Part 61: Jenner tells us about the Japan-only Lunar tie-in stuff
Camel Pimp posted:
Oh, and Jenner (or anyone, really) if you wanna talk about any of the tie-in stuff go on ahead. Not much left to spoil at this point.
Yaaay. There is one thing that I'll wait to reveal but other than that I'll link away!
So, you've all gotten a taste now of just what makes Lunar such a beloved and popular series. (Even Working Designs zaniness couldn't bring down such an amazing game.) In Japan it remained popular enough to warrant several companion novels and mangas. There were nine novels in total and a large number of them have been translated or summarized by Kizyr and are available on Lunar-NET right here. Most of these retell and go more in depth about the events that occurred during the games.
There were seven mangas, a handful have been translated by that same guy and are on the site here. I don't know when/if the rest will ever be finished or up 'cause the guy has his own life and shit going on, aging fandom and all (Camel Pimp we are so old.
) Read and enjoy if you'd like! Now then, earlier in this thread some Goon asked what happened to the Vile Tribe and Camel Pimp said it's addressed in a small way in this game. It is, but it's actually addressed with more extensive focus in another of the games and some of the novels and manga.
Here's the lengthy answer: in Magical School Lunar/Lunar: Walking School, a prequel, you learn that members of the Vile Tribe actually began interbreeding with humans and beastmen well before the events of Lunar: The Silver Star/Silver Star Story Complete (TSS/SSSC from here on.) In fact Ellie, the leader of the group of girls in the game, discovers at one point that she is part Vile Tribe and it's a significant plot point. It wasn't common then or during the events of TSS/SSSC and definitely wasn't something one would admit in casual conversation. In TSS canon, it became much more common after the Fall of the Magic Emperor for various reasons (Specifically: The entirety of the Vile Tribe sided with the Emperor causing the loss of many lives which created a severely limited gene pool.) The few members of the Vile Tribe that tried to keep their bloodline pure faded from history and I've read my share of fanfic/doujinshi following them.
SSSC tried to fill this plothole and manga released after SSSC establishes that, with Xenobia dead, Phacia took over leadership of the Vile Tribe and pushed for integration. Over generations of interbreeding and coexisting after the Fall of the Magic Emperor the Vile Tribe as a people was integrated into the whole of the two subsets of humanity (beastmen and humans.) If there were any rebel trueblood offshoots from that they aren't mentioned. What's true of both games is that the Vile Tribe does not exist as a unique entity in the Lunar of EB's time, meaning by this point they've been fully bred in. Popular fan theory is that Hiro has Vile Tribe blood.
Childhood's End, a manga that chronologically takes place after the end of this game but before its Epilogue delves into this as well.
(and yet is never referenced by any of the characters in the game and I know for a fact Jean and Ronfar would say something at the very least but I'm starting an tangent so I'll stop now...)
As a fan it's important to state that the media written by Kei Shigema, the creator of Lunar, are Word of God and are thus canon for better or worse. Kei is rumored to have stated that the manga fall in line with his narrative/plans for Lunar's universe as well. Like all fandoms, the canon-ness of these works are often disputed and Word Of God is awful when you disagree with it. Like anything created after the fact, there are a great deal of glaring issues in many of these media.
Like many, I have my own extensive opinions about these additional materials but this isn't the place to soapbox them. Suffice to say these works were still fun reads and by-in-large portrayed these beloved characters very true to form. I recommend you read them and then do what every other good fan does and ignore the stupid shit then write fanfiction or make your own headcannon. (Jean and Leo being an item is mine.)
Bufuman posted:
That always puzzled me, since you've been to every single town already. But it's not like that's a huge trial with the Destiny at your disposal anyway.
Yeah but you didn't have the pendant when you originally went to those places, Lucia did. So it kinda makes sense? v
v