Origin of Harada - discussion

Blood of Heroes · Post by **Blood of Heroes** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:24 pm

Harbinger Files #1 has quite a bit of information about Harada-in fact it's titled 'The Origin of Harada'. It starts with Solar crashing the jet Harada is on(Solar #3) and shows a guy living in the Rockies saving him, and nursing him back to health. Harada tells the guy about his his past. It's the same story about going to doctors as a child and then goes to him killing his parents. The new HC just inserts itself here. He goes on to say: "All of my mental powers reached their full potential after my parents died. I'd metamorphosed into something grander. I learned very quickly" The story goes on to show his take over of the Harbinger Foundation and his focus shifting from making money to finding more harbingers.

Possibly one of the most interesting thing about the story is that when Harada is fully healed, he kills Dusty. I guess he figured Dusty knew to much. Why did he kill Dusty and allow Rowena to live?

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:26 pm

Blood of Heroes wrote:Harbinger Files #1 has quite a bit of information about Harada-in fact it's titled 'The Origin of Harada'. It starts with Solar crashing the jet Harada is on(Solar #3) and shows a guy living in the Rockies saving him, and nursing him back to health. Harada tells the guy about his his past. It's the same story about going to doctors as a child and then goes to him killing his parents. The new HC just inserts itself here. He goes on to say: "All of my mental powers reached their full potential after my parents died. I'd metamorphosed into something grander. I learned very quickly" The story goes on to show his take over of the Harbinger Foundation and his focus shifting from making money to finding more harbingers.

Possibly one of the most interesting thing about the story is that when Harada is fully healed, he kills Dusty. I guess he figured Dusty knew to much. Why did he kill Dusty and allow Rowena to live?

I doubt Shooter was thinking of that story when plotting the new one, though.

I'd like if he had been to keep continuity tight, but as he already showed with Unity 2000, he has no problem dismissing everything after he left VALIANT as taking place in a different reality.

mavros · Post by **mavros** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:43 pm

ManofTheAtom wrote:
mavros wrote:2) In regards to Harada saying their needs to be 'a control', I think he and Noriko may have a pact where if he becomes drunk with power that she is to kill him... just a theory... but it definitely cast Harada in a less villainous light.
Could Noriko be a Harbinger with the power to stop Harada?

Do we know if this is a story Shooter came up with specifically for the hc or is it something he had planned all along?

Unlikely, judging by the way it's presented in the story.

Main reason is that she's got the knife.

As well, Rowena makes a clear distinction between Noriko and Harada when she talks about "Lucy" being the first of "you regular people".

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:44 pm

mavros wrote:
ManofTheAtom wrote:
mavros wrote:2) In regards to Harada saying their needs to be 'a control', I think he and Noriko may have a pact where if he becomes drunk with power that she is to kill him... just a theory... but it definitely cast Harada in a less villainous light.
Could Noriko be a Harbinger with the power to stop Harada?

Do we know if this is a story Shooter came up with specifically for the hc or is it something he had planned all along?
Unlikely, judging by the way it's presented in the story.

Main reason is that she's got the knife.

As well, Rowena makes a clear distinction between Noriko and Harada when she talks about "Lucy" being the first of "you regular people".

Lucy? Who's Lucy?

Argh, this is starting to get too specific and I don't have my copy yet, heh.

mavros · Post by **mavros** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:46 pm

ManofTheAtom wrote:
Only real question is if the new material will be dated 1992 or 2008.

That's what I find interesting.

They made a reference to numerous historical events that Harada had a hand in. If they re-start Valiant back in 1992 then they could use that it to rework more historical events in to continuity.

Maybe that's the plan? We'll have to wait and see.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:47 pm

mavros wrote:
ManofTheAtom wrote:
Only real question is if the new material will be dated 1992 or 2008.
That's what I find interesting.

They made a reference to numerous historical events that Harada had a hand in. If they re-start Valiant back in 1992 then they could use that it to rework more historical events in to continuity.

Maybe that's the plan? We'll have to wait and see.

Link Harada to something like 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq?

That be fantastic and real brave of them if they did it. It would help strenghtened the fantasy of the VALIANT U taking place outside your window.

mavros · Post by **mavros** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:50 pm

ManofTheAtom wrote:
mavros wrote:
ManofTheAtom wrote:
mavros wrote:2) In regards to Harada saying their needs to be 'a control', I think he and Noriko may have a pact where if he becomes drunk with power that she is to kill him... just a theory... but it definitely cast Harada in a less villainous light.
Could Noriko be a Harbinger with the power to stop Harada?

Do we know if this is a story Shooter came up with specifically for the hc or is it something he had planned all along?
Unlikely, judging by the way it's presented in the story.

Main reason is that she's got the knife.

As well, Rowena makes a clear distinction between Noriko and Harada when she talks about "Lucy" being the first of "you regular people".
Lucy? Who's Lucy?

Argh, this is starting to get too specific and I don't have my copy yet, heh.

Another real world reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_%28Au ... ithecus%29

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:51 pm

mavros wrote:Another real world reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_%28Au ... ithecus%29

Wow...

But couldn't Shooter have had this in mind way back when?

mavros · Post by **mavros** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:55 pm

Don't get too excited... all the references are made in passing conversation between Noriko and the fortune-teller...

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:57 pm

mavros wrote:Don't get too excited... all the references are made in passing conversation between Noriko and the fortune-teller...

Well, the fact that the references are there is enough to be amazed.

The only way the refences could make their way into the story would be for the writer to be aware of them, and the only way for that to happen is for the writer to do research on the subject.

That Shooter had something like Lucy in mind when writing about Harbinger shows that he did research on the subject for a reason (and I doubt it was for an eight page story. There may be more in the concept of Harbingers than a passing reference to a skeleton).

mavros · Post by **mavros** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:57 pm

ManofTheAtom wrote:
mavros wrote:
ManofTheAtom wrote:
Only real question is if the new material will be dated 1992 or 2008.
That's what I find interesting.

They made a reference to numerous historical events that Harada had a hand in. If they re-start Valiant back in 1992 then they could use that it to rework more historical events in to continuity.

Maybe that's the plan? We'll have to wait and see.
Link Harada to something like 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq?

That be fantastic and real brave of them if they did it. It would help strenghtened the fantasy of the VALIANT U taking place outside your window.

I made mention of that idea in the thread that ended up in Topic Oblivion... but you didn't like it then.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:58 pm

mavros wrote:

I made mention of that idea in the thread that ended up in Topic Oblivion... but you didn't like it then.

I still don't like the idea of ignoring everything that came after Unity, but that does appear to be the direction VEI is going in.

greg · Post by **greg** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:17 pm

As mentioned before, the "Origin of Harada" story primarily takes place with people sitting and talking.

Very Shooter... very different from posing, splash page, spandex comics.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:18 pm

greg wrote:As mentioned before, the "Origin of Harada" story primarily takes place with people sitting and talking.

Very Shooter... very different from posing, splash page, spandex comics.

Zaphod · Post by **Zaphod** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:52 pm

It sure feels though that Shooter ripped off Heroes though.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:25 am

MProyas wrote:It sure feels though that Shooter ripped off Heroes though.

Other way around...

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:30 am

MProyas wrote:It sure feels though that Shooter ripped off Heroes though.

A southern girl who controls fire.
One who flies.
A Japanese businessman who thinks he's in control.
A guy named Pete who has so many powers he could be the key to everything.

Yep, sounds like Heroes alright. Except, it's all from Harbinger 1992 first.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:33 am

greg wrote:A southern girl who controls fire.

Damn, Flamingo is Claire's mom, lol.

I missed it till I read that, heh

Zaphod · Post by **Zaphod** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:33 am

nobody gets dry wit anymore..I was missing my sarcasm smilie.

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:39 am

MProyas wrote:

nobody gets dry wit anymore..I was missing my sarcasm smilie.

Yep, we missed it. Seems like there should have been a wink or something.

Second_Death · Post by **Second_Death** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:37 pm

mavros wrote:
ManofTheAtom wrote:
Only real question is if the new material will be dated 1992 or 2008.
That's what I find interesting.

They made a reference to numerous historical events that Harada had a hand in. If they re-start Valiant back in 1992 then they could use that it to rework more historical events in to continuity.

Maybe that's the plan? We'll have to wait and see.

Can't wait to find out, either. I'm sure we'll see one of more books designed to fill in the gaps similar to the Valiant Zero that MOTA recently suggested.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:26 pm

Second_Death wrote:
mavros wrote:
ManofTheAtom wrote:
Only real question is if the new material will be dated 1992 or 2008.
That's what I find interesting.

They made a reference to numerous historical events that Harada had a hand in. If they re-start Valiant back in 1992 then they could use that it to rework more historical events in to continuity.

Maybe that's the plan? We'll have to wait and see.
Can't wait to find out, either. I'm sure we'll see one of more books designed to fill in the gaps similar to the Valiant Zero that MOTA recently suggested.

Heh, let's hope so

Unblessed · Post by **Unblessed** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:35 pm

I didn't really like the "new" origin. Now, who awakened the powers in the old woman..

Yeah, being very critical.

Blood of Heroes · Post by **Blood of Heroes** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:07 pm

Not exactly about Harada, but if Pete 'popped' Torque, and Torque is Magnus' father, who popped Magnus? I've read very few Magnus books so I don't know if that was ever revealed.

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:02 am

Blood of Heroes wrote:Not exactly about Harada, but if Pete 'popped' Torque, and Torque is Magnus' father, who popped Magnus? I've read very few Magnus books so I don't know if that was ever revealed.

Either it was not presented or his extreme training would be enough to pop him.

/Magnus