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WHAT'S FIVE STAR STORIES
FIVE
STAR STORIES OVERVIEW
The
first question you may do about fss is: "Why is it called FIVE STAR
STORIES?" Simple: there are five stars in the star system where the
story takes place! Well, that'sa rather simplistic answer. The star system
in question, the Joker system, is in fact composed of four real stars,
called Northe, Southern, Easter and Wester. The fifth star is actually
a comet named Slant, which passes through the Joker system once every
1500 years.
As in many cultures this heralds great changes, both for people and nations.
It is 2988 and emperor Amaterasu watches the coming of the comet with
a certain apprehension Does he have to act now to fulfill what he feels
to be his destiny being the god emperor of the svstem? If so his first
move is to go to Bustogne, on the planet Addler (which orbits around Easter)
to get his promised Fatima, Lachesis. the 44th Fatima of his friend Dr
Chrome Ballanche. Ballanche is the greatest "meight" (people
who create Fatimas) of the star system. His last two Fatimas. Lachesis
and Clotho (#45) have just been kidnapped by Uber, regent of Bustogne.
Uber is a known pervert and would like to have a young and beautiful Fatima
to treat as a sex slave-something Amaterasu certainly doesn't want to
happen to Lachesis. So under the identity of Ladioss Sopp, Mortar Head
meister (Mortar Head builder), Amaterasu goes to Addler to save Lachesis
from the dirty paws of Uber. The way the regent of Bustogne treats the
two young Fatimas is not new.
Artificially created human beings (genetically engineered), the Fatimas
were first used as cannon fodder in the military. They slowly became "out
of style", then very rare, serving nearly exclusively as sex toys
for rich perverts. Although human in all aspects (except that they cannot
reproduce), they were treated no better than animals. With the advent
of the "Machine Messiah", the first Mortar Head, things started
to change. When it became evident that the enormous humanoid machines-even
If they have a brain-were too complicated for one pilot to handle. the
idea of using Fatimas as systems operators came to mind, To make them
more obediant mental limiters were installed: with these devices, the
Fatimas can only choose a Headliner (Mortar Head pilot) as their master.
They were treated with the "Ezlazer Process" which halts aging
and makes them ten times faster than normal human beings. In fss's time
almost all Fatimas are females (two males). The way they are treated has
changed but there remains callous and indifferent people who treat them
cruelly. Uber is proof of this. The respect with which the Fatimas are
treated mostly comes from the fact that they are badly needed for the
piloting of Mortar Heads. Those big machines first came in when the Machine
Messiah appeared At first they were piloted by only one Headline: their
control system was a biological computer called "Etriml". With
time, Fatimas started replacing them as systerns operators (weaponry,
engine, etc.) leaving the actual fighting to the Headliner. As time went
by, the Mortar Heads became more and more humanoid looking. The complexity
of their brain was upgraded, giving them consciousness and intelligence,
as well as feelings like loyalty (even friendship in some cases). Each
country has its own brand of Mortar Head but the best is the AKD's Led
Mirage (Amaterasu Kingoom Demesnes). Equipped with Ezlazer engines capable
of giving trillions of Hp's. the Mirage's power is nonetheless dwarfed
by the 3 trillions' of the Knight of Gold, Amaterasu's personal Mortar
Head. This actually gives it the power to use a "Buster Launcher'",
a kind of warp cannon used to finally end the evil of Uber. The only Mortar
Head rumored to be as powerful as the Knight of Gold is Colus Ill's Symbol
of Colus Junchoon". But that remains to be seen.
ANIMATION
fss
Although it is only one hour long, the video recounts the action of the
entire first compilation of the manga. The characters, although reworked
for a more "animation" style, are absolutely incredible. Each
little strand of hair moves with the breeze! Their clothes. designed by
Nagano himself. are a marvel to look at, especially the ones worn by Fatimas.
We do not see the Mortar Heads very much but when it happens. they draw
all the attention. The scene with the Knight of Gold is truly awsome and
gives the majestic feel of that machine very well. The music is also incredibly
good, giving the kind of atmosphere you could feel in the movie STAR WARS.
The colors are also high points of this animation. The rendering of the
metallic surfaces is exquisite and the light, pastel colors are a favorite
of mine. For the moment, it seems that there will be no follow up to the
first part, but I'm patient. Maybe if its popularity rises enough...
NAGANO's
PREVIOUS WORKS
HEAVY-METAL
L-GAIM
Although
he is mostly known for his currently running masterpiece Five Star Stories,
Mamoru Nagano has been involved in mecha animation design for years. The
ones people remember the most are Heavy-Metal L-Gaim and the Zeta-gundam
part of the Grandson saga.
Developed cooperatively with Yoshiyuki Tomino, (the creator of gundam),
Heavy-Metal L-Gaim was more or less a description of Nagano's inner fantasy
world. When people read a synopsis of L-GAIM, Their first reaction is
usually "But... But this is Five Star Stories!" Yes, there is
an immense resemblance in the two plots and when you see the mechas, it
is evident that they are the work of the same artist (compare the L-Gaim
and the Junchoon 'First Sally" type). The characters also strike
a familiar chord. Daba Myroad's real name is Camon VI (as in Colus VI
in fss, and their physical resemblance is more than striking). The god
emperor Amaterasu is a clone of Poseidal And that's not mentioning the
similarities storywise; they are endless.
A lot of readers will be astonished to know that fss is, in Nagano's universe,
the prologue of HeavyMetal L-Gaim. This means that he began with the end!
But again, the two stories are only linked by looks and similarities in
plotlines. No one should consider them as one grandiose saga. Let's just
say that they're related in Nagano's mind only! Or that Five Star Stories
is Heavy-Metal L-Gaim the way Dreams would have wanted it done!
The Heavy-Metal: Although there are similarities between those machines
and the Mortar Heads of Five Star Stories, the Heavy-Metals are quite
different in many other respects. First of all, contrary to the Mortar
Head, the Heavy-Metal (or HM) is not alive. In that aspect, it is much
like the Mobile Suit of gundam. Second: the cockpit of the HM contains
a small hover vehicle called flicker which doubles as control seat. The
L-Gaim and the L-Gaim MK-II have those while the other HMs often only
have a kind of hover chair (Flosser seat). And third while the Mortar
Head is bio mechanical (with a brain, nerves blood, etc.), the Heavy-Metal
is built on an entirely mechanical frame called "movable frame",
on which the armor is installed. All the armament used by the Mortar Heads
were already present on the Heavy-Metals, including the Buster Launcher,
Five Star Storie's most celebrated weapon.
ZETA gundam
Released in 1985, Zeta gundam was the much awaited follow-up to Yoshiyuki
Tomino's Mobile Suit gundam. In many ways, Zeta was much better than MS
and boasted incredible designs for both its mechas and characters. Among
the designers were Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (characters), Makoto Kobayashi (mecha
designs) and a young guy who had impressed Tomino in an earlier project:
Mamoru Nagano. As a general designer, Nagano designed some mechas like
RX-178 MIX 11, RMS-099 Rick Dies and MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki, and created
the clothes for many characters, among them Haman Khan and Paptimus Scirocco.
Although the mechas for L-Garm and Zeta are quite different, there is
some resemblance between them. A good example is the Hyaku Shiki looking
like the L-Gaim MK II in many ways. The MSZ-006 Zgundam also looks like
the L-Gaim MK II and it even has the same transformation sequence!
The story of Zeta is centered on the events that follow the creation of
Titans, a special brigade founded by a Federation official named Gamitov
Heimann. This special unit was supposed to hunt down the remains of Zeon
and then dissolve but Heimann had other plans. When the opportunity showed
up, Heimann seized power and made Titans his tool to control both the
Federation and the space colonies With the help of Bosque Hom, he made
life so difficult for the colonies that they revolted. Hom crushed them
with operations like the 'thirty bunch` during which Titans gassed 30
thousand protesters. Such acts forced some moderate Federation politicians
to turn their backs on Titans and create A.E U.G. (Anti Earth United Government).
Its leader Blex Fora was soon assassinated. A.E U.G 's command passed
to Quattro Bagina who turned out to be Char Aznable, the greatest MS ace
everknown. Char was soon joined in his fight by Camille Vidan (the Zeta
gundam pilot) Brite Noa who had gone from White Base captain to shuttle
captain and then became captain of the Aghama (flagship of A.E.U.G. ),
Emma Sheen (a young, disenchanted Titans pilot) and even Amuro Rey who
had been Char's mortal enemy in the OneYear War of U.C. 0079. The war
with Titans was fierce, as the A.E.U.G.'s young pilots had to fight adversaries
like Jerid Mesa, the ace of Titans, Yazan Gable, a psychotic killer, and
Paptimus Scirocco, a languid but extremely dangerous adversary. At the
end of the series, the battle is joined by a third party named Axis. Led
by Haman Khan, they mainly waited to see who would survive the war so
they could hack them to pieces and take power. A.E.U.G wins fine the war
but the price is very high. They lose many good pilots like Camille, Emma,
Katsu Kobayashl and even Char, who disappears at the end (his whereabouts
are unknown). Unfortunately, war breaks out again and this time the adversary
is quite a handful for the depleted A.E.U.G., as the remnants of Titans
and Zeon join Axis to form Axis/NeoZeon. An extremely tough war awaits
A.E.U.G. and little do they know that this time, it will be a Newtype
war!
(Text
by Martin Oullette - Mecha Press)
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