I know it costs nothing to fail, but it's just annoying to sometimes have to call for it like several times in a row with bad luck, even at 65% chance

any way to make it 100%? Any accessories or skills or anything?

I've got the Masterwork rod, and my whole party is at fishing level 7. How EXACTLY do I get it to spawn? I just got to Lacuer. Do I need to advance further in the story first?

while navigating through the posts of gamefaqs I saw plenty of posts of VeghEsther about broken equipment, grinding skills till 999 and so on... and it brought and smile to my face.

I'm rather new in the SO games, and I knew him mostly of the FF posts. It's charming seeing his posts on other games.

NOTE!! This is a half serious, half-joking post - I am only sort of kidding, but not really, but also am. 

What do we know about Nel’s dad, anyway? 

• We know he had a illustrious career as Crimson Blade before going MIA,
• We know he was partnered with Adray,
• We know he was nicknamed “General of the Mist”(related trivia: the names of Nel's and Albel's fathers, Glou and Nevelle, are paralleled: Nevelle's name in the Japanese game is "Nebel,” which is Japanese for the German word "mist" (nebel), and Glou’s name in the Japanese game is "Grau," which is the German word for "ash-grey." Nevelle's body literally "disappears" (goes MIA), never to be found again (a la mist), and Glou... well... turns to ash....)
• We know he wore big cavalier hats and liked to ride a horse,
• We know he left behind a widow named named Reisel Zelpher, Nel's mom (the sadistic game devs in Eternal Materials confirmed Reisel is 1) alive and 2) the inaccessible house in northeastern part of Aquios is Nel's family home and her mother currently resides there alone) 
• We know that, despite Woltar having killed countless men in his life, Nevelle left such an indelible impression on him that Woltar decided to keep a portrait shrineof Nevelle in his personal manor in Kirlsa, directly over his bed (an official guidebook states that "it is unclear where Woltar acquired this portrait, but perhaps it is a sign of respect toward an opponent he once fought in a one-on-one duel. While it feels a bit questionable to hang a portrait of an enemy opponent in your home, this gesture serves as a testament to Woltar's good character.")
• We know that his soul probably resides in the Blades of Ryusen.

But what was Nevelle actually like? Given Nel and Clair were explicitly designed as foils, and given Nel’s fetish for no-nonsense workaholism, we can perhaps infer that Nevelle was everything Adray is not - not boisterous, not rule defying, not a big-bellied macho guy, etc… This makes sense strategically; it behooves Aquaria to round out/balance the Crimson Blade by pairing two operatives who have contrasting personalities together.

So, maybe he was a carbon copy of Nel, except Nel is a man wearing a huge feathered hat. But that’s kinda boring, and plus, Clair and Adray could not be more dissimilar. So in search of answers, I combed through the official SO3 supplemental material where Nevelle is actually depicted (the 4komas and Supercomic Gekijohs) and uncovered a suspiciously consistent pattern across 1,600+ pages of material: alcohol.  

“He was always stocked with liquor”

Nevelle actually isn’t depicted much across the official 4komas/Supercomics. But he does show up a handful of times, sometimes in speaking roles, and the depictions where he's actually speaking/doing something (and not just appearing as a static portrait) exclusively pair him with liquor or associate him with some sort of drinking habit. 

Before someone says “but these are just spin off cartoons” - yes, you are correct, but they are officially licensed Tri-Ace/Square Enix products which display an astonishing fidelity to SO3’s characterization/lore but more importantly, replicate even the most obscure details without fail (e.g., Belzeber's nepo baby grudge against Luther, Evia not wanting his daughter to turn out like Welch, Rigel hailing from nobility, Iraiza’s supernatural beauty, etc.) The writer behind SO3's official novelization revealed that Tri-Ace gave him secret plot/characterization information to help him with his writing.

Case 1:

Case 2:

In fact, most of the alcohol-related 4komas/Gekijohs exclusively revolve around Nevelle or Nel. In probably one of the funniest gags in the entire Gekijoh release (Vol 67), Nel tells the party that she “loses all her inhibitions” whenever she drinks, and is portrayed as a belligerent drunk so terrifyingly monstrous that Fayt and Maria enlist the help of Farleen and Tynave to sober her up. Farleen + Tynave unfurl a giant poster of Aquaria XXVII in front of Nel, Nel freaks out and frantically hides empty bottles behind her back as she insists that she hasn’t been drinking, etc. (Nel is also associated with alcohol in her Oni Nel variant, and as she drinks she says some truly eyebrow raising victory lines):

Make of this what you will, even if its only good for fun headcanoning purposes. I have my eyes on you, Zelphers

I am playing Star Ocean the second story R for the first time (actually, it is first SO game ever for me) and enjoying it quite a lot.

I've just seen Celine's PA story with Clyde, and I've chosen for Rena to encourage Celine to go after Clyde (because I'm a sucker for love stories). I have to admit, the whole situation was quite hilarious.

I can't believe Celine decided to (sort of) accept Clyde's proposal after all that drama lol. And that Rena also thought it was happy ending for both.

But what amused me the most was that Clyde look near identical to Claude (who Rena will probably end up with, as it's the "canon" romance) and they both have same voice actor (at least the Japanese VO, not sure about English VO). I recall that Celine called both Clyde and Claude cute when she first saw them. Knowing that Rena will start develop feelings for Claude eventually, I find it hilarious that Rena is acting as a matchmaker for Celine and Clyde. Also, I can't believe neither Celine nor Rena made a comment about how strikingly similar Clyde and Claude look. Hell, Claude could have said something when they walked past the portrait of Clyde in the castle as well.

I thought Clyde and Claude are related but I did some digging and found out they aren't related at all. Kinda feels like a bad joke from devs lol.

Anyway, enjoying the game - about 3 hours in currently. Hope I will enjoy it to the end!

I just bought my first ever star ocean game and for some reason there is a 16gb update file. It's not a big deal to me because it won't take long to install but I got curious and looked at the digital version description and it stated the game size was 32gb.

That tells me roughly only 15gb of the game was actually stored on the disc. That does not make sense to me whatsoever because ps5 discs can store up to 100gb. Can anyone tell me why games do this?

What is considered the "hardest" boss in your opinion (annoying can be considered hard btw) I am dying too know

Im at sphere 211 first visit from the story on 4D difficulty. HUGE WALL for me i havnt had a problem with this this far i have all characters level 50 except sophia and pepitta level 44 the regular monster solder kicking my ass i didnt have a whole lot of trouble on styx but i dont understand i cant go back to do more item creation either as im locked in i guess and i overwrit that save i have 2 oricalcum weapons for albel and cliff and sophia has an exp 100% laser weapon with 3*500 attack boost spam thunder flare i got 13000 health expept Sophia and peppita have 11000 any tips

I'm actually finishing all the postgame content of my favorite game of all time for the first time in my life, and I've finally reached Freya. She seems... impossible.

I'm on Galaxy difficulty (plan to replay on higher settings in the future) and only took four tries for Lenneth and a single try to beat Ethereal Queen, but I just can't make any headway on Freya.

I'm using a party of Mirage, Nel, and Maria (go women!), all around level 170. They all have their Sphere weapons synthed to have +1000atk, four boots of prowess, no HP damage 30% of the time, and -3 fury use -- I left the last slot on each of them blank in case I need to add something. Mirage has the Valkyrie Garb, the other two have fully refined dragon leather. Mirage has a Blazing Pendant refined to give healing from all elements and a Tri-Emblem; Nel has a Tri-Emblem and Victory Trophy; Maria has a Tri-Emblem and Bunny Shoes.

I have a ton of stun bombs and all the healing items I could need. I have a feeling the trick to this fight is just timing my stun bombs and resurrection elixirs to keep Ether Strike from ever going off, but she just kills me too fast. Do I just need to grind up to max level? Should I try the Convert Damage strat and add MP regen to my weapons? Any other advice that might help? Thanks!

Do you think we will ever get a new one?

I was debating on social media and this question came up.

Completed the regular game then did the extra dungeon and the harder final boss. I beat most of the raid bosses, except that one, you know the one. The game was a blast! And since I hadn't really played it since launch, the story was pretty fresh for me. I enjoyed it from Rena's perspective and the end of chapter one had me surprised! They killed billions of innocent people! I didn't know older games hit like that. I know it kind of works out, but at the time, I was itching to keep going to find out what happens next.

I played Rena's story and had the thought to do new game + on claudes story, but the first hour didn't really hold my interest. So I'm thinking to jump into SO3 on my ps5 pro and come back to it...I also kind of want to play through the xenosaga games on my PS2... Any thoughts or suggestions? Also, I know there are dozens of endings, but are there any top tier ones I should shoot for? Anyway, Maybe I start both and see what holds my attention better. I played SO3 at launch but it's been a couple decades and out side of the twist, I don't remember much about it. I rented xenosaga once from blockbuster, but only had it for a weekend. I don't remember anything about it.

Hello! I am new to Star Ocean and am going to start with Second Story R. I have been watching some videos online with beginner guides. I would like to hear some community ideas for me to have an enjoyable start. Thanks!!

I should probably start with saying I loved this game back 2004. And I still hold this game as a contender for one of the best JRPG ever made.

Replaying the first 6h reminded me why I loved it then. It does not hold your hand. Git gud or get wrecked. And MP kill is such a fun concept

Also Mel is imo such a great character. And it's a shame her character ends in theory with Elicoor II finished.

But MAN I forgot how poorly the audio was in this game.

I think the voice actors are fine in this game. It's one the campier side. But nowhere near the PS era.

But the port on PS5 is either terrible OR I just forgot how bad it was.

Is there anything you guys like or hate with this game?

Besides the twist of course.

Several play through into this game and I'm short one fish. Every area I've been to says "complete". I got the one in the moat around Phynal, the two at the secret shop island, the one by Arlia and Ultimate Gabriel, the ones in the Hoffman Ruins, and several in various containers throughout both worlds. Is there one you're supposed to buy, pickpocket, hidden chest, or something?

How many people, once they learn pickpocketing, pickpocket relentlessly and nondiscriminatory? I know it makes your team less affectionate towards you but I still go crazy and pickpocket everybody. And not all of the games have private actions. Does anybody really not pick pockets in lieu of love?

Found this while browsing I did pick up because I could tell everything was included in the box judging by the heft of it

What I mean is, in Star Trek, we have the Preservers. They were a race that entered the galactic stage before everyone else...and found the universe lonely, and boring. As a result, they seeded DNA to worlds all over the galaxy, which explains why there are so many bipedal species in Trek (and why they're able to often reproduce, despite deep biological differences).

Star Ocean, however, seems to take the planetary similarities to a whole new level. It isn't just that all these planets have bipeds (Roak, Energy Nede, Faykreed, and Earth just to name a few). The fauna are identical from planet to planet. The dual-horned tortoises, the adephaga, the scumbags, and even flying creatures like the Psynard look ALMOST IDENTICAL (with graphical upgrades) across planets that are nowhere near each other in the Star Ocean Universe.

Is this just a function of the 4D of it all? Is it a limitation of the universe's construction as revealed in TtEoT? Because that would be a really lame (and simplistic) explanation when so much of thie universe seems diverse and well-thought out (at least, insofar as the connections between games goes).

Coming off the heels of my writeup summarizing the seemingly hundreds of Greco-Roman mythological references in the Star Ocean series, I want to next dive into another rich vein of references: this time in Star Ocean: Anamnesis’ Oni Albel & Oni Nel event, "Oni Dance on a Dying Planet" (滅びの星に鬼が舞う), which debuted on May 28, 2020 and ran through June 18. The Oni Event contains a staggering four references to East Asian myth (and one extra literature reference):

1. Gekka Hyōjin, a Japanese reference to two Chinese mythologies (about destined spouses, including people from enemy households)
2. Ryōmen Sukuna, the mythologized bloodthirsty warlord from Japan
3. Japanese Oni and yomeiri folklore 
4. Shuten-dōji
5. Hamada Hirosuke’s famous children’s story, "The Red Oni Who Cried" 

You can watch the event here. I’ve also translated the script for the event here.

Gekka Hyojin and Yue Lao

The premise of Oni Event is that Albel and Nel are the only crew members left standing after the ship crash lands on a strange, cursed planet called Orgas. The planet’s atmosphere produces an unexplained "miasma" that knocks the rest of the crew unconscious. To protect themselves from the planet’s hostile air, Albel and Nel have to wear the planet’s traditional costumes, and set out for the source of the curse. Along the way, Nel collapses from the virulent air and implores Albel to leave her for dead. Albel refuses and instead carries her on his back across the desolate planet, until they reach an ice-filled, moonlit chamber. There, they encounter a mysterious "scholar" in a hat, reading from a book. He was ostensibly researching an ancient goddess, until that goddess possessed him, creating and spreading the planet’s curse. The goddess soon appears behind the scholar's shoulder. Albel and Nel fight the scholar and goddess, win, save the crew, and all is well.

One of the boss scholar’s key attacks is called "Gekka Hyōjin" (月下氷人), a Japanese idiom for a matchmaker who brings a man and a woman together in marriage. In fact, Gekka Hyōjin is a compound of two separate Chinese legends: Gekka Rōjin (月下老人, "the Old Man Under the Moon") and Hyōjin (氷人, "the Ice Person").

The first legend, Gekka Rōjin, derives from the Tang-dynasty tale called "The Betrothal Inn" (定婚店). The man, Gekka Rōjin, is called Yuexia Laoren in Chinese, or Yue Lao for short. He serves as a supernatural administrator of marriage who possesses the means by which people destined to marry are bound together, and is usually portrayed reading from a book/register in which he records the destinies of couples fated to marry.

In the myth, a young man named Wei Gu encounters Yue Lao reading a mysterious book under the moonlight. Instantly suspicious, Wei Gu asks who he is. Yue replies that he is a man "of the underworld" who keeps the world’s marriage records in his book. When Wei asks about the bag the old man is leaning on, Yue explains that it holds red cords used to bind couples fated to marry, even if those couples used to be fated enemies: 

"虽仇敌之家，贵贱悬隔，天涯从宦，吴楚异乡，此绳一系，终不可逭"
"even if [they come from] enemy households, are separated by rank, serve in office at the ends of the earth, or live in distant regions like Wu and Chu, once this cord binds them it cannot in the end be escaped." 

Yue Lao goes on to tell Wei Gu that his future wife will be a poor 3-year-old girl whom Wei Gu regards as completely beneath him. Incredulous at the prophecy, Wei Gu’s subordinate is sent to kill the girl. Wei’s subordinate stabs her, but only wounds her head. Fourteen years later, Wei unknowingly marries a beautiful woman wearing a conspicuous floral ornament on her head to hide a scar  — revealing she was the child Wei’s subordinate tried to murder, proving Yue’s prophecy correct. As such, in modern Japanese a ‘gekka hyōjin’ is often an unwitting or serendipitous catalyst for a romance, as well as an official marriage matchmaker.

The second legend, Hyōjin ("Ice Person"), comes from the Book of Jin, specifically the biography of the dream reader Suo Dan. In Hyōjin, a man named Linghu Ce dreamed that he was standing on ice, talking to someone beneath it. Suo Dan explains to Linghu that above the ice is yang and below the ice is yin, symbolizing man and woman. Because Linghu was speaking to someone beneath the ice, he was fated to serve as a marriage go-between, and the marriage would be settled when the ice melted. Sure enough, Linghu Ce woke up and was soon asked to arrange a marriage for the local governor’s son. From then on, "ice person" became a byword for a matchmaker. Eventually the two legends were fused into the compound Japanese expression "Gekka Hyōjin", "the Ice Person Under the Moon."

The scholar boss’ attacks also reinforce these mythological references — after entering the last stage of battle, the scholar gains access to his ultimate Gekka Hyōjin attack, which launches seven ice projectiles to cover the entire battlefield in a net, capturing Nel and Albel in the 'web'. (incidentially, seven is an extremely meaningful number in Chinese/Japanese tradition due to the belief that the Northern Dipper's seven stars governs human destiny.) Another one of the scholar boss' attacks is called "Heaven's Net" (天網恢恢), which is an abbreviation of the famous Laozi expression:

天網恢恢疎にして漏らさず
"Heaven's net is vast; though its mesh is wide, nothing escapes."

Ryōmen Sukuna

The scholar boss’ name is "Riome Nsukuna" (リオメ・ンスクナ), a thinly veiled respelling of Ryōmen Sukuna (両面宿儺, "Two-Faced Sukuna"). Sukuna was both a historical figure from Japan and a mythology in his own right, who has come to symbolize two opposing regions of Japan unifying into one entity.

The historical Ryōmen Sukuna appeared in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan, circa 720 AD). He hailed from the Hida Province (which is the modern day Gifu Prefecture), in the mountains of central Japan, far from the Imperial Yamato Court around modern-day Osaka. At the time, Hida was a rugged, mountainous, hard-to-reach region that operated largely outside the Court’s jurisdiction.

The Imperial Court found Sukuna's battle prowess so threatening that they began disseminating propaganda of his bloodthirsty "wickedness" and claimed he delighted in plundering innocent people. Meanwhile, the actual people of Hida came to regard him as a hero and guardian of the land. As the Yamato court expanded, Sukuna refused to submit to their authority. To justify a military invasion of Hida, the Imperial Court created a demon of Sukuna, portraying him as a monstrous bandit with two faces (front and back), four arms, and four legs (in the Oni Event, the goddess fighting alongside the scholar boss is called the "Two-Faced Fierce God.") The Imperial emperor had Sukuna killed, and Hida was eventually absorbed into the Yamato state.

Yet, Hida locals eventually came to venerate Sukuna not as a hideous bloodthirsty monster but as a benevolent guardian  — this is the point in history where the historical Sukuna becomes the mythological Sukuna. Buddhists began crediting him for introducing religion to Hida, and he’s said to have slayed an fearsome dragon tormenting the neighboring Mino people. Even more fantastically, the legend of Zenkyūji described him as the secret divine manifestation of Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Mercy.

The parallels between Sukuna and Albel Nox are obvious, so I won’t belabor them here, except to emphasize 1) like Sukuna, who was branded an ‘evil bandit,’ Albel was initially designed as the bandit leader of the Moonshadow Clan, 2) Albel’s other mythological reference, the Roman goddess Nox, reinforces Sukuna’s simultaneously ‘fearsome/benevolent’ duality. The Roman Nox was generally regarded as a terrifying figure, but paradoxically one capable of great benevolence and "mercy"  — "mercy" being what Sukuna himself was canonized as the Bodhisattva Kannon, 3) just as Sukuna was rumored to carry a secret divine identity, Albel carries the secret ancestry of Aquaria I and the Living Eyes of the Holy Mother. 

Sukuna’s famed ‘two faces’ often represents the unification of two warring regions in Japan into a single state. Likewise, the developers seem to be suggesting that a destined union between Airyglyph and Aquaria (through a marriage between Albel and Nel?) may eventually lead the two countries to become one again, as they were in the days of the Ancient Kingdom of Aquor.

Oni and yomeiri folklore 

Demon wedding/Oni and yomeiri folklore runneth aplenty throughout this Oni Event (to no one’s surprise!) In Japanese folklore, supernatural weddings are frequently associated with strange weather phenomena: kitsune weddings feature strange sunshowers, and in the folktale "The Oni Laughs", an ominous cloud descends from the atmosphere in the middle of the wedding procession, snatches the bride from her fancy palanquin, and carries her off to be wedded to an Oni in his dwelling place.

In the Oni Event, the conflict principally concerns a planet with "strange, harmful weather" and a "curse" rendering people unconscious, mirroring the uncanny weather that accompanies a supernatural folklore wedding. 

In a traditional Japanese yomeiri, the bride is physically carried to the groom's house so her feet don't touch the ground. In the Oni Event, Albel literally carries Nel on his back through the desolate planet ruins until they encounter the scholar boss in an icy cave. In Japanese weddings, an exchange of sake seals the marriage. Likewise, Albel’s event Talent is explicitly called Ghost’s Sake Gourd (幽鬼の酒瓢). Both Nel and Albel’s victory animations depict them drinking sake under the moon (harkening back to the Ice Man Under the Moon myth), with the following suggestive lines:

Albel: この酒を飲むと、凶暴な気持ちが蘇っていい気分だ。お前をめちゃめちゃにしてえなあ。"Drinking this booze brings the savagery back... and it feels great. I wanna wreck you."

Nel: この装いは気が高ぶる。なぜかお前の味が知りたくてたまらない。ほら、ぺろりと。"This outfit has me all worked up. For some reason, I’m dying to know what you taste like. Come on, just one lick."

When sake is exchanged in ordinary Japanese weddings, it’s called the ‘san-san-kudo ritual.’ However, Edo depictions of oni brides show them behaving outrageously and improperly, aka licking the san-san-kudo cup instead of drinking from it politely. One of Oni Nel’s Talent is named "Robe of Demonic Enchantment" - the kanji 惑 meaning to "allure, "have one’s heart captured." That same kanji features in words like yūwaku (誘惑, seduction) and miwaku (魅惑, charm/glamour).

One of Albel’s Talents is called "The Fierce God’s Ache/Throbbing" (鬼神の疼), paralleling another one of his event lines where he uses the word uzuki (疼き) for his "throbbing ache:"

Albel: 鬼神が生贄を食うように、俺もお前を食えば心の疼きが収まるのか？"If I devour you, the way a demon god devours a sacrifice... will this ache in my heart ease?"

Figuratively uzuki describes a pang of the heart, including the ache of worrying about a lover, or an erotic urge that can’t be restrainted. Albel asks if "eating" (食う) will make the ache stop. In Japanese culture, "eating" (taberu/kuu) a partner is a commonly used double entendre for sex. Likewise, Nel has a corresponding Talent called "Dance that Soothes/Comforts the Fierce God" (鬼神慰撫の舞). Laid beside each other: Albel's"The Fierce God's Ache/Throbbing" and Nel's "Dance that Soothe/Comforts the Fierce God."

Speaking of san-san-kudo, the cups Albel and Nel hold aren’t standard cups used for casual drinking; they’re wide, flat, red lacquer saucers called sakazuki. Sakazuki is used in wedding ceremonies to perform the san-san-kudo. Japanese newlyweds are also given a meoto ("husband and wife") set: paired items such as meoto-jawan (rice bowls), meoto-bashi (chopsticks), and meoto-yunomi (teacups). The husband’s piece is typically larger than the wife’s, and the conventional color split is blue for him and red for her.

In Albel and Nel’s victory animation, Albel drinks directly from a small gourd while Nel sits on a much larger, giant gourd. The san-san-kudo custom actually descended from an older Chinese wedding rite of splitting a gourd into two halves and having the bride and groom each take one half to drink wedding wine from. In Chinese Taoism, gourds also function as magical implements capable of subduing spirits and evil demons, and also became auspicious symbols associated with divine protection and abundant descendants. The size reversal between the gourds, plus the fact that Albel’s outfit is red and Nel’s is indigo, seems to humorously suggest that Albel is the "wife" in this marriage. 

Shuten-dōji

One of the most famous Oni in Japanese folklore is Shuten-doji (酒呑童子, "Sake-Drinking Boy"). In the legend, Shuten-dōji appears in a human form until he drinks sake, which causes him to turn a fiery shade of red and transform into a monstrous Oni. The Nezu Museum describes him receiving sake after dancing in an Oni costume (observe Oni Albel's key Talent animation for the natural parallels).

Shuten-dōji was infamous for abducting and eating women, specifically, noblewomen from the royal capital. These noblewomen were taken to his faraway, mountainous palace. One of Nel's Talents is called "Fragrance of the Oni Banquet" (鬼宴の香); likewise, Shuten-dōji's oni banquet is a central set pieces of his myth. The heroes who eventually slay Shuten-dōji (Yorimitsu and his retainers) had to infiltrate his mountainous stronghold, participate in the banquet, dance for the Oni, and induce Shuten-doji to drink poisoned sake. If the player completes this Oni Event, one of the achievements is literally titled "Attendee/Guest at the Oni Banquet" (鬼の宴の列席者).

Shuten-dōji imagery itself later became associated with elite marriage culture in Japan, and Shuten-dōji picture scrolls eventually came to be used as bridal trousseau/wedding dowrys (e.g., the Suntory Museum of Art devotes an entire section of its Shuten-dōji exhibition to “Shuten-dōji Picture Scrolls as Wedding Dowrys").

"The Red Oni Who Cried"

The archetype of the ‘Red Oni’ is passionate/wild/volatile, vs the ‘Blue Oni," who is calm/intellectual/rational. Albel is explicitly designed to represent the Red Oni in this duo: his costume and horns are red, he uses "Scorched" fire powers, he has red tassels in his hair. Oni Albel’s own official character description states that he has "a passion so intense as to be almost demonic." Likewise, Nel represents the Blue Oni: she wears a blue/indigo outfit and horns, and her hair likewise features blue/indigo highlights. This maps perfectly onto their dynamic that it doesn’t need much elaborating.

One of the most famous Red Oni, Blue Oni stories is a Japanese children’s tale which has come to be known as "The Red Oni Who Cried," first written by Hamada Hirosuke, about a Blue Oni who sacrifices his reputation to help the Red Oni be accepted into "polite" human society. The story begins with the Red Oni putting up a sign inviting the neighboring villagers into his home and offering them tea and sweets, but the villagers remain frightened of him simply because he is an oni. Their distrust eventually frustrates the Red Oni so badly that he angrily tears down the sign. His friend, the Blue Oni, devises a plan: the Blue Oni will pretend to attack the villagers, allowing the Red Oni to appear, drive him off, and ‘save’ everyone. The ploy works, and the Red Oni, now a hero, is taken in by the humans, all the while the Blue Oni has turned himself into a feared monster to win the Red Oni the acceptance he deserves. When the Blue Oni disappears and the Red Oni reads a note summarizing all of the Blue Oni’s sacrifices for him, the Red Oni weeps in gratitude. This reference seems to hint at a potential social response to an Albel-Nel marriage in Aquaria while Albel is still burdened by the moniker "Albel the Wicked", and at Nel’s efforts to rehabilitate his reputation.

Albel and Nel’s costume designs

I want to focus now on Oni Albel and Nel’s costume designs, starting with the visual motifs they both evoke.

Musubi knots: Nel features a musubi knot on her obi.png). The word musubi doesn’t just mean "knot," rather, it’s linked to the Shinto concept of musuhi (産霊), which is the divine generative force that brings things into being and binds them together, which is why musubi is associated with matchmaking, marriage, childbirth, and destiny. Unlike Western ribbons, which are easily untied, the musubi knots used for weddings won’t come undone even if you pull at the knot, symbolizing the endurance of destiny. Nel’s musubi is specifically an ume musubi (plum blossom knot), a common wedding motif and auspicious symbol of new beginnings. Plum blossoms bloom in late winter, ahead of other flowers, after enduring hardship, representing an era of good fortune ahead.

Obis: Nel wears a unique ceremonial obi. A decorative obi tied into a large knot at the back is the typical obi styling for weddings. The obi itself has marital associations: in some regions, obi were exchanged at betrothal as something that "binds the soul," and betrothal money is even called obi-ryō ("sash money"). Likewise, when the player completes the Oni event, they are rewarded with an item called "Misfortune-Averting Obi Ornament." 

Moving on to design elements specific to Albel’s costume: Albel wears a red kumihimo (braided cord) with gold ornamentation in his hair. The red kumihimo often evokes the ubiquitous "red thread of fate", which the Yue Lao myth already explicitly references.

Looking at Albel’s back, he has a thick, giant rope loop hanging from his waist, styled like shimenawa (sacred Shinto ropes). Shimenawa are twisted rice-straw ropes used to designate sacred spaces. They are most famously seen at Meoto Iwa ("Wedded Rocks") in Futami: two rocks that, in Shinto tradition, symbolize a married couple, Izanagi and Izanami. 

Meoto Iwa are specifically a type of iwakura, rocks believed to house gods. Japanese myth is full of divine married couples (e.g., Izanagi & Izanami, Sarutahiko & Ame no Uzume). Such couples are thought to have merged with the Sae no Kami (Dōsojin), the roadside guardian deities, and with rock worship. Dōsojin are often depicted as a male-female couple or as large or small stones. Rock worship/Dōsojin belief/marital harmony combine in the couple rocks enshrined as Meoto Iwa. In the promo art for Oni Albel, Albel conspicuously poses on top of a rock formation.

I mentioned earlier that in the Gekka Rōjin myth, the woman Wei Gu eventually married suspiciously wore a flower ornament on her head to hide the wound the groom’s subordinate had inflicted upon her long ago. In the Oni Event, Nel wears a prominent blue anemone ornament on her head, signifying perhaps that in this Star Ocean remix of this myth, the past "attack" was the war between Airyglyph and Aquaria, or even Shelby’s attack on Nel (seeing as Shelby was Albel’s subordinate and drew her in battle, failing to kill her) (it’s worth noting that in the official SO3 novelization, Nel faces off Shelby directly in a 1:1 encounter).

Speaking of anemones, Nel is a reference to Zephyr, the Greek God of the West Wind (more details here). Because its petals are fragile and short-lived, the anemone is the symbolic "windflower." Importantly, Nel’s first Bridal variant also exclusively featured anemone flowers; her Bridal dagger is called "Ceremonial Anemones" and one of her Talents is called "Pale Crimson Windflower." In Oni Nel’s victory animation, anemone petals fall into her sake cup and flurry around her in the wind.

The Japanese anemone is actually native to China, and was only later introduced and naturalized to Japan. Oni Nel specifically wears a purple/indigo anemone, which symbolizes protection against bad luck or ill omens.

Anemones are interesting because the color of the flower can change its symbolic meaning drastically (which is why you should be very careful when gifting anemones to someone you know). For example, red and pink anemone flowers can symbolize love, but are more powerfully associated with fleeting love, death/mourning, bad luck, or illness (associations which draw from Greco-Roman mythology, which either represent the tears of Aphrodite growing into anemones as she wept for her slain lover Adonis, or the indiscretion of Zephyr, whose impulsive flights of fancy for the nymph Anemone inadvertently caused Anemone to be transformed into the frail flower of her namesake). White anemones are commonly used at funerals. Interestingly, Bridal Nel’s outfit features purple, red, white, and pink anemones, while Oni Nel’s "bridal outfit" only features the purple anemone.

I want to briefly contrast Nel’s symbolic anemone (which, in her Bridal variant, definitely carries a sad undercurrent of tragedy) with Bridal Clair’s 2018 bouquet. Bridal Clair’s signature flowers are calla lilies, cymbidium orchids, and blue star flowers (Oxypetalum), and one of Bridal Clair’s Talents is "Pure White Cymbidium." Calla lilies symbolize stunning beauty, maidenly modesty/elegance, and purity. Cymbidiums symbolize noble, unpretentious beauty, and in China, they stand for virtue and  treasured and loyal friendships. Oxypetalums, commonly sold in Japan as Blue Stars, symbolize "tranquility" and peaceful/trusting love. Clair is even associated with lilies in SO3 proper; see these lines from Solon Solute (who separately makes reference to another female enemy called "Zephyrus of the West Wind"):

Solon Solute: ‘White Lily Battlefield,' in one round. 'White Lily Battlefield' has some of the best female fighters in the Arena. Don't go easy on them because they are women, because if you do, you'll be in for a world of pain.

Dirna Hamilton: I've got a message from 'White Lily Battlefield' here for the challengers, so I'll read it now: 'Which does your team prefer, Hell or the Pit of Eternal Despair? We'll send you to either one, so just let us know!' And that is all.

Solon Solute: Yes, that's 'White Lily Battlefield' for you. Too bad 'Heaven' isn't one of your choices.

June Marriage Events

In Japanese mobile games, the weeks spanning late-May to mid-June are religiously reserved for Bridal/marriage events, where characters are released in wedding dress/tuxedo/ variants. Anamnesis followed this theme strictly: 

• June 2017: Bride Maria and Bride Nel (launched May 31st), Bride Rena and Bride Evelysse (launched June 15th) 
• June 2018: Bride Reimi and Groom Fayt (launched May 31st), Bride Precis and Bride Clair (launched June 14th)
• June 2019: Bride Mirage and Groom Cliff (launched July 1 *one day late… oh Cliff. classic)
• June 2020: Oni Nel and Oni Albel launched May 28 and ran all the way until June 18, 2020, overlapped by Bride Tika and Bride Karin launching on June 11th. In short, the SOA developers were effectively presenting the Oni Event as one of 2020’s headline Bride campaigns. 

With the exception of Cliff/Mirage in 2019 and Nel/Albel in 2020, no other SOA Bride event involved canon pairings between existing SO characters; instead, the events paired the characters with the Captain/player. 

Okay so honestly it’s two questions: NG+ with endgame gear and such, will I still plow my way through early game chaos difficulty? (I will be resetting levels). Because honestly that seems to be the only way to make it worthwhile unless you want to just bulldoze the story.

Second, unaffiliated, question: who’s harder? Gabriel (Raid Boss) or Gabriel (Limiter Off)? If I was able to beat raid Gabriel, can I handle Limiter Off? (No Bloody Armor)

Anyone got any good advice on this i cant seem to hit the enemy 50 percent of the time even if i grind levels. also any good ways to make fol around the peterny area