I'm an avid IS fan and just found this site while surfing the 'net.
It looks like lots of info regarding IS was posted, but I find some of it slightly misinterpreted...
Would it be Ok for me to write up somewhat detailed description of this novel? (such as story set-up stuff and etc)
(I don't mean the translation of the novel, although I could also do that if wanted...)
P.S.
Oh, the author was hospitalized? So that's why there's no news of Vol.6 after 4 months of break. New vol. usually came out every 2~3 months until Vol.5.
I thought the author was just busy with IS being made into Anime.
It's been over 11 years since I've been in US to study... So please understand if my English skill has deteriorated considerably. (typo and all)
Okay, here it is. a set of info that might help you understand the story better.
Spoiler for Basic understanding of IS world:
1. Debut
IS is a multi-purpose powered suit designed for outer space use, and is capable of flight in atmosphere (capable of hovering too)
IS was known to the world when a single IS provoked the military forces in the whole world (10 years prior to the beginning of the novel)and succeeded in fending off ferocious attacks(conventional) from several superpowers - the incident is later became known as 'The White Knight Incident.
It was revealed in this incident that IS is superior to any conventional weaponry, in terms of firepower, agility, and durability. It could take down a state-of-the-art air superiority fighter in a dogfight with an ease, and take on a MBT head on and demolish it instantly.
Simply said, IS could render any conventional weaponry obsolete.
Conventional weapons can't seem to penetrate IS shield, and on top of that, even scoring a direct hit on an IS with conventional weaponry became a challenge, due to its agility.
In short, the delicately maintained military balance of the world vanished altogether.
2. Changing the World
Right after the debut of IS, World superpowers demanded an establishment of new international treaty (later became known as "The Alaska Treaty") which effectively banned the militarization of IS.
(It's still a mystery how those superpowers (which didn't have IS back then) succeeded in making Japan to comply with the treaty. My guess is that they threatened Japan with massive nuclear war which would practically end the world unless the demands were met.
(Even if IS and pilots survive, there's no point if there isn't a world to live in)
In fact, the government of Japan didn't have anything to do with the invention of IS, and the WK incident, because IS was created by a single scientist - Shinonono Tabane, a female scientist and genius (with extremely weird personality) who happened to be Japanese (again, with no tie to the government)
Anyway, the demands in the treaty were met and were put in effect, somehow.
The main features of the treaty are as follows;
1. Countries are essentially prohibited from employing IS in any kind of conflict or war. Possession IS as military-grade unit is, however, allowed since they are the only means of deterring and defending against armed aggression involving IS.)
2. Any and all information and technology related to IS is to be disclosed to the world and shared openly. Any further R&D (beside the initial batch of technology information provided by Sinonono Tabane) is put under same restriction upon its actual field-testing, but if the field-testing of newly-acquired technology is done inside IS Academy, the researchers/developers are allowed to keep their technology confidential.
3. Trade of IS core is prohibited under any circumstance.
4. Japan and its government is responsible for creating an integrated IS pilot training facility and is required to accept any and all admittance of pilot candidates from any foreign countries, provided they are endorsed by legitimate government body or foundation. (This is the result of the inventor - Sinonono Tabane - being of Japanese nationality, and the government responsible for her should take appropriate action to ensure the balance of IS pilot in the world is kept in check. It basically means the Japanese government ended up paying all the money to build and maintain such facility reluctantly.
The treaty banned deployment of IS in armed conflict, but as this so called 'treaty' tend to lose its effect during a war (especially on the losing side) every country ended up building up IS force inside its military, which functioned as an effective deterrence to prevent involvement of IS.
The treaty also specified all information and technology related to IS be made open to the world, so no one country would monopolize this super technology.
As a result, every country in the world (at least the wealthy ones) could study and commence research&development of IS.
But there was one thing that was never revealed - the manufacturing process of IS core.
IS core is, in its essence, IS itself, because the powered suit (frame) is just an inanimate object without the core installed. The core is responsible for every function of IS, from power supply to operation of all abilities (such as articulation of frame, barrier, sensor and weapon)
Only Sinonono Tabane has the knowledge of core creation, and so far she has created 467 of them, but recently she began refusing the creation of additional cores, and withdrew herself into a recluse (practically becoming missing). Currently she is on the top of international wanted list.
Trade of any kind involving IS core is prohibited under Alaska Treaty, and existing 467 cores are evenly distributed (in a general sense) throughout the world to maintain power balance.
The rest of world's scientists kept their R&D, and while they still can't recreate the core yet, they became able to 'process the core,' which means they could transplant existing core to newer, more powerful frames they developed.
So, while the total number of core remains unchanged after 10 years of debut, IS itself faced major development, undergoing several generation shifts.
Currently, the last phase of 2nd generation ISs are in service, with a few 3rd generation ISs undergoing final test phase.
(Cecilia's 'Blue Tears' and Rin's 'Senron' are 3rd generation test-type IS)
3. Flaw in IS and the change in social structure
Since increase of IS force by quantity is not possible (due to limited number of cores) many countries concentrated on what they could do - increasing the quality of IS, and the quality of the pilots.
Now, these wonderful IS actually had a critical flaw - It only reacts to female.
And that practically meant the social structure would undergo a major change in terms of gender - almost to the point of being the opposite of the medieval times.
Of course, women still needs men to marry, bear children and so on, so males somehow survived this brutal challenge, but still, the weight of men's voice in society hit the rock bottom.
The educational system also faced major change.
Since early training for IS pilot candidate became important (to the point of deciding the future of one's country), many schools from junior high and up started incorporating IS related education curricula. Now, because accepting male students to these schools would be just a waste of money, they became girls-only school.
With increasing number of these kinds of schools, conventional co-ed schools faced shortage of female students, which resulted in increase in the number of boys-only school as well.
(Elementary school remained as co-ed, probably from ethical reasons)
The result? Majority of boys and girls(especially IS pilot candidates) are spending their early teen period without(almost) seeing opposite sex of similar age, and that leads to these kids not getting used to socialize with similar ages of opposite sex.
※In fact, these set-up causes many female characters(mostly students) in this story to appear as 'Tsundere' - although they have different characteristic individually.
A: they basically have high pride due to change in social structure.
B: they have very low immunity to opposite sex of similar age due to educational background.
4. About the IS
Designed as outer space use, IS contains very powerful sensor package, called 'Hyper-sensor' which directly transfer the data collected from IS to pilot's brain. As a result, the pilot of IS experience her normal five senses enhanced to an unsurpassed level.
Due to the nature of space navigation sometimes requiring acquisition of extremely faint visual cue from great distance, an optical sensor system of IS is highly developed, providing the pilot with highly enhanced vision.
For an example, even when the sensor is greatly limited for atmospheric operation, a pilot hovering 1000ft above ground could distinguish individual hair from eyebrow of person standing on the ground.
Basically, IS provides omnidirectional vision, covering every angle around the pilot, greatly enhancing her situational awareness. Additionally, the pilot isn't required to move her head for target acquisition, since visual data from every possible angle is already provided by IS.
However, due to the difference in perception of sensory input between IS and human body, the pilot is required to convert the sensory data to a format she can recognize.
(For example, a pilot would digest the visual data from front arc - which is natural for human – with ease, but might have trouble digesting visual data from behind, straight up, or down)
This conversion process requires time, and the faster she adapt, the higher the proficiency of IS operation.
Although the IS is designed for outer space use, it does not have the appearance of full body suit - such as those found in conventional space suit.
Since IS and its pilot are protected by energy shield, there is actually no need for full body-armor type suit.
So even though the visible armor seen in IS actually do protect the pilot, it is not as effective as the energy shield.
There are, of course, some ISs (or almost any IS with defensive Equalizer) equipped with extended armor or hand-held shield which actually do provide fairly high protection, but still, the main method of defense for IS is its shield and agility (to evade attacks).
Generally, IS shield is powerful enough to block most conventional weaponry, but it could be momentarily pierced by powerful weapons - especially those from another IS.
The shield itself is restored as long as there are shield energy remaining, but the frame (powered suit) and other equipment (such as armor, Preset or Equalizer) could be damaged and destroyed by these attacks. Once damaged or destroyed, it can't be regenerated - at least in the middle of combat.
(They are fully restored during maintenance process)
Also, every IS comes equipped with a special defense mechanism named 'Absolute Barrier.'
It's more of pilot safety feature than practical defense mechanism, since when activated, it consumes extreme amount of shield energy, to the point of completely depleting shield energy with just one or two activation.
In exchange for that, it provides an absolute defense against any kinds of attack.
(It is speculated that the absolute barrier could defend IS against a direct hit from a nuclear weapon)
The Absolute Barrier is activated by IS, not by the pilot.
When the IS senses an attack that threatens pilot with critical injury or even death, it automatically activates the Absolute Barrier, protecting the pilot.
(Which means when IS senses the attack as non-fatal or superficial, it wouldn't activate the Absolute Barrier even if the resulting attack damages equipment or wounds pilot slightly.
While not so practical as a combat defense mechanism, it is ideal for pilot protection.
IS equipment is divided between Preset and Equalizer.
The Preset is integrated into IS itself, and can't be changed without changing the frame altogether, so it is practically the deciding factor of IS type
(CQC, Versatile, Long range combat, sniper, etc.)
Equalizer is an additional equipment that is installed to Expansion Slot (Bus), which every IS comes equipped with.
Expansion slots enable IS to be equipped with various Equalizers, such as additional conventional weapons, spare ammo, armor parts or physical shield for better defense, additional thruster for increased speed or maneuverability, etc.
These Equalizers could be installed into IS via Expansion slot, and could be called out when needed.
(mainly there are primary type which is called out automatically when pilot calls out her IS, and secondary type which isn't initially called out, but could be called out when needed(such as spare ammo or sub-weapon)
Each Equalizer requires an empty slot, and the number of available slot is unique in every IS, depending on basic characteristic and initial performance level.
Equalizer is not a permanent modification, so previously existing Equalizer could be changed when needed (requires time to uninstall and install)
There is package type Equalizer specifically designed for certain IS which utilizes all empty slots with multiple equipments to fit a specific assignment.
(For an example, a bombardment Equalizer package might consist of 3 parts combined - heavy cannon + stabilizer + point defense system)
5. IS World Tournament - Mondo Grosso
There are world-class tournament involving ISs from many countries from the world.
Taking place once in every 3 year, the 'Mondo Grosso' is a World Cup for IS.
Each country admits one IS and pilot - called representative pilot.
The tournament is processed in an arena, with a basic rule being 1:1 match
The participants could use any kinds of weaponry - except for the kinds banned due to being unethical.
(Although Absolute Barrier prevents serious injury or death of pilot, it doesn't protect pilots from the kinds of weapon which is designed to rather torture opponent than actually inflicting injury.)
The match ends when either sides' IS is depleted of shield energy (practically becoming non-combat capable), which usually happens when a IS receives critical attack and is forced to activate Absolute Barrier.
The inner stage of arena (where two ISs duke it out) is surrounded by protective shield (the same kinds used by IS, but stronger) to prevent injury to gallery from any stray shot.
6. IS pilot training center and IS Academy
Since every country is undergoing independent IS R&D, many wealthy countries have their own training facilities.
However, according to Alaska Treaty, Japan was required to build and maintain an IS pilot training facility and accept request for admittance from all over the world.
As a result, IS Academy, a top-class IS pilot training center which doubles as high school, was created and began accepting request to enroll from both domestic and abroad.
Since the winner of the 1st Mondo Grosso was a Japanese (Chihuyu Orimura, older sister of Ichika to be exact), and also because the creator of IS was Japanese (although she had nothing to do with its government), many pilots from both domestic and abroad wanted to train in Japan, resulting tremendous competition rate for IS Academy, the best facility in the country.
But the most important reason for the popularity of IS Academy is that it is the only certified testing facility where the technology tested there could be kept confidential.
7. Personal IS and Designated Pilot. (Personal IS)
Since there are only 467 IS in existence, it is impossible for 1 billion+ potential candidates to actually 'own' an IS.
(Estimated from half of world total population - 6 billion for gender + 1/3 of that for right age group)
Naturally, the ownership of IS is limited to either government body or a few major IS R&D corporations.
However, it is possible for a pilot under such organization to be assigned a designated IS for extended period of time.
Basically, IS has its own consciousness capable of decision making process to a certain level.
Also, aside from outer input from R&D, an IS is capable of self-evolvement by optimizing itself to the pilot.
The optimizing process is called 'Fitting' in which the IS analyzes its pilot and transform itself to be more efficient for the pilot.
Apparently, this process is not practical for ISs with multiple pilots (such as IS configured as trainer), so this feature is disabled on most ISs, with the exception being Designated IS.
Designated pilots, on the other hand, could benefit from optimization with their personal ISs, putting them in an advantage compared to those without personal ISs.
Once an optimization is complete, the IS could be stored in a ‘Closed Form’ and be worn by the pilots in a form of accessories, and the pilots can instantly ‘Call In’ there IS when required.
However, use of IS without permission of the organization in which the pilot is currently under is strictly prohibited by international law, and violation of this law is punishable as a serious crime.
Normally, pilots with their personal IS are either;
1. Government approved IS representative (1 for each country)
2. Designated test pilot of major IS R&D corporation (number depends on the quantity of IS held by such firm)
3. Government approved IS representative candidate (could be more than one, but not all of them are given personal IS)
Acquiring a personal IS is considered as the utmost honor for any IS pilot due to harsh requirement and sheer rate of competition.
And here is the first 5 pages of Vol.1, roughly translated.
(If posting a translation on this thread is prohibited, please let me know. I'll delete it.)
Spoiler for First 5 pages from Vol.01:
Chapter 01 - My classmates are all girls
"Everyone seems to be present. Okay, then let's begin Short Homeroom now."
Yamada Maya, the co-homeroom teacher of the class at the front, said with a smile on her face. (she introduced herself a moment ago)
A bit short on the height, she is about as tall as students. On top of that, her outfit seem to be of wrong size, which makes her look even smaller.
The black-frame glasses she is wearing is also a little to large and a bit askew.
How should I describe this akward impression, 'a kid is trying to appear as an adult by wearing an adult clothes' stuff. Am I the only one who feels this way?
"Okay then, I hope we get along for an year."
"......"
Nobody in the class responded, however, since it was filled with a strange, tense atmosphere.
"Th, then, please introduce yourself. um, by sitting order."
I felt sorry for our-co-homeroom-teacher-in-a-distress and tried to assist her by saying something, but unfortunately, but I couldn't afford to be so relaxed.
Why?
The answer is simple. Everyone in this classroom except for me is girl.
Today is the first day of highscool, a beginning of new world. Day 1.
That itself is fine with me and even pleasuring.
But the problem is that I'm the only boy in this classroom.
(This is.... way more stressful than I imagened.)
It's not like I have an overinflated ego or something. It's just that I'm getting attention from almost everyone in the class.
Besides, the location of my seat is awful too.
Why does it have to be right in the middle of frontmost row? It stands out too much and ends up receiving unwanted attention.
I looked around casually.
It was a stare that was meant to call for some kind of help, but Shinonono Houki, my cold-hearted childhood buddy, evaded it and turned her face toward a window.
Now that is cold.
Is that how you treats a buddy that you haven't seen for 6 years?
Wait, maybe I'm being hated somehow?
"...hika. Orimura Ichika."
"Uh, Yes?"
I was called out of blue by a loud voice, and as a result, my answer came out as a shriek.
Now I could hear the sound of suppressed laugh from around which made me even more anxious.
It's not like I don't feel comfortable around a girl. It's not.
But you see, there is a limit to that.
A person who loves noddle wouldn't like it after eating it for 3 days straight.
Well, I'm not sure about that. I don't like noodle that much.... wait, that's not the point.
Anyway, I'm the only boy in the classroom. the rest - 29 students - is all girls. Co-homeroom teacher is a woman. Homeroom teacher is probably a woman too.
I say 'probably' becuase I haven't even seen her face yet. What's she doing now?
"Um, I'm sorry about calling out so loudly. Um, are you mad at me? I'm so sorry. But you see, um, It was your turn to untroduce yourself. Um, so, could you please introduce yourself? please?"
I could see Yamada Maya, my co-homeroom teacher, repeatedly and apologetically lowering her head. And her motion was threatening her oversized glassese - already precariously blanced - to fall down althogether.
And here I am, thinking only about such insignificant details.
By the way, is she really older than I am? She would easily pass as my age.
"Um, don't be so sorry about it, anyway, I'll go ahead and introduce myself, so please calm down."
"Re, really? really? really? you promised. you absolutely promised!"
She snapped her head up and held my hands, trying to confirm what I said.
Excuse me, now you are causing me to receive awful lot of attentions from around again.
Well, but I already said that I'd do it. A man shouldn't take back his word.
Furthermore, If I take care of this situation right now, I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
I swiftly stood up and turned back.
(Ugh....)
Now I could really feel the the attention that I was feeling on my back until now.
Even Houki, who heartlessly ignored me a moment ago, is staring at me.
Being stared like this, regardless of how much comfortable you are with a girl, is quite stressful.
A person who loves curry... Okay, enough with that metaphor.
"Um... My name is Ichika Orimura. Nice to meet you all."
I politely lowered my head, and pulled it back.
- Wait a minute. What's these 'Say something more' kind of look?
And what's this 'Surely, that was all, was it?' kind of atmosphere?
There's not much to talk about.
It's not like I don't have any hobby or anything, but my hobby is not something that I'd like to brag about in front of everyone,
Isn't it strange for a person to talk about his hobby to people he first met?
You see, I'd be slightly frightened if there was a girl introduces herself and suddenly say 'my hobby is cactus raising and division.'
Just in case, cactus rasing and division is not my hobby. .
"......"
I could feel the my sweat dripping down my back. What should I do?
What should I say? And foremost, Why the hell did I end up here?
So in addition to Kikuchi as director as mentioned before, we also get Takakura for Mecha Design, Yoshihara as Art Director, Nakayama for Color Design, Mima for Sound Director, and most importantly Techno Sound for Sound Effects back from the Macross F movie. The rest of the staff is pretty stellar too. Nakajima from Kurau and Rideback who's Co-Sound Director with Mima; Nanase and Lantis for Music and Music Production etc.
Thanks to zephyr325, everyone should have an excellent idea of what this series is about now, and hopefully even more interested than before.
So this is the updated staff list
So in addition to Kikuchi as director as mentioned before, we also get Takakura for Mecha Design, Yoshihara as Art Director, Nakayama for Color Design, Mima for Sound Director, and most importantly Techno Sound for Sound Effects back from the Macross F movie. The rest of the staff is pretty stellar too. Nakajima from Kurau and Rideback who's Co-Sound Director with Mima; Nanase and Lantis for Music and Music Production etc.
January can't come soon enough.
For the opening theme, why they imagine a artist (from Lantis) to perform the IS opening theme ?
I presume the refused core was the first male operated IS, and for a good reason...the balance will be meaningless if a guy could use the I.S.
__________________
Old McDonald had a farm...Eyey Eyey O...And on his farm he had a Khzithak...Eyey Eyey O...With a ARHHFAHHAAAAAAAAARRRGIIIAAA HELP AAAUUU HELP! IT'S GNAWING OFF MY...
It's been over 11 years since I've been in US to study... So please understand if my English skill has deteriorated considerably. (typo and all)
Okay, here it is. a set of info that might help you understand the story better.
Spoiler for Basic understanding of IS world:
1. Debut
IS is a multi-purpose powered suit designed for outer space use, and is capable of flight in atmosphere (capable of hovering too)
IS was known to the world when a single IS provoked the military forces in the whole world (10 years prior to the beginning of the novel)and succeeded in fending off fericious attacks(conventional) from several superpowers - the incident is later became known as 'The White Knight Incident.
It was revealed in this incident that IS is superior to any conventional weaponry, in terms of firepower, agility, and durability. It could take down a state-of-the-art air supriority fighter in a dogfight with a ease, and take on a MBT head on and demolish it instantly.
Simply said, IS could render any conventional weaponry obsolete.
Conventional weapons can't seem to penetrate IS shield, and on top of that, even scoring a direct hit on an IS with conventional weaponry became a challange, due to it's agility.
In short, the delicately maintained military balance of the world vanished altogether.
2. Changing the World
Right after the debut of IS, World superpowers demanded an establishment of new international treaty (later became known as "The Alaska Tready") which effectively banned the militarization of IS.
(It's still a mystery how those superpowers(which didn't have IS back then) succeeded in making Japan to comply with the treaty. My guess is that they threatened Japan with massive nuclear war which would practically end the world unless the demands were met.
(even if IS and pilots survive, there's no point if there isn't a world to live in)
In fact, The government of Japan didn't have anything to do with the invention of IS, and the WK incident, because IS was created by a single scientest - Shinonono Tabane, a female scientest and genius (with extremely weired personality) who happened to be Japanese (again, with no tie to the government)
Anyway, the demends in the treaty was met and was put in effect, somehow.
The main features of the treaty is as follows;
1. Militarization of IS is prohibited under any circumstance.
2. Any and all information and technology related to IS is to be disclosed to the world and shared openly.
(This only includes the initial IS technology and information during the debut of IS. Any other technology and information obtained by independent R&D are not restricted by this clause)
3. Trade of IS core is prohibited under any circumstance.
4. Japan and its gorvernment is responsible for creating an intergrated IS pilot training facility and is required to accept any and all admittance of pilot candidates regardless of their nature(domestic and foreign), privoded they are endorsed by legitimate government body or foundation.
(This is the result of the inventor - Shinonono Tabane - being of Japanese nationality, and the gorvernment responsible for her action should take appropriate action to ensure the balance of IS pilot in the world. Basically meaning the Japanese government ended up reluctantly paying all the money to build and maintain such facility - and the tuition for all students)
The treaty banned militarization of IS, but as these so called 'treaty' tend to lose their effect during a war(especially if you are on the losing side... happened a lot in the past) - every country ended up building up a para-military class IS force, which is not an active military unit, but something that could be used to defend its soil in case of IS involvement.
The treaty also specified every and all information and technology related to IS be made open to the world, so no one country would monopolize this super technology.
As a result, every country in the world(at least the wealthy ones) could study and commence research&development of IS.
But there was one thing that was never reveiled - the manufaturing process of IS core.
IS core is, in its essense, IS itself, becuase the powered suit(frame) itself is just an inanimate object by itself. The core is responsible for everything, from power supply to operation of every abilities (such as articulation of frame, barrier, sensor and weapon)
Only Shinonono Tabane has the knowledge of core creation, and so far she has created 467 of them, but recently she began refusing the creation of additional core, and withdrew herself into a recluse(practically being missing). Currently she is on the top of international wanted list.
Trade of any kind involving IS core is prohibited under Alaska Treaty, and existing 467 cores were distributed evely(in a general sense) throughout the world to balance the power.
The rest of world's scientist kept their R&D, and while they still can't recreate the core yet, they became able to 'process the core,' which means they could transplant existing core to newer, more powerful frames they developed.
So, while the total number of core remains unchanged after 10 years of debut, IS itself faced major development, undergoing several generation shifts.
Currently, the last phase of 2nd generation ISs are in service, with a few 3rd generation ISs undergoing final test phase.
(Cecilia's 'Blue Tears' and Rin's 'Senrou' are 3rd generation test-type IS)
3. Flaw in IS and the change in social structure
Since increase of IS force by quantity is not possible(due to limited number of cores) many countries concentrated on what they could do - increasing the quality of IS, and the quality of the pilots.
Now, these wonderful IS actually had a critical flaw - It only reacts to female.
And that practically meant the social structure would undergo a major change in terms of gender - almost to the point of being the opposite of the medieval times.
Simply put: women are great, and mens are.... just a source of labor.
Of course, women still needs men to marry, bear children and so on, so males somehow survived this brutal challenge, but still, the weight of men's voice in society hit the rock bottom.
The educational system also faced major change.
Since early training for IS pilot candidate became important(to the point of deciding the future of one's country), many schools from junior high and up started incorporating IS related education curricula. Now, becuase accepting a male students to these school would be just a waste of money, they became girls-only school.
With increasing number of these kind of schools, conventional co-ed schools faced shortage of female students, which resulted in increase in the number of boys-only school as well.
(Elementary school remained as co-ed, probably from an ethical reason)
The result? Majority of boys and girls(especially IS pilot candidates) are spending their early teen period without(almost) seeing opposite sex of similar age, and that leads to these kids not getting used to sociate with similar ages of opposite sex.
※In fact, these set-up casues many female characters(mostly students) in this story to appear as 'Tsundere' - although they have different characteristic individually.
A: they basically have high pride due to change in social structure.
B: they have very low immunity to opposite sex of similar age due to educational background.
3. About the IS
Designed as outer space use, IS contains very powerful sensor package, called 'Hyper-sensor' which directly transfer the data collected from IS to pilot's brain. As a result, the pilot of IS experience her normal five senses enhanced to an unsurpassed level.
Due to the nature of space navigation somethimes requiring acquisition of extreamly faint visual cue form great distance, an optical sensor system of IS is highly developed, providing the pilot with highly enhanced vision.
For an example, even when the sensor is greatly limited for atmospheric operation, a pilot hovering 330 yards above ground could distinguish indivisual hear from eyebrow of person standing on the ground.
Basically, IS provides omnidirectional vision, covering every angle around the pilot, greatly enhancing her situaltional awareness. Additionally, the pilot isn't required to move her eye or head, since visual date from every possible angle is already provided by IS.
However, due to the difference in perception of sensory input of IS and human body, the pilot is required to convert the date to a form she can recognize.
(for example, a pilot would digest visual data from front arc - which is natural for human - but might have trouble digesting visual data from behind, straight up, or down)
This conversion process requires time, and the faster she adapt, the higher the proficiency of IS operation.
Although the IS is designed for outer space use, it does not have the appearance of full body suit - such as those found in conventional space suit.
Since IS and its pilot are protected by shield(a force-field type barrier that seems invisible to naked eye...?), there is actually no need for full body-armor type suit.
So even though the visible armor seen in IS actually do protect the pilot, it's effect is only marginal, and secondary at most.
There are, of course, some ISs(or almost any IS with add-on pack) equipped with extended armor or hand-held shield which actually do provide fairly high protection, but still, the main method of defense for IS is its shield and agility(to evade attacks).
Generally, IS shield is powerful enough to block most conventional weapony, but it could be momentarily pierced by powerful weapon - especially those from another IS.
The shield itself is restored as long as there are shield energy remaining, but the frame(powered suit) and other equipment(such as basic or additioanl weapons), if destroyed by attack, can't be regenerated - at least in the middle of combat
(They are fully restored during maintanance process)
Also, every IS comes euipped with a special defense mechanism, called 'absulote barrier.'
It's more of pilot safety feature than practical defense mechanism, since when activated, it consumes extreme amount of shield energy, to the point of completely depleting shield energy with just one or two activation.
In exchange for that, it provides an absolute defense against any kinds of attack.
(it is speculated that the absolute barrier could defend IS against a direct hit from a nuclear weapon)
The absolute barrier is activated by IS, not by the pilot.
When the IS sense a threat of critical injury or even death of pilot, it automatically activates the absolute barrier, protecting the pilot.
(which means when IS sense the attack as non-fatal or superficial, it wouldn't activate the absolute barrier even if the resulting attack damages equipment or wounds pilot slightly.
While not so practical as a combat defense mechanism, it is ideal for pilot protection.
IS equipment is divided between basic type and add-on type.
Basic type equipment is intergrated into IS itself, and can't be changed without changing the frame altogether, so it is practically the deciding factor of IS type
(CQC, Versatile, Long range combat, sniper, etc.)
Add-on equipment is an additional parts that is installed to Expansion Slot(Bus), which every IS comes equipped with.
Expansion slots enable IS to be equipped with additional equipment, such as additional conventional weapons, spare ammo, armor parts or physical shield for better defense, additional thruster for increased speed or maneuverability, etc.
These add-on could be installed into IS via Expansion slot, and could be called out when needed.
(mainly there are primary type which is called out automatically when pilot calls out her IS, and secondary type which isn't initially called out, but could be called out when needed(such as spare ammo or sub-weapon)
Each add-on equipment requires an empty slot, and the number of available slot is unique in every IS, depending on basic characteristic and initial performance level.
Add-on is not a permanent modification so previously existing add-on could be changed when needed(requires time to uninstall and install)
There are package type add-on specifically designed for certain IS which unilizes all empty slot with multiple euipment to fit a specific assignment.
(For an example, a bombardment package might consist of 3 parts combined - heavy cannon + stabilizer + point defense system)
4. IS World Tournament - Mondo Grosso
There are world-class tournament involving ISs from many counrties from the world.
Taking place once in every 3 year, the 'Mondo Grosso' is a World Cup for IS.
Each country admits one IS and pilot - called representative pilot of [country name]
the tournament is processed in an arena, with a basic rule being 1:1 match
The participant could use any kinds of weapony - except for the kinds banned due to being unethical.
(although absolute barrier prevents serious injury or death of pilot, it doesn't protect pilots from the kinds of weapon which is designed to rather torture opponent than actually inflicting injury.)
The match ends when either sides' IS is depleted of shield energy(practically becoming non-combat capable), which usually happens when a IS receives criticall attack and is forced to activate absolute barrier.
The inner stage of arena(where two ISs duke it out) is surrounded by protective shield(the same kinds used by IS, but stronger) to prevent injury to gallery from any stray shot.
5. IS pilot training center and IS Academy
Since every country is undergoing independent IS R&D, many wealthy countries have their own training facilities.
However, according to Alaska Treaty, Japan was required to build and maintan an IS pilot training facility and accept request for admittance from all over the world.
As a result, IS Academy, a top-class IS pilot training center which doubles as highschool, was created and began accepting request to enroll from both domestic and abroad.
Since the winner of the 1st Mondo Grosso was a Japanese(Chihuyu Orimura, older sister of Ichika to be exact), and also because the creator of IS was Japanese(although she had nothing to do with its government), many pilots from both domestic and abroad wanted to train in Japan, resulting tremendous competition rate for IS Academy, the best facility in the country.
Almost all sutudents of IS Academy is either the most talented candidate(domestically) or endorsed by legitamate gorvernment or major IS related corporations.
6. Designated IS and pilot. (Personal IS)
Since there are only 467 IS in existance, it is impossible for 1 billion+ potential candidates to actually 'own' a IS.
(Estimated from half of world total population - 6 billion for gender + 1/3 of that for right age group)
Naturally, the ownership of IS is limited to either government body or a few major IS R&D corporations.
However, it is possible for pilots under such organizations to be assigned a designated IS for extended period of time.
Basically, IS has its own consciousness(more like AI...?), capable of decision making process to a certain level.
Also, aside from outter input from R&D, an IS is capable of self-enhancement by optimizing itself to the pilot.
The optimizing process is called 'Fitting' in which the IS analyzes its pilot and transform itself to be more efficient for the pilot.
Apparantly, this process is not practical for ISs with multiple pilots(such as IS configured as trainer), so this feature is disabled on most ISs, with the exception being Designated IS.
Designated pilots, on the other hand, could benefit from optimization with their personal ISs, putting them a step foward compared to those without personal ISs.
Once an optimization is complete, the IS could be stored on the pilots in a form of accessories, and the pilots can instantly call out their IS when required.
However, use of IS without permission of the organization in which the pilot is currently under is strictly prohibited by international law, and violation of this law is punishable as a serious crime.
Normally, pilots with their personal IS are either;
1. Gorvernment approved IS representative (1 for country)
2. Designated test pilot of major IS R&D corporation (number depends on the quantity of IS held by such firm)
3. Government apporved IS representative candidate (could be more than one, but not all of them are given personal IS)
Acquiring a personal IS is considered as the utmost honor for any IS pilot due to harsh requirement and sheer rate of competition.
And here is the first 5 pages of Vol.1, roughly translated.
(If posting a translation on this thread is prohibited, please let me know. I'll delete it.)
Spoiler for First 5 pages from Vol.01:
Chapter 01 - My classmates are all girls
"Everyone seems to be present. Okay, then let's begin Short Homeroom now."
Yamada Maya, the co-homeroom teacher of the class at the front, said with a smile on her face. (she introduced herself a moment ago)
A bit short on the height, she is about as tall as students. On top of that, her outfit seem to be of wrong size, which makes her look even smaller.
The black-frame glasses she is wearing is also a little to large and a bit askew.
How should I describe this akward impression, 'a kid is trying to appear as an adult by wearing an adult clothes' stuff. Am I the only one who feels this way?
"Okay then, I hope we get along for an year."
"......"
Nobody in the class responded, however, since it was filled with a strange, tense atmosphere.
"Th, then, please introduce yourself. um, by sitting order."
I felt sorry for our-co-homeroom-teacher-in-a-distress and tried to assist her by saying something, but unfortunately, but I couldn't afford to be so relaxed.
Why?
The answer is simple. Everyone in this classroom except for me is girl.
Today is the first day of highscool, a beginning of new world. Day 1.
That itself is fine with me and even pleasuring.
But the problem is that I'm the only boy in this classroom.
(This is.... way more stressful than I imagened.)
It's not like I have an overinflated ego or something. It's just that I'm getting attention from almost everyone in the class.
Besides, the location of my seat is awful too.
Why does it have to be right in the middle of frontmost row? It stands out too much and ends up receiving unwanted attention.
I looked around casually.
It was a stare that was meant to call for some kind of help, but Shinonono Houki, my cold-hearted childhood buddy, evaded it and turned her face toward a window.
Now that is cold.
Is that how you treats a buddy that you haven't seen for 6 years?
Wait, maybe I'm being hated somehow?
"...hika. Orimura Ichika."
"Uh, Yes?"
I was called out of blue by a loud voice, and as a result, my answer came out as a shriek.
Now I could hear the sound of suppressed laugh from around which made me even more anxious.
It's not like I don't feel comfortable around a girl. It's not.
But you see, there is a limit to that.
A person who loves noddle wouldn't like it after eating it for 3 days straight.
Well, I'm not sure about that. I don't like noodle that much.... wait, that's not the point.
Anyway, I'm the only boy in the classroom. the rest - 29 students - is all girls. Co-homeroom teacher is a woman. Homeroom teacher is probably a woman too.
I say 'probably' becuase I haven't even seen her face yet. What's she doing now?
"Um, I'm sorry about calling out so loudly. Um, are you mad at me? I'm so sorry. But you see, um, It was your turn to untroduce yourself. Um, so, could you please introduce yourself? please?"
I could see Yamada Maya, my co-homeroom teacher, repeatedly and apologetically lowering her head. And her motion was threatening her oversized glassese - already precariously blanced - to fall down althogether.
And here I am, thinking only about such insignificant details.
By the way, is she really older than I am? She would easily pass as my age.
"Um, don't be so sorry about it, anyway, I'll go ahead and introduce myself, so please calm down."
"Re, really? really? really? you promised. you absolutely promised!"
She snapped her head up and held my hands, trying to confirm what I said.
Excuse me, now you are causing me to receive awful lot of attentions from around again.
Well, but I already said that I'd do it. A man shouldn't take back his word.
Furthermore, If I take care of this situation right now, I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
I swiftly stood up and turned back.
(Ugh....)
Now I could really feel the the attention that I was feeling on my back until now.
Even Houki, who heartlessly ignored me a moment ago, is staring at me.
Being stared like this, regardless of how much comfortable you are with a girl, is quite stressful.
A person who loves curry... Okay, enough with that metaphor.
"Um... My name is Ichika Orimura. Nice to meet you all."
I politely lowered my head, and pulled it back.
- Wait a minute. What's these 'Say something more' kind of look?
And what's this 'Surely, that was all, was it?' kind of atmosphere?
There's not much to talk about.
It's not like I don't have any hobby or anything, but my hobby is not something that I'd like to brag about in front of everyone,
Isn't it strange for a person to talk about his hobby to people he first met?
You see, I'd be slightly frightened if there was a girl introduces herself and suddenly say 'my hobby is cactus raising and division.'
Just in case, cactus rasing and division is not my hobby. .
"......"
I could feel the my sweat dripping down my back. What should I do?
What should I say? And foremost, Why the hell did I end up here?
So much story and data. Im officially hyped for the anime now.
And the character reaction faces in the main site is just a plain delight to see, along with the news they will have an Infinite Stratos pinup on Megami
__________________
Old McDonald had a farm...Eyey Eyey O...And on his farm he had a Khzithak...Eyey Eyey O...With a ARHHFAHHAAAAAAAAARRRGIIIAAA HELP AAAUUU HELP! IT'S GNAWING OFF MY...
IS has its own self-consciousness, as mentioned before.
Whether it is a set of complex AI with self-evolving ability, or something more close to human soul, a living entity is currently unknown.
Every IS has its own characteristic, but it also has a unique, special ability called 'One Off' that could be unlocked as it evolves.
Once an IS is optimized for a pilot (by initiating 'Fitting' process), it transform itself to a form to better suit the characteristics of the pilot.
This transformation process is called '1st Shift,' and the resulting form is called '1st Form.'
As the IS and pilot gain more experience - maybe by getting to know each other better by spending more time together - the IS could optimize itself even further.
There have been several confirmed cases of '2nd Shift' and '2nd Form'
The interesting part is that upon reaching the 2nd Form, some ISs begin to exhibit special abilities, one per IS which is a unique characteristic.
This special ability is called 'One Off Ability'(or simply One Off) and no two ISs seem to have same abilities.
Attempts have been made to artificially generate same One Off for multiple ISs in controlled environment, without success. It seems the One Off is decided purely by the combination of pilot and IS factors alone.
Although One Off begins to manifest itself from 2nd Form, very few ISs have actually shown manifestation of One Off in reality, making this ability quite rare.
As time passed, numerous One Off abilities by various pilots were discovered, and after extensive R&D, scientists were able to artificially recreate some of less complex abilities.
Notable examples of equipment created from the harvested technologies are;
- Pilot Controlled Remote Intercept Drone - A.K.A. 'Bits' (the nickname is probably inspired by popular fiction work)
- Shock Cannon that compress and warp nearby space to create barrel and shoots the resulting shockwave as a projectile.
※ It is speculated that the research of One Off abilities enabled further development (and practical application) of advanced weaponry such as laser or particle beam possible, although the application is limited to IS, meaning conventional platform would not benefit from this result)
These technologies were then incorporated as the focus of design in developing 3rd Gen. IS.
As a result, 3rd Gen. ISs are equipped with basic weapon which more powerful than conventional ones.
Currently, IS is facing a generation change, with 2nd Gen. models being slowly phased out and a few 3rd Gen. models being introduced.
The 1st Gen. IS was more of prototype that were designed and built for various experiments to estimate (back then) newly-acquired IS technologies.
The 2nd Gen. IS was designed from the data collected from 1st Gen, and is used throughout the world as stable platform.
The 3rd Gen. IS is designed with application of technologies harvested from reserach of One Off abilities as focus.
The official terminology for Add-on equipment for IS is 'Equalizer.
My next posting is going to be about the characters.
(I'm currently reading the novel once more to collect info - which seems to be scattered throughout the novel.)
More awesome info as always, also LOL at explanation for advanced weaponry not being available in conventional platforms, something lacking in a lot of Robot Shows. The entire IS system reminds me of Zoid Cores for some reason...
A question for you zephyr, by low immunity to opposite sex, what does that mean?
__________________
Old McDonald had a farm...Eyey Eyey O...And on his farm he had a Khzithak...Eyey Eyey O...With a ARHHFAHHAAAAAAAAARRRGIIIAAA HELP AAAUUU HELP! IT'S GNAWING OFF MY...
They get charmed easily by the male lead (unintentionally) since they don't really deal with men most of the time.
Yes, that was what I was trying to say. Thank you for clarifying the subject
Um, there are some misleading information in some of my previous posts.
Spoiler for Correction of previous misleading info:
- Correction regarding to previous misleading info
The previously mentioned information about less complex One Off abilities being recreated through R&D seems incorrect.
The novel specifies that 'One Off ability can never be copied.'
3rd Gen. IS is in designed around a new concept(mainly weapon) and therefore equipped weapon more powerful than conventional ones, but it seems that those weapons are another application of technological advancement in IS, called Image Interface.
It is mentioned in the novel that Sinonono Tabane, the creator of IS, knows more about IS than anybody else, yet she does not know about it all since she configured some of IS functions to self-evolve.
It seems that possession of IS and military force wielding IS is allowed. It's just that the actual military action involving IS is prohibited, allowing it to be valued mainly as a show of national strength and means of deterrence.
Since IS can neutralize any kind of conventional weapon (and even something that is not conventional - such as nuclear weapon) It has become the new and primary benchmark of national strength.
Also, the part regarding sharing of technologies apparently applies to those researched and developed after legislation of the treaty.
Any country or facilities that develop new technology related to IS is required to disclose the information. But since doing so would put the developer in huge disadvantage (since R&D costs money, and other countries and facilities copying it would save lots of money while getting same benefit) the initial developer is allowed to keep the technology confidential until actual field-testing of it.
And this makes IS Academy a very special place, since it is the only place in the world where any new technology tested inside does not have to be disclosed.
Simply put, IS Academy is the only testing facility in the world that guarantees both confidentiality and actual test of newly developed technology.
This is why there are so many new prototype ISs and representative pilot candidates piloting them in IS Academy.
Notable examples include: Cecilia Alcott with Blue Tears, Fan Rin In with Senron, and Laura Bodewig with Schwarz Regen.
Each generation of IS has its own specific theme and goal to achieve.
1st generation IS : The basic goal of 1st Gen. IS was the completion of IS. The R&D was focused on applying various IS related technologies to produce a stable, operational IS.
2nd generation IS : The basic goal of 2nd Gen. IS was the utilization of add-on capability, known as Equalizer. Application of various equalizer packages enabled the 2nd Gen. IS capable of various assignments.
3rd generation IS : The basic goal of 3rd Gen. IS is the application of advanced Image-Interface technology, enabling it to field more advanced weapons such as BT(Blue Tears), Shock Cannon and AIC.
4th generation IS : The basic goal of 4th Gen. IS is the application of Fold-Out armor, which enables the IS to configure itself to a form that maximize specific role, whether attack, defense, or mobility. This makes the 4th Gen. IS capable of performing various assignments just by switching its function in real time, not requiring the time-consuming process of changing Equalizer.
And here is some additional info about IS.
Spoiler for Some more info about IS:
- Damage control and recovery of IS
Although IS is protected by powerful shield, and Absolute Barrier for pilot protection, it is not invincible, especially when it comes down to battle between ISs.
Since advanced weapons wielded by IS usually are capable of piercing the shield and strike the IS frame or pilot, ISs engaged in fight with another IS is likely to end up with damage to various parts, sometimes extensively.
The Absolute Barrier is only activated against a single, overwhelming attack that could seriously injure its pilot, which means it does not react to accumulation of minor damage or injuries received by repeated attacks (with each attack deemed non-fatal). In an extreme case, a pilot may face serious injury during extended battle.
In a case of Personal IS, when the pilot ends up seriously injured in a prolonged battle, the IS, as the extension of pilot protection function, force the pilot into a coma state and function as a life support for pilot in its deactivated(in a closed form) state. Since this is a forced process executed by IS, the pilot cannot be awakened by external means, and is automatically brought back out from coma state when the IS has recovered enough energy to be activated.
Maintenance of damaged IS is quite different from that of conventional machine. It mainly relies on self-recovering process of IS, since damage control and repairing process is also a part of self-evolvement of IS. Interfering with the natural evolvement is not recommended since it could hinder the evolvement process and prevent it from reaching 2nd Form and the manifestation of One Off ability which is the ultimate goal for any IS.
Forcing a heavily damaged IS into combat operation is highly undesirable since excessive stress to damaged area could result in serious defect which might bring a significant reduction of IS function or structural integrity, or worst, malfunction.
※ This is similar to human body since continuing to stress severe damage to body parts(broken bones or damage to internal organ) would end up damaging it further, often to the irreparable level.
- Detailed description of the White Knight Incident
When IS was first announced, it was utterly ignored by the rest of the world. The content of her announcement being 'IS is vastly superior to any conventional weapon,' the rest of the world either thought of it as nonsense, or refused to accept it as a fact.
A month from her initial announcement, every fire control system of long-range missiles belonging to 23 countries close to Japan were hacked, went out of control and launched total of 2341 missiles toward the mainland of Japan.
With the whole world terrified at this accident, every missile heading toward Japan was intercepted and destroyed by an unknown platform which later turned out to be the1st Gen. IS, White Knight.
This unknown IS, equipped with a single blade and platinum armor resembling a medieval knight, intercepted half of the incoming missiles with its blade while flying at supersonic speed. Then the IS suddenly summoned an experimental, large caliber particle cannon from thin air, destroying remaining missiles.
Shocked at the capability of this never-before-seen super weapon, numerous countries including world superpowers dispatched military units in order to analyze the target and either capture, or destroy it.
In total, 207 advanced fighters, 5 aircraft carriers and 7 cruisers were deployed in the theater of operation, with support from 8 military satellites, but none of them were a match against the IS, and all were completely neutralized.
What's more surprising is that throughout the incident, there was not a single fatality on both sides. The IS managed to neutralize opposing forces without killing the crew operating them, proving to the world that conventional weapons are indeed no match for an IS by further stating 'The only platform that can defeat an IS is another IS.'
It is speculated that the whole WK incident was planned by Sinonono Tabane herself, and the pilot of White Knight was her close friend, Orimura Chihuyu.
※ The pilot of White Knight was never identified since the pilot was wearing a helmet-styled Hyper Sensor prototype with visor covering her face.)
And the long-waited character profile!
Spoiler for Orimura Ichika:
- Orimura Ichika
Ichika is a 15 year old boy from Japan who accidently activated an IS.
He is currently enrolled in IS Academy as a freshman, classroom 1
(Due to his current status, he was half-forced into the IS Academy by the government of Japan)
He used to live in a house with Chuhuyu, his older sister.
Initially, he describes that he 'does not have parents,' but he later revealed that he and his sister were abandoned by their parents.' The whereabouts of his parents are currently unknown, and it is implied that he was abandoned when he was very young, since he does not remember their faces.
He is well versed in household tasks since he's been doing all the housework while Chihuyu was out making money.
After he accidently activates an IS, he becomes the subject of international news, being 'the only male in the world who can activate IS.'
He has a habit of assessing almost every situation (such as during conversation) he encounters with interior monologue (without actually saying it). This becomes a running gag in the novel as he assesses numerous situations he face with various thoughts, sometimes with ridiculous or completely unrelated ones which he mean as a joke.
Most of his friends and those closely related to him are usually able to guess what he is thinking on given situation, causing him to suspect whether they are mind readers(although limited to his interior monologue)
He becomes a representative of classroom 1, mainly due to curiosity from his classmates.
Byakku Shiki (白式 - literal translation is 'Type White')
※ Not to be confused with Hyakku Shiki (百式 - Type 100) which is a MS from Z-Gundam, a completely unrelated subject.
Byakku Shiki is the personal IS of Orimura Ichika, developed by Japanese Government.
Although initially estimated as 3rd Gen IS test-type, it is later revealed that Byakku Shiki is (at least partially) a 4th Gen. conceptual IS. it was originally designed with the goal of utilizing One Off ability without having to proceed to 2nd Form, but it was discarded when a serious defect was discovered, rendering the IS inoperable. Sinonono Tabane then acquired it through unknown route, and apparently fixed the defect. She also further customized Byakku Shiki by installing experimental Fold-Out armor on its weapon, Yukihira Type2, using it as a 4th Gen. IS test bed.
The basic armament (officially called Preset) of Bakku Shiki is a Yukihira Type2, a blade designed for CQC. It is later revealed that Yukihira Type2 is at least partially equipped with Fold-Out apparatus, a prototype of Fold-Out armor which is the prominent characteristic of 4th Gen. IS.
※ Yukihira is the name of similar blade Chihuyu used in the past.
Since 4th Gen. IS utilizes all available slots in order to be initially equipped with One Off ability, it is incapable of utilizing Equalizer.
Byakku Shiki is equipped with One Off ability named Reiraku Byakkuya(零落白夜 - a rough literal translation being 'white night of downfall')
This ability enables Byakku Shiki a special attribute - It could negate the effect of anything consist of energy (the kinds that does not have physical body.)
The most important point is that by activating this ability, Byakku Shiki can completely bypass the opponent's IS shield. Since the attack would not be weakened by IS shield (which is the key defense in every IS) a single direct it is often enough to force opposing IS to activate Absolute Barrier, effectively rendering it energy-depleted.
However, this ability does not come without a heavy cost. Activation of this ability requires vast amount of energy (which is much more than an IS can continuously supply) so in order to maintain the ability, additional energy has to be converted from its own shield.
When activated, Fold-Out apparatus opens up on Yukihira Type2, producing an energy-field with One Off attribute superimposed on the physical blade.
Since the Fold-Out armor in Byakku Shiki was installed when the technology was still in experimental stage, it does not benefit from the full capability of Fold-Out armor, and its application is limited to offensive role only.
Byakku Shiki is also capable of executing Ignition Boost, a high velocity charge which is usually followed by critical blow from One Off enabled Yukihira Type2.
When activated, the exhaust from thruster is absorbed inside a nozzle chamber and pressurized before being released, enabling a sudden burst of speed.
Byakku Shiki undergoes 2nd Shift shortly after Houki acquires AkiTsubaki. in the resulting 2nd Form named Byakku Shiki : Setsura, it is equipped with a multi-purpose unit (named Setsura, hence the name of 2nd Form) which has multiple functions including a large caliber charged particle cannon, an energy claw for CQC, and an energy shield with One Off attribute.
In its 2nd Form, Byakku Shiki also gains increase in mobility through addition of 4 large wing thrusters, enabling it to execute Double Ignition Boost.
Spoiler for Sinonono Houki:
- Sinonono Houki
Houki is a 15 year old girl from Japan and Ichika's childhood buddy. (1st)
She is currently enrolled in IS Academy as a freshman, classroom 1
Because her family runs a kendo doujo, she trained kendo from very young. She won a national kendo competition for junior high a year before entering IS Academy.
Due to her rather stern personality, (something like a samurai) she had trouble socializing with others when she was young. This often resulted in other classmates making fun of her which in turn resulted in Ichika helping her out. It was the cause of her developing a crush on Ichika who supported her when she was feeling lonely.
She is a younger sister of Sinonono Tabane, the genius and scientist who single-handedly created IS.
However, Houki dislike Tabane since her invention of IS and the following chaos caused her family to move out, distancing her from Ichika.
When she was 4th grade in elementary school, she asked Ichika to be her boyfriend, with the condition being that she wins the national kendo tournament for elementary school. Although handicapped by the fact that she would have to face strong opponents - including 5th and 6th grades who were physically stronger, she had confidence on her skill because she was very talented and was also extensively trained from very young age.
But the very same day of final match, the world was shocked by an announcement of unprecedented magnitude. Sinonono Tabane, a genius scientist, unveiled the existence of IS to the world. The announcement of powerful IS stirred the world, and rest of Sinonono family, closely related to such important person(perhaps the most important figure in the world) were put into strict protection program set up by Japanese government, and were forced to move from place to place for safety reason. Obviously, Houki was forced to withdraw herself from the match, resulting in an automatic defeat.
Being unable to contact Ichika due to so-called safety reason (the government couldn't allow Ichika - a unrelated stranger at the time since he was just an ordinary boy - to obtain information regarding whereabouts of Sinonono family) she blamed it on Tabane, her older sister who caused all this mess and conveniently went missing, and started venting her anger through kendo, the only connection she had with Ichika.
She admired the strength Ichika once showed to her, which she believed as the true form of strength. But as she began to vent her anger through kendo, but when she won the national kendo tournament for junior high school, she soon realized that what she was doing was not a show of strength, but just violence. Disgusted by herself, she decided to train once more to gain what she believed to be real strength. She later decided to enter IS Academy, and although she was not as talented as other representative candidates, (she scored C on IS aptitude test) being related to Sinonono Tabane seemed to have played a major role, since she was able to enroll in IS Academy.
Although she has been training kendo (which emphasize obtaining self-control as with most other form of martial arts) she is somewhat emotionally unstable, often resorting to be controlled by her own strength rather than controlling it herself, especially when she gains a new power. Therefore she has an admiration toward Ichika who shows steadfast sense of what's right and wrong, regardless of his strength (which goes through a drastic change)
AkaTsubaki
Initially, Houki is the only heroin who does not possess personal IS. During the first half of freshman year, she pilots Uchigane, a 2nd Gen. production model trainer IS, one of several ISs deployed in IS Academy for training purpose.
She gains her personal IS in mid-year, provided by none other than her older sister, Sinonono Tabane, the genius scientist who single-handedly created IS.
Personally designed by Tabane, AkiTsubaki is the first true 4th Gen. IS, built from the experiment data resulting from modification of Byakku Shiki.
Also, it cannot utilizes Equalizer due to same reason as Byakku Shiki, but it is designed as an all-round type, armed with two katana-style CQC blades which has secondary functions of firing advanced optical weapon(a red colored laser beam which has about same range as assault rifle), enabling it to be used as ranged weapon as well.
The blade on the right is named Amazuki(雨月) which is optimized for 1:1 combat. With its secondary function activated, it shoots out a shower of red colored laser beams from around IS, in a concentrated pattern toward a single target.
The blade on the left is named Karaware(空裂) which is optimized for combating multiple enemies. With its secondary function activated, it shoots out a shower of red colored laser beams from around IS, in a scatter pattern toward multiple targets around it.
According to Tabane, AkaTsubaki is currently the most powerful IS in terms of basic capability, since it is the first true 4th Gen. IS and therefore equipped with fully functional Fold-Out armor.
The Fold-Out armor of AkiTsubaki can be configured instantly to be optimized for various roles, such as attack, defense, and mobility. When fully optimized, the performance of AkiTsubaki becomes twice of the capability of normal status.
The creation of AkiTsubaki makes Sinonono Tabane the only person who can currently produce 4th Gen. IS, since the rest of the world is now beginning to develop 3rd Gen. test types. For the rest of the world, 4th Gen. IS is still a theoretical concept on a drawing board.
The advantage of wielding powerful 4th Gen. IS enables Houki - who is not as skilled as other heroines yet in terms of IS aptitude - to be on even ground with her rivals.
AkaTsubaki is equipped with One Off ability named Kenran Butou (絢爛舞踏) which enables Houki to recover the energy of her own IS, and also recover energy of other IS's she comes in contact with. It is presumed that Tabane specifically chose this ability so Houki could act as the primary support for Ichika's Hyakku Shiki, which usually suffers from high energy consumption rate.
Spoiler for Cecilia Alcott:
- Cecilia Alcott
Cecilia is a 15 year old girl from UK.
She is currently enrolled in IS Academy as a freshman, classroom 1.
She is also a Representative pilot candidate for UK.
A Daughter of prominent family, she grew up under mother who was already an active, influential figure even before the debut of IS.
Her father, in contrast, was rather diminished figure even before the change of status. Moving into Alcott family after marrying her mother, he only had a minimal influence both inside and outside the family.
Considering her father as a prime example of weak, diminished man, she vowed to herself that she would never marry to a weak man that, unfortunately due to shift of social status, was abundant throughout the world.
Her both parents died from a train accident 3 years prior to entering IS Academy, and as the only heir to the family, she was left with massive inheritance which she fiercely defended from those who were trying to get a hand on.
As a talented IS pilot, she became the test pilot of Blue Tears, a 3rd Gen. prototype IS designed with the focus on Blue Tears system.
(Apparently the 'Bits' were named as Blue Tears, and the IS equipped with it became to inherit its name as well.)
When she met Ichika, she was surprised by his relentlessness despite being on disadvantage, but at the same time, she also saw the strength of man from his eye, something which she idealized for so long. This led to her developing a crush on Ichika.
Blue Tears
Blue Tears is a 3rd Gen. prototype IS developed in UK, with emphasis on Pilot Controlled Remote Intercept Drone - the official name is 'Blue Tears,' but is often referred as its nickname 'Bits'
Basic armament is Blue Tears system package which consists of 6 pieces of interceptor drones, 4 of which are armed with optical weapon with 2 armed with missile warhead.
It is also equipped with Starlight Mk.III, a medium-range laser rifle, and Interceptor, a pair of short blades designed for close quarter defense as Equalizer.
Since the Blue Tears system requires high level of concentration from pilot, activation of 'Bits' greatly restricts the mobility of IS if the pilot skill is not up to the task. However, experienced pilot is capable of controlling several Bits and IS simultaneously without apparent limitation. Also, the skill of the pilot is directly proportional to the performance of Bits, such as accuracy of onboard weapon and complexity of its movement.
The Bits, both laser and missile type, has limited ammunition onboard, which could be replenished by docking with IS. It cannot, however, regenerate if damaged or destroyed, and remain so unless repaired by recovery process.
Spoiler for Fang Rin In:
- Fang Rin In
Rin is a 15 year old girl from China and Ichika's childhood buddy. (2nd)
She is currently enrolled in IS Academy as a freshman, classroom 2
She is also a Representative pilot candidate for China.
She moved into Ichika's neighbor soon after Houki family moved out. (Houki moved out at the end of 5th grade, and Rin moved in at the beginning of 6th grade)
Her family used to run a Chinese restaurant, which Ichika visited frequently. During this time, Chihuyu spent most of time outside working, and Ichika decided to go out to eat rather than cook for himself.
Due to her nationality, Rin frequently became a target for prank. She seems to have developed a crush on Ichika when he helped her by fighting against four kids bullying her in school.
She moved back to China during early 3rd grade of junior high, due to her parent's marital issue(they are now divorced), but transferred to IS Academy as representative pilot candidate for China.
Being one of very few students with a personal IS, she became a representative of classroom 2, mainly to stay close with Ichika.
Initially, she was mad at Ichika for not complying with the promise he made in the past. Her words were "If I become good at cooking, I will cook for you everyday" in which Ichika replied "Okay." What she actually meant was becoming his wife or at least a girlfriend, but Ichika interpreted her words as 'being able to eat decent food for free.'
Senron (甲龍 - literal translation is 'Armored Dragon')
Senron is Rin's personal IS, provided by Chinese government.
Being a 3rd generation prototype IS, it is optimized for CQC, and is equipped Souten Gagetsu(雙天牙月), a pair of Chinese scimitar which could be combined to double-bladed form.
(※ Not to be confused with the term double-edged. Double-blades mean a weapon with blades on both ends, with hilt between them.)
It is also equipped with Ryuhow (龍砲 - literal translation is Dragon Cannon), a state of the art Shock Cannon utilizing 3rd Gen. technology, a spherical device floating above each shoulder that forms a barrel by compressing nearby space and shoot out the resulting shockwave as projectile.
The trajectory is linear, but because both the barrel and projectile are invisible, taking evasive action effectively is a challenge for opponent.
Due to the nature of the projectile, it is most effective at close range, and begins to lose its effectiveness as the range increases.
Spoiler for Charles (Charlotte) Dunoa:
- Charles (Charlotte) Dunoa
Charlotte is a 15 year old girl from France and a daughter of CEO of Dunoa Corporation.
※ Dunoa Corporation is the largest IS-related firm in France.
She is a leading test pilot working for Dunoa Corporation, and is also a Representative pilot candidate for France.
She is currently enrolled in IS Academy as a freshman, classroom 1
Initially upon transfer, she poses as a boy which created quite a stir for being 'The 2nd male IS pilot.'
However, it is revealed that she pretended to be a boy in order to be assigned as Ichika's roommate and stay close to him, so she could steal confidential data from his IS.
She is perhaps the only heroine without visible Tsundere attribute, always being polite and kind to others, especially toward Ichika.
She is a very talented IS pilot, with her specialty being a move called 'Rapid Switch.' She can instantly call out and switch weapon in the middle of combat. Choosing optimal weapon in given situation, coupled with her IS's wide range of arsenal, make her strong enough to fight more advanced 3rd generation IS on even ground.
After her true gender is discovered by Ichika (who apparently discovers it first since they are living in a same room) she confesses the true reason why she transferred to IS Academy. She is actually the daughter of CEO Dunoa's mistress. When her mother died 2 years prior to her transfer, CEO Dunoa had her brought to home but she was discriminated for being 'an illegitimate daughter,' especially from Dunoa's wife, and to some extent, even from Dunoa himself.
Since France was not a member of European Union, the country was lagging behind in IS R&D which required massive funding. This resulted in France entering the 2nd Gen. IS market very late with Rafale-Revive, the latest model 2nd Gen IS which gained popularity as a high-end IS among 2nd Gen. model. Although R-Revive was a success (because it was the latest to enter 2nd Gen. IS market, it was also had better performance compared to other competitors) - being license-built in 7 countries and commissioned in 12 countries, Dunoa Corporation, being weakly funded, needed to be a step ahead of other competitors(mainly EU) to survive.
The government of France, being the main source of IS funding for Dunoa Corporation, became anxious of not possessing a 3rd Gen IS when neighboring countries(members of EU) began to reveal their 3rd Gen. IS for test, and demanded that Dunoa Corp. produce a viable project for 3rd Gen IS. Failure to meet the demand would mean that Dunoa Corp. would have its license (to research and develop IS) revoked, which was practically a death sentence for IS department.
When Charles turned out to be a talented IS pilot candidate, Dunoa considered her value as a useful, yet expendable tool to further his career. He created the masquerade in which Charles is a male IS pilot - something that could stall the anxious French government from pressuring Dunoa Corp. for a while - and had her transferred to IS Academy, speculating that a 2nd male student would end up being roommate of 1st(and so far the only) male student, Ichika. That would put Charles in a prime position to acquire data of advanced IS - Ichika's Byakku Shiki - which then be used as basis for 3rd Gen. IS design.
In general, Charles would face charges consist of false identity (gender, to be exact) and espionage related to IS technology which, due to importance of IS, is a serious crime. Ichika, however after hearing her story, became disgusted with Charles' 'family' and decided to help Charles, suggesting that she stay in school until they could come up with a way to deal the problem. Since IS Academy is declared as extraterritoriality according to international treaty, she can't be subpoenaed even by her own government unless she agrees to.
As Ichika decides to help Charles, she begins to develop a crush on him, and later reveal her true gender to the school.
Her real name is Charlotte, with Charles being an alias she used while acting as a boy.
- R - Revive Custom II
Rafale - Revive Custom II is Charles's personal IS, provided by Dunoa Corporation.
It is a heavily modified version of Rafale - Revive, a latest-model 2nd generation IS, famous for sturdy design and ease of use.
While it lacks special equipment utilizing state-of-the-art technology found in most 3rd generation IS, it boast wide range of arsenal made of conventional weaponry.
Notable change from production variant is partial removal of armor plate and 2 pairs of multi-thruster wings, replaced with 2 modified multi-thrusters with overall increase in speed and maneuverability.
By stripping large portion of basic equipment (Official term is 'Preset') R-Revive Custom II possesses twice as many Expansion Slot as normal variant, and is equipped with around 20 different kinds of Equalizer.
The weapons stored in R-Revive Custom II includes;
Vent - .55 cal assault rifle with 16 rounds magazine.
Garm - .61 cal assault cannon capable of firing a non-explosive cluster round in addition to conventional ammunition.
Rain of Saturday - .62 cal dual barreled heavy shotgun.
Bread Slicer - a Blade designed for CQC (maybe the author didn't have enough time to come up with decent name for this weapon....)
Gray Scale - a CQC weapon categorized as pile banger which is a pointed battering ram propelled by explosive cartridge stored in revolver-type magazine for rapid firing. While being effective only at extremely close range, it is the most powerful weapon wielded by 2nd Gen. IS. Integrated into arm-mounted physical shield, it can be armed after purging the shield plates that encase is.
Spoiler for Laura Bodewig:
- Laura Bodewig
Laura is a 15 year old girl from German and the commander of 'Black Rabbit,' a special force IS unit in German.
She transferred to IS Academy along with Charlotte, and is one the most experienced IS pilots in Academy.
Born as a product of genetic enhancement project, she was one of the most skilled combatants in German, but for the same reason, she had difficulty in showing her emotion and lacks common sense in socializing with others.
When IS was introduced, she underwent further enhancement experiment in which installed nanomachine in her left eye in order to boost the efficiency of interface between her brain and Hyper Sensor of IS. The experiment turned out to be a failure, since the augmented function in her left eye was uncontrollable, causing it to stay active all the time. She ended up wearing an eye patch to protect it from overloading, and her operational efficiency regarding to IS began to drop significantly as well.
She was in despair since excelling at her assignment and becoming strong was the only reason to live. But all that changed when she first met Orimura Chihuyu. Admired by her strength, Laura found a new reason to live which was becoming like her some day. The strong admiration toward Chihuyu became more of a fanaticism, and when Chihuyu forfeited the final match of the 2nd Mondo Grosso in order to save her kidnapped brother, Laura began to hate Ichika, thinking he had disgraced Chihuyu's name.
For this reason, Laura initially hated Ichika, even planning to kill him in a duel. All this changes when she loses to him in a match. Despaired at her defeat, she unintentionally activates Valkyrie Trace system that was secretly installed in her IS, going out of control. Ichika once again defeat her, but at the last moment of the battle, she and Ichika find themselves in inter-IS subspace where they are able to communicate directly from their thoughts. She engages Ichika in an conversation where she ask him about the true strength, in which he answers 'being able to do what one wants to do' and 'being able to help those around him.' Hearing his answer, she remembers the conversation she had with Chihuyu in past (where Chihuyu warned her about the mysterious but true strength of her brother and that she be careful not to fall in love since his 'strength' tends to attract women.) and realizes that she just fell in love with Ichika.
On the next day, she begins to protect him (mainly from the threat of other heroines who often get mad at his insensitivity toward girls) and declares him her 'bride,' for she obtained somewhat misleading 'general culture in Japan' and 'common sense' from her lieutenant who is an avid fan of Japanese girls' comic.
※ Valkyrie Trace System is a program developed to increase the performance of IS by mimicking the former winners of Mondo Grosso. Due to various reason including pilot safety, the research, development, and application of this system is strictly banned by international treaty.
Schwarz Regen
Laura's personal IS and a 3rd Gen. IS prototype developed in German.
Designed around AIC (Active Inertia Canceller) which is capable of projecting an inertia negating field, it is based around CQC (where AIC is most effective) but is also equipped with several Equalizer which capable of ranged combat, making it a fairly stable all-round type.
Basic armament (Preset) consists of AIC projector and 6 wire-guided daggers. The wires connected to daggers are strong enough function as tentacles, capable of to immobilizing, constricting, and even throwing a target as large as IS.
Schwarz Regen is also equipped with a .80 cal heavy rail gun, mounted on shoulder.
It was initially installed with an illegal Valkyrie Trace system which was kept secret even to Laura, but was subsequently removed after its discovery.
Ichika's IS is similar to the Stargazer Gundam, in that it can nullify and attack energy projectiles/attacks? Only with that handy "high energy requirement" part. Kind of willing to bet that the name was at least intended by the author as a homage...
Houki's IS is a... erm, "support type dual katana" unit that acts as the sister/brother unit to Ichika's IS?
Cecilia seems to be the classic tsundere, who uses the Quebeley?
I guess there aren't too many shows that feature two childhood friends.
Charles/Charlotte is/was a crossdressing Shirou that always has Unlimited Blade Works in effect? (See: Shirou's fight against Gilgamesh, UBW movie)
Laura and her IS seems to remind me of Kakashi (the Eyepatch of Power(tm) and the "mimicking the movements of stronger fighters")...
And no thanks to the writeup above by zephyr325, I've finally found my first (and probably only) show to look forward to next season.
Ichika's IS is similar to the Stargazer Gundam, in that it can nullify and attack energy projectiles/attacks? Only with that handy "high energy requirement" part. Kind of willing to bet that the name was at least intended by the author as a homage...
Houki's IS is a... erm, "support type dual katana" unit that acts as the sister/brother unit to Ichika's IS?
Cecilia seems to be the classic tsundere, who uses the Quebeley?
I guess there aren't too many shows that feature two childhood friends.
Charles/Charlotte is/was a crossdressing Shirou that always has Unlimited Blade Works in effect? (See: Shirou's fight against Gilgamesh, UBW movie)
Laura and her IS seems to remind me of Kakashi (the Eyepatch of Power(tm) and the "mimicking the movements of stronger fighters")...
Spoiler for Hmm...:
I don't remember seeing Stargazer engaging CQC, so maybe it is a little different, although the energy-negating part is similar.
the energy-negating ability is only activated when he uses One Off ability (and is limited to his blade which is mainly used to negate opponent's shield, and the energy shield projected from Setsura which is used to block energy-based attack) which drains his shield energy also.
I think the name of Ichika's IS strongly implies that it is (At least the core is) White Knight, the first combat-capable 1st Gen. IS ever built.
The letter 白 from 白式, which means 'white' is pronounced 'Byakku,' in this case, but it can also be read as 'Shiro.'
And the White Knight is 'Shiro Kishi' in Japanese
Shiro Shiki - Shiro Kishi
Also, White Knight was disassembled and was used as research material for the world in the past, but the current whereabouts of its core - Core No.001 - is unknown since it was reported missing after a break-in of laboratory it was stored.
I mentioned the support role of Houki's IS only because its One Off is ideal for Ichika's IS which has high energy consumption while activating its One Off.
Other than that, AkiTsubaki is an all-round type which - if handled properly - can perform most duties, from CQC, ranged combat to defensive assignment better than others.
And yes, Cecilia's IS is something like Quebeley, but it tends to appear rather weak, probably because she is not utilizing the full capability of BT system yet.
(It is mentioned later that by exploiting the potential of BT system further, the pilot can 'bend' the beams fired from the Bits with her will)
Charlotte only pretended to be a boy because she was forced to do so by her father, so after she reverts to true identity, she does not dress like a boy, at least willingly.
It is also because she wants to be accepted as a girl to Ichika, although the way she talks (which was a part of training to appear like a boy) seem to have stuck somewhat.
So I think it is a little different from crossdresser, although she could pass as a boy when she is wearing boy's clothes (And the author makes use of this by making her dress up as a buttler (half-against her will) in one of later episode.
In case of Laura, the 'mimicking part' was purely the function was Valkyrie Trace system which was soon removed since it is in violation of international treaty.
The function of her left eye (with nanomachine installed) is increased efficiency of interface between pilot's brain and Hyper Sensor of IS.
This means she is very well adapted to process the sensory data collected by IS.
As mentioned before, the IS has 360 degree vision, but because human(pilot) is not acustomed to do so, the sensory data collected from IS needs to be processed to a format the pilot can understand.
This process takes time, and less adaptive pilot takes more time to process, hence longer reaction time.
It also enhance her ability while not weilding IS, such as improved eye sight (with the adjustment from left eye, she can see and identify human-sized target up to 2km away) and faster reaction speed.
2010-10-26, 03:51
Graphic Designer
The entire IS system reminds me of Zoid Cores for some reason...
