Dog Days has proven to have a great cast, but quite a bit of a weak way they were handled. A lot of that has to do with the plot, and how exactly are we supposed to be satisfied if the explanations were all so simply a convenient setup? This is my view on Flonyard, not as a fanfic idea, but utilizing the creative prowess of my brain, an explanation as if I were the creator of Dog Days. Purely my opinion, unofficially sensible. Theory and speculation.
Legend: Millimeter = Milhiore, Sink = Cinque or for fansub viewers = Shinku, Galletto = Gallete, Biscuitti = Biscotti, Ricochet = Ricotte
Q: Okay, biggest question of all is, where did the evil tentacle sword come from?
A: You know, this being the early days of Flonyard, it wouldn't be surprising if the few humans in this world decided to do a little experiment. My best explanation I can give for that sword is, let's say for example someone somewhere was experimenting with the summoning process, and in it's infancy, it proved quite unstable with what comes out of the portal. So a bad sword came flying towards the ground, striking a poor foxy for some immense collateral damage. This of course causing quite a havoc, which the humans took upon themselves to correct, utilizing hero's of the Exelide Paladion ring things. Then the poor fox was sealed, and peace prevails in that world. Don't you think it would be an interesting take if a requirement for getting rid of the evil sword, is that it requires an off-worlder? One fit enough to brandish Paladion to it's fullest potential. There's something to consider too: when Sink was traveling through the wormhole back in episode 01, there was some strangely familiar lightning in that wormhole. Hmm hm.
Q: Let's talk about the summoning process. Obviously, your theory is that it was used to pull the evil sword into their world. Now what?
A: Well, suppose my theory is correct, and those who remained of the battle are now aware of the benefits (and dangers) of off-world summons. I'll be frank, Mama Fox was rather vague with her storytelling, but the gist of it is, it's quite a big planet, and say the Human civilization was located in only one tiny part of the world. So let's say for example, the pre-Galletto's (wielders of the Battle Axe and sword) were responsible for the bad summon, and obviously didn't know where in the world that summoned sword went, and as time went on (according to Mother Fox, about 200 years >_>), the summoning process was ironed out a bit, such as summoning to one's exact location, the strength of the summon, etc. Of course, by this time Raging Fox had reached human territory (remember it's walking pace is quite slow, not counting the food and lodging XD) and by now the humans saw something they couldn't handle, so they decided to use their new portal array to bring in some otherworldly hero's and weapons. Enter the magic weapons, the 4 mentioned ones being Exelide, Paladion, Granveil and Ex-Machina. It was mentioned other countries have their own, and I wouldn't be surprised if all these weapons were together in the fight, wielded by a group of people, not just 4. So suppose they saw the root of the problem, apparently a sword similar to their own, and piecing together that oh gee, someone screwed up, and now something needs to be done. Foxy sealed, peace in the land, and now what. Maybe fingers were pointed, people were blamed, and then ultimately the decision was made that oh well, this is a little big planet, since we have our differences let's split up and go our separate ways. Granveil and Ex-Machine wielders formed the land known as Gallette, and the Paladion and Exelide wielders started the land of Happyness, Biscotti. Of course, the dangers (and benefits) of summoning were set in stone, and probably decreed into law on what exactly one would need to summon, if needed. More on this later.
Q: Okay, so if that's the case, where does Brioche fit in?
A: Honestly, it's hard to say. She's so secretive, no one even knows her 3 sizes :P Jokes aside, I'll be up front and say Brioche is a decendant/lineage of one of those involved in the sealing. Not exactly a decendant of the wielder of Paladion/Exelide, but rather of another country that took part in that battle. Maybe she is a decendant of the Paladion wielder, and has carried out the sealing process since on lesser monsters. Having been passed the sealing abilites, perhaps her real job was roaming the land sealing up "mistakes" the baby fox created while rampaging the land. Mistakes such as, maybe when the baby fox was walking around, any animal that touched it became a monster too, and perhaps the land it walked on became a decaying land of evil (hence why there are only certain "protected" lands), giving birth to those demon rumors from Noir. I would have to say Brioche wasn't exactly targeting baby fox, since it was already sealed, and rather, that thing she was searching for was what could be the cause of it waking up and breaking the seal, if it does. That's as much as I can go concerning Brioche, for all we know they could pull a fast one on us and actually say she is one of those remaining from the first sealing, and that she's an immortal XD
Q: So what can you say about Yukikaze?
A: What else, she's my waifu, end of discussion >:D
Q: Uh... so that would make sense then, if the evil baby fox really did decay the land it walks on.
A: Yes it would, as it would explain why the whole planet wasn't a protected area. It's like, say for example, the entire planet used to be a protected area, protected by the transparent deity's like Momma Fox and the opaque frogs. So it kinda makes sense if the baby fox got possessed, then some of what it didn't do before, got reversed. Instead of happily playing with the other animals in the forest, it ate them, instead of protecting the land, it destroyed them. Something like that. Of course, in episode 10 he wasn't really laying waste to the land, while he did leave a damaged trail, I think it's about him destroying the land like in the past, as opposed to him just walking away in ep 10.
Q: What about Leon-sama's stargazing abilities? Was she going mental?
A: You know, I like to leave no stone unturned, and it certainly gets interesting. Recall how I mentioned that it was perhaps the early Galletto's who are responsible for the failed summon of the evil sword. It makes sense then, that when they were made aware of this, perhaps it's been passed down to the succeeding rulers of Gallette to always be mindful of the impending danger of that sword. So maybe it's in the Lion bloodline to always be having visions of the dangers that evil sword imposes should it re-awaken, and why Leon-sama's visions were involving Millimeter, the Biscuitti ruler, user of Exelide. Of course, the inaccuracy of Leon-sama's visions can be attributed to the passage of time, and/or the strength of the current seal on Baby Fox, as Leon-sama has not had such a strong vision before, and only until the Hero of Paladion arrived, did her visions get stronger, and Baby Fox reacting to the existence once again of it's nemesis.
Q: Where's Ex-Machina?
A: I'll admit, I don't even know if we've ever seen it. Did we? Because my joke is, that Ex-Machina is actually the evil sword. Make of that what you will lol.
(So begins the start of EPISODE 13 related topics)
Q: Er... let's talk about that letter that describes what to do if a summoned one is sent back to their world, the letter Ricotte read in episode 13.
A: This one is interesting, because the letter was sealed with a Biscuitti seal. I'll tell you it's all correct, but how does it all fit? I'm going back to my theory above (the answer to question #2), on how the humans split up into different countries. Obviously, that happened after the battle, but the key thing to think about is the part where I mentioned that perhaps some of those that took part in the battle might have been off-worlders. So let's say for example, perhaps the Biscuitti hero just had to go home, or some things just couldn't work out between man and dogirl. So, let the guy go home, but of course, summoning and all that jazz must have been a heck of a ritual to pull off, this probably being the first time something is sent back, so, let's look at it this way. Maybe after several trials, it was finally figured out what it takes to send the guy home. This all happening if we were to believe the wielder of Exelide was a dogirl, and the wielder of Paladion was an off-world guy, and that maybe she fell in love with him, they used the power of love to seal the baby fox, had a kid of their own, but then daddy hero needs to go home for a quickie. Ahem, back to the summoning, it was probably determined that in order for this guy to go home, he needs to do certain things in order to come back. So after a tearful goodbye, Biscuitti researchers decided to share their newfound knowledge of what not to do to make return summons (de-summons?) work, and sent word to Galletto researchers. (They're not exactly enemies) I guess somewhere along the way, maybe the letter was delivered to the Galletto library and left on a pile of books that needed to be re-filed, some absent minded librarian stacked the books and shoved them into a shelf, lost forever, meanwhile in Biscuitti land apparently the person who wrote out the letter forgot to log those findings into the journal, and so only a brief portion (the first half) of the return summoning was left on record. Oh how convenient :p
Q: Well that kind of fits into some things, such as how Sink and Millimeter were able to defeat the evil sword.
A: Having magic weapons like that certainly makes a lot of sense if they were from another world, considering after all those hundreds of years later, these civilizations don't even have motorized transport, and still ride on... giant birds. Not to say Fire Emblem is strange >_> Also that end part of episode 10 may have been a similar event to the first sealing, with a group participation, and not just 2. After all, if it weren't for Leonmichelle, the evil sword may have very well eaten Sink alive. The interesting part is that only until Millimeter decided to help Sink defeat the evil sword, did Exelide assist them. Power of Love? I know, that's kind of being used a lot recently, but it's a strong indicator here. And what of it, they both decided to pull out the evil sword together (with their rings shining together :P). A couple that fights together, stays together. Er... that might have been worded wrong, but still, Sink pulled it out himself afterwards, and Millimeter turned her attention to the baby fox. Working together. Let's talk about Brioche's words about a hero returning home after their missions are accomplished. If that first Biscuitti hero was from another world, and had to go back home, maybe afterwards all these rules were made so as to not abuse hero summoning, and make it so that if the people of Flonyard ever need to be saved from an evil sword again, they could bring in an off-worlder, have him do his job, and let him decide if Flonyard is a nice place to live, so as much as to not let another broken hearted princess experience what the first dogirl experienced. Maybe that's why Momma Fox was so intent on Princess Millimeter to save her baby fox, maybe the power of love was needed after all. Oh bugger...
Q: Come on, one of the amusing things about all this is the mind wiping. He entered Flonyard with his Earth memories, why not leave with a few more?
A: I would make a joke and say on the way back to Earth he exited the Stargate at such an amazing force that he hit his head XD Okay seriously, let's look at it this way. It'll be his first time into the world, a world he's never been to before, a world that has magical properties in the land that can apparently protect it's citizens from death from a blunt force trauma attack. So let's say the mystical properties in the world actually had a tantalizing effect on the off-worlder who entered this newfound land. Say it configured his mind to conform to life on Flonyard. That would certainly make sense then, given the fact that if he wanted to leave in a regrettable state of mind, perhaps the local deity's are so caring enough to have him leave in a peace of mind, as if it all was just a dream.
Q: Wait, so you're saying that maybe the magical land is playing tricks on his mind, that if he leaves, bye bye memories? I mean, time limits on when memories can either stay or lost forever?
A: It's connecting, actually. Recall my earlier quips about the early Biscuitti's probably researching into sending the first Hero back home. It's not like the letter was sent to Galletto's research department right away, as we've seen before Millimeter has watched Sink on TV before actually meeting him. So maybe the previous princess that was in love with the first Hero spent a few days watching him on TV, and after that certain number of days past by they were able to see what state of mind said Hero was in. Afterwards, it was a matter of calculating, this all making sense, of course, if my above theories are correct. Of course the local deity's might be playing tricks on the Flonyard humans and just put a timer on anyone who enters the world :P And just why is it the researchers are kids, and not the old men? Something's wrong with Biscuitti's chain of command lol.
Q: Do you honestly think Sink met the requirements of the return summon all to coincidentally?
A: Well if you know me, I'm not an advocate of "convenient" storytelling. But I'm probably going to surprise you here, the first time I watched ep 13, I didn't think it was strange he went out of his way to give gifts to a lot of people, especially friends. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm from Europe that courtesy and good manners was something I believed was always a nice trait to have, and it was not uncommon for me to give someone something to remember me by. Especially the written note that sink enclosed in the case for the pocket watch, that certainly is not strange either. If you've ever won awards/commendations or prizes like I have, they'd usually include some form of certificate or written proof of the importance of that commemorative item. I wouldn't be surprised if that pocket watch had a certificate of achievement for Sink. Maybe what I was hoping for was for Sink to give Leon-sama something, like... a collar *runs*
Q: What about the inter-dimensional doggy that can travel between both worlds? In ep 13 he even brought Paladion to boot.
A: How funny it would be if some scientist on earth got their hands on Paladion, and then reverse engineer it, and then a new war breaks out on earth XD. Ahem what I mean to say is, I certainly don't find it strange. Think about it this way, in ep 11 we see the doggies as a part of the sealing ceremony. What if they were also off-world animals? It would certainly make sense as to why they are quite significantly different looking than Flonyard's animals, and that they... have no human form. I mean I honestly think those humans in planet Flonyard are what we call pets on Earth; dogs, cats, bunnies and such. So I guess it makes a lot of sense when you actually see a real dog, and not a human with dog ears, that it would be from another world, and why it can travel to and from Earth.
Q: Well this certainly has been fun. What about one last gaff, where Millimeter holds onto Sink's hand, effectively halting him from floating upwards for several seconds. Why didn't physics kick in and send her flying too?
A: Well, she got leech-seeded and could not be switched out :P Ahem I think it has a lot to do with that thing I mentioned earlier about how they must have tried to find a way to send the first hero back out, supposing he was an off-world human. Something that was designed specially for him, effectively preventing the indigenous princess from being drawn up as well. I mean his bag went up too, right? So it's not like Millimeter's skirt got blown upwards from the force of the... gravity? lol Though I admit that would have been a nice sight :P
Q: Wow, how cool it would be if this were all true.
A: Yeah, honestly, it's a little shaky because I did not write Dog Days, but this is basically me just a little irritated when something is not well written from the start. I've experienced this kind of heavy theorizing and speculation in my infamous involvement with the Nintendo DS game, Luminous Arc 2. I heavily tore that story apart, as it too was a victim of fragmented storytelling, something the developers had to answer after the game was released (which sadly to this day, I have not had the pleasure of reading). I do hope though that if the Dog Days creators have not thought this far ahead, to just please, give this a read, and maybe Dog Days Season 2 can actually use some of these elements as a basis for an interesting story. I certainly hope anyone reading this would know more about how I like to keep no story fragmented, and hopefully when I go public with my manga projects that my stories would be wholefully enjoyable, and not fragmented.
Q: Well thanks for spending your time with us.
A: Yeah, I decided to go the interview method since my most popular post apparently happens to also be a self interview. I do like spending time on only 1 series per season and theorizing and speculating it heavily, and it helps if there is no source material to go on like Dog Days, as it totally becomes an impressive storm on my brain's creativity where I would mostly have to grasp at air. I for one certainly enjoyed Dog Days, and if most of these do actually become important parts of the story officially, then I'd be a happy camper. Seriously, someone ought to pass these on to the Creators, I would love to meet them and have a little conversation on all things Dog Days ;)
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This was a fun read. I'll just take my leave now! *Takes Yukikaze while fleeing this blog*
ReplyDeleteOh snap! I've been the victim of NTR! Polizei! XD
ReplyDeleteThrowing in a little more theories from my post at Animesuki:
Again this is convenient story writing, but I don't find it odd. Not that I'm Santa Claus, but who he gave things to are important to look at. He gave things specifically to the Biscuitti's, let's look at Ricochet first. he gave her external speakers. Ah, I remember when I used to hook those up to my portable tape-based walkman... ahem, as a piece of technology, instead of giving his phone he figured why not let her take apart something else. Let's look at Eclair next. As a premier guard of the princess, Eclair seems to spend a lot of her time training. Sink likes to train with her, so why not give her something that is quite helpful for physical activities. Of course, it's funny that at first she put it in her butt pocket, but we see later on she actually uses it... while training. Even Yukikaze's gift is not strange, it being a yellowy phoney strap, this of course coming after Sink finds out she's much like a deity, with that phone strap comparable to a charm (something the Japanese relate some of those to) Last of course, more importantly, he gave Millimeter a prize that he won for a competition on Earth. This can be viewed many ways, such a his commendation to her hard work as princess and leader of the recent battle, or he gave it to her because that X-Games event is what started their intertwining fate together, or such and such. Again, I don't find the letter in the box odd; he did tell her to open it after he has gone back to Earth, so as a basic example, I would point to those other many types of entertainment media out there that has a scene like this after a protag died, flew into space, etc..