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This is the Three-hundredth-ninety-ninth week of using the "Perfect Anime Girl Sheet". Notice: This Blog may contain Unmarked Spoilers.



*Topaz continues to climb up the super-high tower. He is nearing the building at the top, far above the clouds.*

Urrghh.. Ooofff... So.. Tiring.. Hard to... Summarize... But so... close...

*He eventually gets to the railing of the building and hops on. He pants as he sits for a short time.*

Man, I thought that was going to go on forever! I guess I got my exercise for the year, I hope.

*After resting he stands up and starts exploring. For some reason he doesn't find anyone.*

Hmmm... How unusual. I was expecting a girl to be at the top of the tower. Especially some type of catgirl, with a staff that they'd train me with.

???: I think that you've got the right franchise, but the wrong girl!

*Topaz is surprised at the female voice coming from behind him. He turns and sees a gigantic white bird with pink markings behind him.*

What the?!

???: I said you had the wrong girl in mind!

Well, there's that but I'm also surprised that you appeared and that you could talk.

???: Of course I can talk! I'm a person!

Are you some type of druid or...?

???: No, I'm...

*The bird lands beside Topaz and transforms. She becomes a human girl, though with big white wings.*

: NINA!

Doesn't ring any bells, sorry.

: WHAT?! But we had a lot of fun on our adventure together!

Nope.

: What happened, Ryu?

But I'm Topaz.

: Er, sorry about that. I guess your imprinting got to me. But still, you played my game so you should know who I am.

In all fairness I recently got trapped in crystal and lost my memory.

: Hey, something sorta similar happened to me too! Only I got transported through time and space. But don't worry, I had the other characters tell me how to produce the Tonic that saved me. And fortunately I happen to have all the ingredients here!

That's good, I was hoping I wouldn't have to reach into my pants.

: Couldn't you have worded that better?

Like "I didn't want to grab all the junk I keep in my pants?"

: I didn't mean MORE pervers as far as "better" goes!

*Nina goes over to a pot that happened to be simmering over a cooking fire.*

: Anyway, let's see here. I have to add some Root...

*Topaz watches her from the side.*

: P.Fish...

*Topaz snickers.*

"P".

: C.Nut...

*Topaz snickers more.*

"Nut."

*Nina starts to glare at Topaz being so immature.*

: and W.Ant.

*Topaz snickers.*

"Ant."

*He stops.*

Wait, that one isn't as silly.

*Nina stirs up the mixture and scoops it into a flask. She then hands it to Topaz.*

: Now drink this.

*He does so.*

: -but not all in one sitting. The P.Fish is poisonous, after all.

*Topaz falls to the floor, sweating profusely. A imagine scene of a cross section of his head causes fireworks to go off.*

: Are you alright?

*Topaz coughs a bit, but stands up with a determined thing.*

I have done a great wrong!

: What? Is the poison getting to your brain or something?

The exact opposite; I've never been thinking clearer! And I betrayed a friend last week. So I ask you, can you help him forgive me?

: Forgiveness is good, so I'll do anything you ask of me.

Allow me to massage your butt!

: WHAT?!

Massage your butt!

*The camera closes up on the winged princess's hiney, showing off it's surprising meatiness.*

: Get that camera out of there!

*The view returns to normal, and a cross-like anger mark appears on Nina's forehead. She tries to remain civil.*

: I won't do that. Try something else.

Well, I suppose that you can massage me instead.

: I don't know how that will help him...

-With your butt!

*Nina's eye twitches.*

: D-did I hear that right?

Of course!

: Then take THIS, you pervert!

*Nina slams her butt against Topaz's head, knocking him down and sitting on his face.*

MMMPHH!

: This is what perverts like you deserve!

*She continues to sit on his face for a few more minutes before getting up.

: There, did you learn your lesson?

I sure did. Asking for buttservice leads to buttservice!

: That's not what I was going for, but alright. And, as additional punishment you have to do my blog!

Alright. It's not like there's any other girls here. But don't think that you've got it just for that reason as...



...And she's a great girl!

: Thanks for that! Though it's a shame the picture isn't too great.

I know. It's a shame the series doesn't get a lot of art. Oh, and before anyone wonders while Nina is a franchise name I'll mainly be focusing on the original Breath of Fire. It's the one that I know the best.

Head
Hair: Nina doesn't have the best hair. It's short, barely reaching her shoulders in the back. It's also very curved, being spiked upward (especially in back). She has some hanging down on the sides by her ears and some in back. Nina also wears a headband, though she does have nice bangs. She does have a part with a long “middle” that's fairly common, but I suppose that in her time it was a lot less common. It's possible that her hair gets longer after a time skip, with the hairband being lowered and a more wispier-style. It does look like she's wearing some type of helmet or hat in her field sprite, but in battle her hair is really simplified. Overall not too bad but nothing outstanding either.
Grade: C+

Eyes: Nina has fairly fitting eyes. They're tarame and seem full of life and vitality, perfect for a healer. They're also a fair shade of blue, eventually matching her outfit which isn't bad. Her eyebrows do seem to change slightly in her older form, looking a little more mature. She also may have green eyes in some official art (or they put the wrong image on the page). She gets a lot more detail in the manga as well, but sadly she doesn't wear glasses.
Grade: B-

Face: Nina's face isn't bad either, being really cute but maturing slightly through plot. It is a bit basic, but matched a lot of faces from the time period. She has a somewhat noticeable nose, but it's not too bad in the game and manga. Not that it's hidden, but more that it fits her face well. She shows a lot of emotion in the manga as well, even if a good amount is anger. The angle of Nina's face does change between the two face sprites in the game so it looks like her mouth moves upward, but it's also because she has it open in her first one. Overall not bad. And the less we talk about the American box art the better...
Grade: B



Body
Build: Nina is a fairly nicely-shaped teen. That said it's possible for her to be 176 cm and 56 kg but I am uncertain about how accurate that is. But looking at her shape, she does look fairly thin. Especially around her waist. Her legs are fairly shapely, but that may just because Nina's outfit shows off her thighs. We do get a nice buttshot in the manga, showing that she has nice curve but it also removes her crack which is dumb. Of course the most noticeable things about Nina are her two wings. She was the first, and all Ninas that followed are part of the Wing Clan. They look really pretty and fluffy. I will also add that Nina becomes the token Airship as well, being able to become a gigantic bird to fly the party around. It's really cool, at least to me, but doesn't count as far as her score goes. Fortunately she still gets an alright score here.
Grade: B-

Breasts: This is one of the reasons I wouldn't consider Nina a “loli”. She doesn't have a flat chest. It's a bit more noticeable in the manga, especially when she's covering her otherwise bare chest with her arm (no nipples are seen). Her field sprite also seems to have a chest too, but I think that may just be her chestplate.
Grade: C

Clothes: Speaking of Nina's chestplate she does have a fairly cool outfit. It consists of a red leotard with high leg-holes and short sleeves, a gold chestplate with straps and decorations, blue thighhighs and almost knee-high red boots, and elbow-length white gloves. Once she becomes older her outfit becomes blue instead, which I do like more. Nina also wears various equipment, but like most games back then it didn't impact her battle or field sprites. That said she does still show her rapier, her weapon of choice. As far as the manga goes the only new outfit is some cute pajamas while sleeping. Helpful, but a bit more variety would have raised her score here more.
Grade: C+



Mind
Personality: Nina is very much your traditional JRPG white mage love interest. She's also a little bit spunky and independent, going off with a couple of soldiers to save her poisoned father (and king, making Nina a princess). They don't succeed but Ryu, the hero, comes to save them and defeats the Wizard that had poisoned her father. They return to her home city of Wyndia and Nina joins the party. She doesn't get too much characterization, that happens in older games, but another moment where she's a major part are the times where she gets involved with the Time Key. She gets trapped in a time portal trying to pull the key out and gets sent back in time several years. I guess she should have asked Lucca for help xD. But anyway, she develops amnesia and has to have the party find ingredients for a cure. After recovering she's able to become a Great Bird and also changes her attack animation. Her younger version teleports to the enemy and stabs it while the older version enhances the blade and swings at the enemy. I found it really interesting how it was changed. The final part I remember from her is the ending. Way back in the first quarter you have to deal with a giant dungeon-like robot, going into it and battling. However, it's implied that the robot has a mind of its own, disobeying the enemy's orders to attack the remaining twin town. Not only that, but after you shut it down for good the robot decides to help you by jumping into a volcano and allowing you to continue onward. Well, in the ending when you're returning characters back to their towns Nina stops at the volcano and pays her respects, even if silently. She then continues with Ryu to Wyndia and becomes the last member of the party to leave. Overall Nina is really quite likable, and the original one probably remains the one I know best (even if I've played III and IV). Oh and her hobby seems to be eating things, which is always cool but wasn't shown in the game that I can recall.
Grade: B

Libido: On one hand Nina is portrayed as Ryu, the lead's, main love interest. She doesn't admit it, though. She also doesn't tolerate perverts in the manga, attacking some Dark Dragons when they were caught watching her bathe in a lake (Ryu too). That said she is at least a bit more straightforward in that series. Nina seems to enjoy the wedding in the game too, and I guess I should count the fact that she can either give a massage or get a massage from an old creepy guy in Auria. I'm only mentioning that for completion, though (and there's a similar scene involving massages in a future game as well, IV I think.)
Grade: C

Age: Nina's official age is unknown. Or at least THIS Nina as the one from the second game is 17. Anyway, this Nina seems to start out younger than that, but gets transported back a few years and loses her memory. What I like about this is that it sorta gives her a bit of straight shota appeal as she does seem to be the main love interest (even if in the manga Bleu/Deis is flirtatious and the two butt heads a bit). Though it is unfortunate that they had to age her up, I guess.
Grade: B-

Total Grades: 59
Average score: 6.6
Final Grade: B-

And that's the blog for the week. What did you think?

: Better in some areas and worse in others. Sometimes the manga helped, while others it wasn't as helpful. Overall I guess I should be thankful since as a SNES sprite I wouldn't have had many points if not for that.

Right, even if I greatly enjoyed the game and have many fond memories. Especially because it was one of my first RPGs, and one of the few non-Nintendo ones I own for the SNES. But now what should I do with my newfound wisdom?

: Don't worry. I know exactly where to go. We shall visit the goddess of love. I'm sure that since you have recalled your memories you should remember her.

I don't know, there are a lot of lovely goddesses I know...

: I suppose so, but hop on as we fly upwards.

Further up than this?

: Yes. To the floating castle where she lives.

Sounds familiar somehow. But oh well. At least this way I won't have to climb up a pole.

*Nina becomes a bird and, with Topaz on her back, they fly upward. They eventually land on a floating island in the sky.*

Wow, this place seems really fancy! And so clean too!

: It should. Not many people are able to come up this way. Magic and machines are completely unable to come close to this place.

Isn't your transformation magic in a way?

: Apparently not. It doesn't cost MP anyway.

Fair point. So where is this goddess you keep on going on about?

: She's in here.

*They walk to a nearby (and only) building and enter. There, a girl with a large staff with a scorpion on it sits on a throne. She gets up when Topaz enters.*

: Welcome, keeper of Topaz. It has been a while...

I'm still not sure who you are.

: You do not recognize me? I suppose that I am not to your usual illustrations. Blame making it tradition to have original girls done in such a format. Except for that one Hiroko girl, but she had other differences. But I am MAY HYOU, goddess of Love and keeper of the Love Jade!

*The goddess May strikes a flashy pose. Sparkles appear before her face.*

Who?

*Both May and Nina pratfall from Topaz's confusion.*

: Grrr... Let's just say that we'll be changing a lot of things around her-NEXT TIME!