Vanilla H
| Vanilla H | |
|---|---|
| Galaxy Angel character | |
| File:Vanilla H.jpg | |
| First appearance | Episode 1, Galaxy Angel Season 1 |
Vanilla H (ヴァニラ H, Vanira Eichi) is a fictional character from the anime, manga and dating sim series, Galaxy Angel. She pilots the Angel Frame known as "Harvester". She is voiced by Mika Kanai, the same person also does the voice for Normad. It is unknown what the "H" in her name stands for, but it should be noted that it is pronounced as "ache," (not as in the English "ache") as the letter is pronounced in the French alphabet.
In the anime
At 13, Vanilla H is the youngest of the Galaxy Angels. A very stoic girl, she hardly ever shows any emotion and speaks in a deadpan voice. She is always seen wearing a headgear featuring a red gem on top, possibly a mark of her family or religion. She also carries around the artificially intelligent doll Normad, and is gifted with the ability to heal injuries by touch.
Vanilla frequently speaks in cryptic remarks, religious themes, or random words. She can be very caring and adept at hard work, but tends to behave strangely, sometimes to the inconvenience or detriment of the other Angels. Although seemingly totally apathetic, she actually possesses a very hot temper. When offended, she lashes out with extreme force, examples being cursing someone with fish scales or leveling an entire city with a laser beam from her gem.
Vanilla is highly religious. In her quarters is a shrine featuring a tall rotating column that she prays upon daily. She often receives “divine revelations,” either commands or visions of prescience, and generally acts upon them with unusual means and results. So devout is Vanilla that she tends to place spiritual matters ahead of everything else, either acting destructively, even to herself, or otherwise inconveniencing others.
Normad is a constant companion, as Vanilla carries him wherever she goes. He often speaks to other people on her behalf while she stays silent, sometimes squeezing or stretching him to simulate facial expressions. Normad is infatuated with her and constantly speaks highly of her, though Vanilla seems either uninterested or oblivious. Despite his praise, she tends to act neglectfully, even harmfully, towards him, such as sitting on or strapping dynamite to him. Nevertheless she can become vindictive when other people threaten to cause Normad harm, though she seems to tolerate the other Angels hurting him.
After her service in the Galaxy Angels, at 17 she became a professor at a military academy and adopted Nano-Nano Pudding as her daughter.
In the manga
Vanilla behaves similarly in the manga as she does in the anime, the main difference being her nanobot. She doesn't carry Normad around in the manga for copyright reasons [1]; instead, there is a small fox-like creature that sits on her shoulder. The creature, known only as "Nanobot", can transform into different clothing, assists her in some of her healing, and expresses her emotions for her. She is very honest and obedient, but she has a tendency to overwork herself, worrying everyone on board the ship including Takuto and the Angels. Vanilla does not like it when she does a task for others and fails it, but the others assure her that her help is greatly appreciated even if it won't turn out well.
Probably one of the reasons why she takes death very hard is because she was present at the death of her adopted mother, Sister Beryl, and she regretted not being able to save her despite her ability to heal.
In the games
Vanilla possess the ability to control nanomachines to perform various things, such as altering her appearance to healing wounds. However, she requires a great deal of mental control in order to control the nanomachines, and thus suppresses her emotions in order to utilize the nanomachines more efficiently. Despite seemingly acting without emotions, Vanilla is very caring, and often works herself helping others to the point of exaustion. Her Angel Frame "Harvester" is a giant nanomachine colony and is used to repair/resupply the other Angel Frames during combat. Her pet cat that is always seen on her is actually constructed out of nanomachines, and seems to express her emotions for her.
Of all the Angels, Vanilla is the one who is the most shy if paired with Takuto, sometimes going so far as to flee the room when her embarrassment becomes too much.
Trivia
- Mika Kanai, Vanilla's seiyuu, also does the voice of Normad. In other words, Normad's voice literally speaks for Vanilla.
- Ranpha once organized a group date with the other Angels, albeit inconsiderately. Probably an insult to her stoicism, Vanilla was given a rice cooker to date.
- Vanilla is quite careless while eating bananas, as people have frequently slipped on peels she leaves around her as she eats.
- There is a sort of running gag in some vocal cds where Milfuelle or another character is cooking and asks for vanilla essence, to which Vanilla replies, "Yes?" thinking she is being called. E.g.
Milfie: "Can I have some vanilla essence, please?"
Vanilla: "Yes?"
Ranpha: "Not you, Vanilla essence!"
Vanilla (puzzled): "Yes?"
- Kazuya Shiranami inadvertently gets Takuto into trouble in GAII if Vanilla is chosen by the player as the Angel Takuto marries following Eternal Lovers. Kazuya wonders why if Nano-Nano calls Vanilla "mama", she doesn't call Takuto "papa". When the other members of the Rune Angel Troupe joke that it would make it hard for him to pick up girls if he was called that in public, Vanilla apparently takes offense, prompting Takuto to apologise. Nevertheless, when Vanilla leaves the ship she tells Takuto, "Be careful... dear."
History
Galaxy Angel (2003)
In the first game of Galaxy Angels, Vanilla is one of the two Angels who does not take part in Tact's first battle with Eonia's forces, having hung back with Mint Blancmanche to protect the Elle Ciel.
Takuto chooses to take her to the dance that occurs halfway into the game, Vanilla is reluctant to dance until Takuto takes her hands and positions them before taking her out to the dance floor. Yet Vanilla's subsequent contentment is cut short when Ugi Ugi (literal Japanese romanization, an English approximation of the name might come in the form of "Oogie Oogie" or something along similar lines, depending on the game player's subjective auditory perception), a rabbit Vanilla adopted as a pet earlier in the game, dies of old age despite Vanilla's repeated attempts to heal it (she drives herself to exhaustion in the process). Consequently, Vanilla clings to Takuto and cries, a rare instance in which she expresses intense emotion.
Takuto then learns that Vanilla, because of her ability to heal, takes death very hard, and that this is not the first time Vanilla has been unable to save a life. When Vanilla was a small child, she was unable to save the life of a nun. In a flashback, Vanilla is shown to have been crying then, too, and her hair was much shorter then; because the flashback is from Vanilla's point of view, it is not clear whether the nun was already dead at the time or whether the eventual cause of her death was too severe for Vanilla to heal while the nun was alive. Fortunately, Takuto and the others help her to overcome her grief in the present, and her healing abilities are vindicated at the very end of the game. When the Elsior is heavily damaged in an attack, she uses all of her energy to repair the whole of Elsior to its original perfect condition.
Galaxy Angel Moonlit Lovers (2004)
In Moonlit Lovers, Chitose mistakenly believes the relationship between Takuto and Vanilla is a sibling-bond, and Vanilla cannot work up the nerve to verbally explain to Chitose her relationship with Takuto. Even when Vanilla takes Takuto's arm in hers in a gesture of intimacy, Chitose still does not understand until Ranpha spells out the word "koibito" to her, which in the context of its usage in the game most probably means "romantic partner." This prompts Vanilla to become more demonstrative of her affection for Takuto (e.g. during the scene in which Vanilla's relationship with Tact must be explained to Chitose, Vanilla hugs Tact's arm while blushing). This is not easy for her, since she has spent so long suppressing her emotions that, now that it has become necessary to express those emotions instead, Vanilla does not know how. The other Angels, notably Ranpha, chip in with various advice with mixed results (at one point, Vanilla even dresses up as a maid and attempts to feed Takuto using the traditionally-romantic gesture of putting food in a loved one's mouth using a utensil). At the end, however, she works up the nerve to give Takuto a sweater she knitted for him, as well as a protective charm Ranpha told her about: the kiss of a loved one.
Galaxy Angel Eternal Lovers (2005)
In Eternal Lovers, Vanilla is the most understanding of the Angels and does her best to make sure that Takuto is able to relax whenever he's with her (Vanilla, incidentally, is the only Angel who, after Takuto's nightmare very early in the game, comforts Takuto by holding his hand instead of by hugging him as the other Angels do in their romantic storylines). However, because of her relative innocence concerning relationships, she begins to fear that perhaps Takuto has grown bored of her, especially once the beautiful Lushati arrives. She manages to keep these fears hidden until Takuto is forced to shoot her down to prevent her from falling into enemy hands.
As a result of that action, Vanilla's fears infect her nanomachine pet, which transforms from a small, fuzzy animal to a huge, light blue, ferocious, red-eyed wolfish monster. The nanomachine pet then attacks Takuto on sight. Stricken with guilt and sadness, Vanilla opts to stay behind on the White Moon. Some time later, Takuto realizes that while Vanilla had done so much for him, he'd done nothing for her. As a result, he takes the time to knit her a present, despite having no idea how to knit and much to the amusement of the Angels. When he meets her again, the two are pleasantly surprised they'd made each other mittens. Despite this, Vanilla's fears are still strong, prompting Ranpha to point out that Vanilla is very much an innocent young maiden and so is terrified at the thought of losing the one she loves. It is only after Takuto asks her to marry him while on EDEN that her fears finally fade, prompting her nanomachine pet to transform back into its original, healthy state and cease attacking Takuto for good. In a touching scene, as they go to the final battle, Takuto meets Vanilla in the park aboard the Elsior and gives her a ring engraved with her name as proof of their promise to wed before the two share their first kiss.
In Galaxy Angel II, Vanilla has retired from the military and is currently spreading the usage of nanomachine technology. She is currently staying in NEUE and is on a planet called "Pico". She was also the one who found Nano-Nano Pudding, it is for this reason she calls Vanilla "mama".
Notes
- ^ Galaxy Angel V.2 pg:172
External Links
- Vanilla H on The Galaxy Angel Wiki at Wikia.