TSF Showcase 2025-01: Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki

Time for another TSF webcomic classic!

TSF Showcase 2025-01
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki by Kittyhawk

Table of Contents:

Edda 0: The Big Old Background

In December 2024, I tackled the vintage TSF webcomic The Wotch, and found it to be a surprisingly good comic. With a good sense of humor, a positively gushing excess of creativity, and an impressive commitment to its characters and long-term storytelling. In talking about this comic across a three-part 47,000 word article, I found myself inspired to go back to another TSF webcomic of its era. There are a good amount that I could tackle— and I am more than open to recommendations in the comments below— but today, I want to talk about Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki.

SGVY started back on July 11, 2002 as the product of a burgeoning internet artist by the handle of Kittyhawk, who is still active to this day, working on games, comics, animations, and an assortment of things. Which is pretty damn impressive, all things considered. However, SGVY only lasted until sometime around January 2018, where Edda 15 began after a year-long hiatus and lasted 5 pages before sputtering out. At least per my scraping of Archive.org.

**TAKE ME BACK! BACK TO WHEN ARTISTS HAD THEIR OWN WEBSITES!**

So, why did Kittyhawk stop SGVY? Well, I did some digging and buried in a promotion riddled Twitter thread in January 2024, she said it was because “it stopped being fun.” Yep, pretty simple. She was working on a comic for about 15 years and just stopped, as her passions drifted elsewhere. 15 years is a long time to work on anything, and I cannot really blame her for wanting to end a comic she started in her late teens or early 20s.

During its run SGVY hopped between a scattering of self-hosted websites over the years, transitioning as platforms faded away, before eventually winding up on the Montrose.is website still used by Kittyhwak to this day. However, rather than host the majority of her work, Montrose.is is largely just a landing page to locate Kittyhawk’s various online accounts. Everything that once resided on this website has largely been removed or relocated, and this includes SGVY.

Now, I think it is über shitty, extra lame, and profoundly uncool to just delete something from your website instead of archiving it. What, was something you invested months of time into over years not worth the few hours it would take to post it on DeviantArt? And I think that if you garner a following on the back of a series, you owe at least a public explanation to your readers. I do not begrudge her for moving onto new pastures, and wish her the best in her future pursuits. …I just wish she actually preserved things. Or at least preserved them in a timely manner.

However, somebody did the hard work of digging through her old website and made a handy archive of it on Archive.org. …And somebody else also did a complete archive of ALL the comics in CBZ format! This includes the extras for Dragon Con, Free Comic Book Day 2013, a flashback comic, and the holiday specials from 2002 to 2016. None of which I will be covering here, as they are all shorter works, and not particularly noteworthy as part of the larger story. Though, I will say, they are all cute in their own right, I’ll reference the flashback comic later, and the holiday comics are cool! Nearly every single one of them offers something different, and I really admire the gusto on display here. Shame some of them were destroyed in the powerlust for progress amongst the internet.

Additionally, I won’t be digging through the development of the comic like I did with The Wotch. There, I had a very complex story about how early webcomic creators struggled to balance work and life to continue a story, while gradually losing passion for it. Here… I don’t even have publication dates for these pages, and the website URL changed a bunch over the years, so tracking things down would be tricky. As such, please forgive me for eschewing a historically pertinent deep dive and instead viewing this comic strictly as a comic. If you want to do that, then be my guest!

Oh, and I am once again using Waifu2x to enhance the original pages for modern web viewing and readability. Because nobody wants to read a 600 pixel wide comic on a 4K monitor.

Edda 1: In the Beginning

Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki positions itself as a gender bender magical girl parody series, and it wastes little time establishing just that. The series opens up with Yuuki Kanazuchi, a 15-year-old boy with a deep love of magical girls who finds a new series in the anime section at his local DVD store. He promptly buys it before returning to his home, popping the disc in his player, before being greeted by Hermod. In Norse mythology, Hermod is the son of Odin and a messenger god. But in SVGY, he’s reinterpreted as the magical critter assistant… and also a marmoset. …Yeah, I’ll get into that later.

In typical irresponsible transgressive magical girl helper fashion, Hermod is absolutely butts at his job and apropos of explaining things to Yuuki, he immediately stabs him in the chest with magic, turning him into a magical girl. Or rather a valkyrie, but that’s just splitting hairs, now isn’t it? Yuuki, as a boy, is naturally perplexed by all this, gropes his reshaped body, and has a reaction that, alone, makes this series a classic in my mind.

In the world of TSF, or rather MTF TSF, or Nyotaika, or just any story where a male-bodied character gets a female body, one of the first things they do is feel up their boobs. I have zero clue where the first visual depiction of this came from, thousands of works have done their own take on it, and while it is trite and cliche, I still have a soft spot for it. There’s something so mildly perverted yet juvenile about it, and I love how Kittyhawk milked this scene right at the start of SGVY, when webcomics and TSF comics were still in their infancy. I really have to wonder how many artists and creators were inspired by this prolonged reaction, how the protagonist gradually goes from groping their boobs in fear to groping them in delight.

Naturally, there is not much time to do anything before the initial monster makes their appearance, which, for some reason, causes Yuuki’s boobs to jiggle. …The series is just like that. Yuuki predictably does not want to go out fighting, especially before having any training, but Hermod threatens to leave Yuuki like this unless he complies. The two then head to the heart of Tokyo— via subway— where they are greeted with the giant bull, Auroch. What follows is what could generously be described as a ‘fight scene’ but it is filtered through a heavy layer of comedic antics.

Yuuki flees, tries to fight, gets his magical hammer, fails to use it properly, gets rammed by the giant bull, and stumbles upon his valkyrie powers by accident. All before smacking the giant bull in his testicles and banishing him with a Valkyrie Smash shockwave. It’s a sufficient sequence, though it does make the priorities of this as a comedy-first series clear.

In the aftermath, Auroch has been transformed into a chibi baby cow— the perfect size for a marketable plushie— and is left to wander the streets for the time being. All while Yuuki eagerly returns home to transform back to normal, hoping to put this adventure behind him. …Only to realize that he’s still physically female— with boobs and a vulva and everything— and will stay this way as long as his bond with Hermod remains. In short, he’s stuck like this.

However, rather than stew in dysphoric misery, Yuuki wastes little time before embracing his female body. He showers, looks over his “attractive” body in the mirror, and promptly begins masturbating in the bathroom for several hours. Which… YES! Thank you! Something that just grinds my gears about non-hentai or non-erotic TSF works is how they make the protagonist so chaste and reserved about doing anything sexual beyond looking and fondling.

Yuuki’s a teenager, it makes sense that he’s horny. He likes girls, so of course he’d get curious about checking out a female body, especially when it is, irrefutably, his own form. It makes sense for the narrative and characters, delivers on the fantasy of the premise, and offers a bit of extra comedy and sex appeal without actually showing much beyond some boob cleavage and butt cleavage.

Chapter one— or rather Edda one— serves as a solid foundation for the series, delivering on the transformation and first encounter about as briskly as it could, and warranting more than a few laughs along the way. Deeply silly, retaining a sexualized edge without going too far, and containing a distinctly American sense of humor despite its attempts to capture the look of contemporary manga/anime.

However, right away it introduces several things that I think warrant examination before delving into the second chapter, so… time for the obligatory tangent!

Edda 1.5: Trans Arts Productions

Where to begin? How about with the artwork. Having read SGVY back when I was 13/14, I remember always liking Kittyhawk’s artwork. It’s heavily inspired by 90s anime, with a healthy dose of American cartoon and comic influences, and manages to nail its own distinctive style, without reaching a stereotypical ‘American manga’ look. Kittyhawk is a great artist whose skills refine over the course of this comic. Her art goes from something remarkable by the standards of the early 2000s internet to something that is just progressional grade, with no additional criteria. She definitely has the ability to create some truly elaborate and beautiful stuff, though she is also rather fond of exaggeration and deformation. Giving characters goofy expressions, shrinking them down into expressive blobs, or mutating the style for greater emphasis.

There are definitely some criticisms that can be levied toward her earlier work and its rougher elements. The slightly off-looking characters, reliance on chibis to express certain scenes and represent a tonal shift. The clear effort to look like a manga, while just… not having the same regimented style of a manga artist, because the artist likes western cartoons too much to go full anime. The use of photo backgrounds and gradients in lieu of backgrounds depending on what the artist thought would be too hard to draw.

With two decades of distance, I consider all of these things to be charming. They give the work a unique character, are emblematic of the era, and with a retroactive lens of what its actual contemporaries were, I find it easier to appreciate the finer parts of the artwork. The flaws become cute, perhaps even kitsch. And while I don’t think the series ever became absolved of a certain type of… self-taught artist quirkiness, I appreciate how Kittyhawk kept evolving and iterating her style over time.

Though, I do feel that some of Kittyhawk’s designs and sensibilities can be a bit… questionable. Her fixation on certain hairstyles can blur characters together, same with her love of busty women. While her creature design can be contentious. For instance, I was always confused about what Hermod was supposed to be. The comic explicitly calls him a marmoset, except he doesn’t look like a marmoset— that’s a pretty distinct type of monkey. He looks more like one of those big-eared lemurs from Nickelodeon’s Avatar, but if they had foot-long mustache-like whiskers. He was definitely designed as a cute critter before anything else, and why a Norse god would take the form of a South American animal is beyond me. The vikings made it to Canada, but not that far.

**But he *would* make for a good plushie…**

Additionally, Kittyhawk will forever in my mind be a ‘professional smut peddler‘ and while SGVY began before she started producing actual smut, and is free from non-censored nudity, it can be rather lewd. I have no problem with that, but I do think that makes the choice to make Yuuki a 15-year-old rather… questionable. It adds an ick factor to certain scenes and whenever Yuuki is depicted as half-dressed, and is reminiscent of a far more casual approach to age and sexuality, which was the style at the time. Personally, I’m jaded enough to not really care, but it at least warrants a couple mentions.

There’s also the matter of Yuuki’s gender identity. Throughout the story, Yuuki constantly does ‘the early Ranma thing’ where his overt desire for the entire series is to go back to being a boy. It’s a TSF trope that I’m not too fond of, as it feels like a kid asking if they can have their Christmas presents early. They know the answer is going to be no, but they hope they can annoy someone into submission.

Because of this, and because of the way that people refer to Yuuki with he/him pronouns, it’s easy to write off Yuuki as being a guy stuck in this situation. …But I don’t necessarily agree with that.

Yuuki’s frustration and insistence on returning to normal is not born from a dislike of their female form. It’s from the fact that this was forced onto them without their consent. And the more one learns about and sees from Yuuki, the harder it becomes to argue that they’re just a cis dude.

Yuuki’s into magical girls and wants to be one on some level. They crossplayed as female characters, several times, and even keep framed photos of these experiences. They are only bothered by their new emotional spectrum when approached by hot guys, as it makes them question their sexuality. We later learn that they spend hours every night masturbating. The visual language of the story just presents Yuuki as a girl, more so than a guy trapped in a girl’s body. Context and how something life-changing is thrust upon a person can do a lot to skew their perspective, and from how I read this series… I think Yuuki’s just a trans girl. One who can’t admit that she actually likes being a girl, but trans girls can be dense like that.

Also, the delisted About page describes Yuuki as a “transgendered valkyrie”. The term transgendered should not be used— you can figure out why on your own time through a cursory search— but this is openly calling Yuuki transgender. It’s possible that Kittyhawk was getting transgender and transsexual mixed up— an understandable mistake for something probably written in the mid 2000s.

Oh! But wait! There’s more!

Something I initially missed when writing this showcase was a flashback sketch comic that showed Yuuki attending a convention, cosplaying as a magical girl. Yuuki is so successful at cosplay that they attract an adoring crowd of people, and later says that “when I dress like a magical girl, I feel happy.” Which is one of the most transgender-ass-lines you can make an AMAB character to say. And in case the intention was not abundantly clear, the comic ends with the following line: “You should be what you want to be, because if it makes you happy, it must be right!”

…Combined with everything else I’ve laid out, I’m pretty confident in saying that Yuuki’s a transgender woman, so I’m going to be referring to them with she/her pronouns.

Edda 2: I Am Woman…

Edda 2 opens up and feeds into my belief that Yuuki is a trans girl, as Hermod stumbles upon a photo of Yuuki crossplaying as a schoolgirl. And it does not even look to be a particular character. It’s just Yuuki, before the transformation, dressed in a sailor fuku. How male of them. (Technically, she was cosplaying as a female character, as revealed in the flashback mini comic, but I’m going to call that a retcon.)

Despite this, Yuuki still clings to her masculinity, trying to bind her boobs in a sarashi. But with DD-cups like this, there’s no good way to hide them away without suffocating herself, meaning any hope of presenting as a male is pretty much out the window. Sure, she could try to spin some sort of lie about getting a “sex change” or being her own cousin, but she has watched enough anime to know how that would turn out.

These antics are then interrupted with a glimpse into Muspelheim, where the god Surt, a fire giant, is conversing with a strange gray critter about the new valkyrie running about after the previous one retired. To combat her before she can gain more skills, the two agree to send out two giant wolves, Geri and Freki, to kill her. How did they get access to these wolves when they are associated with Odin? No clue!

After being transposed into the human realm of Midgard, the two wolves promptly figure out where Yuuki is and eat through the walls guarding her house. Hermod tries to spur Yuuki into action, but she doesn’t care if they are eating her wall, tree, or all of Tokyo. She lives alone, with her dad being on a never-ending business trip, and absent mother, and she doesn’t even have friends nearby, so she’s inclined to watch the whole world burn. …At least until remembering her precious anime collection.

Yuuki then transforms and rushes out to fight these two wolves, smacking her hammer down to create a shockwave that the two effortlessly dodge. Yuuki, all out of options, then runs away through the city, inviting these wolves to destroy so much more in their rampage. Because she’s a greenhorn hero who does not think about others like that.

As this chase sequence plays out, we are introduced to another main character in the form of Chiaki Shuzaya. A dainty blonde cutie whose lifelong dream is to be best friends with a magical girl… and she just so happens to walk in on Yuuki as she is bashing one of the wolves. This immediately changes her life, confirms that magical girls are real, and right after she basks in this divine miracle, she runs into chibi Auroch. Chiaki then immediately forgets what she was doing and gives him a carrot, because he’s cute.

Yeah, if this little interaction is not enough of an indicator, Chiaki is… a ditz. A precious, innocent little creamball with sugar plums for brains and such a simple, lovey-dovey view of the world that it makes her into a highlight of the series for me. But before she can get a proper introduction, back to the chase sequence.

Despite running what has to be several kilometers, Yuuki is still working with zero idea on how to deal with these two wolves, since they are too fast to hit with her hammer. So she throws Hermod at the wolves, distracting them before she finds a drug store and picks up a bottle of… diet pills. Pills that one of the wolves promptly consumes like it’s candy, and immediately becomes weak and sickly. Thus allowing Yuuki to Valkyrie Smash him into the next dimension. A fair enough gimmick, showing Yuuki solving a combat problem through non-combat means, using modern conveniences to her advantage. But… why diet pills? At least make it something vaguely funny like laxatives.

As for wolf number two, Yuuki promptly gets pinned down and incapacitates the wolf by… throwing her hand into their mouth. The wolf chomps down on her arm, while she uses this opportunity to smash them with her hammer. It’s the first appearance of blood in the series, is pretty brutal considering how lighthearted things were beforehand, and is just an… odd way to go about killing a monster like this. Especially for the second battle in the series. Did Yuuki, magical girl aficionado, really not have a better idea in her pretty little head? I guess not…

In the aftermath, Hermod patches up Yuuki as the two watch TV, where they are greeted by a conveniently timed commercial from two wacko art kids who are advertising a high school. The Montrose Academy East, a place where they “don’t give a shit” if you have a fake ID and “love freaks.” It’s a bizarre way to move the plot forward, and… I guess it works?

Every aspect of this is just weird. We never saw Yuuki’s prior high school, so her attending a new school lacks the impact it really should. This is a high school advertising on TV that they love freaks which… what? Even in Japan, I find that hard to believe. And this, this right here, is seemingly the origin of the Montrose brand that Kittyhawk operates under today. Why was this seen as the best way to progress or introduce any of these things? I have no clue.

Edda 3: Universal Dance

Hours later, Yuuki has already started her first day at Montrose, where he has taken the bold decision to wear a male uniform while around campus. Something that should be seen as a statement of some sort, but Montrose is where freaks prosper, and Yuuki looks like a princely beauty when wearing boy clothes. It’s a very common archetype, especially in shoujo, but it’s far rarer to see a TSF protagonist settle into this role.

To help Yuuki acclimate to the campus, she’s given a guide in the form of Taki Himuro. Who looks like Tenchi Masaki, if you exchanged the ponytail for glasses, and he serves as Yuuki’s primary male love interest. Being a diligent, kind, and polite guy who makes Yuuki’s estrogen-filled heart go doki doki. Yuuki freaks out as she is confronted with her sudden bisexuality, but she eventually musters up the sense to go walking through the school grounds. Where she visits places that will never be seen again, as this whole location quickly proves to be irrelevant.

While getting situated, Yuuki gets glomped by Chiaki, Yuuki’s childhood friend that she lost track of after starting high school. Chiaki is thrilled to see Yuuki again… but is rather confused how they went from a boy she knew to somebody with “very nice” boobs. Yuuki tries to find a way to explain this, but before she can get a word in, it’s time for another monster attack. This one featuring Odin’s ravens, Huginn and Muninn, and they are easily the most grotesque creatures in the entire series.

Rather than just let them be giant monster birds, Kittyhawk decided to make them zombie birds. With skeletal beaks, eyes without eyelids, exposed flesh revealing the skeleton beneath the feathery hide… and these vacant yet dorky stares. It’s almost something gross and unnerving, yet Kittyhawk just could not help herself from giving it more cartoonish traits. …And I think that was the right call.

With the setting being a school, these window-breaking monsters attract a crowd of blobby people who look on in awe, leaving Yuuki without much opportunity to transform, lest her secret gets loose. So she runs around every which way as people panic before finally reaching a secluded hallway and transforming right as Chiaki turns the corner, realizing that her dream really did come true. Her childhood friend is a magical girl! Meaning she’s best friends with a magical girl!

Having taken on multiple opponents before, Yuuki rushes into battle with little hesitation, bringing the battle outside of the school and attracting a crowd of eager onlookers, cheering for their valkyrie hero. However, ravens are surprisingly smart, and decide to instead target the students. Taki comes in with an assist as one of the ravens rushes his peers, smacking them in the head with a recycle bin, and weakening the foe so Yuuki can work her magic with a Valkyrie Smash! This leaves Taki in awe of his new heroine, but before either can catch their bearings, the other crow flees with Chiaki in their beak.

Yuuki somehow manages to land on the bird as they fly away, tussling with them as they twirl about erratically, while being unable to get a good hit in. At least until trying to experiment with her moveset, inventing Valkyrie Valhalla Strike, which allows her to take down this monster in just one blow. Which is great news… or it would be, if not for the fact that Yuuki and Chiaki are still hundreds of feet in the air, and falling fast.

Panic leads to desperation, and with Chiaki seconds from becoming a creamy pancake, Yuuki transforms his large red ribbon into a pair of his valkyrie wings, allowing her to save Chiaki. Overcome with relief, Chiaki once again embraces Yuki, declaring, quite transparently, that she loves her. This is where the chapter ends, and it serves a great opportunity to highlight something I really like about SGVY. The bisexual love triangle.

The TSF genre really lends itself well to bisexual protagonists. Someone who undergoes a TSF transformation, no matter the form, will be filled with new physical impulses and desires as chemicals go gushing around their brains. New bodily parts beget sexual/romantic exploration in ways that might have seemed undesirable or unobtainable before. And a new gender being thrust upon the protagonist urges them to… experiment a little.

This is something that’s ignored across a lot of heteronormative works where the male-to-female protagonist just winds up getting it on with a standby male character, because heterosexuality sells. However, when someone is put into a queer gender situation, then there’s oodles of opportunities for them to develop a queer sexual identity.

With SGVY specifically, I really like the balance between these two potential love interests. Chiaki is Yuuki’s tether to her old life, someone who knew her as a child, someone who is attracted to her ‘despite’ her transformation, and the only human who knows about Yuuki’s secret identity. She is a helpless dumb-dumb, cannot fend for herself, and is mostly good for moral support. But she also has a fierce unparalleled love for Yuuki no matter what they do.

Meanwhile, Taki represents the new life that Yuuki could have if she chooses to embrace being a ‘normal’ teenage girl. She could be in a traditional heterosexual romance and with a ‘good guy’ who will treat her in a way that most straight women would want to be treated. Sure, she cannot be as honest with him, but maybe she does not want to have the burden of explaining her past life and superheroics. Maybe she wants to push her duties and past to the side and just focus on nurturing the new life she has been given.

…Now, does the actual story do this premise justice? …NOPE! But there are definitely hints and nudges toward this idea, and some exploration.

Edda 4: Wild Stallions

Edda 4 begins by reintroducing the gray figure who was introduced at the start of Edda 2, and they warrant a greater exploration, as they’re basically the mascot character of the series. Sorry Hermod. Initially presented as a gray misshapen ethereal cat thing, this character is revealed to be SGVY’s rendition of Loki, Norse god of mischief and bringer of the end-times. And Kittyhawk’s interpretation of this character is a zany little animalistic critter throbbing with manic gremlin energy. They’re extremely expressive, have proportions that shift and alter depending on whatever the artist felt like at that moment, have a steak knife they carry around as a weapon, and are a rampant pervert. …But, like, in a mostly good, fun way.

There’s something so holistically emblematic of the early cutsey-edgy immediately post-9/11 era of internet culture of this time. A character who can simultaneously be serious and powerful, boasting about their abilities, but also a sorta incompetent little guy who gets easily unnerved by the smallest things. You get the impression he could weasel his way out of any situation, but enjoys the foreplay of conflict too much to wrap things up before reaching his climax. Because it’s all about him.

Anyway, Loki starts this chapter by reaching out to one of his many monster children, Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse he gave birth to, and recruits him into fighting Yuuki, as part of his bidding. Simple enough premise, but Sleipnir’s design warrants a mention. Rather than just be a horse, Sleipnir is more of a flying horse serpent. I’m not sure if this is inspired by a Chinese dragon, a hippocampus (Greek horse serpent), or something I’m just not aware of, but it’s definitely a unique approach. Well, at least circa 2003. Any take on this concept now would probably draw comparisons to Lady Rainicorn from Adventure Time.

Going back to Yuuki, she and Chiaki are discussing the events of the prior chapter. Addressing the fact that Myu Myu is the only monster who turns into a marketable animal chibi. That Hermod is either a liar or chronically devoted to withholding information from Yuuki, like a good messenger god. And that Yuuki’s wings are something unusual. Something that valkyries are not supposed to be able to do so early into their tenure.

But before Yuuki can get any answers to anything, she is greeted by Sleipnir, who is a total sweetheart around her, not really understanding what it means to battle someone, at least until Loki shows up. What follows is a functional yet hectic battle sequence between Yuuki and the flying horse, mostly notable for the cutaways to Loki, Chiaki, and Myu Myu playing sportscaster as they commentate the fight. If that sounds completely random, that’s because it is!

Still, it’s a good interjection of humor that helps Kittyhawk minimize the work required on action scenes, and is funny in its own right. A lot of teasing, basic jabs, and opportunities for Loki to flex his irreverent personality while Chiaki vacant-headedly rolls with everything. And, whether intentional or not, this fight sequence does feature a bit of foreshadowing with Yuuki’s powers. Her black shading becomes a dark red, blue eyes become a light orange, and her approach to combat becomes notably more brutal and aggressive. It initially just seems like Yuuki getting pissed by Loki’s commentary, and it partially is, but this comes into play later.

After nearly killing Sleipnir, Loki coaxes Yuuki into a battle, promising her answers to the secrets Hermod is keeping from her if she wins. Hermod warns her against this, but Hermod has been a bad mentor figure from moment one, barely telling Yuuki anything, or taking much of an interest in her development. So Yuuki decides to fight Loki, as the god of mischief seems like a more reliable source than a messenger god.

Yuuki, naturally, is not skilled or disciplined enough to fight such a chaotic and powerful threat, and Loki proceeds to rip her clothes, because he’s a pervert like that. She tries to smash him like usual, but Loki is too nimble for hammer bashing, so Yuuki looks within and, for the second chapter in a row, pulls a new power out of his ass! …Or at least close to his ass.

Like most magical girls, Yuuki’s costume has a lot of cosmetic flourishes, the most notable being the giant ribbon around her waist, with tassels that could easily be grabbed by opponents. For no discernible reason, she’s able to use these ribbons to grab and restrain her enemies, i.e. Loki, pinning him into place. It’s a practical yet also impractical approach, being a rather short-range attack, used mostly to latch onto things, and not really doing any meaningful damage. The ribbons are strong, but not as strong as Yuuki normally is, and their range is kept ambiguous, because magical proportions.

Regardless, this allows Yuuki to Valkyrie Smash Loki into pieces… sorta. As she strikes, Loki’s ghostly form dissipates, revealing a small white, anthropomorphic cat stuffed animal. This is Loki’s host body, with the gray cat rabbit thing merely being a layer of magical protection. This white cat plush serves as his primary design for the remainder of the series, served as an icon for the series, and Kittyhawk in general if I recall right, and… he’s just perfect. An incredibly basic yet deeply iconic figure who should have lined the walls of every Hot Topic in the world circa 2007. If only Kittyhawk had the resources to make a merchandising deal.

Okay, okay, I’m being hyperbolic… but also completely serious. Loki’s cat plush design is epitome of a specific aesthetic popular in the 2000s. Proportionally, they are this misshapen humanoid creature with fat stubby legs, long stubby arms, and a distinctly humanoid torso along with a big circular head, tiny cat ears, and a big tail, about as tall as his entire body. His eyes are dark and beady, yet have just enough white in them that, in conjunction with eyebrows, he can emote damn well.

His mouth jumps across his face wherever it is convenient. When shouting or smiling with sharp teeth, his mouth consumes the lower half of his face. To prevent his body from just being white, he has seams over his being, as if he was sewn by hand and stitched together with gray string. And he is frequently seen wielding his signature weapon, a big steak knife that’s just a bit shorter than him.

Everything about this design just works. It’s basic enough that even a child can draw a pretty accurate sketch of them. It manages to clearly be a cat without being beholden to its cat features with the ears being so small. It is both very generic yet has just enough to be a district copyrightable design. It captures the early 2000s cutsey-edgy sensibility to a tee. And the design is so strong that it allows Kittyhawk to deform and simplify it to its barest elements while still being distinctly recognizable for what it is. I just love this thing.If I could buy a plushy of him, I’d buy four. One for me, and one for three of my friends. And I don’t even like plushies!

Also, just to be clear, this is not Loki’s true form. It’s just a doll he’s possessing while keeping his real body hidden away in another realm. Unlike Hermod, who is trapped as a monkey after getting cursed by Loki some time ago.

After explaining this, Loki holds his side of the bargain, saying that Hermod is incompetent, and is withholding information because he does not actually know anything. …Which does not really explain what is going on, or why it’s a big deal that Yuuki started growing wings, but I’m guessing Loki doesn’t know either. Classic trickster move. And before Yuuki can ask any follow-up questions, Loki decides to give her a smooch on the lips.

Now, there’s something silly and innocent about a character’s first kiss being to a plush animal like this. However, Loki’s, like, thousands of years old and gave birth to a deluge of monster children. Meanwhile, Yuuki’s just a 15-year-old kid.

…Yeah, this warrants a mini tangent. I’ve had similar criticisms in the past, due to my chosen line of fascination, so I’ll try to make this quick. Ahem.

Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki features a large cast of teenage minors and routinely places them in sexual situations or presents their bodies in a pointedly sexual manner. Knowingly giving underage characters giant boobs. Featuring gratuitous knowing panty shots and revealing outfits. Featuring borderline nudity for the sake of shock and titillation. Having adult characters engage with minors in an overly sexual manner, going so far as to strip them or caress their breasts. And miscellaneous icky encounters.

It’s nowhere near as bad as certain things I have talked about before— and that’s before getting into the hentai. However, it feels awkward and unnecessary, largely because of the choice to have a high school protagonists instead of college protagonists. If Yuuki was 18, I straight up would not care, or bother, because I know this is a work from a notorious smut peddler.

Edda 5: Alkaloid

After sexually harassing Yuuki with a surprise kiss, Loki rides away on Myu Myu. Thus leaving Yuuki to stir in confused girl feelings as she realizes her first kiss was with a damn plushy, and Leaving Chiaki both forlorn that she was not Yuuki’s first kiss! But Yuuki quickly gets over this— it was not even a warm kiss, let alone a passionate hot kiss— and while Chiaki misses her pet, she is more than happy to be living the dream as Yuuki’s best bud. The two then head off to school the next day, and rather than show them deal with a new school, we are instead treated to a call between Hermod and Odin.

Yep, the Allfather is already making his appearance, and he is just a regular old man in a classic suit, with two ravens and two wolves at his side. …Meaning not only did Harmod lie about Myu Myu being special, but the monster attacks in the first three chapters were actually all just ways to test Yuuki’s powers and acclimate her to her role. I’m starting to think this monkey’s a pathological liar at this point.

Anyway, the focus of the call is mostly chiding Hermod for being a lousy messenger for not telling Yuuki the truth and informing Hermod that his duties as a teacher are no longer needed. For Odin knows a guy who’s awfully good with hammers.

As a side note, this scene is one of the first examples of an art style used sporadically across this era of the comic. Where backgrounds are drawn using digital paint blots rather than something sketched and illustrated. It looks a bit splotchy, but it gives the background a deliberate, otherworldly look that I think, much like the different colored outlines, works if used carefully, and is a neat bit of artistic experimentation. Because why even make a webcomic if you aren’t going to get experimental? Normally, I think these experimental ventures can be really hit or miss, but pretty much every application in SGVY, beyond a few shading experiments, looks quite sharp.

Jumping back to school, Yuuki has yet another run-in with Taki. She gets flustered as he approaches her, awkwardly trips, gets swooned by him just in the nick of time, and is left so frazzled, she goes all swirly eyed. It’s a cliche little thing, though scenes like this are important to reminding the audience of character relationships and propelling them forward.

Meanwhile, Chiaki is off searching for Myu Myu, conveniently finds him through the power of shouting, but also attracts the attention of a tall redheaded man with long hair and prominent facial hair. Anybody with a cursory familiarity with Norse mythology would gather this man is Thor, but Kittyhawk’s take on him is far less… full than most others. He’s often depicted in these baggy-looking T-shirts that make him look scrawny, which is just… odd. While Kittyhawk prefers drawing women bar none, she is capable of drawing well built and muscular men, but this was still early on in her tenure, so perhaps this was just where her comforts lied. Regardless, Thor offers to help Myu Myu recover at a local café after his wild night on the town, so the two depart.

That would be where the chapter ends, but instead we are greeted with a dream sequence that’s probably the biggest evidence against referring to Yuuki as she/her. Yuuki finds themself back in their male body, is thrilled by this fact, but immediately turns to see Chiaki in the grasp of a giant snake. They try to transform into their valkyrie form… and then get bit through the chest. Blood gushing out of them, Yuuki is then approached by a shadowy figure. We never learn who this is meant to be, but I’d guess that this is meant to be Yuuki’s unseen father. They are clearly significant to Yuuki, call them pathetic, and hate them so much that they bring down a hammer with the intent to kill them.

It’s a surprisingly dark ending— the darkest moment in the series— and a sign that Kittyhawk was wavering between what she wanted to achieve with this series, adding something a touch more serious to make the zaniness shine as bright.

To counter the point that ‘this shows that Yuuki really does want to go back to a guy,’ I will concede that they say that, but focus on what happens in this dream. As a man, Yuuki is unable to save his friend, is deemed a disappointment, and is brutally murdered by the very weapon they are unable to wield. It’s open to interpretation, but I choose to view this as Yuuki realizing that their male form is something undesirable. Weaker, unable to achieve the masculine standards set by someone else, unable to protect those they love. It’s a nightmare, showing a scenario that Yuuki fears. Being stripped of their powers and going from being a hero to being a ‘loser’.

Edda 6: Come Down

The next chapter begins with Yuuki waking up in the nurse’s office, being approached by Taki, and undergoing a mental shut down as she becomes overwhelmed by feelings. Taki, being an ideal guy, then invites Yuuki out to a nearby café so she can relax and get something to drink. It is a curious scene to include right after the dream sequence, as it shows Yuuki kinda resisting, while also being deeply infatuated with Taki, a man. Indicating that she is actually growing more comfortable with this new position in her life.

Only after arriving at the café does Yuuki realize this is a date and get defensive. Insisting over and over to themself that they are a GUY, no matter their body, and this cannot be a date, because guys can’t love guys! They’re clearly conflicted about all this, and before they can do much more than stew in frustration, Chiaki and Thor spot Yuuki from across the café. …And then Thor summons Mjolnir and starts testing Yuuki’s skills. Yuuki drags this fight over to a conveniently placed forest clearing. The kind you see dotted all over Tokyo. And when the battle proper begins, Yuuki once again fails to hit anything with her usual Valkyrie Smash routine. In response, Thor lectures her on how to properly use a hammer. You get up close to someone and HIT THEM! But rather than demonstrate that fact himself, he quickly wraps up this encounter, revealing that he is here to serve as Yuuki’s teacher.

**HANDS OFF THE CHILD’S BREASTS, CREEP!**

Back at the café, Taki and Chiaki finally meet, and Chiaki immediately pegs him as a serious rival. This girl might have a head full of birdseed, but she’s a fighter alright, and determined to keep this degenerate male away from her precious Yuuki. So much so that she butts in when Taki tries walking Yuuki home, serving as a third wheel as the two begin chatting about Taki’s Norse mythology club. A concept that goes nowhere, but is a hint for a later development. Taki ends the walk by trying to arrange another date, but Chiaki drags Yuuki back into her home, where she sees she has to deal with even more freeloaders.

Thor and Loki have chosen to take up residence in Yuuki’s humble abode, and while she does not want to entertain them, they all unleash their… beast forms to intimidate her. Yeah, this is something never outright explained in the comic, but the Norse gods can achieve alternate more powerful forms, and that was actually what Loki was doing during his gray cat-rabbit appearances. For Thor, he becomes the musclebound fighter one would expect, complete with yellow-orange hair, while Hermod becomes a flaming monkey. It’s not really important, but answers the question of why these gods look this way. Because they are reserving their power for when they actually need it.

Yuuki shows the three to her guest room, which I doubt is a common amenity in Tokyo— but before they agree to that, Thor weirdly insists on checking out Yuuki’s father’s room. To which Yuuki… burns his hand by glaring at it intently. I think. The artwork is normally high quality and pretty clear, but every now and again, there are panels where it’s not quite clear what is going on or what the perspective is. Point is, all the gods are sharing one room,

Everybody accepts this… except for Loki, who plays the pervert the following night in the most artistically distinct sequences in the series. A first-person ‘digital painting’ that, while not particularly good looking, is at least a novel deviation. …Too bad it’s about a stuffed animal trying to fondle a sleeping teenage girl’s boobs and her erect nipples. Fortunately, Hermod is good for something and protects Yuuki from this pervert. At least, for the time being.

That caps off the chapter, but something else that I want to address before ending this segment is how this is the chapter where the series had its first non-censored F-bomb, and… I think that is a mistake. While I often swear like a fucking sailor with a crusty lump of shit lodged in my ass and a hairball in my cunt, I also recognize that swear word really should only be used when appropriate. Otherwise, you just look like someone who only knows 500 words.

When something is trying to be more childish or bubbly, then poo-poo language is best left off the table, beyond a stray ass, damn, or hell when things get serious. And if something is more gritty or irrelevant, then swearing should be used in an appropriate context. Overcompensate if humor or ceaseless edge is the goal, or teeter on real speech patterns. With SGVY, I think that some swearing is warranted, but F-bombs just do not fit the zany, cartoonish tone or the series. Ass, bitch, maybe a few shits, but fuck just does not feel right.

Edda 7: Another First Kiss

Chapter 7 opens in a very perplexing cutaway from the main action that really threw me for a loop due to a limitation with Kittyhawk’s artwork. At least, back when this was published. Making distinct female characters, or at least unique hairstyles. It’s something that even company artists can struggle with, and it’s worse when multiple characters have basically the same color of hair.

Case in point, the chapter opens with a woman with an orange variant of Yuuki’s hairstyle, but with a ponytail, talking to a green-eyed blonde woman with slightly darker skin than Chiaki. As they talk though, it becomes clear that the orange-haired woman is a valkyrie, and the blonde woman is the unnamed recently retired valkyrie mentioned in the earlier chapters. Upon hearing that a new valkyrie has been chosen, the orange-haired woman dons her battle garb— despite being in a café— and leaves to test this valkyrie. And we’ll see her… next chapter. Meanwhile, the retired valkyrie never shows up for the rest of the series. I don’t even know her name.

This is then followed with a brief training sequence between Thor and Yuuki, where Thor details the stakes they’re dealing with. That as a valkyrie, Yuuki serves as a guardian of the human race in the event that Surt starts an uprising, and every time Surt attacks, he grows stronger, and when he wins, it will be the end times. It’s clear foreshadowing for a final battle that was at least planned as a concept. Knowing this is inevitable, Thor wants to unlock Yuuki’s demonstrated power, namely the ribbon manipulation, which, as I said, really does not seem that useful for a close-range fighter.

After training, SGVY does the typical sitcom premise of the protagonist unwittingly double-booking themselves over the weekend with two dates. Yuuki agrees to go out with Chiaki on an at-home movie date on Sunday after she bakes her some cookies, before accidentally agreeing to a date with Taki at the same time. …A mistake that Yuuki immediately realizes seconds after agreeing. Now, a sane person would just chase after them and say that they have another engagement, but that wouldn’t be sexy enough, and Yuuki is kind of a simpleton like that. In fact, she is such a simpleton, she forgets that she even had a date with Chiaki.

The following day, Yuuki is struggling to find something to wear for her date with Taki… which raises the question of where Yuuki got her female clothes. We have only seen her lounging around in her uniform, graphic tees, baggy pants, and shorts, which I guess could just be her old boy clothes, but that does not seem to be the case. Was there a shopping trip that happened off-screen? Did Yuuki go bra shopping? I’m not saying every long-form vanilla TSF story needs to feature these things, but if you’re gonna turn your protagonist into a girl, they really should go shopping at least once. Especially when the friend character is as much of a firecracker as Chiaki. She’d go bananas if she got to rebuild her bestie’s wardrobe.

Point is, Chiaki is deeply upset that Yuuki is ditching her to go on a date with a guy. Not only forgotten, but ignored, betrayed, and relegated to the sidelines instead of being with someone she has loved for as long as she can remember. However, Chiaki, creamsicle that she is, is too sweet to hold grudges and helps Yuuki get ready for her date.

Chiaki does not do this by lending Yuuki a bunch of outfits— Yuuki’s too busty for that— but by digging through Yuuki’s cosplay outfits.

…Okay, yeah, no, Yuuki is definitely trans. Sure, regular old crossdressers are a thing— we love ’em, they’re our friends. But what 15-year-old cisgender crossplayer has a full section of their closet with regular-ass ‘cosplay’ street clothes, a matching purse, and makeup kit?

While Chiaki gets Yuuki looking fly as heck, with a puffy skirt and striking red jacket, Thor and the fluffy bunch are watching as somebody repairs the walls destroyed in chapter two. This would be just a cute little callback, and light character building for them, but this scene is home to my favorite panel in the entire series.

For context, the guys promised the construction guy a million bucks if he could repair the wall in two days, thinking that would be an impossible feat for just one man. …But then they see that he’s using a mortar mixer, and panic, to which Thor implores the drunk Loki to seduce this mortar mixer. But Loki, who gave birth to a horse and many other monsters, ain’t birthin no machines. It’s exactly the type of oddball zaniness that Kittyhawk excels at.

Anyway, after that Chiaki gets drunk as hell with the boyz while Yuuki attends a bad movie home to a reference that… I don’t get. Afterwards, the two attend a restaurant called the Golden Boar, where they are unknowingly served by an orange-haired man who employs a kitchen of elves. They don’t actually do anything, and this is just a way to introduce to-be relevant characters. And despite being on a date with Taki, he and Yuuki don’t really do much either. Which is kind of a problem, as this is the last scene they share for the rest of the comic.

After the date, Yuuki already arrives back home, where she is given an earful from Thor and Hermod over ditching Chiaki. Yuuki goes to see her, and Chiaki’s passed out, drunk like a lizard, and as Yuuki apologizes, Chiaki steals a kiss before turning away. Whether she’s conscious or not is ambiguous, but I like to think that her love is so strong that it defies reason. Also, Loki feels the need to highlight how watching two 15-year-old girls kiss was “HOT!!”

Yeah, yeah. Keep it creepy, plush man.

Edda 8: Totaka Song

Following immediately from the last scene, Edda 8 begins with Yuuki putting Chiaki to bed, while being harassed by Loki. And this is where the sexual content starts getting… overt.

Loki leaps onto Yuuki’s butt as she’s changing, stares at her boobs while she explains that he’s not welcome in her bedroom, and accuses Yuuki of wanting it “both ways.” Specifically saying that this 15-year-old is into “chicks and dicks”. Yuuki tries to explain that she only likes girls, but Loki refuses to accept that, and insinuates that she should get with a guy like him. Or, more specifically, just with him, as he’s the only one in the world who can keep up with Yuuki’s sex drive.

Like I said before, Loki is a sadistic creature of chaos, and while everything he does here is… bad, he skirts around the line of being fully reprehensible. There is an absurdist bent to his actions given his form, as he’s a damn plushie. His actions are not presented by the comic as exploitative as much as he is just the perverted mascot character. And it’s not fully clear if he’s just goofing around for teh lulz or if he does actually want to commit statutory rape. Still, definitely a character who you could not do today without witnessing a ferocious backlash.

**Loki probably had sex with 267 children over the years…**

Following even more Loki perversions in the morning, things cut away to the streets of Tokyo, where the orange-haired valkyrie from the start of Edda 7 is walking about, looking for Yuuki. Instead, she comes across the orange-haired man from the restaurant, and just to save you the confusion, I’ll introduce them now.

The woman is the war/sex/love goddess Freya and the man is her brother, Freyr, god of fertility/prosperity/harvest. They also have an… incestuous relationship, nearly kissing while in public, but despite this closeness, Freyr does not want to tell Freya about the valkyrie he saw at his restaurant last night. Believing that he should protect Yuuki from Freya until she is ready… only for Yuuki to fly right past them.

Thor wants to beat Yuuki’s ass for ditching Chiaki last night, but Yuuki redirects the fight to the same convenient forest clearing from before. Thor throws his hammer at Yukki— despite having lectured her that hammers are long-range weapons— and Yuuki tries to grab it using her ribbons, thinking she’s being crafty. However, that does not work, as Mjolnir sends her flying away, crashing into the Earth, where the impact reveals… an earth giant.

Yep! The giants are rising! This was something passingly referenced earlier in this comic, and with Thor choosing to coward out on the sidelines, Yuuki is forced to fight this monster alone. …And she does not fare well, at all. She cannot dodge him, her Valkyrie Valhalla Strike does nothing, and she’s outclassed in every regard. She’s left down in the dirt as the giant lowers its club, only for Freya to come rushing into the rescue, making a helluva entrance. Her valkyrie outfit is striking, sexy, and elegant. She cleaves this giant with a single shakoooooom. And she ends the chapter, striking a pose like she knows she’s some hot shit.

It’s a classic yet incredibly effective way to introduce a new character, but I need to stress how she has the exact same bangs and eye color as Yuuki. The two of them simply look like they are either the same person, separated by several years, or mother and daughter. And it’s weird!

Edda 9: Queen Bitch

…Especially when the next chapter begins with this. And this… this is just an ecchi, if not hentai, doujin cover.

After Freya makes her impactful debut, she makes her formal introduction as the first and most powerful valkyrie, the goddess of war and beauty, before asking Yuuki to fight her. Yuuki, having just gotten beaten by a creature Freya just defeated with a single strike, chooses the sensible option and declines, saying she is too weak. Because she is. In response, Freya smacks her down to the ground, deeming her a coward, demanding that Yuuki end her own life for being unworthy.

Yuuki, naturally, doesn’t want to kill herself, and is given a speech from Freya, describing the duties of the valkyries as the last line of defense of all worlds and how they cannot surrender. Even if the chances of victory are nil, even if retreat would be the only reasonable option, and if they fail, then their souls shall rest in Helheim for all eternity. Yuuki… did not know this, and when presented with this choice, chooses to ultimately do rather than die. But Freya doesn’t accept that answer, in a move that just makes her look like a sadistic freak who likes manipulating people just so she can justly kill them.

I really, really don’t care for this type of conflict. Again, Yuuki did not know what she was being recruited for. She was not given a briefing on her duties. She was not trained for a duration longer than a few days, and has likely not been acting as a valkyrie for more than a month. Hermod, the monkey god of LIES, has done a preposterously terrible job of delivering messages, and Thor has been a crummy teacher, choosing to have Yuuki learn by sparing. Which… is not how training works. The Norse people were not a bunch of stupid cave goblins. They knew how to properly train warriors, had customs and traditions, and were not so honor-bound that they lacked the ability to forgive those who did not know any better. Yet these supposed gods apparently lack such human wisdom. It’s just artificial conflict that relies on characters not behaving like people.

And this is important for this series, as Freya is the overarching antagonist for the rest of the story. She has the opportunity to train and discipline this ornery soldier, something she, as the goddess of war, should be well-equipped to do. She knows that Ragnarok is an inevitability and she needs as many warriors on her side as possible. But NOPE! Instead, she insists on trying to kill the latest valkyrie, one who she… probably knows has expressed rapid growth in very little time. Freya saw that Yuuki had wings, and Hermod said that valkyries did not get for a good while. This is just a bad way to get characters to the same place.

If Freya was just crazy and said that Yuuki lacks the spirit of a warrior and the power must go to someone more worthy, that would be something. It would be her writing off Yuuki as a lost cause. Maybe she is suspicious of her development Yuuki has had, deeming her unnatural. Again, a harsh approach, but it would make her traditionalist and committed to the ritual of war and training. But we don’t get that, because Kittyhawk seemingly wasn’t thinking this scene through.

After making this big declaration, Freya throws Thor like a mile— I guess she can just do that— and begins attacking Yuuki. Yuuki cannot flee or put up a fight, and Freya could easily kill her. But instead, she takes this opportunity to decimate Yuuki’s uniform. She then looks at this crying 15-year-old girl’s exposed breasts with sapphic lust, saying that they should “have some fun first” before she kills her. …Freya, I get that you’re the goddess of sex, and Norse culture treated, like, age 12 as the age of majority, but what the fuck, lady?

Fortunately, before this goddess can rape this literal child, the scraps of Yuuki’s valkyrie garb come to life and start biting Freya, completely ruining the mood. In this distraction, Loki shows up again. Despite being just a magical plushie with a butcher’s knife, he is able to hold her off pretty well, defending Yuuki while Thor, Freyr, and Auroch whisk her away. It’s a bit of an anti-climax, and slightly confusing, as I never thought Loki was meant to be this powerful. But it works, and it introduces Loki’s third form, where he grows into… a sexy man with giant rabbit ears and a tail. …Yeah, that is just someone’s furry OC masturbation bait

Edda 10: Rise

After distracting Freya for long enough, Loki vanishes away, leaving Freya with no way of figuring out where Yuuki is. She can normally sense other valkyries, but she can no longer detect where Yuuki went, so she summons two of her valkyries to do the searching for her. Otsana the barbarian, and Shebi the Egyptian archer. …Wait, did the vikings ever visit Egypt? They were prolific traders, and there is some indication that they did, but I think they were far more common traders with Arabs within the Black and Caspian Sea, rather than Egypt. Whatever. Point is, there two are at Freya’s disposal, and she tasks them to hunt down Yuuki while she chases after Loki. Because this lady knows how to prioritize!

Meanwhile, Freyr, wanting to protect Yuuki from his sister, has chosen to keep her in his hall. I tried quickly looking this up, but I don’t think that Freyr had a hall or domain of his own. He was given Alfheim, land of the elves, but that does not seem to be what this realm is meant to reference. …Even though he does have elf assistants. And this definitely would not be Folkvangr, as that is Freya’s domain, and while Freyr has some control over it, I don’t see how he could hide something from Freya there. So… this is the Grand Alfheim Hall! Yeah, let’s go with that.

Inside, Yuuki is introduced to Freyr’s two assistants, Beyla the bee person and Byggvir the elf. A couple who are in an open relationship with Freyr, love their role as servants, and, like half of the cast, love to sexualize and fondle the 15-year-old protagonist.

After getting situated, Freyr explains to Yuuki that Freya cannot be stopped when she is full of rage— which is bullcrap, as Loki was fending her off pretty well. And the only thing that can calm her is showing her that Yuuki does indeed have talent as a warrior. So, Freyr and Thor are going to train her. Meaning it’s time for training arc II to occur in the background!

But before we can get to that, we have a page that really does a good job to illustrate what I was talking about earlier regarding Yuuki’s thoughts on being a woman. Where they explain how they dreamed of having magical powers, but they were forced into this and into being a woman against their will. It’s a seemingly minor distinction, but context is key in shaping one’s perspective.

With that goal established, Yuuki then gets pulled into the onsen, where she is sexually harassed by Beyla and Byggvir as they give her a good scrubbing. Because… all the critters and people of Norse mythology are perverts, except for Thor, I guess. When it becomes time for the training, it’s just having Yuuki express further control of her ribbons, as the series is committed to making them Yuuki’s primary thing. Though, I guess it is neat watching her walk on the ribbons, swing on them like a monkey swinging on vines, and so forth.

Meanwhile, Otsana and Shebi have come up with nothing after searching for Yuuki all day, and with wavering motivation, they decide to go out drinking, switching their battle garb for modern outfits, and getting absolutely hammered. They should get a hotel, but they don’t seem to understand the concept and barge into the first house they can find. The home of a nerdy glasses boy by the name of Haruki, who is intimidated by the two busty babes at his door, but ultimately relents, letting them stay.

This kicks off a series of black and white 4koma comics that periodically appear throughout the rest of the series. Showing the daily life of Haruki as he lives with Osana and Shebi. The two often lounging around in just T-shirts and panties, and caring for him in their own ways. Osana is the more brutish one, bedding with him, demanding he buy them more beer, and lightly dominating him. While Shebi is the more kind and demure one, more grateful, enthusiastic, and agreeable, even cooking food for Haruki, which in his mind is what cinches this as a fantasy.

Now, I actually like these comics, as I find them to be a very tongue-in-cheek harem gag series that does not hide what it is. The characters are simple, but function in their roles, and it’s a nice reprieve from the main story that still manages to feel relevant, as Osana and Shebi are still, technically, looking for Yuuki.

Edda 11: Heartbreaker

Jumping ahead to a week later, Chiaki has been run ragged after Yuuki went missing, because nobody thought to tell her what was going on. Every day, she has been knocking on Yuuki’s door, probably for hours, while Hermod has just been ignoring her, lounging around and eating every scrap of food in the house. But now that he’s all out, he finally decides to open up the door. He assures her that everything’s fine with Yuuki, despite not knowing anything about her current whereabouts. However, before they can go searching for their precious girl, Hermod gets teleported by a magical call center, and winds up in an icy domain, where he was summoned by Freya.

…Okay, a few questions. Hermod can just be summoned like this by the gods? So… he just teleports between all realms as he pleases? Is that just his power as a messenger god? And why is Freya in this snowy realm? She says a dozen pages later that she was looking for Loki, but… why chase him? This had to be going on for at least a week. Did she really think she could find him, despite having no clue where he initially went? Aside from breaking up her fight, what’s her beef with him? She wasn’t going after him before. And this encounter is even more confusing because she only summoned Hermod so she could relay a message back to Earth. Why not just go back to Earth? What are you doing, lady?

Regardless, Hermod does not want to work as a messenger, and says that he inspired humans to invent a new method of communication, i.e. phones. So he gives Freya, this ancient god, a smartphone. Even though she hates tech, has no idea how to use it, and is in another realm where there aren’t any damn cell towers!

It’s part of a running gag in this series, where Freya tries to use her phone and gets angry. It’s not really a good gag, as much as something that makes her seem even more irrational and pissy than she normally is. …Also, the fact that she can call other gods, valkyries, and so forth indicates that Hermod hands phones out to everybody in the Norse world and gives them a contact list to call everyone else. It’s not a bad approach to world building, but it is a curious one.

Point is, Freya uses her phone to intimidate Osana, saying that if she and Shebi don’t capture or kill Yuuki in the next two days, she’s gonna kill them. Then she destroys her phone, and runs into Loki again, who I guess had to be leading her on for a week, but… why? Was he just bored? Guh. This whole bit is such an inefficient use of limited page space.

The entire start of this chapter could just be cut and things could begin with the next scene, where Yuuki is relaxing from a hard day of training with a bento box, sharing the carrots with Myu Myu. …All before some Where The Wild Things Are X Sesame Street boar monster barges into the room.

Yuuki chases after Myu Myu, and winds up inadvertently running back into Tokyo. This immediately triggers Osana and Shebi’s valkyrie senses, and they rush into battle, arriving in a scant… thirty seconds.

The three rush into battle, and Yuuki begins by using her ribbons to her advantage. She tries to grab Osana’s club and pull it away… but it turns out Osana is stronger than Yuuki, allowing Osana to just decimate Yuuki in a beatdown that warrants an art style shift, featuring looser proportions and a painted coloring style.

It would be a brutal sequence if it weren’t so cartoonish, and sees Yuuki just get wrecked. All of her training is immediately invalidated as she is drained of life and color before she can even get one hit in. It’s like watching a boxer get TKO’d in the first minute of a match. Osana intends on finishing her off when she is down for the count… but then orange-eyed Yuuki from chapter 4 returns as red-eyed Yuuki. Or as I like to call her, Psycho Yuuki!

Edda 12: Ladyflash

When Yuuki becomes Psycho Yuuki, she binds Osana in ribbons, and uses them to siphon away her armor, sucking it up, draining her of her valkyrie power in order to enhance her own. Osana tries to fight back, glowing with a radiant energy, but Psycho Yuuki merely drains her of every last speck of power, turning her into an ordinary human too weak to wield her own weapon. She passes out from fatigue, while Psycho Yuuki’s ribbons pulsate with power, filling her vessel with an erotic pleasure before manifesting this strength into golden armbands that… I think enhance her strength.

Thor and Freyr look at this and realize… this ain’t right, but before they can react, Shebi goes on the offensive, firing a slew of arrows at Psycho Yuuki, who uses Osana’s unconscious body as a shield. Shebi tries for two pages, but it does no good. Psycho Yuuki moves in, ready to rob her of her powers, before Thor grabs Shebi and runs, taking the battle to the school grounds to continue the fight.

The fight itself is not great, featuring too many scenes that exist to keep the reader on edge in a way that’s disorientating, but it ultimately results in Psycho Yuuki getting her ribbons into Shebi’s armor. Shebis in shock at this, declaring her to be a monster, but such words do little to stop Psycho Yuuki, who strips Shebi of her powers, reducing her to a mere mortal. At this point, Psycho Yuuki probably has enough power to defeat Thor, but before that can happen, Chiaki comes running in, shouting “Valkyrie-san” as she dashes across the sports field. This is enough to snap Yuuki out of Psycho Mode, and the two reunite in a loving hug.

…However, Thor and Shebi are still pissed at Yuuki, who is blissfully unaware of what she did as Psycho Yuuki. This leads to a 12 page resolution that… is too frantic to describe fully without sounding like a disorganized mess. One of my most common criticisms across TSF Showcases is a seeming lack of outlining, where the creator was just winging things rather than scripting them out.

This is one of the many examples where it feels like the writer did not know what was going to happen on the next page until they drew it. Every page is committed to ending on some twist or reveal. The characters go back and forth between civility and rage. And conflict is only negated when Freyr comes riding in on his moped, with Odin on his phone.

In the end, everybody plays nice. Shebi forgives Yuuki after learning that she’s been given a body different from the one granted to her at birth. Yuuki undoes her transformation and now has longer hair, because redesigns signify growth. And everybody goes back to Alfheim for a conference call, including Shebi and Osana. The end, next chapter!

Edda 13: The Snow Princess

Edda 13 begins with Taki catching up on the events of the past chapter with the help of some bystanders. They inform him that Yuuki was sucking up Shebi’s costume, and that she had short brown hair and huge boobs, meant for Taki to connect that Yuuki and the valkyrie might be the same person. But before getting into that, it’s time for more Lok and Freya antics. The two in another Earth-like realm. Freya is pissed that she cannot find Yuuki. And someone is calling Loki about what happened in the last two chapters.

Freya eventually overhears the perverted prick on the phone, and Loki tries to calm her down by… becoming a sexy furry man again. Except this time he has these exaggerated goblin ears, and multiple tails floating from behind him. I think this is a far better design, especially with his ‘you want to fuck me’ face. But it comes out of nowhere and never appears again.

The two then bicker some more, with Freya being hellbent on killing Loki until he reminds her that she destroyed her other phone and can get another one from Hermod. So she calls him up, gets another phone, and Freya is left as cheery as can be, despite having an established hatred of technology.

…And then Freya calls up Osana and Shebi again. Which in turn leads to more bickering, more complaining, and a sheer failure for these long-standing comrades to communicate with each other. The two explain that they lost their powers and ask Freya for some more, but she refuses and calls another valkyrie instead. Lady Fuyuko, the titular snow princess, who… has wings instead of arms. I’m not sure how beneficial that is for a fighter, but whatever.

Much like with the end of Edda 12, this is just a long and poorly paced section that eats up far too much time in the story. This chapter is 44 pages long, not counting the cover, and the related scenes eat up 23 whole pages.

The rest of the chapter focuses on two scenes. One where Yuuki is summoned to a big screen Skype call with Odin, who asks Yuuki to continue with her training, and says that he has no idea how to turn Yuuki back to normal. …That’s it. And one where Hermod runs into Taki, who reveals himself to not actually be a good, reliable, and datable man, but actually Hrym. A (small) frost giant who is foretold to bring forth the giants to confront the gods during Ragnarok. Basically, the bringer of the end times. And, so you know he is a frost giant, he discards his disguise to reveal he has stylish blue hair.

Hermod prepares to teleport over to Odin to issue a warning, but he dilly-dallies with idle conversation and Hrym does… something. He tells Hermod to hear his call, and this somehow sends Hermod flying through a high-speed transdimensional nexus for… days, perhaps weeks? I’m not sure how Hrym knows he can do this or why Hermod is susceptible to this, but it means he’s unavailable for the rest of the comic’s run.

Before moving onto the final complete chapter, though, I want to highlight SGVY’s bizarre obsession with graphic tees with written text or logos or random little in-jokes. It makes sense that Thor would have shirts referencing lighting, as he is the god of thunder. But Yuuki often has just random jokes, words, or video game logos on her shirt.

She briefly wore a Sora Ltd. shirt, but now is sporting a Sega Saturn logo. Which would be fine… but video games never come up in this series, so it just seems strange. …And where would Yuuki even get this Sega Saturn shirt? Is Freyr just a big Saturn buff or something?

Edda 14: 3:00 PM (Snowing)

These chapter names had been odd so far, but the time has no bearing on this chapter, it’s not snowing, or winter, and Yuuki never meets Fuyuko, let alone fights her.

Continuing from the conversation with Odin from last chapter, Odin gives a speech about how Yuuki was chosen as a warrior to defend all realms, and the only one who can wield the Allwalkurie in Ragnarok. In short, she is the chosen one and there is no substitute. Yuuki is not crazy about this, but is not a jackass who will let the world perish just so they can lounge around, meaning she’s going to be subject to even more off-screen training. …And that’s pretty much it for their side of the story. Yep. It’s just the end of a conversation started last chapter, spread out and repeated several times, as if the writer is scared the reader will forget what they were just told.

As part of Odin’s video conference, he told Freytr to kick out Osana and Shebi, which he does with no hesitation, going so far as to interrupt their sapphic hot springs bathing scene. He does give them some money though, letting them buy some clothes, but they are left begging on the streets just hours later, holding up a “will beer for money” sign.

While this is happening, Lady Fuyuko gets her formal introduction, and she’s handled… oddly. First, she’s a valkyrie with no hands who flies through the sky by flapping her wings forward, meaning she flies backwards, but can also launch sonic booms with each flap of her wings. She can still fly while facing forward, but I guess it’s slower. Oh, and she can also fly through space. Once she arrives in Tokyo though, she immediately discards her mission, putting on some stylish threads and turns her wing arms into regular hands, to better blend in with the humans.

Then, following a scene transition, she is in a different outfit and reveals herself to be a fashionista, rather than a fighter. One who loves Japan, its fashion, its brands, and so forth. Which raises questions about how old she is, as Japan became unrecognizable over the span of the 20th century. And I’m pretty sure all the old fashion brands have long since died out. There’s nothing strictly wrong about how Fuyuko is being handled, but she is given a lot of traits and details… before actually contributing anything to the plot.

She eventually runs into Osana and Shebi, who brief her on their experience so far, how they are homeless, jobless, and powerless. Strongly warning her to not follow Freya’s orders and to give up on Yuuki. With the odds against her, Fuyuko chooses to join her commrades in arms and relish in a brief life of beer and chicks. Ultimately joining Osana and Shebi as they decide to go back to Haruki’s pad for more 4koma adventures.

Once again, just barely the majority of this chapter, 23 of 44 pages, is dedicated to the antics of these three valkyries. While they are enjoyable, goofy, and cute characters, it really says something about where Kittyhawk’s mind and priorities were at this time, preferring the harem antics to the main storyline and what’s happening to the main character.

The final part of this chapter goes back to Taki/Hymr, showing that he is bizarrely leading a double-life as Taki, having a mother who views him as Taki, before entering his room. …Where he meets his giantess frost giant girlfriend creatively named Frosti. The two discuss how Hermod is left in peril and how Yuuki is not going to school, and with nothing pressing at the moment… the two fuck. No idea how that works. I’ll have to ask my friend who’s into giantesses…

Edda 15: Sharp Dressed (Wo)man

Edda 15 is only 5 pages long, and it merely sets up what would be the next conflict and payoff for the last two chapters. After getting locked up in Freyr’s domain for however long, Yuuki wants to escape to the outside world. Chiaki tries to deter her, pointing out how Yuuki became psycho last time she stepped out for a little while, but immediately changes her tune when she gets a notification on her phone. One informing her of a… not a fashion show, but a fast fashion clothing event from two creators named Ladyboner and Blue Angel Jessie. It’s apparently a big deal, and the two are determined to do this, valkyries be damned. Similarly, Fuyuko also sees this notification and is determined to go to the event.

…And that is it. That is the non-ending of Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki!

If you want a more definite ending, I would suggest the Yuuki Chicken sketch comic series by rorschach089 from back in 2013/2014. It’s unofficial, but in my mind, it’s how SGVY ended.

Post-Edda: Das Ende

Prior to revisiting SGVY, I remembered very little about the series beyond the initial few chapters and the general premise. It was recommended to me, so I had high hopes that I could spin it into something more gushing or extremely positive, but having gone through the entire series, I am left a bit… conflicted.

The series can roughly be broken up into three phases. The first four Eddas establish much of the core cast and all follow monster of the week type plot points, as that is a good format for creators to get their footing before committing to a broader storyline. I think they’re very good for what they are. They capture many tropes, concepts, and the general flavor of the works they are imitating nicely, while featuring a distinctly more American sense of humor. There is a palpable form of creativity on display, a willingness to experiment, cool monster designs, and the framework of a solid TSF action comedy comic.

The next four Eddas can be seen as Kittyhawk growing their craft and trying to spin SGVY into a more developed story. They retain the same core competencies with its humor and art, while delivering light character/relationship development and polishing off the cast with the introduction of Thor. The world it loosely established becomes bigger, more tidbits of lore are established, but the action core of the first four Eddas is discarded for more character relationship drama and conflicts. With the only meaningful fight sequence coming at the tail end of chapter 8, which introduces the first major true antagonist.

The third phase, from Edda 9 to 12, sees a resurgence in action and a greater emphasis on the mythos of the world. Fixating more on Yuuki’s rapid power growth, featuring more mystical characters in the cast, truly delivering on the action that defined the earlier parts of the series by forcing Yuuki into a battle well beyond her means. An event where her true powers come out, leaving her body slightly transformed and might implicitly increase.

It lacks a confrontation with the true antagonist, but showcases further growth for the protagonist, and ends on a point of sufficient intrigue to warrant the end of an anime season. Questions are raised, the climax was intense enough to feel like a lot happened, and the characters are all in a very different place compared to when the series started.

However, the final phase, Edda 13 to 15, is where the direction in the story just kind of… loses sight of its greater goals, and feels like it was written by a creator who was losing interest. As illustrated in my summaries, not a lot happens in these final 100 pages. Yuuki largely just gets a lecture to be a chosen hero before doing off-screen training, and half of the duration is spent building up potential plot threads involving Freya and her valkyries.

…Even though Freya’s past two valkyries already failed, and her new one immediately gets distracted when she lands on Earth. The plot barely moves forward, the main antagonist is rendered ineffectual, and while the goofy antics are still fun, many of them feel like repeats of what the comic has already done at this point.

It all gives me the impression that Kittyhawk’s love for SGVY was fading while she was writing these chapters, and she wasn’t sure what the best way to continue the story was. Of course, the conclusion would obviously be a Ragnarok event, but that is still a long way away, and… I get the impression she just lacked compelling ideas for it. There are not a lot of small hints and nudges laid out throughout the story to get people curious. Yuuki’s power scale is so bizarre that it is hard to gauge how prepared or unprepared she is for this threat. And the identity of the series does not feel as balanced as it should be.

One example of this is how SGVY chooses to approach the subject of school. It is made a big deal as early as the second chapter. The third chapter is the starting school chapter, introduces a new major character, and sees Yuuki reveal her powers to Chiaki. School’s function is as a place for conflict and for characters to meet. It’s something Yuuki needs to manage with all the other magical bullcrap. And possibly a location where antagonists could strike to get her attention.

However… Yuuki literally only goes to school twice and just ditches it halfway through the series. Same with the central location of Yuuki’s home, complete with her valuable collection and her father’s precious room that is not to be trifled with. Instead, Yuuki spends the latter half of the story in an ill-defined realm that is never even given a name. And it’s not like she’s even homesick or worried about her house or education.

Additionally, there is a general lack of opportunities for Yuuki, the titular protagonist, to grow during these later chapters. Yuuki’s personality is largely discarded during what should be the impactful Edda 11/12 fight scene. And she does not get the chance to reflect on what happened in the aftermath of Edda 13/14. When I would think that sucking up the powers and entering Psycho mode would warrant some introspection. Combined without a fiery personality to bounce off, Yuuki starts feeling like a background element in her own damn comic.

On that note, I think it’s worth asking how Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki fares as a TSF comic. And the answer is… it depends on what phase of the comic one is referring to, as I think it fares very well during the first 8 Eddas. Yuuki is someone who clearly has a strong fascination with femininity, with young women who wield immense powers to topple any and all adversity. They are a crossdresser/crossplayer, have a rather feminine appearance, only for their life to turn upside down as they are turned into a girl. Something that they take issue with, largely due to how it was forced upon them, leading them to claim they want to return to normal.

Despite this however, Yuuki is regularly thrown into situations where they are forced to acknowledge their feminine side as they deal with men. Namely Taki, who pushes Yuuki toward an ‘heterosexual’ romance, and the rampantly perverted Loki, who takes great pleasure in reminding Yuuki of their body. I definitely would have liked more introspection and analysis of what it means to be a woman, but at least there was a date chapter.

So, overall, I would say that it does work well as a TSF story… until its priorities change, and Yuuki is denied the opportunity to express themself as much, starting in Edda 9. This is when Yuuki stops interacting with Loki and Taki, when Yuuki is thrown into training as a warrior, and is largely denied access to society at large. They are alone, not given the opportunity to be gendered, and are surrounded by people who largely do not care. The social element of TSF is largely absent, and Yuuki, at this point, is beyond gawking over their own body. So… no. Not a good TSF story near the end.

Meanwhile, a webcomic, I think it holds up far better than many of its contemporaries. Kittyhawk clearly had drive, experience, and a love for the craft when she started in 2002, and her skills only improved as time went on. The story wafers near the end, but I still found it to be a thoroughly entertaining read, a fun and funny romp, with enough ideas and personality to suck a reader into its world.

I would add some asterisk about it being left forever incomplete, but… I find that pretty easy to expect. I would estimate that the story was only maybe a third done at this point, and I’m not really sad that SGVY ended the way it did. Based on her words and the text itself, Kittyhawk’s fascinations were mutating. It’s why she fixated so much on the other valkyries and greater emphasis on wacky antics near the end, and it’s not like she vanished. She’s still doing art, still doing comics, and seems to be doing what she loves for an audience who reciprocates her creations.

I always want creators to provide some conclusion to works they spent years of their lives working on. Even if it is just a bunch of notes. However, I can pretty easily imagine where the story would go. At this point, I’m just glad that I had the opportunity to revisit this comic and see where it went during the later parts of its run.

So I would like to extend a big thank you to Kittyhawk for keeping this comic going for over a decade… and a strong nudge for her to rehost the comic again. Seriously, without the efforts of fans, this would be lost media! Same with her deluge of older artwork, including some positively dope vintage TG comics!

Please reupload them. I ruined my original copies by censoring them!

This Post Has 8 Comments

Dark Phoenix 01/28/2025 Reply

I was always disappointed with how this comic just kind of… petered out. There was a time when I checked every week or so for updates on it. But yeah, it definitely started to lose the plot towards the end.
1. Natalie Neumann 02/05/2025 Reply
  
  You honestly could say the same thing about a lot of webcomics of that era. Starts with great ideas, but loses steam when the creator grows, gets distracted/busy, and the story gets lost in the shuffle.
Tasnica 02/05/2025 Reply

I remember this one! Another classic.
1. Natalie Neumann 02/05/2025 Reply
  
  Indeed!
Kelly Miller 02/05/2025 Reply

Also, it’s been a few days, but it’s worth mentioning that I think Kittyhawk did some of the greatest TFTG quick comics I’ve seen out there. My favorites are definitely her cheerleader TFTG double page and the one about the rustic restaurant where you give up your fancy attire or you get to be a waitress.
1. Natalie Neumann 02/05/2025 Reply
  
  YES! That’s what I was referencing in the end of the showcase. Kittyhawk did some wonderful TGTF comics, but most of those were taken down and exist mostly through image sharing circulation and the odd archive. Which sucks! She really should host ALL her old art on her website, like she used to…
Sophie B 04/07/2025 Reply

I agree 100% with your take on the reading of Yuuki’s identity. Kittyhawk did a game, the Witch’s Ghost or something and it 100% also about gender. She is the only amateur voice and plays the witch. If you like the old games on her site you should play the ones she has on Newgrounds.
1. Natalie Neumann 04/07/2025 Reply
  
  The exact name is The Ghost of the Witch: An Ear-ie Halloween Headphone Adventure. It’s an interesting premise, but I really never dabbled in Kittyhawk’s game career, and just know her for her art and comics. I’ll add this to my big list of things to check out.