16 replies to this topic

[Pax Empyrean]

Look at all of this stuff she does.

She lies to ditch her teammates during training because she's bored: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7765/teppu_v1_ch1_by_animexis/20

She's motivated by jealousy: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7765/teppu_v1_ch1_by_animexis/49

She gets a thrill from crushing other people's confidence: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7765/teppu_v1_ch1_by_animexis/24
She rages at well-meaning strangers over basically nothing: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7766/teppu_v1_ch2_by_animexis/32
She's cheerfully desparaging of other people's abilities: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7766/teppu_v1_ch2_by_animexis/38
Who throws a shoe? Honestly: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7768/teppu_v1_ch4_by_animexis/43
Look at how freaking crazy this girl is: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7769/teppu_v2_ch5_by_animexis/10
She hates other people for having fun: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7771/teppu_v2_ch7_by_animexis/53
This is the most disingenuous bullshit ever: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7772/teppu_v2_ch8_by_animexis/15
FINISH HER: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7767/teppu_v1_ch3_by_animexis/15
FATALITY: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7767/teppu_v1_ch3_by_animexis/16

The random acts of villainy continue until she realizes that she gets horny at the prospect of fighting tough opponents. Having a violence fetish is worth loads of villain cred, about on par with dressing exclusively in red and black with spiked shoulder pads, or having a secret underground lair. When the prospect of fighting a tough opponent comes up, she's all smiles, blushing, and being furtive with the eye contact. When an opponent can't give her the fight she wants, she looks at them like an underperforming lover.

Maybe it's because she's a masochist: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7773/teppu_v3_ch9_by_animexis/18
Natsuo is not satisfied with your feeble performance: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7773/teppu_v3_ch9_by_animexis/39
When she hears a speech about how really talented professionals could utterly destroy her, she looks like this: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7774/teppu_v3_ch10_by_animexis/38
She thinks about destroying her rival: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7774/teppu_v3_ch10_by_animexis/40
Holy crap she is violence-gay for this other girl: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7775/teppu_v3_ch11_by_animexis/7
And it's reciprocated: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7775/teppu_v3_ch11_by_animexis/10
But she reacts to pretty much any girl who threatens her like this, so she's sort of a fight-slut: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7775/teppu_v3_ch11_by_animexis/36
Stupid sexy round-girls: http://vatoto.com/read/_/7776/teppu_v3_ch12_by_animexis/9
Villains love taunting their opponents: http://vatoto.com/read/_/65206/teppu_v4_ch14_by_animexis/59
Oh look, more threats provoking an inappropriate response: http://vatoto.com/read/_/83742/teppu_v4_ch15_by_animexis/46
She's somewhere between a Disney villain and a Sith (I guess they're the same thing now, though): http://vatoto.com/read/_/83742/teppu_v4_ch15_by_animexis/47

On an unrelated note, her brother is a huge bag of dicks, and if this series doesn't have her kick his ass at least once, I'll be tremendously disappointed: http://vatoto.com/read/_/83742/teppu_v4_ch15_by_animexis/54

Back to violent fantasies: http://vatoto.com/read/_/111253/teppu_v4_ch16_by_animexis/47
Uh, you want some alone time, Natsuo?: http://vatoto.com/read/_/164145/teppu_v5_ch17_by_animexis/50
Oh my gosh ladies, just punch each other for a while and then make out already: http://vatoto.com/read/_/165372/teppu_v5_ch18_by_animexis/10
See this? This 'shy maiden' crap she's doing? Natsuo has the personality of Skeletor, but she gets like this in front of her violent hatecrush: http://vatoto.com/read/_/165372/teppu_v5_ch18_by_animexis/13
This series has more lesbian overtones than Nanoha, I swear: http://vatoto.com/read/_/165372/teppu_v5_ch18_by_animexis/14
I bet this is what her "I just found out my boyfriend has erectile dysfunction" face looks like: http://vatoto.com/read/_/165372/teppu_v5_ch18_by_animexis/50
Natsuo, what about your hatecrush with Yuzuko? Was it all just a lie?: http://vatoto.com/read/_/183340/teppu_v5_ch19_by_animexis/37

In future chapters, I predict more girls beating each other up while Natsuo gets off on it. Can I remind everyone that Yuzuko hasn't done anything bad to Natsuo this entire time? She is guilty of enjoying MMA, giving Natsuo a flyer to join her club, and taking her up on an offer of a spar. Yuzuko has been nothing but friendly toward Natsuo this entire time, but Natsuo has said that she hates her even though she realizes that she's just jealous. For all Yuzuko knows, Natsuo is just an MMA buddy and not a jealousy-crazed, sexually deviant hatemonster. It should be fun to watch that little misunderstanding come to light.

Edited by Pax Empyrean, 21 March 2014 - 01:29 AM.

[Moglun]

That's why we love her.

[Pax Empyrean]

Well, obviously.

[svines85]

oh my, just look at all the effort you put into  this, very cool, really outstanding. 

 

Yup, you're right, though yeah, "villain" might be a little over the top, I mean she is just a high school kid after all............but yeah, Natsuo has been presented as a very complex young lady. And no, she's not a very nice person either.  

[Tsaimath]

I think "villian" is a bit harsh, maybe it would be better to call her Anti-Hero?

From my point of view she suffers from multiple fuck-ups in her past and it will be quite interesting how they are displayed and what the author does with them.

If the author does what I think he will then it will become veeery interesting

 

Oh and btw

 Oh Natsuo, you are such a bitch: http://vatoto.com/read/_/165372/teppu_v5_ch18_by_animexis/25

 

That's not Natsuo that's Ganeko, the Karate Girl that got her ass handed by Natsuo in ch. 2 and ch 11

 

btw. some hints to the major fuck-up in her past:

http://vatoto.com/read/_/7768/teppu_v1_ch4_by_animexis

and 

http://vatoto.com/read/_/7775/teppu_v3_ch11_by_animexis/52

Edited by Tsaimath, 19 September 2013 - 03:00 AM.

[YonKyon]

I was going to say "Well, duh! That's obvious!" But your post was so damn nice and funny I'm here to congratulate you. Good jobu sir!

[svines85]

they had some info posted about this title on the Animexis site yesterday if anybody hasn't seen it yet...

 

http://animexis.org/teppu-returns-japan/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AnimexisScans+%28Animexis+Scans%29

[Brutask]

Cruising around TV tropes, I found a few recurring themes for Natsuo.

 

She is clearly an Anti-Villain http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AntiVillain  I would put her as a Type III Anti-Villain, since she is too self absorbed to notice her evil and nasty enough to (as the trope says) kick a dog. 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObliviouslyEvil

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KickTheDog

 

She also fits under the broadly defined "Blood Knight" trope http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BloodKnight

 

There are a few other areas she dabbles in.  She has traits of both the Spirited Competitor and the Cavalier Competitor, but not all the traits of either.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpiritedCompetitor

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CavalierCompetitor

 

It's also fun going around that site and trying to translate its nesting definitions into English.

[DatOneGui]

True, she's kind of the antithesis of the standard protagonist (that sounded way more pretentious than I intended) but I think her backstory will cover it.  It's hinted at a few times that her relationship with her brother is poor - possibly to the point of abuse. It might the the product of that.  The bullying cycle, where the bullied turn into a bully themselves.  Who knows!

Sometimes she gets on my nerves but I think it's refreshing to have something other than a "love and friendship conquer all~!" type of main character.

[xscraid]

Natsuo attitude is a product of her brother abuse. Some gifted individual will be resented even by their own family member for being better at everything..Blame her brother for he is a gutless wimp.

[spiderdimond]

I want to thank her brother for raising such an awesome main character. 


BANZAAI!! BANZAI!!

[granolabar]

wait, isn't she more of an anti-hero? Kind of like Wario, I guess

[svines85]

wait, isn't she more of an anti-hero? Kind of like Wario, I guess

Yeah, you're probably right. I'm not sure there really are any heroes in this one, the majority of our main characters that have actually been fleshed-out all have some pretty significant flaws. 

[sm31]

Right now I'm feeling a little frustrated with the story. Can't decide whether the author actually intends to delve into some of the MC's darker issues or the tidbits about family, etc. are just "easter eggs".

[Gale]

She's not a villain! She's kind of broken and doesn't have much consideration for other people, but she's not a villain. I think she gets so excited about the idea of being completely destroyed by an overwhelming opponent because her natural talents don't leave her much room for personal growth in most areas, and her brother's abusive insecurity has made her feel like she's worth less as a human because she doesn't have to work hard or struggle. The idea that she can put everything she currently has into a fight and still get tossed around like a beanbag is exciting to her because it tells her that, no matter how talented she is, there are other people who can take her on in a fair and legitimate match, and she won't even stand a chance.

It's like, when you play an RPG or a fighting game or Monster Hunter or whatever, running around with a maxed out character or lowest level enemies and just trashing everything effortlessly might be fun as a distraction or to blow off steam, but the reason people spend hundreds of hours on stuff like that is the slow, incremental feeling of getting stronger and thinking sharper until you can look back on a challenge that initially seemed insurmountable, but is now as simple as breathing. For Natsuo, it seems like those moments are the only time she feels alive.

I think Natsuo has come to sincerely love Yuzuko for being the most perfect target that she could strive for - she's the same age, had the same opportunities, but she's overwhelmingly powerful. Yuzuko also offers validation for Natsuo's self hate - after a fight, she's always got the kind of satisfied, joyful smile that Natsuo has come to hate and fear and desperately covet. Because of her brother, she's unable to take any happiness or pride in her skills - she associates the satisfaction of victory with the harshest rejection, so when Yuzuko can smile so earnestly without suffering because of it, Natsuo feels like her fragile sense of self is being casually denied, and she thinks that by beating Yuzuko, she can prove herself right. I think her aggression towards Yuzuko can be separated into two threads that have become twisted around each other, but need to be addressed individually; Natsuo wants to [beat Yuzuko in a fight], as a valued rival and measure of her own skills, and this is essentially healthy sportsmanship, but she's conflated that with the desire to [wipe that smile off her face], which has less to do with MMA and more to do with her brother. Also it's probably impossible to do that just by fighting, what with Yuzuko being a little unhinged herself.

Anyway. This got weirdly long. I guess the point is that I really like Natsuo, and I think her character is more interesting and complex than just being an inverted villain anti-hero or whatever. It feels much more real than that.

Edited by Gale, 02 July 2014 - 10:29 AM.

[sm31]

That sounds very plausible.

Assuming the author has put as much thought into the character as you have (seriously! great post)... Do you think its more likely that the story will culminate with the MC being thrashed by a superior opponent (for some reason I don't think its going to be Yuzuko) or eliminating Yuzuko's "smile"... if that is even possible?

My frustration & fascination with this snail-paced story continues...

Edited by sm31, 22 March 2015 - 04:31 AM.

[Rosenpantz]

I think you read it wrong, nat is the most honest person I know.