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1/6 c14 5ariace613
So here we come to the first part of the public review of your story. I'll be doing it by rereading each arc, then reviewing it on both its quality, and how it develops the story. This is the review of the New Vestroia arc. Let's get it started.

Right from the start, the introductions of the main heroes make sense. Right from the start, you can get a feel for the characters. Of course, there's Luke, the inexperienced P.O.V. character who's almost always bratty and ignorant of the true context of what's around him. Shawn, his best friend from before this all happened, is shown to have great patience. Those are just examples. You introduced the characters well, and give them a lot of conversations to keep their characters consistent.

This also extends to Rogue Zero, the primary antagonists at this point. Ariella grabbing her Bakugan to claim it shows she's used to getting her way. Hendrix asking for volunteers shows he has patience and is willing to give respect. You haven't neglected building up the antagonists, or simply made them uniform copies of each other. Admittedly, you did base at least half of them at least somewhat on the Vexos, but that's alright.

But those weren't the only NV callbacks. Bakugan Traps, Luka's using Alto Brontes, and of course the return of Chaos Ability-X. The latter was the first indication to show Rogue Zero was a part of something truly sinister. To alter their Bakugan and remove their intelligence was something you could instantly know is unforgivable... unless you're Luke.

Now, I'll note the character progression in the arc, and I give that to two characters: Luke and Shuji. I'll go in depth with Shuji first.

Shuji starts out basically the same as from season 1: a big doof who's obsession with victory is only matched by his inability to achieve it. As such, he switches up his strategy and Attribute so much, it proves detrimental to his overall style. His first hit of development happens when he is chastised for almost throwing away Fly Beetle. While it's slight, he does realize that the Bakugan was alive, and apologized for the action. But his real development was in the Thermosphere battle against Keegan. Keegan was everything that Shuji had wanted to be: cool under pressure, talented, and freely switching Attributes to trip up opponents and actually winning. Shuji had to confront his own vices to combat this, and actually learned to start appreciating what he had. He won the battle as the first among the nation heroes to pull off a Triple Ability. And his victory lap propelled him to be the first of the group to beat a member of Rogue Zero in a 1v1. Very well done, to redeem the character from what we knew him to be.

And then... there's Luke. He started the arc as a brat, obsessed about his Master and ignorant about the situation, only wanting to go home. He ended largely the same, but he gained experience to battle alongside his allies after his royal stomping by Ceaser. He also managed to transform his fear of Rogue Zero into pure rage, which is fine in the short term, but detrimental to the long term, and ignorant to the real matter at hand. But I'll let the next arc handle that.

Let's also take into account how you maintained the threat and menace of the villains. While the "mysterious enemies" is a trope onto itself, you executed it well enough by, as I said, freely expressing their characters. And, of course, the Forbidden cards really upped both their power and fright. Even back in chapter 3, you really worked on selling that aspect. And, into the Troposphere arc, you added Bakugan Traps, an advantage that the heroes would never gain themselves. That gave the heroes multiple challenges to overcome to even stand a chance against Rogue Zero.

I'll also go into the first 1v1 between Luke and Maximus, specifically because of the influence those two have on the later story. Maximus was always the dominant one, only needing to place a bit more pressure to completely overwhelm Luke. Luke had some bite, but he was overpowered by the Forbidden cards. Later, Luke defeated Maximus in the Troposphere battle, which would leave a profound impact on their dynamic.

So that's the first arc of From Depths We Rise. It's a great beginning, really long enough for a story in its own right, and developed enough to really make the characters shine. I'm looking forward to review the next arc.
1/1 c78 7Jalarious27
I wasn’t sure to expect when I saw there were two epilogue chapters, but this was a very interesting idea. I guess it just goes to show how influential Luke and the others were, as well as how big of an impression they and their actions left in such a distant future. At this point, they are long gone, though it seems as though they may still be watching over Interacia. It’s also interesting getting to see what some places were named as. I like the idea that people were climbing Mt. Empyrean and were able to see Omega Ocean from there. The ocean named after the Bakugan and partner that were able to bring down the final Empyrean and defeat Riaan once and for all.

It was nice to see how everyone left their own impressions on the world, however fleeting some of them may be. It is a little sad to learn that may of Esther’s songs and writings have been lost to time, but unfortunately that is just how things go. Not everyone agrees with everyone’s different viewpoints, and so they’ll do what they feel is necessary to get rid of the opposing viewpoints. Still, it is nice to know that at least some of her songs and writings have survived. It seems as though even though people don’t fully remember everything that happened and have no real proof, there are still people who firmly believe in the things that Luke and the others were able to pull off. Though it is definitely strange to see that there are people who doubt Armageddoid’s existence, after everything he and Riaan had done.

I wonder if them fading away like that has anything to do with the energy they absorbed from Armageddoid. Since when Armageddoid, Riaan, and Eve died, they still appeared to hold some sort of celestial bodies, and Riaan was even able to remove Luke from Interacia’s core. So, I think the idea that they sort of just watch over Interacia and protect it is very interesting.

Overall, I thought that this was a fitting finale chapter for the story overall. It let us know what everyone went on to do, and even though they are gone now, their influence remains, even if not everyone fully believes some of the things they experienced actually happened. It has been a long and crazy ride, but it is finally over. I suppose all good things must come to an end eventually. I’m just glad that I was able to be here and enjoy the story from start to finish. This story may be over, but it shall live on.
1/1 c77 Jalarious27
I wasn’t expecting a 5 year time skip, but I guess it makes sense. I doubt Luke would come back right away, and it also gives a number of opportunities for things to progress and change. I also like the new year system, A.R. It just goes to show how significant of an event it was and how it effected all 6 worlds. I was a little surprised at first, learning how more people from other worlds have begun to move over to Interacia, though I suppose it makes sense. It is a big planet, and with Riaan gone, things should hopefully be less tense between everyone. It also solves Vestal’s scrap problem and overpopulation. I doubt that things are exactly all smoothed over like Mira suggests, since things are never truly perfect or at peace, but things are looking better than I was expected.

It also seems as though Shawn and Shuji ended up doing what they said they were going to do. It good to know that Shawn is doing well, and it appears as though Shuji is getting in pretty good shape as well. I’m sure that hauling all that scrap metal contributed to that, as well. It also seems as though the reconstruction on Gundalia is doing well. Unfortunately it seems as though Cale passed on, at least from the sound of the conversation. Though if that is the case, at least Shawn is putting everything he learned from him to good use. I feel bad for Luke’s parents. They had to watch their son risk his life like that, only for them to win and then have him sacrifice himself. Still, I’m sure they’ll be happy when Luke finally returns.

Well, it looks like Jase is doing better than ever. For someone who always talks about being old, he surely has the motivation to spare. Though I’m sure with him being the Commandant Marshall, things must be in pretty good shape. Thanks to him and the others, it looks like the worlds are all linked now, and Interacia is now truly a mixing pot of different cultures, with people from 6 different worlds living together there.

It seems like Keegan managed to make his dream come true after all. I doubt he was expecting the amount of work that came with it, but he definitely appears to be making some strides, especially in terms of schooling. I never really thought about that before, but I guess education wouldn’t be the same in every world. So, having them all attend a school together would surely be a great learning opportunity for the children. I wasn’t expecting Keegan to become the governor of Interacia, but he has definitely come a long way from where he started out in the story.

I’m glad to see Cole making an appearance, and it seems as though he has taken a few things from Luke’s example. When they first met, he hated Luke and was afraid of him because of everything that was going on. Now, he even has is own Abis Omega and looks up to him. And Maggie arrived just in time to encourage him, as well. She knows just as well as any of her other friends that the weak can become strong. It’s also nice to see that she has been taking her studies seriously. She will definitely become a reliable doctor in the future.

I suppose a lot of people are moving to Interacia, either for work, education, or other reasons. It’s good to know that Alice’s grandfather is still kicking, though old age is definitely beginning to take its toll. It also looks like Esther managed to already become a successful author. Some people may not believe everything she wrote, but I’m sure that it will be useful in teaching others about the lessons that they’ve learned along their journey.

And just like they promised, everyone gathered back together where it first started. It was definitely a sad moment, after all this time. To think that it all began in this spot, and now all of this has happened. I was curious of how you’d bring Luke back, and I find it interesting how Riaan was able to send Luke back. Even after he died, he still held enough power to do something like that. Still, I’m glad that he was able to let Luke reunite with everyone, after everything he had done. They may have been enemies, but in the end, he was proud of his pupil for ultimately making a place for everyone.
1/1 c76 Jalarious27
First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Second of all, I apologize for not getting around to this quicker. I intended to read and review yesterday, but I honestly forgot lol Still, it has finally come to an end. It was a long ride, a crazy and intense one, at that. I can still remember when you first came up with the idea and shared an early outline of the story with me. It’s crazy to believe that it’s already been three years and that the story is finally over. So much has happened between then and now, and the characters have come such a long way. It is definitely sad to see this story coming to its conclusion, but it is also nice to see how it all ended, as well.

I wasn’t sure what to expect after the end of the previous chapter. I new that some changes would be made because of the energy Abis and the other Bakugan absorbed, but I wasn’t sure if that would just be a temporary form or if they would have actual evolutions. It seems like it was the second one, which makes sense. I am looking forward to when you are able to draw them and their new forms, because from the descriptions you gave, I imagine they’ll look pretty epic. I also really like the names, especially Celestial Jelldon, Arcana Atmos, and Galaxia Atchibee. They all also got a pretty substantial boost in power, each of them having a base of 10,000. It’s incredible to think about how far they’ve come since the beginning. They started out among some of the weakest Bakugan, but now they’ve become the strongest out there.

After reminiscing some emotional moments from the past, the final final battle finally begins. I suppose now that they all are without an attribute now, that is just what they needed in order to counter Armageddoid’s abilities and lower his power. At this point, there is no way that Armageddoid would be able to win this. With a boost in power, the ability to now counter his abilities again, and the teamwork between Luke and the others, I had no doubts in my mind that they would end up victorious. Still, the fight leading up the that victory was pretty damn intense. Early on in the fight they were already starting to reach pretty high power levels, as they continued to lower Armageddoid’s bit by bit. I was really impressed with the Cosmic Distortion ability from Maggie and Jelldon. They reflected Saber Nebula, hitting Verias, allowing him to absorb the ability and power up even further. No matter how many times Armageddoid lowered their power levels, they just lowered his in return, boosting their own in the process. Their experience and teamwork are the ultimate weapons in this scenario.

With a single combination, Esther and Atchibee were quickly able to boost their power beyond Armageddoid’s and beyond anything we’ve seen so far throughout the entire story. Then Luke immediately follows up by boosting Abis even further, before Esther cut Armageddoid’s power level in half. I thought that was pretty insane. Turns out I was wrong. I was waiting for the moment that they’d hit a combined total of 1,000,000, and that happened fairly quickly. What I wasn’t expecting was for both Abis and Atchibee to reach individual totals of over 1,000,000. Maybe Luke, but I wasn’t expecting both of them to pull that off. So with one final push, the usage of their new strongest abilities and a bit of a flashback, they finally managed to take down Armageddoid for good with a combined total of over 3,000,000…sheesh. I was expecting something ridiculous, but nothing quite that ridiculous. And here I was thinking that 1,000,000 was impressive lol

It’s crazy to think about it, but after all this time, Riaan and Armageddoid are finally dead. It’s definitely bittersweet, knowing that Riaan was not the only one at fault for everything that has happened. Although it is definitely nice to know that they intend to make things right with Code Eve. Although now that Riaan is gone, so is his core, which means not so good things for Interacia. Even before it was revealed I had a feeling that this would happen, since Riaan’s DNA was a part of all of Interacia and the people there, but I wasn’t really sure how it would be fixed. However, with the power they have now, Luke and the others have a new responsibility. When they first absorbed Armageddoid’s power together, I was wondering if maybe Luke would end up not having to sacrifice himself. Unfortunately, he’s prone to doing rather crazy things. It’s even sadder, remembering the scene that inspired this one. The added scene with Abis and the other Bakugan made it even more sad.

I knew that Luke was going to restore and maintain Interacia and the people there, but I was not expecting everything else he ended up doing. Not only did he restore Interacia and save the rest of their worlds, but he ended up returning them to their richest states, solving a lot of the problems that were had on the planets previously. In the words of Abis and Luke, yes. They definitely did good. They may not have been perfect, but they definitely did their very best.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting an epilogue. I thought that this would end up being the last chapter, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was not one but two epilogues. I will get around to reviewing those as soon as possible. Talk about one hell of a finale.
12/30/2020 c78 Tony Anderson
This was such an adventure to take part in. Thank you for all you do on this site. This has been a crazy year, for sure, but I'm glad to have something like this to go through during these times. Congratulations on finally completing this masterpiece. I enjoyed every last bit of it. Reminded me of the love I've had for Bakugan. Thank you so much.
12/30/2020 c78 12Oragonking
Okay, you made your point of being insane. Though I am a fan of Bakugan. Though I was dissapointed that there were no fusions or Battle Gear or Bakunano, or at least Mechtogan. The Reboot is showing that these kind of things are part of the Bakugan.
12/30/2020 c78 7Amber Is A Fossil
(Silent cry) Such a powerful ending. Love the Epilogue! And I have enjoyed reading this throughout the years, and kinda hoping you’re crazy, or insane, enough to do another Bakugan story, not necessarily a sequel but a Bakugan story.
12/30/2020 c77 Tony Anderson
I'll be watching out for the last chapter.
12/30/2020 c77 Amber Is A Fossil
So close to the end... I’m at the edge of my seat!
12/27/2020 c76 Ospite2918
the story is a nice pity but for all the deaths there have been like rogue zero, luka i'm sorry too luke and abis omega i hope you will make a sequel to this story i also hope to see the final evolution of abis omega and the others anyway nice story
I would like to know if you will make other stories if you go I can catch stories like ed edd eddy x bakugan and fairy tail x bakugan or series that maybe you have never seen like kamen rider, ultraman and yugioh
12/28/2020 c76 Amber Is A Fossil
OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GODDD! THE POWER LEVELS! THE MILLIONS?! THE F’ING MILLIONS?! Those evolutions were awesome man! And the ending, dear sweet lord, I’ve been reading this since 2018, and this, oh God, it’s almost over. Almost... it’s been a nice read.
12/27/2020 c76 Tony Anderson
AWESOME! This was just off the charts crazy! You, sir, are incredible! Can't wait for the epilogue!
12/27/2020 c76 12Oragonking
I still believe that some what Riaan said was heartless. Dan and Drago lost people they care about or allies. Wavern, Zenthon and Zenthon Titan. Even some other people has lost someone they care about. But they should move forward and some of those people want their loved ones to live and be happy. So it's not wrong that they have a happy celebration, or be happy for that matter. And the peace they fought for is real. I'm also upset that Riaan and Armaggedoid looked down at the Battle Brawlers and the previous generation. Doing that is like all their battles and struggles meant nothing. It's insulting. If they fought in Luke's and friends place than they would have become strong too.
12/24/2020 c75 7Jalarious27
From the beginning of the last chapter, I knew that it seemed too easy. Luke and the others were having too easy of a time countering basically every move Armageddoid would throw at them. So, while they were technically victorious against Riaan and Armageddoid, this new foe is their true final battle. Eternal Armageddoid, a Bakugan which apparently has no attribute, making it that much harder to anticipate or counter. Add onto that, that he also has brand new abilities, powerful ones at that, that we’ve never seen before, and a whopping power level of 50,000 to start…that leads to one hell of a mountain to climb.

With everyone there, seeing how much more powerful Armageddoid has become after merging with Riaan and Code Eve, I had a feeling that they’d all come together to fight him…though I was hoping for more of an effort from their part. Right away, they pull out all the stops. They bring in the Bakugan Traps, the battlegear, the BakuNano, and the Bakugan fusion. However, I honestly wonder how much they’ve been paying attention up until now. Armageddoid brings up a very good point. Did they really expect to take him down just like that, by combining all of their power and attacking him at once? Brute force isn’t how they are going to solve this. Of course, they are going to need quite a bit of power to take down Eternal Armageddoid, but it is how they use that power that is what will allow them to win. Just simply attacking him head on, full force like that won’t do any good. Thankfully, Luke and the others were there to bail them out whenever they got in over their heads, but it didn’t prevent losses on their side.

Honestly, I knew that Eternal Armageddoid would be unlike anything we’ve seen up until now, but I wasn’t expecting him to be able to tear through space like that. Talk about some ridiculous power. Though, it does make sense, given the two beings that he merged with. As soon as Armageddoid attacked Flash Falcon Fly, I knew what was going to happen. There is no way that a Bakugan that much weaker than him would’ve been able to survive an attack that can LITERALLY cut through the fabric of space. Next up, I knew that Piercian would face the same face. Sure, it’s defense might stack up against a normal opponent, but I don’t think the eternal in Eternal Cocoon is quite as impressive as the sheer power Eternal Armageddoid has. And that wasn’t even it. The attack went straight through, continuing on it’s path towards the others. Thankfully Atchibee was there to absorb the attack. Though Armageddoid learned from the previous battle, that Atchibee is one of the biggest threats. She was able to nullify and shut him out completely before. I understand why he’d want to stop that potential first and foremost.

I liked the idea of Nemus and Verias giving their allies a boost, though it ended up being for naught. Once again, Armageddoid sets his sights on another Bakugan trap, and it was once against completely annihilated. Even Elico was unable to do anything against Armageddoid. Admittedly using the FARBAS System was a smart idea…but I knew from the start that Elico wouldn’t be able to handle the amount of power that Armageddoid has. Not just any Bakugan can handle that much power, so I knew that Elico would end up hurting itself if it pushed itself much further.

In the end, the only ones that could even stand a ghost of a chance at defeating them was Luke and the others. Once again, they showed how they’ve managed to come this far and evolve this much. They teamwork and the sheer willpower that they have is what allowed them to do what the others couldn’t: catch Armageddoid off guard. They play smart, and they play off of each other’s moves very well. While one pair is keeping Armageddoid busy, the others are preparing for their next attack. They were able to bring up their power substantially, making more progress than the rest of them. However, it isn’t until Code Eve speaks to them that they realize what must be done. At first, I was concerned for Luke. It seemed like, once again, he was going to do something reckless. And he did. Luke and Abis were able to do what the others couldn’t, and they managed to match Armageddoid in power using Pressure Shield. Though, what happened next was the real crazy part. They went in, caught in the cosmic energy, and Luke slash at the core on Armageddoid, causing a surge of energy to leak out.

This scene honestly reminded me of Guardians of the Galaxy where they all were trying to surpress the power of the soul stone (I think it was the soul stone. I’m probably wrong though.) It started with one, until the entire team joined in, helping Luke absorb the power. I’m glad to know that Luke wasn’t doing this alone. However, the results were definitely beyond what I was expecting. I’m wondering if those are evolutions, or if it just a temporary boost in power caused by absorbing all of that energy. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they all evolved again, due to the common theme of absorbing power and evolving because of it. As for the others, I can only imagine the aftereffects of absorbing that much energy.

I still can't believe that there is only one chapter left. It feels like not that long ago that it began, yet it's already been over 3 years. Still, I look forward to the finale.
12/22/2020 c75 7Amber Is A Fossil
Holy Mother of Bakugan! This is seriously getting intense! Even more than it already was! Can’t wait for the ending!
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