yoko vs nia, dr jack style
Categories: anime, fanservice, gurren lagann, moe
Tagged: gurren lagann, gurren lagann:nia, gurren lagann:yoko
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It’s been a while since the last heavyweight bout, has it? Well, one finally comes along, and I hope it’s better than Hoya/Mayweather.
In the red corner, wearing the black and red and armed with a huge ass l33t rifle, it’s “14 is the new 17” Yoko! In the blue corner, wearing blue and white summer dresses with eyes of love, courage, and justice, it’s DFC Nia! Hey, if I’m going to pull out a boxing analogy, I might as do it right, eh? Let’s get ready to ruuuuuuumble!
Demeanor
Sorry for my 98 Degrees lyric usage, but they’re both true to their hearts in their own ways. Nia is definitely the straightforward one, untainted by the harshness of life and always optimistic. She can easily share and deliver her feelings. Yoko, on the other hand, is battle hardened. She’s a few grenades and one Bonta-kun away from being Sagara with 38DDs. However, despite seeing the ravages of war, she’s able to coyly show her intentions a la a pseudo-ツンデレ. Nonetheless, Nia is the straightforward one and managed to defuse a few tense situations (i.e. when they first started interrogating her and how when she was captured by Adiane) with her honest emotions. Edge: Nia, who is becoming the Sexy Voice to Simon’s Robo (if you picture Kamina as Max Robo, it all makes sense, I think).
Combat Abilities
Not really a contest. What’s Nia going to do? Toss flower pedals at you and stare at you with puppy dog eyes? (Could be effective against most humans, but I doubt this will sway the dangerous close to Y4L Viral.) Nia could have abilities up her sleeve, maybe like Pacifica… but she hasn’t really shown them yet, and spiking a volleyball does not count. She’s up against Yoko, a four-tool assassin: sniping, archering, mecha piloting, and ‘zerking. Edge: Yoko, because she’s almost on-par with Major Motoko in sniping without cybernetic implants (that we know of).
Voice Work
Both Marina Inoue (Yoko) and Yukari Fukui (Nia) have their own blogs. This is truly the internet age. Marina, I think, has the more interesting blog from a fanboy standpoint. She has some good tidbits on Gurren Lagann as well her her Yoko cosplay photos. Yukari, though, has lots of pictures of flowers and pills. I’m not sure what this means, and I didn’t want to spend a lot of time translating, but it’s definitely entertaining on a different standpoint. Nevertheless, I think they both nailed their roles. Edge: Even, and hopefully we get to see more the two perform a duet of Motteke! Sailor Fuku.
Cooking
The important stuff, right? When I was watching Sexy Voice and Robo, I realized that there were a lot of cooking scenes, almost two or three every episode. Juxtapose with the episodes of House, Ghost Whisperer, and Battlestar Galactica that I have watched recently where no one cooked. I’m sure guys would enjoy seeing Jennifer Love Hewitt do anything, but wouldn’t the ladies want to see David Conrad cook and maybe rearrange some furniture? In any case, I’m assuming that Yoko can’t do much since she would have tried seducing Kamina with a vodka-filled cake by now if she could. Nia, though, at least has one admirer of her cooking. Edge: Nia, so that the hamster will live to see another day.
Hairstyles
Ponytails turn me on. Amen. Edge: Yoko, because she doesn’t remind me of rollerblading/sky surfing mecha.
Max Emo Facial Distortion
I think we’ve already seen Yoko’s, when she’s chews out Nia after Nia “didn’t understand about Kamina.” On a scale of one to ten where ten is an unholy amalgamation of Miki, Shion, and Shinn and one is Belldandy, I’m going to give Yoko a five. I just don’t see her being able to do much more than that, kinda like how one shouldn’t expect Ben Wallace to score eight points a game. Nia, on the other hand, has been almost flawless, but the cute, playful, seemingly peaceful girls are always the best candidates to go ballistic. Nia probably has 35% odds that she’ll pull an “USO DA!” before it’s over, and I couldn’t be giddier over this prospect. Edge: Nia, who should always, always, always be carrying sharp objects and/or soy sauce around. (But I definitely blame Yoko for not tossing out at least a Tomoe-class emo facial distortion when she lost so badly during the beach episode.)
Hawtness
Based on sheer looks alone, this is the epic battle between curves and non-curves. Honestly, I don’t care. It’s one of those battles where there are no losers, only winners. Yoko has the womanly charm of “Always Be My Baby” Mariah Carey whereas Nia has the charm of a ten year old boy. There’s fans of both– though– Nia-fans should consider either joining the Catholic church or pretend to be an esper transfer student. (Yeah, cheap shot, but the Boston Globe has an interactive map available to track priests who have abused kids.) Edge: Even, with some generosity here.
Resilience
After Kamina died, I had on my, “WTF… NOOOOO!” face on, as did most of the cast members, and for a while it did become a question of, “Will Kamina’s death sink the show because everyone will become so emo over it?” It did take the deux ex machina-ish entry of Nia to snap everyone out of their funk, and isn’t that significant? If Nia never came around and started asking, “Who’s anikei?” wouldn’t Yoko, Simon, and the rest of the gang be dead or still emo-ing right now as I bemoan and type posts like “Did Gurren Lagann go off a cliff faster, or did Kare Kano?” Edge Nia, who probably could have redeemed Shinji Ikari if given a chance. (On second thought… nah… no one can redeem him.)
Heritage
One is a human survivor who left her hometown because of puppy love. The other was discarded by her ruthless father. Yoko probably seems more normal, and the fact that Nia has maybe hundreds of dead sisters is extremely creepy. Though it would be funny if it turned out if the Demon King were Ginko, Hakuoro, or Kyon and hence able to sire so many daughters. Edge: Yoko, for being in love with Kamina.
Moeability
With the NBA draft coming up later this week, I can’t help but make up my own words… “Yoko currently has superior moe, since you always have to go with the provocative clothing and the melonpan and that personality. However, Nia has the higher potential ceiling. While she doesn’t have the same dimensions as Yoko, she has more moe-versitility. I mean, episode 12.” In other words, Yoko is like Oden, a franchise center with explosive moeness that one can definitely use to anchor a harem rotation with. Yoko’s the safe pick. Nia, on the other hand, has long moeness and is more like Durant… the upside is higher than Oden’s but his downside is much lower than Oden’s. In either case, both Yoko and Nia are both worthy of the first pick. Slight edge: Yoko, just because even though Hakeem went ahead of Jordan, Hakeem still managed to get his rings and did it without another Top 50 NBA player helping him out.
(Any longtime reader of AoMM should not be surprised that I’m comparing Yoko and Nia to Oden and Durant and ishould probably be wondering, “Wait, what took so long?”)
(And, yes, I screwed up by using both a boxing and NBA analogy here… I don’t care anymore, I’m tired… wrap up… wrap up…)
Conclusion
To each their own, much like “tastes great; less filling,” they’re both better appreciated after a feisty cat fight. Yoko has a different toolset than Nia, but it’s hard to say which one is definitely superior. Yoko has more blatant one, like she’s the iPod blaring out Eminem whereas Nia is the more subtle one, more of a vinyl playing Rachmaninoff. It’ll be interesting to see who wins the Simon sweepstakes, whether by default (other or both dies) or by mutual attraction or Simon realizes his full potential and goes for both plus the three sisters. In any case, hopefully by the time the Harlock ending rolls around, they’ll both still be around and that Simon didn’t end up with Leeron or Kamina’s old shades.
33 Responses to “yoko vs nia, dr jack style”
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so what took you so long? up next on aomm’s coverage of gurren lagann – the anime guy’s draft day trade proposals, including the one where simon trades down one pick to draft nia and gets rossiuard lewis in the deal, which he immediately swings around to trade for a package of 3 virgin girls from the Village of Nocock.
that’s playing your cards right.
tremendous moe upside potential, anyone?
Um…Olajuwon had Clyde “The Glide” Drexler. And if Jordan hadn’t retired, would Olajuwon have had even two?
Hell, if you hadn’t made that NBA analogy, I wouldn’t even be commenting. I don’t even know about the girls mentioned above.
Yoko is the ultimate living fan service machine… she only needs to be present on screen to provide fan service.
now all we need is yoko “14 is the new 17” vs revy is death.
Hey, I found these on 4chan, and figured why not share.
http://www3.telus.net/kendraki.....102590.jpg
http://www3.telus.net/kendraki.....983621.jpg
Enjoy. :) (Yes, they’re related to the post, and yes, they’re perfectly safe.)
Nia could have saved Shinji. At least until she turned out to be another angel and got her head squeezed off… hmmm.
While Nia may or may not possess more tremendous upside potential, Yoko is like a Tim Duncan type character who we have watched perform consistently through 4 years of college. I feel in 2 years, no one will care about Nia, but Yoko’s legacy of fanservice and sniping will live on. While Yoko may go on to have a Duncan-esque career, I foresee Nia following more of a Jerry Stackhouse trajectory.
Also wanted to mention that Yoko is a much more well-rounded character. And by well-rounded, of course I mean she displays a wider range of emotions and enhances the story in more ways than Nia.
[quote comment=”151856″]Um…Olajuwon had Clyde “The Glide” Drexler. And if Jordan hadn’t retired, would Olajuwon have had even two?[/quote]
Drexler was washed up by the time he arrived at the Rockets. Their second best player were Cassell. Hakeem destroyed Robinson, Malone, and Shaq during his run, and Jordan always had trouble with teams with dominant, athletic centers (see Kemp, Shawn). It is a shame that the two never met in the Finals.
[quote comment=”151857″]Yoko is the ultimate living fan service machine… she only needs to be present on screen to provide fan service.[/quote]
That’s a great possible nickname for Yoko: “The Human Fanservice Machine.” I like it.
[quote post=”1108″]Yoko is the ultimate living fan service machine… she only needs to be present on screen to provide fan service.[/quote]
And oddly enough provided less fanservice in the swimsuit epsiode than she does normally…only yoko can break this anime law, and thus she is 4tw
I disagree with the assessment of voice acting; Nia’s voice may reasonably fit her character, I still find it incredibly grating. It’s practically in dog-whistle register, makes me want to slap her into puberty.
Of course, I could just be biased by being a Yoko fan. Imagine Haruhi wearing a teeny bikini and holding a railgun, with the epic ponytail. Her and Yoko together, mmmmm. They wouldn’t even have to do anything for their hybrid show to rank in the top 10 shows ever, easily. Maybe top 5.
P.S.- Are we not allowed to double-return to put a spacing line between paragraphs anymore?
Test?
re: cooking – having one admirer doesn’t mean anything when the food’s effects on everybody else suggest that it would fall under the 1972 Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention, as well as the Chemical Weapons Convention.
on second thought, maybe we’ve found a replacement for the yucca mountain nuclear waste repository.
Nia turned me into a lolicon.
That is all.
Ok, ok, I still love
boobsYoko, but Nia’s cuteness-overload gets me every time she smiles. Justlock me upshoot me. I don’t care anymore. No way *etc…If you ask me, Miyuki in Yoko’s outfit, like so.
http://www3.telus.net/kendraki.....102590.jpg
You just know Konata had something to do with that.
Also, I think my previous post got moderated…wonder why.
Anyhow, if I had to pick…Nia in Yoko’s outfit. I wish I had a picture of that. :)
Nia wouldn’t fill out Yoko’s outfit very well.
Simon: The answer is not Nia. The answer is not Yoko. The answer is both.
Simultaneously.
The three sisters idea is heartily seconded. Especially Kiyal. Gotta love the LOLFANG.
Simon: The answer is not Nia. The answer is not Yoko. The answer is both.
Simultaneously.
Great idea!
I’ll settle for nothing less than that.
Nia for me. Unless Yoko and Nia have hot lesbian sex.
I love this show, and this episode was especially good, thanks for sharing it with us.
I’ve come to be a fan of Yoko because of the recent eps.
(didn’t really like her in the first 8 episodes, because of Kamina)
I still like NIA better though.
But tbh, I want both of them hahaha.
[quote comment=”151865″]Drexler was washed up by the time he arrived at the Rockets. Their second best player were Cassell. Hakeem destroyed Robinson, Malone, and Shaq during his run, and Jordan always had trouble with teams with dominant, athletic centers (see Kemp, Shawn). It is a shame that the two never met in the Finals.[/quote]
Drexler’s still a member of the 50 Greatest NBA Players roster. I just wanted to point out that dig you made about Olajuwon not having a 50-Greatest teammate to help him win his championships.
And the Bulls did run into Shawn Kemp’s Sonics in the 1996 NBA Finals, and beat them for their 4th championship. I never understood why the champion Rockets practically faded after 1995.
Uhh…why are we talking about basketball?
Must be the fact that I watched the NBA draft tonight…
This is why I don’t write an NBA blog. People just don’t remember the old stuff… as I said before, Drexler’s career was winding down… no different than Payton on the Heat currently. Technically, if you’re just going by who is on the roster, Hakeem also had Pippen (eventually). In terms of having top 50 players in their prime while he was in his prime, Hakeem had no one. Cassell was his best teammate during Hakeem’s prime. I did mean Hakeem in his prime never got to meet Jordan in his prime.
Kemp was a monster against the Bulls in 95-96. No one on the Bulls could guard him. He shot something like 57% from the floor against Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman:
http://www.canoe.ca/NBAPlayoffs96/jun14_kemp.html
But he was young and got tossed out of game six when it was still close costing Sonics the series. It was a shame, and they imploded that summer. At least they have Durant now… 12 years later…
Well. Nia wins. I mean Simon is going to propose to her in ep.16. So she wins doesn’t she?
Please, why the hell are you posting crap spoilers here?
Yoko 4tw. Has to be. For some unfathomable reason Nia irks me. Don’t get me wrong she’s ultra cool-beans in my book but Yoko seems to have more… depth. Sure Nia is cool kinda like the Protoss (omg I totally pulled a Starcraft reference there)… they look cool and work well but lack something… and Yoko is totally the Zerg primal, powerful, fleshy *cough cough*. Ok back on track… Yoko has more soul to her. You can understand her more and relate to her. Nia is kinda missing that (for now anyways). As the serries goes on I think Nia may develop something to top Yoko… but for now the red haired rifle woman totally owns it.
[quote comment=”151884″]
Kemp was a monster against the Bulls in 95-96. No one on the Bulls could guard him.
[/quote]
All I remember is that the people in Vegas had to beg people to place bets on the Sonics (this was during the Bulls’ 72-win campaign), and that the Bulls stampeded to a 3-0 lead before dropping 2 and winning the sixth in a near-rout. That doesn’t sound like they were having any particular difficulty to me.
And by then the Houston Rockets got Barkley, which meant that Olajuwon had two HOF players on his team–Barkley and Drexler–and *still* got beaten by the Jazz’s Stockton and Malone, who then got beaten by Jordan’s Bulls. (Jordan, Barkley, Olajuwon, and Stockton were all from the same 1984 draft class, so they were all either at or past their prime.)
[quote] At least they have Durant now… 12 years later…[/quote]
I’m quite excited about Durant. I’m not fond of today’s NBA and believe that it’s past its glory days, but if Durant turns out to be Jordanesque, it might actually lure me back. That, and Nash’s Suns getting to the Finals.
Oh man, you’re making me want to start up an NBA blog… anyway, the Sonics blew the series against the Bulls because everyone on the team sucked besides Kemp. I think he had a higher scoring average than Jordan, but he got no help. Kemp, man, what a shame… he could have been one of the greats…
But in terms of comedy potential, Oden has Durant beat. I watched one of Oden’s press conferences, and the guy is definitely funny. He should blog. Has the NBA ever had an intentionally funny franchise center? (Kareem and Shaq are, I think, unintentionally funny.)
[quote post=”1108″]But in terms of comedy potential, Oden has Durant beat. I watched one of Oden’s press conferences, and the guy is definitely funny. He should blog.[/quote]
He may be funny, but when it comes to funny, everyone in the NBA
Grumble…mumble…damn HTML… Ahem…
…everyone in the NBA < Barkley.
Sorry for the doublepost.
[quote comment=”151928″]Oh man, you’re making me want to start up an NBA blog… anyway, the Sonics blew the series against the Bulls because everyone on the team sucked besides Kemp. I think he had a higher scoring average than Jordan, but he got no help. Kemp, man, what a shame… he could have been one of the greats…
[/quote]
Higher scoring average? Unless it was over 30 ppg (Jordan’s), then um…no. :) Besides, how can you say the Sonics didn’t have help for Kemp when they had about 64 wins, second only to the 72-win Bulls? (Man, I can’t believe I remember that stuff.) And they had Tar Heel alum George Karl as coach! The 1996 Sonics weren’t pushovers, even if the Bulls made them look it–then again, the Bulls did that to a lot of great teams. Sadly, I don’t recall what happened to Kemp after 1996…
Maybe you SHOULD start an NBA blog, at that; maybe the new draftees’ll breathe some fresh air into the league and we won’t be saddled with this year’s snoozer of a Finals.
[quote]
But in terms of comedy potential, Oden has Durant beat. I watched one of Oden’s press conferences, and the guy is definitely funny. He should blog. Has the NBA ever had an intentionally funny franchise center? (Kareem and Shaq are, I think, unintentionally funny.)[/quote]
Oden cracks me up (though he’ll have to work to top Arenas’s blog). I like him better than Shaq already. And Barkley was the man (“I don’t eat much–only all the time.”).
Hey Jason. I’m back this year to help you out with “Dr. Jack posts” again.
If ever you need help, you know where to find me.