Ran Hibiki (ひびき 蘭 Hibiki Ran) is a student at Taiyo High who is working toward a career in journalism. She was first introduced in Rival Schools' Nekketsu Seishun Nikki 2 and was then included in Project Justice.
About Ran
Ran , the "Scoop Girl"
Though still a freshman, she has already earned a reputation in Taiyo High as the resident "Scoop Girl", due to the fact that she is always on the hunt for the latest gossip, juicy story, or anything that sparks her interest. She is a spirited girl, almost as hot-blooded as upperclassman Batsu Ichimonji and her gym teacher Hayato Nekketsu. She has a strong desire to succeed, and always goes for the gold.
In Rival Schools: Nekketsu Seishun Nikki 2
She is the editor in chief of the school's newspaper. She investigates the kidnappings and disappearances, seeking to scoop an exclusive news story. In truth, she decided to embark on this mission for a personal agenda: to win a very influential prize, Taiyo High's First Prize Scoop.
In Project Justice
She works with the Chairperson and students from Pacific High School to find the ones responsible for creating havoc between the schools.
Arsenal, Combat Style, and Fighting Strategy
Many fans consider Ran as yet another "weird" character, being able to fight using two different weapons--a camera, and a harisen (ハリセン huge paper fan) which can deflect projectile attacks back to her opponents. Not something anyone would consider using as a weapon in real life. Nonetheless, as of Project Justice, she has the reputation of having the most powerful Burning Vigor Attack ever in the game, which is also among the most difficult to successfully connect. More about this will be discussed later in this section of the article.
Special Attacks
- Flash Attack (Japanese: フラッシュ攻撃 Flash Kougeki) - This is Ran's signature special attack, which has her do a flash photography attack. Depending on the punch button pressed for this attack's button combination, a sidestep may or may not precede the attack, as in Hinata's Sunrise Punch. After using this six times, she will change films (see Film Change below). This is also usable in the air.
- Film Change (Japanese: フィルム交換 Film Koukan) - Ran changes the film on her camera. This can also be done while sidestepping, but the animation will not be shown. This is also automatically done after six Flash Attacks.
- Extra Edition! (Japanese: 号外！ Gougai!) - Ran tosses the latest edition of the school's newspaper. The angle and range of this attack depends on the punch button pressed for this attack's button combination. Good as an anti-air, and has fast startup. Like the Flash Attack, this is also usable in the air.
Burning Vigor Attacks
- Super Flash Attack (Japanese: スーパーフラッシュ攻撃 Super Flash Kougeki) - This is the five-hit version of the Flash Attack, and is a good Air Combo finisher as well.
- Assault Interview (Japanese: 突撃インタビュー Totsugeki Interview) - This is the most damaging Burning Vigor Attack (as of Project Justice). Ran approaches the opponent, who then does different poses (varies with the character) while Ran does snapshots at different angles. The last snapshot deals the damage. Startup, however, is horrible; it takes luck to get this to successfully connect.
Team-Up Technique
- Climactic Scoop (Japanese: いただきスクープ Itadaki Scoop) - Ran, the active character, and the opponent all pose in front of the camera, which takes multiple shots of all three in different poses. The last shot launches the opponent into the air, from which an Air Combo can be connected if the player is fast enough. Startup attack, however, has almost no range at all, making this somewhat difficult to connect.
Party-Up Technique
- Ran does the Horse Riding Smash.
Trivia
- Her name is a play on Dan Hibiki from Street Fighter, it has been speculated that they are related. The Kanji for her given name (蘭) literally means 'orchid'.
- Her family life remains undisclosed to this day.
- She excels in Japanese language and art, but fares poorly in home economics and mathematics.
- She also looks for the "juicy scoops" outside school, but this is a debatable issue on whether this qualifies as a part-time job of hers or not. Taiyo High policy prohibits students from having part-time jobs.
- Although she represents Taiyo High, she is not playable at all in either of Taiyo High's two storylines in Project Justice; she was only mentioned having taken a picture of upperclassman Kyosuke Kagami grieving over the death of his twin brother after the fight in the burning Justice High building. Some fans speculate that this must be the reason why the vain Kyosuke has not yet returned to Taiyo High after the incident.
- As per its description, her Film Change can actually be seen as parallel to reloading bullets in a revolver (also known as a six-shooter), since a revolver normally carries six bullets, hence the alternative term for the weapon.
- She is voiced by Akiko Hiramatsu.
Gallery
References
Game and Character Information
Nguyen, John. Project Justice FAQ/Move List by Puar. GameFAQs.com. Published 2001. Last accessed 14 March 2010.
Tsai, Peter. FAQ/Movelist for Project Justice (Moero! Justice Gakuen) for Dreamcast/Arcade. Version 1.07. GameFAQs.com. Published 17 July 2002; last updated 13 March 2003. Last accessed 14 March 2010.
Cheshire, Sophie. Project Justice: FAQ/Move List by falsehead. Final version. GameFAQs.com. Published 5 November 2001; final update 7 December 2002. Last accessed 14 March 2010.
Batsu, the Doctor of Punishment. Shiritsu Justice Gakuen/Rival Schools series: Character Stories FAQ. Version 1.5 (final). GameFAQs.com. Last accessed 14 March 2010.
NeoChaosX. List of characters in the Rival Schools series. Wikipedia (English). Created 20 August 2007; last updated 30 March 2010. Last accessed 1 April 2010.
Translations
Kanji translations made possible through the Kanji Romaji Hiragana Convert website.
Maruyama, Chiemi. English-Kanji-Japanese/Japanese-Kanji-English Dictionary. Pasig City, Philippines: Persian Gulf Publication, 2002. ISBN 978-971-8796-37.
Nakao, Seigo. Random House Japanese-English/English-Japanese Dictionary. United States: Ballantine Books, 1995. ISBN 0-345-40548-X.