Sunflower Live - Prologue
Subaru: Wakuwaku, wakuwaku…♪
Hokuto: Akehoshi, stop bustling about. There’s fragile equipment in here. If you break anything by kicking it, we’ll be in trouble.
Subaru: But I’m just so excited! Watching something on a screen this giant makes me feel like we’re in a movie theatre!
Subaru: Oh! How about we go to the movie theatre with Trickstar and Anzu soon? Recently they even have places that do practical effects*!
(*TN: Like 4DX, where the seats move and air is blown in your face.)
Mao: The movies, huh〜? I’ve been so busy with student council work lately, that I haven’t had time to go. That might be great.
Makoto: I’ll go hunt for coupons online! We might be able to find some great deals for tickets〜♪
Hokuto: You guys… You all sure are carefree, given the fact that we’re supposed to be holding an evaluation meeting right now.
Subaru: We’re here to watch the recording and reflect on the “Summer Live”, where Eve utterly defeated us, after all.
Subaru: We did evaluate right after the concert too, but we had to keep it short because it was late at night. Let’s really dig into it today!
Hokuto: Right. Thanks for joining our evaluation meeting, Anzu. I’m sure you’ll be able to give us some pointers, especially because you didn’t produce us this time.
Hokuto: Although, it’s not like I’m exactly happy about having to put our blunders on display like this…
Hokuto: “Chin up”? Yes, you’re right. We can’t afford to stop moving forward. Thanks, Anzu.
Subaru: Hey〜! It’s not fair if you’re the only one who gets to chat with Anzu! She produces all of us, you know? C’mon, Anzu, chat with me♪
Mao: Hey now, Subaru. Don’t pull her arm. You’re scaring her. Don’t get all up in girls’ faces like that.
Makoto: I’m a little envious, though. I could never do anything as brazen as that.
Subaru: Why not? You should chat with Anzu too, Ukki. Come on, join us, join us〜
Hokuto: That’s enough. I’m staring the video playback. It’d be humiliating if we use up all our time in the AV room by just chatting.
Hokuto: No more talking. Focus your attention on the video.
Makoto: …Eve really is something.
Makoto: I thought this during the concert as well, but now I’m watching the footage back, I can really tell how polished their performance is.
Hokuto: Indeed. The Summer Live was a joint concert between Trickstar and Eve, but most of the audience was enraptured by Eve.
Hokuto: We rehearsed our performance according to Eve’s instructions. Despite that, we didn’t really stand out at all. Though, it’s not like we were being completely ignored, either.
Makoto: I guess to the fans who were gathered there, we looked more like Eve’s backup dancers, or something?
Hokuto: Right. You mentioned that Eve had gathered a large audience by advertising a lot…
Hokuto: …but coordinating the concert with the release timing of a game that Eden featured in was a dirty trick.
Makoto: Yeah. It made us realize how important it is to have a proper sales strategy.
Makoto: But thanks to that, a lot more people than we had expected came to watch us at the Summer Live.
Makoto: The audience consisted mostly of Eve fans, but some of those fans have actually become Trickstar fans as well.
Makoto: We may have been completely defeated by Eve, but I don’t think it was all bad.
Subaru: I agree, I agree〜! Dancing and singing together with Eve was lots of fun! I wonder if we can do it again, sometime?
Hokuto: I doubt it. It seems that the student council president wants us to go up against Adam instead. There’s a good chance that Adam will be our next opponent.
Mao: You say “opponent”, but… It might be another joint live, like we did with Eve, so I don’t think we should get too carried away.
Hokuto: Plus, they said the members of Adam aren’t as friendly as those of Eve.
Hokuto: Although, I wouldn’t exactly call Eve “friendly” either, so we should probably keep our guard up.
Hokuto: Anyway, we’re not making plans to fight Adam right now. We’re reflecting on our encounter with Eve. Leaving any minutiae aside for the time being…
Hokuto: I think our biggest weak point is the fact that we don’t have nearly as much experience doing live performances as Eve does.
Hokuto: I think we should get up on the stage as much as possible and gain some valuable experience.
Mao: That’s easier said than done. It’s the summer break, after all. It’s not like they’re organizing a lot of concerts right now.
Makoto: If we’re not hung up on it being a DreFes, there might be some events we can apply for on the school socials. I’ll go check whether there are any promising jobs available.
Hokuto: Thanks… Summer has already started, though. Even if there would be lots of summer events going on, I feel the application deadlines for those would be long past by now.
Makoto: Hmm… Oh! What about this one? One of their participants bailed, so they’re looking for an emergency replacement!
Hokuto: “Sunflower live”…? It’ll be held at a beach nearby.
Hokuto: That’s pretty sudden, though… I wonder what kind of reason they had to bail at the last minute. But at least it’s a stroke of luck for us.
Hokuto: Yuuki, could you fill out the application for us?
Mao: H-hey! Wait a minute!
Hokuto: What’s wrong, Isara? Is there some kind of problem?
Mao: You could say that… Agh〜! It’s just-- I really don’t know how to put this delicately, but Trickstar is flat-broke right now.
Hokuto: Right… We haven’t been able to participate in many of the internal DreFes’. In other words, we haven’t been able to save up Yumenosaki currency.
Makoto: Oh, right. And to make things worse, we’ve been using up a lot of our money in order to perform at events outside of the academy and at other schools, so we’ve been digging into our savings.
Subaru: Hmm? What’s up, Anzu? You’re saying not to worry, because you can make our costumes for us?
Hokuto: We appreciate the thought, but fabric and other materials still cost money.
Hokuto: I’m afraid we’ll have to pass on the Sunflower Live. We should focus on earning some money right now.
Makoto: I agree. Without Yumenosaki currency, we can’t make costumes. Or build a stage, for that matter.
Mao: Yup. It’s too bad we’ll have to miss out, but let’s focus on earning money, so we won’t miss the next chance we get.
Subaru: Why are you all just deciding this without me? The next chance? If we keep putting it off, the summer will be over before we know it!
Subaru: I want us to perform live again before the summer ends!
Subaru: Wouldn’t it bother you too if the only memories we’ll have of this summer are those of that painful Summer Live? It would bother me!
Subaru: Summer concerts are supposed to be fun and sparkly! Leaving things on a sour note like this would be a waste!
Subaru: …No, wait. We did also gain a lot from the Summer Live, so it’s not like all those memories are bad, but…
Subaru: …if we leave it at this, I feel like I’ll just be thinking about Eve every summer from now on…
Subaru: That’s why I don’t want to leave it like this! I want to make some fun summer memories with all of you!
Mao: …Yeah. I know all too well how you feel. I’m frustrated too. I want to make some fun memories during a live concert with you guys, too.
Mao: But we have to face reality. We can’t hold a live concert if we don’t have any money…
Mao: Even if we would all start doing odd jobs around the school right now, we wouldn’t be able to save up enough before the event starts.
Makoto: Hmm〜 Isara-kun, I have a question. Would it be possible for the student council to lend us some money?
Mao: There is a precedent for that, so I don’t think it’s impossible, per se. I’ve got student council work to do after this. Do you want me to ask about it while I’m at it?
Makoto: Would you do that? The page about the Sunflower Live also mentioned that they’re still looking for people who want to set up booths, too…
Makoto: …so if we sell a bunch of merchandise on the day of the concert, I think we’ll have a good chance of being able to pay off the loan.
Mao: Understood. I’ll go ask the president about all of that, then.
Mao: Alright, see you guys later! Better keep your fingers and toes crossed it’s all gonna work out〜♪