02x22 - The Light Blazes Brightly, but for Just an Instant

[bunniefuu]

The Light Blazes Brightly, but for Just an Instant

Hey! You!

Don't just stand there! Help me up!

I'm betting someone was
behind all this destruction.

Any idea where they went?

Forget that! Just save me!

Let me think...

Might you know of any fine
local confectioneries?

One that serves a matcha
frappuccino, perchance?

Huh? You got dementia, old man?!

Did you escape from an old folks' home?!

Figures.

That SLF technology means they react correctly
even to the most random things you say.

Upsy-daisy.

I'm saved!

Thanks a lot, Gramps.

The monster that caused all
this pushed me off the side

then ran into that alley not long ago.

No idea where they went after that.

Did they? I thank you.

The core of the fighting game series,
Galaxia Heroes, isn't just about fighting.

Heroic Gauge

It's about nailing the feeling
of being a hero or a villain.

By roleplaying the characters
from Galaxia Comics...

"Like a hero, I want to race
across skyscrapers at night."

"Like a villain, I want to break
stuff to my heart's content."

They're games that lets you
indulge in those fantasies.

In previous games, that element was just a
bit of spice added on top of the fighting,

but the SLF system opens up
more avenues to express it,

so the latest entry, Galaxia Heroes: Chaos
has basically become a simulation game.

Could be a god-tier game
to Galaxia Comics fans.

Hero

Villain

Heroic Gauge

Villainic Gauge

The more the player acts like their character,

the more efficiently they fill
their Heroic or Villainic Gauges

and you can spend those to
activate ults and unique attacks.

It's a given that the system's
there to encouraging roleplaying,

but the gauges have one
other important function—

Chaos Cube

The existence of the chaos cube,
which you can spend a full gauge to acquire.

The game's victory condition is

to defeat the other player or
get your hands on the chaos cube.

The chaos cube will spawn randomly
somewhere on the huge battle map,

and in the most extreme occasions,

if you find it, you can win without
ever fighting your opponent.

That's where the strategy comes in.

Whether you want to fight or not,
roleplaying is crucial.

Yeah, I get it now...

No wonder Katzo kept nagging me
about reading the source comics.

The better you know your character,
the better you'll be able to plan your tactics.

Now, what was that character of yours again?

Kidnapped by a mad doctor, experimented on,

and given the ability to control plants, right?

The name was...

Yggdrya, I believe.

Yggdrya.

Kidnapped by a mad doctor, experimented on,

Yggdrya

and given the ability to
control plants in the process.

A slow-moving mid-range fighter specializing
in traps and counter attacks.

Completely egocentric and amoral,

there's nothing she won't stoop
to as long as it makes her happy.

And you picked Ranzo, eh?

A samurai specializing in close-range combat...

A simpler character than I expected from you.

Why don't you show me, then...

how good you are?!

Trap Seed!

You'll have to do better than that!

Yggdrya's trap attacks...

if they catch you, they'll lock you down
and make you a punching bag for a bit.

But the vines can only move in a
straight line after activating,

so they're easy to dodge!

She timed that one perfectly
to be tough to avoid.

She accounted for the fact that
the traps could be dodged!

He deflected it?!

Let's see...

"Allow me to show you the
secrets of my Storm Blade"...

I think that's the line!

Storm Style: Michiyuki

His unique dash that lets him
move five meters with one step!

Now you're in my range!

You fell for it!

Ult—Green Ground Zero.

Ult

I timed it to the Michiyuki's attack animation!

You'll take big damage for sure!

Wow!

"Old Bones Leap" lets you jump this high, huh?

Old Bones Leap

What? He dodged it?!

Your timing was perfect, I'll give you that.

You would've hit me head-on if I'd
had to wait to see it activate...

But it's not hard to dodge
if you can predict it coming!

Now, how to deal with this villain?

Ult—

Amatsukaze...

Raging Storm Slash!

Ult Amatsukaze Raging Storm Slash

You blocked it instead of dodging?!

Yggdrya

She's open! Time for one more!

Intentionally taking the hit
to pretend you're on the ropes

and give me an opening to attack, huh?

That plus the damage control,
all worked out in the blink of an eye.

That's a pro gamer for you. Nice work!

However...

If I know you're setting up for a
counter, it don't mean jack squat!

Your Yggdrya strats are pretty good.

But a fighting game, in the end, is about how
far you can shave down your opponent's health.

Passive tactics like those are giving the
initiative to your opponent, Natsume-shi.

Giving pointers to a pro?

That's very arrogant of you...

Sunraku-kun.

My Villainic Gauge ran out?!

I ran through it faster than I thought!

Running, is she?

Probably gonna fill up her
gauge and try again...

Okay, I think I get how this works.

"Take the initiative and make things easy
by keeping things running at your tempo."

That's Natsume-shi's battle style.

She puts herself at the disadvantage,

observes her opponent, and sizes them up.

If she can get them running
at the tempo she's created,

she can then shift the momentum on a dime,

and seize the initiative back.

That's why she chose a character
focused on counters.

Katzo and Pencilgon are the same way,

so I know her type.

All or Nothing

The best thing to do is
to throw off their rhythm!

A katana?

Storm Style: Michiyuki!

I haven't fully refilled my gauge yet.

This player, Sunraku, is the type who
likes to hold fast to his own pattern.

The type who does whatever he wants,
no matter what opponent he's up against...

It's difficult to deal with
once they build up momentum!

At a time when I'm trying to get
the initiative back fast...!

Ult...

Amatsukaze Raging Storm Slash!

Everything he does forces me to make a choice!

If I can't make the right
one every time, I'll lose!

This ever-shifting battle style...

That's right...

The way he fights is almost like...

Sylvia!

Sylvia Goldberg!

Looks to me like you lost, Meg.

All of a sudden, he started
moving like a madman.

He kept mocking my tactics, too.

What's that about?

Yeah, I get it. He ticks me off too.

He's good, though.

Good enough that, for a second,
I felt like I was fighting Sylvia.

You felt it too?

I hate to say it, but I have
to admit that he's good.

He uses every trick at his disposal to
force you to make tons of decisions.

He's like a Swiss army knife,
and each tool has a lethal option.

You can beat him if you can upend
him with a lethal combo of your own,

but I still only beat him 60% of the time...

S-Sixty percent?

But your win rate is never below 80%,
even in official domestic matches...

Yeah, I guess it's closer to


I guess he really is good, then.

But the thing with Sunraku is that he's
locked into doing things his own way.

That means his style's
still not entirely stable.

But...

The way they play really is similar.

I guess I really should try it.

Hm?

Oh, nothing.

So did Pen—

Did Towa Amane play you yet?

Actually, she said...

I wanna try something on Sunraku-kun first!

...and decided to fight Sunraku-kun instead.

She's not as good as him, is she?

Well, I wouldn't say she's good exactly...

She's more evil...

That was a dirty trick! Play fair, damn it!

Can't hear you, man.
I never learned how to speak "loser."

Demon! Devil! Monster!

Got no idea what you're even saying.

Sounds like you really bodied him.

What? Sunraku-kun lost?

Lemme tell you what this piece of work did!

She started playing Jenga with a high-rise,
with a few thousand NPCs inside!

You monster.

Wh-What was the point of that?

So that when the NPCs started mobbing
Sunraku-kun to beg him to save them...

I could squish 'em all together!

See? Evil.

I get it now.

Well, anyway,

tell me what you think from
your first playthrough.

It's like a sandbox game, or tower offense?

When you play a villain, at least.

It's like a crowd control simulator
with battle elements added on top.

Well... you get so much freedom,

you need to keep your mind on a
wide array of factors at once...

You weren't hoping for a weird
take like theirs, right?

Don't mind them. Their neurons are just
scrambled by an unpatchable glitch.

You should just be yourself, Meg.

R-Right... Just be myself... Yeah...

Are you picking this up, Sunraku-san?

Think I am, Li'l Miss Pencil.

We're witnessing the perpetually
oblivious protagonist trope.

Gotta give that a smile and a big middle finger!

I dunno what you're saying,
but I think it's an insult.

Well, never mind that.

Let's use what we've learned to forge
a real plan to take on Star Rain.

At least, that was my plan, but first...

Can I ask a favor, Sunraku?

Have a match with me.

Hey, sounds great!

There's lots of characters
I haven't tried in PvP yet!

Maybe I'll play a villain this time!

No.

I want you in Metius.

Metius

And I'm going to try to beat
you with everything I have.

So give me all you have back, Sunraku.

There's no point in this if you don't.

Kei?

How long's it been

since I fought you in a fighting game
that wasn't a bugged to hell and back?

Sounds great, Katzo.

Let's give this our all.

Battle set: Hero versus Hero!

Sunraku vs. K!

Sunraku

Metius

Sunraku

I'm here as requested!
Let's give it our all, Katzo!

I'm using Metius,

a short-range attacker who's
one of the fastest in the game,

using double-jumps and wall-runs to
speed around in three dimensions.

The only hitch is that he has to stop
briefly when making sharp turns,

and his individual hits don't pack a punch.

Is that an NPC villain?

NPC villains.

In a hero vs. hero match, multiple villain
characters will appear on the field as NPCs.

Th-Thank you!

Heroic Gauge

Hey, no sweat.

Man, running through the air feels awesome!

Wish I could bring this feeling into SLF...

There we are.

Guess I'll drop gauge building
for now and mix it up a bit.

Which character did he pick?

That's...

The hero, Armed Lava.

Armed Lava.

His arms are made of lava,

which lets him melt things like concrete
and rebar to create molten projectiles.

Armed Lava

The range on the shots is
only four or five meters.

Basically an ultra-close fighter who's
strong at short-range and weak at mid.

I doubt he'd wanna compete with me in speed.

Just a punch-fest, then?

He wanted me to play him as Metius.

I'm sure he's got some plan in mind...

But all I really care about is
my losing record against him.

I didn't need him telling me to go all-out...

I'm gonna get you back for all those
times you humiliated me in BERP!

Star Road!

Now, I hope this gives me my answer...

I'm here to play, Katzo-kun!

Armed Lava

Metius

Sunraku

Armed Lava's special attribute, Lava Armor...

It only affects his arms, but it deals
damage to anyone who touches them.

I'm sure you were hoping to catch me by
surprise and hit somewhere other than my arms,

but Metius makes a whooshing
sound whenever he runs,

so he's not cut out for stealth.

Most of Metius's attacks are kicks.

Any blocks he does with the
Lava Armor will deal DOT to my legs.

So if I rush in for a barrage,
it'll just cr*pple my mobility.

I knew all about that!

My best option is hit-and-runs
that avoid his arms!

Your reaction time can keep
up with speed like that?

This little jerk.

He picked my worst matchup possible...

Was that what he wanted to test?

The molten projectiles...

I've gotta figure out a way past
those, or I'll never touch him.

All right. I'll take your challenge!

I'll move in a straight
line to pick up my speed,

then crash through!

Don't expect to hit me that easily, Katzo!

Dodge if you can, Sunraku!

Five meters.
That's within range of his Molten Shot.

He hasn't fired yet? Is it a bluff?

Three meters.
No... I saw him craft the bolt.

He should be able to sh**t me...

One meter!

He changed his stance?

He's gonna parry?

Then you miscalculated, Katzo!

At this range, my leg will slam into
your side before you can react!

No...

He was going to sh**t from... the left?

Molten Shot.

Molten Shot

Are you kidding me?

He swapped his kick animation into a back bend?!

Who the hell adjusts like that mid-attack?

Well, that was freaking close!

But now it's my turn!

Oblique Toe Kick!

Oblique Toe Kick

It won't be that easy!

You turned a fall into a counter?

Talk about core strength...

I thought that was my chance for a combo, too...

Okay, I got my answer.

It's clear now.

My Armed Lava can't beat her.

Hold on a minute, Sunraku.

Let's call a time out and talk—

I'm just saying, I didn't hear you!

It was a simple mistake!

It's hard to stop when you've started.

Let's laugh it off.

That match did not count!

C'mon, a match is a match!

Shut up!

You're the one who asked for this!

Calm down, guys.

So what were you hoping to get out
of challenging Sunraku in Metius?

Look at this.

The world championships for Galaxia
Heroes: Burst three years ago.

Racking up a series of effortless wins,

Japan's new hero, K,
chooses Armed Lava as usual!

And the reigning champion, Sylvia Goldberg,

once again chooses Metius!

SLF Theater!

SLF Mini

#37 All About Kei Uomi

Mini!

SLF Theater

Tell us your name.

Kei Uomi.

Kei Uomi

How old are you?

19 years old.

So young!

And what do you do for a living?

I'm a pro gamer.

Wonderful! You're living the
dream of gamers everywhere.

Aww, it's not that special.

How much do you make?

Well, last year I think I...

Wait, no. I'm not saying.

You're bringing in the big bucks, though.

Well, a decent amount.

How much?

I'm not saying.

Hey, aren't you going to ask about
my favorite and least favorite games?

What fun would it be to ask the
same questions you always get?

So, how much do you make?

Wait, you're Sunraku.

I knew it!

Even with the voice-changer, I can tell!

It seems we're all out of time.
Have a wonderful day.

Hey, wait a minute!