Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Queen's Blade Backstories: Laila and Branwen

Time for more of these! Fans of a certain missing angel will be pleased with the cameo, while Branwen's somehow ties with our current progress in the story.

Enjoy!

Laila







Nanael, the Archangel of Light. There was no one in Heaven who didn’t know that name.

“Hey, Laila! Please massage the base of my wings gentler!”

The one being made to massage the base of her wings was her, the apprentice angel Laila. Laila had recently joined the ranks of Heaven, and for better or for worse, had become a direct subordinate of Nanael’s.

“This time, I’m giving you a special mission.”

Though it was actually a mission the Head Angel had given to Nanael, such a thing didn’t bother her in the least.

“On earth, the Marshland Witch has resurrected, and seems like her influence is expanding. You, go down to earth, and do something.”

Those were quite sketchy instructions. Even if Laila’s mind became blank at times like these, since she gave the impression to have reacted to her words calmly, she was hard to deal with.

“Just, there seems to be a problem with Heaven intervening on the ground much too overly~. I want you to purify it all successfu~lly around there and leave it in perfect condition.”

Instructions that were complicated and unspecific. Although they were typical useless instructions from her superior, Laila’s mind simply went blank, and she only said “Yes” without arguing.

“Well, because I prepared a sacred utensil for you, if you have this and fill it with Holy Milk… eh, uwaaaaa, wait, what are you doiiiing!!”

Laila, who was supposed to be massaging the base of Nanael’s feathers, had plucked out all of her feathers before she realized.

This apprentice half-angel was already giving her best even before departing.

Sure enough, can Laila purify the ground with the sacred utensil?

They won’t know that unless they fight.

Branwen



An evil land filled with death and miasma.
Although this place is simply called the “Marshland”, it’s far too large a land to call it so.
The lord of darkness that governs this land is the Marshland Witch.
The Witch appears on the balcony of the minaret. The demons filling the seats of the arena prostrate themselves all at once. My loathsome master, the Trainer Dogura, is no exception.

“How beautiful you are, great Marshland Witch… I adore you. I dedicate this victory to you.”

The marshland tournament will be held here. It is a vulgar contest where gladiator slaves subjected to torture by their demon trainers fight for the victory at the risk of life and limb.

“Branwen, since you descend from the dragons, I take it you’re the strongest fighter. You won’t be defeated by such scum, will you?”

With Dogura’s nauseating breath hanging in front of my face, I can’t bring myself to even open my mouth.
Instantaneously, a magical wave is sent to a sensitive part of my body. Losing strength in my knees, I can’t help but show an unsightly appearance to the vulgar creature.
That’s the power of Dogura’s handmade training tool. If there’s only one technology the marsh goblins can be proud of, it would be this tool which specializes only in making slaves submit.

“He~y, how many times do I have to say it for you to understand? You aren’t a Dragon Warrior anymore! You belong to me now!”

Beat.
Deep inside my heart, something is wriggling.
Is the dragon inside me trying to awaken?

The rusty doors of the arena open, making a creaking sound.
Now, I’ll stand up and fight.
I can’t afford to die yet.

Sure enough, can Branwen win fighting against this unknown enemy?

They won’t know that unless they fight.

15 comments:

  1. Well... considering how powerful the angels are, I suppose it does make sense that they can't put a competent angel on the heroes' side!

    It does explain why Laila calls her "Archangel Nanael" too: I figured that it'd be incredibly unlikely that she actually got a promotion!

    And... man I hate that goblin. I really, really hope he gets what's comming to him eventually!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hm, I thought Nanael was the "Archangel" of Hope, rather than Light.

    Also, it's interesting to contrast Branwen's motivations here with how she acts in the anime. There she seemed content to remain a slave, as it satisfied her masochistic urges. Here she seems to resent it (though she still doesn't mention her dragon companion, Asher).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nanael has always been "Angel of Light" (I may have used Hope in Vanquished Queens, my bad), so she actually ended up promoted in Rebellion (don't ask me how she managed to, though).

      And yep, the anime seems to not go deep enough into the characters' motivations, if you ask me...

      By the way, even with the fixed structure of these prologues, it's nice that they keep it varied with the little touches, like making Branwen's in first person, and Aldra's in second person.

      Delete
    2. Well, I put "archangel" in quotation marks as a show of sarcasm. From what I can tell, this is simply "dai-tenshi," which is what (in the anime) Melpha calls Nanael...I can't remember if it's how the other angels referred to the Head Angel.

      In other words, Nanael's "promotion" might just be her misrepresenting herself to Laila, and the latter believing it.

      Also, good point on the use of varying points of view for the backstories.

      Delete
    3. The Head Angel is "tenshichou". Archangel is "daitenshi" indeed, but I think Melpha usually calls her "Nanael-sama", not only in the anime, but officially as per the Perfect Visual Book:
      http://queensblade.wikia.com/wiki/Queen's_Blade:_Perfect_Visual_Book
      (Incidentally, quick reminder: it's getting released in english in November)

      And well, there is a possibility that Nanael is trolling us indeed, but it isn't Nanael saying so herself, it's the narrator: Nanael isn't exactly being praised here, it's quickly pointed out that the mission was for Nanael, and Izumi's fake "samurai-ness" was exposed right in her bio too...

      Delete
    4. Hm, you make some good points - I guess that's what I get for not double-checking the source material (it's been a while since I watched the anime, for example). You're also spot-on about the third-person narration giving her that title.

      I'll definitely be picking up the Perfect Visual Book once it's released in English, though!

      Delete
  3. So Konata from Lucky Star became a lazy Archangel. :P No, seriously, she's voiced by the same persona and she even has the same hair color and eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok so I want to know who is Asher? her pet dragon?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, that's right (we don't know if it's Asher or Usher, though).

      It briefly appeared in one chapter of the Rebellion Zero manga, see her wikia page:
      http://queensblade.wikia.com/wiki/Branwen

      Delete
    2. Ah! thanks. Btw do you have the rebellion Zero manga here?

      Delete
    3. You can download most of the chapters from the source page (http://www.comicdangan.com/manga/qbrzero/) with the Online Manga Downloader or similar. I don't have all the chapters myself, though...

      Delete
    4. thanks, though I would download them but they in jap. Can't understand jap. Will you be translating them anytime? Is it a continuation of the rebellion illustrated stories?

      Delete
    5. If you can't understand jap, that actually makes two of us ^^U
      It's supposed to be some kind of prologue (hence "zero"), and yes, I'll try to translate them sometime after we're done with Exiled Warrior...

      Delete
    6. Lol! I figured you know japanese since you do all the translations :D.

      Delete
    7. Yeah, tell me that.
      But nope, if it's me doing the translations is just because no one else better qualified is ^^U

      Delete