Comic:DIVE
From CGWiki
| DIVE | |
|---|---|
| Artist: | |
| Writer: | Faye |
| Characters: | |
| Updates: | |
| Began: | August 25, 2004 |
| Ended: | |
| Art style: | Manga |
| Rating: | Web-14 |
| Website | Website |
Contents |
1. Plot
1.1 Chapters *PLOT SPOILERS*
Chapter 1: Rain Dogs: Oro and Alice arrive on campus just in time to meet Ben, and are quickly sucked into the mess he creates when recklessly ordering a dangerous being off the internet, which ends up taking advantage of Anna, a student mailroom worker. Left to deal with the situation alone, as Drew is not only asleep but has tossed his cell phone after yet another messy breakup, Ben quickly resorts to using Oro in an attempt to retrieve the being...
Chapter 2: Shrike: Upset because Drew has turned down his offer of communal skee ball (among other bizarre requests), Ben runs afoul of Fei, who he believes has not only been monopolizing Drew's time as of late, but unjustly exorcising one of Ben's companions, a girl who died several decades ago. Drew manages to derail the resulting fight before it becomes heated, however, and agrees to go to a showing of Crazy Robot Space Invaders IV with Ben.
Chapter 3: L.C.: The movie is quickly interrupted by the appearance of Ran, Tetsu, and Gate, field agents affiliated with LACRIMOSA, an organization that polices unusual amounts of Aether-related activity. Ben and co. quickly fail the test administered by Gate in order to qualify them to take care of the high concentration of Aether in the immediate vicinity, and are given two months to shape up or have their memories of the last semester wiped. Upon complaint, Ran issues them complimentary onsen tickets, an offer which impresses no one but Ben, who immediately accepts.
Chapter 4: Interlude: Drew is horrified to learn that not only do people bathe nude in an onsen (thereby making him Ben's target), but that Fei is not, in fact, a girl. Oro reveals the secret behind his recent improvement in Aether channeling. Tetsu and Gate appear and, perhaps in a ploy to kill everyone off in order to relieve them of some of their workload, suggest an "impossible suicide mission" to toughen up all in the vicinity.
Chapter 5: The Sunless Way: As per mission details, the students enter a formerly sealed well in order to investigate an old disturbance involving missing people. In the process, however, everyone is quickly separated, and Oro is the first to run into the creature behind the investigation years ago. Caught in a reverie, Oro is snapped out of his paralysis by Ben and Drew. Although determined to save both of them, Fei (who initially refused to enter the underground in the first place), shows up at the last minute to seal the creature... but not without damage to himself.
Chapter 6: Li After explaining to Fei that he wants to gain more control over his powers, Drew attempts the first task set to him, only to be interrupted by an irritated Fei. When a second Fei appears, however, however, Drew is thrown into confusion when one of them turns out to be Fei's older brother. Li announces that he's arrived to take Fei "home"...
1.2 Aether
Aether, an integral part of DIVE's world, is a form of life energy similar to the Eastern chi. It is naturally generated by all living beings. A spirit can remain even as the body expires as an expression of pure Aether. Those who can have a naturally high Aether generation and can harness this energy are classified as Somatic Aether users, while others who are talented in drawing in energy from sources outside their body (from other living organisms or nearby spirits) utilize Atmospheric Aether.
Additionally, depending on the organism, Aether takes on elemental attributes when drawn out or channeled. Skilled users can utilize more than one attribute, but only the one in which the person is most naturally proficient is regarded part of his/her aspect classification.
Although Aether is ubiquitous, it can be very sparse. Weak spirits, for example, may not be detectable by unskilled practitioners due to their low levels of energy. However, spirits, practitioners, and other creatures naturally gravitate to areas where energy becomes concentrated. Once the level of Aether reaches a certain threshold, the situation becomes dangerous and a candidate for LACRIMOSA intervention.
LACRIMOSA
An organization that operates largely under wraps, LACRIMOSA polices Aether practitioners that ordinary law enforcement would not be able to. Their mission is to ensure that the general population, which does not know or does not want to know about supernatural occurences, are left largely unexposed to them. Field agents generally have a free hand in how they enforce the rules.
SHRIKE An as-of-yet unencountered elite branch of LACRIMOSA field agents, members of SHRIKE operate on a codename basis and are only dispatched for the most dangerous of missions.
2. Characters
(all names listed in the order typical of their origin. ex: Kurosawa Ran, where Ran is the first name and Kurosawa is the surname).
2.1 Major Characters
Benjaman D. Kasparov: Seemingly inconsistent in both thought and action, Ben seems to live constrained by no real societal rules and few morals. Those acquainted with him describe him as eccentric, while his friends (namely Drew) label him an idiot. Although reckless, Ben does occasionally sober up long enough to deal with any sticky situations at hand... although generally in a way that requires everyone else to run for the hills.
Aspect: Fire/Somatic, Birthday: August 19
Andrew C. Knight: Although he often seems moody or intimidating, Drew is both extremely popular and unlucky with women. He often takes it upon himself to repair the damage that Ben (his childhood friend) has done, albeit grudgingly. Although usually fairly competent, Drew completely breaks down around Fei, who he originally believed to be a girl. Out of all the main characters, he has the least control over his powers, although he has unusual physical strength. Keeps a cat secretly.
Aspect: Earth/Somatic, Birthday: May 1
Fei Lien: Aloof and friendly at the same time, Fei appears to have maxed out his charm stats long before he appeared on the scene, as both sexes tend to fawn on him. He and Ben have an almost immediately antagonistic relationship, although they occasionally unite to discomfit Drew. He appears to be versed in the jian/chien, a double-bladed sword.
Aspect: Wind/Somatic, Birthday: October 23
??? MacLeod (Oro): In many ways a typical college student before he met Ben, Oro is physically rather frail, although he quickly learns the basics of channeling Aether from Alice. In his spare time, he enjoys video games, reading, and generally blending into the environment as much as possible. Ben regards him as something of a curiousity.
Aspect: Water/Atmospheric, Birthday: September 20
2.2 Friends/Cohorts
Alastor Pierrot Virginia Scheharazade Bellamy XIV (Alice): A strong-willed student who entered college with Oro. She keeps an undisclosed number of cats, and is a compenent caster. Her method of dress is Gothic Lolita. Aspect: Water/Atmospheric
Anna: One of Oro's classmates, who becomes drawn in by Ben's irresponsible online ordering of dangerous products off of eBay. Aspect: Water/Atmospheric
Rue Sylfaen: A surly water elemental who has lost much of his power. Ben keeps him in a vacuum bag, which only adds to his acid denouncing of humans in general. He has a great number of relatives, but is unlikely to mention them on his own initiative. Aspect: Water/Somatic
Shiba Ranmaru: Fei's guardian and longtime friend. A tall Japanese boy who appears dressed in ninja garb and, like Li, starts off on the wrong foot with Drew. So far, his only lines have been Japanese. Likely has high-level combat skills.
2.3 Family
Fei Li: Fei's older brother, although the two appear to have completely opposing personalities. Li takes an immediate disliking to Drew, whom he regards as "disgusting", although he has not explained his reasoning. Unlike Fei, Li's hair is completely black.
2.4 LACRIMOSA
Kurosawa Ran: A somewhat coarse LACRIMOSA field agent who works to keeps to keep her teammates in line. Although she has been offered numerous promotions, Ran prefers the free hand that her current position offers her. She has little tolerance for extraneous talk, which generally results in painful retribution. Aspect: Wind/Atmospheric
Tetsu: Although somewhat standoffish, Tetsu is a reliable operative who, along with Ran and Gate, appear on the scene obviously with better things to do. He is somewhat put off by the fact that Gate has long surpassed him in height. Aspect: Fire/Somatic
Gate: Usually somewhat distant, Gate has the ability to summon unusual and powerful creatures using the tattoo-like markings located at various points of his body. He idolizes Tetsu, presumably because his teammate was the one who begged Ran to let her "keep" a young Gate. Aspect: Earth/Atmospheric
Aizawa: A colleague of Ran's who appears to be constantly swamped with work.
2.5 Minor Characters
Samantha: A wandering spirit who befriended Ben sometime in the past. She keeps a threadbare stuffed animal with her named Agassi.
3. Background
3.1 Origin
DIVE was originally a story about a fledgling J-Rock band, until the author realized she knew next to nothing about American bands, let alone Japanese ones. The members of Team The Ben (a name inspired by Shaman King's Team The Ren) were: Ben: lead guitar, vocals Oro: 2nd guitar Drew: percussionist Fei: bassist, vocals
The four main characters were once based on real people, with some of them still retaining their former names. However, the personality of everyone except Oro eventually spun wildly off the people they were based off of.
3.2 Inspirations/References
A number of shonen manga/anime have influenced DIVE at some time or another. Some examples:
-Fei's name, Lien, is the Wade-Giles version of "Lian", the chinese equivalent of the Ren in Shaman King's Tao Ren. Fei also has some traits in common with Ren, such as the use of a Jian. -the story arc involving Samantha is heavily influenced by Fullmetal Alchemist; a person resembling Edward Elric can also be seen wandering around the campus. -Drew's initial face-off with Gate is reminiscent of the area in which Rock Lee and Kimimaro battle in Naruto. -DIVE's somatic/atmospheric differentiation is similar to the dichotomy of Tao users in Black Cat. -Agassi the stuffed bear is named after Andre Agassi, a famous tennis player.
3.3 Cameos
In the onsen interlude, San and Shin, carryovers from another of the author's projects, can be seen working in the owner's absence.
