got back then when Endou tried to use God Hand with both hands.

Yes, it was probably meant to be some kind of normal, big hand, but it looks like a straight hand instead of the usual grabby… thing. Couldn’t, therefore, Endou’s take on the combination of two God Hands be something like a… God Palm? It’s a technique he never mastered himself, as he only used it once (or maybe twice at some point?), so the miximax could help him develop it further and, of course, complete it. There goes a thought.

So, yeah. Tricky stuff here. Excuse me for not sharing more than simple thoughts instead of, well, finished things, but at least it isn’t the first time this happens. ww I accept all kinds of feedback or ideas, though!

This time, I decided to save the most boring part for last. To end things off, let’s talk about how Daisuke would change Endou’s abilities.

As I said when I talked about EnYaga’s abilities, Endou’s strength, as a goalkeeper, has always been based on resistance, power and stillness. All these abilities, which pretty much disappeared (or, at least, weren’t boosted at all) when Endou miximaxed with Yagami, are pushed to ungodly—pun intended—limits thanks to Daisuke. The blood and emotional bond makes this miximax reach a power not seen ever since Yuuichi miximaxed with Tsurugi, and we all saw how incredibly strong that was. I even talked about how the bond between vessel and aura can affect the outcome of the miximax back in the day, so there’s that.

Endou’s natural catching and blocking ability (which, in the games, is stronger than Daisuke’s—probably because Daisuke is already old) is doubled or even tripled thanks to this miximax. If there is a single true iron wall in this project, that’s definitely MamoDai. Daisuke always insisted on how a goalkeeper’s power is based on how much strength he has on his stomach because that’s what will allow him to block a shot without being wrecked by it, so MamoDai is able to anchor himself to the ground and not even budge most of the time. It’s fearsome. That’s what I meant when I said he would be reversing the roles and scaring enemies for once. About time something like that happened!

The rest of his abilities—kicking capability, speed, etc.—receive a small boost too, as per usual, but nothing all that extraordinary. You won’t be seeing MamoDai scores many more goals than before, unlike EnYaga, but that’s why it comes in handy to give Endou two different trump cards to choose from… even though one of them is FAR better at what it does than the other. Oh well!

[miximax-hell]

Well, let’s do something special this time!

I haven’t introduced a new miximax with anything but reference sheets since the very birth of this blog. For those of you who weren’t there (aka none of you, quite literally), I got this blog going by reblogging old illustrations of Max’s and Kageno’s miximaxes, and I added some information about them to turn those old drawings into proper blog posts. I thought that, for a change, it might be interesting to do that again.

Sure, a lazy sketch is hardly as interesting as a full illustration, but full illustrations have never been popular in this blog, anyway, so it hardly even matters at this point. One of the perks of being unpopular is that no one really cares, so you can do whatever you want! Hah!

But let’s move on. Today, I am truly glad to introduce you all to Tetsukado’s miximax--or an early concept of it, at least. Here’s my answer for those of you who were mad because Tsunami wasn’t part of this project (and if you didn’t know about that, you should check this link--or the “Characters” link on the sidebar).

The final design will come soon enough too. But, for those of you who want more information about TetsuTsuna, feel free to continue reading. uvu

Today, I would like to talk about why I chose Tetsukado to take Tsunami’s powers. To be completely honest, it was a very long process and is probably the most interesting thing about this miximax, although it’s also one of those things only 1-2 people care about. I’d rather talk about it now, along with this early sketch that no one will care about either, than along with the final design, which tends to get a tiny bit more love. I only hope that those of you who do stop by to read this will be satisfied...! If you aren’t, though, by all means, let me know what else you’d like me to talk about.

Enough babbling. Let’s get started.

As I mentioned long ago and a couple of times, while this project is mostly based on crossovers, I do want a fair amount of Inazuma-only miximaxes. Ideally, I want one Inazuma-only miximax for every Inazuma Eleven game released--that is, 15. Right now, and counting TetsuTsuna, I have 6, plus another 7 ideas yet to explore. It’s very difficult to choose characters from this franchise to bring back as auras, but I knew from the very beginning that Tsunami (and Tyranno) had to be part of this. So, in their case, it was mostly a matter of finding the right person to inherit their massive and super cool power.

Now, Tsunami is a very interesting case. He is a defender, but he is a defender whose main perk or distinctive trait was that his ability to shoot was rather remarkable. In fact, despite being a defender, the anime never showed him using anything but shot hissatsus. Even in the games, the main story only ever gave him shots. We can’t ignore he was superb at shooting, but we can’t ignore that he was a defender either. I wouldn’t be doing my work properly if I ignored either of those things, and, even if my art is subpar to say the least, I pride myself in my concepts, okay. ww

I had many candidates to take his aura. My first thought was to give it to any defender from Inazuma Japan, because, well, the team is losing a player, so it’d be rather cool to get Tsunami back through a miximax. But... none really seemed fitting to me. For reasons I will explain some other time, Kabeyama would never be a good candidate. The closest candidate was Tobitaka, since his kicks are strong and both characters are linked through their character songs, but Tobitaka has enough with his own crazy hairdo the connection still seemed quite feeble.

I eventually realised that the best candidate within Inazuma Japan was Hijikata: they are seen together often, are arguably the oldest members of the team, they both come from Okinawa, I’ve always thought that Hijikata has a sea theme going on too, and, well, they’re a nice match in general.

But Hijikata has two problems.

He’s not a defender, and Tsunami’s aura would therefore not benefit him as much as it should. Yes, I’m picky.

He can’t take Tsunami’s aura for the exact same reason as Kabeyama. You smart kids can probably guess why by now, but I won’t reveal it publicly juuust yet.

Those problems, while seemingly minor, really get in the way of the miximax. So, instead of trying to push a wrong aura onto someone, I decided to look elsewhere for a combination that would really suit my tastes. ...Tough as it may be.

After a quick look, I realised no Raimon player suited my tastes either. Which, honestly, I was glad to see. I wanted him in Inazuma Japan if I was going to keep him in the first trilogy.

...And that’s when I took the first real step towards enlightment. Why keep him in the first trilogy when Tsunami had already shone plenty there? Giving love to his adult self, who had NO RELEVANCE WHATSOEVER in Go and barely appeared at all, was faaar more interesting. Why limit ourselves with the power of a kid when we can have the power of an adult? A power that, by the way, had yet to be explored, because all he did in InaDan was shoot once.

So, as much as I was fond of Tsunami making a grand return to Inazuma Japan, I eventually ditched that idea. And it wasn’t easy, because I hate ditching good ideas. ...Or ideas in general.

I started looking for alternatives. The first person who came to my mind was Hamano, because I looove Hamano and he deserves huge amounts of love. Thank @raishiteru for my bias. But... well, Tsunami and Hamano are complete opposites, and not in a good way. While I love contrast, it didn’t feel right to change Hamano from a laidback cutie to some... ADHD guy all of a sudden. It’s a change that doesn’t really help Hamano. And, once I realised that, I also realised that Hamano is a midfielder. If Hijikata lost points for that, so should Hamano. Let’s be fair here.

Once Kai-Kai stopped being an option, I looked at Go Raimon’s defenders. Kurumada, Amagi, Kariya, Kirino, Shinsuke... Meh. I love Kurumada and Amagi, but, well, I don’t see how they’d benefit from Tsunami, and they didn’t fit together either. Considering Tsunami is an Inazuma character, why’d you settle for some half-assed miximax when there are infinite universes out there waiting for you to find your perfect partner? It’s such a waste, both for Tsunami and for the vessel. Tsunami deserves to share his power with someone who will think, “It’s Tsunami or no one else.”

Still, not finding a right candidate in Go got me quite down. I really wanted Tsunami in, and I was afraid I’d have to go for something half-assed or something I was simply not personally content with. I will admit that, despite how much I love it, I didn’t remember Galaxy existed until a long time after I started thinking. But, as soon as I did, everything clicked extremely well.

Galaxy, the ignored season, has Tetsukado in it, and Tetsukado is the absolute perfect choice.

Tetsukado is a defender, like Tsunami. Tetsukado is hot-headed, like Tsunami--although what that hot-headedness causes is completely different and that’s really interesting to look into. Tetsukado is closely related to the sea, like Tsunami, because he wanted money to buy a boat for his dad. Tetsukado is very muscular and strong, which makes him excel at something defenders don’t usually do: shoot--which, again, is Tsunami’s specialty. Tetsukado gets a shoot hissatsu that he uses strategically from his position as a defender, like Tsunami. And, heck, both Tsunami and Tetsukado are newbies when they are first introduced to us. If we’re just looking at them, they truly are a match made in heaven.

But what if we don’t just look at them? Because this is what bothered me the most.

Again, not having Tsunami in InaJapan irked me, but I’ve set this whole project with a simple idea in mind: teams don’t each go in one direction. They move together towards one goal, and players can move around, mix and have different partners. This is why groups aren’t necessarily made of people from the same team. So, even if Tetsukado is an Earth Eleven player, he could very well mingle and play with InaJapan members. In fact, doing that could lead to some very interesting situations, like some InaJapan members being happy about having Tsunami back and treating Tetsukado, to an extent, as little more than a vessel that holds Tsunami’s power instead of acknowledging Tetsukado’s own power and own self. Hmm hmm, nice stuff there.

But, for those times when Earth Eleven is the one who needs to battle alone, can Tetsukado really make the most out of Tsunami’s power if it comes to that? And the answer is yes, he sure can. Those of you who know what I was getting at before will probably understand what I mean, but the rest of you will have to wait until I decide to explain TetsuTsuna’s powers thoroughly to understand why Earth Eleven can let TetsuTsuna run wild. Trust me--it’s cool.

And last, but not least, a question beyond objectivity. Let’s remember for a second that this is not Chrono Stone. Jii-chan isn’t here with his notebook to go around choosing auras and assigning them to whomever he finds fitting. Here, everyone can decide their destiny. Gouenji chose Yuuichi. Endou chose Yagami and Jii-chan himself. Fudou chose Layton, Kurama chose Tyranno and Rika chose Bayonetta. The vessel has full control over their aura. So, Tetsukado should have a reason to want Tsunami.

Beyond the objective fact that they are really similar in many senses, I think Tetsukado would be very okay with receiving the aura of a legendary player who is so similar to him and whom he shares so much with. But, in this case, I think Tsunami would actually suggest it, because Tetsukado is hot-headed in a way that’d probably make him embarrassed to ask for anyone’s aura. But look at Tsunami. All of his friends are fighting (as kids), but he can’t because he was born one year too soon and his young self really can’t take part in that. Tsunami, both young and adult, would feel very, very pissed and frustrated. He would like to be part of the battle, lend a hand, be useful somehow. And he’d probably be on the lookout for someone to take his power as soon as he heard that the whole miximax stuff was a thing.

So not only is this match perfect, but it has the special touch of being the one match where the aura proposes and starves for as much as the vessel. ...You know, other than Handa’s. But Handa’s is a tad different, as you may remember.

Also, much like Handa is my favourite original Raimon player, Tetsukado is my favourite Earth Eleven player. By far, in both cases. ...I see a trend here.

[miximax-hell]

Hello, everyone! It hasn’t been long at all since my last post! ...For once!

While I looked for that Tetsukado sketch from last time, I happened to come across some (albeit by no means all, because there were many) of the sketches I made before I came up with HiroGeo’s final design. Given how different they are from each other and from the final design, I thought it might be interesting to bring those to my blog as well. I have no shame in showing how bad I am because it’s no secret, anyway.

As you can see, the first three sketches have been quickly lined in SAI. That’s because the paper sheets I originally drew on were SUPER dirty and it was tough to even distinguish actual lines from previously erased lines and whatnot. Truly a mess, but that’s why they’re doodles and not actual drawings, I guess.

Anyway, I love Hiroto and I felt he deserved some more love--especially because his miximax got many more notes than average, so people must’ve liked it... to an extent. Therefore, let’s talk a bit more about him!

As usual, you can find more information about HiroGeo under the cut.

Now that we’ve made it through the cut, uh, what’ve you guys been up to? After many, many years, I finally beat Final Fantasy VIII the other day. What an amazing game! It had the nostalgia factor going for it, since I first played it when I was rather young, but I never got past a certain point in the middle of disc 2, so it was still full of surprises. A very healthy combo. Kind of like Harry Potter 8, which I’m reading right now, btw.

And, since I was at it, I started playing EarthBound and Broken Sword 5 too. EarthBound hasn’t quite... picked up the pace yet, but I sure am enjoying BS5! It truly reminds me of the first and wonderful installments before Broken Sword 3 ruined everything. Oh well. We can consider that a bad nightmare, I suppose. A very bad one.

Oh, and since I mentioned it in my last update a few months ago, I got the True Pacifist Ending in Undertale. What an incredibly lovely game. I can’t bring myself to go for the killing spree necessary to get the other ending just yet. Incidentally, I completed Layton 2 and beat Tomb Raider, Pokémon Sun and Hatoful Boyfriend while I was still in America. I’m surprised I got so much done even though I was so busy...

Okay, moving on! Since I talked about HiroGeo’s design in depth last time, I can’t resort to the easy solution now. And, for the sake of being sincere, I’ll admit that HiroGeo isn’t a miximax I have thought much about beyond the designing process. Funny, because Hiroto and Geo are both very dear to me, but I guess the design was way too exhausting as it was and I didn’t feel like putting any more effort into it. Whoopsie. ww So, as of now, I only have some ideas regarding his Keshin and... that’s it. I don’t even know much about his powers at this point.

So you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, you stupid idiot!” Yes, you all insult me in my mind. I blame my well-disguised low self-esteem. “If you don’t even know what powers Hiroto would get from Geo, why the hell did you put them together?” Well, that’s exactly what I’ll try to explain today.

Even though 99% of my friends, acquaintances and relatives aren’t aware of this, before Inazuma sucked me into an obsessive vortex for years and years, I was actually a Mega Man Star Force nerd. It was (and is) one of my favourite games, and the one I was into at the time. In other words, it was my last obsession before Inazuma hit me in the face with a flaming ball. As such, I really, really wanted Star Force (from now on, SF) to be part of this project from the very beginning. I didn’t know whom I wanted, but I needed that franchise to be represented here somehow.

As such, much like I have done with other franchises (with more or less success), I started looking for a good aura and a good vessel. While I considered that little shit called Solo/Rogue, I’m not one of those people who enjoy that kind of “I’m evil, but everyone will be obsessed with me” trope. In fact, it usually irks me quiiite a bit. I’m not one to usually like evil guys, sadly. ww

So, really, my only good options were Geo/Mega Man or Sonia/Harp Note. And I’m sure those who’ve played SF will be pissed because I didn’t choose Harp Note and I went with the “easy” choice (and, in fact, it bothered me too, because she’s great), but stay with me, please. There is a bit more to it than meets the eye.

The reason why I chose Mega Man over Harp Note wasn’t a matter of whom I prefered or whom I thought would bring better/more useful powers to the mix. It was because I randomly saw how well Mega Man and Hiroto worked together. I simply didn’t find a match nearly as good for Harp Note.

Hiroto and Geo share a lot. The obvious link, which I have mentioned before, is that they share a theme, and that’s something I love. Both Hiroto and Geo are related/linked to space. Hiroto, being a fake alien and having meteorite-related hissatsus, has an obvious connection to it. Geo is constantly looking at the stars and has a passion for astronomy, goes to space in many occasions as Mega Man, the name of his series is Star Force and even his dad is an astronaut. Which, by the way, leads to the next link.

Even though they are very different, both Geo and Hiroto have *+*+*daddy issues*+*+*. We all know about Hiroto’s: he’s an orphan, his loving adoptive father turned into a monster that forced him to fight, said father ended up in jail... Quite the rollercoaster. Now, Geo has his fair share of those issues too. While not always a main theme in the series, Geo’s lurking objective is to bring his father back home, since he’s been stranded in space... if I remember correctly. Said father has been missing for a loong time, leaving Geo alone as he learnt of his new powers, causing him a heavy depression that kept him from going to school, etc.

They both know what it is to miss a father and to want to save him. They were both very affected when the close relationships they shared with their fathers suddenly changed, so I believe they’d have a lot in common and to talk about. And, well, I find it important to talk about uncomfortable subjects if you are trying to improve your relationship with someone. It brings you two closer, and that’s very important in a case like this.

If sharing a theme and daddy issues wasn’t enough, both Hiroto and Geo are shown to be rather intelligent and good with machines. They are both strong-willed and ready to fight for the “greater good” even when they don’t want to, and they both inherited something very important from their dads: Geo got some weird goggles and Hiroto got... a full successful company. (Hiroto wins this time, I’m afraid. Sorry, Geo bby.)

What makes this extra interesting, however, is how Geo evolves. Hiroto is shown to be mature, intelligent, cold and thoughtful. A reliable, serious person. Almost a big brother to those who know it. However, while Geo starts off cold and in a similar (although by no means same) vein, as he matures and manages to open up to others again, he actually becomes much more laid back, suddenly talking about food and naps and whatnot. Meanwhile, Hiroto’s premature maturity (no pun intended) takes him in the complete opposite direction. I think this is worth exploring as a concept. With Geo’s influence, Hiroto wouldn’t be reverting to a more childish version of himself, because Geo’s attitude doesn’t come from him being childish, but from maturing into a more relaxed and presumably happier person. Hiroto would simply have the opportunity to see life with those same mature eyes, but in a much calmer way. In a sense, it’d give him the chance to “take a break,” if you all know what I mean. To move on from the pain that, show it or not, he holds in his heart. In a franchise like Inazuma, where maturing has constantly meant becoming more serious and angry and powerful, maturing into someone happier would be a refreshing change, I think. Refreshing and much needed.

So, yeah. As I said, I really don’t know much about how Geo’s powers will affect Hiroto’s abilities, but I’ll figure something out. The reasons alone were so good and unavoidable that I’m sure pieces will fall into place on their own as soon as I start thinking about this subject properly. And, as the guy running this stupid blog, trust me when I say that that’s what really turns a normal miximax into a true perfect match.

A match made, rather than in heaven, in the stars.

[miximax-hell]

First of all: KURIMATSU FAMILY. THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME IN YEARS.

...Ahem.

It’s been about (over, cough) 3 months since my last proper post. Sigh. Life sure sucks when you finish what was the best semester of your university career and then you’re suddenly back home and wondering how to deal with... life. A life that you didn’t even think about for quite a few months and suddenly hits you in the face.

That kind of drained me. Sinusitis didn’t help either, but it was mostly a combination of feeling out of place in my own house, a complete lack of motivation to be productive (then again, I’m on holidays, so I guess taking a break after uni was a legit thing to do) and just bad feelings in general. Not very nice.

But oh well! The best way to stop overthinking and start acting is to act, so even if it took me a while to get started, here I am with the first miximax I have designed in quiiite some time. And nothing suits this heavy amount of rust better than a character that is known for sucking in general, like our much beloved Megane Kakeru.

Luckily for him, though, Megane is miximaxed with Yamano Ban, the (somewhat) charismatic protagonist of the Danball Senki series! And if you’re thinking, “hey, you cheeky little bastard! You always say you will only use one character from each franchise and you’ve already used Hiro before!,” I’ll kindly redirect you to this ancient post where I said that I may use up to two characters from L5 franchises if the matches were nice enough. And considering I thought of this one waaay before I thought of Toramaru’s, I really wanted to make use of that exception. I asked @great-blaster about her opinion on something related to this miximax around... 4 years ago, so go figure.

Well, that was one long intro. More information regarding Megane’s miximax can be found under the cut. As it used to happen back when I was, you know, not lazy.

Okay, so! It’s been a while, we’re all excited about Ares coming out soon and we could use a little action, so let’s focus on Megane’s powers! This whole poor mood has kept me from doing some actual and proper thinking, but I think writing will help me come up with ideas for him on the go, so let’s tackle it one subject at a time.

First of all, let’s start what the one thing I do know, and one of the main reasons to want Ban as an aura. Ban is a scout character in Chrono Stone and Galaxy, and he has an exclusive hissatsu technique that no other character in the game can use, simply because it involves the use of Ban’s LBX. This hissatsu is called Glorious Ray, and is taken straight from Danball Senki W, where it’s one of Ban’s strongest attack functions (the DanSen equivalent of Inazuma’s special techniques). And, gosh, am I a sucker for exclusive things. So of course it’d be a very deciding factor and one of MegaBan’s main perks.

Glorious Ray isn’t just an exclusive technique, but a really, really powerful one. Just so you can get an idea, in Galaxy, it has a base power of 190, while The Earth ∞, a 3-player combo hissatsu that is supposed to be one of the strongest techniques in the game, has a base power of 200. Definitely not something to mess with. And while it is indeed very overpowered, this matches Megane perfectly too.

Those who haven’t played the games wouldn’t know, but Megane is prone to learning extremely powerful techniques when he reaches very high levels. His abilities include Divine Arrow, Chaos Break, Fuurinkazan Destroyer, Saikyou Eleven Hadou and even the aforementioned The Earth ∞. Truly a force to reckon, even if his stats still let him down. In any case, learning terribly overpowered hissatsus is common for him, and getting one more suits him perfectly.

Now, this covers the first hissatsu, but not the second one. A quick look at Inazuma’s wiki will tell us that Ban learns 3 other moves: Odin Sword, Decoy Release and Fukutsu no Seishin. We may choose one of these or try to come up with a whole new one, so let’s see.

Odin Sword is completely out of the question. This is Fideo’s hissatsu and I love him too much to steal his technique so cheaply. In my heart, the only person who can use Odin Sword besides Fideo is Handa. ...Whoops, my bias is showing. Excuse me.

Decoy Release maaay work, but I don’t especially dig it. It feels so out of place. You wouldn’t relate this technique to Ban at all, so it isn’t tempting to add it to the mix.

And last, but not least, we have Fukutsu no Seishin. If you don’t feel like checking the wiki, I’ll tell you that Fukutsu no Seishin is a skill that improves a character’s hissatsus when he or she is tired. This does suit Ban, since *+*+*drama*+*+* forces him to have clutch wins all the time. ww When you are tired and almost dead is when you awaken your true power, and let’s be honest--Megane spends most of his time in the field tired and almost dead, so this could actually prove to be a wonderful skill for him to have. Not to mention that staying mixitransed is said to drain you very fast (and it does in the games), so he would be able to activate this ability quite early on.

What is the bad thing, then? Well... in terms of *+*+*drama*+*+* and general Inazuma storytelling, skills aren’t the most... interesting things. We want explosions and quick moves and stuff, not a skill that suddenly activates out of the blue and makes you stronger. ...Then again, Pokémon DP based Ash’s Chimchar’s power entirely on his Blaze ability. If they could do that, I guess I can too. I guess.

But, yeah. I’ll keep this for now since it’s pretty much the perfect skill for Megane, but I’ll see if I can come up with something better.

(I doubt it.)

With that out of the way, let’s jump into what hissatsu would get powered up by this miximax. The easy answer is... none. You see, Megane and Ban fit so well together, but, for the most part, Megane’s hissatsus don’t fit him at all. The only ones that fit him are Megane Crash (obviously), Perfect Course, the ever-present Yakubyougami, maybe Future Eye... and Super Scan. And, if I had to choose, this last hissatsu would be the one getting the miximax boost.

Super Scan, a game-exclusive technique that has two different versions (an offensive one and a defensive one, both of which Megane can use), involves a bunch of screens appearing around the user, which tell them how the rival will move and how to counter him/her, whether it is to steal the ball or to dribble. The single reason why this could work is because, much like MegaBan has access to Ban’s LBX, he also has access to his CCM! The little phone-like thing they use to control the LBXs, that is.

Now, these CCMs have screens--and multiple ones, at times. Couldn’t MegaBan check all the information that Super Scan provides from his CCM, which would make it more accurate due to the use of, well, actual technology rather than sheer Inazuma logic? Well, there’s a thought. I’m not sure if it’s a thought I’ll actually develop, but there’s a thought.

This, however, gives me a new and exciting idea. Those who have watched Danball Senki will know (and if you haven’t and you plan to do so, spoiler ahead for the rest of the paragraph) that some LBXs and users can use special modes to power themselves up in the middle of the fight. It certainly would be useful to be able to have a power-up of that kind for Megane and for Toramaru. Some kind of WX/WV Mode to use in the aforementioned clutches. In terms of Inazuma logic, this could be some Chara Change/alter ego thing with some kind of time restriction, a hissatsu tactics of sorts or even a skill that requires to be losing to activate, like Never Give Up. There are so many possibilities, thankfully!

End of spoilers here. You may read on. ww

Now, for the last subject to cover, we find ourselves stuck. An impasse, so to speak.

I always think about how a miximax affects the vessel’s natural abilities. What changes? Which of the vessel’s abilities improve? Which don’t? Incidentally, which do actually get worse? And how do these changes make the vessel a more unique player?

Well, the thing is that Megane has no skills. He sucks. Not like Handa, but for real. He was, quite literally, completely useless before the miximax, so we really don’t have anything to work with. His only redeeming point, if we may call it that, are his super strong hissatsus, which are often nearly useless with such poor stats (save for a couple of games where he was made to be sliiightly better. But let’s roll with the general “forever shitty” tone).

This means that Megane is... nothing. He is a proper zero. He has no real skills to add to, save for a ludicrously high luck stat in Chrono Stone and Galaxy--the only games where Ban is a playable character. So we can assume that Megane + Ban = lucky Ban. In that case, let’s look at Ban and see what we can do.

Ban boasts an impressive kick stat--better than young Gouenji’s and just as good as Ishido’s. He’s definitely a powerhouse with super good hissatsus to boot. We are quite over the whole “look at how powerful I am” thing--if we just want power, we can resort to GouYuu or SomeKyu, for example. So, no. Sheer power isn’t quite enough anymore.

There is, however, a way to make MegaBan special without making weird things up and respecting the actual information provided by the canon of the games.

We have a fast and powerful striker--GouYuu. We have a massive powerhouse that hits like a truck despite being slow--SomeKyu. We have a witty and tricky striker who plays mindgames on his rivals--MaxLink. And... a few undescribed forwards, too. ww But MegaBan relies on an entirely different concept to make him special and... usable. Worthy.

MegaBan is the Crit King.

In the Inazuma games, much like in any other RPG, our characters may perform critical moves, which end up being heaps stronger than they would normally be. Incidentally, they may also miss, which means the move will be heaps weaker than usual. Whether a character is prone to crits or to misses is based on its luck stat and not on the move used.

Megane has a huge luck stat, as mentioned, which means many of his moves will be critical. With such terrible stats, however, even his crits won’t be anything special. Nothing to be too proud of.

Megane, however, is miximaxed with Ban, who boasts a power that can rival that of adult ace strikers like Gouenji even though he’s still a kid. He is an all-around great player, but probably not all that special compared to the rest of the members of this big miximax team.

But an above average striker who lands crits continuously, thus improving not only the strength of his shots, but the strength of absolutely everything he does, is a whole different matter. MegaBan’s actual strength is constantly being multiplied due to his sheer dumb luck (and, potentially, the aforementioned skills), thus improving his shots, dribbles and steals greatly. Definitely a very multitalented forward and a great addition to the team, if you ask me.

...At least, for as long as he can stay mixitransed. Or for as long as his natural skill Yakubyougami doesn’t play tricks on him.

[miximax-hell]

Hey there! It sure has been a while, huh. ww; But, hey, I kept my promise!

So, how have you guys been? I’ve been rather busy. America is cool, but this university is quite demanding sometimes. I’m not complaining, considering I came here to work and all, but I wish I had some extra time. All I want to do after I’m done with my classes and homework is be lazy, to be perfectly honest.

What have you all been up to? Since I last showed my stupid head around here, I beat Undertale (just beaten—no true endings whatsoever), Layton and the Unwound Future (SO GOOD AND SO SAD) and Portal. I have also been rewatching Inazuma with my significant other, which is awesome! Oh, and I watched the newest Tri movie. It might not be perfect, but I get so easily pumped with that.

…And I have also been working on this nightmare.

Never in your wildest dreams would you assume that these four views took well over 20 hours of work (although I’d be willing to bet it took over 30). And that’s if we don’t take into account the amount of time I spent on OLDER VERSIONS OF THIS. I have been procrastinating on Fubuki’s miximax for years because I knew it would kill me. But, luckily, I’m not dead. I just wished I was a couple tens of times during the process. I hope @miyukiko​ won’t kill me either when she sees this, considering what I’ve done to her baby.

But it’s done! The result might not be the best and the rust might not help either, but this is it! Fubuki is finally done!! And, considering I have been working on this little shit for 2-3 years, I have my fair share of ideas about him. I’ll only cover one subject today, though.

Anyway, just in case anyone has never watched Digimon (which is a sin according to 8 different major religions), Fubuki is miximaxed with Gabumon, one of the main characters from Digimon Adventure, 02 and Tri! Not my personal favourite, but fairly awesome nonetheless.

As usual, more about FubuGabu under the cut.

It’s 2:30 am right now. You know, just for reference. If I eventually start not making sense whatsoever, please keep that in mind and spare me. I will gladly fix any nonsense as long as you haven’t stabbed my heart yet. ww I’ll hopefully be done quickly, though, so I might not have time to screw up too much.

Okay, let’s do this!

As I said, there’s a lot to say about FubuGabu. For once, I know what FubuGabu’s powers and hissatsus are. There’s a lot of little things to say about his design. I have details about his backstory and even about small, useless facts. I know about FubuGabu’s personality, Keshin and even Soul. But, today, let’s go for a much anticipated approach. …Not really.

Since I already mentioned it once, let’s talk about groups. If you don’t know what I mean with “groups,” feel free to check this out.

I will assume you all remember what I already mentioned about Fubuki and Someoka forming a duo within this project (and not just within this project, honestly—they make a pretty great team!). If you are late to the party or your memory is simply almost as bad as mine, though, feel free to check THIS LINK to see what the heck was going on there.

First of all, let’s look at what (else) ties them together. I will skip the points I already explained last time, though.

The first and most obvious new point that puts them together in a group is, of course, that they are both miximaxed with monsters! And not just any kind of monsters, but the best kinds of monsters. I can hear someone screaming “MONSTER RANCHER SH*TS ON POKÉMON EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK” from here, so let’s point out that we are talking about popularity here. Ww

Pokémon and Digimon have always been the big guys when it comes to monsters beating the crap out of each other, but they have always been big rivals. For decades, people have punched each other’s faces while debating which franchise is better. Someoka, too, once considered Fubuki his biggest rival and a big piece of shit. But Fubuki and Someoka grew to be great friends, and, now, much like them, Pokémon and Digimon have joined for a common cause too:

Kick ass. (not really)

Because of this, with a bunch of love in my heart for these two, I call this group the Monster Duo. Beast Duo sounds better to me, but the “mon” in Digimon and Pokémon is there for a reason, all right.

So, yes, fictional monsters link Someoka and Fubuki together. But that’s far from being all. Combining the two concepts I have already mentioned, note how both of them have miximaxed with ice beasts! This doesn’t just make them awfully strong, but it also boosts their compatibility a great deal!

This is especially obvious when this terrific duo performs its combination hissatsu, Wyvern Blizzard. Not only it gets a powered up, but Someoka goes all out and, instead of summoning his usual wyvern, Zekrom himself comes to the field and wreaks havoc. This imbues the ball not only with Fubuki’s ice, but also with Someoka’s electricity, creating a shot like none other before.

Fubuki does something very special too at the time of kicking the ball, actually, but that will have to wait until we talk about FubuGabu’s powers some other day.

Okay, we know that these two are ready to kill people. That’s awesome and all. But what about them? What’s their dynamic like?

We all know Fubuki and Someoka. They actually have a really courteous and kind relationship! They truly care about each other and their well-being. But, in this story of sorts, they have already known each other for a good while now. It’s been well over a year now. Before this whole and unknown mess happened, Someoka and Fubuki were each playing for the respective schools—in other words, away from each other.

Being able to play together again is a breath of fresh air for them both. They came to trust each other a great deal during their Aliea and FFI days, so their first goal is to recover the complicity they once had. They will soon find this to be much more challenging than they thought it would be, however.

There is a big difference between growing apart from someone and growing without someone. Someoka and Fubuki haven’t just been sitting on their butts. They have practised and learnt a lot on their own, at Raimon and at Hakuren.

Suddenly, their style doesn’t match anymore. It doesn’t click as immediately as it once did. Fubuki isn’t the same he was when he first met Someoka, and Someoka’s view of life is completely different too. Fubuki’s mind is at peace now that the spirit of Atsuya isn’t screwing up with him, and he isn’t the reckless and mindless beast he once was. Someoka has come to trust himself more than anyone else after not being selected for Inazuma Japan during the first selection. In a sense, their roles have reversed. This wasn’t an issue when they could still train together often, but time has opened a rift between them. A rift that seems too big to jump across.

This is not to say that they aren’t friends, though, and that’s what makes it tough. It’s not that they don’t feel like playing together anymore—it’s that they are starving for it, but they fail whenever they try to. It’s rather frustrating to be fond of someone and see that you simply can’t understand them anymore. Their old dynamic is lost, and trying to work around it is useless.

…Or is it?

This is where their miximaxes come into play. Kyurem’s incomplete on its own and seeks to join forces with someone compatible with it out of sheer instinct. Gabumon’s (or, rather, Garurumon’s) savage style resembles the fierce plays Atsuya’s spirit once brought to the field. This might be just what these two close friends needed in order to remember what used to make their teamwork great: fast, ferocious and dependent plays that wouldn’t work without a perfect bond.

It’s not enough to bring them back to the position they used to be in, but it’s just enough for a reminder. This change in their attitude—as I have mentioned before, people’s personality changes upon mixitransing—brings them to a middle point that they can work with. Their plays begin to connect. They can see why and how things work now and not before. It gives them a starting point—a way to learn how their friend has changed and how to cooperate with him. To put it simply, they are learning again that they are reliable partners.

There is probably a lot more to say about FubuGabu and SomeKyu, but the fact that SomeKyu is way newer than FubuGabu hasn’t allowed me to think of their relationship as much as I have thought about everything else. …And whom am I trying to kid? I have purposefully avoided thinking about FubuGabu for OBVIOUS REASONS. But, hey, I can work around things! If you feel like I missed any important points, please let me know and I’ll see what else there is to say!

In any case, I really love Monster Duo and pretty much everything about them. Their story isn’t as dramatic as it could be, but I feel like these two have already endured enough drama before. Let them focus on other things instead, even if it’s just for once. They deserve to be happy and have problems that are easy to work with! And, needless to say, they deserve soccer-related problems. That would actually be new. ww

Oh, and I want Monster Duo to have a brand new combo hissatsu, but I’m still thinking about it. It’s 4 am now, though, so I’m definitely not going to figure it out right now, I’m afraid. It’s sleepy time for me.

...Zzz.

(Oh, and my personal favourite is Tentomon.)