#eternal filena

[caterpie]

Eternal Filena (1992)

#eternal filena #retro anime #anime aesthetic #candle #90s anime #90s #i make gifs sometimes

[superfamiblog]

Eternal Filena (Tokuma Shoten, 1995) English translation patch by satsu.

#Eternal Filena #Eien no Filena #SNES #Super Famicom #JRPG #pixel aesthetic #pixel graphics #retro games #retro gaming #screenshot #screencaps #Fami's junk

[90sfantasyanimestuff]

Eternal Filena, Akemi Takada

#eternal filena #akemi takada #fantasy illustration #light novel #anime illustration

[emtmercy]

wow loving their vibe

#eternal filena

[chaoticruinsgentlemen]

#eternal filena

[neonapocalypta]

(Mostly) First Impressions of Eternal Filena

CONTEXT: Another thread repost from my twitter during my original batch of Takeshi Shudo stuff I watched while being ill in March. Of course, these are edited for any grammar and anything that didn't need to be there w/ hindsight. This time, I actually had to add stuff in the form of notes. I gotta get back on this watch, I've just been down so many rabbit holes this year. I had also watched cosmos pink shock, but never got around to talking about it despite loving it. I look forward to talking about these shows more someday. (And pretty soon for one of them...)

---

I knew getting ahold of a lot of Takeshi Shudo's early work was gonna be a challenge, but at least according to Wikipedia he did a lot of uncredited work throughout the early 70s. What a shame, even if it seems like he was just a helping hand.

Lucky for me I guess I've seen enough of the guy's work that I can usually tell what he might have written. He has a distinct style from what I've sampled so far. [NEW NOTE: This is in relation to some of the earliest shows he worked on as a writer. I had been having trouble finding his proper credit online for individual episodes he wrote. I had watched those before watching these ovas. During these shows I'd just have to watch an ep and guess if he'd pop up in the credits. I was right pretty much every time. What a nice memory.]

So far, my favs are Radio City Fantasy and Eternal Filena. Radio is a cute love story in twist with a drug trip. Filena is also a love story about two people that have to come together and make shit work.

Filena has 3 versions. The light novel (I can't read it.) the game, and the anime that was never completed. The anime is still worth watching, it has some cool visuals and frankly I love Lila and Filena a lot, so its an added bonus for me. I'm not sure which version is closer to Shudo's LN. My guess would be the anime since it seems like he had more involvement in the writing, but I'm only guessing. The game feels almost has a road trip vibe and is quicker paced compared to the anime.

I know the claim about Prof Ivy being a Lesbian was debunked recently, so its cool to be able to say Takeshi Shudo has written a lesbian couple. I know there's talk about Filena being a trans man, and I think that's valid. Though it seems like this is mostly talked about from the perspective of the game, where their character is written a bit different than the show. (Less openly affectionate, more traditionally masculine personality)

Also, if Filena is a trans the ending of the game is pretty terrible then, forcing them to wear a dress when they don't want to. (Aka forcing them to conform to women gender roles in this case.) I'm not saying that's why I think Filena isn't trans, I'm saying if they are, that's a really shitty ending for a trans guy. Epesh bc Lila, their partner, is making them wear it.

My guess is that Shudo intended them to be a lesbian couple. Rn having access to the novels would be really helpful. If you've never read a Shudo novel, at the least the Pokemon ones are written a lot different than most books. Most people would say he's a terrible writer, but I disagree. At least in those books you can feel his brain throughout the page. No one else could have written those books in that exact way. He has a voice, lets say, and I'm sure the writing style is the same in the EF LNs. Either way, I think it's so cool to have a series from the 90s that lets people speculate about queer identities and there's viable text to provoke discussion.

It's also cool to see how our main couple is treated. They live in a world where they're slaves and are only seen as entertainment. Together they see each other as loved ones, work ingas a team to create a better future for themselves. It's something you have to read/play to completely get what I mean and I think the anime is better at showing this aspect. But trust me, there's a warmth to their relationship past the romance. (no matter what type of couple they are.) With it being a romance, makes it better. Double for gay interpretation. It doesn't feel it was written to be "Lesbians be hot" but more "This is a couple". Even if in Shudo's novel they don't end up together (they do in the game.) or it goes any other way in the end, I still really respect how they're written.

MORE END OF THE GAME SPOILERS: They become queens at the end. Like Lila is on the throne with Filena. Based.

I'd love to keep talking about Filena and Lila at length bc I think they're great, but I don't want to spoil anything else. Btw the game is on the SNES and never got localized (i WoNdEr WhY?) so Filena being either a gay woman or a trans protag is pretty cool considering the era. Fuck, her being a woman protag by itself was a big deal for that era as far as I know.

*Btw not saying the Queer themes are the only reason this wasn't brought over. I could guess several like how it looks like FF or how its an adult property, and more. [NEW NOTE: I think I meant it looks enough like Final Fantasy that investors wouldn't want to risk it being in competition with those games. tbh that coulda made it a better candidate for an ENG release during certain times as well. I was just spit ballin' but it bothered me enough to add this note. While we're here, I think between it's adult and Queer themes, and also coming out in 95 is most likely why it stayed JPN excusive. I should have mentioned its late release date (for the SNES), but when you're sick and on twitter things slip through the cracks I guess.]

The game has a fan translation and there's a recent lp that shows it off. I'd say check it out if you like that era of JRPGs in general. Personally, for English speakers at least, the game then the anime is the best way to go since you'll get a full story first.

There's several reasons I like one version over the other but that's small shit and I've written enough for now. I wasn't planning on this thread becoming about Filena but I guess it is national Women's day [At time of writing] and no matter Filena's gender, Lila is a queen.

Also sorry if I get anything wrong. Espesh about Shudo's career. Info on the english web is not great. Like some websites say Radio city was his first work at 18, but it came out in 1984 and he was born in 1949. If I get anything wrong, I'll correct it.

i got a lot more Shudo stuff I've seen and want to see, so maybe next time I'll post more about Radio city. This was meant to be a small update thread lol.

#takeshi shudo #eternal filena #first impressions

[a-girl-called-bob]

started playing this super nintendo RPG last night called 'Eternal Filena' (Eien no Filena; the game was never officially translated, but a pretty solid fan patch exists here). The game plays very much like Final Fantasy 5 - it's a turn-based RPG that uses an ATB meter affected both by the speed of a character and the weight of their equipment.

So get this: In a world with radical technological disparity, the Empire has conquered every nation around it. You play as Filena, a girl from a subjugated race raised as a boy for her own protection - though, that's a bit complicated. See, girls of your race are treated poorly, sure - most work in either service or service - but guys of your race aren't treated that much better, as most of them are forced into gladiatorial combat training from a young age, as that gladiator combat is the most popular form of mass entertainment for the Imperial populace. Still, due to reasons that come up fairly early in the game, maintaining the disguise is crucial.

Now, very early on (like, 'before the first real fight' early), you're put into a situation where you're expected to sleep with a woman, Lila. She naturally discovers that you're in disguise, but she's willing to keep your secret - after all, she can't exactly leave without staying the night, or she'll likely be arrested or killed. Lila ends up posing as (?) Filena's wife, and this persists despite them all leaving the gladiatorial combat environment fairly soon.

You also meet Nest, the guy who essentially writes the booking of the gladiator battles in order to create interesting 'stories' - like Kayfabe, if the fights were actually to the death. You basically start attracting interest around town, initially, because you were the obvious jobber for the first matchup and you pull off a surprising victory.

After a few fights, your reputation changes and the town opens up a bit, but after you're forced to fight your mentor in the arena, the plot really gets started. As he lays, dying from your spear, he hands you a token of your heritage and tells you to break into the information office and use their machines to decode it. This is where the game picks up, and where I'll stop summarizing.

This game is apparently an adaptation of a light novel series from the 1990s, and also got an anime that was apparently not that good.

Eternal Filena isn't technically impressive, and it has a couple of annoying parts where grinding is necessary (though, one point - which is very funny, because it's supposed to be an escape sequence - has a room with a full-heal machine that also has random encounters that drop way more experience than you've had from random encounters to that point, so it's a perfect place to grind despite 'Get the Fuck Out' klaxons going; it's also a necessary place to grind, because there's a super overleveled boss at the end of that area), but it's a really solid turn-based RPG on its mechanical merits nonetheless.

While the story is certainly not new, and it's been done more effectively since, a lot of the story elements that are here are really quite good. The translation patch does a good job of capturing the intended weight of most scenes (at least in the early-game, I'm only 3 hours in at this point and the world looks pretty big from here). There are some fairly obvious gender-feelings around (Lila's increasing insistence that she's her wife becomes both funnier and more subtext-laden as the game continues, especially as more and more people discover Filena's secret), and the setting raises some interesting questions that I hope will be touched on in some throwaway NPC dialogue.

In all, Eternal Filena is a solid RPG that deserves a second look. I'd just recommend making sure your fast-forward and turbo-A/B keybinds are set on your emulator, because some sections (especially the aforementioned grinding) can be made much quicker and less annoying that way.

In order to prevent copyright strike issues, please DM me for questions about how to get specific ROMs. Most games are available on Archive.org if you search 'no-intro' and limit it to software, though you'll need a free account.

[80sanime]

#my scans #misc scans #macross #haruhiko mikimoto #naniwa ai #goshogun #nausicaa #lupin iii #meitantei holmes #choriki robo galat #votoms #tongari boushi no memoru #eternal filena #heavy metal l-gaim #lupin the third #heavy metal l gaim

[athomeinmybooks]

#eternal filena #eien no filena #filena #lila

[animecatoftheday]

Today’s anime cat of the day is:

This sweet little guy from Eternal Filena!

#eternal filena #eien no filena #anime cat #anime cat of the day #black cat week

[chibiranmaruchan]

7 of my favourite anime moments for this week (14th October-20th October 2019)

Monday 14th October: The star of Cottonland (1984)- Chibi-neko meets Raphael.

Tuesday 15th October: Eternal Filena (1992-1993)- Filena broods over Fikos' death and Milika's vow to get revenge.

Wednesday 16th October: Wolf guy (1992-1993)- Fanglan nurses Inugami's wounds, received from an ambush from the Phoenix group's boosted soldiers.

Thursday 17th October: Dragon fist (1991)- Fei-Long makes Fuyuka realise that she is her own person and her life is worth living.

Friday 18th October: Fire tripper (1985)- Suzuko and Shukumaru promise to be together when they go back in time to Sengoku era.

Saturday 19th October: Otaku no video (1991)- Kubo and Tanaka create their new company 'Giant X' and their mascot, Misty May.

Sunday 20th October: Domain of murder (1992)- Goro meets a mama-san during his investigation.

#favourite anime moments #the star of cottonland #eternal filena #wolf guy #dragon fist #fire tripper #otaku no video #domain of murder #anime

[caterpie]

Eternal Filena (1992)

#eternal filena #retro anime #90s anime #anime aesthetic #90s #i make gifs sometimes

[superfamiblog]

Eternal Filena (Tokuma Shoten, 1995) English translation patch by satsu.

#Eternal Filena #Eien no Filena #SNES #Super Famicom #JRPG #pixel aesthetic #16 bit #retro games #retro gaming #screenshot #screencaps #Fami's junk

[holy-cucumber01]

Eternal Filena

Genre : adventure, fantasy, drama

Category : OVA

Episodes : 6 duration 30 min

#Eternal Filena #anime #retro anime #anime 90s #anime ova #anime adventure #anime fantasy #anime drama

[animarchive]

Eien no Filena (Eternal Filena) illustrated by Akemi Takada (Animage, 11/1992)

#animage #akemi takada #magazine #1992 #アニメージュ 1992年11月号 #eien no filena

[etoranze]

hey, have you ever played eternal filena (snes)? its cool and gay

ive never played this, but i just looked it up and it. looks. so. cool!!! i gotta play it sometime soon ^___^ thanks for thinking abt me and what i might like. i love you