For the first time ever on Ningin, we’re going to have a roundtable discussion – in a blog format. The one thing I really want to impress upon people is that Ningin is a community for people interested in all aspects of Asian media and that a community has many different parts. Today, this roundtable format will give a very clear example of how that community and all those different parts can come together in an open discussion. This roundtable post will be done in 4 parts spread throughout the day.

The people that making up this roundtable will be: Ningin bloggers, Lan and Mia; outside bloggers, Louis from Xorsyst.com, John from Otakuden.com, and BZou from Otakuinternational.com; and Ningin users, Owari, Kibouhou, and SimonMBC. They’re all going to give their opinions about the following topic:

Which anime series would make the best MMO universe based on story, characters, and abilities?

Louis Ponder of Xorsyst.com

One thing that always makes me take note of a new MMO is when it goes against the norm. There are a lot of fantasy MMOs out there that have a lot of fictional creatures, situations, and environments. It’s sometimes hard to stand out. If I had to choose one anime that I would like to see be made into an MMO, it would have to be the Trigun series. I would love to see a tough, gritty, MMO set in a futuristic dark western setting. Being set in a western environment not only makes for a very comfortable setting for those not familiar with Trigun (the mainstream), but also leaves a lot to be stylized since its set in the future. Vash was always exploring and meeting new people, all while being attacked by random people… something that seems to fit a MMO nicely. Also, with Trigun revolving around guns as the main weaponry, you could have offense classes based on all types of weapons from fast pistols to a tank class that has something similar to Wolfwood’s armament. I think it would be important to have this sort of MMO revolve around small groups of players, maybe 4-5 on a team. With a small team, it allows everyone to fulfill specific roles and feel needed. In a western type of environment, it just feels natural to roam with your posse looking for outlaws.

Louis Ponder is Japanese pop culture blogger and web designer with an addiction to Japanese dramas, black black gum, and ecchi anime. You can find his blog and many other great postings at xorsyst.com.

John Arzayus of Otakuden.com

It’s difficult to pick one anime to be the perfect MMO universe, so I’m going to pick a universe consisting of multiple animes. That said, I think the best one would be created by Matsumoto, Leiji. It would include an amalgam of titles including Captain Harlock, Queen Emeraldas, Battleship Yamato, Galaxy Express 999, and Cosmowarrior Zero. Now that would be the basis for an exciting game. And here’s why:

One: A dazzling array of main characters starting with Captain Harlock, “who wouldn’t want to be Harlock” Earth’s misunderstood champion. Helping the poor and weak but yet with a single command can wield the awesome power of the “Arcadia” and destroy even the strongest of foes with a single blow—and that’s just one of many fascinating characters. Imagine being Queen Emeraldas– suffering from unrequited love after the loss of Tochiro, or her twin sister Meatel, a mechaniod with sincere love for humans who is trying to overthrow her mother the evil Queen of the mechanoids to save humankind from utter annihilation. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We’d have a vast abundance of good and evil characters to choose from.

Two: “The Yamato”, “The Arcadia”, and “The Emeraldas” need I say more? This is an array of ships that are just too awesome for words. Throw in a few hundred more cool fleets and this sets the scene for countless hours of space battle action.

Three: Story arcs. There are so many well-developed storylines that I would be doing them a disservice to try and piece them together now, but here are a few overall themes to whet your appetite: coming of age, unrequited love, good versus evil, man against machine, and all out battle royales between aliens and humans. Matsumoto spent many years developing this rich universe, paying special attention to creating intricate and meaningful character relationships. If even a third of the universe was used to develop an MMO, that would still be plenty of material to create what I believe would be an exciting game for a variety of gamers to enjoy.

John Arzayus is a long time Anime and Figure collector with interests in all forms of Anime, Toy’s, PVC Figures, and Events. John is currently the Editor in Chief of Otakuden.com, where you can find cool pics of anime figures, local event listings and reviews.

Tags: abilites, anime, characters, discussion, games, kibouhou, lan nguyen, louis ponder, manga, mia lerda, mmo, ningin, otakuden, otakuinternational, owari, round table, simonmbc, story, universe, xorsyst