Imagination – Pinkie's Paradise

It’s Transformation Time: The brand new “You Are Magical, Girl!” Blog-Tag-Award-Thingy!

Salutations, guests and loyal subjects! The time has come, I have regained a lot of my former strength so I want to interact with you a lot more! Since I haven’t fully been able to regain my strength , I decided to reach out through a new blog tag! One I created in my head a few times. One that is easy enough and one that reflects what is happening on my blog very well now! It is time for the You Are Magical, Girl! Blog-Tag-Award-Thingy! I even made a logo!

The Rules

1. A Magical Girl is always polite! So be polite! Display the Magical Girl Tag Logo, thank the one who tagged you and if you want tag creator to thank you for participating, tag Pinkie’s original post as well! That last one is optional though!
2. A good magical girl gets the job done! Answer all the prompts! But do it like yourself! Come up with your own ideas, or compare it with other anime or video games! Anything goes! Just get the job done!
3. A good Magical girl always makes friends! Tag at least 2 people! More is optional!
There is no 4! That would be bad luck!
5. A Magical girl is not defined by gender! Feel free to tag anyone!

The Questions

A Magical Creature descended from the skies! It is telling you , you are a magical girl! Describe this magical messenger! What is it.. where is it from?!

My magical girl story begins at my home, my real home here in the Netherlands! It is late at night when I hear a tapping on my window.. out there is a little coconut! Much like the ones I have as my Kofi supports.. but this one has a monocle and a little bowtie as well as a tuft of hair groomed neatly in a two parted wave. He also carries a little cane.. he looks very posh! He says his name is Butternut and calls me Hime.. he has an important mission for me! As well as a very comfy job!

Your creature tells you about an evil force from afar! What is this evil force?! What is their goal?!

Butternut tells me that he is stewart of the island of Paradise an island that is on the border of fiction and reality! I am it’s intended ruler, but two evil fations seek to use the island to destroy the balance between reality and between imagination! Yes that’s right! I will go above and beyond and make two evil forces! One from the land of reality and one from the world of imagination. From the world of reality it is some military force.. probably an american sub division called “Deep Dive” .. they want to use Paradise to gain enough resources to police the world keep the island out of the hand of people who would use it for worse..yet at the same time.. they will use it to keep America dominant on the world stage. Enemies of Deep Dive would take “class” archetypes.. such as a Sniper, A Commando and a John Wick like Assassin among other things.

Krampus: Jack in the Box by thewebsurfer97 on DeviantArt — _{Art by thewebsurfer97}

On the side of imagination there would be an organisation called “The Fallen” This organisation is made from villains of imagination that have already been defeated. Enemies of old tv shows, manga or other things.. that have since lost their face and became monsters they called “Ideas” creatures that have lost their essence but still remain as concepts and blue prints for future generations. “Ideas” will mimic classic villains in some ways or another but have more monstrous shapes. Think of a Jack in the Box monster that represents “The Joker” or a “Crocodile” made out of sand and Golden teeth, that has the power to dehydrate. The Jack in the Box along with a Changeling in the colours white and purple would probably be two of the elites! With lesser known villains working as monsters. Their goal is to spread fear in reality so they are remembered to take shape once again.. if they do.. they can breach into existence.

The creature then tells you , you hold a great virtue, it is the reason you have been selected! What is this reason!

As a VTuber/VBlogger I already walk the line between fantasy and because of my content , where I blend reality and fantasy quite often I become heir to the throne of Paradise. Yet there is more.. “Ideas” have a corrupting effect on everything that is sort of like them,, while Deep Dive manipulates people to be normal citizens. The chosen ones that Butternut selects are truly unique! They do not strive to belong! I do not strive to belong or to adhere to a simple concept. This is my strength and the source of my power! This item Butternut presents to me next is said to reflect that power, and push it through new heights. Yet suddenly a huge storm blows open my windows and the item flies to the room as a Tornado with spiky white hair.. red eyes and huge eyebrows show up! Some dolls float around in the storm as well.

After the exposition , a monster shows up at your doorstep! It is time to transform! What is your transformation item?!

Well this one is not that hard to guess! As I crawl through my room and under my bed, I find a royal scepter. One that feels classical, yet also immediately shouts magical girl! At first I have trouble actually lifting the item because one of these royal scepters is quite heavy! It is also quite garish!.. With gold and red and some heavy jewels. As I get flailed around through the room by wind Butternut tells me that this is not a real item.. I need to cross from reality into imagination and grab the imaginary one. I reach again and pick up a rod that has some rainbow fur and can talk through a duck beak! As I pick it up suddenly some snow begins to fall!

Transformation scene time! How do you look as a magical girl?! What is your power and signature attack?!

I pick up the staff and since it’s the first time this transformation scene happens I do not utter my code phrase yet.. the transformation scene has me set against a sky of pink clouds while a bunch of moths made of pink light eat my old clothing.. yet I do not look naked.. the moths made of light form the new shape of a much more regal outfit , lengthy.. then a snowflake falls on the light and the dress takes shape! It’s a princess gown filled with hearts! The moths form a crown.. and a snowflake falls on that.. as the crown becomes a real object as well.. they form my twintails and they become tufts of rainbow fur twintails. A horn is formed next in the same way.. and as I yell Quack.. duck feathers sprout out some places as an adorable duck purse appears on my hip! Of course also in pink!

From this purse I can pull out several attacks, as well as items that are too large to fit in there. Elementally my powers reflect that of ice and light. Usually depicted as sparkly powders that trap my foes as I bonk them on the head with the heavy princess rod! My way of fighting is less direct than that of most magical girls. I blind with powder snow, I freeze to the ground and then I bonk! I am not that physically strong. My finishing attack is summoning a giant snowflake from the sky that I charge with rainbow energy, then I throw it like an energy disk at the enemy! It’s called the Special Snowflake Special!

*_{My Finisher attack, the Special Snowflake!}*

Catchphrase time! Name some of those lines you repeat in every episode.. and tell us when you use them! This can be a transformation phrase.. or just something cool you keep repeating!

My transformation catchphrase is a portmanteau of Transformation and Imagination! It is just me shouting “Transgimagination with later phases of transformation keep using the latter word but adding a deeper phase of imagination in it .. like Imagilucination or maybe even Hallucinarium. Who knows how long I can keep my series going! It might just get really trippy! Other catchphrases I keep using “Friendship is Magic” and I will have this anime girl speech thing where I use the word Royal a lot. “This monster is gonna be a Royal pain in the but”. “If this attack goes through we are Royally Fudged” stuff like that. I sometimes try to do this with princesses or queens as well but it rarely works out.

*^{Sometimes Royalty based puns do not work out for this magical girl}*

My hero catchphrase is Villains repent! We can do this the easy way or the nice way.. I prefer the nice way”. .. which isn’t very catchy but it does sum up what I am about! I will try to redeem enemies. Transformed I will be a bit of an Ojou-Sama and display arrogance so this is my way of saying.. I can beat you easily..let’s talk it out instead! Neat huh!

Get the 'I Am Amazing' song - Judi Cranston — *_{Ojou Sama Arrogance will be a part of the character}*

Are you a solo magical girl?! Do you work in a team?! Are you the first recruit or a supportive one?!

*_{Chibi Pinkie will join the fight later!}*

I will be alone for a fair amount of episodes! There is the coconut and me facing some enemies and the lore of enemies and my transformation will be explained thoroughly before I get allies! But they would come! Their transformations would take the form of other royal court members that wield staff, such as the Royal Advisor.. who also wears a staff, the Jester and perhaps a knight whose rod is an actual club! Later on in a second season we could even get a support magical girl.. kind of similar to how Rise works in persona! She would be a chef and her scepter would be a ladle! She would function as a healer who can cook up buffs with monster parts!

Every magical girl has a goal in her normal life as well! What would your goal be?!

I would want to be a VTuber and of course manage paradise. I’d open up Paradise as a resort where people can come face to face with their imagination! A vacation of reality of sorts! But that is kind of to be expected.. I do have my trustworthy staff there..but lots of monsters would be tied into the problem of paradise. Say we run out of food on Paradise , we get a Gluttonous monster, if some guests would get into petty fights on the beach..maybe I fight with a Jellyfish.. whose Jelly stands for jealousy! So in that way we have a goal as the manager on Paradise. However I will also be trying to make it as a VTuber.. keeping my show relevant and all! This leads to some spider man like shenanigans where I sometimes try to stream while fighting monsters or soldiers! Which can lead to some fun situations and make fights more interesting! Offer extra challenges and really help with power scaling. We can add an extra tension in fights that should be easy because I need to stream.. or make a fight go faster because I try extra hard to be home in time for a stream! Sometimes I am a genius!

*^{My Steam Dream will bloom up again! Both in reality as well as in this story!}*

What is the dark twist to your being a magical girl?!

***My dark secret.. I can’t wear shoes!***

A lot of magical girl series have a plot twist that is revealed near the end of the show! My element of despair however is revealed immediately You see every time transform and cross into imagination , I do not come back fully! After the first episode a lock of pink hair is shown.. after the first general is defeated I will have duck feet forever! I am becoming less human and my imagination is becoming more vivid.. I see things in the real world that are not there.. just that other people imagine being there. Thus reality and fiction begin to blend more.. I begin to fit in the real world less and less and have to spend more and more time on Paradise Island.. there everything is in balance and I can keep my sanity. So as I become stronger in my magic.. I lose my humanity! So will the other magical girls! So rather than seeing us all transform all the time.. we try to balance it out.. look out for each other! Yet we all know.. that saving the world means that eventually we become stranded on Paradise and can not see our loved ones anymore! We are really becoming our magical girl identity.

The Tags

I will be a good princess/magical girl and help you out by reposting the questions that way you can copy and paste them more easily!

1.A Magical Creature descended from the skies! It is telling you , you are a magical girl! Describe this magical messenger! What is it.. where is it from?!
2.Your creature tells you about an evil force from afar! What is this evil force?! What is their goal?!
3. The creature then tells you , you hold a great virtue, it is the reason you have been selected! What is this reason!
4. After the exposition , a monster shows up at your doorstep! It is time to transform! What is your transformation item?!
5.Transformation scene time! How do you look as a magical girl?! What is your power and signature attack?!
6.Catchphrase time! Name some of those lines you repeat in every episode.. and tell us when you use them! This can be a transformation phrase.. or just something cool you keep repeating!
7.Are you a solo magical girl?! Do you work in a team?! Are you the first recruit or a supportive one?!
8.Every magical girl has a goal in her normal life as well! What would your goal be?!
9. What is the Dark Twist to your being a magical girl!

Now for my Magical Girls!

GeekGirlJoy: She did this amazing thing! She made a game based on my island so I repay her her with allowing her to go completely crazy and quirky with this post!

Summer Foovay: Whom is my bestie and she is already a witch so let’s see how she is as a magical girl!

Geeky Gal Meg: I tag her for all new tags so this one will not be an exception.

Senpai: Who already speculated she might be a magical girl once so I give her the chance to become one!

Lynn: I have almost always tagged him in new tags as well and he might be a sweet magical girl!

Fred: Now that is a magical girl story I really want to hear

Roki: Because than my tag will be reactivated in a few months time … just kidding Roki, I love you as a community member so I just really wanted to tag you.

Cele: Because you are kind of my Kohai in a away and I really love your visual style!

Allysa: I would love to see this tag with a more manga minded angle! Al has read so many stories, something good would have to come out of this should they take up the tag!

K: Because I think the world wants to know how K would be as a magical girl!

Annie: I think Annie might actually be a magical girl.. transforming with a teacup! And I REALLY REALLY want to find out how right I am!

If you want to do the tag but I have not nominated you please type “I invoke the powers of Kyubey” in the comments and magically .. in a few days or so your tag will appear on the list! It’s not like I did not nominated you… we just need a bit of extra power for all the nominations to appear! Now I hope you will pick up the tag and I can read some awesome magical girl stories.. but first I have to face a few strange creatures that live behind my eyelids! Because remember folks! Friendship is magic but dreams are even more wonderful! Oyasumi!

Analysing Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Welcome back dear guests! Today we serve you a cocktail that gives you a rush that pierces the heavens. One of my least favorite genres in anime , is that off the mech shows. While I did enjoy Zoids: New Century as a pulpy tournament show never did I really like for example a Gundam show, even Code Geass is something I do not look at that favorably (while recognising it’s a good show). The genre tends to be bogged down by heavy political themes and this quasi-intellectual sub tones that forces you to understand a world and their complex systems, it just feels like such a burden to watch every time. My favorite anime of all time however is all about mechs. My favorite anime of all time is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

Emotion

I do not think I need to explain the story of Gurren Lagann but here is a quick summary. Simon is a digger who lives in an underground village when he discovers a mysterious robot. His best friend Kamina and him use this robot to break free to the surface where they find the earth is ruled by beastman controlled by the evil Lordgenome, the spiral king. Together they find allies for mankind to take their world back one fight at a time. While Gurren Lagann does share the dystopian themes of it heavy hearted brothers it doesn’t match their feeling at all. Gundam is a very serious, somewhat gloomy and like most mech shows is very much about ‘the system’ , the political gears that make things work. Gurren Lagann is very much a *Bleep* the system anime. Where Code Geass much dabbles with emotions versus the cause or versus the smart thing to do, my favorite anime choses for a very primal route of highlighting pure emotion. You can feel the characters sheer determination, there never are any double layers or real choices to make there are never two sides of situation. Simon and Kamina have such strong emotions and such zeal there is always only one choice. Retreating is never an option, waiting for a strategic opening can happen but they don’t explain you their thought process. Gurren Lagann is the epitome of empathy. When Simon cries , I cry, when Yoko laughs I laugh, when Kamina yells like a caveman…..my next door neighbor knocks on my door to ask me what is wrong! Then I tell him “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM” and slam the door in his face.

Beliefs

I am not a religious girl, though I would not call myself a complete atheist either. While I do not believe in a god, I believe in an energy, a force of some kind. Can it karma or chi or even “the force” if you like. Trough our believes and zeal we can manipulate that energy and make things happen, it grows more powerful if more people share your beliefs. Thusly trough my beliefs everyone’s religion is right and empowering … for them. I believe a mother can lift a car to save her baby because in that very moment there is not a single doubt in the world , that she can not do that herself as well as onlookers somehow will feel that she can, reshaping the possible.Thusly we can make miracles happen because we believe in them full heartedly. Now those who wonder why I wrote this bit about my beliefs, are people I think have not seen this anime yet. Simon and Kamina do this exact thing I believe in. They validate my belief. Their ‘spiral energy’ basically is a visualisation of how I live my life. This might seem extreme but it is exactly what happens. This is best shown when Kamina and Simon combine their gunmen for the first time. Kamina just slams Lagann trough Gurren’s body and is absolutely 100% sure this will lead them to combine. Everything in our body says ‘that is not how combining works’ yet Kamina’s beliefs make it possible. The scene then shows everyone being completely surprised but to the greatest hero that was ever drawn, there never were any doubts. That level of determination and belief in yourself and your ways is then used as a blueprint for Simon to grow as well, so he can eventually overcome the final obstacle in the end. His power goes even as far as being able to alter his own body to suit his needs. He can bend reality.

The complete package

While I do not like to talk about visuals or music to much , I really adore this style of everything. Normally mech’s have very serious designs, oftenly military colours, white or black. This show has mech’s that look like that but as soon as they fall into the hands of the characters they become more comical , more colorful and even decked out with sunglasses and other vanity items. Viral’s gunman represents the classic design , sleek white and dangerously looking. Firing big powerful laser beams. Kamina crushes the head of this old design and takes it’s crown.. a crown that used to be white and at their head has a golden, vertical crescent.. almost like a golden v…. As if they took the crown for best mech-show right of a gundam. I mean this show is basically about a bunch of weirdos stealing gunman (kinda sounds like a certain something) from people with a much more limited imagination and then doing some pretty wacky stuff with it. It breaks the mold and the visuals reflect that perfectly. Mech designs are completely insane, visuals going from a blur, to crisp to completely surreal at times, it mixes what should not be mixed and create something that works. It always aims for bigger down to the very last detail. Kamina’s extreme sunglasses being outdone by even more extreme sunglasses after the timeskip. Combinations going ever more unlikely , with the movie version of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann taking the absolute crown. Their music unsurprisingly does the same. If I ask you to find two music genres that could never mix, Opera and Rap would most likely be one of the things that could very well be mentioned. These two could not be further apart. “Libera me” From hell is exactly that and while not my favorite song in the world it does work so well for this show it’s very much what this show is about. When you read the premises of this show and hear Sorairo days for the first time you think it will not fit a show like that, but you would be wrong again but don’t worry.. that’s what the show is really about.

Strange Characters

While Yoko, Rossiu, Kittan, Viral and everyone else are great characters they represent something relatively minor and their role changes over the course of the series. Simon and Kamina are something way more special. Because in a way the character of Kamina is the anime, he IS ‘Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann’. He names everything that is unable to convey their own names, such as the mech’s and their attacks. In a way Simon is the viewer, which is shown by Simon oftenly voicing our concerns as a viewer. ‘Are you sure this will work big bro?’ when Kamina pulls of one of his ridiculous actions is exactly what we have come to expect by watching all these other shows. Kamina basically shows us ‘That is NOT how THIS show works’. “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?’ He is not just any standard show.. he is Mother blipping Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, the show where anything is possible. As soon as we the viewer have learned how this show works …………………………… This pulls a weird trick in our minds where now we HAVE to believe. The events that conclude the first ‘chapter’ of this show not only entrust Simon with the belief but the viewer as well. In a way Simon still is the viewer. That final fight is asking as much of the viewer as it is of Simon, we have to to push our suspension of disbelief to the absolute maximum of our abilities in a show that has slower Spiralled out of control. In the end the final “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE” is not only the crew of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE” .. we are the viewers of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, our beliefs are not chained by conventional narratives and tropes. We can believe anything , even your defeat! The drill that shall pierce the heavens is a metaphor of constantly shattering one’s expectations. We have a saying that the sky’s the limit, but the sky is way to restraining for this show. So we have to break open the skies to find our new limit. In a way trough Simon and Kamina , this isn’t just a show about heroes this is about us as well.

HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK I RATE THIS!!

I am not one that re-watches anime a lot, I have some pretty solid memory and I can recognise a tv show by simple quotes such as “Here is your coffee, soy milk, low fat” .. I’ll know what episode of CSI I saw that in… once, who did it and how they worked. As a result any show with plot twists or about discovery does not have the same impact on me. This show however is different. The movies and the show both tell more or less the same story, with the second movie even improving on the second half .. of the second half. The final battle is done een better and makes me scream even louder. At a past animecon in the hague these two movies showed at the ungodly time of 2AM till 5:30 AM and I stayed up to watch it even if I watched both recently. Just so we could yell WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE are at the final encounter with about thirty still awake anime fans. To me there is nothing like this show, not because of it’s story but because how it treats you. It teaches you to stop thinking within the limits.. set your mind free and go beyond what should even be possible. You are a part of this show when you watch it, you play a role in this story and in every aspect this exceeds what you could imagine before. It pierces the heaven of your imagination with the most epic GIGA DRILL BREAKER to the face. So there is only one flavor-grade I can give this show!