Mana Soup For The TYPE-MOON Soul : Rakkyo – First Overview

Welcome, moontards, to my very special portion about the elaborations of the connections pertaining to the entirety of TYPE-MOON’s so-called “Nasuverse”. Not like it’s anything big, but since I’m a lunatic myself, I’d figure I’d gatecrash into another one’s material and see what I can do since I’m still so far as to creating such big doujin or novel shit. And since I’m at the good mood about finally watching Kara no Kyokai’s third movie, why not start it with that?

Prepare for epic tl;dr battle.

Let’s start off with the characters. Main protagonist-antagonist, Ryogi Shiki. She was born in the rich family of the Ryogis, bent under the sole supervision of her father. Pretty much the same as Tohno Shiki if you look at it from the start. Only difference is, Ryogi is pure blood, while Tohno came from an enemy family of the clan, the Nanayas. Both got powers after they got into a life-threatening situation, Ryogi being involved in a car accident, Tohno being involved with the clan’s true heir of a son, which resulted of him being “involved” in a car accident. If you think about it, they also underwent Inversion Impulse, wherein they were devoid of any conscience and just followed what their mind or instincts started to tell them. Ryogi inverted due to the clashing of her egos, with the male and female trying to overpower each other till they merged as one cold-blooded killer, the similar yet opposite of the two personalities warring inside her. If compared, Tohno’s case was far too simplified: He inverted to his instincts and his bloodline. His hidden, second personality known as Nanaya Shiki awakened when she first knew of Arcueid Brunestud’s scent. Nanayas are demon-killers, and when there’s an anomaly in the world , they act upon what their blood tells them. Then again, isn’t that what the opposite personality is? The ugly facade of the harmless, unsullied persona that they are trying so hard to hide? That simply means Ryogi and Tohno are the same even though the means may be different.

Second similarity of the two Shikis: The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Both have the ability to see lines and points to which they could perpetrate the end and death of things by means of cutting the said lines and points. Cut a line, a part where the line runs is cut. Stab a point, the entire existence from where the point is designated is destroyed. Nobody’s an exception, not even a god or an immortal. However, the difference in experience of use have garnered a great gap between the two Shikis. Ryogi was able to escalate the properties of her eyes to the extent that she was able to see and kill spirits, powers, and even things without form. She doesn’t suffer headaches like Tohno did. Tohno, on the other hand, had the ability to kill the properties of a certain realm or world, and can also kill an ego by means of ending not the physical material that binds the soul, but the soul itself, as to when he killed Roa from himself on one of Tsukihime’s routes.

Third similarity: Athleticism. It may not be implied that much, but Ryogi and Tohno really has the same aspects on this category. Well, that only applies if Tohno inverts to Nanaya, since Tohno himself isn’t quite capable of the speed Ryogi implements. Nanaya, on the other hand, can climb walls like Ryogi did, do ground-breaking movements at the speed of sound like Ryogi did, and finish an enemy as easily as Ryogi did. Only one flaw remains, and that is for Nanaya. Ryogi can use uncanny speed and the Mystic Eyes at the same time, whereas Nanaya is not known whether he uses the eyes or not. Melty Blood Act Cadenza made Nanaya in a sense that he does not rely on his eyes, which means that the only thing he uses in battle is his killing and assassination skills, which explains his Arc moves. This contrasts to the way he fights in Tsukihime, wherein he was depicted as fighting with the Mystic Eyes during his fight with Akiha. Which of the two is canon is yet to be confirmed by the incoming remake of Tsukihime, which hopefully brings some information about Tohno and Nanaya to light.

That being said, on a side note, they need to remake Kagetsu Tohya while they’re at it.

Next in line are the sisters Aozaki Toko and Aozaki Aoko. They’re currently not in good terms with each other. Toko prefers to stay at her “office”, the Void Shrine, while Aoko goes overseas around the world. But they both do the same thing: Investigate supernatural occurences and take on cases of such calibre. This may not always be the case for the naughty Magic Gunner Blue, if you remember what she did to the Night of Wallachia’s remains to create White Len.

Big difference in power between the two. Toko has a lot on her arsenal, and her magic is way beyond what the Magic Gunner can do. Still, Blue can do much without anything but her sorcery. Whose the person capable of having such a bad temper while decimating cities? I guess Toko makes up for variety while Aoko uses raw, pure power. DID I SENSE A POWER LEVEL OF OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAND?!

That being said, Toko likes artifacts while Aoko doesn’t. More like Toko also makes artifacts, and Aoko steals them. The Mystic Eye Killer, Magangoroshi, was a craft made by Toko to neutralize the Mystic Eyes’ effects on one’s vision. Aoko stole one and gave it to Tohno, whereas Toko made one for Rider’s Mystic Eyes of Petrification. Toko also makes artifical limbs for Ryogi, and has fondness over antique items that may have a history behind it, supernatural or no. The Aozakis are differently categorized from Magi. Both sisters make nearly half of the total count of Sorcerer/Sorceress race (there are five in total). They also broke their ties with the Magi Association: Toko separating herself from it, Aoko blacklisted from it. Though they have no more connections, both are well-known on the Church and the Association, since the Church is always on the prowl for any “abominations” that question their rule of religion. Then again, there wasn’t any case of the Church interfering with their affairs either, save Aoko’s case in Melty Blood.

Also, it’s also interesting enough that Fate/Stay Night series call the participants of the Holy Grail War as Magi and not Sorcerers, even though they are capable of miracles they can perform on their servants. But that limitation kinda gets me off the hook, and the sole miracle that is yet to be achieved would have to be the Holy Grail itself. Add in Reality Marbles and tracing, which are types of sorcery, and you still get to label them as Magi. It’s kinda confusing…

Too kind a person, too understanding a heart. But hey, look at this picture. What does it suggest?

Then, the Mikiyas. Mikiya Kokuto: Well, nothing much about him. You can say that his carefree attitude and rather abnormal way to understand things rivals that of Tohno Shiki’s. The former’s goodwill and ideals perfectly match those of the latter, even though Kokuto doesn’t have any prominent powers. What we see here is a normal person having the understanding of something… say… supernatural, whereas Shiki himself IS supernatural in a way. His sister Mikiya Azaka is a devout follower of Toko: a Mage specializing with the power of fire magic. As what most people suggest about her, her hairstyle, attitude and powers are comparable to Tsukihime’s Akiha Tohno, even though some people also suggest F/SN’s Tohsaka Rin since she’s pretty much tsundere too. I’d like to see some of her on the movies doing some action too.

WHU’ YOU LOOKIN’ AT?

The recent star Asagami Fujino, ah, such eyes that I’ve yet to know their origin and true worth. One can simply parallel her to Yumizuka Satsuki (who’s getting her own route on the remake! WOO!). Alienated to her confused body, she indiscriminately kills people to satisfy her longing for inner peace. Satsuki does this as well, only that she’s doing this for the sole need of feeding. Also, their affection and attachment to the male protagonists can grow at an incredibly dangerous rate that if left alone, will make them kill said persons out of love. Kokuto on Fujino’s case, Tohno Shiki on Satsuki’s. Same case, different story, somehow same ending. But let’s see how the remake fares for Sacchin. You’re going to be sad no more!

Ahnenerbe as depicted in Rakkyo.

The third movie of Rakkyo also gave emphasis to one of the prominent places in my mind: Ahnenerbe. This  the place where Tohno Shiki meets Akira Seo on Kagetsu Tohya, and is also the meeting place of the heroines of Tsukihime in their Plus-Disc. On Rakkyo, the place is used to meet Ryogi Shiki, Asagami Fujino, and Mikiya Azaka. This only proves to what Arcueid said on the Plus-Disc extra: Having both Shikis on the same place would be a paradox, since both characters are revolving around their own worlds, and are like counterparts of each other.

I’ll have to stop here for now, but the next batch of Mana Soup for your pathetic little souls will come up next as soon as the movies come in. I’m short of screencaps, and most of the characters are deliberated well enough already. We’ll just have to wait for more content to pump out so we can continue anyway. SO SCRAM!