#katanatip

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

What do you think of the design and color scheme of the Godzilla 2000 design? The design is okay, but there are a couple of things that bug me about it. Godzilla's spines look too pointy for one thing, and why they are purple?!. That is just an odd color. Also, just why exactly did Toho make this Godzilla a green color and give him orange atomic breath? It's like they tried to make him more in line with Western misconceptions about him. I do like the way the snout is designed though.

If I’m remembering right, Shinichi Wakasa (the suit maker) said at G-FEST 2013 that Mire-Goji was a very deliberate effort to do things differently. (I imagine GINO made that feasible, in a weird sort of way.) Certainly the gigantic dorsal fins are easy to explain, as Godzilla 2000 placed more emphasis on the buildup to his Atomfire than ever before.

Also, it wasn’t at all unusual for Godzilla to be tinted green and firing a yellow/orange/red ray in Showa publicity materials (including posters); that seems a more likely influence to me.

[skygawker]

In SW Battlefront 2, Asajj Ventress is a downloadable character and has two lightsabers linked together with a fiber cord creating a bizarre lightsaber nunchuck combo. Why was she given this weapon when she never had it anywhere else? Was it done to make her playstyle more different since the lightsaber using heroes largely played very similarly to each other and to make her feel like less of a skin for Aayla Secura who was already given two sabers when she only uses one a majority of the time?

I don’t know! I’ve never played Battlefront, so I don’t have any good answers for you. What you suggest sounds reasonable though - I can see them giving her an unusual weapon to differentiate her from the other characters.

[skygawker]

Could you explain Darth Maul's massive popularity to me? I never understood it. I don't hate him; I am just apathetic to him. In TPM, he is really not a character, just a walking plot device for the jedi to fight though a very cool looking one. He is stoic to the point of almost having no character and droids like 3PO and R2 who technically don't have souls display more emotions than him. I was perfectly okay with his death though I do love what TCW did to him since he had more substance there.

Probably some combination of hyped marketing before the movie, the fact that he had an unusual weapon, a “cool” appearance, and that his limited screentime included an awesome fight scene. I agree he doesn’t really have a personality (in the movie, not counting TCW) - he’s a silent-assassin type, and he does that role well, but he’s definitely not exactly three-dimensional.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

What do you think about MechaGodzilla 2 and Godzilla 1964's inclusion in the PS4 game? I'm torn really since I like Bandai's attention to detail, but couldn't these two have been made as skins for Showa MG and Heisei Godzilla especially when the latter was given Showa era powers? I feel like their slots could have been given to different kaiju. I wanted Moguera to complete the Heisei Godzilla era since every other monsters from that era was included and he had an SH Monster Arts figure anyway.

Two Showa Mechagodzillas with slightly different powers is pretty silly, though the Mosu-Goji situation is identical to G’54 in Godzilla: Unleashed. In any case, it’s hard for me to care, since I don’t own the game and won’t anytime soon.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Looking back, was the 1998 "Godzilla" movie a necessary evil for the fandom? Don't get me wrong it was absolutely horrible, but it was so horrible it forced the makers of the next reboot to make sure that they actually got Godzilla's character right. Jan De Bont's take on Godzilla would have been good with the big exception of the origin. It would have caused some backlash but I am not sure it would have been big enough for the next reboot to get a nuclear based origin. I am torn on this issue.

I think Gareth and company were more concerned with making a good Godzilla movie than doing things differently than G98 - it’s just that G98′s blunders were so fundamental that by accomplishing the first goal, you’ve done the second by default.

If de Bont had directed, the whole course of the franchise would likely have been changed; who’s to say we would even have a second American studio doing a Godzilla series at this point? In any event, my view of Hollywood isn’t dim enough for me to buy that the specter of G98 was the only thing keeping Legendary from fucking things up (though of course some would argue that they did anyway).

But it was certainly a necessary evil for me, since the merchandise boom it caused introduced me to Godzilla.

[lyokokoko]

Here are some questions I have. 1 Since XANA had one tower in Sector 5, why didn't he use it during season 1? 2 How come the only monsters that appear in Sector 5 are Mantas, Creepers, and the Scyphozoa? (ignore evolution for this one) 3 Other than the color, was the Black Manta any different than a regular Manta? 4 Some Lyoko video games had exclusive monsters in them. Which ones would you have liked to have seen in the show? I wanted to see the Insekts and the Scorpion.

1 Since XANA had one tower in Sector 5, why didn’t he use it during season 1?

Meta explanation: Sector 5/Carthage probably wasn’t designed at the time so it didn’t existed.

In show explanation: XANA is an idiot.

2 How come the only monsters that appear in Sector 5 are Mantas, Creepers, and the Scyphozoa? (ignore evolution for this one)

Why only the Kongres, Sharks and Kalamar appear in the Digital Sea when monsters like the Mantas and Scyphozoa can easily make an appearance since they’re also ocean-based monsters (ignoring Evolution like you said)? I’d say its because certain monsters are probably more suitable/created for certain areas than other monsters.

The interiors are a mess and particularly not easy to navigate for the land based monsters, especially how smooth and slipper the surface looks. Creepers have an easier time traveling on the surfaces, especially since they can pretty much stick the walls and edges at any angle. The Scyphozoa and Mantas can just float/fly. 

Also the Creepers, Mantas and Scyphozoa just fit the aesthetic Carthage gives off. Compared to the other monsters for sure

3 Other than the color, was the Black Manta any different than a regular Manta?

Other than it seems slightly bigger, slightly more endurable than the average Manta and it belongs to William, no.

4 Some Lyoko video games had exclusive monsters in them. Which ones would you have liked to have seen in the show? I wanted to see the Insekts and the Scorpion.

SCORPION FOR SURE.

The bosses in QFI had a nice look to them as well and might, just might be interested in how they would play it out in the show like that but money costs, you know. The games are just a different continuity just like the Novels and CLE, that’s for sure.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Thanks for answering quickly. Another question now. Do you think Zilla was treated with more dignity in Final Wars than Hedorah? Hear me out. Zilla had some screen time before his battle with the Big G and a very quick fight with him. Hedorah does not even appear before his "battle" and has even less screen time than Zilla. If you include his deleted scene it comes up to less than 30 seconds which is still less than Zilla. One of Showa's most powerful monsters was reduced to an insulting cameo.

You’re doing that leading-the-witness thing again where you seem less interested in my answer than in using my blog as a soapbox. It’s kind of obnoxious.

My answer is no. Zilla is the only kaiju that the Xilien Commander specifically derides as useless. He just seethes when the others are defeated.

Mind you, I still have no idea why Hedorah was in the movie. Those suits are expensive!

[skygawker]

Thanks for answering my question. Now I have another. What happened to Savage's body, Savage's lightsaber, and Maul's red lightsaber after the events of the TCW episode The Lawless? The Mandalorians under Maul were only able to recover the Darksaber after the battle with Sidious. Did Sidious take Savage's remains and personally dispose of them and left Maul's sabers because he presumed they were destroyed after the battle with the Darksaber only still functioning due to its unique shape?

Hmm, good question. I don’t know that there’s a canon answer for that one. I haven’t actually read the Son of Dathomir comics, but yeah, I presume either Sidious or some group of Mandalorians disposed of Savage’s body and the lightsabers.