Archive for April, 2011
Top 5 most annoying characters (so far)
Thursday, April 28th, 2011spoilers abound. you have been warned.
Almost every anime has that one character that makes you want to punch them in the face or stop watching altogether. They could drive you nuts with a single catch phrase, an extremely annoying personality, or just the way they talk. Of the anime that I have seen so far, this is my top 5, plus 1 runner up.
Naruto Uzumaki
Runner Up: Naruto Uzumaki
The title character of the anime, Naruto, he starts off as a 12 year old mischievous boy on the verge of failing out of ninja school. He was basically a dumb kid with crazy ambitions and a catch phrase that would make any die hard anime fanatic want to shoot themselves. If it hadn’t been for Japanese subbed episodes, I would not have made it through the first arc. “-ttebayo” is FAR more tolerable than the english half-translation of “BELIEVE IT!” after every sentence.
When he finally masters a move, the shadow clone jutsu, it’s exciting. And then he uses it, over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over…. and, he’s still incompetent. And it repeats; every new move he learns, he uses it over and over.
The reason Naruto is runner up is because, after the two and a half year time jump into Naruto Shippuden, Naruto redeems every annoyance of his. He has a variety of moves, actually strategizes his attacks, and has an intelligence when he fights that he did not have before. He progresses to the level of Sanin, can finally control the kyubii inside of him, has a huge emotional growth and gains a level of maturity to that of a superior ninja. His morals and motivation have been said to be on a higher level than most Jounins (highest ranking ninjas).
Uryuu Ishida
#5: Uryuu Ishida
Through the first arc of the amine Bleach, Uryuu was a fascinating character and my favorite one at that. Then the Bount arc that followed brought out a side of Uryuu that made me absolutely cringe. He became a total defenseless emo sap.
Uryuu is one of two Quincys that still remain, the other being his father. The Quincys are a race of humans who have a spiritual awareness and utilize bows instead of swords like soul reapers. They also pull spirit particles from their surroundings to power their weapons, while soul reapers use their own spiritual energy. Quincys have a pride for themselves and their power and see themselves as superior to soul reapers.
By the end of the Soul Society arc, and into the Bount arc, Uryuu has lost his powers. He then gets himself entangled with a Bount (vampire like humanoid), who, shortly after, is sacrificed. He goes into this unwitting depression that seems completely out of character for him. He is a freakin Quincy! He has a pride above any soul reaper, and he mopes about powerless and miserable for an entire arc.
Thankfully, he finally snaps out of it, thanks to the help of Nemu and Mayuri giving him a Quincy artifact that restores some of his powers.
Light Yagami
#4: Light Yagami
From the series Death Note, Light is an extremely bright student and the son of the police chief. He comes across the Death Note and decides to use it to purge the world of evil. Eventually his mind warps to the point where he thinks he’s a god and that he’s going to be the god of the new world.
His most annoying attribute? His ridiculous schemes in which he has to cover his tracks, manipulate people, and kill people who don’t deserve it. He uses any and all loop-holes to his advantage and concocts complicated and downright crazy plans to keep the police off of his trail. He plants the Death Note on unsuspecting people, killing them after they get themselves captured, uses Misa’s love to his advantage by getting her involved, and even kills the most awesome character in the entire show, L.
Light wasted his brilliance in trying to cleanse the world and hide his identity as Kira, and the best part of the anime was when he kicked the bucket, in my opinion.
Rosette Christopher
#3: Rosette Christopher
It’s been years since I’ve seen Chrono Crusade, so bear with me as I recall the details of the show with a little help from Wiki. I do, however, remember why this main protagonist drove me absolutely insane.
Rosette is a 16 year old exorcist in the Order of Magdalene. Her partner, Chrono, is a demon whom she has a contract with, that, in turn for his power, shortens her life. Because of her shortened lifespan, she constantly lives in the moment. Through the anime, Rosette is searching for her missing brother Joshua.
She has the most annoying voice in the entire world. No offense to her voice actress, Hilary Haag, because I’ve seen other works of hers, like Riku from DNAngel, and it didn’t bother me at all. Its been four years since I’ve seen the anime, and the only thing I can remember is “JOSHUA!” “JOSHUA!” UGH! It makes my ears bleed.
Black Star
#2: Black Star
Episode 2 of Soul Eater introduces the second of three sets of main protagonists, Black Star and Tsubaki. Black Star claims he’s an assassin, but the episode, and most of the series, proves otherwise. He’s brash, loud, immature, and horribly arrogant. He also has a few catchphrases including, “YAHOO!” and “I’m going to surpass god!” Somehow, his weapon partner, Tsubaki, puts up with him when she should just strangle him with her chain and get it over with.
He always thinks he’s on a stage, in a spotlight, and that everyone wants to see him and hear what he as to say. His arrogance gets himself into trouble in battle. He recites the steps to being an assassin as he attacks, but 80% of the time his pride gets the best of him and starts announcing himself. He’s also constantly picking fights, being uncooperative and short tempered in team battles, and doing stupid things, like stealing Stein’s test and subsequently getting nailed to the chalkboard (literally). It’s not until the last stretch in the anime, and three battles with ace samurai Mifune, does Black Star start to have a nobleness behind his arrogance. But I still want to strangle him.
I almost stopped watching Soul Eater at episode 2. Luckily, the rest of the cast and the story rock to the point that it masks his unbearable selfishness.
Aisha Clan Clan
#1: Aisha Clanclan
As a member of the Ctarl Ctarl race in the anime Outlaw Star, Aisha is a humanoid with tiger attributes and the ability to turn into a beast depending on the strength of the moon. She has a run in with the main protagonists when their ships almost collide. She makes it her personal mission to find them and make them pay.
I stopped watching Outlaw Star for almost two years after she joins the main crew, halfway into the anime, just because I couldn’t bear to hear one more “Ctarl Ctarl” out of her mouth. She says those words far more than Naruto says “Believe it!” and that’s really saying somehting.
Coupled with her massive ego, either because of her racial pride or just plain arrogance, she talks almost constantly once she gets going and tends to be way overzealous. Her voice isn’t easy on the ears either, and she pretty much sounds like a cat being strangled, which wouldn’t be a bad idea for this tiger descendant.
I shall always watch over you
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
“Honorary Megane Danshi″
part 3: Haji
spoilers abound. you have been warned.
My favorite character from Blood+, Haji, is the living companion of the main protagonist, Saya. In order to talk about Haji, I first need to talk about the main character. Saya, something of a vampire “queen,” was born along with her sister, Diva, one of the main antagonists. The vampire queens have the ability to create Chiropterans, or vampire like monsters, and Chevaliers, or humans with vampire attributes and the ability to transform partially or completely into Chiropteran forms. Chevaliers are also bonded by blood to the queen and act as a protector and companion.
Saya was raised by a man named Joel, while her sister was confined to a tower. She did not know she had a sister until many years later when she heard her singing in the tower. Diva was released from her captivity by Saya to sing for Joel on his birthday, but instead, she went on a bloodbathed rampage, killing everyone. At the time, Saya and Haji were not there.
Haji
Haji was purchased from his parents as a child, for a loaf of bread, to be Saya’s companion. During Joel’s birthday, he and Saya were out looking for Joel’s favorite flower. Haji falls off of a cliff, and in order to save him, Saya feeds him her blood. At the time, she didn’t understand the consequences but knew it would save him. Consequently, he becomes her Chevalier. There also appears to be some romantic links between the two.
Saya was also involved in Vietnam several years later. In a rage to find her sister, she goes on a rampage. She then runs into a man that she knows has information on Diva’s whereabouts and chases him into a village of innocent people. Haji tried to stop her, but in her blind rage she cut off Haji’s arm, and proceeds to slaughter all of the villagers. Haji’s arm permanently resembles that of a Chiropterans, so he keeps it bandaged. Shortly after, Saya enters a 30 year hibernation and, when she wakes up, has no recollection of anything, not even Haji.
She is then adopted and living a normal teenage life. After a run-in with a Chiropteran, Saya is tasked with killing Chiropterans, as well as her sister, utilizing her blood infused into her sword. Haji resurfaces and resumes his position by her side, though it takes most of the anime for her to regain her memories of him and her former life. Haji has the ability to transform into a Chiropteran, but he never does unless absolutely necessary.
The Vietnam events created a change in Haji, and he appears bitter and cautious after being reunited with Saya. He still remains loyal and eventually completely regains his feelings for her. Haji is a pure romantic toward her, which makes him a more love-able character, on top of the fact that he also fights extremely well. He doesn’t speak much, but he is extremely loyal. And he plays cello. Can it get better than that? It sure can. He also uses his cello case not only to house Saya’s sword but as a weapon itself. Now that is badass.
Anime Review: Moon Phase
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011no spoilers here.
Hazuki, aka Luna
Moon Phase (Tsukuyomi) is about a vampire girl who is rescued from her captivity in a castle by amateur photographer Kouhei. After she bites Kouhei, she is freed from her servitude and chooses to follow him home, claiming him as her slave. Unbeknownst to her, and the rest of the vampire community, Kouhei is the “Vampire’s Lover,” or a human who, once bitten, will free vampires from their wills. The rest of the vampire community is outraged by him, and want nothing more than to bring Luna home. Luna, or Hazuki, learns what family really means, and that its not just all about blood (pun fully intended).
For me, the anime started slow. I got to episode 5, and then I stopped watching it over a year. Recently, I picked it back up and forced myself through it. After another episode or two, it began to pick up and get a lot more interesting.
Overall, it was worth a watch. The Neko-mimi (Cat-girl) shenanigans gets old really fast, but its not horribly distracting. And there’s Seiji Mido, a megane danshi, whom I will have a post on later. There are about two arcs, and about half way through the anime is a major plot shift which separates the two. Though the “first” final battle is entertaining, the last one is less than stellar and ends almost too abruptly. On a positive note, there is a wrap up episode (25) which was really nice.
Episode 26 is an encore filler, and I could have done without seeing it. The characters seemed to be either too much in character or completely out of character, and the whole episode was complete nonsense.
Another downside is that some loose ends are never tied up, especially when it comes to Kouhei’s mother. They appear to get close to an answer, and it may be inferred as to what happened, but no definite answers are given.
3.5/5
A tale of two glasses and evil.
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011spoilers abound. you have been warned.
Both of these guys, while at first appeared to be totally awesome megane danshi, have done enough things to warrant snapping their glasses in half. Kabuto will have his own Megane Danshi post later, as I was a huge fan of him for years, until they decided 300 episodes in to start a transformation that is absolutely unforgiveable. Aizen, on the other hand, didn’t have much of a shot at anything, as he was revealed early on that he was full of pure evil.
Aizen Sosuke, Squad 5 captain
Aizen Sosuke started out in the anime, Bleach, as squad 5′s captain in Soul Society. While at first Soul Society was enemy territory to the main protagonists, Ichigo and his party, the end of the Soul Society arc reveals that a third party had organized a plot to make them think they were against each other. During this arc, Squad 5 captain, Aizen, was nailed, dead, to the side of a tower. At the time, my heart sank, as I was excited that there was a megane danshi character, only for him to be murdered several episodes after his introduction.
As it turns out, his corpse was a planted fake, and the real master mind behind the plot was none other than Aizen himself. He intended to capture an extremely powerful sphere, the Hogyoku, that was inhabiting a fellow Soul Society squad member. The sphere blurs racial lines between humans, soul reapers and hollows, enabling the ability to utilize powers one could not obtain on their own.
Aizen, after revealing himself as the main antagonist
The plot involved pitting the 12 squad captains against each other and the execution of Rukia, who had the sphere implanted inside her decades prior without her knowledge. After extracting the sphere, with Rukia still alive, Aizen retreats to Hueco Mondo, another spirit realm.
At this point, Aizen’s appearance changes, including the dissolving of his glasses (yes!). Now he just looks like an evil tool, which is fine by me, because that’s what he is. Mid way into the Hueco Mondo arc, I lot interest in Bleach. I guess I can only handle one ongoing anime at a time, and right now I like Naruto Shippuden FAR better. Bleach has become full of random battles in which it takes 12 episodes to finish, not unlike DBZ. They also keep bringing out new powers in each new battle that I’m completely confused as to why they never used them sooner, as its not like they did any extra training or research or whatever prior to it.
Kabuto Yakushi
Kabuto, though revealed semi-early on in Naruto as being on the side of the main antagonist Orochimaru, was always hard to decipher. Though Orochimaru never doubted Kabuto’s loyalty, he always questioned his motives, as does the viewer.
Despite his stated alliance, Kabuto heals protagonists on a couple of occasions without being asked. The first time, Hinata was having heart issues that she never recovered from during her Chuunin exam match. Kabuto, disguised as one of Konoha’s police force, the Anbu, pulls her aside and completely heals her. The second time, he heals Sakura after Naruto hurt her in his nine-tails cloak state. He had witnesses, and he explained to them that healing her would mean more people to take out Akatsuki members, a third party organization that is enemies of both Orochimaru and Konoha.
The mystery around his loyalty and motives is part of what makes him intriguing. He’s also probably the best medical ninja in existence, because of all the experiments and research he’s been a part of for Orochimaru. He’s intelligent and mysterious, such a winning combination. For 4 years I watched Naruto and enjoyed his character, and he is one of my favorite characters of all time.
Then he goes and destroys himself.
Kabuto, after implanting Orochimaru's cells
Orochimaru picked a losing fight with Sasuke, and he died. Kabuto decided it was a great idea to implant Orochimaru’s cells within himself. At first, I was like, ok, so he’s just got scales over his arm and half his face, that’s not too bad. He is still wearing his glasses, and now we know he could have cared less about Orochimaru, so he’s still mysterious. He was also seemingly a fair bit insane at this point, after thanking Naruto for bizarre reasons. Usually he’s on the quiet and reserved side. Everyone was confused. No one had any idea what he was going to do, not even the viewer.
Then he disappeared.
For a long time, he didn’t appear in the manga.
Kabuto, in his new form
Turns out, he had a whole plan brewing from day one, including hoarding the bodies of well known deceased ninjas. Then he reappears to leverage this with Madara Uchiha, the ultimate antagonist of the series.
And I wanted to cry when I saw him.
The entirety of his skin is now scaly and white. He’s got Orochimaru’s eyes and a snake for a tail. He even turns into a full fledge snake at one point. His hair is all shorter and scraggly, and he stays shrouded in a cloak with moth eyes on the hood. This, surely, can’t be Kabuto.
I have never been more upset with a turn of events in an anime. I do not accept this transformation, and for all intents and purposes, Kabuto is dead. He died when he let Orochimaru into himself (and you may take that phrase however you see fit). I don’t know who this new cloaked, snake freak is, but surely he’s not the intelligent and mysterious Kabuto Yakushi.
I merely expressed distrust as a matter of formality
Monday, April 25th, 2011“Megane Danshi″
part 4: Jade Curtiss
spoilers abound. you have been warned.
This article is strictly on the anime, as I have not played the video game.
Jade Balfour, aka Jade Curtiss
Jade Curtiss is a protagonist in Tales of the Abyss, but for several episodes after he makes his initial appearance, you can’t help but question whether or not he’s good or bad. His loyalties become apparent relatively quickly, though, and you realize his personality is just very stoic and cold. He also has a very dry, sarcastic humor, which lends well to the comic relief, but can teeter on the point of being cruelly intended. He always appears to be relatively cheerful, which tends to hide his true feelings or thoughts.
Jade is colonel for the Malkuth empire, the other of two warring continents that make up the earth (Auldrant), and the enemy nation of the main protagonists Luke and Tear. It’s partly for that reason Jade seems like a bad guy at first, capturing them after a fonic resonance send the pair flying into enemy territory. It turns out, though, that Jade is on a mission to get a message of peace from King Peony (Malkuth) to Luke’s father, the King of the other continent, Kimlasca.
Jade Balfour, age 9
Before he was Jade Curtiss, he was known as Dr. Jade Balfour, and also as “Jade the Necromancer.” Jade Balfour grew up in a pretty, snow covered port town called Ketersburg in the Malkuth empire. He and his little sister, Nephry, were good friends with two of Jade’s classmates, Saphir (Dist the Reaper) and Peony (the future emperor). Jade had an extraordinary command of the fonic arts at a young age and even created formicry, the art of replicating phonons from one object or person and creating a complete replica, at the age of 9 to replace his sister’s broken doll. The event scared her more than soothed her, and she refers to Jade in the present as having been “a devil” as i child. He had no sympathy for other creatures, and frequently practiced powerful fonic arts on innocent monsters.
The three boys had a teacher, professor Nibilim, whom Jade admired very much and helped him see the errors of his ways. She was a healer who had control of the seventh fonon, a very rare ability. One day, Jade attempted to control the seventh fonon, creating an explosion that killed their professor. Saphir was also present during the incident, and the two of them decided to study fomicry and use it to create a copy of their teacher. Eventually, they were able to successfully replicate her, but because they couldn’t replicate memories and personality, they unintentionally created a monster that Jade ended up having to seal away.
Recognized for his achievements, Jade was adopted into the House Curtiss, a prominent military family, and eventually rose to colonel of the Malkuth empire. He continued his fomicry research, picking up bodies off of battlefields, earning himself the nickname of “Jade the Necromancer.”
Eventually the formicry research was taking an enormous toll on Jade’s health, and Emperor Peony convinced him to put an end to it. Jade abandoned his research and put a ban on its continued practice on living organisms. Dist, feeling that Jade had abandoned their favorite teacher, continued the research as one of the 6 god generals under Van, the main antagonist of the series. Sadly, Jade kills Dist in a very heart wrenching moment, bidding his friend Saphir goodbye.
Through much of the series, Jade basically plays the ‘all-knowing’ character, as well as somewhat of a father figure to an all teenage (and early 20s) cast of companions. Jade’s 35 and tells them that he’s going to make them all crazy by the time he’s 40. Jade is also extremely good at figuring people out and deducing their secrets. His observational skills and knowledge make him the funnel that draws out the pasts and problems that each person in the party is hiding about themselves. He’s also extremely powerful, but doesn’t demonstrate much through most of the anime after having a seal placed on him by the enemy early on. By the end of the anime, he’s able to slowly crack away at the seal to the point where it hardly effects him. I think that’s pretty convenient for the story line; after all, you can’t have Jade simply destroy every bad guy along the way, right?
Jade’s cold, solid exterior starts to deteriorate as the anime winds down. As Luke says his goodbyes, Jade refers to him as a friend, to which Luke is taken aback. Jade apologizes for being so cold, which is what he assumed made Luke not think that they were friends. Then, on their final night before the ending battle, Jade tells Anise that he’s planning on resuming formicry research after life returns to normal again. But this time, he’s going to expand his research into developing a way for replicas to have a purpose in life.
And now on another note, Jade does not actually need glasses, which is not revealed in the anime but the game. His fonic power originates from his eyes, making them appear red. He uses glasses to help control his power, even though he’s pretty good at it on his own. Also something I found pretty funny; when he’s getting ready to use his fonic arts in the final battle, he spins his glasses in the air with a single finger. That’s talent.
I care for no man, and no man cares for me
Sunday, April 24th, 2011“Honorary Megane Danshi″
part 2: Gaara
spoilers abound. you have been warned.
Gaara, who starts out as a minor antagonist in the first 80 episodes of Naruto, becomes a major protagonist and icon by the time Naruto Shippuden rolls out. The dark rings around his eyes qualify as glasses, right? Haha, he’s honorary anyway.
Back in 2006, I had just come home from a long summer of being a camp counselor in August. I was watching television with my twin sister when we stumbled upon this anime, Naruto. The episode was the start of the chuunin exams when they take the test, and we were both hooked. (Thankfully that was my first experience with it, had I started from the beginning, I might’ve never got that far in, thanks to Naruto’s annoying tendencies.) At the time, I was sporting a look of shorter, red hair and I always had my signature ring of eyeliner.
Gaara, age 13, toward the end of Naruto
When I saw Gaara, it was like love at first sight. He physically looked different than the other characters, and his almost silent and creepy disposition made him something of an intrigue when I watched. He also reminded me of Sydney Carton (my favorite literary character of all time), from A Tale of Two Cities, and his line “I care for no man, and no man cares for me.” As I continued to progress with Naruto, a whole backstory filled in for Gaara that made my heart ache for him, and his tranformation makes him one of the most dynamic round characters I’ve ever seen.
Like the title character, Naruto Uzumaki, Gaara was implanted with a powerful tailed beast (before he was born). Because of this, his mother died giving birth, and he was raised to be something of a weapon for the Sand Village, Sunagakura. He was given the name Gaara, which means “self-loving carnage” or “demon who only loves himself,” as a testament to her hatred for the village.
Gaara, age 6
I’m not sure if he couldn’t control his power and sand manipulation abilities, or if he just didn’t know how, but he constantly terrified the villagers and other kids, no matter how good his intention were. At the time, Gaara lived with his uncle (or aunt, depending on translations, but I’m convinced its his uncle) who harbored a hatred for Gaara for the death of his sister, Gaara’s mother. Also, because of the sand’s protectiveness (which is said to be infused with his mother’s protection), Gaara has never felt pain before, as the sand continually shields him prior to any injury. And the tailed beast that resides in Gaara makes him unable to sleep, hence the dark rings, so his personality is extremely unstable.
Such a combination made Gaara an uncontrollable threat by the time he was 6 years old, so much so that his father hired assassin after assassin to kill him. One night, Gaara discovered that the assassin was none other than his uncle, who revealed his hatred just before he suicide bombed himself (Gaara remained untouched, thanks to the sand), and it destroyed him. Everything his uncle taught him about love and caring for others was shattered, and Gaara etched the kanji “Ai,” meaning “love,” on his forehead as a proclamation that he can only love himself. Unlike Naruto, who faced a similar lonlieness and resorted to mischief for attention to prove his worth, Gaara decided that to prove his own worth, he needed to kill anyone who crossed him.
Gaara, age 12, during Chuunin exams
As a 12 year old in the start of Naruto, Gaara is a monster, and he’s absolutely insane. He wants nothing more than to throw down with Sasuke to prove he can not only beat, but destroy him. He mercilessly annihilates three shinobi with a single sand attack during the Forest phase of the Chuunin exam. In his battle with Rock Lee at the third phase of the Chuunin exams, he crushes all of the bones in Lee’s right leg and arm, making him unable to fight for an extremely long time. The night before the final Chuunin exam battles, he murders a Sound ninja without even a thought.
After Orochimaru murders the Fourth Kazekage and parades as him in disguise, he tries to use Gaara as a weapon to destroy Konoha. The plan backfires when Gaara can no longer contain his bloodlust and the tailed beast makes its appearance too soon. At this point, he’s engaged in a fight with Naruto, who musters all of his strength and some of his tailed beast’s chakra, to take down Gaara. He explains to Gaara, as they lay unable to fight, that the two of them have had similar childhoods, and that love is what validates your existence, not killing, and fighting for those you care about makes you strongest of all. Defeated, and moved by Naruto’s words, Gaara’s personality does almost a full 180, starting with a simple apology to his team mates and siblings, Temari and Kankuro.
Throughout the rest of Naruto (before Shippuden), Gaara is seen helping Konoha in their battles, namely Rock Lee’s battle with Kimimaro (top most image). He and his two siblings also become ambassadors between the Sand and Leaf villages, and work with them to help set up a ninja training school in the Sand village. He sites Naruto as his inspiration and strives to uphold the same ideals.
Gaara, age 15, as Kazekage
At the dawning of Naruto Shippuden, 15 year old Gaara has replaced his father as the Fifth Kazekage. He defends his village brilliantly when it is attacked by Akatsuki. Unfortunately, Gaara is kidnapped and killed as his tailed beast is drained from him. After Naruto rescues his body, he is so upset about Gaara’s death that he lashes out at the Sand villagers. He blamed them for implanting the tailed beast and being responsible for all the time he suffered. His rant touched the heart of a Sand village elder, Chiyo, who had long abandoned the Sand village because she hated the way things were done. She used a forbidden puppet master’s jutsu to resurrect Gaara, in exchange for her own life. Upon waking up, Gaara is shocked to see the number of people who were excited to have him back, including his whole village. For the first time, Gaara felt loved in return.
Now as the shinobi world has been enveloped in a world war, Gaara rose amongst all the Kages to become the leader of the Joint-Shinobi army.
He was created as a weapon, feared and neglected for his power, and he turned to a life of hate. His encounter with Naruto ignited a spark that changed him into the most revered figure in the entire shinobi world. Epic win.
The star that could not return to the heavens
Sunday, April 24th, 2011“Megane Danshi″
part 3: Loki/ Leo the Lion
spoilers abound. you have been warned.
Loki
Loki, or sometimes spelled Loke, is a fascinating character with an intense backstory, from the anime/manga Fairy Tail. Though he doesn’t wear prescription glasses, he is always wearing light colored sunglasses, so it counts.
Loki is introduced as being just another Fairy Tail mage who also happens to have a healthy interest in women. In fact, he usually has several girlfriends at one time. Despite this, he is extremely respectful of women and will always wholeheartedly defend a woman who is being mistreated. He is also revealed to be terribly afraid of the main female character, Lucy, because she is a Stellar Spirit Summoner. The fear is written off by fellow guild members as Loki once having had a bad experience dating one. But, its so much deeper than that.
Loki's true form as Leo the Lion
Loki has his own two episode arc, 31-32, and his entire past is revealed. He himself is a Stellar Spirit named Leo the Lion, one of the twelve golden keys that corresponds to the Astrological symbols, the most powerful of the Stellar Spirits. Lucy discovers that Leo was owned by an infamous Stellar Spirit summoner by the name of Karen Lilica. Karen had multiple boyfriends at a time, just like Loki did with girls, and he even admits to picking up that lifestyle in remembrance of Karen. But unlike Loki, Karen was cruel and heartless, especially toward her Steller Spirit Aries. She passed her off to boys she didn’t want to deal with, used her as a shield, even struck her, and then threatened to keep her summoned for a week straight which was thought to torture a Stellar Spirit, if not kill them. Coming to Aries rescue, Leo forced himself out and Aries back, and he demanded Karen free them or he wouldn’t go back to the Spirit realm. No matter how much Karen tried, she couldn’t force him to go back.
After 3 months of being in the Earth realm, Loki is able to deal with the physical ramifications of being in the world he doesn’t belong. He decides to forgive Karen for now, but continue to protect Aries if the need ever arose. Upon returning, he discovers that Karen attempted to do missions without the use of her Stellar Spirits, as she could not summon more than one at a time, seeing as Leo was already active. Unable to defend herself, she died. Leo couldn’t return to the spirit realm, after having caused his master’s death.
Fast forward three years, and his time in the Earth realm is up, and Loki’s beginning to fade from existence. When Lucy discovered what had happened, she tried coming to his aid by forcing the Leo gate open. In doing so, she roused the Spirit King, and demanded he change his mind. She summoned all of her keys at once, something that takes a lot of power and strength to do, and tries to convince the king that protecting your friends is not a sin. The king reconsiders and allows Loki to return to the Spirit realm as Leo the Lion. Now Leo serves Lucy as his new master.