The Space Girls – Meet and Greet

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first installment of The Space Girls: Meet and Greet! Sunrider seriously boasts one of the biggest casts ever in a English language visual novel, with the title ship being crewed by five delightful female crew mates (DFC) by itself. (And don’t forget, there’s one more DFC on a rival ship too.) So let’s get to meeting and greeting them all, shall we?

First up, we have Asaga Okrun, the title character and the ship’s genki girl. She serves as the Sunrider’s primary Ryder pilot, and flies the TEARS-01 Black Jack into battle. The only possible way that you’ll ever meet any one that’s more energetic and cheerful than her is… well, if she were cloned in a freak spatial anomaly and there were two of her now! Asaga talks a lot and is prone to blurting things out without giving things much thought. She’s also a danmaku shmup fanatic and possesses nearly god-like reflexes when it comes to video games. With her on the ship, the team always manages to find itself in the middle of exciting adventures, whether they want to or not!

Next, we have Chigara Bin Ashada, the second title character and the ship’s dojikko. She serves as the Sunrider’s second Ryder pilot and backs Asaga up on the APEX-01 Liberty. She’s Asaga’s complete opposite, with a shy and reserved personality, and seldom talks unless it is required of her. Despite what one might think of her sleepy and clumsy demeanor, she’s a mechanical genius and is known to invent gadgets in her sleep. Her room is littered with random things that she’s made while on the Sunrider, among them an instant pop cooler, an air conditioned coat, and a mechanical puppy. She spends most of the day attempting (unsuccessfully) to keep Asaga from fooling around too much.

Third, we have Icari Isidolde, a supporting character and the official Sunrider tsundere. She’s the third Ryder pilot and possesses the nimble Phoenix. As an experienced bounty hunter, Icari is both a veteran pilot and a proficient melee fighter. This is generally a mixed blessing, since she also possesses a fiery temper and is prone to beating Kaito up whenever she suspects he’s doing something perverted. (Which is whenever she feels like it) Deep inside though, she really does care about other people. It’s just that you’ll have to endure a couple of punches and a few close encounters with her sword before you see it.

Fourth, we have Kaito’s younger sister, Sora Kanzaki. She serves as the Sunrider’s bridge bunny and is responsible for dispatching the Ryders and helping Kaito run the ship. Even though deep inside, she cares a lot about her older brother, she has a lazy and relaxed attitude on the outside and almost never shows any extreme emotions one way or another. Sora spends most of the day sleeping and generally only wakes up to run the ship during battles.

Fifth, we have Ava Crescentia, the Vice-President of the United Earth Alliance, and a (permanent) passenger on board the ship due to some complicating reasons. She acts as the first officer on board the ship, devising most of the team’s battle strategies and helping the team have a sense of direction. Like an older sister figure to everyone, Ava makes sure that the ship is safe and always manages to think of ways to get everyone out of sticky situations when things start getting dicey.

And finally, we have Cosette Cosmos, an enemy ace pilot. Just who is this mysterious villain and what has caused her to join the enemy? The only thing we do know about her though is that she is a fan of gothy loli fashion. Oh, and she seems to enjoy shooting at the team and generally making everyone’s lives just a little bit more difficult. But would she qualify as a gothy loli villain otherwise?

And before we forget, we have our hero! Kaito Kanzaki, just an average every day guy, who accidentally becomes the captain of the prototype warship Sunrider through a bizarre series of accidents. Following tradition, this man of most modest origins will face off against super villains, have multiple delightful female crew mates fall for him, and save the galaxy as we know it – all within the budget of two guys who have far too much time on their hands. Would it be a doujin space opera visual novel if he didn’t?

~ by Samu-kun on May 21, 2009.