Howdy everyone! Instead of my promised Busou Shinki post ill present you another quick shot.Ive visited Lylibellule`s Blog today and stumbled across her Menace Visual Combat Book Review.In there she also mentioned the Menace`s Battle History Storybook even though she was a bit unsure what it actually was.Beeing the QB Nut I am, I felt obliged to clear up what this book is actually about.
This is of course a NSFW Review 
The Queens Blade Universe has a vast amount of characters and every Bitoushi has her own backstory and motivation to join the Queens Blade Tournament to fight for the throne of Gainos.The Anime and the different Mangas tried to give a little insight into the bitoushi`s history, but due to the sheer amount of characters it was impossible to give everyone the spotlight they deserved.This is where the Queens Blade Battle History Storybooks come in and focus on a Characters history.
The book is bound in hardcover with 34 coloured pages with artwork by F.S. and is of excellent quality as expected of Hobby Japan.The Highlight of the package is without a doubt the Drama CD that comes with the storybook and brings the story to life.Menace`s Drama CD sports 44tracks with a total playtime of 62:44 minutes.The first 20 tracks belong to the drama and the rest seems to be some random lines by Menace and Setra.
The production quality is great and the cast is made up of talented seiyuus.Anime Veterans might be in for s suprise though since the only familiar seiyuu is Yuko Goto which plays Menace in the drama and anime.Setra and Melona have different but nevertheless charming seiyuus and its interesting to hear other artists interpretations of the same character.Its quite scary how spot on the voice artist of Setra is while Melona has a much more playful vibe in her voice.
Its a shame that they switched those two seiyuus for the more famous Rie Kugimiya and Tachiki Fumihiko for the Anime that followed these books.I wouldnt have mind to hear them in the Anime aswell
If youre fixated on the “original” seiyuus keep in mind that the battle books were made long before the anime and that these are basically the original cast.Dont let the fact that the voice artists differ ignore these dramas since theyre very well executed.
There are two other battle history books I personally know of: one focuses on the Vance Family/Nyx Conflict and the other one features Tomoe/Shizuka and the Attack of the Assassins of the Fang.If youre a nut for audio dramas you might aswell be interested in the Queens Blade Rebellion Story Visual Book which also comes with a drama CD.
Lets get back to Menace`s Book…Here`s a short reminder that some people might consider this a spoiler but it wont destroy your anime viewing pleasure in any way since its Menace`s HISTORY.
Im gonna quote Fabio for this short rundown of her story:
Entitled by birth to be the 15th Queen of the Amara Kingdom, Menace was betrayed by her fighting instructor and best friend Anarista. Her kingdom fell to the enemies and Menace was thrown into the slave pit where she was killed by her own slaves.
Thousands of years later in the Amara Ruins, the Marshland Witch brings Menace back to life as an Undead Mamono. Unwilling to obey the Witch, Menace runs away and eventually meets Anarista (who was also supposed to be dead for a long time). Seeking revenge, Menace fights Anarista, but like in the days of the Ancient Kingdom she is no match for her former instructor. Menace is knocked into a weapons shop where she reunites with her old friend, the living scepter Setra. Eventually, Menace unleashes a new power and defeats Anarista who turns out to be Melona. Melona, a Shape-shifter Mamono associated to the Marshland Witch, was provoking Menace disguised as Anarista to awaken Menace’s Cursed Aura.
Menace still doesn’t want to follow the Witch and Melona, who couldn’t care less about it, left her to do as she wishes. Menace learned about the Queen’s Blade tournament and participates in it to become the Queen and revive the Amara Kingdom.
You might have noticed a little inconsistency with the Anime here since Menace isnt a Marshland Witch lackey in this version but the Anime took some liberties and merged many different Queens Blade Universes into one.In the end it doesnt really matter though since Menace was far from helping the marshland witch in the anime ^^
Ive gotta say that I disliked Menace Character in the beginning but my love for perverted cats and the anime made her grow on me.Shes a bit of a ditz in the anime but the Battle History Menace is a strong woman like the rest of the QB cast.I was really suprised by the strong bond of friendship between Setra and Menace thats displayed throughout the book.I always thought of Setra as a comic relief character but this book has shown me that hes far more and an important character for Menace.
Gosh this was supposed to be a quick post but here I am rambling about QB once more ^^;;;;;;
Lets continue with the pictures!
You gotta love Setra ^_^
*Sigh* They fell for the old Troyan Horse trick.
And thats one naughty bug XD
And who`s allied with the Enemy Nation? Anarista! DUDUDUDUN!
Does anyone know the name of that wrestling move?
Not the prettiest death
Look who sneaked into the background
Ah time for a can of refreshing Tentacle Grape
STFUppercut?
What a lovely reunion
Now that were through with the Review I want to ramble some more…
Remember my Rant about DHL?Well,DHL never fails to amaze me since theyve sent one of my SAL Shipments back to HLJ because “I never claimed it at my postoffice”.Yes,thats right I have to pay re-shipment because my goddamn DHL Driver isnt doing his job.I never got a notification that a package is waiting for me at my postoffice and since SAL isnt trackable via the internet I never knew that a package was waiting for me.Ive voiced a complaint once more on their billed hotline and got the same corporate mumbo jumbo they always pull at me without changing anything.
The worst thing is that Im also waiting for my QB Rebellion Visual Story Book and QB Rebellion Siggy Visual Combat Book for more than a month (shipped on 6th january) and Im pretty sure that it must be on its way back to Japan aswell since the longest time i had to wait for a SAL Shipment was 28 days.
So what am I doing now to prevent this stuff to happen? I run bidaily to my postoffice and ask if there are any packages waiting for me.Seriously DHL: Show some customer Service!
In the end I get the wrong end of the stick and have to pay once more for your shitty service <.<
Has anyone an idea if I can get THEM to pay for my re-shipments? Its their fault after all even though I cant “prove” it
EDIT:
Im feeling seriously taunted by DHL now…What do I find at my doorstep today? A SAL Package shipped out by HLJ 6 days ago! This is the fastest SAL Shipment I ever had while I still havent heard anything about the other one ive been waiting for since 6th january <.<
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