Saber Marionette Couples? A fandom's treasure chest!

Alas, I haven't "stopped writing" it -- I just can't write for it because... I have been out of touch with SMJ for over a year (maybe two -- oh, horror!). I HAVE been thinking about it, and I could pick it up and continue it, given the fact that I never really planned much and thus changes wouldn't hurt the story...

But you, YOU -- you make me want to write for it again. XD *hugs you*

As for other pairings: I don't see Panther with anyone. XD At least, none of the males who played somewhat-prominent roles in the series, and DEFINITELY not Hanagata.

And Goddel/Krabensteiff is disturbing beyond belief. *dies* Ay. XD

 

Okay. I was talking about an alternate universe, where Otaru either gets Lorelei or Lime.

And most of Cherry's fantasies about Otaru are, how could we describe them... kinda... unrealistic. i.e. "hello? Earth to Cherry, Earth to Cherry, come in Cherry..."

Think about it. When Cherry first fantasized about Otaru her maiden circuit maturity was about ZERO. Nada. So obviously her fantasy had much more to do with lust than with love.

And if Otaru gets someone else, Cherry will become heartbroken. It is in *THAT* moment when a galant hero will come and fulfill the hole that remains in her heart.

*long sigh* ahhhh. Now THAT's romantic ;-)

 

Uh...huh. I'm sorry, I can't even comment on that. If you haven't realized why it wouldn't work by now... I don't know. But it's been explained several times.

 

*BRO hugs Gata back*

You just cannot imagine how happy I am to hear that you will eventually continue writing your "Seibaa Marionetto J: Final Emotion" fanfictional story, Gata-sama! Well, although I wasn’t fully sure, I actually hoped that you will continue writing this fanfictional story of yours sooner or later, Gata-sama, and so my comment about your “stopping writing” it was made mostly to remind you that there are people who REALLY enjoyed reading this fanfictional story of yours!

I am really sorry to hear you have been out of touch with Saber Marionette J and that you haven’t seen much of the series, as IMHO they are truly worth the troubles you usually have to get through to get them. Well, in my case I consider myself a lucky guy when it comes to Saber Marionette J, as I managed to get whole Saber Marionette J, Saber Marionette J Again and Saber Marionette J to X more or less easily. Well, my copies of Saber Marionette J, Saber Marionette J Again and Saber Marionette J to X are actually pirated copies, but I don’t mind it at all, especially since they are with original Japanese speech and English subtitles.

However, I have an idea of how I can help you, Gata-sama, although even if it will be possible, you will have to trust me. Anyway, as soon as I’ll make sure that it will be possible, I’ll drop an e-letter or a PM to you and tell you the details. Then it will be up to you whether to trust me or not.

All right, returning to the main topic…

Well, actually there is a certain male character, with whom I can imagine Panther… It’s none other then Soemon Obiichi! Really, after doing a bit of thinking, I’ve realized that Obiichi is exactly the kind of man Panther could be attracted to, if only she wouldn’t be so much in love with Faust.
Think of it: Obiichi is strong and capable warrior, and thus when there will be troubles, he can both be in need for Panther’s help and able to help Panther when she will be in need for help, and I believe that this is how Panther would have liked it to be. Also, Obiichi seems to value loyalty above everything else, just like Panther! And finally, just like Panther, Obiichi hides his softer side deep inside himself, although while Panther hides her softer side behind the display of aggressiveness, Obiichi hides his softer side behind the display of coldness. Don’t they suit each other very well?

The only but very serious problem, however, is the same as with Obiichi/Cherry pairing; Obiichi is very much in love with Koyuki, and it is nearly impossible for me to imagine the circumstances under which Obiichi will switch his attention to other marionette (or woman, for that matter).

Well, actually I thought about writing a partially humorous, partially angst fanfictional story based on this very idea a few months ago, only the “hero” wouldn’t be especially gallant, nor he would be such a hero… But alas, multiple complications have arisen just as soon as I began working on that fanfictional story of mine, and thus I wasn’t able to write it anywhere far…

Anyway, such scenario would be very lovely and romantic indeed; and IMHO Otaru showed his preference for Lime throughout most of Saber Marionette animated series, even though he never seemed to admit it to himself until the very end. I still see difficulties with Otaru and Lorelei becoming a couple though…

Okay, since we are discussing couples here, I guess it won’t harm to give some spotlight to many fans’ favorite Otaru/Lorelei couple.

Lorelei have feelings for Otaru, possibly since the first time she saw him, this cannot be denied. But I cannot help wondering, how much Lorelei loves Otaru for who he is, and how much she loves him because he looks very much like young Ieyasu? Indeed, as many fans definitely noticed, Otaru looks very much like young Ieyasu, except for slightly different facial features and dual-colored hair (I wonder, is Otaru dying it, or is it some kind of a cloning mishap?)…

A little bit off-topic…
By the way, speaking about Otaru and young Ieyasu’s likeness, I must say that personally I don’t believe in a more or less popular theory that Otaru is actually Ieyasu’s pure clone. True, Otaru looks very much like young Ieyasu, but as far as I saw Otaru’s facial features are slightly different from that of young Ieyasu. Also, while young Ieyasu’s personality wasn’t depicted especially well, it seems to be that Otaru’s personality is completely different from that of young Ieyasu; Ieyasu seemed to be a very patient and intelligent man to me, and Otaru… Well, I don’t want to offend any fans, but I see Otaru as a man of average (at most!) intelligence, and as about patience… Otaru surely has all the patience of a bull who sees a piece of red cloth before him!

Returning to the topic…
Anyway, my idea is that Lorelei was initially attracted to Otaru because of how much he looked like young Ieyasu, but eventually (somewhere in the middle of Saber Marionette J to X, I am thinking) came to love Otaru for who he is. But even so, Otaru doesn’t really look like he will ever return Lorelei’s feelings, for as Matt-sama rightly mentioned before, Otaru’s love is already split between three fruit salad girls. Of course, the ending of Saber Marionette J to X opened the new possibilities for Otaru/Lorelei romance, but even then, Otaru didn’t really look like he was going to return Lorelei’s feelings anytime soon, and truth to tell, I am not really sure whether Otaru realizes that Lorelei loves him or not. Which is rather logical, since Otaru is already used to fruit salad girls who are quite open in expressing and showing their love for him, and this being so Otaru must be unaccustomed to a more subtle love that Lorelei have for him.

As about Lorelei, IMHO the same guilt that prevents her from expressing her love for Faust will prevent her from expressing her love to Otaru. She is in love with Otaru and (IMHO) even more in love with Faust, but the guilt she feels prevents her from expressing her love to either of them; especially when it comes to Faust, because (IMHO) Lorelei believes that Tiger, who gave all she had to Faust, while she (Lorelei) made Faust to spend three hundred years trying to rescue her, deserves Faust love more then she does.

Now it will be only fair to say a few words about Faust himself.
IMHO, Faust loves Lorelei at least as much as he loves Tiger, probably even more, but just as it is with Lorelei, Faust feels like he doesn’t deserve Lorelei’s love. First reason for that, is the Faust failed to fulfill his promise to Lorelei – to rescue her. True, the Zauberburg designed according to Faust’s orders was vital in Lorelei’s rescue, but in the end it was Ieyasu’s marionettes, not his Saber Dolls who rescued Lorelei, and I believe that this makes Faust feel like he failed to fulfill his promise to Lorelei. The second reason is all the war, destruction and death that Faust caused, only to fail to fulfill him promise to Lorelei. IMHO, Faust believes (most likely rightly) that Lorelei is horrified about everything he had done for her sake, and he also he probably believes (IMHO, definitely wrongly) that Lorelei hates him now.

As about Tiger, Faust definitely also feels guilty about her, but unlike with Lorelei, he realizes that she still loves him despite everything he had done with her; and now Faust wants to heal all the pain he had caused to her, giving her the love she always needed.

All right, I guess that’s all I wanted to say for now.

 

Yes, I am. I do want to know, even though it is likely sick and disgusting, I am too curious now to wave it off. Give me the whole deal on Goddel/His Krabbensteif! I'm not sure I'll be happy to know, but I have to know now. Asking "are you sure?" is the quickest way to peak interest in a topic.

As a side note: In order to protect the innocence of weak-hearted people who clould stroll through here, perhaps you could use spoiler tags so that no one would inadvertently read something likely to scar them for life.

 

... There are innocents here? ;o

 

Oh, right. Well, how about the not-quite-as-perveteds? Or, if there are none of those, perhaps those with moral, no, religious, no, personal objections to that particular couple?

 

*RAISES HAND* I'm not nearly as innocent as Lime, but I like to allow myself at least SOME innocence and living-in-bubble-ness. ^^; After all, I think I'm the only one of my friends who hasn't ever been out to drink just because (or with reason). XD

Back on the subject.

Try me. I have trust issues (read: see above XD), but hey, this is fannishness. Go on, then, BRO-san. ^_^ (And please -- I am not a "-sama" (yet XD). A simple "-san" will suffice~ ^^)


Despite the definite bit of logic behind the idea of Obiichi/Panther, I still can't see it. It's due largely to the fact that Obiichi is incurably in love with Koyuki (and I don't blame him, man; Koyuki has great hair). What I'd really like is an alternate universe with a human Koyuki, but that's very wishful thinking. ^^;

It's also very difficult for me to see Otaru with anyone, especially Lorelei. When you think about it, Lorelei is over 300 years old (!!) and is much more mature than Otaru. Also, I restate what's been said before -- his love is for the fruit salad girls, and he would probably find it difficult to choose someone Special (capital S special, yessiree). I think he might not want to hurt anyone's feelings, and so, figuratively speaking, takes a vow of celibacy.

But I could be wrong. My SM knowledge is rather limitted. ^^;

 

Alright, Gata-sama… Gata-san, I mean! ^_^

Well, I wouldn’t really count three hundred years that Lorelei spent in stasis sleep (or whatever they called it; I don’t remember correctly and I don’t feel that it’s important enough to look through the series for the answer). Mentally Lorelei remains exactly the same as she was before she fall into the stasis sleep, and physically she aged just a little bit. So, in a way she is a perfectly normal woman somewhere in her middle twenties, who has wishes and desires of her own, although she does a very good job in suppressing them.

As about Otaru… Well, it’s a bit of a spoiler, actually...

Spoiler: Saber Marionette J to X

...But I can very well see him effectively taking a vow of celibacy after the end of Saber Marionette J to X…

 

For Obiichi.

It's because he's a strong man. A good man. A man ruled by love. Unconditional love, you might say, if the fact that he held so much for a being that was only superficially aware of his existence carries any weight. He honors his promises. If he can turn and betray the boy he's ostensibly watched grow up, a boy that he's respected and mentored in the past, for the diverging sake of both obligation and love... that's strength. Anything for love. Right? Though he clung to Koyuki-- her body, the mind that he perceived in there-- with such a terrible fury that it borders on pathetic, that's still a kind of strength, isn't it? Obiichi told us that strong men are still only human. And humans experience a lot of loss in their lives, don't they?

Give him time. Time is all he needs. Obiichi will remember his actions for the rest of his life, and he will regret them. But of all people, he would understand that life doesn't stop just because you lose someone. Even that most important someone. He may have forgotten for a while. But he knows. People always grow, people always recover, people always move on. Especially the strong ones.

That's why I have no trouble with pairing him with other people, after Koyuki.

 

I can't believe I never thought of this before.

Yang Ming/General Chao.

*runs off giggling*

 

Couple

For me, I like the Otaru and Cherry couple. I think its very lovely, with Otaru being the hard working guy and Cherry the loving wife to greet him with a warm smile every time he gets home ( kinda looks like a scene from one of Cherry's fantasies :sweat: )

Taking into consideration, I feel that Cherry doesn't desserve to be left out. All the while she has been taking good care of the Otaru household, she does the cooking and most of the chores, Lime often goes out to play and Blood berry... Well... She doesn't do much. Others may disagree, but I feel that Cherry needs a little up for her role. So, if I'm going to make a doujin about the SMJ again, I will make sure Cherry ends up with Otaru

 

Eheh, well. You won't find yourself alone in that opinion here. X3 I know of several people belonging to the Cherry support camp.

Me... I still believe that Hanagata is perfect for Otaru. Though in reading old posts in this thread, I have to say that I still like Cherry and Obiichi, if only because-- it's shallow, I know-- they're just so beautifully purple together. If we're looking at post-J to X, I could also see Cherry with an older Raven and Lime with an older Yumeji... though depending on how Yumeji turns out, maybe Bloodberry would be more fitting... But assuming he doesn't snap under the pressure of taking over Joshuya and all that from his father (since it's pretty durn clear that Hana himself is never going to) and remains a nice boy, Lime would be ideal. And I still think that in spite of the age difference that would come about, Bloodberry'd still have a good shot at Akashi.

Events of the end of J to X notwithstanding, I actually enjoy the concept of Bloodberry/Panther quite a bit.

I'd sort of like to see something done someday with the oft-ignored triangle between Lorelei, Faust, and Tiger, but I wouldn't be the one who'd know how to execute it.

To tell the truth, I also like the idea of Lime/Marine, but it'd be sort of permanently an innocent kinda thing.