mark_asphodel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mark_asphodel) wrote2011-08-15 10:36 pm
mark_asphodel) wrote2011-08-15 10:36 pm
Akaneia Chronicle, Reviewed
So, Akaneia Chronicle is mine, thanks to facilitation from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sailorvfan10 .
The presentation is grander than that of the 20th anniversary artbook; that one is softcover, while the Chronicle is hardcover with a glossy dust jacket. The front cover shows Falchion and the Shield of Seals, while the back cover just shows Falchion. No fangirl bait on the dust jacket, no sir-- this is a classy affair.
The Chronicle consists of six sections-- World Historica (Archanea in depth), Character Collection (portraits and text regarding all playable characters except the Satellaview-exclusive ones, plus major villains like Lang), Scenario Archive (appears to be a detailed account of each of the Marth games, chapter-by-chapter), All About Akaneia (seems to be an illustrated glossary), Tribute Emblem (the other games, in brief) and Premium Artworks (legit fanart, apparently).
World Historica: Dammit, I wish I could read this. We have maps. We have a timeline running from the year -4000 to year 609. We have what looks to be details on all the countries and the battles that occurred there. We have lots and lots of art, including the Shadow Dragon CGs and the Shin Monshou ones.
Of note:
Who the HELL are the man and woman in illustration #2 on page 009? Headband dude and the chick with the sword?
Character Chronicle: I am doing a happy dance that the beautiful arts from the “TCG” (card game) era are apparently the “official portraits” of all the characters except the Shadow Dragon newcomers. We get portraits of everyone, before and after promotion when applicable, and sometimes extra pix for the lulz (Caeda gets four). Major eye candy.
We also get a preview of some FE12 characters (Roro, MyUnits), a gallery of the Masamune art from FE11, that full-length portrait of FE12 Catria, plus a bunch of FE1 art (also apparently for the lulz), FE3 art, Satellaview portraits, and some stuff on page 133 that was new to me.
Of note:
Morodorf was a lot younger (dark-haired) in his TCG incarnation.
FE1!Darros was a Person of Color. Seriously. Compare his image on Page 125 with everyone else. First he got cut from FE3, then he got whitewashed in FE11.
Ogma and Yumina on page 133. Sweet.
Scenario Archive: Text I can’t read plus lots of pix. World-building architectural eye candy galore.
Of note:
Yo,myaru ! That picture of Nyna and Hardin (the ominous one) from Chapter 5 in FE11 is on page 141.
Page 157 shows a bunch of dragons from different tribes-- my guess is Fire, Earth, Ice, Flying, and Demon/Mage. Divine and Dark dragons are on page 193.
Please to be comparing portrait of Marth on page 187 with “Lyn says farewell to Tactician.” Yep.
I think the designers of this are pushing Merric/Linde. They are paired visually all over the place-- page 208 in particular, but also page 144 and I think somewhere else in the book.
All About Akaneia: Can’t read it. It does have little pix illustrating how each character’s portrait evolved over the years.
Tribute Emblem: The other games. I guess.
Of note:
Representatives for each installment in the game franchise are depicted. Some are obvious (Marth and Caeda for all the Archanea games, Alm and Cellica for FE2, Eliwood-Hector-Lyn for FE7, the twins for FE8). Some are a little surprising: Celice by himself for FE4 (no Sigurd!). Leaf and Finn for FE5 (where’s Nanna?). Roy and Lilina for FE6, Ike by himself for FE9, Micaiah and Sothe for FE10. Nyna is the rep for the Satellaview games, while the Super Smash Brothers franchise is represented by Melee!Marth... and Brawl!Marth. Just in case you’re a Roy partisan and haven’t been kicked enough already.
Why are Seth and Titania on page 237?
Premium Artwork!!!
005: Nyna and the Gradivus standing between Camus and Hardin. Pretty, pastel, girly.
021: FE3!Marth kisses Caeda’s hand, to the delight of everyone except for Melissa, who is crying and biting her handkerchief.
122-123: Massive art of Kleine and Katarina. I guess it’s pretty. I don’t care. (Done by the FE12 illustrator)
127: Navarre, Ogma, Julian, Rickard, and Merric. I assume the artist is the one who did the FE1 manga. (Yep-- Maki Hakoda)
159: FE12!Marth and Caeda... with Katarina. Posed dramatically in a tangle of Caeda's hair, ribbons, and such. Why? Who knows. The girls are “moe” looking and Marth looks a little psychotic.
211: Bantu and Tiki reading a book. Awww. (Done by the FE9/10 illustrator!)
232: Linde with roofie eyes and creepy elongated breasts, sprawled out on a bed. Yuk. The worst one in the book.
233: Samson and Sheema. Very pretty, even if their mouths are a little wooden (made by the FE8 illustrator, and it shows).
241: Happy Feena dancing up a storm.
250: Some wacky FE12 comic.
ETA: missed the two at the back! Michalis and his sisters as rendered by the FE6 illustrator, and a luminous portrait of the Peg Sisters by the Thracia 776 artist.
Verdict: Essential for the Archanea fan. If all you like is Elibe/Tellius/whatever, it may not be up your alley, but you may be jealous you don’t have a Chronicle for your own favorite continent.
Now, I just need a translation...
sailorvfan10 . The presentation is grander than that of the 20th anniversary artbook; that one is softcover, while the Chronicle is hardcover with a glossy dust jacket. The front cover shows Falchion and the Shield of Seals, while the back cover just shows Falchion. No fangirl bait on the dust jacket, no sir-- this is a classy affair.
The Chronicle consists of six sections-- World Historica (Archanea in depth), Character Collection (portraits and text regarding all playable characters except the Satellaview-exclusive ones, plus major villains like Lang), Scenario Archive (appears to be a detailed account of each of the Marth games, chapter-by-chapter), All About Akaneia (seems to be an illustrated glossary), Tribute Emblem (the other games, in brief) and Premium Artworks (legit fanart, apparently).
World Historica: Dammit, I wish I could read this. We have maps. We have a timeline running from the year -4000 to year 609. We have what looks to be details on all the countries and the battles that occurred there. We have lots and lots of art, including the Shadow Dragon CGs and the Shin Monshou ones.
Of note:
Who the HELL are the man and woman in illustration #2 on page 009? Headband dude and the chick with the sword?
Character Chronicle: I am doing a happy dance that the beautiful arts from the “TCG” (card game) era are apparently the “official portraits” of all the characters except the Shadow Dragon newcomers. We get portraits of everyone, before and after promotion when applicable, and sometimes extra pix for the lulz (Caeda gets four). Major eye candy.
We also get a preview of some FE12 characters (Roro, MyUnits), a gallery of the Masamune art from FE11, that full-length portrait of FE12 Catria, plus a bunch of FE1 art (also apparently for the lulz), FE3 art, Satellaview portraits, and some stuff on page 133 that was new to me.
Of note:
Morodorf was a lot younger (dark-haired) in his TCG incarnation.
FE1!Darros was a Person of Color. Seriously. Compare his image on Page 125 with everyone else. First he got cut from FE3, then he got whitewashed in FE11.
Ogma and Yumina on page 133. Sweet.
Scenario Archive: Text I can’t read plus lots of pix. World-building architectural eye candy galore.
Of note:
Yo,
myaru ! That picture of Nyna and Hardin (the ominous one) from Chapter 5 in FE11 is on page 141. Page 157 shows a bunch of dragons from different tribes-- my guess is Fire, Earth, Ice, Flying, and Demon/Mage. Divine and Dark dragons are on page 193.
Please to be comparing portrait of Marth on page 187 with “Lyn says farewell to Tactician.” Yep.
I think the designers of this are pushing Merric/Linde. They are paired visually all over the place-- page 208 in particular, but also page 144 and I think somewhere else in the book.
All About Akaneia: Can’t read it. It does have little pix illustrating how each character’s portrait evolved over the years.
Tribute Emblem: The other games. I guess.
Of note:
Representatives for each installment in the game franchise are depicted. Some are obvious (Marth and Caeda for all the Archanea games, Alm and Cellica for FE2, Eliwood-Hector-Lyn for FE7, the twins for FE8). Some are a little surprising: Celice by himself for FE4 (no Sigurd!). Leaf and Finn for FE5 (where’s Nanna?). Roy and Lilina for FE6, Ike by himself for FE9, Micaiah and Sothe for FE10. Nyna is the rep for the Satellaview games, while the Super Smash Brothers franchise is represented by Melee!Marth... and Brawl!Marth. Just in case you’re a Roy partisan and haven’t been kicked enough already.
Why are Seth and Titania on page 237?
Premium Artwork!!!
005: Nyna and the Gradivus standing between Camus and Hardin. Pretty, pastel, girly.
021: FE3!Marth kisses Caeda’s hand, to the delight of everyone except for Melissa, who is crying and biting her handkerchief.
122-123: Massive art of Kleine and Katarina. I guess it’s pretty. I don’t care. (Done by the FE12 illustrator)
127: Navarre, Ogma, Julian, Rickard, and Merric. I assume the artist is the one who did the FE1 manga. (Yep-- Maki Hakoda)
159: FE12!Marth and Caeda... with Katarina. Posed dramatically in a tangle of Caeda's hair, ribbons, and such. Why? Who knows. The girls are “moe” looking and Marth looks a little psychotic.
211: Bantu and Tiki reading a book. Awww. (Done by the FE9/10 illustrator!)
232: Linde with roofie eyes and creepy elongated breasts, sprawled out on a bed. Yuk. The worst one in the book.
233: Samson and Sheema. Very pretty, even if their mouths are a little wooden (made by the FE8 illustrator, and it shows).
241: Happy Feena dancing up a storm.
250: Some wacky FE12 comic.
ETA: missed the two at the back! Michalis and his sisters as rendered by the FE6 illustrator, and a luminous portrait of the Peg Sisters by the Thracia 776 artist.
Verdict: Essential for the Archanea fan. If all you like is Elibe/Tellius/whatever, it may not be up your alley, but you may be jealous you don’t have a Chronicle for your own favorite continent.
Now, I just need a translation...
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Did this come out after FE12? It doesn't seem too far-fetched for them to make these for the other continents if they're just starting out with Archanea (although there wouldn't necessarily be anything to plug).
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Did this come out after FE12?
I'm not 100% sure. It doesn't feature all the FE12 characters, but it does feature all the in-game artwork plus a rundown of the plot. I think they were about simultaneous.
ETA: I find it interesting that artists for almost every other FE game contributed their own take on the Archanea characters. I don't know if that's a sign of future collaborations, or a sign that everyone was roped into a 20th anniversary one-off.
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Also, I'm very jealous. Very, very jealous. How new is this, btw?
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At some point I will put post it notes on the things that I want to translate (those timelines, for example). Not sure when I'll get them done, but I can at least try.
yeah that picture of Linde on page 232 is gross D:
Who the HELL are the man and woman in illustration #2 on page 009? Headband dude and the chick with the sword?
Caption says the chick is Artemis. Which is interesting!
Seth and Titania are featured on that one page because it's talking about Jeigans, actually. Which is also interesting!
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Is the blond dude with the 'stache Cartas, then?
Seth and Titania are featured on that one page because it's talking about Jeigans, actually
Cute!
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I would gather as much. It doesn't actually say who the guy is, just that the girl is Artemis.
I bet that sword is Anri'sno subject
Surprised but pleased that Lilina's considered a representative of FE6!
(If there's anything in particular you're dying for a translation of that
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