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cocogum · 11 months ago

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I’m so happy to find someone giving a review for this episode so thoroughly.

I read your whole opinion on the matter and I’d like to share my thoughts on it:

I agree on all of the good points you enumerated for this special episode although I’d also like to add some more to it. 👇

#1: Echo’s hands have a reason to be black.

There were details in the episode that actually made me smile and understand why some of the characters are looking the way they do in the series and I’m happy that I noticed them. First of all, we got Echo’s hands. When I first saw her fingers in the manga, I didn’t really think much about them since I thought they were black because she had claws or something along the lines of that. She is part dragon after all so I thought that it would’ve made sense. The same thing happened when I saw her in The Quest for the Six Eliatrope Dofus episodes where her fingers looked sharper than usual, making me think that those were definitely claws of some kind. It was only until the Oropo episode that I finally understood that she got ashy hands because of Grougal’s fire.

#2: Echo’s behavior towards Chibi and Grougal in the manga is more clear now.

One thing that not many people were talking about, was how, in the Wakfu manga, Echo’s way of behaving towards Chibi and Grougal felt rude or maybe even unnecessarily unjustified. Back then, when the Oropo episode hadn’t come out yet, Echo acted very standoffish towards these two and even looked a bit apprehensive when baby Chibi wanted to touch her in the manga. She also talked poorly about Grougal, saying how dragons were ugly to look at, and even grabbed Grougal by one of his wings.

Her slight fear of the contact and the disrespectful wing grabbing would make much more sense if it was because she remembered that time she almost got burned by Grougal and witnessed Chibi’s fiery attitude.

#3: Grougal’s blindness is finally explained.

Another thing was Grougal’s eyes. At first, back when I first watched season 1, I thought Grougal was only blind because of old age but it turns out it was because of the Eliacube. It was a nice touch and I kinda like the idea.

#4: The eliotrope designs actually do make sense.

Another thing that I liked and that I would very much want to add to the good parts, would have to be the eliotrope designs. Yes, I know it’s a bit odd that their current designs don’t really reflect how the eliotropes look like in the game.

But I made myself a small explanation for it:

I believe that the reason why they may seem so physically different from their game counterparts would be because of the difference between the player and the character. When you’re in the game and you choose the eliotrope class, you start with the default look (where you basically look like Yugo). Some players would rather keep those looks while others would gradually change certain things as they keep playing the game. I feel like that’s what we’re seeing here too. The possible reason why the eliotropes may look very different from how they started was because they want to look as different as possible from their father, their creator. Remember, they despise Yugo. And when you look like your creator that you hate, you’d make sure to not physically look like him at all costs so that you won’t hate yourself in the process. It’s also a way to help them differentiate from each other and see what makes them unique.

Just like in the game, all the eliotropes look the same because that’s how they start. But they then try to physically change (whether they realize it or not) to make themselves look more distinguishable from their creator. For example, when we saw Oropo as a kid, he looked exactly like Yugo only with brown hair. But when we see him grown up, he looks nothing like him.

#5: There was a good reason why Chibi and Grougal thought Oropo was Yugo for a second.

I also like the fact that Grougal and Chibi were able to instantly realize the connection between Oropo and Yugo simply by looking at their wakfu energy and immediately concluding that it’s the same. Now THAT is a good and logical way to make Grougal and Chibi think that they were facing Yugo at first glance (unlike the way Amalia thought Oropo was Yugo 💀)

#6: Chibi’s design actually makes sense.

Now don’t get me wrong, when I watched the special episode at first, I was also a bit weirded out by how Chibi looked. I wasn’t a huge fan of the nonexistent eyebrows and the hair. But when I went back to look at Chibi’s design from other sources, I began to understand how his looks made some sense as to why it would’ve ended up like this.

First, you mentioned how bulky he was which might’ve been a problem for you since you never perceived him to look like that.

But I can assure you that Chibi has actually always been bulky. Even in Qilby’s explanation, showing us somewhat of a flashback, we can see Chibi’s build in it and he looks quite strong and much more bulky than the others. (I suggest looking at his arms in this pic to see what I mean by that.)

But then if he was always built, then why does his hair look less ruffled and more like it got cleanly cut in the ends when he was last seen alive (before getting reborn)?

Also, the lack of eyebrows and short beard appeared out of nowhere but there is a good reason for them. Chibi simply aged. Ever since the planet, which was later going to be called ‘The World of Twelve’, had first been used by the twelve gods, Chibi and Grougal have been living in it since the beginning of its creation.

It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that Chibi was so old by this point that he just happened to change his style. This would explain why he now had a hairy chin when we never saw him looking like this before. It could even explain his choice of clothing as well as his lack of eyebrows. Time simply passed and Chibi just decided to change clothes and got a hairy chin. He’s an oldie after all, the guy sucks at choosing any styles 😭

#7: The way Chibi died makes sense.

Some people might have been wondering why Chibi died by some stasis beam after decades of being alive. Because of his longevity, it wasn’t far-fetched to think that it was a bit underwhelming to see him die in a situation like this. But it made me think for a second. There was a reason why Atone (the masked eliotrope) chose to stab Chibi in the heart with a stasis beam and NOT a wakfu one. Sure, if they pierced Chibi with a beam made of wakfu, it would’ve hurt Chibi but not to the extent where he would die from the attack. That’s why Aton resulted in using stasis instead.

Earlier in the episode, Grougaloragran had precisely stated that using stasis is a shameful way of fighting, implying that it’s a type of taboo to use it in the first place.

The reason why he says this is because stasis is the total opposite of wakfu. The simplest explanation I can give you is that Wakfu is the source of life of all things while Stasis is just death and nothingness.

To be pierced by a stasis beam is a serious attack since it can severely damage a person’s body. And since Chibi got pierced in the heart, that was a fatal wound and he won’t recover from it because the beam went straight through the source.

Not only that but there was also an assassination attempt later in the episode. When Oropo was in a frozen state, he almost got killed by one of his comrades who was ready to stab him to death with a weapon made of stasis, therefore, encouraging the fact that stasis is deadly and can never be reversible.

#8: Chibi’s death is making me understand the eliatrope anatomy more.

Unlike the races from the World of Twelve, we barely know how the body of an eliatrope works in death or how they even manage to take care of their antlers (yeah I’m gonna call them that cuz it sounds very fitting).

But now that we had a good look at Chibi, there are two things I understood about the eliatrope race and how their bodies work after death:

A) When an Eliatrope dies, their antlers disappear, leaving them with a body completely devoid of wakfu, turning it into an empty shell. (I suspected that the antlers were going to become something else after death back when the special Oropo episode didn’t come out yet but I didn’t want to say my thoughts out loud because I did not want to misinform anyone)

B) When an ORDINARY eliatrope dies, their bodies just stay there and start to decompose like any other body. But when an eliatrope from the COUNCIL OF SIX dies, their bodies also seem to rot like anyone else instead of disappearing into thin air. I guess that the original six eliatropes also die the same way as any life form but their old bodies from their other lives rot alone while their Wakfu goes back to their respective dofus in order to make that same body again for their next life.

Now that I’m all done with the positives, it’s time I also talk about the negative points of this special episode.

(But unlike you however, I have much less to say lol)

#1: Grougal and Chibi do not question where Oropo and his group came from or even what Oropo is.

One thing that bothered me about Chibi and Grougal’s reactions when they see Oropo and the others, is that they are shocked when they recognize Yugo’s wakfu in each of them but don’t question where they all came from or why they even possess the same aura as Yugo. Like, Yugo is your brother, a demigod eliatrope with his own dragon brother, he’s literally one of a kind! How can you not question this situation any further other than ‘oh they all got the same wakfu as Yugo’???

#2: Chibi is completely comfortable taking off his hood.

This really bothered me. On so many levels.

Now I know that if I’m annoyed at Chibi for being fine revealing his wakfu-shaped antlers, then I should also feel the same for Oropo but no.

I’m not annoyed or bothered by Oropo doing that since he’s an Eliotrope NOT an Eliatrope, so his kind obviously doesn’t have the same rules or conditions or even beliefs as the eliatropes. This means that if Oropo took off his hat, no one would blink or react in any way. Oropo has been seen taking off his cloak numerous times: when he was alone with Echo in his chamber, when he’s around the other eliotropes, when he was fighting the Brotherhood of the Tofu, when he was facing Chibi and Grougal, etc.

But the eliatropes? There have been a lot of times where it is implied that taking off their hats in front of anyone (or even in front of their own kind) can provoke an immediate reaction or a sort of hesitation on their part. A strong example of this would be Yugo. We never see him taking his hat off and the only time where he did take it off is when he and his group were in the Justice prison and he told them to turn around so he’d be able to have his privacy taking it off. The children in Emrub, despite all of them being eliatropes, never take their hats off.

#3: WHY TF DID GROUGAL THROW THE ELIACUBE IN THE SEA?!?!?????

Grougal: “The Eliacube is dangerous.”

Also Grougal: *throws the Eliacube in the sea*

No but no joke, this is exactly what happened.

WHY DID HE DO THAT?!!??!???

Like why, just why????

You have the responsibility to keep the Eliacube AWAY from HARM. So why would you THROW IT IN THE SEA WHERE IT COULD GO STRAIGHT TO PEOPLE?!???

By that logic, if Grougal knew exactly what he was doing, then Nox’s demise didn’t really start because of Oropo. It happened because this DUMBASS threw the Eliacube where OROPO WAS STUCK IN IT IN THE FUCKING SEA!!!!!!!!!

I’m sorry but this really annoyed the crap out of me. I just yelled like a hyena when I saw him doing that the first time.

Of all the things I didn’t like about the Oropo special episode, THIS was the one thing that truly pissed me off. It literally made me want to gouge my eyes out because of the sheer stupidity this moron did.

Now maybe he did this without thinking and was acting on his emotions because he just lost Chibi.

And I would’ve accepted that excuse if it wasn’t for the fact that the Eliacube had been one of the reasons why the Eliatrope race fled their planet!!!

Like come on man, you had the responsibility to keep the thing with you for decades, centuries, and millenniums, and you’re telling me you’re throwing it away now??? If anything, it’s especially at times like these where you SHOULDN’T HAVE THROWN THE DAMN THING CUZ OROPO GOT STUCK IN IT!!! Actually scratch that, you just DON’T THROW IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PERIOD.

Who knows what Oropo could do now that he’s inside it, he could do anything with the cube now that he got fused with it. He could possibly get stronger with it or MANIPULATE A MORTAL UNTIL IT RUINS HIS LIFE BY CAUSING SUFFERING FOR 200 YEARS WHEREVER HE GOES, but nah Grougal just threw it cuz…cuz why not????

Grougal and Nox’s fight from season 1 is now so ironic to rewatch because Grougal had no idea that he was currently facing the severe consequence of his actions and Nox had no idea that he was not only facing a very powerful dragon he could use, but he was also facing the very dragon responsible for making him get the Eliacube in the first place.

I swear the part where Grougal threw the cube like it was nothing was what made me struggle with my brain, it took me a second to process what just happened.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with knowing that Nox got manipulated by Oropo (or that he was just plainly insane) because he was actually the one talking to him in the cube, but I don’t like that it was Grougal who even threw the cube to his direction, much less for not having a very clear reason as to why he did it in the first place.

#4: How did Oropo leave the Eliacube? Play the game to find out.

So….how did Oropo get out of the Eliacube?

….

Uh….I’m confused????

Cuz…we don’t see anything about that.

The only time where we THINK he might have come out of the Eliacube was after Yugo gave it to the Eliatropes but even then, how did he get out and leave Emrub with the cube????

I just- and after so long too cuz Oropo was stuck in the Eliacube since the Dofus age! Or who knows, maybe even before that era cuz the episode did not specify when this all took place.

I gotta say there was actually a way that he got out though. But to know the answer, we have to play his game called “One More Gate”. You can play it on Steam or on the Nintendo Switch but even then, it’s still weird how the continuation (and ending) of his imprisonment concluded in a game.

#5: Chibi’s personality….yikes.

Yeah so um….I hate it??

I can genuinely excuse Chibi’s design due to all the reasons I provided above but his personality is definitely a disappointment.

I can also excuse the fact that he doesn’t know how to properly use the Eliacube since that thing has been coddled by Qilby for who knows how long. I doubt any of the other Council of Six members knew how to use it either anyway. The only one who had an idea of how it worked was Qilby because his sole passion is to research and experiment with things (not to mention that he was also the one who stole it from Orgonax and made some modifications to it) which is why he looked like he knew what he was doing when he was using the Eliacube in season 2.

So Chibi not knowing how the Eliacube works does make some sense. It’s his loud personality that doesn’t.

We have been told time and time again that Chibi was a calm and collected man who makes wise decisions and gets visions of the Eliatrope goddess or things that could harm the Eliatrope race (he also used to be the old king but that information might have been retconned).

So if he’s such a collected and wise man, why do we see him acting like a bull here??? That doesn’t make any sense.

So here’s all I gotta say for the special episode. Even if it seemed like the episode had odd mistakes in it and could have been improved, I don’t think it’s a reason to be worried about season 4.

Ankama’s special episodes about certain characters often have mistakes or alterations compared to where the main character of the episode came from one of the Dofus mangas or a separate comic entirely.

For example, the Goultard special episode, altered a bit of Goultard’s backstory since it was way too inappropriate for the general audience to see it. Another special episode that got a bit altered was the Ogrest one. Dathura looked like a pure child in it while in the manga, she was a major hottie.

And these are just a few examples that I can currently think about.

Things like alterations or changes to characters in special episodes that wouldn’t be their common selves happen all the time with Ankama. There are many reasons why they would purposely change a few details about certain characters: 1) Maybe the channel in which they presented the episode wanted them to change certain things so they could be able to make them censor some parts. 2) Maybe Ankama prefers to make some unique changes to those characters, having their own special episodes to try their hands on their creativity but would keep their usual designs or personalities in their places.

Who knows, really.

I just realized that that usually happens in their special episodes.

Wakfu Oropo OAV : Why I love to hate it

Hum, sorry not sorry, but you read correctly, dear Kosmoz's traveller it is time to give my opinion on the latest Ankama OAV focusing on Oropo's background, and well... Let's at least start with the good parts.

A long forgotten animation we love

The title screen framing Oropo's figure, graphically underlying he will be the center of this story is quite nice. There are few other choices of composition that are also really good and meaningful.

The animation is still... Well it's Ankama : it gives energy in the fight scene, emotion when needed, it is colorful yet pale (underlying maturity after a childish beginning for the series).

The Eliotropes' design and presentation : so nice to see more charcaterisation of this race we have still so much to uncover ! And I LOVE to see "bad eliotropes", especially this little guy there ("Rictus" in french), because if Eliotropes are Yugo's shadows, then it means that our dear "EliAtropes' king" is not as a white knight as we would like to see him ~

The fights are pretty cool

The music... well still awesome

Don't know about the english dub, but oh well, the french one is still very neat. Even if I can not help but to find that Chibi's way of ALWAYS screaming is just tiring in the long run...

AND THERE IT IS.

We have reached the end of the "good points", and oh boy... It can not be compared to the bad ones...

De Profundis : why this OAV should return to the White Dimension

CHIBI : he should NOT BE ALIVE !!! I KNOW that IoW is no more canon but the fact that he is still alive after the second war against Orgonax ? Bollocks ! And his character design ?! What is this ?

From now on... I will rename Chibi "no eyebrows stupid screamer"

And yeah... STUPID !!! For someone who is supposed to have outlived Orgonax and Qilby's "treason", how is it possible for him to be this nut-head ? He lost the fight at the end for what ? Because he only screams and yells and DID NOT THINK ONCE ! Talk about a Council's member : no shit Qilby became crazy with a brother like him for centuries.

And Grougaloragran, can we talk about him ? WHY IS HE FIGHTING NAKED ?!? Why does he not transform into his dragon version ?! WHY NOT USING ALL HIS POTENTIAL FACING SUCH A THREAT ?! And if he wants to stay in a more agile version, fine, but keep your damn clothes ON, please ! I mean, it brings up nothing interesting other than his abs : can we be serious for once ?

Chibi's death : no emotion. I mean, he does not seem very wise for his age, he does not listen to his brother, he does not talk about Yugo or perhaps his feelings about encountering other "versions" of his brother after so much time being appart from him. Did not particularly care about him at the beginning, hate him after seeing that version of the character.

THE FU**** CONSISTENCE WITH THE LORE ?! WHERE IS IT ?!

The fact that Oropo is held into the cube.... It could be a good idea, huh ? Yes, yes... he could become.... THE F***** VOICE THAT NOX IS HEARING, RIGHT ?!?! For which reason ? Why tossing the cube into the ocean ?! How does it come back in season one ?! Can't Nox be left alone and just be a great antagonist WITHOUT OROPO being "at the beginning of everything" ?!

Ankama is probably going to follow that last idea, aren't they ? So, like at the end of the 3rd season, we're gonna have the "it was Oropo's plan"... Thanks, really.

Hum.... Did Oropo really though that they could take out a freacking dragon ? Like... He's Yugo's shadow : he knew that Grougal was powerful. Why not trying to sneak out ?

Because of that choice to show "fighting" instead of sneacking, we were stuck 30 minutes on a beach. There was only few different backgrounds with flashbacks (and we already knew that beach from season one, so not even something new).

Hum, I love the design of all the Eliotropes, but... WHY ARE THEY SO DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINAL ?! I mean, the saga is supposed to be part of the game too ! You're going to tell me that there are all different even though all the in-game Eliotropes have the same design ? And what about the fact that their design are litteraly caricatures of their personality ? Same note for their names ("'"poet" ? "rictus" ? "bouillon" ?) ! I mean, we're not children, and gosh, it is so... plain ! Can't they have nuances ?!

The dialogues... Lame. No emotions. No good humor. No really good informations : I had the the impression to see children taunting each other each time someone was talking.

Oropo being full of disdain towards his brothers and sisters when they are talking and suggesting other plans but being full-emotional when one of them dies : once again, show why his characterization is a fail.

Aton's death : "you were a brother... A sister... Whatever..." Is this a non-bineary reference here ? WHY ? I mean, it is not bad to have more diversity, quite the contrary but its just... there. No explanation, And for a antagonist with "no emotion" : what a great depiction for this stigmatized group... And who dies at the end... If it was just to put a reference to LGBTQ and + because its trendy or because you have a to-do list to check, please don't.

Why is Grougaloragran using his adversaries' names like he knows them even he just met them ?

The Eliacube showed Oropo the destruction of the Eliatropes' world after Orgonax came, or some kind of destruction. And he still wants to use it... Genius.

Well, I think I will stop this monolog here.

I will gladly exchange with whoever want to share their own experience of this OAV.

To conclude : I will not recommend this OAV for something else than the animation. The story is sh*t, the characters are a pain in the eliacube and I can't help but fear for the 4rth season after watching this...

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