Part 97: Interview 49 - “Their Finest Hour: Results”

Interview 49 - “Their Finest Hour: Results”

Oh boy, oh boy! It's time for the results!

Correct. So, remind me, the goons all voted for their favourite characters?

They did indeed, and I've got the list of results right here. The top 10 soldiers in each country. Shall we?

Alright. Let's do it. Orange Star, first?

...Nah, let's keep them guessing. Blue Moon!

Hm. OK. In the #10 slot we have... ah. It's a joint 7th place between four characters.



Olga! Well, people do love their jaded veterans, and after losing Mikhail, Olga certainly got jaded, huh?

So it would seem. Funny you should say that though.



Also in joint seventh is Mikhail, alongside his partner in battle. Rather sweet, don't you think?

Aw, that's adorable. Good job, Mikhail! ...No, seriously, I wasn't expecting any of the fallen to make the top 10.



Next, still in joint seventh, it's Ivan! Well, he was the member of Dimitri's Mercenaries with the most chilled-out attitude; I guess that's what the people like.

He is a bit more fun to watch than Boris, it must be said.



Next we have Diana, the last person in joint seventh.

Oh, nice! She was the one who super hated Dimitri at first, right?

Indeed. Seems like people enjoyed her slow realisation that he was worthy of her respect.

God, people love redemption arcs. They eat that shit right up.



In sixth place, we have the berserker, Klara! Going wild in the middle of battle is definitely cool, but man, she scares me a little.

Well, scary or not, she's certainly popular.

We've got a joint fourth place next, between two characters!



Correct - first we have Fenya. Her care for her brother, and her subsequent quest to befriend others... I suppose it's quite nice to see.

Fenya's pretty cool, gotta say. You have a sibling, right, Ruin?

My sister, Misery. I can understand Fenya's desire to want to look after Felix... who unfortunately doesn't show up on this list.



The other joint fourth place is Alina! The peerless leader of the Snowbound Free Company made a big impression, apparently!

She went to fight an entire war just because she thought Eva was cute. It reminds me of you fighting a war on Nell's behalf.

Eh... eheh. OK, we might have a couple of things in common...



Our #3 is Zlata, the spunky sidekick and new member of Dimitri's Mercenaries. She loves tanks, and apparently people love her.

Get you a girl who loves tanks.

I'd normally question that logic, but... Tina, Zlata, Nell... there's quite a few girls who love tanks and are in relationships.



Second place is Ludmilla! ...Tits, I'm guessing.

I think that's underselling her. She's a strong and competent character in her own right, who is comfortable with her sexuality and progressive in her views. Is that not worthy of the people's admiration?

They were horny, Ruin

They didn't even know what she looked like until now

Anyway, first place?

Right, yes. No surprises here.



It's Dimitri! Man had a hell of a redemption arc, and he's just insanely badass to boot.

It probably helps that he had the most screen time in Blue Moon.

...Well, yeah, OK, but he's still very cool! He tanked some meteors in the Final Battle in Advance Wars 1. That's where his nickname, "The Meteor" comes from.

Nobody calls him that. Anyway, shall we move on to another country?

Yeah! Yellow Comet next, let's do it!



Alright, alright. In tenth place we have Dymek, the rowdy and loud soldier.

Hey, he might be a bit uncooperative, but he defended Andromeda when Iago was being a dick about it. He gets a couple of cool points for that.

...What the hell are cool points?



You wouldn't understand. Anyway, in joint eighth, we have two lovely ladies - first up is Sofia!

Ah yes - Lysander's real mother. That was a rather touching arc.

Agreed! Some parents will do a whole lot for their kids - just look at Red and Lucy. Though I guess you never got to meet Red, huh.

Unfortunately not.



The other joint eighth place is Minerva.

Oh, the one that's super into Kanbei?

Th-there's nothing wrong with having a c-crush on a superior officer!

Oho! You're blushing. Ruin, don't tell me...

Quiet! Let's move on.



In seventh place, we've got Khepri, the excitable ray of sunshine.

She was rather upbeat, and a very determined soldier too. She seems reliable.



Next we have joint fifth place, this time between two young men. Firstly we've got Lysander.

Ah, the debonair rogue who turned out to be a bit of a mummy's boy. What a delight.

I wonder if he ever managed to seduce a lady with his mother hanging around him all the time?



Our other fifth place is Kyril. I'm glad he ranked highly - he was a brave soldier.

When Kanbei didn't give him any respect, he fucking went out there and EARNED it. I can't not love the guy.



#4 is the delightful Peregrine! It's a shame her greatest moment happened after the voting closed - she might've gained a few more votes after being the one to lay the final blow on the Deathray.

Fourth place is rather good, I'd say. She's certainly earned it.

With her devil-may-care attitude and love of bombers, she's a girl after my own heart.

I think it's just the fact that she swears almost as much as you.



Next we have Vanessa, taking third. The talented tactician of Yellow Comet certainly had a redemption arc.

It's like I said, people love redemption arcs. Vanessa turned into a properly amazing tactician, and hell, she killed a medium tank on her own! As an infantry!

That's true. Her combat prowess is just as impressive as her tactical ability.



Second place goes to the wonderful Andromeda! After such a daunting start, and with nobody really wanting to befriend her, it was super nice to see Rose introduce her to new friends over the course of the campaign.

Her manner of speech might be a bit strange, but she's a nice girl, certainly. Her and Peregrine make an interesting pair.

Well, I think we all know who's next.

My, my, is it so obvious?



Of course, the winner of Yellow Comet is Rose, the Desolate Flower. How do I even sum up why people like her?

It's easy: there's nobody else like Rose.

You're right. Rose is in a class of her own, and the way she's grown up throughout her last campaign has been quite wonderful to see, I imagine.

Oh, absolutely. Rose has blossomed amazingly well. I genuinely really respect her as a colleague. Plus, she's adorable. What's not to love?

Let's move on to Green Earth, shall we?



In tenth place we have the irreverent and perhaps a bit strange Quincy. I never know what to think about Quincy, but I guess that's part of the fun.

I think she enjoys being inscrutable. Perhaps that's why she hangs out with that masked person, Harlow, all the time.



Next up we have Lorelei, the herbalist from the Old Guard. She certainly looks good for her age.

I was going to say the same thing. Wonder if she's got any herbs that keep you young..?



In the #8 spot we have Conrad, the brother-in-arms of the cheerful Petra.

He learnt some valuable lessons throughout this campaign, but I think they've made him a better person, as well as a soldier.

Oh, absolutely. He definitely seems happier these days - even if he tries not to show it.



Joint fifth next, shared between three soldiers. Firstly we have Wallace. I'm... not too surprised to see him up here.

After what he went through? Absolutely not, the man deserves a bit of love. He fought hard, though, in every battle. Guess losing a son would do that to you.



The second of our #5 soldiers is Sebastian! The man who got super-laid by Ludmilla the night before the final battle. And also had that pretty rough breakup.

If you ever say the words "super-laid" in my presence I will personally make sure you never have sex again.

_{Bold of you to assume Nell would put out before we're married.}

Anyway, we're getting off-topic. Sebastian certainly went through a lot. This campaign saw the start of many new relationships, but we must always remember that some relationships ended, too...

It was probably for the best. I'm sure Seb and Adelaide will both figure it out eventually.



The last fifth place is Edgar, the commander of the Old Guard and father figure of Eagle. He's certainly a fearsome flyer.

Yeah, that sea fortress battle was quite something. It's nice that he makes the effort to train the new soldiers, though! I'm hoping to see whether Petra can become a CO alongside Eagle.



Oh, speaking of, Petra's next - fourth place! And I'm not surprised. She's a brave soldier who impressed Eagle himself, was personally trained by Edgar, an incredible pilot, and an all-round bundle of fun. Reminds me a lot of Lucy, actually.

Mm, she's certainly made quite an impression on people, it seems. I'm glad - I enjoyed her antics during Green Earth's campaign.



In third place we've got Howard, the boyfriend of Mulligan - and I do believe he only moved to Green Earth recently?

Yeah, he lived in Orange Star before that. He was always super stressed and had a smoking habit, but it seems he's become more chill. And his relationship with Mulligan is working out. Aren't they the cutest?

They're certainly a tightly-bound pair. Howard's certainly been making an effort to improve himself, which is nice.



#2 is the bodacious beauty, Cassandra! An insanely badass woman, I think it's best to say.

I'd try and put it more eruditely, but honestly, "insanely badass" is accurate. She still has her more human moments, though. She's definitely carrying many burdens.

But she overcomes them. That's what we love about her! She's always got Mulligan and Howard to support her.

Ah, yes, she calls him "Mull", doesn't she?

Yeah, and from what I've heard, nobody else is allowed to call him that. Dave called him Mull back in the previous campaign, and apparently Mulligan just totally blanked him until Dave used his full name.

Funny, speaking of Mulligan...



Mulligan is, of course, our winner for Green Earth. His relaxed nature, his determination to give everyone a second chance... not to mention his relationships with Howard and Cassandra. Is it any wonder that he got the most votes for Green Earth?

Nope! Apparently everyone loves him, and who wouldn't? He's a cool guy.

Anyway, my dude, stop torturing your readers and give them the Orange Star results. No more delays.

Alright, alright, let's go...



We start Orange Star with a joint ninth place, firstly with Von Panzer! I personally fucking love this guy - he is the tankiest wall I have ever met. Give him a point to defend and he just WILL. NOT. DIE.

That is rather impressive. What's his story?

Apparently, he was a mercenary working for Black Hole in the last campaign, but he defected after he saw what horrors Sturm was forcing them to commit. So he joined up with Orange Star and helped defeat Sturm!



The other ninth place finisher is Fleur. She's rather underrated, I feel - a graceful and intelligent young lady who has supported her younger sister wonderfully.

You feel a big kinship with her, huh? Taking care of your own little sis?

I suppose so, yes. I like Fleur.



Next up we have join seventh - the votes were pretty close for the Orange Star cast, to nobody's surprise. It's Michael! Gotta love Michael!

He's a curious fellow. Everyone around the barracks seems to like him, though.

Yeah, he gets on with basically everybody. It's just nice to see him able to become himself, you know? Guys should be able to do girly stuff without it impacting their masculinity.

Anyone who's helped beat Sturm twice can do whatever they want, I think. Who on earth would challenge them?

Hah! Very true, they're all pretty respected warriors at this point.



Next up we have _{goddamn, look at that fucking jawline} Alfonse! He shares seventh place with Michael, and hell, he deserves it. Did you know that at the start of the previous campaign, Alfonse was completely new to war?

He could've fooled me. He approaches war like a professional now.

He's taken a couple of levels in badass, as TvTropes would say. _{I should really make a Let's Play Advance Wars page for TvTropes, come to think of it.}

I don't know what that is and I'm not going to ask.



Next we have two soldiers in joint fifth. There's lots of joint placements in Orange Star... anyway, it's Lucy.

Lucyyyyy! What a gal, she's a real favourite. I'm surprised she's joint fifth, though I guess Orange Star's top 5 is a competitive place.

It certainly is - you'll see what I mean in a moment.



Yeah, Dave is our other fifth place winner! Best damn soldier I've ever met. This man is, quite simply, a fucking hero.

I'd be inclined to agree. Your Orange Star soldiers all seem really heroic - you've trained them well.

Hey, it wasn't me. They were badass all on their own.

Dave is certainly a good example of that.



We have three soldiers in joint second place; I thought this might happen. First up, it's Tina. I don't think anyone is surprised to see her in joint second.

Woo! Yeah, go Tina!

She must have made quite an impression on the soldiers - she only appeared in two battles of this campaign but everyone spoke of her like she was a legend.

Oh, absolutely. You should read Let's Play Advance Wars 1 sometime, you'll see what I mean.



Our second, uh, second place finisher is the excellent Fliss! A newcomer, ranking so highly? I'm genuinely impressed.

She was very sweet and nice throughout. I suppose her relationship with Fleur contributed to her popularity, too. I am fond of Fliss.

Same here. I look forward to seeing how she progresses - you never know, next time she might become a devil-may-care badass like Alfonse did!

Heh. Perhaps.



Next, we've got Selena.

Aww, she came joint second too? I was hoping she'd win. Still, not a surprise to see her ranking this highly - everyone loves a bit of Selena.

You're only saying that because she pines over you.

H-hey, she only does that in private. In public, she likes to flirt with me and make me all embarrassed! Besides, I like her for reasons other than that. She's the head bitch of Orange Star, one of the best soldiers I've ever seen, and the emotional glue that holds everyone together.

I... suppose? She does seem like someone I could be friends with.

I think we've gone through all the major Orange Star characters, right? Dave, Selena, Tina, Lucy... who could be first? Ingo? Lemme take a look...



Oho, but of course! It's the breezy, easygoing seafarer, Rin! I... can't believe she actually beat out everyone else. First place!

To be fair, she only won by a single vote. I think what we can glean from this is that everyone really loves the Orange Star soldiers. Rin is just the favourite of those, it seems.

Good on you, Rin. After that impressive display in the Yellow Comet map where you survived a bomber, I gotta say, you're pretty cool. Fully deserving of the top spot, even if I'm a little surprised.

Quite. So... that's all for now, then?

Yup. Next time it's credits and finale time. We're all done here, Ruin.

Well, I shall look forward to that then - even if we won't be commentating over it. Goodbye for now, my dude.

Later!