Raidou Kuzunoha vs. OUR HEARTS: WHO SHALL BE WINNER??!

The answer should be obvious.

EVERYONE WINS!

First comes this, to wet our whistle. "Oh!" said a funny bunny, "Look at what Atlus hast wrought!" "Ludacris!" roared a pretty prophet, "For everyone has the PERSONA plague, not DEVIL disease."

And then this arrived! And a killer piece of ink declared thusly: "Kazuma Kaneko." And all became right in the world.

Etrian Oddity, or the World Tree Madness in the West: #00001

"And other ills, in countless multitude,
Thou seest not yet, on thee and on thy seed
Shall fall alike. Vent forth thy wrath then loud,
On Creon and on me. There lives not man
Who wastes his life more wretchedly than thou."

Etrian Oddity Cover (designed by prettyprophet and funny_bunny)
Etrian Oddity Issue #00001 - Welcome to Etria (written by the 1000 Rabbits, visualized by funny_bunny)

Lavie Rhap: To commemorate the first actual scanlation by the Rabbit Reich, funny decided to release the next issue of Etrian Oddity.

funny_bunny: It's RABBIT-TASTIC!

Lavie Rhap: funny, when do you think the next issue will be done?

funny_bunny: When Mori wears a spiked brassiere with stiletto heels!

Lavie Rhap: funny's burning himself out in order to release a number of things before prophet and nde return from vacation. I think it's for the best that we space ourselves out, however.

funny_bunny: Never! We must hurtle forward into the future like the speed demons we are! Isn't that right, my happy holstein?

Lavie Rhap: Will she join us as well?

holstein: Yes. [note: holstein didn't say anything after that.]

funny_bunny: Shall we begin?

Lavie Rhap: There's two items in this post: the "cover" of the series and the #00001 issue. Technically, #00000 is the real start but funny had great desire to designate it with a "0" number.

funny_bunny: The zero means INFINITE.

Lavie Rhap: And the eight?

funny_bunny: I like both.

Lavie Rhap: We'll begin with the cover: As some may realize, this is a direct copy off Blood Meridian's Vintage published cover. Originally, funny intended to draw a Thousand Rabbits version of it...

funny_bunny: And we can see how ALL THAT TURNED OUT.

Lavie Rhap: Then prophet thought it'd be better to draw nothing at all. So instead of a reproduction of the Vintage art, we get delightful scribbles from the artistic fields of funny.

funny_bunny: I referenced a lot of stuff there that I leave for you to figure out! BECAUSE REFERENCES ARE FUN.

Lavie Rhap: The Thousand Rabbits actually has an obsession with referencing anything that relates to the given subject...and sometimes even if there's no relation. I think funny personally does it to keep us on our toes.

funny_bunny: Like a ballerina.

Lavie Rhap: Anna Pavlova.

funny_bunny: When shall you travel the world, performing for foreign dignitaries?

Lavie Rhap: I'd rather perform through a different art instead.

funny_bunny: Erotic arts!

Lavie Rhap: One more thing I almost neglected to mention relating to the cover: Although I didn't write anything for it, prophet paraphrased a situation that was rather close to what you've read. It was months ago, when Etrian Oddity was being formulated: no one thought funny would be able to dedicate himself to drawing a comic but I knew he could. However, afterwards funny didn't draw much relating to Etrian aside from the initial sketches, so everyone kept telling him how disappointed I was in him, which was completely untrue. Either way, funny wasn't disheartened at all, so no harm done.

Onto Issue One: funny, as per recent tradition, placed holstein as the speaker of notes. How does she feel about being the mascot? Apparently funny hasn't told her and is motioning for me not to say anything, since holstein is only a few feet away.

Panel One

To those who are unfamiliar with our real-life counterparts: Harvest Pingpong is prettyprophet and Clover O'Dannyboy is Kawaii Pattycakes. Almost all the names were generated through the first non-profane words to come from ed's mouth and refer to our generic racial backgrounds, with "Pingpong", "Moshimoshi", and "Poe" being the exceptions. Pingpong was used thanks to everyone's enjoyment of the Simpsons quote:

Grampa: Oh, come on, there's lots of ways to pass the time. Hitch up your pants, air whittle, make friends with a Chinese man.

[an Asian man enters the room]

Craig: Um, Mr. Simpson, you weren't supposed to leave the home.

Abe: Thank you Ping-Pong!

Craig: Um, my name is Craig.

funny still loves that. prophet was made an Alchemist because chemistry is her major and Pat demanded the Dancer class. While a number of us play Etrian Odyssey now, namely the sequel, Pat was the first who became interested in it. Her fascination drew the rest of us in.

Panel Two

Pat does want all of us to cosplay at one time or another; I'm not much of a cosplayer, to tell the truth. The fabric isn't to my liking...and funny tells me that's why he has an aversion as well. "Too cheap-looking!" he says. prophet simply refuses, while nde and Ink avoid Pat whenever she arrives with a costume. ed actually will cosplay on the condition that he's allowed to keep the costume and wear it to his shows. Oh ed, if only we were all as brave as you.

Reebok Rajaratnam is Killer Ink. Ink has a liking for K-Swiss shoes, so prophet decided to use a rival company for the first name. The surname comes from a photo we saw on Facebook of a man with said surname. He looked practically identical to Ink if not for the fact that he was older and had facial hair. ed chose his nickname for Ink that day. Ink also happens to be a Landsknetcht but convinced funny to not draw him in costume. I assume it's because this references a sore spot of Ink's, so I won't expand on that. Ink's suit came from a Kazuma Kaneko drawing of Dr. Mekata of Shin Megami Tensei II fame (funny: scan from BE YOUR TRUE MIND).

And there is myself, "Olga Stalenvodka". I am a Protector because apparently that is what I do. funny even bought me a figure of the Etrian Protector/Paladin, which I have on my desk at home. Thanks, funny (funny: Now buy me some artbooks!).

Panel Three

The Dark Hunter happens to be edthefucker, as the name suggests. The "Newguyin" comes from the common "Nguyen" surname, a surname that ed informs many as his own...which it's not. Mori is the Ronin and her name was specifically crafted by Pat. While prophet dislikes Pat's otaku nature, Mori tends to have zero tolerance for it. As such, Pat attempts to convert her even more, hence the "moe".

prophet anecdote: The lines ed and Mori have are basically direct quotes: ed happened to come across me and Mori practicing a skit, causing him to shout, "Who the fuck thought it'd be a good idea to put Mori in a comedy?" with Mori saying "If you ever point at me again, I'll cripple you." ed pointed a finger, THE FINGER, and Mori replied by throwing a textbook at his face. ed, hilariously, was standing at the top of some stairs and fell the fuck down, breaking his wrist. I'd go on about the "humorless bitch" line, but we'll save that one. Back to Lavie with the next paragraph.

The style of note here is ed: funny copied off Sketchbook, a manga that many of us have become enamored with. Thank you, Musashi Quality.

Panel Four

Snowflake Pingpong the Survivalist and Poe the Hexer are nde and Nyx, respectively. They're the more quiet of the Rabbits, so they requested to have as few lines as possible. nde chose to have simply a question mark and Nyx chose to have absolutely nothing. prophet decided to make Nyx a silent character from there on.

Panel Five

The chief problem with maintaining the five-panel standard came down upon us here, when we were figuring out how to end. The original outline had quite a bit of action but we realized we couldn't fit all nine in, so we settled on purely introductions. At that point, funny exclaimed, "Punchline!" and prophet finalized the fifth panel. funny happens to be prone to making bizarre statements and for that, we love him. Being the spearhead for Etrian Oddtity, funny got to choose his class and appearance without interference...and he chose the Medic, female version. funny tells me he doesn't cross-dress normally, unless he sees very stylish clothing.

---

Lavie Rhap: And that is #00001. Nothing special, just setting up our characters. A note I forgot to add last time was that funny copied the credit style from the webcomic VG Cats. I'm not sure why; he hasn't given a reason yet. But reason isn't something he needs, yes?

funny_bunny: Reason? Who needs reason when you've got FUN?

Lavie Rhap: Reason allows us to appreciate the fun on more extensive levels. Not everyone is as carefree as you, unfortunately.

funny_bunny: I'm not carefree. I care about MANY THINGS! Like scanning some manhua! Or getting a PS3!

Lavie Rhap: Can't you play at Pat's?

funny_bunny: No! SHE'S A GAMEHOG.

Lavie Rhap: I'll try to talk some sense into her for you.

funny_bunny: Danke, but even you, oh mighty Lavie Rhap, shall fail! FOR SHE HAS BECOME A THRALL TO SOUL CALIBUR.

Lavie Rhap: Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI comes out any day now for the PC. You could play that.

funny_bunny: Yeah! And Persona too. I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE ANSWER.

Lavie Rhap: You restarted, after all.

funny_bunny: SHHHHH, DON'T SPOIL!

Lavie Rhap: Don't worry, funny. I'm sure you'll find your summer full of surprises.

funny_bunny: You know what would surprise me? A person named Killer Ink taking over the artistic duties for all the doujinshi. INK, GIVE ME A SURPRISE!

Lavie Rhap: There's always next year.

Etrian Oddity, or the World Tree Madness in the West: GENESIS

"In the beginning the Great Moon Rabbit created the moon and the field. The field was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the green; and the Spirit of the Great Moon Rabbit was moving over the face of the grass. And the Great Moon Rabbit said, 'Let there be cake'; and there was cake."

Etrian Oddity Issue #00000 - See the Child (written by prettyprophet, visualized by funny_bunny) <- Fufu.

HAVE A CHEESECAKE SMOOTHIE.

Lavie Rhap: Hi, I'm Lavie Rhap and I'm here to clear up anything funny left out. According to the bunny himself, there's quite a bit. Bear with us and we'll enlighten you to our inner workings and then some.

This is the first issue of Etrian Oddity, or a World Tree Madness in the West by the Thousand Rabbits, the much talked-about fan comic that prophet and funny had been collaborating on. We originally planned for it to be the vanguard of comics done by our little circle; as those following the Reich's progress may have noticed, Savior Blood, Smash Bizarre 2D ended up taking precedence. However, as circumstances dictated, funny decided to shift focus back to Etrian Oddity.

prettyprophet: Wassup gangstas, I'm just going to pop in here for a click. Yeah, yeah, I know I said I wouldn't do any Reich work because I'm on vacation...but I want to add in my own notes here. Lavie's keeping things civil, but a BIG reason why Etrian didn't fly was thanks to Ink, Pat, and ed. Namely ed, that fucker. It started off as a real 1000 Rabbit joint, with everyone pouring in random ideas and anecdotes...but we got fed up with arguing over interpreting characters.

See, here's a not-so-secret fact that practically anyone who's talked to us in the real world should figure out: all the characters are directly representing ourselves. Some exaggerations, duh, but they're us. SBSB2D is only based. Etrian? Almost 1:1 ratio of accuracy. Well, visually not so much; you can thank funny's RAD DRAWING SKILLZ for that. Point is, me and ed kept butting heads over practically everything so funny started writing. Again, you can thank him for any wackness that makes you say what the fuck. Ways to tell who wrote what: if it's an actual sentence, either me, nde, or Lavie. If it's random geek, me or funny. If it's total fucking otaku, pat. If it's offensive, me, funny, or ed. No, not ALL of us work on a single issue. Usually it's me, funny, and nde tossing ideas, Lavie and Ink critiquing, and Pat and ed as 'consultants'. "Hey prophet, you cunt, is THAT why the doujin's a piece of shit?" Yeah, actually, that's exactly why. We have no idea what Etrian Oddity's going to turn into because, unlike SBSB2D, there is zero game plan for this thing. We're just going to flip this bitch and see how it lands.

You know, the funny thing is that Lavie has no idea that I'm editing this thing into her own edit. Peace out.

Lavie Rhap: Etrian Oddity, is a fan comic very loosely based off Atlus' Etrian Odyssey. In order to differentiate itself from another Etrian Oddity, funny decided to add the subtitle The World Tree Madness in the West, as his tribute to Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West. How he'll tie that in, only prophet knows. (prophet note: Technically he already did, with "See the Child" as title. First line from Blood Meridian, yo.)

The reason for the five-panel style instead of the more common "4-koma" is due to Pat's insistence that four is an unlucky number. On that day, she was bitten by at least four mosquitoes, which funny took as an omen and bumped the amount of panels up one. I'd also like to note that reason for the explanations appearing in the post is because we could add links, making it easier for the reader to understand the many obtuse references we use.

Panel One

funny wanted to put the entire cast in a row but found it impossible with such small frames, so he chose to put a number of them in the background. The shirts on the Survivalist and Alchemist are from Nucleus, designed by Chris Appelhans. This was a request from prophet, who is a fan of Nucleus apparel.

Panel Two

I didn't want to leave this blank, so I moved an aspect of panel one down here: the eyes. funny tells me that although the style used overall was a complete amalgamation of various artists, the eyes of the Survivalist and Alchemist were specifically copied from circle Z-Vector. I can see how he copied, but looking at the specific doujinshi he used, I'd say that the eyes are generic enough for anyone to claim ownership. I was somewhat reminded of Breath of Fire artwork.

Panel Three

All I'd like to say on the Protector is that I'm pleasantly surprised funny kept her modest. Thank you for that.

Panel Four

I'm told that this entire panel was to build up to the line "We're nothing but caricatures of reality". prophet has emphatically stated it was her mission to include 'Morisms', which are quotes from the ever-impassive Mori. This line was not taken out of context; she really was referring to a work based on our lives...a sock-puppet show performed by prophet and Pat in high school for a fundraiser. Thankfully, Mori's icy nature serves as a most excellent counterpoint to the flames of our more wild members.

Panel Five

funny directly copied off another Nucleus artist for the tree, Robert Kondo's Day One. I'm not sure why funny chose this; "It seemed big" was all he could think of. I added the blurb about nine characters in search of an author, since Luigi Pirandello's play was the first thing that came to my mind when I read this.

prophet sez: This is a fucking source of IRE. I'm not even in the fucking country and funny messages me saying, "Do you remember who I copied off of for that tree? Because I don't!" So I spend five minutes of my precious time scanning through Nucleus. "funny, are you sure it's a print?" "Yeah!" "How sure are you?" "You know, sure!" "I can't find this shit." "Oh wait, it's in the artwork section! Fufufu, no need to worry it!" funny, fuck you. I wasted five minutes of my precious chill time and now I'm wasting more lashing out. You better buy me tiramisu when we come back. Cheesecake? Thumbs down, sucker.

---

Lavie Rhap: Despite Etrian Oddity being more "insider" than SBSB2D, we hope it has more widespread appeal in the sense that this comic will provide snapshots of our interactions with one another. While our chatlogs do enough, funny wanted to add a visual element. Ink, following his artistic calling, became unavailable for such duties, so funny took it upon himself to do so. That said, please be generous in your tolerance for funny's artwork. Most of it is copied, unabashedly so. A rather low-note to end out on, but here with the Rabbits, we try to be honest when we can.

funny_bunny: Don't worry, my luxurious Lavie! Let's get away, fly away! I found the path to paradise! Shining spiral of gold! Take my hand, find our way out! Heavenly stars above...just believe what's in your heart! No border between us; I can always feel you inside! INSIDE!

Lavie Rhap: How comforting! I'll rest easy tonight.

funny_bunny: And every night! For the night is what we own and the stars are ours.

Lavie Rhap: Ah, have you started on the next issue?

funny_bunny: Hoho! HOHO!

Lavie Rhap: May the stars guide you to brilliance and ecstasy.

funny_bunny: When WOULDN'T they?