Shu Shirakawa

Why does masaki hate him so much? I'll never be able to play the first game now so I thought I'd ask.
And can anyone recommend a good story or mech info site for this game?

Oh and I beat this game so spoiler away guys!

Its actually never quite revealed in OG1 either I think. The story however is taken from one of the earlier Lord of Elementals games. The gist of things is Shu kills people and escapes La Gran and Masaki comes after him seeking revenge. I maybe wrong however.

Shuu and Masaki have a lot of history - it hasn't been totally flushed out in the OG games yet, but this is how it was in the other games that they've appeared in (other games of the SRT series, namely the "Classic" timeline of SRT 2-3-EX-4/F/FF) and the Masoukishin games (which means, "Lord of the Elements", and the Cybuster is the "Lord of Wind" and Masaki it's chosen pilot). Their origins take place in a sub-dimensional world within Earth, La Gias.

Just a reminder, timeline-wise, these events have already taken place in the OGverse (occuring before the events of OG1).

Shuu's mom is "kidnapped" by a member of the Royal Family of Lan Gran (one of the 3 kingdoms of La Gias) and is made his consort/concubine, and Shuu is born some time afterwards - thus, Shuu is half Earthian, half La Gian, and a legitimate heir of the throne of Lan Gran. He grows up to value his independence much more than anything (most likely stemming from his mother's freedom being stripped from her since she was kidnapped), and thus has no interest of the throne. Shuu travels back-and-forth from the surface world, and becomes the genius he is as he absorbs knowledge from the surface AND La Gias, using this knowledge to build the Granzon.

Masaki (a orphan) is mysteriously transported to the world of La Gias (people are summoned frequently, actually, as people from the surface tend to have higher prana levels) and ends up being taken in by the people of Lan Gran. He gets trained by the King's Retainer, master swordsman Zeoroot and becomes his (Zeoroot) adopted son. He ends up as the chosen to pilot the Cybuster (as in, the Cybuster chose him to be it's pilot, and it's always been known as "picky"). He meets the other 3 Masoukishin pilots (Fire, Water/Ice, and Earth), who are also pilots from the surface world. During a trip back to the surface world, Masaki meets Shuu and the Granzon, with Shuu already knowing about Masaki and the Cybuster (Shuu had originally been in line to attempt a partnership with Cybuster, but Shuu didn't care about it and built the Granzon instead). Shuu suggests that Masaki return to La Gias, as the Earth Federation would most likely be coming after him as Masaki is a "unknown" (this is before OG1, where the EF learns about the Cybuster).

Masaki already has a bad vibe about Shuu from this meeting, and it becomes true when the Granzon attacks Lan Gran. Shuu, for one reason or another (depending on the Classic Timeline, or the Masoukishin games) has aligned himself with Volkruss (god/demon of destruction/chaos), and declares war on Lan Gran, attacking the capital. Masaki fights him, gets his butt whipped, and is forced to watch as Zeoroot battles Shuu. Zeoroot is killed, and Masaki gets pissed off, becoming semi-possessed by Cyfis, the Lord of Wind that "blessed" the Cybuster. With this boost in power, the Cybuster is able to turn the tables on Granzon (who's Warp field barrier was also damaged by Zeoroot's last-ditch gamble), and Shuu is forced to retreat. The semi-possession almost kills Masaki (Full Possession would kill him), and he is saved by a last-minute prana-transfer from Wendy, a princess of Lan Gran (and possible love-interest). Shuu goes back to the surface world for repairs (with the help of Bian and the Divine Crusaders).

(cont)

Sometime later Shuu - out of curiousity - goes to investigate a terrorist attack on Lan Gran. Masaki arrives, finds the place in ruins, and immediately concludes it was Shuu's doing (even though it was really the Shutedonias Kindgom that attacked). Shuu doesn't care to explain, figures it would be easier for Masaki to think he did it than for Shuu to try and explain to someone that doesn't trust him. Shuu takes off, going back to the surface world (to finish repairs), and Masaki vows to hunt down Shuu.

The story of Masaki and Shuu continues from this point in OG1, where Masaki arrives to find the Granzon attacking the EF, and Shuu takes off upon seeing the Cybuster. And so on and so on.

tl,dr version:

Shuu killed Masaki's adopted father and attacked his adopted home, so Masaki hates him with a passion.

Shuu was the main villian in several games really. so Masaki doesn't trust him.

Just one game you can still be redeemed.

The semi-possession almost kills Masaki (Full Possession would kill him)

That explains this scene from Alpha Gaiden a little, then. (spoilers naturally)

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/1482/possession.png

Wow thanks everyone (especially Kaiser99).

Any recomendations for srw enycylopedia sites?

Also does cybuster ever get an upgrade? Pics if he does?

There's no REAL "encyclopedia" out there (wikipedia used to have a good collection of info regarding SRT, but the purge of detailed, specific pages fictional material - namely anime and games and what-not), you'll just have to google specific people and sift thru the google hits.

http://srwog.velv.net/

That's a good start, though, as it has a listing and decent info on all things created by Banpresto for the SRT series. Not as indepth like a encyclopedia, though. All that info about Shuu I typed up was mainly from memory and checking facts/spelling with google. Come to think of it, I think Shuu was rejected by Cybuster first, not that he didn't care. Regardless, it left open the door for Masaki to be The Chosen One.

And no, to this point Cybuster does not have a "upgrade", although canonically, when Masaki is first chosen, the Cybuster isn't that powerful - i.e. it was just "regular" Familiars instead of the Hi-Familiar attack you see in OG2, and the Akashic Buster attack was MUCH weaker (at the beginning Masaki could just shoot a "small" flaming pheonix, as opposed to the level now where the Cybuster in Cybird mode is incased within a gigantic pheonix as it crashes thru things). It was basically thru experience (and plot-based "power-ups) that the Cybuster has become stronger.

If anything, a "upgrade" stems from the Spirit-Dependency Link with Cyfis, the Wind Elemental spirit that blesses Cybuster. In SRT Alpha, the Cybuster is powered-up from forming a minor link to Cyfis (as opposed to outright possession and draining prana like crazy), giving Cybuster small boosts in stats (power, speed, armor, etc) as well as a new attack Dis Cutter Ranbu no Tachi (basically a fancy, flashy sword combo).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxR_yQdFl6g&feature=related

oh, and TECHNICALLY speaking, Cybuster IS the "upgrade" for Masaki, as he first started in the Jaohm, a B-Class mech (a Masouki) blessed by the spirit of Haze (Wind+Water), a lower/mid-grade spirit. Cyfis is a Saint-Grade spirit, which is the highest, and the Cybuster is a "Masoukishin" which is one of the 4 A-Class mechs (the other three being the Granveil (Fire), Goddess (Water) and Zamzeed (Earth)).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvkkeNNGzo&feature=related

WOW kaiser thats a cool link I never would have thought to look for.

I think I like the Jaorm better then cybuster those were some neat looking attacks.
It is to bad about wiki I use to get a little bit of info that way but the site you reccomended is pretty cool.
I'll probably be spending hours on there. So thanks again for the info.