Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Anime ❯ Postscript ( EndNotes )

Postscript for BAD ANIME

When I began this story, one of my goals was to have the main characters change from being mere stereotypes, to... well, you saw for yourself. Shiro was a stereotypical bishonen, a beautiful young man and a confused bisexual, as implied by a deleted scene from chapter 1:

[Start]

"Good morning..." Shiro felt Aimei put her hand on his chest and push him backwards. The boy looked down to see the qipao in his hands.

"Wear this. It looks good on you."

"But I'm a boy!" Shiro protested. Aimei ignored him as she marched away.

Shiro held the qipao in front of him, turned to a window, and stared at his reflection. "It makes me look pretty." The boy blushed. "I shouldn't..."

[End]

Heian Sakura originally shared the surname "Yamato," which made her brother-in-law very similar to another bad father I killed in three different stories ('Death is Never the End', 'Dark Mirrors: Across from Happiness', and 'The Rear End of Evangelion').

Balthild is a historical figure, the wife of Clovis II, King of Burgundy and Neustria. She was born in 626 or 627 of the Common Era (CE), died in 680, and was canonized as "Saint Balthild" in 880 CE. According to her Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balthild), her name means "bold battle" in Old English-- too good to pass up.

Sergeant Zwolak is a real person, a friend I met in the Army.

I revised the story after posting it on the Star Destroyer Discussion Forums (http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/index.php). Originally, BAAL and the ULTRAs had supersonic combustion ramjet-- scramjet-- engines, which, according to forum member Sea Skimmer, have a minimum speed of 965.6 kilometers per hour.

Sugar originally described ULTRA Zero as "light red," a reference to the pink Spartan in 'Red vs. Blue' (http://rvb.roosterteeth.com/home.php).

ULTRA One underwent the most changes. Originally, it was painted gray, which US Air Force tests proved to be effective in reducing a fighter's visibility, specifically, to enemy air defense units; I gave it tiger stripes to distinguish it from the "cannon fodder" typical of other giant robot anime. Its head mounted two M230 chain guns; the Carnotaurus' forearms mounted four FIM-92A Stinger missile tubes; and underwing pylons mounted six AMRAAMs, all of which would be torn off the wings at hypersonic speeds, damaging the robot.

Sugar had a Ford Taurus, and Aizhan had a Lincoln Navigator; I changed the models when I decided the heroes should drive hybrid cars. As for Johnny's truck, details are available at the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies website (http://www.hevt.com/projects.html).

I also removed the bayonet from the tsundere girl's grenade launcher-- the real M25 doesn't have an accessory rail under the barrel, where a bayonet can be mounted.

Here are additional notes on the chapters:

1. The reason I changed the UN military's name was because PPF would be pronounced "Pee-pee Eff," pee-pee being slang for penis or peeing. 'Bad Anime' is not a pornographic or scatological story; an organization named "Penis Force" or "Peeing Force" is inappropriate.

2. The character designer was the one who insisted Beherit use the pistol-sword combination weapon-- an Imperial Japanese Army officer actually customized his Nambu semiautomatic pistol by attaching a katana blade to the grip, a weapon now part of the US Army Ordnance Museum collection at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland-- but the director is the one with the authority to make a cast member obey.

Balthild had silver jewelry. I changed this so she wouldn't be too powerful-- yes, that means silver bullets will hurt her.

Originally, Amano Rei attacked Johnny because he mistook ULTRA One for his archenemy's MS. I changed this to range control overbooking-- scheduling the ULTRA test flights and the 'Gunboy' characters' duel at the same time and place-- and back again, using the mechanical designer's laziness to explain Amano's confusion. Wotan knows real mechanical designers can be this lazy when working for real studios.

3. The mistake of Beherit's armorer was one I witnessed in basic training, made by a trainee who was assigned to load magazines at the rifle range.

Mr. Mui's 'Anime Detective' stories inspired my 'Dark Mirrors' stories, where Anna made her first appearance. He also created the idea for "licenses to run rampant." In his own words, "A License to Run Rampant actually defines the limits of where and when a character can cause major amounts of damage and havoc. If you're going to have destruction, it might as well be in a determined area, right? The insurance companies thank the relevant gods that this license was created."

4. ULTRA One's original call sign was "Dragon," which I changed to avoid confusion with Balthild's dragon form.

The EPF vehicles from the last scene were originally a M6 Linebacker air defense vehicle and three M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, which were really too heavy to be airdropped. Then I made them M1128 Mobile Gun System and M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle variants of the Stryker, which were designed to be airdropped, but whose thin armor made them mobile coffins for American soldiers. My final choices are a variant of the M8 Armored Gun System developed for the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division, and an infantry fighting vehicle designed for Russian Airborne Forces.

5. Prince John's ancestor is a physically fit version of William the Conqueror; according to Baby Names (http://www.babynames.com/name/BRAND), his name means "sword" in English. George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' inspired Brand the Conqueror's Throne of Swords.

John originally had an out-of-place Chinese repeating crossbow, which is going too far.

6. If you're curious about the title, "knocking boots" is slang for sex between soldiers.

7. The powers and authority claimed by Beherit, alias Berith, are attributed to the demon in his Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berith). Originally, Beherit's human form was named "Krasny Djavolovich Plamya," or Red, Devil's Son, Flames-- a suitably ridiculous name for a supervillain. Stas Bush provided the new name; in his own words, "It's still ridiculous, but realistic enough to exist as a rank-and-file name without causing immediate suspicions."

I intended to introduce a fictional US Navy submarine aircraft carrier, called the Submersible Heliport for Assault, Reconnaissance, and Command (SHARC); Abe was to describe the Leviathan as the SHARC's Soviet counterpart after the ULTRA pilots capture the sub on camera. No, I have no intention of using the title 'Jumping the SHARC'.