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Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - The RARE Blade compilation (OP to be continuously updated)

CGiRanger

CGiRanger

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,517
For those who may be unaware, Xenoblade 2 is doing something special when it comes to their Blade character weapons. Director Takahashi put a call out to Character Artists and Designers throughout Japanese media (Manga, Anime and so on) asking them to contribute their own Blade character (or two) for the game, infusing their trademark aesthetic style and preferences into that character.

It certainly is a very diverse mashup of quite different aesthetic styles, since it is clear that Takahashi must have encouraged each artist to stick to their own pedigree's. On the technical side, I think it is clear that Monolith's updated engine (or character modelers/artists) have faithfully translated each piece of art almost exactly within the game.

In addition Takahashi also put out a call to famous Japanese voice actors to lend their vocal talents to each individual Blade as well.

Below is a list of the current known RARE Blades, their artist/designer, and their VA.

Special Note: Tetsuya Nomura is the most renowned guest artist, but we don't know if he made a RARE Blade. But he did make Torna's two lead characters, which presumably would also include their own personal Blades.

Finch
Designer: Kunihiko Tanaka - Credits: Xenogears, Xenosaga, Xenoblade X
Voice Actor: Aoi Yuki
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Vasara
Designer: Yasushi Suzuki - Credits: Ikaruga, Sin and Punishment 1/2
Voice Actor: KENN
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Hotaru
Designer: Taiki - Credits: Digimon World: Next Order, Lord of Vermillion III (Arcade)
Voice Actor: Kaori Ishihara
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Azami
Designer: M Hakus - Credits: Shin Hayarigami, Zero Kage Miko (manga)
Voice Actor: Chiwa Saitō
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Kubira
Designer: M Hakus - Credits: Shin Hayarigami, Zero Kage Miko (manga)
Voice Actor: Mamoru Miyano
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Uka
Designer: Nakaba Higurashi - Credits: Baten Kaitos, Baten Kaitos Origins
Voice Actor: Mao Ichimichi
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Raiko
Designer: Mizu Asato - Credits: Degenki Gai,Denkigai no Honya-san (manga), Aharen-san wa Hakarenai (manga)
Voice Actor: Himika Akaneya
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Tokiha
Designer: Takahiro Kimura - Credits: Viper GTB/V-16, Dirty Pair Flash, Code Geass, Bastard! (OAV)
Voice Actor: Ami Koshimizu
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Shiki
Designer: Kouji Ogata - Credits: Boogiepop series, Origin ~Spirits of the Past~
Voice Actor: Mamiko Noto
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Natsu
Designer: Takeshi Nogami - Credits: Girls und Panzer series
Voice Actor: Yoko Hikasa
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Yuuou
Designer: Soraya Saga - Credits: Final Fantasy, Xeno
Voice Actor: Tomoaki Maeno
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Zakuro
Designer: Shunya Yamashita - Credits: Fuuun Ishin Dai☆Shogun(Anime), Sexy/Cute DC and Marvel heroine designs. NSFW - Portfolio
Voice Actor: Chinatsu Akasaki
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Musubi
Designer: Kia Asamiya - Credits: Compiler, Corrector Yui, Dark Angel, Martian Successor Nadesico, Silent Möbius
Voice Actor: Miki Takahashi
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Idaten
Designer: I-IV (Aifō) - Credits: CREATORS Anime (Mechanical Designer), Fate Grand Order, Aldnoah Zero (Mechanical Designer)
Voice Actor: Aya Hirano
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Mei
Designer: Yasuomi Umetsu - Credits: Kite (OAV), Mezzo Forte (OAV), Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil (Anime)
Voice Actor: Sayaka Senbongi
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Chikarao
Designer: Ryosuke Aiba - Credits: Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Dirge of Cerebus: Final Fantasy VII
Voice Actor: Shunsuke Takeuchi
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Teni
Designer: Hideo Minaba - Credits: Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 9, Final Fantasy 12, Granblue Fantasy
Voice Actor: Aya Endo
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Guren
Designer: Minoru Iwamoto - Credits: Tales of Legendia, Tales of Zestiria, Tales of Berseria
Voice Actor: Tōru Furuya
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Yaegiri
Designer: Minoru Iwamoto - Credits: Tales of Legendia, Tales of Zestiria, Tales of Berseria
Voice Actor: Ayana Taketatsu
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Mikumari
Designer: Koichi "CHOCO" Mugitani - Credits: Xenosaga Ep I/II/III, Xenoblade X (Mech Design), Gothic Lolita (Manga), Chaos;Head,
Voice Actor: Ayane Sakura
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Seori
Designer: Koichi "CHOCO" Mugitani - Credits: Xenosaga Ep I/II/III, Xenoblade X (Mech Design), Gothic Lolita (Manga), Chaos;Head,
Voice Actor: Ayako Kawasumi
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Rinne
Designer: "Parsley" - Credits: KanColle
Voice Actor: Ari Ozawa
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Wadatsumi
Designer: Yūsuke Kozaki - Credits: Fire Emblem Awakening/Fates/Heroes, No More Heroes 1/2,
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Puzzle & Dragons
Voice Actor: Shūichi Ikeda
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Agate
Designer: Yūsuke Kozaki - Credits: Fire Emblem Awakening/Fates/Heroes, No More Heroes 1/2,
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Puzzle & Dragons
Voice Actor: Atsumi Tanezaki
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Kasane
Designer: Shirabii - Credits: Myriad Colors Phantom World (manga)
Voice Actor: Inori Minase
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Tsuki
Designer: Risa Ebata - Credits: AKB0048 (Anime), Jūshinki Pandora (Anime), Macross Frontier (Anime), Prism Ark (Anime)
Voice Actor: Naomi Shindō
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Nanakoori
Designer: Risa Ebata - Credits: AKB0048 (Anime), Jūshinki Pandora (Anime), Macross Frontier (Anime), Prism Ark (Anime)
Voice Actor: Rina Hidaka
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KOS-MOS Re:
Designer: Kunihiko Tanaka - Credits: Xenogears, Xenosaga, Xenoblade X
Voice Actor: Mariko Suzuki
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tonyh24613

tonyh24613

Member
Oct 25, 2017
684
Before the thread turn into people complaining the designs, want to say I appreciate the transform from character art works to character models is so much better than previous two games.

Also are you going to add main cast blades?
 
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CGiRanger

CGiRanger

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,517
tonyh24613 said:
Before the thread turn into people complaining the designs, want to say I appreciate the transform from character art works to character models is so much better than previous two games.

Also are you going to add main cast blades?
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I thought about adding a note that, Yes, the female to male ratio is quite skewered. But oh well, it's Takahashi. At least he let Soraya Saga design one male blade.

As for the main Blades. It depends on what info is released on them. Main blades like Pyra are pretty much characters and all are designed by Saito.
 
Maxina

Maxina

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Oct 28, 2017
3,308
Really hoping they don't reveal all the rare blades so I can be surprised. Azami, Kubira, and Vasara are my favorite designs so far.
 
Deku

Deku

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Oct 25, 2017
242
My favorite blade so far is the book girl. Overall, really unique designs.
 
Ishaan

Ishaan

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Oct 27, 2017
1,702
Great thread! I was hoping someone would compile all of the Blade-related info in one place.

Azami and Kubira by M Hakus both look fantastic. Those are my favourites out of the lot above.

I really like the valkyrie-esque look of Tokiha by Takahiro Kimura, too.

As people have already pointed out, Yuuo looks like a JoJo character, which isn't surprising in the slightest given Soraya Saga's love for that series. You can check out her JJ Steel Ball Run fan-art at her alternate Twitter account, @sorayatokyo. There are even fics in English.
 
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CGiRanger

CGiRanger

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Oct 25, 2017
2,517
As far my favorite unique designs. It definitely goes to Azami, Vasara, Kubira and Shiki.

If I listed to my inner perv, it's Zakura. Shunya Yamashita Reaaaaly knows how to draw sexy girls (checked out his website....*phew*)

Plus, I love her wicked "Lighting" Wolverine blade gauntlet

To be clear, I wish the girls got to perv out on a guy, and I guess Yuou may be as good as it gets.
 
Abriael

Abriael

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Oct 27, 2017
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tonyh24613 said:
Well since they are designed by different people, there's variety. So People may like some, hate some. Unfortunately most of the Xenoblade 2 discussion turned into endless debate about it. Hope that's not the case here.
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I can't say I don't find that weird. The variety of character designers is one of the main selling points of the feature. We've got some real stars here.
 
Nav

Nav

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Oct 27, 2017
1,904
Nice compilation. My favorite is Natsu. The floating arms is a neat concept and the character looks humorous based on the pushups in the gif.
 
Crayolan

Crayolan

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Oct 25, 2017
8,756
People are complaining about these designs? But they're awesome. Only one I dislike is Uka, that dog nose looks...off.

Also the gif of Zakura says Zakuro, so I think you might have gotten the name wrong.
 
Dnomla

Dnomla

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Oct 27, 2017
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Nice job! I was a little unsure of the rare Blade concept at first, but seeing all these new ones every week has me really excited.

I think my favorites so far are Uka and Azami.
 
Garf02

Garf02

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Oct 31, 2017
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im a little, worried?, about the english localization names. just like they changed Homura for Pyra
 
Sander VF

Sander VF

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Oct 28, 2017
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Tbilisi, Georgia
Is it a pipe dream to want a rare blade by Hirohiko Araki? It would look like a Stand!

Maybe they got some really big name manga/anime/game guest artists on board and are waiting till the Direct to show them off? Boy, talk about giving myself overly heightened expectations!
 

Deleted member 12555

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Vasara and Kubira look pretty cool and I particularly like Suzuki's style. Finch is too cute.

It was a good idea to have so many guest artists, as it makes the game visually more interesting and varied but without losing consistency within the game world, considering how well modelled they seem to be.

Are these guys actual characters with backstories or just glorified weapons?
 

Deleted member 3700

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I need one from Hidari! My current favorites are Zakuro, Hotaru and Tokiha, loving the two from M Hakus too.
 
Fireblend

Fireblend

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Oct 25, 2017
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Thanks for compiling them all in a single place, CGIRanger. Can't wait to see more, I'm really into all of the designs we've seen so far.

I hope there's a ton left to be revealed.
 
noyram23

noyram23

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Oct 25, 2017
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Kubira and Vasara looks great, it's unfortunate that the main characters themselves aren't injected with same the creativity (imo).

Day 1 for me!
 
Yazuka

Yazuka

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Oct 27, 2017
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Looking good! I really like most of the designs, but Tokiha is my favorite.
She is giving me a bit of KOS-MOS vibe.
 
Watershed

Watershed

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Oct 26, 2017
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The character models look fantastic even if some of the character designs do not. Are these cut scene models only or in-game models? Do we know?
 
Merun

Merun

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Oct 25, 2017
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How will all these VA survive localization? I fear it will be one person voicing several of them. RIP Dual audio :/
 
TruSpindash

TruSpindash

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Oct 27, 2017
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I really like seeing all of these designs from different artist, and they all translate super well into 3d. Looking forward to seeing more.
 
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CGiRanger

CGiRanger

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Oct 25, 2017
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Watershed said:
The character models look fantastic even if some of the character designs do not. Are these cut scene models only or in-game models? Do we know?
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AFAIK, Monolithsoft hasn't shown much of a difference between "cutscene" models and those that are in-game in any of the Xenoblade games.

At least, here in-game Azami looks virtually the same:
 
Fireblend

Fireblend

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Oct 25, 2017
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Oh nice, a weekend update! This points to there being more Blades than I anticipated, which is great news! Looks like they're ramping up the updates too!

Welcome to Xenoblade month :D

Looks kinda like an old Fire Emblem design no?
 
foxuzamaki

foxuzamaki

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Oct 25, 2017
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noooooo ive been wanting to make this thread but didnt have the time, oh well
 
pulga

pulga

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yo some of these designs are straight fire, wish some would be the MC actually
 
Electricb7

Electricb7

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Oct 27, 2017
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Not a fan of most of the designs but its a neat idea.

Kinda wished they went after some different artists.
 
Argot

Argot

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Oct 29, 2017
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Very hit and miss, but that's to be expected when you're bringing in so many different guest artists. Vasara is definitely my favorite just in terms of design, which makes total sense now that I know it's from the Ikaruga/Sin and Punishment artist.
 
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CGiRanger

CGiRanger

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Oct 25, 2017
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Updated the OP with Musubi.

But yeah, when I saw the remarks about the voice I was like "huh?" what could be wrong. Then when I heard it I had to check my ears. I definitely was Not expecting that. So odd to have such a young voice matched with what appears to be a model that actually looks mature.
 

Deleted member 3700

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CGiRanger said:
Updated the OP with Musubi.

But yeah, when I saw the remarks about the voice I was like "huh?" what could be wrong. Then when I heard it I had to check my ears. I definitely was Not expecting that. So odd to have such a young voice matched with what appears to be a model that actually looks mature.
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But the voice actress is 56 0.0

VA in Japan are monsters
 
Crayolan

Crayolan

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That voice is so far on the opposite side of the spectrum of what you'd expect I feel like it has to be a joke. Jeez.
 
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