Death Battle Predictions: Kirigaya "Kirito" Kazuto vs Eren Jaeger- Sword Art Online vs Attack on Titan

I know I said I would do this BEFORE the blog about Marisa but I forgot. So I'm doing this now instead. I am just going to directly copy-paste my blog about Kirito in though (Sorry for the laziness, but I did intend for it to be used so god damn it, I'm gonna use it.)

So yeah. Kirito vs Eren. Widely requested, and people claim Eren stomps. Is it as stompy as one might think, though...? Let's find out. I'm assuming Kirito is using his new ALO avatar, with SAO Sword Skills.

JUST A WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR BOTH SWORD ART ONLINE AND ATTACK ON TITAN! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

KIRITO

BACKSTORY

In the year 2022, a new VRMMORPG was introduced to save the dying MMORPG genre of games. This game was Sword Art Online (SAO), created by one Kayaba Akihiko. Using a piece of technology called the Nervegear, the user would completely immerse themselves in the game, utilizing their senses to control their ingame character. Naturally, SAO become a big hit during the Beta Test. On November 6th, 10,000 players log into SAO to find out that they are unable to log out, and that in order to escape, they must beat the boss of Floor 100 of Aincrad. There was also another, deadlier twist: If a player dies in-game or has the Nervegear forcibly removed, the Nervegear will fry their brain, killing them.

Amongst these 10,000 trapped players was one Kirigaya Kazuto, going by Kirito in-game. He was a Beta Tester for the game, and, to avoid other Beta Testers getting discriminated against for the actions of ones who hope only to benefit themselves, he isolates himself and dons the title 'Beater' (A mix between Beta Tester and Cheater). The players progress through the game and Kirito eventually ends up befriending one Asuna Yuuki, who he eventually falls in love with and marries in-game.

On Floor 75, Kirito outs the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Heathcliff, to be Kayaba in disguise, and defeats him in a duel, clearing SAO and freeing the survivors.

However, 300 players had not woken up, despite the fact that they should have, including Asuna. Upon seeing an image of someone who appeared to be Asuna in another VRMMORPG, Alfheim Online, Kirito heads there to investigate, eventually uncovering and foiling the plot of one Nobuyuki Sugou to create mind-control technology, which was being tested on the 300 trapped players, who were all freed, as well as reconciling with his adoptive sister/cousin Suguha, who he had begun to isolate himself from due to learning they weren't actually brother and sister.

Some time later, Kirito agrees to assist in the investigation of the 'Death Gun' incident, which had a player in the VRMMORPG Gun Gale Online named Death Gun shooting players in-game only for them to die in real life. Assisted by a female player called Sinon, Kirito eventually uncovers the truth about the case, and two of the three culprits are arrested. The third manages to escape.

This proves to bite Kirito back hard, as at some point after this, Kirito is attacked by that very same person, and injected with a lethal injection. Medics manage to save his life, but his memory is damaged, so he is put into the Soul Translator's new VRMMORPG, Underworld, to recover. He eventually recovers his memories and puts a stop to Johnny Black (His attacker), and PoH (One of his accomplices) who had been terrorizing Underworld.

PERSONALITY

Kirito is not good with words. He's blunt and not afraid to speak his mind, and sometimes enjoys teasing others and being somewhat rude. He is also susceptible to the occasional bout of overconfidence. He's most often calm and collected, but he is a fierce opponent in battle- sometimes fierce enough that he doesn't remember what he did in battle, once the battle ends. Kirito, however, is a kind person and refuses to abandon those in need, only strengthened with the demise of the Moonlit Black Cats, his first guild. Kirito is also prone to letting his emotions control him. Most notably, the deaths of Moonlit Black Cats haunted Kirito until he married Asuna, and this worries his friends, as Kirito is someone who would let their life be ruined by guilt if not comforted.

Above all else though, Kirito has an incredibly strong resolve, and will work to do anything he sets his mind to, even if it's impossible. Most notably when Yui, his in-game adoptive daughter (who's also an AI) with Asuna, confirmed that Asuna was at the top of the World Tree, Kirito just rushed in and attempted to reach the top, despite finding the task to be impossible.

ABILITIES

Due to the nature of Kirito's abilities, and him being inside video games for most of his feats, The best way to look at his abilities is by game, but first the constants should be what he carries in between games. Most notably his Outside System Skills, which are techniques performed outside the usual means of the games. Kirito's first Outside System Skill is Arms Blast, with which he can break an opponent's weapon by striking its weak point. Next, there's Spell Blast, which allows Kirito to cut through magic. Bullet Deflect allows Kirito to stop Bullets with his sword, Distinguish allows Kirito to isolate sounds in a VR space, focusing only irregular sounds. Hypersense is a skill which allows Kirito to sense peoples' presence through their killing intent. Lastly, in order to make up for the fact that the <Dual Blades> skill doesn't exist in ALO, he created Skill Connect, which allows him to chain multiple One-Handed Sword Skills together while wielding two swords. Kirito is also capable of using Sword Skill Imitation to recreate Sword Skills from SAO and ALO without assistance from the system, as he demonstrated in GGO with <Horizontal Square>.

Next, let's look at his Sword Skills from SAO. Kirito has a wide variety of Sword Skills,

Kirito, having a complete mastery over 1-Handed Straight Sword skills, likely knows any and all known Skills of said Category. He also has some skill in Martial Arts, Battle Healing, Stealth, Tracking and... Fishing? 

In SAO, he also has the Extra Skill Dual Blades, with which he can use dual-wielding Sword techniques.

Here is a list of  the skills that Kirito should know, although he has not demonstrated all of them:

Vertical, Horizontal and Slant: A simple vertical, horizontal or diagonal slash respectively.

Uppercut: An upwards slash meant to sent foes skywards.

Vertical Arc: A two-hit combo of slashes in a V-Shape. Kirito uses this to defeat Illfang the Kobold Lord. There is also Horizontal Arc, which is the horizontal variant of it.

Serration Wave: An AoE Sword Skill meant to hinder movement. It does very little damage. 

Lightning Fall: An AoE Sword Skill where the user backflips before thrusting their sword into the ground, creating a wave of electricity to stun foes.

Rage Spike: A swift Sword Skill where the user leaps at the foe and performs an upwards strike.

Sonic Leap: A Sword Skill similar to Rage Spike where the user leaps at the foe. This one performs a downwards strike and has a shorter range, but it can be aimed upwards.

Snake Bite: A two-hit combo going from right to left then back again, which is effective at shattering weapons.

Savage Fulcrum: A three hit combo which looks somewhat like the number 4.

Vorpal Strike: Another Charge-type Sword Skill, in this case a single high-speed thrust with a range over twice the length of the blade used.

Sharp Nail: A three-hit combo going right-to left diagonally upwards, then left-to-right, then right-to-left diagonally downwards.

Howling Octave: An eight-hit combo starting with five thrusts, then a downwards swing, then an upwards swing, then a final overhead swing.

Horizontal Square and Vertical Square: Four-hit comboes that trace the look of a square.

Embracer: A simple martial arts technique performing a thrust with the user's hand. Kirito uses this to kill Kuradeel.

Senda: A swift, single-strike uppercut, given by the Martial Arts skill. Kirito uses this in Progressive.

Meteor Fall: A two-hit combo making use of both a One-Handed Sword and Martial Arts skills. The user throws their sword up in the air, then delivers a terribly fast punch to the target's chest, knocking them backwards, before jumping, catching their sword and slashing with it. Kirito uses this in Versus, in a battle against Accel World's Silver Crow.

Meteor Break: A seven-hit combo making usage of One-Handed Sword and Martial Arts skills.

Deadly Sins: A seven-hit One-handed Sword combo making featuring various directional slashes and backwards flips. Kirito uses this in the Caliber Arc in conjunction with Spell Blast to protect Asuna and the Sleeping Knights.

Battle Healing: A passive skill that Kirito has, which regenerates his HP during battle. He demonstrates this when protecting Silica from the Titan's Hand guild, regenerating off any damage they inflicted on him.

Flight: In ALO, Kirito is capable of flying. This used to have a time limit, but this was removed after the Fairy Dance Arc.

Illusion Magic: As a Spriggan, Kirito can create illusions using his magic. Most notably, he used an advanced form of Illusion Magic to temporarily become the Gleam Eyes to take down a group of Salamanders who were previously stonewalling him.

Armament Full Control Art: In Underworld, Divine Intstrument Type Weapons can have their full power released by this ritual, which comes in two phases: Strengthening and Releasing. The second part is the part Kirito uses most often, as it comes out very quickly (The way to trigger it is to say "Release Recollection".).

These last two deserve links of their own.

Starburst Stream: A 16-hit Dual Blades combo. Kirito most famously uses this against the Gleam Eyes to defeat it in a single go.

The Eclipse (Timestamp 0:57): The ultimate Dual Blades Combo, clocking in at 27 hits. Kirito used this against Heathcliff, but due to Heathcliff being Kayaba, perfectly predicts and blocks every last one of Kirito's attacks.

EQUIPMENT

Kirito's equipment varies with what game he's in. In Sword Art Online, Kirito Dual-Wields the Elucidator, a Demonic Boss Drop from the 50th Floor, and the Dark Repulser, which was made by Lizbeth, one of Kirito's friends. Both the Elucidator and Dark Repulser boost Kirito's Strength and Agility. He also wears the Blackwyrm Coat, which enhances his Stealth Skill.

In ALO (Which we will be using in this matchup), he wields a Black Iron Long Sword (Again made by Lizbeth) and the Holy Sword Excaliber (The strongest weapon in ALO). 

In GGO, He wields a Kagemitsu G4 Photon Sword (Basically a Lightsaber, except a bit weaker) and a FN Five-Seven Pistol.

In Underworld, He has wielded multiple swords, but his main weapon is the Night Sky Sword, a weapon crafted from a branch of the Gigas Cedar tree. While it has a variety of abilities credited to it, he has two main powers from it, the first is to fire off an energy blast from it, via a Armament Full Control Art, But it also allowed Kirito to, in the climax of the Alicization Arc, turn PoH into a tree, imprisoning him in Underworld for eternity. Ouch.

His other weapon in Alicization is the Blue Rose Sword of his dead buddy Eugeo. Its Armament Full Control Art allows Kirito to freeze foes nearby while also draining their HP over time. Kirito can also absorb the energy drained from his enemies into his Night Sky Sword.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Kirito's got some pretty damn impressive feats inside the games. Even without the prediction lines of GGO being effective, he's capable of stopping bullets, and sniper rounds at that. Most notably, in his fight with Sinon. He's powerful enough to one-shot the Gleam Eyes with Starburst Stream, tough enough to survive being impaled, or even better, withstand Yuuki's OSS, Mother's Rosario. For reference, Mother's Rosario can do this. can move at supersonic speeds, and his fight with Alice in Alicization was so intense it blew a hole in the battlefield which Kirito and Alice were promptly sucked out of. And of course, with the Blue Rose Sword and Night Sky Sword, Kirito can immobilize most anyone (As 30,000+ Korean and Chinese players found out the hard way) or of course, just turn 'em into a tree (As PoH learned the hard way. He's still trapped as a tree). He's also capable of dodging a sniper round from merely a few feet away, no prediction lines needed! Said sniper round was travelling at mach 2.6. This easily places him beyond supersonic speeds. He's skilled enough with a sword that, even in real life, he's capable of giving his cousin Suguha trouble in a Kendo match despite severe muscle atrophy due to not partaking in any real life physical activity for over two years.

However, Kirito is not perfect. As stated, he is controlled by his emotions a lot. If he's angry, he'll rush in blindly swords swinging. If he's upset, he might completely lose the will to fight and become sloppy. While Kirito, without a doubt, has the highest DPS of the entirety of Sword Art Online, he's also kind of frail compared to tanks- although this may or may not be the case. He was capable of blocking the attacks of the Skull Reaper when dedicated tanks weren't. On top of this, he's kind of helpless without his weapons. He does have Martial Arts skills, but he doesn't use them much. He's best using a sword. Also, a lot of his best combat feats rely on his teammates' help, although he usually does the most damage out of all of them.

EREN

BACKSTORY

Born in Shiganshina District in the year 835, Eren lead a mostly peaceful life for the first few years of his life, admiring the Survey Corps, people who ventured outside of the Walls to explore the world, despite the threat of the Titans, giant, man-eating monsters who forced Humanity to hide within the walls in the first place. At age 9, Eren scored his first blood not against a Titan, but a group of human traffickers who had kidnapped one Mikasa Ackerman, killing two of them before being blindsided by the third (whom Misaka then killed).

However, in the year 845, when Eren was just ten years old, disaster struck. Wall Maria was breached by the Colossal Titan, and the Shiganshina District destroyed. Eren and co. are saved, but Eren loses his mother in the crisis. Enraged and distraught, Eren vowed to kill all the Titans. After this, Eren was brought to the Reiss Chapel, and met up with his father, Grisha, who murders the entire Reiss Family except for two, steals the Coordinate and finally lets Eren devour him, granting Eren the powers of a Titan Shifter and the Coordinate. After this, Eren and co. spend a few years working on a farm before reaching the legal age to join the military. After gruelling training, at the age of 15, Eren graduates in the top 10 of his class, and is ordered to clean the cannons atop Wall Rose. At this point, the Colossal Titan returns and Eren is forced to face it alone. He tries and fails to kill the titan, though. After sacrificing himself to save Armin, Eren finally awakens his Titan Shifting Powers: With his Alias being the Rogue Titan. After saving Trost from the Titan threat using his powers, Eren taken into the Survey Corps and brought on an expidition outside of the Walls. However, he was defeated and almost captured by the Female Titan, another special titan, until Levi and Mikasa intervened and rescued him. The Female Titan later turned out to be Annie Leonhart, one of Eren's classmates, who Eren eventually assisted in capturing. 

However, the problems did not stop there. Shortly after the Female Titan's defeat, Reiner and Bertolt reveal their identities as the Armored and Colossal Titans respectively, and attempt to capture Eren, and they eventually succeeded after overwhelming Eren in his titan form. He was eventually rescued by his allies at the Survey corps, but at the cost of Hannes, the man who saved Eren in the first place. It was here where Eren unknowingly used his powers as Coordinate for the first time. After this, under Levi's guidance, the group comes up with a plan to retake Wall Maria by using the hardening ability that Annie used. However, testing ground to a halt as Eren's Titan Form deteriorated over repeated use.Unfortunately, after this Eren is captured alongside one Historia Reiss (Formerly known as Krista) and revealed the truth about his powers. Eren then fights off Rod Reiss who artificially transformed into a titan using a special Serum, and Eren uses a serum to gain the hardening ability to combat this. Eventually, with the assistance of the Survey Corps, Rod Reiss is eventually killed. After this, the Survey Corps takes on the mission to retake Wall Maria and, using his newfound hardening powers, Eren sealed the breach that the Colossal Titan had made. The team then battle Bertolt and Reiner. The two titans are eventually defeated, although Erwin ends up dead and Armin ends up becoming a Titan Shifter.

PERSONALITY

Eren is best described as impulsive, hardheaded, strong-willed and passionate. He has a lack of self-restraint which also extends to his temper: Eren gets angry VERY easily and at worst flies into a murderous rage, leading to Eren getting very, VERY violent, as best evidenced by his gruesome murder of human traffickers. His biggest trait is his hatred towards Titans: He has vowed to kill every single titan in existence. When confronted with the truth that his old friends Reiner and Bertolt were the Armored and Colossal Titans, Eren immediately vowed to kill them brutally, despite their past together. However, if he finds himself in a situation where he cannot do anything, he will quickly lose confidence. In his Titan Form, Eren becomes even MORE bloodthirsty and savage.

ABILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

Eren, being a Titan Shifter, naturally possesses incredibly potent regenerative qualities, enough to easily repair lost limbs. And of course, he also has the ability to transform into a Titan. Eren's Titan Form typically takes on the form of a muscular 15 meter tall Titan (like what you see in the image for this section!), granting him incredible strength, enhancing his speed to easily superhuman levels, and his durability. He also possesses a hardening ability, allowing him to harden his skin to increase resistance to damage and to allow him to hit harder- however he can become overwhelmed if he uses the hardening too much, which will weaken him. His other ability is as the Coordinate, which allows him to command Titans. In the 1v1 situation of a Death Battle, however, this ability will not be useful at all.

EQUIPMENT

Eren wields the Vertical Maneuver Equipment, otherwise known as the 3D Maneuver Gear, designed for moving around in a 3D plane to fight Titans. This comes with three main parts: A gas-powered booster, twin grappling hooks and blades made from ultrahard steel designed for slicing through the flesh of Titans. The gas-powered booster is powerful enough that, even without the grappling hooks, it can allow temporary hovering, albeit for a very limited time. Typically, usage of the 3DMG's grappling hooks is to utilise the momentum of the user to deliver devastating blows and make sharp turns throughout rough terrain, as well as moving faster than Titans, obviously.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Eren has some excellent displays of strength, although his absolute best would be carrying the 700 ton boulder with which he sealed the hole in Wall Rose. When hardened, his punches can break through the armor of the Armored Titan. He can tank being slammed through buildings by the Armored Titan. Eren is fast enough to keep pace with the Female Titan, who can move faster than Survey Corps Horses. This means Eren can move at least 70/80 km/h or about 20 m/s.

However, Eren has his weaknesses. Repeated and prolonged use of his Titan Form risks him being permanently fused to the Titan Body, as well as his Titan Form weakening over time in both power and intelligence. On top of this, Eren is INCREDIBLY reckless. He often charges into battle head-first, relying on nothing but his ferocity and brute strength to win. This has gotten Eren into trouble more than it has gotten him out of it. His Titan Form only exaggerates these issues. On top of this, Eren's Titan Form has a weak point at the nape of his neck, and, if the nape is cut open, the Titan Form essentially loses its power, and the human body within becomes visible and vulnerable. ON TOP OF THAT, despite being ultrahard steel, the blades used by the Survey Corps more often than not shatter upon contact with a hard substance like a hardened titan's skin.

OVERVIEW

Eren

+Titan Eren is stronger and more durable than Kirito is.

+His healing factor should keep him in the fight for longer.

+Hardening proves to be an effective defense.

       =However, overuse will leave him vulnerable.

-Hopelessly outclassed by Kirito in human form.

-Even in Titan Form, is MANY times slower than Kirito is.

-Weapons will more likely than not be destroyed by Kirito's due to a combination of their frailty and Kirito's Arms Blast skill.

-Titan Form has a time limit if Eren does not want to become permanently fused to the Titan Body.

-Recklessness proves to be a massive disadvantage against the more level-headed and clever Kirito. He won't be smart enough to manipulate Kirito's emotions, either.

Kirito

+Hopelessly outclasses Eren's base form.

+Even against Titan Eren, is far faster than Eren is. At least thirty times so.

+Can shatter Eren's weapons via Arms Blast, more effective thanks to said weapons' general frailty.

+Even if he can't pinpoint the Titan Form's weakness, he can effectively stall out the form to the point where Eren is forced to eject so he doesn't fuse with the body, and is smart enough to do so. Eren is not clever enough to manipulate Kirito's emotion, while Kirito CAN take advantage of Eren's recklessness.

-Weaker and more frail than Titan Eren.

-Healing Factor is inferior to Eren's.

-Fewer defensive options outside of just dodging.

THE VERDICT

The verdict here is that, while Eren has the strength and durability advantage in his Titan Form, it's not by so much that Kirito cannot compensate with other advantages: and BOY, DOES KIRITO COMPENSATE. Namely his speed advantage: In a realistic fight, Eren is never going to hit Kirito, with his incredible speed. Again, Titan Eren going top speed is only about 20 m/s, whereas Kirito's reaction speed tops out at things moving at 780 m/s, over thirty times faster. This, compounded with the fact that, since Eren does not want to fuse with the Titan Body permanently (That would end in him becoming the very thing he hates the most forever, which is a fate WORSE than death), he's stuck on a time limit, means that even though Eren has the advantage in his Titan Form, his time in the form is limited, thus the impact it has on the battle is negligble due to Kirito's speed and intelligence advantage. Speaking of, Kirito only becomes reckless if he becomes angry or upset. Eren is not smart enough to try to manipulate Kirito's emotions, meaning Eren cannot goad Kirito into making a mistake. Realistically speaking, there's just no way for Eren to take Kirito down before all his options are exhausted, at which point he's easy pickings for Kirito. That's not even taking into account the mobility advantage Kirito gains from his flight, nor his magic's ability to blind Eren- Kirito honestly doesn't need it. Human Eren is no threat to him and he's fast and smart enough to avoid Titan Eren.

Kirito was certainly the sharper combatant in this fight.

The winner is Kirito.

Thank you for reading! I would appreciate it if you gave me feedback, regardless of what the feedback is (As long as it's, y'know, constructive).

Death Analysis: The Ordinary Magician- Marisa Kirisame.

Hey there, everybody! Neosonic97 here! You may remember that I did a Death Analysis for Reimu Hakurei a while back. Well, this time, I'm going over her closest friend and biggest rival: The Ordinary Magician with a penchant for burglary, Marisa Kirisame!

A NOTE

Just like with Reimu, PC-98 things will not be used for feats unless it's a comparison to one of the three PC-98 characters that currently exist within the Windows Touhou Timeline (Namely Yuuka, Alice and Reimu).

With that out of the way, let's begin!

BACKSTORY AND PERSONALITY

Gensokyo. A realm across the boundary of common sense and lack of it, full of Youkai, Gods and other such beings, who all have powers beyond imagination, such as the ability to float away from reality, invoke death in others with just a thought, or manipulate boundaries. Marisa Kirisame is NOT one of these beings. Born to a merchant family who run a shop in the Human Village, Marisa, for reasons unknown, broke off relations with her family and ran away into the Forest of Magic. There, under unknown tutelage (Likely an Evil Spirit named Mima if PC-98 is to be believed), she learned how to use Magic. The conditions for her first meeting with Reimu Hakurei, the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, is unclear, but the two have become best friends over time. 

In contrast to Reimu, Marisa is straightforward and informal with everyone. She's a habitual liar, to the point where she even lies to Eiki Shiki, the yama who judges the dead. However, her lies are obvious as she makes no effort to deceive the people she lies to- but she is fairly intelligent and charismatic (If the fact that she's friends with members of the Scarlet Devil Mansion is any indication). As stated earlier, Marisa is a kleptomanic (Much to the misfortune of Patchouli Knowledge, as Marisa is constantly trying to steal her books), and a compulsive hoarder. She's also unyielding and un-cooperative. However, Marisa is diligent and a very hard worker, although she tries to hide this from everyone. 

ABILITIES & EQUIPMENT

Despite being a resident of Gensokyo, Marisa, being an ordinary human, was not born with any natural talent, and thus had to work extremely hard to reach the level of power she's at. If there is any talent she has, though, it's at using magic. Marisa is an exceptionally skilled magician, mostly specialising in blowing things up, but she does have some equipment with her. Her first piece of equipment is her Broom, which is mostly there to fit the Witch aesthetic (She can fly without it), but it DOES come in handy for smacking someone in the face with. She also holds a few magical brews made from mushrooms in the Forest of Magic which explode when thrown. But of course, her best piece of equipment is her Mini-Hakkero. Given to her by Rinnosuke Morichika after she left her family, the Mini-Hakkero is absolutely tiny (enough for Marisa to hold it in one hand), but extremely powerful. It is a potent source of heat and magical energy, 

Now onto her spell cards! Marisa's got quite a few over the years, but like Reimu, she has her favourites. Her first main Spell Card is Magic Sign "Stardust Reverie", which typically releases a barrage of star-shaped projectiles all around her in a wide area. Another of her more commonly-used spell cards is Comet "Blazing Star" where Marisa rockets forwards at blinding speeds on her broom. But her most famous spell card is perhaps one of the most well-known Spell Cards in the entire Touhou Series. I gave it a passing mention in the Reimu blog, but here, Love Sign "Master Spark" pops up once again. In Imperishable Night's spell card collection, the Master Spark is described as a 'freaking huge magical laser'. And honestly? That's an accurate description. Huge, rainbow-coloured and thus flashy, but devastatingly powerful, The Master Spark is quite easily Marisa's strongest (and most-used) spell card. It also has a number of variations, ranging from the more powerful Magicannon "Final Spark" which is just a much larger and much stronger Master Spark, to the more accurate Perverse Love "Easy-Harvest Master Spark", which fires a smaller beam as a conductor to the Spark, which also serves to stun foes to guarantee a hit with the actual huge laser, to Loving Heart "Double Spark", which, as the name suggests, is just two Master Sparks fired simultaneously. She's also a master at copying other characters' moves. She copies Mima's Ritualistic Space "Orreries Solar System", which creates a number of danmaku-shooting options around her, and one of Patchouli's Non-Spell attacks is adapted by Marisa into Love Sign "Non-Directional Laser", which is a laser attack that hits in all directions... obviously.

She has a few non-spell card techniques from the fighting games, most of which are just lesser versions of her Spell Cards, like the Narrow Spark and Witch's Leyline, but she also has an anti-air attack called the Misama Sweep, where she essentially does a Shoryuken with her broom. Marisa is actually the Shotoclone of Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, now that I think about it. She can also do a Princess Peach impression and smack into people with her butt. This actually nullifies projectiles while doing so, for some reason, leading to the joke that Marisa wears bulletproof bloomers.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Marisa's known as one of Gensokyo's two premier incident resolvers (alongside Reimu of course), and for good reason. As stated in Reimu's analysis, Marisa's Hakkero is capable of reducing a mountain to Ash, according to Rinnosuke Morichika in Curiosities of Lotus Asia, Chapter 6. She's capable of going toe-to-toe with some of Gensokyo's heaviest hitters, like Reimu Hakurei, Suika Ibuki, Utsuho Reiuji, Flandre Scarlet and Yukari Yakumo. While obviously not on the same level as an Oni, she is more than capable of taking them on in physical combat. Again, Suika and Yuugi come to mind. However, she is considered one of the fastest, if not THE fastest being in Gensokyo. No comparison has been drawn between her and Aya yet, but she is faster than pretty much everybody else. She is also capable of withstanding the force of her own Master Sparks, as they do not cause her to move unless she explicitly allows it to (Like when she uses the Last Word version of her Blazing Star in Imperishable Night, where she fires a Master Spark behind her as propulsion).

However, Marisa is not perfect. Like Reimu, she fights under Spell Card rules, meaning her attacks are typically non-lethal unless she stops obeying spell card rules for whatever reason. Other than that, Marisa lacks any kind of hax whatsoever, instead relying on brute force and overwhelming speed to defeat her enemies. Comparatively speaking, most of her attacks have a relatively poor spread compared to Reimu's, too, typically focusing on power more than accuracy (Although certain spells like her Master Spark and Non-Directional Laser have such a wide range that Marisa only needs to be aiming in the foe's general direction to land a hit). Don't let this fool you, though; Marisa is not a foe you'll have an easy time defeating. She is anything BUT ordinary.

OVERVIEW

+Extremely powerful and Extremely fast. Marisa hits hard and hits fast, and is tough to hit. "Shoot and I'll move. In a flash."

+For a magic-user, surprising physically adept, given that she can withstand the force of her own Master Sparks and face Onis in hand-to-hand combat.

+The only part of Imperishable Night that really matters. She mouths off to FREAKING REIMU and gets away with it. "Okay, okay, I give up. You're right. The endless night, and stealing the full moon, and hiding the human village, and putting funny hats on stone statues. It's all Alice's fault. Now, bitch, get out of the way!"

-Spell Card Rules inhibit killing potential.

      =Until she stops obeying them, that is.

-Not so great on the accuracy department.

     =But some spells like the Master Spark and Non-Directional Laser hit wide enough that this doesn't matter.

And there we have Marisa's analysis! Thank you for reading, and feel free to comment to give criticism on whether I missed anything or if there are any problems with the formatting or stuff like that. You get the idea. Until next time!

Death Analysis: Ash Ketchum, Trainer from Pallet Town, with his Ultimate Team.

Hey there, everyone! Neosonic97 here with yet another Death Analysis Blog. This time, we're doing Ash Ketchum from the Pokemon Anime, with what is arguably his ultimate team, consisting of his best Pokemon throughout the series, from the original series to details from the Sun and Moon anime, and everything in between.

JUST SO YOU KNOW...

There will be spoilers for the XY&Z and Sun & Moon animes here, so if you're watching them right now, DO NOT READ THIS BLOG! It will spoil plot points for you.

BACKSTORY AND TRAINER NOTES

You all know how the story goes: Ash Ketchum woke up late on the day he was to start his journey in the world of Pokemon, starting with getting a Pokemon from Professor Oak. Unfortunately, all three of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle were taken, so Oak, responding to Ash's desperation to get a Pokemon, gave him a fourth option- a rebellious Pikachu which he had recently caught. The trainer and Pokemon didn't really get along at first until the fateful moment where Ash and Pikachu protected each other from a flock of Spearow, and from then on they became best friends and almost inseperable.

Ash is a very good-natured character, quick to trust others, and willing to go far to gain the trust of people or Pokemon. He has a strong sense of justice and is very determined and he often strives to learn from both his victories and defeats. He loves to battle other Pokemon trainers, but he's also very rash, often jumping head-first into danger to help someone in need, be it a person or Pokemon. Best exemplified in the second Episode of the XY series, where Ash, trying to save Pikachu, just straight-up leapt off the top of Lumiose Tower, which is basically a skyscraper.

He's also known for making completely off-the-wall strategies and actually having them work, throwing the opponent for a loop to take the upper hand.

Ash himself is cleanly superhuman, if the fact that he can pick up and run with a 1000lb log, before THROWING the damn thing is any indication. To say nothing about repeatedly being blasted by all sorts of Pokemon attacks, most notably getting roasted by Charizard or Infernape, or being electrified by Pikachu (Often when it's being mind controlled or is confused).

Ash has caught many Pokemon over the years, but we're going over six of his best, starting with, of course...

PIKACHU

Pokedex Number: 025

Type: Electric

Classification: Mouse Pokemon

...His very first Pokemon, his trusty old Pikachu. Pikachu was the very first Pokemon that Ash ever owned, and was the one he was given by Professor Oak. Their relationship started off fairly rocky as Pikachu didn't particularly like Ash until he tried to defend Pikachu from a flock of Spearow. Since then, the two have been almost inseperable, and Pikachu has been the only Pokemon that has never left Ash's team. The two have absolute trust in each other, and their personalities are almost identical- Pikachu shares many of the same traits that Ash himself does- a strong sense of justice, quick to trust others and a love for battle. 

Pikachu has used a fair few moves over the years, but right now, he has four moves currently. The first of these moves he learned, and the most used move of the entire series, plus Ash's favourite move, is the ever-so-iconic Thunderbolt, which is basically Pikachu shooting lightning at his foe. It also has a chance to paralyze the enemy. This is Pikachu's most-often used move and oft known as the signature move of Ash's Pikachu. It's powerful enough to bring down powerful Pseudo-legendary Pokemon, such as Alain's Metagross and Tyranitar. If Ash uses the Electrium Z he obtained from Hala (It was originally going to be a Fightinium Z, but Tapu Koko was having none of that), he can upgrade this into the Electric-Type Z-Move Gigavolt Havoc, which is enough to startle the guardian of Melemele Island, Tapu Koko, while leaving a giant crater in the area around where Tapu Koko was. Tapu Koko was just fine but it was clearly surprised by how much power Pikachu actually had. The second move and also amongst Pikachu's most notable is Quick Attack, a high-speed tackle which can pre-empt the opponent's attack. It's also very handy for avoiding attacks, as best demonstrated when Ash battled Hala, the Island Kahuna of Melemele Island, and had Pikachu use Quick Attack to avoid most of Hariyama's All-Out Pummeling. Using the Normalium Z he obtained from Totem Gumshoos, Ash can upgrade Pikachu's Quick Attack into the Normal-Type Z-Move, Breakneck Blitz. With this, Pikachu performs an extremely fast and extremely powerful charging tackle, enough to send Hala's Hariyama flying (Hariyama weighs 559 lbs, by the way) and tear up the ground beneath it just by moving fast enough. The third of Pikachu's moves is Iron Tail, a Steel-type move where Pikachu slams the target with its tail, which Pikachu learned in response to Ash learning that the Rustboro Gym Leader, Roxanne, used Rock-types. It can shatter boulders and clash with a Mega Lucario's Bone Rush. It also has a chance of weakening the foe's defenses, though this has yet to play into the anime. The last of Pikachu's moves is Electro Ball, where Pikachu condenses Electricity into a ball and hurls it at the foe, dealing greater damage the faster Pikachu is than the target. It can clash with an Aura Sphere from a Mega Lucario. Ash can also upgrade this move, like Thunderbolt, into Gigavolt Havoc, using the Electrium Z.

Pikachu's ability is confirmed to be Static, where foes have a chance to be paralyzed upon making contact with Pikachu. This has proven to affect the outcome of multiple battles by shutting down an otherwise dangerous threat.

Pikachu's got some pretty impressive feats under its belt, like taking down two Legendary Pokemon (Brandon's Regice and Tobias' Latios, the latter being more impressive due to type disadvantage) and three Pseudo-Legendaries (Drake's Dragonite in the Orange League, and Alain's Tyranitar and Metagross in the Kalos League) on top of numerous other foes.

However, Pikachu does have its weaknesses. Despite Pikachu being amongst the strongest of its kind and WAY stronger than an ordinary Pikachu, it is still limited by Pikachu's general frailty and it doesn't have the greatest coverage ever. Ground-types especially mess Pikachu up as it can't really do much to them, especially if they resist Iron Tail, too.

Next, let's go over his second Pokemon...

ASH-GRENINJA

Pokedex Number: 658

Type: Water/Dark

Classification: Ninja Pokemon

...His Greninja. Ash's Greninja is a bit of a strange case, as unlike other Greninja, it has a unique form that he and Ash can trigger at will, dubbed Ash-Greninja, due to the visual similarities between the form and Ash, and the fact that Ash and Greninja's thoughts synchronize. Originally a Froakie residing at Sycamore's Lab, Ash befriended Froakie during his first day in Kalos, and it joined him the following day, becoming his first catch in Kalos. Upon evolving to Greninja, he and Ash triggered something called the Bond Phenomenon, where, upon the bond between Ash and Greninja reaching its peak, the two synchronize their thoughts and Greninja transforms into this state. In this state, Greninja's speed and power skyrocket, allowing it to hold its own against Mega Evolutions and Legendary Pokemon. Impressive as, even before transforming, Greninja is capable of moving faster than the human eye can see, and taking on powerhouses like Alain's Charizard. Once Greninja transforms, though, it reaches a whole new level of power, easily taking on Pokemon like Diantha's Mega Gardevoir, slicing through Sawyer's Mega Sceptile's Frenzy Plant, and even blocking the Hyper Beam of Lysandre's Mega Gyarados.

Greninja knows four moves. His first move is the signature move of Greninja: Water Shuriken. How this move is used depends on whether Greninja is transformed or not. As regular Greninja, it condenses shuriken made out of water and throws them at the enemy, while as Ash-Greninja, it takes the Fuuma Shuriken from its back and hurls that at the enemy instead (It then regenerates). As a priority move, this move is likely to strike before the foe has a chance to react. The second move Greninja has is Double Team, with which Greninja creates a horde of illusory doppelgangers to throw off the opponent. He can also somehow combine the clones' Water Shurikens to empower his own into a Giant Water Shuriken. Don't ask. The Water Shuriken even has a third, super-powered version, where the Shuriken turns red and becomes absolutely enormous... although it completely failed to accomplish anything due to plot demanding that Ash lose the Kalos League. The third move it has is Cut, where it manifests twin Kunai blades out of Water and uses them to slash at the target. Theoretically, Ash could turn this move into Breakneck Blitz with the Normalium Z. This move is powerful enough to slash through a Mega Sceptile's Frenzy Plant with ease, and clash with a Mega Charizard X's Dragon Claw. The same Dragon Claw which could cut through Primal Groudon's Precipice Blades. The fourth and final move is Aerial Ace, a swift, highly-accurate physical blow often manifesting as a dive kick of sorts, often used to get swift hits in. It can daze a Mega Sceptile.

Greninja's ability has not been confirmed, but it is presumably Battle Bond, the ability which enables the Greninja to transform into Ash-Greninja in the games.

Aside from the typical Pokemon typing weaknesses (Those being Fighting, Grass, Fairy, Electric and Bug-types), Ash-Greninja does have one key flaw to the transformation: Any pain that Greninja feels while in the form is also felt by Ash. If Ash and Greninja over-exert themselves in the form, it can (and has, multiple times) lead to Ash and Greninja completely passing out. While Ash and Greninja have trained to minimize this, the form does still put strain on Ash.

For his third Pokemon...

CHARIZARD

Pokedex Number: 006

Type: Fire/Flying

Classification: Flame Pokemon

...another of his most famous 'mons and perhaps his third most famous behind Greninja and Pikachu. Originally a Charmander abandoned by its trainer, Ash eventually caught the Charmander himself and raised it as his own. Charmander was a loyal and relatively powerful Pokemon of Ash's, and it put in a lot of work for Ash's progress through the Kanto Region... until it evolved, at which point, it started disobeying Ash, becoming far too prideful and sometimes even burning Ash with Flamethrower. These obedience issues were what ultimately cost Ash the Kanto League, and continued up until partway through the journey through the Orange Islands where, after being nursed back to health by Ash after it got frozen, it regained its respect for Ash and begun to obey him again... although it still occasionally roasted the poor trainer.

Charizard is a prideful, stubborn Pokemon and, despite being a runt amongst Charizards (At least according to its time in the Charicific Valley), its power is undeniable. Ash's Charizard's current moves are as follows: First off, it knows Flamethrower, as is the norm for Fire-type Pokemon. It's a stream of flame exhaled from the mouth. The Pokedex states that a Charizard's Flamethrower can melt boulders. Charizard's second move is Wing Attack, with which Charizard rams into the foe, hitting them with its wings. In the BW series, Charizard used this to stop the Thunderpunch of Iris' Dragonite. Its third move is Slash, a powerful cutting attack. Like other 'mons with Normal Moves, Ash could theoretically use Normalium Z to have Charizard use Breakneck Blitz. While Ash's Charizard has very few feats using the move, in the Pokemon Origins show, Red's Charizard, a much weaker Pokemon, was capable of harming a Mewtwo fairly heavily with the move, but only after Mega Evolving. Charizard's fourth and final move is Dragon Tail, where Charizard, well, smacks the foe with its tail.

Charizard's ability has not been confirmed.

Charizard's got some pretty crazy feats under its belt, including being the first Pokemon he owned to ever defeat a Legendary, namely Noland's Articuno. While yes, Charizard DID have Type Advantage, it was still a fairly impressive feat. Charizard can lift a Golem into the air, and Golem weighs about 660 lbs. And indeed, true to the dex entry, Charizard's Flamethrower HAS been shown to be able to melt solid rock. Charizard flew from being completely submerged in Lava to the cloud layer in less than a minute, while also carrying Blaine's Magmar for most of the trip up. It also held its own against an Entei in Movie 3.

However, Charizard does have a few notable weaknesses, the most notable being that it often gets hit by the Worf Effect or is subject to silly decisions on Ash's behalf (Seriously Ash, Seismic Toss on a GHOST-TYPE?). It also really doesn't like taking Rock, Water and Electric-type attacks and its tail flame is a weak point- if an attack is sufficiently powerful to put it out, that poses a threat to Charizard's life. However, considering Charizards have been completely submerged and their tail flame has been completely fine, it's very hard to abuse this weakness.

Next up...

SCEPTILE

Pokedex Number: 254

Type: Grass

Classification: Forest Pokemon (No, seriously)

Ash's second Pokemon from the Hoenn Region. Originally a Treecko he caught early on, it quickly grew into one of Ash's more powerful Pokemon, not in terms of raw strength (Greninja, Charizard and the next listed 'mon all beat it there), but in terms of toughness and speed. 

Sceptile's ability is Overgrow. This boosts the power of its Grass-Type Moves when it's in a pinch.

As far as Sceptile's moves go, the moves it is confirmed to know are Leaf Blade, where it uses the leaves on its arms as blades, Leaf Storm, where it fires a concentrated torrent of leaves at the enemy, and the previously mentioned Quick Attack. (And yes, Ash can turn this into Breakneck Blitz too, at least in theory) Its last remaining move is either Solar Beam, where energy from the sun is concentrated into a massive laser, or Bullet Seed, where Sceptile rapidly shoots seeds from its mouth to pelt the enemy. 

Sceptile has some pretty ridiculous feats. Amongst Ash's Pokemon, Sceptile has the best track record at dealing with Legendary Pokemon, having defeated three compared to Pikachu's two and Charizard's one. Namely Brandon's Regirock, a Deoxys, and Tobias' Darkrai. Regarding that Deoxys, it was not only able to keep pace with its Speed Forme, but when it grabbed said Deoxys, Deoxys was unable to shake Sceptile off, and eventually got forced back into its normal forme by Sceptile's Solar Beam. Against Darkrai, it took a barrage of Super-Effective Ice Beams, and was still capable of waking up almost instantly after being hit by a Dark Void. It also fought May's Blaziken evenly despite the type disadvantage, resulting in a Double KO.

Sceptile's disadvantages mostly come in the form of lacking coverage. All of its moves are Grass-type aside from Quick Attack, and of those, only Leaf Blade is reliable. Overgrow only activates in a pinch, so it won't trigger until Sceptile is already on its last legs. And there are the typing weaknesses of Bug, Poison, Flying, Fire and Ice

For his fifth Pokemon...

INFERNAPE

Pokedex Number: 392

Type: Fire/Fighting

Classification: Flame Pokemon (Same as Charizard)

People can never agree whether this guy or Charizard is stronger, but regardless. Originally a Chimchar under the ownership of Ash's rival in the Sinnoh Region, Paul, but it was eventually released by the trainer for not living up to his expectations, and then joined Ash. It quickly grew into one of Ash's greatest powerhouses.

Infernape's ability is Blaze, which increases its Fire-Type moves' power in a pinch. However, Infernape's Blaze appears to be MUCH more powerful than most other Pokemon's, but in return, for a while, Infernape had trouble actually controlling its power, often running rampant and even attacking Ash on multiple occasions during its Blaze-fuelled Rampages. However, it eventually learned how to control its power, and it serves as a powerful trump card in a pinch.

Infernape's moves are as follows: Its first move is Dig. With this, Infernape burrows underground before striking the opponent from below. This also serves as a useful evasive maneuver, as most attacks will be unable to hit Infernape while it's underground. Its second move is Flamethrower. We've already covered that one with Charizard. Its third move is Mach Punch, a swift-striking move in the same vein as Quick Attack. Its fourth move is Flare Blitz, an extremely powerful flaming tackle that comes at the cost of recoil damage to Infernape itself.

One of the key arguments in favour of Charizard being stronger than Infernape is lack of feats, but it does have a few feats that stand out. It can send an Aggron, which weighs 793lbs, flying with Mach Punch, Keep pace with Ninjask, who can move faster than the eye can see, and its Flare Blitz set said Aggron on fire.

However, Infernape does have a few weaknesses. Flare Blitz, as stated before, causes self-inflicted recoil. Blaze will only trigger in a pinch, and certain attacks like Earthquake will inflict more damage on Infernape while it's using dig. There are also the obvious type weaknesses to Water, Flying, Psychic, and Ground.

And last but most certainly not least...

KROOKODILE

Pokedex Number: 553

Type: Ground/Dark

Classification: Intimidation Pokemon.

...his best Pokemon from Unova. Krookodile was originally a Sandile that kept pestering Ash and Co. throughout their adventures in Unova, and he eventually caught it as a Krokorok, with it evolving into Krookodile shortly afterwards. It quickly became Ash's Unova powerhouse and served him well throughout the remainder of his journey throughout Unova and the Decolora Islands.

We have no confirmation on Krookodile's ability.

Krookodile has one of the more well-rounded and powerful movesets of Ash's Pokemon. Its first move is Dig. We've already covered that with Infernape. Next is Stone Edge, where Krookodile creates sharp rock shards around itself before launching them at the enemy. It can also use them as daggers in a similar vein to Ash-Greninja's water kunai with Cut. Its third move is Dragon Claw, where it channels energy into its claws to slash at the target, and its final move is Aerial Ace, which we've already covered with Ash-Greninja, although in Krookodile's case it's more a flying slash than a dive kick.

Krookodile has some fairly impressive feats. It clashed with a Sawk at speeds faster than the human eyes can process, sent Iris' Dragonite (Which weighs 463 lbs) flying with Dragon Claw, tanked a Liepard's Hyper Beam, and can practically glide while using Aerial Ace.

However, Krookodile does have some fairly nasty weaknesses, namely in the form of Fighting, Bug, Water, Grass, Ice and Fairy-type moves.

OVERALL

+Well-rounded coverage and good feats overall for his entire team.

+Z-Moves, Blaze and Ash-Greninja are all excellent trump cards.

+Ash himself is quite physically adept

+Off-the-wall battle style can throw opponents for a loop.

-Ash-Greninja risks exhaustion at best, passing out at worst.

-Z-Moves can only be used once per battle.

-Individual Pokemon flaws: Pikachu's frail, Sceptile lacks coverage, Infernape is prone to damaging itself, Ash-Greninja's strain on Ash himself.

-Prone to reckless behaviour, gets him into trouble as much as (if not more than) it gets him out of trouble.

-Type Overlaps: Charizard overlaps with Infernape for the Fire-Type, Ash-Greninja overlaps with Krookodile for the Dark-Type, and his team members share type weaknesses- Infernape and Pikachu are weak to Ground. Krookodile and Sceptile are weak to Ice. Krookodile, Charizard and Infernape are weak to Water. Greninja and Krookodile are weak to Grass and Fairy. Charizard and Greninja are weak to Electricity.
-Even with Ash-Greninja's overwhelming power, was ultimately unable to win the Kalos League, to the anger of many fans, myself included.

And here we have Ash's ultimate team, including feats from Ash himself. Feedback would be appreciated, if I missed anything feel free to let me know.

Death Analysis: The Shrine Maiden of Paradise- Reimu Hakurei.

Hey all, Neosonic97 here, with yet ANOTHER Death Battle Analysis post. This time, I'll be covering the main character of the popular indie shoot 'em up series Touhou Project. That is to say, the red/white Shrine Maiden of the Hakurei Shrine located in Gensokyo, Reimu.

JUST SO YOU KNOW...

Touhou Project is a bit strange because there are actually two seperate canons to it. There's the PC-98 canon, which covers the games between Touhou 1: Highly Responsive to Prayers and Touhou 5: Mystic Square. These were released on the Japanese PC-98, hence the name. We WON'T be using PC-98 stuff for Reimu at all, except for comparisons to Marisa. The second era is the Windows Era, which started at Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, and has lasted to today. This is what we'll be focusing on.

BACKSTORY & PERSONALITY

A long time ago, Youkai, Gods and other such mythical beings existed alongside humans in the real world, feeding off of their fears and belief, and resided in a haunted, desolate region of Japan called Gensokyo. However, as modern times rolled around, they found their lives diminishing. In order to prevent these mythical beings from dying out, a group of human priests created a barrier to protect the Youkai, with the only catch being that they would be seperated from the world they once resided in. With the assistance of the incredibly old and powerful Yukari Yakumo, The Great Hakurei Barrier had been formed. However, there needed to be someone to maintain the barrier constantly, as, if it were to ever be removed, the Youkai would once again become subject to the effects of lack of belief and eventually die. This was passed down to a religious group of humans known as the Hakurei, and it has continued like that for a long time. The Hakurei Shrine is (supposed to be) the only gateway between Gensokyo and the outside world and the shrine maidens are typically the guardians of it, keeping the shrine safe and maintaining the barrier. The latest and current Hakurei Shrine Maiden is Reimu Hakurei.

Reimu is straightforward, optimistic and somewhat curious, and will offer help to those in need, but is quick to anger if offended. While she's lazy during free time, she's strongly devoted to her duties as the Hakurei shrine maiden, and thus has adopted a 'shoot first, ask questions later' mentality when it comes to exterminating youkai, resulting in her indiscriminately exterminating Youkai, regardless of how dangerous they are. When it really matters, though, she will help Youkai who are in trouble. Reimu treats everyone the same, whether they be gods, youkai or humans, giving them no respect or disrespect. This causes her to befriend youkai she defeats quite often, and she tries to keep them away from the Shrine (Though this is due to the fact that it makes it harder for her to do her job rather than any particular dislike).

ABILITIES & EQUIPMENT

Reimu typically carries some trademark pieces of equipment on her. Most of the time, she carries a large number of ofuda (that is to say, charms) that have anti-youkai properties. However, she can also use them to create clones of herself, or barriers using them, too. Other than this, she also wields a purifying rod (oft called a gohei), which she can use for melee attacks, like she does in Hisou Tensoku. But her most often used weapons are the Yin-Yang Orbs, which can either fire projectiles or be used as projectiles themselves. It also serves as a communicator, as it was modified by Yukari in Subterranian Animism (and still has these functions, much to Reimu's annoyance when Yukari used it to spy on her in Oriental Sacred Place). She also uses 'persuasion needles' as an alternate projectile for more focused damage.

She also has a few natural powers of her own, notably relating to barriers, being able to both create barriers (as already stated earlier) or break through barriers too complex for even skilled magicians like Marisa Kirisame and Patchouli Knowledge to understand. She also has the ability to float. This may not sound impressive in a series where EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMN CHARACTER can fly, but Reimu's ability goes beyond mere flight. She can float away from reality, which typically expresses itself in two forms: The first is a short-range teleportation that Reimu seems to perform unconsciously in combat- she even seems unaware that she's doing it. The second is the ultimate expression of the ability: Fantasy Nature. With this, Reimu basically floats far away enough from reality that she becomes completely invulnerable to... just about anything. She is one of the main reasons that the Spell Card Rules exist: without them, she would be able to effortlessly defeat even Gensokyo's most dangerous beings like Yukari Yakumo, Fujiwara no Mokou, Utsuho Reiuji and Marisa Kirisame. Under spell card rules, Fantasy Nature has a time limit, but it is still incredibly powerful.

A NOTE ON SPELL CARD RULES:

The spell card system is a method of settling disputes in Gensokyo first introduced in Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Reimu herself was the one who developed the system, and it was created for a number of reasons. A: To give even the weakest Youkai and Humans a chance at victory in a fight, B: For Youkai to even concievably be able to defeat a Hakurei Shrine Maiden in a fair fight, and C: to prevent bloodshed. Battles under spell card rules are non-lethal, but they do not necessarily encompass magic alone: for example, Sanae can call upon the powers of her shrine's gods, or Marisa and Nitori can use equipment like their Mini-Hakkero and Optical Camouflage respectively. Anything that can constitute as an attack can count as a spell card: even mundane things like throwing Umbrellas or Potatoes. Certain equipment can be required for certain spell cards, like Marisa needing her Mini-Hakkero to perform the Love Sign- "Master Spark", for example.

Speaking of Spell Cards, while Reimu has used a wide variety of Spell Cards over the course of the series, there are a few spell cards that Reimu has a particular favour for, as they seem to return a lot. The main two being her Spirit Sign- "Fantasy Seal" and Dream Sign- "Evil-Sealing Circle", variations of which, if not the spells themselves, have appeared in every game since Touhou 6 where they debuted, either as one of Reimu's bombs or as a boss Spell Card. Fantasy Seal creates a number of coloured orbs which home in on their targets. For the most part, Fantasy Seal is very difficult to dodge, if not totally impossible. Evil-Sealing Circle, on the other hand, sends out waves of amulets in all directions, but typically bunched enough to restrict an enemy's movement. As mentioned before, Fantasy Nature temporarily makes Reimu completely invulnerable to all attacks, by floating away from reality, temporarily entering a state akin to non-existence.

Reimu also has a few skill cards from the fighting games, most are just variants of her ofuda, barrier skills or persuasion needles, but she does have a few unique skills from said games, like the Ascension Kick, a swift rising kick which defends against attacks from above.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Reimu is very powerful amongst Touhou standards. She's seen as superior to Marisa Kirisame, whose Mini-Hakkero is capable of reducing a mountain to ashes, according to Rinnosuke (Who made the damn thing). She has defeated most of Touhou Project's strongest characters, like Yukari Yakumo, Yuyuko Saigyouji, Utsuho Reiuji, Flandre Scarlet, Yuuka Kazami and aforementioned Marisa Kirisame, just to name a few. She's capable of matching Oni who are famed for their physical strength, such as Yuugi Hoshiguma and Suika Ibuki in physical combat, and is tough enough to take attacks from the aforementioned heavy-hitters as well, including Marisa's mountain-razing Master Spark. She's capable of moving fast enough to dodge attacks moving appreciable fractions of the speed of light, too, if not as fast as, or even faster than light itself. Certain attacks in Touhou Project, like Marisa's "Shoot the Moon" spell card, are described as light, so it is possible she's faster than light and at the very least close to it.

However... she does have a few weaknesses. Under Spell Card Rules, she's not really fighting to kill, but she can opt to defy the spell card rules at any given time if the situation calls for it. Especially in her case since they're self-imposed restrictions. Reimu also hasn't really got the most advanced equipment in the world either, given how the Hakurei Shrine doesn't receive many donations. Still, she doesn't need 'em, and has no trouble reminding people why she's known as one of the most dangerous beings in Gensokyo and one person you DO NOT want to mess with. And gods help you if you blow up the Hakurei Shrine like Tenshi did.

OVERVIEW

+Hax for days, mostly via Fantasy Nature's total invulnerability. Not even Yukari can hit her in that state! Outside of spell card rules, there's no clearly defined limit.

+Extremely fast. Not the fastest in Gensokyo (That'd be Marisa's or Aya's turf), but still super-fast.

+Very powerful energy attacks. At least as much so as Marisa, who can raze mountains with her Master Spark.

+Surprisingly physically adept for a Shrine Maiden. Capable of taking on Suika, who shattered a sizeable portion of Heaven, and both tanking her attacks and harming her, and Yuugi, who is stated to be superior to Suika and have the highest physical strength of all Youkai.

+...?As an in-joke amongst Touhou fans, reportedly has very attractive armpits, thus giving her the nickname 'armpit miko'. Mostly due to her outfit.

-Spellcard rules inhibit killing potential.

     =But she can just disobey them if she needs someone dead urgently.

-Another fandom joke: 'destitute miko'. As Reimu's shrine doesn't get many donations, she's seen as very poor.

     =Not that this stops her from being the best incident resolver in Gensokyo.

...And that's it for this report on Hakurei Reimu. Read and give feedback please, and I'll see you all next time. 

Death Analysis: Emiya Shirou (Remake)

Hey all! Neosonic97 here! This time I'm remaking my Death Analysis post on Emiya Shirou, the main protagonist of Fate/Stay Night. There were quite a few flaws with the first version I made back on the original Screwattack website, and I'm here to rectify that! So let's get into it!

JUST SO YOU KNOW...

I'm going to be including all three routes in my analysis, but his arsenal is typically specific to a certain route minus the basics (That being his Tracing and Reinforcement). There will also be a few nods to Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya.

BACKSTORY

Shirou lived out the first few years of his life in peace, living alongside his parents in Shinto. That is, until the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War shown in Fate/Zero, the aftermath of which caused The Great Fire, a disaster which claimed the lives of all the victims of it- except for one boy. Having been saved (The method of which will be covered later) and adopted by Emiya Kiritsugu, it was here where Shirou officially took on the Emiya surname. As a kid, he wished to learn magic from his adoptive father and pestered him, so Kiritsugu taught him the basics and told Shirou to only practice magic in secret. In addition, during the last few days of Kiritsugu's life, he told Shirou about his dream of becoming a hero of justice who could save everyone. Shirou, enthralled by the beauty of this dream, opted to try to accomplish Kiritsugu's dream. Years passed and during one fateful night at high school, Shirou stumbled upon a battle between two Servants. Heroic Spirits of legend who are summoned to fight in the Holy Grail War. A rule of the Grail War is that there must be no outside witnesses aside from select mediators, so one of the servants, Lancer, went to end Shirou's life right there, and would have succeeded had Shirou not been saved by one Tohsaka Rin, master of the other servant, Archer. Shirou headed back home after this and was almost killed by Lancer again until Shirou inadvertently summoned his own Servant- Saber. From here, Shirou's story diverges into three seperate routes, labelled Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel. In Fate, he goes through the Holy Grail War and fights off the other servants while developing a bond with Saber. In Unlimited Blade Works, his motivations for fighting are explored more as is the identity of Archer, who happens to be an alternate future version of Shirou. In Heaven's Feel, he works on fighting off Angra Mainyu, the corruption set inside the Holy Grail during the third Holy Grail War.

PERSONALITY

Due to the trauma of the Great Fire, Shirou feels an emptiness inside suffers from immense survivor's guilt. He only gains a sense of self-worth from helping others, and will gladly place himself in harm's way to protect someone. Through Kiritsugu speaking of his attempts to save people but being unable to save one person without another dying, Shirou was inspired by Kiritsugu's efforts and took on those ideals as his own. The way his ideals are portrayed varies by route. In the Fate Route, he takes his ideals to the limit, even going as far as to try to prevent Saber from fighting other Servants despite the fact that she's much stronger than he is and his chance of survival, let alone victory, against such foes is hopelessly low. In Unlimited Blade Works, through his interactions with Archer, his alternate future self, Shirou begins to see the problems with his ideals, and instead reaches a middle ground, striving to achieve his ideals even though he knows it's impossible. In Heaven's Feel, he straight-up abandons his ideals to protect what is precious to him. Shirou is very stubborn once he sets out to accomplish something, going above and beyond his limits to do so. He will stubbornly defend his viewpoints, no matter how wrong they seem, which can be the source of much anguish to others.

ABILITIES

Nasuverse Magi and Servants use an energy source called Prana, which is magical energy. Shirou in particular makes usage of Od, Magical Energy which is stored within the user's body and replenished by magical circuits in their soul.

Shirou's abilities vary by route, but he does have some common ground amongst them. Most Nasuverse Magi know Reinforcement magic, which allows them to use prana to enhance their bodies, be it giving them superhuman speed by enhancing their legs, superhuman strength by enhancing their arms, or even improving their sight and hearing by reinforcing their ears/eyes, respectively. Shirou can also reinforce other objects. He also has Projection, which lets him create objects, although this is strictly inferior to the Magecraft he learned later, Tracing. With Tracing, Shirou can not only recreate weapons, but their history, creation and the soul of their wielder, temporarily giving him the skill of the original wielder, although Noble Phantasms will be one rank of strength lower, with one exception. Also of note is that Shirou has three Command Seals on his left hand, which are used to give a servant commands which they may be unable to disobey, depending on the command. Those which are agreed upon by both Master and Servant are the most powerful, with which the servant can do things that are normally impossible to them, such as heading to their Master's side even if they're separated by a powerful bounded field. With these Command Spells, Shirou can call Saber to his side in an instant or empower her with an extreme boost to her magical energy. 

In the Unlimited Blade Works route, Shirou gains access to the foundation of his magic. A Reality Marble called... well, Unlimited Blade Works (Pictured above). A Reality Marble is a rare type of magic which can manifest the user's inner world into reality, changing the battlefield. Shirou's Reality Marble is known as the answer come to by one who was saved by a sword, who merged and lived with a sword,  and who acted as a sword for all their life. The reality marble contains any and all weapons Shirou has seen and when he traces a weapon, he's not merely creating one, he's taking one already stored in his Reality Marble and taking it out, almost like firing a gun. By reciting a poem about himself, he can manifest Unlimited Blade Works. Inside of Unlimited Blade Works, the cost for Tracing is almost completely eliminated, the time to trace weaponry is reduced and Shirou can also use a form of Pseudo-telekinesis to control the weapons created in Unlimited Blade Works. He unleashes Unlimited Blade Works by reciting a poem about himself:

 I am the bone of my sword 
 Steel is my body and fire is my blood 
 I have created over a thousand blades 
 Unaware of loss, Nor aware of gain 
 Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one’s arrival 
 I have no regrets. This is the only path 
 My whole life was unlimited blade works

Unlimited Blade Works also has effects on his body passively. Most notably, if Shirou is under intense physical trauma, it will invade his body and begin to knit his wounds with blades, which increases his durability to the point where a kick from Rider which would have normally gouged out his stomach instead merely hurt him normally instead. However, this can also backfire on Shirou, as shown in the 'Rafflesia Umbrella' bad end, where, when he hits the ground, the blades knitting his wounds burst out, killing him. It's also more prominently shown in Heaven's Feel where it begins permanently replacing parts of his body with blades.

EQUIPMENT

Shirou has plenty of equipment thanks to his tracing ability which he can call upon at any time, but a few stand out amongst all routes. Most notably Kanshou and Bakuya, which he uses fairly prominently in both Heaven's Feel and Unlimited Blade Works. They are twin swords typically wielded by Archer. If both are wielded at the same time they increase Shirou's resistance to both physical and magical damage and, if one is thrown, it will return to Shirou if he has the other sword on him. This works well with tracing as he can let an already thrown sword recognize a new partner. This has an ultimate strategy called Triple-Linked Crane Wings, which utilizes three seperate pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya to lock the opponent in an unblockable combo. Shirou has shown the capability to use this in the 'Sparks Liner High' bad end, in which he defeats Saber Alter with it, at the cost of his mind. Shirou also has Avalon, the scabbard of Excalibur, sealed inside him. This is how Kiritsugu saved him all those years ago, and Shirou can perfectly trace it. It grants Shirou a powerful healing factor so long as Saber is nearby, enough to shrug off wounds that would normally be fatal. He has since lost it, however.

Speaking of, in Heaven's Feel, he gets Archer's Arm grafted onto him after losing one of his own. This allows him to tap into Archer's experience and ability with tracing, as well as boosting his power to be close to that of Archer's, but in return, unless kept sealed by the Shroud of Martin, it will destroy his mind. This is why Shirou loses his mind in 'Sparks Liner High'. When using Archer's arm, Shirou CANNOT use Unlimited Blade Works due to the conflicts between his and Archer's inner worlds.

Shirou has traced plenty of weapons in each route, so to keep things simple we'll use weapons traced by Archer too (seeing as they're the same person if Archer can use 'em, so can Shirou). Aside from Kanshou and Bakuya, Shirou has also traced Rule Breaker, a Dagger with anti-magic properties, enough to the point where it can even sever the contract between Master and Servant, Caliburn, Saber's sword before she got Excalibur (For those who didn't guess, Saber is a genderflipped King Arthur), which can deliver devastating blows and shoot out a blast of golden light if Saber wields it, Beserker's Axe-Sword (Pictured above), with which he can use Nine Lives Blade Works- a maneuver so powerful it can take down the blackened Berserker Heracles, and Excalibur in the finale of Heaven's Feel Normal ending, although tracing Excalibur drains too much prana and thus is a suicide attack. He can also perfectly trace Avalon, however, due to having had it sealed inside him for years, thus causing it to not suffer a rank down. He can also trace Rho Aias, a shield which can protect him from attacks. He uses this in Stay/Night to block Gilgamesh's attacks, buffers Rider's Bellephoron with it to break through Saber Alter's Excalibur, and in Hollow Ataraxia, blocks Archer's Hrunting with it. In addition, Archer, the alternate future version of Shirou, has also projected a bow, Caladbolg II, a powerful blade modified for better use as an arrow, which causes a massive explosion and can twist space, Hrunting, an arrow which can change its flight path towards a target as long as the one who fired it is still aiming at them. Multiple can also be fired at once. On top of that, Gae Bolg, Lancer's spear, is also amongst the items Archer has traced. He cannot use either of its curses, but it does make for a powerful Broken Phantasm (Broken Phantasms are noble phantasms overcharged with Prana to increase their performance at the cost of destroying them).

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Shirou's got some pretty impressive feats under his belt. In the Fate route he suffers all sorts of wounds that would be fatal and keeps on going. Like Berserker blowing away his stomach or Rider's kick to the gut. In Unlimited Blade Works he takes down Gilgamesh (Albeit because Gilgamesh is stupidly arrogant) and defeats Archer in combat (Albeit because Archer hesitated at the last second). In Heaven's Feel he manages to match and defeat Kotomine Kirei and in the Sparks Liner High bad end, manages to down Saber Alter with Triple-Linked Crane Wings at the cost of his mind. He's chopped of Gilgamesh's Arm in Unlimited Blade Works (seen above) and took off nine of blackened Berserker's lives with Nine Lives Blade Works, as well as seven of regular Berserker's lives with Caliburn (Wielded alongside Saber). He is fast enough to, with a moment of preperation and anticipation, deflect an attack from Lancer, one of the fastest servants of the Fifth Grail War, and keep up with Rider (albeit weakened due to Shinji being her master).

And then there's Shirou in Prisma Illya. Despite not being the same Shirou, it still deserves notice because THAT Emiya Shirou was powerful enough to mop the floor with a serious Gilgamesh.

However, he's not perfect. Using Archer's Arm will destroy his mind if not flat-out kill him, Tracing Excalibur will kill him, Avalon's regen, as strong as it is, has limits, a powerful enough impact will cause swords to burst out of his body... which will kill him. In case you didn't get the memo, Shirou dies if he's killed. Also, his Prana has limits and without it, he can't use Tracing at all. Unlimited Blade Works is also really taxing on his Prana.

OVERVIEW

+Tracing gives him loads of versatility.

     +Doubly so during Unlimited Blade Works.

+Rho Aias and Avalon give Shirou great defensive options.

+Command Spells can call Saber to him or buff her.

+To call him a master chef would be an understatement. There's a reason he always cooks for the Emiya household and that's because he's godly at it.

-Prana has limits. Without any Prana he's basically just a human.

-Tracing Excalibur kills him.

-Archer's arm destroys his mind, which effectively kills him.

-A powerful enough impact with Shirou's wounds being knit into blades will kill him.

-He dies if he is killed, contrary to other anime characters' words.

Read and review, and point out if I missed anything.