(unedited spazzing rambling reaction rant below; there will be spoilers; just wanted to record the feels watching this ep RAW made me feel)
KuroMaya is gay
Very gay
So fcking gay
ARGH THEIR CHEMISTRY SRSLY
butbtubut now we get to see it’s soft and emotional too cry
All this time I felt it’s sorta onesided cuz Kuro is DENSE AF but noooooo she actually noticed.
Fck she’s been in love with Maya since the first time they met like wtf I cannot this is just too much?!?!??!
Wanting to surpass Maya, be the one who surpasses Maya fck this is such my aesthetic (but wait it GET SO AMAZING LATER)
\domestic Junanana/ yup they’re married bless
it’s headcanon now, junanana bedroom talk is through famous quotes
Mahiru scolding hikaren is adorable; nibbling hikari is adorable
where can I get a Mahiru I love her
the cute lil squeal Junna made when she fell onto the audience seat
kaofuta dynamic bahahaha
The expected Revue but OMG IT REALLY IS A TAG TEAM BATTLE AND HOLY SHIT THIS IS ACTUALLY REAL
HOLY FCKING SHIT
*insert screaming*
KUROMAYA TEAMWORK IS SO GOOD I CANNOT
IT’S LIKE THEY CAN READ EACH OTHER’S MIND
Holding each other’s hands and then THAT SPINNING SLASH FCKING HELL THE ANIMATION IS SO GOOD
“I’ve been watching you all this time so of course I know/can match your movements” They’re being so utterly badass YET STILL HAD THE TIME TO BE GAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REVUE
Kuro. Is. So. Badass. Totally did not expect her to do all the badassery she did with her sword like omfg
SHE THREW HER SWORD
Hikari was pretty cool with her nifty rope tricks and daggers I’ll give her that so proud of you Umi’s daughter
How did rapier lose to cutlass in a thrusting stab I don’t understand but we know Karen’s gonna win so –shrug-- I’ve made my peace with that long ago
BEST PART THO, Kuro just ripping off her crest, saying she’s the one who lost and not Tendou Maya; Tendou Maya doesn’t lose, it’s impossible; and started crying and sobbing in French I’M JUST ASDFKJDSAHFSAKFHLASDFJSDFASFDSJKJJ
THEN!!!! MAYA TALKED TO HER IN FRENCH!!!! Knowing just what the right words to say
She called her my Claudine I cannot
I CANNOT
*spazz*
it’s canon now I’ve always envisioned their bedroom talk to be in french NOW THIS IS SO FCKING CANON
THE MAYAKURO DUET bless they sang different parts now I can loop it with the Junanana one
Will def rewatch 5 million times like I did with ep9
Have you given any though to a Love Live Revue Starlight AU? Who would be who?
That’s something I try not to think about(at least for now) since the anime’s not finished yet (even though that junanana AU ideais already flourishing lmao!)
But hmm, let’s see, definitely Umi isHikari Leah is Junna Yukina is Kuro wait a minute I can definitely see Umi inJunna’s role, given their similar personalities and both archers. And,thinking about arrk, Dia and Riko could be MayaKuro idk? FutaKao can be NozoNico??? The cast is all toodifferent/dynamic that I don’t really want to think about it XDD
Seeing Kotori smacking people with Mahiru’smace is my aesthetic though. Twonk. (I recommend looking up vids of Yunna from FFX smacking the shit out of enemies in her Celestial weapon)
This is a continuation of this post here, and some extras too. It’s less casual and more organized this time.
I now have rewatched ep1-3, and then watched ep4-5 which I was strongly recommended to do because those will answer some of my questions.
Tl:dr version - ep4-5 did nothing to endear the MC duo (if anything, it did the opposite), but provided interesting insights on other characters and thus are worth the watch
The (once again very long) version:
As said above, I have now watched ep4-5 as per recommendation because I’m told that I missed a lot from skipping ep4-5, that reading summaries wasn’t enough because that messes up the narrative. Fair enough, I agree with that and therefore decided to watch for myself.
Before that though, I rewatched ep1-3 just to see what else I could have missed. I must say that it was very interesting in this rewatch now that we know more about Nana and Hikari. Many of Nana’s lines in these earlier episodes are indeed foreshadowing. Her friggin’ first line is a foreshadowing.
One thing to add here that I missed mentioning in my previous post is that, yes it’s strongly implied that Karen have not participated in the loops’ Revues/that ep1 is the first time she participated.
The narration of the play Starlight, of little Karen and Hikari and when they made their promise; the play’s cast was the girls in their Revue outfits with Hikari on the very top
Maya pointing out that she couldn’t see Hikari’s heart, which both Kuro and Nana expressed their surprise’; since the scene switched to the stairway, we don’t know what Nana’s expression is then - surprise about that insight on Hikari, the rogue factor, or surprise about Maya able to sense that? Ep7 did reveal a lot, but not all yet
I knew Kirin’s eyes were green but now that I’m staring at them, I think they’re the same/close to the shade of Nana’s green
Hikari would’ve lost to Junna if Karen hadn’t intervened, and then Junna lost due to the element of surprise.
Revue of of Passion - with help of ep8, it’s obvious now why Hikari would’ve lost, she no longer had her passion after all
=================================================
Notes about Ep2:
Just as Kirin warned, both Hikari and Junna reminded Karen not to speak of Revue in public (the first rule of Fight Club is, you do not… cough); Mahiru’s reaction was confusion, Nana’s was surprise, implying this could be the first she finds out of Karen participating the Revue
Maya and Claudine, pls go a get a room X”DDDDD the chemistry between these two good lord
Hikari noting that Karen doesn’t have enough shine, that’s why she wasn’t chosen in the first place; Karen countered that what Junna said made her heart doki/making her want to understand and try harder (on top of the fact Hikari’s back with her here)
Nowhere was it stated that ep1’s 3-way match didn’t count or does count; however, the fact ep2 is “Day 2 Audition” implies there is some sort of impact
Junna said the moment she became Stage Girl was when she was 8; interesting note is that it’s implied she watched a play of Starlight or similar, but the cast was shown as mannequins in contrast to ep1
Revue of Desire- Junna wants to be a star; she wants to shine and step out from the shadows, to surpass Maya and Kuro and thus she tried and tried so hard just to keep up; in my rewatch here, I note that Karen didn’t even talk-no-jutsu… she just said she wants to become stars with Hikari, and the next moment landed that decisive blow
After that, Kirin remarked he now knows why Karen wasn’t originally chosen, implying Hikari and Karen’s fate are shared
Maya defeated Kuro but neither’s stories are shown enough at this point to judge whose desire is stronger
Summary: still cannot accept Junna’s loss. If Junna doesn’t have as much talent as the top girls, she at least has passion and work ethics and desire to win which Karen lacks at this point; even if I take a step back and say Karen’s desire is stronger than Junna’s… so, having a goal to due to a childhood promise is more favorable/stronger in the Revue than a desire to reach the star through hardwork? Hmm. I’ll just say Junna lost because she was overthinking and, quoting her, the simple-minded ones are stronger lol
Nana seems (pleasantly) surprised when Junna and Karen seem so close; could be due the fact this rerun truly is different
I really must mention I like the start of Claudine and Futaba’s growing bond/dynamic
Kaoruko talking to Mahiru about how Hikari’s presence brought all the changes; it could’ve been just an off-handed comment, or does Kaoruko know more than she seems? (even though ep5 appeared to be her first entrance to Revue and her centric ep6 didn’t confirm that)
Still irked by what Karen told Hikari - “I’ll be back after I win!”; I’ll just put it as her being idealistic and believes that her dream is enough fuel to lead her to victory, especially after the match against Junna
Seriously, Kuro and Maya, I have a room all prepared, go for it, let it all out gah pls just go at it
Revue of Pride - Maya expressing surprise that Karen is even in this Revue; meaning she has never considered Karen as a possible rival, or she thought Karen didn’t have a goal/reason to be top star; she asked Karen just what had she offered in exchange, to reach for the star? Indeed, what had Karen offered?
Kuro vs Futaba, and flashes of the other girls in their Revue outfits (but only Nana’s katanas were shown); was this implying that there have been other matches by this Day 3 of Audition already? If anyone has a chart of who’s fought who already on which days, that’d be great (I’ve seen some on twitter but can’t find them anymore).
Allow me a moment to gush over Maya’s part in the duet of ep3 again. Those lyrics are just so damn good lol. And also goddamit that beautiful animation
Instead of herself, Maya mostly talked about Kuro; I’ve already talked about this in my previous post but yeah, I love them. This is KuroMaya
Interestingly, after her victory, Maya said “the passion with her (Kuro) is…”, trailed off; well, I guess we’ll wait for a Kuro-centric ep to find out more
Hikari trying to intervene but couldn’t; implying Kirin really did sneakily allow Karen to crash the audition in ep1, or Karen has some sort of power that allowed her to sneak in without Kirin’s notice
Conclusion: while Maya is indeed more superior in skills than Karen, this being Revue of Pride implies that due to Maya’s pride/confidence in her skills and acknowledging what’s at stake, she defeated Karen
============================================
Anyway, finally here we are, ep4-5. I took into consideration all the points that those arguments have made against my post and what I should look out for:
explanation/evidence in Karen being so powerful (ie. improving enough to defeat Claudine)
The impact of Karen losing to Maya has on the plot/character development
The resolution of the Mahiru-Karen relationship (as well as, the Mahiru-Karen-Hikari situation)
The Karen-Hikari bond being a strong enough fuel for the viewer to relate to and root for them
Summary/Notes about ep4
Once again we’re shown that little Karen and Hikari’s promise was made after they’ve seen the play Starlight; however this time, while played by the girls, they’re in the actual play’s outfits and the two as the lead; for the first time, we’re shown exactly what happened after the two leads reached the top; Karen was… affected by the red light (interestingly, her own jewel color), and then the scene continued to the next line of how ‘their dreams could never be’
Bana-nice; Nana seems happy at the new term, perhaps because that’s never happened in any of the reruns before
Sigh, really, making a ruckus in the morning, disturbing most of your dorm mates’ rest, and ditching your hallway cleaning duties, that’s just rude and disrespectful; Karen did apologize and promise to be back soon (which she didn’t)
Kaoruko talks to Futaba about the Revue audition, foreshadowing ep6
Hikari reminding/making sure Karen remembers their promise, and the two chatting about various things, while walking around the city dragging her suitcase and making Karen chase after her for the whole day; I’ll… just leave it as because Hikari haven’t been back to Japan for 12 yrs and thus want to do a bit of tour around; also, Karen mentioning she felt that she and Maya were on totally different stage
Important Note: we’re shown yet again that Kuro was practicing, as per all previous episodes; that’s 4 eps in a row; why specifically keep showing her practicing, out of the other girls? I’m really excited for her centric ep
Also seriously MayaKuro please, I beg of you, do something about your sexual tension *writhes* a claymore couldn’t cut it in half X”DDDDDD
Ahem. Kuro asking Maya why she’s in the Revue, and Maya replying she’s jealous at the very thought of someone else being the Top Star; implying she wanted to win to keep their status quo of her being no.1 and therefore, her partner/no.2 will remain Kuro
Hikari trying to warn Karen of the stakes, of what it means to lose at Revue; Karen just assuring Hikari she won’t lose again because she wants to shine, that she’ll be so brilliant and intense that she won’t lose to everyone;
Hikari reminding Karen there could only be one winner; Karen refuted that Kirin never said that - rather, the winner could be whoever presents the most dazzling revue; Hikari is in disbelief since there’s no way they’d get special treatment like that; Karen assures Hikari it’ll be okay (At this point, I think that’s exactly what will happen lol)
Once again, Nana looks very happy about ‘bana-nice’ and that this is the first time they made up alibi to get past roll coll for the absent duo
It was never shown that Karen or Hikari contacted the girls that they won’t be back; sure they ran out of money but, surely their phone still have battery? If not, that’s utterly irresponsible of them to just get out like that and expect things to work out
The rest of the girls are such amazing friends; Karen thanked Junna for doing her cleaning duties; in spite of the dorm head finding out and Junna freaking out about the hardcore training as punishment, the bottom line for Junna is that she’s glad Karen and Hikari are safe; the rest of the girls welcome them back
Conclusion, if you really ship KarenxHikari, you’ll probably enjoy it. If not, well, you’ll enjoy all the other moments and appreciate the other girls.
For Mahiru, Karen has always been a source of light, absolutely brilliant; however, so are the others in this prestigious Academy; Mahiru thought everyone but herself is radiant; it’s implied that she’s been struggling with this inferiority complex for a long time
Once again, Nana seems pleased at Karen’s change; however, her gaze was cloudy and displeased when the GroupB girls suggested Hikaren as the leads, that she should move forward and strive for improvement; def foreshadowing of ep7
Mahiru had such trouble waking up Karen in the morning, shown in previous episodes; now, Karen woke up early to train with Hikari, now that she’s made a promise to Hikari that she won’t lose again and will catch up to Maya. Good for her to finally be motivated, but coming from Mahiru’s POV, that’s painful. The unspoken question of “I’m not good enough to motivate you?” lingers in the air
We learn about Mahiru’s background; that she came from a large family, who owns a farm, and it had a been a huge deal for her to get accepted into the Academy, enough to get interviewed
After a bit of… stalkerish behavior from Mahiru (which I suppose is meant to be presented as comical but I just cringe) in which Hikari is always present and thus stopped Mahiru from really doing anything, Mahiru finally snaps, telling Hikari not to steal her brilliance which is Karen; Hikari is irked by the casual use of the word ‘steal’ (which is explained later in ep8)
Mahiru receives the mail about the Revue, marking this as her first fight
Revue of Jealousy - in a way, this makes sense why it’s only now that Mahiru qualifies to participate in Revue; on a side note, I really, really dig the song…
The whole thing is presented as comical in an almost psychotic, creepy way; of course, Mahiru’s completely snapped; she’s scared of losing her place, of losing her shine; she’s the one who had always been by Karen’s side but now…
Mahiru’s. Weapon. Is. Badass.
Also, a note, you -can- intervene in other Revues somehow; if Mahiru or Karen wanted, they could have started fighting Maya and Futaba; Kaoruko and Junna; Hikari and Kuro then and there
Anyway, it’s very painful to watch Mahiru chasing after Karen. “I just want to be useful again.” “Do you not need me anymore?”
After Mahiru’s self-deprecating rant, Karen counters that Mahiru has her own shine and lists all the qualities she likes about Mahiru, making her recall the joy of being accepted to this Academy and so on
And then, Karen won. If going by my above points, this is Revue of Jealousy so in that aspect, Mahiru definitely should have won. If not, still I don’t see how Mahiru so easily lost. As mentioned in my previous post, where is the supposed damage from being repeatedly thwonked by that mace/scepter? Karen did a ‘homerun’ to win but, urgh, she won because she made Mahiru recall her own shine??
Afterwards, we’re shown Mahiru acknowledging her own shine, which has always been there since middle school, and that she won’t rely on anyone anymore.
Conclusion: I tried to remain as neutral as I could but now I’m sitting here, tasting bitterness and just overall horrible for Mahiru. Those summaries I read before were nice and sugarcoating in comparison now that I’ve watched the real thing. If the ep’s intention is to make viewers feel horrible for Mahiru, then in that aspect it’s a successful delivery. If the ep’s intention is for the viewer to accept Karen and root for her… My opinion of her went from neutral to you’re such a horrible friend who doesn’t deserve Mahiru at all. I want to like you Karen, I really do because you’re the MC, but I really can’t, not after ep5.
I feel like full extent of Mahiru’s despair was just dismissed. Her issues, not just the jealousy of Karen being ‘taken away’ from her side, felt really downplayed. Sure, Karen did give her hope and the other others’ acknowledgement at the end, the warm and family-like atmosphere soothe her, but the scale is just too much to justify that change. You do not just overcome years of feeling inferior over one supposedly inspirational speech. Ep 5 isn’t just horrible on the Karen-Mahiru relationship now, it’s a slap in the face to the character of Mahiru. I’m… appalled. Really, put yourself in Mahiru’s shoes.
Now, going back to the four points I listed before writing about ep4-5, none of them are answered/resolved. Karen trains yes, but Kuro has been training for so much longer and she was better than Karen to start with. Karen losing to Maya made her want to start training harder and her plan to defeat Maya is to become more radiant. Um, ok. The other two points I already said above.
You either adore Revue Starlight in spite of its faults (or for some people, blind to the faults), and/or ship Karen x Hikari and/or considers Karen a good MC;
or;
You’re still watching Revue Starlight by ignoring its faults because you like the other characters/ships/elements too much, and/or really don’t care for Karen x Hikari and/or find Karen lacking as MC.
If you’re watching the series and don’t belong to the two groups I mentioned above, please, please comment on this and shed some light as the middle(?) ground since it’d be nice to see a completely different perspective.
Ooofff boy, I should’ve never opened this can of worms but I guess it’s better to get this off my chest too (and see if I’m not the only one who feels this way cuz, honestly, I’ve seen nothing but praises on the very things I have issues with).
First I want to be clear: I do not hate Revue Starlight. If I hated it, I wouldn’t even be talking about it, let alone drawing/writing for it. In fact, it’s exactly because I like it (or rather the potential of it being amazing) that I even bother to criticize it, because I want it/hope for it to be better.
And also, I love Junanana too goddam much to give up this series. RIP me.
Tl;dr version is: plot hole galore, limited character development and unrelatable MC, but great dynamic ‘support cast’ with so much potential
Very Long version that’s 3k words long is under the cut (gonna try to use a lighter tone than my bitch mode):
Note: There are minor references to Akuma no Riddle, Vividred Operation and MSMM but you don’t necessary need to have watched these shows to know what I’m talking about.
Okay, let’s start off with ep1, where my problem with the anime first started as well. Everything was going great, I like all the chars introduced and yes, I even quite liked Karen at this point. Also, I already fell for Banana in this ep fyi. Then comes in the amazing transfer student which, I’m also okay with because it’s a common plot device (ie. Homura from MSMM, Rei from VO). I must mention that I had high expectations of Hikari too just cuz she’s voiced by Mimorin (I know, odd reason to be biased towards a char but there you go. I was also keeping an eye out for Junna cuz of Hinahina).
Then comes the mysterious talking giraffe. I still can’t get over this but by now (as of ep8 when this post is written), I’ve numbed myself to its existence. Revue audition, awesome animation and great songs (Mimorin&Hinahina kya kya kya) so I turned a blind eye to the talking giraffe.
Let’s push aside the issue of how she won for now and talk about the most basics of rules in a match. You can’t just have a new person barge in the middle of a match and still be eligible to claim victory. What the hell?????
It was only ep1 and an intro ep so I just shrugged and let it be, confident that ep2 would change my mind even though the ‘wtf’ sensation lingered. Perhaps there are rules. Perhaps there are more explanations.
However, ep 2 was… quite upsetting for me. By this point, yes I like Junna but only just as much as everyone else so my view is objective. Even then, it’s incredibly unfair for her to fight two auditions in a row on top of fainting from exhaustion earlier the day. The ‘rules’ of the Revue auditions still aren’t explained and the viewer is just supposed to accept Karen’s talk-no-jutsu winning the match. And the talking giraffe is still there just because and these normal teenage girls are just supposed to accept its existence. Okay, is this a magical girl world or what?
Junna’s defeat was especially upsetting for me because she worked hard, tried hard, fought with strategy in the Revue yet still lost to MC plot armor. Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve accepted Karen’s victory this match if it’s delivered in a more convincing way. Karen did get Junna to open up and not be so strung-up the whole time, this is a plus, but that’s the only good I see from the results of ep2.
Ep3… bless ep3. Maya finally put an end to Karen’s inexplicable winning streak. Karen being so confident after escaping the shed Hikari locked her in… that really irked me. Already so sure she’ll win the match no problem and she’ll be right back to Hikari’s side. Um, no, you ain’t getting past Maya. And thank heavens Maya did beat her otherwise it would’ve been a definite rage quit for me.
Now, lemme ramble a bit about Maya too. I didn’t expect I would like her, but I really did. She isn’t just the typical no.1 girl who the no.2 (Kuro) had a fierce rivalry with. During the Revue, you can see that she isn’t a mere loner who shuts herself inside her world - no, she does keep careful watch of her peers and assesses them accordingly, especially Kuro. She acknowledges the fact that there could only be one Top Star even though Kuro works so hard to beat her. Since there can only be one Top Star, the best she could do for Kuro is to keep her close by, as her partner/no.2.
That totally wasn’t what I expected of their relationship and that’s how I fell for KuroMaya then and there, other than their obvious sexual tension lmao
Ahem. Now, thinking ep3 has somewhat salvaged the anime, I was looking forward to ep4, hoping Karen, as the protagonist, would learn her lesson and we’ll see a change in the pacing of the show.
But then I saw the preview for ep4 and totally didn’t want to watch it at all lolololol. This is probably where people would ask: do you not like Karen x Hikari?
I don’t. I really don’t lol. Yes it’s cute, yes childhood promise is cute, yes yuri is good and all, and yes I even find Karen holding onto their childhood promise after all these years cute. BUT. I find the delivery is shallow, no emotional impact. Wanting to be Top Stars together with Hikari has been Karen’s source of motivation in all those Revue auditions, and somehow that strengthens her enough to defeat Junna, who actually worked for it, and later on Mahiru and even Claudine. *deep breath*
Back to topic, I feel Hikari’s been an extra character whose presence honestly doesn’t really affect the plot, not that there is a tangible one. So I’ve been neutral about her, thinking her back story will definitely be explained since she has the role of the ‘transfer student’. My opinion of her had improved, a lot, with the help of ep8 (which I’ll talk about later), so there just might still be hope for Karen! (I really hope so. It’s hard to enjoy an anime when you have so many issues against the MC)
Anyway, I ended up skipping ep4-5 and watched ep6 because I heard there were barely any MC moments and it was mostly about Futaba & Kaoruko. I was able to finish watching ep6 with no problem - that’s really bad, that I don’t need the previous TWO episodes to understand what’s going on. If you had skipped two eps in MSMM you’d be lost somewhere in the ravine already.
About ep6, I really enjoyed it because I’ve liked Futaba/Ikuta Teru since ep1. Futaba’s been shown working hard, even teaming up with Claudine to try to improve and that’s a quality I admire and can relate to. Also, random side note, that height difference between Futaba and Banana is so gosh darn it cute?????
Kaoruko, let’s face it, is a spoiled brat BUT I like her portrayal, it’s very realistic. She’s meant to be seen as a spoiled brat who doesn’t appreciate Futaba and took her presence for granted. In that aspect, her character is well done even though I don’t like her much. With the whole ep6 focusing on her and Futaba (and not about the KarenHikari for once), I was able to enjoy it fully and renew my interest in the show. I still hoped that Futaba won instead of Kaoruko but I suppose the way they handled the match was fine too.
It was then that I decided to look up summaries of ep4-5 and, I was soooo glad I didn’t watch them. Ep4 is praised for the Tokyo Tower scene for being romantic (which I suppose it is if you support the KarenHikari ship). Ep5 just sounds physically painful to watch. Otherwise, nothing noteworthy other than Futaba&Kaoruko playing ninja which, I just might watch one of these days.
Let’s talk about Mahiru for a sec. I’ve been worried about her since ep1 because she’s the obvious third wheel and I always, always feel sympathetic towards the third wheel. In VO, the third wheel is Aoi, bless that cinnamon roll, and she suffered the same scenario in which the MC Akane seems to be paying more attention to the transfer student Rei, even though Akane and Aoi are best friends. The difference between VO and Starlight tho, is that Akane does really appreciate Aoi’s companionship and is able to help Rei and Aoi bond. Karen… I don’t feel her appreciation of Mahiru. From the summaries of ep4-5, all I can see is Karen running off after Hikari for a date while asking Mahiru and the rest of the girls to keep is a secret from the dorm head.
Speaking of which, Karen just accepting Hikari into their shared room in the earlier ep is just a huge WTF to me. Girl, if my roommate just brings a friend and announced that she’d be staying with us from now on, I’d be blasting u dafuq out lol. That’s completely disrespectful. You want to live with her, sure, but move out. I live here too dammit. And no it’s not funny at all.
Ahem.
Ep 7. Ah, ep 7. Mmmmnnnn. *deep breath* Daiba Nana. The big banana. The mom-like friend of the group. Seen taking pictures and trying to lure/tame the stray (Hikari). What could she be up to? What is her goal, now that she’s stepped back from acting and rather become involved in theatre production? Just what sort of secret would my best girl hold?
… holy shit this is def not regular slice-of-life school girls anime anymore. It’s some magical girl shit with time travel and holy fck just what does being a Top Star mean!!! /0\ it’s ep 7 and we still know absolutely nothing about what the Revue auditions are supposed to be, and where and who the talking giraffe is. At least in MSMM we know QB is a supposed magical-girl-mascot-turned-absolute-scoundrel-who-works-hard-for-the-sake-of-the-universe! But, like I said before, by this point I’ve turned numb to certain factors and I enjoyed this ep for many reasons not just because it’s about my best girl.
Nana’s already been Top Stars before countless times. Meaning, she must have defeated Karen too. And, as shown, she oh so easily defeated Maya, the supposed no.1. Nana, our last boss. Nana, whose true self is hidden behind that gentle smile. Nana, who uses fcking badass twin katanas named Rinbu. A possible antagonist is introduced, a hurdle the MC duo will have to eventually overcome. Hikari, the new factor in this current rerun, just what could happen next?
Ep8. Ah, I tried not to raise my hopes up much but I was still stabbed. We finally learn about Hikari, which I appreciate, and I can now understand why she desperately wants to win the Revue auditions, to regain her light. But… come on, the entire last episode was spent on setting up Nana to be a big last boss, only for her to be defeated already by Hikari? Um, okay lol. If they just ignore and bury Nana’s history ep9 onwards, I really will rage quit (at least, wait until all episodes aired and I can just read the summaries lol).
Yes, I ship Junanana, but that’s not why I want Junna to know about Banana’s reruns. Every time Nana does a loop, she essentially negated all the hard work Junna has put in that loop and resets her improvements back to 0. That’s pretty much betraying Junna, so I can’t wait to see how that would work out. Also, Maya should find out too; Claudine aside, Nana is the only other person who Maya has acknowledged. Just what would her reaction be?
Also, Karen was shown defeating Kuro. What the heck?????? You don’t just defeat the no.2 so easily because you want to be Top Star with your childhoodfriend/girlfriend. Is that a message saying the power of love is stronger than hardwork? Or is that saying the MayaKuro bond isn’t good enough compared to KarenHikari?? We don’t have a Kuro-centric ep yet, so I’m hoping that’s what will be shown later on but seriously!!! /0\
The Revue auditions. Without clear definition of rules, I really don’t know what to make of the fights. It doesn’t matter if you’re smacked around, as long as you cut off the star crest, you win. Sure, I understand the meaning of decisive strike, it’s the equivalent of stabbing an enemy in the chest. As long as you survive long enough and deliver that fatal blow, you’re still the victor. However, it’s almost as if the previous damages don’t accumulate/matter - I don’t see Karen or Hikari slowing down, being severely out of breath, their clothes beat up, anything, to show signs that they’ve been forced on the defensive the whole time. I don’t get it, I really don’t. Whoever has the strongest talk no jutsu wins. Fighting abilities/strategies/weaponry have nothing to do with how you win. (But I’ll concede to the nifty rope-knife trick Hikari did)
Overall, my biggest problem is actually not the talking giraffe (and the goddam wakarimasu), but Karen’s portrayal. I’m perfectly fine with her winning at the end, she’s the protagonist. We know she and Hikari will eventually win and become Top Stars, that’s a given. It’s the delivery, the path to victory, that I’m very unhappy with.
For example, in ep1, Karen could’ve just watched the Hikari vs Junna as a way of being introduced to the Revue auditions, instead of her jumping in and actually nabbing the victory. In ep2, she could’ve lost against Junna or narrowly won against Junna, and starting to appreciate how difficult and high-at-stakes Revue actually is. Ep3 can remain the way it is.
I see what she’s meant to represent in the cast - the idealistic, pure protagonist who believes in the good in everyone. That’s fine, a lot of my favorites in other shows are like that. The point is though, Karen has no setback, no growth. Sure she lost against Maya but I don’t see how that has impacted anything other than Hikari slapping her. Again, we know nothing about the Revue auditions - how many times can you lose? Are there specific points you earn to keep your rank up? Karen is good enough to be in the Academy and be one of the named characters in Starlight, but nothing shows why she’s good enough to defeat the other girls. Is it just because Hikari’s back and that fuels her to fight hard? Fighting harder doesn’t guarantee you’d win against someone who’s already been shown to be superior and also worked just as hard (ie Kuro).
In Akuma no Riddle, the MC Tokaku also seems to have plot armor to be virtually invincible and managing to defeat all the other opponents, which did irk me a bit but I still accepted it. Why? Because she is supposed to be that good. She has the background, training and skills to deserve those victories. Karen doesn’t. Yes, she’s said to be training with Hikari (mentioned by Nana how it’s a pleasant change), but that’s not enough. You don’t suddenly get good enough to defeat those who’s already been training/studying hard much longer than you (ie Kuro).
As Banana said, Hikari will have to eventually fight against Karen and, we all know whose talk no jutsu will win lol
Akuma no Riddle’s plot is also shaky with plotholes but with amazing cast and each with so much potential. I love the characters enough to do a lot of fanart for it but not enough to write about them, while VO I enjoyed and shipped but didn’t do any fanworks. MSMM is a legend, it’s unfair to compare it to Starlight in the first place.
None of the above mentioned series are perfect. A lot of the shows I’m crazy about are far from perfect, so I’m not expecting Starlight and its cast to be perfect either. It’s really about the balance between the pros and cons and, unfortunately, the flaw in Starlight is quite huge enough to be tipping that scale. Am I being too critical? Am I taking this too seriously? Maybe, but this anime isn’t meant to be a comedy. As of this point, I really don’t know what it’s supposed to be.
Of course I’ll still keep an eye out for Revue Starlight, there are four episodes left and still a chance to salvage it. I’ve become too emotionally invested in Junanana/Banana to rage quit without a good reason, but I’m worried that just might happen lol
If you tell me the MC duo are supposed to be this good just because, and this is their story thus the other girls don’t matter, I will rip your head off because hey, I thought the message of this show is that everyone are stars and have their own special brilliance? lol
Phew, okay, congrats for actually reading my rambling to here. I did not proofread and I did not do outlines for this post, I just wrote whatever’s on my mind as I went, so there are probably many things I could’ve expanded on more or missed etc, but hopefully the above is enough to explain why I’m so dissatisfied with Revue Starlight, when I know it could’ve been so much better.
People are definitely welcome to add to this, contradict me even, but with supporting points please. Dumb one-liner comments will be ignored.
To end this post on a lighter note, because it’s been forever since I somewhat turned on my serious mode, here’s a crack thought:
The giraffe can reveal his identity by saying “Karen, I am your father.”
I made a separate post because the following is just too long and this is really just some super extra things for whoever’s interested in the LLSHP AU verse.
Below are my reasoning for choice of Patronus, wand specs (which I did answer in an older post but I’ll go into more details here), and for Aqours and μ’s Sorting (which was also answered in an older post but I’ve copy paste here so that everything’s together, but also edit the entries a bit to make it less crack), and some BGM trivia.
===========================================
[About Patronus:]
Yoshiko
Well, the whole story was pretty much developed based on the event where Hanamaru was saved from Dementor by the coelacanth Patronus, so this is the first Patronus form I finalized. Coelacanth because it’s symbolic for the 1st years since the drama track from the 2nd Single (even though shiirakansu is really more Ruby’s thing cough). Of course, there are so many other possible alternatives I could’ve chosen, such as black cat or raven, but for this particular AU, the coelacanth is poignant for both the character and the story.
Hanamaru
The last Patronus to be revealed, but actually the second one that I finalized. Again, my choice is related to the story but also from her relationship with Yoshiko. She hasn’t been able to cast her Patronus due to the traumatic event with the Dementors at her childhood, the fear still lurking in her subconscious even after she tried so hard to overcome it. What Yoshiko did in ch17 helped her conquer that fear and she is able to summon the corporeal form of an Augurey. This magical creature made me think of Yoshiko instantly and that’s why I chose it to represent Yoshiko, and that’s how Hanamaru thinks of Yoshiko as well. Her feelings for Yoshiko help this form to manifest. I did think of coelacanth for Hanamaru as well, paired Patronus like James and Lily’s Potters’ stag & doe
Ruby
The third Patronus I finalized, the Kurosawa family’s representative animal, the Black Jaguar. The reason for this choice is shown through her interlude. I’ve always thought of Ruby as a strong girl in spite of her meek demeanor. When push comes to shove, she’s the one to stand her ground. Her legs might be shaking, she might be teary, but she will fight to protect her loved ones with all her heart. Another reason is writer privilege – I just want my precious bby woobie to have a badass Patronus okay!!! XDDD
Chika
Since 1styear trio and 3rdyear trio have special reasoning for their Patronus forms, I decided on more ‘normal’ choices for the 2ndYears to balance things out. I chose Tiger for Chika because of her (orange) mikan hair, the fact it’s a huge predator and lord of the jungles. Even though this AU is told from Yoshiko’s POV and Chika hasn’t been shown in the leader position, many qualities still remain because that’s who Chika is. She is patient and watches over her friends, her power to be reckoned with when she does strike upon her foes. And also leader of Aqours, Chika deserves to have a badass Patronus (again writer privilege~… or I’m just hella biased for \CYR/) Lucky for me, Twilight Tiger is a real thing by the time I got to write about her Patronus so good for me.
You
I’ve always thought of You as Kotori’s lil chick, hence the association with birds get inherited. Since this is HP verse, so ofc owl! As stated in her concept art and shown in the story, You has affinity with owls. Owls are wise, symbolizing intelligence and power, strong raptors in their own right, even though they look fluffy harmless most of the time. I feel these qualities represent You. I did consider wolf or husky, cuz come on You’s hair looks soft and pleasant to caress, but I suppose owl’s soft feathers count too. Imagine my pleasant surprise when the SIF Animal set came out and You’s SR is an Owl XD
Riko
Welp, her Patronus form is self-explanatory as per the Carbonado interlude. In this story, Riko symbolizes love, her love for her friends and Dia being the pivotal points of many parts of the plot. Her Patronus is originally a Kneazle, because Guilty Kiss are all cats in my eyes, but after falling in love with Dia, it changed to a rabbit. This of course, is inspired by how Tonks’ Patronus changed to wolf due to her love for Lupin.
As stated in an old post, the 3rdyears have special circumstances that led to their Patronus forms to all be aquatic creatures:
Dia
Like Riko had said, I did consider her Animagus/Patronus form to be a snake, for Slytherin (at the time her snake SSR hasn’t come out yet) or black jaguar for Kurosawa, but I feel that those forms do not fit this story. As the outlines become more detailed and I started drawing the 3rd Years’ concept arts, I’ve settled on the rabbit. My first idea for her though was Penguin LOL Just the image alone is hilarious. Alas, I need her Animagus form to be able to move freely on land, but I still managed to keep her Penguin Patronus due to the 3rdYears’ adventure in the Black Lake.
Kanan
Imo, Kanan = dolphin (or, as I often call her, orca). Alas, I needed a big bad wolf, a creature that’s powerful and can roam freely on land. Can’t have a dolphin in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, can I? XDDDD Also, this sort of gives her the role of Sirius Black and briefly, his role as the Grim for most of Book3 And I couldn’t think of anyone to fit this more than loner Kanan. Back then, we didn’t even know about the duo/trio so of course I didn’t even think about Tiger for her Animagus/Patronus forms. The idea of Dia having a wolfdog and cat as her two best friends amuse me to no end, and so it’s settled XD
Mari
Shiny onee-san cannot be anything other than a golden cat I’m extremely adamant about this lmfao. Not to mention, having a small pet-like form lets her get to places easier and people let down their guards more, perfect for our wandering sneaky Mari. Similar to my reasoning for Dia and Kanan, seal = Mari, so I kept her Patronus as Michael/Steve/David lolololololol
===========================
[Wand Specs & Sorting - Aqours]
These details are really just extra things that never fully got explored in the story because I didn’t have room. I’ve fully listed here for those who are interested and/or HP hardcore fans XD
Yoshiko - 13 inch, unicorn hair, Yew
13 because it’s an unlucky number, unicorn hair because such core is said to bond strongly to its first user. Wand made of Yew is said to bestow its user the power of life and death, hence Professor Nishikino was intrigued about Yoshiko’s wand. Voldemort’s wand is also made of Yew, so I thought it’d be neat for the MC to have it.
Slytherin has always been my top choice for her, because Cool Card, GK, and hello datenshi. She’s quite tech-savvy, so I see her as resourceful and cunning. She’s also ambitious (in proving self-worth) and certainly very determined. Her inner bravery did make me consider Gryffindor though. In the actual story, Sorting Hat announced Slytherin instantly due to her connection to Yohane, who was a descendant of Slytherin.
Wand of Rowan is said to be able to cast the strongest Defensive spell there is. It’s also said that only the pure-hearted ones can use it (Dark Wizards can’t). That’s why Yoshiko is able to calm down while holding Hanamaru’s broken wands. Her new wand, made of Willow, is ideal for those with great potential and hidden insecurity, as much as the owner tries to hide it. I feel that it’s perfect for Hanamaru then (in Arc 3), after what happened to her. Wand of Willow also has healing power, and in HP canon, Lily Potter’s wand is also made of Willow.
Hanamaru is definitely Hufflepuff+++++++ laidback, patient and loyal zura. She’s also clever and creative enough for Ravenclaw, that’s why the Sorting Hat took a while to decide. And I want maruby to be in the same house so XD
Ruby - 9 inch, dragon heartstring, Holly
9 just cuz I want Ruby’s wand to be the shortest and Dia the longest out of Aqours. Dragon heartstring is a powerful core. Wand of Holly is said to be protective and would help its owner in spiritual quest. Harry’s wand is also made of Holly, which helps calm his anger but fortunately Ruby has no such problem XDDDD
She’s another Hufflepuff ++++ loyal, hardworking and tolerant. She’s ambitious in a way, and also brave enough for Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat took a long time with her. To Sort her to Slytherin where all the past Kurosawas went, or Hufflepuff as Ruby herself fervently wished for? At least, she gets to be with her idol Hanayo in the same House
Chika - 11 inch, dragon heartstring, Dogwood
Wand of Dogwood is quirky and mischievous, and prefers owners who can give it the most excitement and fun. It can also help users perform powerful spells under difficult situations. Why not for mikan leader? Not to mention the name ‘dogwood’ makes me think of Shiitake XD
Lovable baka. Smile Card. Genki zenkai day! day! day! Instant Gryffindor <3 Honoka is unquestionably Gryffindor, so is Chika. Besides, I’ve always wanted to put her on Quidditch Team and Lions is most suitable for her out of the other four. I also cannot see Chika living in a Dungeon lol
You - 11 inch, unicorn hair, Ash
Unicorn Blizzard Jimoai duo wasn’t revealed yet when I decided unicorn hair for You. Chika has dragon heartstring so Unicorn Hair it is for You. Wand of Ash is most suitable for owners whose beliefs are not easily swayed. You keeps on believing in Yoshiko even in Arc3, her favorite datenshi.
Another lovable baka (Hetare zenkai you! you! you!). Yousorou. Instant Gryffindor, though the Sorting Hat did lament on the possibility of Ravenclaw for her creativity. Wouldn’t have that been interesting, being in the same house as Mari and Riko, on top of her closeness to Yoshiko? GuiltyKiss x You is real…. COUGH I’m getting off topic.
Riko - 10 inch, dragon heartstring, Cherry blossom (old wand and new wand)
While dragon heartstring is strong, it can easily commit to another owner. Yohane was able to use it just fine. I chose the sakura tree for obvious reason, Sakurauchi duh. But it’s also said a dragon-heartstring & sakura wand should only be used by those with exceptional strength of mind. Riko survived through her ordeal, while Yohane learned to control her soul/magic. I chose the same specs for Riko’s new wand to symbolize her strength of mind as she continues to recover, and the fact she has accepted her past and is looking forward to the future.
The Sorting Hat did consider her in Slytherin due to the Sakurauchi line and her drive to be as good as possible, but her disposition suits Ravenclaw more. That and Riko looks good with blue
Dia - 14 inch, phoenix feather, Blackhorn
It’s hard to get chosen by Phoenix feather core, but Dia did. Wand of Blackhorn is said to be most suitable for a warrior, and will truly bond with someone who’s gone through hardship, a survivor. With Dia’s sabre and story, I feel this suits her. Also, ‘black’horn, ‘black = kuro(sawa)
Classic Slytherin. She’s intelligent enough for Ravenclaw, hardworking and loyal for Hufflepuff and certainly courageous for Gryffindor, but her leadership and ambition puts her in Slytherin, even without her Pureblood as factor. Besides, Yoshiko needs a good reliable senpai to keep her in line (Mari I’m looking at you).
Kanan - 12 inch, dragon heartstring, Maple
Wand of maple’s ideal owner are nature travellers and explorers. That instantly decided it for me to give to Kanan. Of course, there are many possible choices for each girl, but I just decided maple for Kanan because KANADIAN lmao #badCanadianjoke (even though this story is kanamari)
baka#3, though she’s actually quite smart. The ‘baka’ is referring to her denseness. How hard Mari tried in the prequel lmao. My first choice for her was actually Hufflepuff, when drawing the concept arts. But I wanted to put the childhood baka triko together, and she is certainly chivalrous and daring enough to be a Lion. I’ll reveal here that she chose to be in Gryffindor because Umi was there. More about that in the prequel.
Mari - 12 inch, thunderbird tail feather, Acacia
Such core said to be difficult to master but prized by Transfiguration users. It’s also a core made by an American wandmaker. Wand of Acacia is quirky, and can only show its true potential to gifted users. Well, perfect for the enigmatic shiny onee-san <3
Sorting Hat suggested Slytherin, she said no because she doesn’t want to sleep in the Dungeon. Quirky as she is, she has a way of seeing things that provides profound wisdom at times, and she certainly is quite clever, so Ravenclaw it is. I’ve always associated Mari with flight or rather, the sky (Kanan as the sea and Dia as the earth), thus Ravenclaw, which has its symbolic creature as Eagle.
============================
[Wand Specs & Sorting - μ’s]
Again, extra content for HP fans especially since the Professors didn’t get much screen time at all in the main story XD;;; Well, here, my choices are related to their background stories that’s briefly shown in their concept arts but I wonder if I’ll get the chance to write out anything…*faraway look*
Eli - 9 ¼ inch , kyuubi tail fur, Fir
The quarter is just for my own amusement, cuz she’s quarter Russian XD Kyuubi tail fir because μ’s gets special legendary cores ok!!! As the first μ’s member I finalized, Eli gets a harasho wand core (even though I wasn’t able to show her much in main story, she has more screen time in the prequel due to her closeness with Dia). Wand of Fir is suitable for a survivor, for those strong-minded and with strength of purpose, and perhaps a bit intimidating. Professor McGonagall has such wand and, my original intention was for Eli to fill that role for the students but she became too busy as the Deputy Headmistress so, Umi was given that role.
Eli is certainly intelligent enough for Ravenclaw, but she’s quite driven and born a leader, even tho she could be a dork so Slytherin it is. She was an ice queen in her student days. It took the other 8 a lot to thaw her out (or, in Nico’s case, a lot of Hexes here and there)
Umi - 10 inch, dragon heartstring, Cedar
Wand of Cedar is most suitable for those who are very perceptive and insightful, and that would make the rightful wielder a very powerful adversary. Umi also had a stressful upbringing since the Sonodas are one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight along with the Kurosawas and the Nishikinos. Even though her older sister is the heiress, she never slacked off in her training and vowed to become just as respected.
My first choice for her was Ravenclaw, or even Slytherin due to reasons same as Eli’s, but I wanted her to be a contemporary of McGonagall and, after finalizing Aqours, I feel that she fits the role. She was quite busy during the Gryffindor 3bakas’ early days XD Just thinking about her bringing Chika and You to the Diagon Alley makes me giggle. Yes, she was quite upset at them for running off that day, but thankfully Riko played a good mediator. Umi will also show up a lot on Kanan’s side of the story. Also, in spite of how mellow and harmless I drew her in the concept art, let’s face it, Umi is a samurai through and through, so chivalrous Gryffindor it is.
Hanayo - staff, unicorn hair, Pear
My baby gets staff instead of wand. Think how badass that is. Merlin uses a staff too. And also, Herbology and Head of Hufflepuff. Wand of Pear is most suitable for the most warm-hearted and generous. Yup, that’s my rice bby. I tend to get super protective of her so excuse me of my favoritism lmao.
She is a definite Hufflepuff. My rice bby is precious and very hardworking and uber loyal. Actual angel. Can’t you just see her in the Greenhouse, cultivating magical rice? And, especially with the way I planned out the main story, Hanayo is necessary for Ruby’s Interlude. She’s definitely like a mother to maruby in Hufflepuff.
Nozomi - 13 inch, ???, Hawthorn
The ever mysterious nontan’s Animagus form, Patronus form, and wand core shall forever remain unknown. Only close friends will know XDDD 13 because, again, it’s an unlucky number and Nozomi’s all about the occult and stuff after all. Wand of Hawthorn is suited for healing but also curses, and I find such conflicting qualities suitable for Nozomi XD (between motherly nontan & washiwashi-happy nontan lmao)
When the Sorting Hat was placed on her head, she gave it a riddle. To avoid solving it, the Hat quickly placed her in Ravenclaw. I did consider Hufflepuff for her but, nah, this is enigmatic nontan. In her student days, she was quite lonely for many years, with her childhood friend/neighbor Nico being in Slytherin with Eli and, as much as they fight, Nico and Eli have become good bros. So, when Maki got Sorted into Ravenclaw, a very ecstatic nontan latched onto a very annoyed floofy panther and the rest is history.
Kotori - 10 inch, phoenix feather, Rosewood
Birb = bird feather. But this is also a personal self-gratification because Kotori is the Princess of Kaguya in my other story and the Minami Clan’s emblem is a phoenix (because, South). Anyway, wand of Rosewood excels at using healing spell, and it also represents love and purity. That’s my precious birb. Fleur Delacour’s wand is also made of Rosewood.
Birb = printemps = Hufflepuff~ I did consider Ravenclaw for her because, birb and her creativity, but I wanted kotopana to be in the same House. Waifu duo after all. And, as per her background, I made her to be an incredible Quidditch Chaser in her student days, and I needed someone strong in Hufflepuff because Rin was quite the speedy Chaser for Gryffindor.
Nico - 13 inch, dragon heartstring, Red Oak
Nico and Yoshiko shall have the same unlucky number 13 ( ᐛ )و Wand of Red Oak is good for dueling, and most suitable for those who are quick-witted, adaptive and creative, perfect for crafty #1 idol Nico. Yes, she’s created a Charm that makes people laugh, the incantation being nico-nico-nii. No I’m serious. And no it doesn’t work on Nozomi, who just laughs because it’s too damn hilarious.
Though part of the sanbaka, she’s ambitious and driven and crafty, so Slytherin it is (so nicoeli can be shit friends and develop their bromance). Once everything’s settled down in the main story, Yoshiko will be able to become closer to Professor Yazawa and they can invent spells together!
Maki - 11, dragon heartstring, Hornbeam
Wand of Hornbeam is suitable for people with a vision, a goal that they passionately sought after to the point of obsession. Ollivander’s wand is also made of Hornbeam, which is perfect since Maki’s first appearance was to deliver Yoshiko her letter and bring her to Diagon Alley.
Maki refuses her role as the Nishikino heiress and does everything she could to defy her family, including being Sorted into Ravenclaw. She wants to be recognized as Maki, not just a Nishikino who is expected to be talented. Umi is her role model but also someone she wished she could have been; unlike her, Umi embraced her birthright and worked so hard to meet her family’s expectations. As stated in her concept art, she asked to be placed in Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin. She did consider Gryffindor because Umi was placed there, but one glance at Honoka and Rin and she squashed the idea. Ofc, she didn’t know Nozomi when she first came to Hogwarts. She very much regretted being in the same House as that imi wakan nai senpai.
Rin - 9 inch, nekomata claw, Sycamore
If Kneazle hair exists as wand core, why not nekomata claw? I already made kyuubi tail fur a wand claw, so nekomata it is for Rin. Wand of Sycamore is ideal for those who are curious and adventurous, and will thrive in a fun environment. With Rin’s personality and later on her role as gamekeeper who teaches Care of Magical Creatures, I found the perfect match. I did consider Chestnut as well (since it’s suitable for gifted tamers of Magical Creatures and gifted flyers), but Peter Pettigrew’s wand was also made of Chestnut so I threw this idea out the window.
Nya = lion. baka maji angeh. Can’t see her anywhere else. Can’t you see her latching onto Honoka-senpai and that’s just the most adorable thing ever. Mermaid Festa vol.2. Orange twins.
Honoka - 12 inch, phoenix feather, Cypress
The Sun shall only have phoenix feather as core. Cypress wand is also associated with nobility so it’s perfect for Leader. It’s also said such owners are self-sacrificing and often die a heroic death. Again, it’s a self-gratification due to Honoka’s role as the White Knight in my other story.
Faito da yo. The friggin’ sun. How can she not be a Gryffindor? The Lion King (queen). Why is the entry for my oshi the shortest out of all. This is unacceptable. Well, if I really get into it, this is gonna take pages and I’ll probably ended up rambling about μ’s student days so nah, gotta stop myself.
===============================
[Theme songs/BGMs]
Other than LLS OST albums, there are a couple of meaningful songs throughout my writing of this story. If you’re interested, definitely check them out and see if you see what I mean :)
For the whole story (but mostly for YoshiMaru and themselves)
Boku e - EXILE
Riko’s Interlude, about DiaRiko
JEWEL - Hamasaki Ayumi
Ruby’s Interlude
I’ll sing a song for you - Kuraki Mai
I also tend to listen to BGMs from Cytus and Deemo. I definitely recommend:
Lili - Rigel Theatre
Wings of Piano - V.K.
Pure White - V.K.
Anima - Xi
Suspenseful Third Day - Kaeru Underground
Entrance - Ice
L7 Legion - Ice
Also, as well as guitar tracks from Blue Stahli (industrial instrumentals bahaha), and Tommy Emmanuel, in particularly these:
[Brief note about School Term] [other LLSHP AU stuff] [YohaMaRuby concept arts] [ChikaYouRiko concept arts] [KanaDiaMari concept arts] [Hogwarts Staff]
[FFN link] [Pixiv Link] [Translated to Chinese by plin2290]
I’m just so pleased and happy to have made it! I have so many existing incomplete stories that it’s astounding for me to actually complete a multi-chapter story. Once again, I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU!! to my readers for staying with me to the end, providing me feedback and expressing interest, motivating and inspiring me enough to reach this point.
The following is really just about my rambling, about my thoughts, about the planning process and my decisions, so do keep reading if you’re interested in the makings of this story. I just feel like sharing (aka: blah blah blah) since, again, I actually friggin completed a story omg (´；Д；｀)
===================
First of all, let’s go way back to near the end of October 2016, not long after LLS Season 1 ended. Yes this is so long ago lmao. After drawing several canon-related fanarts and writing short blips to satiate my thirst, I decided to create a complete whole AU so I can fantasize more XD I ended up picking the Harry Potter verse because, come on, it’s always fun trying to Sort your favorite characters and think about their abilities and whatnot.
Ideas started to whirl and initial sketches began. There’s an old post explaining why I Sort the girls into their respective Houses. That’s also when extra details were pondered over, the why and the pros in doing so. You should know by this point that I’m a complete useless 3rd Years trash, but as I brainstorm more, I realize that their story is more suitable to be a prequel, something that supplements a main story. And so, what should the main story be about? What kind of story do I want to present? Who would be the perfect main character/narrator for this?
Yoshiko. In canon, she’s already associated with (black) magic and, as a First-Year and Muggleborn, she would be perfect for a reader to immerse into this fascinating new world of magic through her perspective. As an old post says, I fudged up the School Term and age during the initial stage and didn’t realize until everything’s all finalized, that’s why I had to keep it as it is XD;;;;
Anyway, at this point, I’ve already decided Yoshiko to be a Horcrux, with the antagonist of this story to be Yohane, and how the last few chapters are going to play out. Everything else, even the other characters’ backgrounds are all further elaborated and refined based off of this central plot. On a side note, how sexy is Aikyan’s solo in the 3rd Live, I mean, the white and black wing I could only think about Yoshiko/Yohane DX
Ahem, I’ve always found Yoshiko’s character fascinating, that there’s a Yohane side of her even though, really, she’s Yoshiko (a good girl). The Chamber of Secrets and the Half-Blood Prince are the main source of inspiration for this particular idea, but of course HP fans might notice many elements from the original story used or modified in my story. I’m also a strong believer that the Patronus Charm can do more than just warding off Dementors or Lethifolds (and Obscurus), hence its significance in this story, especially later chapters.
Therefore, each girl’s Patronus was tentatively decided at this early stage, with 1 or 2 possibilities. After this, I then thought of what ships should this story present. As much as I did not want romance/ships be The Major Point, I have to acknowledge that ships are what people go for in a story, myself included. I understand shipping might turn people away from even trying a story, that’s why I kept it secret for the first few chapters before confirming it on tumblr (where the chapters were first uploaded). I was just testing the waters, to see if people are interested in the story enough to keep reading even if the ships aren’t their preferences.
Back to planning stage - as a multi-shipper, I did not want to set in stone right off the bat what the ships are either. And thus I continued expanding on ideas and see where things would go, keeping most of the initial interactions and important moments intact. This is why there are times it might seem there are multiple pairings even though nothing was specified (cough wee kanadia, youriko etc (｡･ ω<)ゞてへぺろ♡). Not to mention, as the main character, Yoshiko will always have moments with each of the 8 girls. I remember joking in an old post that, if this were a gal-game, there are various routes to this story, from the default path to those you have to unlock via certain conditions XDDD
Naturally, members of the 1st-year trio and Guilty Kiss get more screen time with Yoshiko. Then, as a fellow Slytherin and part of the tsurime trio, Dia does too. Not to mention Season1’s anime ED shows You & Angel together, You gets special moments too. Chika is Aqours’ leader who first accepted Yoshiko into the group as datenshi, so I tried to show that as much as I could given the circumstances in the story. And so, this leaves poor orca on the side lol. But yeah, YoshiMaru, YoshiRiko, YoshiRuby, so many possibilities! However, as more details get finalized, such as Yoshiko’s childhood, her Shiira-KANSU! Patronus and about the Augurey, YoshiMaru just happened. Things seem to click into place with their love as the focal point and I was able to keep expanding the story. First puppy love, innocent and pure. A dream that grew to become reality. Could other ships have worked? Yes, but then that would’ve given this story a different direction and it wouldn’t have been LLSHP AU – Yoshiko Tsushima and the Fallen Angel anymore. As I developed YoshiMaru more and more, I was very satisfied with my choice.
On a side note, I confirm Yoshiko did have a crush on You at first (and Hanamaru had a crush on Kanan) xD it’s mostly just physical attraction in a “the-senpai-I-admire” kind of way, and it soon morphs to strong friendship as this story progresses. I don’t know if this was obvious at all but that’s why these two girls always have a soft spot for Gryffindor Baka#2 and Baka #3 xD!!!
On the other hand, I was not expecting DiaRiko to form. Yes, it was my guilty ship but I didn’t intend for them to be a couple in this story, just close friends/confidantes. In canon, they’re already the straight man of their respective year trios (most of the time anyway, I’m looking at you ponkotsu penguin). Yet, given their respective pasts and personalities, they became intimately close and found solace with each other, and that kind of relationship is what I tried to show to the readers, especially through the Carbonado Interlude. They’re not predestined to fall in love but they did and found happiness. Out of the four ships, I was most worried about DiaRiko since it’s a rareship unlike the other three. That’s why I keep saying how pleased I am that it ended up being well-received by fans ;;A;;
ChikaYou came to be as I finalize the 2ndYears’ background and Riko’s part, while KanaMari’s story is set aside for the prequel and thus not given much spotlight in the main story (and also due POV effect). In spite of how much I adore ChikaYou, it’s also not shown much because of what happened in the story but also because I wanted to present their dynamic as a duo and CYR bond with Ruby (since that’s how Yoshiko perceives them most of the time anyway).
Ruby, my widdle cinnamon roll baby, is left unpaired for a reason. I want to show that platonic/friendship love is just as wonderful and powerful. There’s a saying ‘lovers come and go, but friends are for life’, and that’s exactly what Yoshiko and Hanamaru meant for Ruby, and vice versa.
Now, while I’m on this, I have a confession about Ruby’s fate. After the concept arts were drawn and uploaded, I was finalizing the details of the three Arcs before I toss the first chapter onto tumblr. The end of ch19 is definitely one of the biggest climax of the story - Ruby ended up being Yohane’s target instead of Dia. Originally, uh, yeah, Ruby is supposed to die because her wounds were too much. Regular healing spells do not work on sectumsempra, only a special counter-Curse could reverse the effects. I tried very hard to find a way around it to save her. I don’t want my baby to die, any of them really, and she still have so much ahead of her. Fortunately, I was able to save her through Yoshiko/Yohane which, in turn, saved this raven-haired girl as well. I was able to continue working backwards on finalizing the Arcs and individual chapters with a peaceful state of mind.
‘Yoshiko’, as in the one who’s been narrating the story from ch1-20, still died in a way, but at least I was able to change the story from Bad End to True End (?). True End is the ch21 I uploaded. Bad End route would have Ruby dead, Yoshiko gone and ch21 would turn out completely different. A Happy End would be Yoshiko the Narrator miraculously alive and the others not having scars or still recovering, but I just find that too unrealistic. I’ve minimized the, uh, damage enough as it is, given the circumstances. J.K. Rowling did go on a killing spree in Book7 but come on, with a psychotic maniac like Voldemort and all those magical spells, you can easily kill people. You don’t need Avada Kedavra to kill someone, a sudden Diffindo or Reducto is enough. I’ve chosen my sacrifice and one is too many already.
And speaking of sacrifice, let me talk a bit about Riko and why she was the ‘first victim’. Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare. Even though this story was outlined even before the First Live, this song already stands out to me from the anime, a song where the 8 of them sang in Riko’s absence but her spirit is still with them. And so, I sort of portrayed that the way it is in this story. Even though Riko didn’t get any lines from ch12 onward until ch20, her role remains significant and is the pivotal point for the remainder of Arc2 and Arc3.
In terms of the plot, I’ve followed my outline quite closely. All the core points remained unchanged as I write out the chapters, though how I write a chapter (ie the wording, the extra little details, and actual professor dialogues instead of just narration) did change as I go along, influenced by more of the official content. Facts about characters that are only revealed in Season2 or other media such as SIF etc were not incorporated into this story (for example, Kanan being afraid of ghosts and height). As I mentioned in an older post about wands, I would have chosen phoenix feather for Ruby’s wand core had I known about the Duo-Trio results. The Kazuno sisters would have been incorporated into the story alas, back then, very little was known about Saint Snow in Season1 of the anime. Yes… season2 was finished and, like, a total of 15 live performances have happened between the creation and the completion of this story LOL
Back to the plot. Seven is said to be a magical number in the HP verse and that’s why each Arc has 7 chapters. Arc 1 is the Intro, Arc 2 is the turning point, Arc 3 is the climax and the resolution. Sounds easy and straightforward so I thought I would’ve finished the story within a year. Well. It ended up almost taking two years lmao. Obligations IRL aside, new ideas, more AUs, more fanarts etc also make sticking to the update schedule difficult. It’s the worst when it comes to writer’s block – you have the outlines, you know what’s supposed to happen in a chapter, yet the words just aren’t flowing and you’re stuck. Thankfully, with you lovely readers giving the feedback and encouragement I need, I made it over each bump on the road to get to the finale.
Hanamaru wrote most of this story, yes. Each chapter titles with exception of Ruby’s interlude and ch18-19 also showed up in ch21. The title of the ‘book’ is supposed to be revealed in the Epilogue but, since I had to upload it onto Fanfiction.Net, I can’t just call it LLSHP AU so I had to reveal “Yoshiko Tsushima and the Fallen Angel” right away. Back then I called this a temporary title because I did think about giving this story an alternate title, since she didn’t write the interludes, ch21 and the epilogue. However, at the end of the day, this still suits the story best. After all, the individual titles for ch21 and the epilogue make up the story’s title.
“Yoshiko has always known that she isn't normal like everyone else. Surely, she would master everything about magic at Hogwarts, and become the amazing fallen angel she's meant to be. Little did she know, her school year would be more than eventful as she makes great friends, uncovers secrets, and learns what it truly means to be Yohane.” - this is the summary I put on Fanfiction.Net. It speaks from both Yoshiko the Narrator’s perspective, and Yoshiko from the Epilogue’s perspective. It probably sounds confusing but I hope you understand what I mean.
So, what’s next? I’ve invested a lot in this world of LLSHP AU already and there are still so many more possibilities, especially with the rather open ending both ch21 and the epilogue presents, so I’m definitely not done with this AU!
Since I have the memory of a goldfish, I don’t know if I’ve already mentioned this but the prequel will be told mostly in Mari’s POV. It will have occasional Dia and Kanan POVs too (because I’m a shameless 3yrs-oshi and writer privilege); Rather than taking forever to write and cramping the scenes into a massive interlude chapters, I’ve decided to split it in shorter chapters - this will roughly be a 12-part story that took place before the main story, showcasing segments of the kanadiamari’s first 3 years at Hogwarts.
This prequel is… relatively normal and lighter compared to the main story, meaning it’s more school-oriented and more slice-of-life episodes for the most part (at least, that’s the outline), and much more Professor cameos. There will be more N-card girls to be showcased as well, such as kanadiamari’s Housemates and Quidditch teammates. Overall, it’ll be shiny °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
There will not be a full sequel to the main story. Instead, there will be blips/drabbles about events that happen after the main story, as teased in the Epilogue - the TriWizard Tournament for one XD And, unlike the main story, the ideas for blips in this sequel-timeline are more vague, so I’ll be able to incorporate new content into it (as in, from official content 2017 onward such as proper characterization of Saint Snow).
There are plans for omake/filler fun blips as well - little incidents that happened throughout the main story or, rather, ‘excerpts’ that Hanamaru wrote but didn’t make it to the final version of her book. The first Halloween, more scenes with the Professors, birthdays and so on.
There are also plans for character-exclusive blips as well, similar to an Interlude. For example, DiaRiko’s ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) cough cough.
My tentative plan is to keep going with the prequel, and maybe every few chapter or so I’d write a sequel-timeline blip. I’ll see how my muse and inspiration is in the future, I’m already extremely satisfied that I finished the main story XD And I do want to work on some of my other existing AUs (ie Animus AU and Mafia AU just because I’ve already invested time in creating the concept arts and so I don’t want them to sink into oblivion…) or who knows, there might be new AUs. I mean, pretty much every new SIF set is enough to inspire a brand new AU please allow me a moment to giggle like the trash I am over the DiaRiko UR set *pterodactyl screech*
AHEM. Another thing is illustration/artworks. Since most of my time was spent on writing, there are much fewer artworks than I would’ve liked for this story. I think I mentioned this somewhere that I’d love to have an individual cover art for each chapter alas, no time at all DX I’d like to have at least one illustration per chapter too but OTL I can only pick one and so for this AU I chose writing over drawing. Cry.
Anyway, I’ve rambled long enough and I think I’ve talked about everything I want to get off my chest. If you have any questions/feedback, go ahead and fire’em at me, since I’m now able to answer anything without fear of spoilers now XD (unless your question is about the prequel or things that happen in the sequel-timeline)
Thanks for reading the whole thing and, ofc, staying with me until the end of this story!
Ok writing everything off the top of my head, and most of this is probably common knowledge already since this is like the last DV but still I wanna ramble. I do not own kingblades (yet) so my smol Kanan and Mari nesoberis are the substitutes for my trashy flailing (⁄ ⁄^⁄ᗨ⁄^⁄ ⁄)
Drop Out - Holy fck, Asamin is fcking GOOD like my pitiful words are not enough to describe just how goddam amazing she is!! I’ve always liked Seira’s voice, whether in singing or speaking but fckity fck?! I love her!!! Hinahina also def nailed the rap parts, the whole segment was high af!!!
MC - I love Asamin. I think I’m in love iono I’m just such a weak little trash when it comes to Oneechan auras She welcomed the fans and did a good job keeping the hype up while remaining calm. Hinahina is such an endearing shy cinnamon roll (灬ºωº灬)♡ I wanna hagu her. While running around to the the sides of the stage, Asamin was too fast so Hinahina had to run to catch up to her “don’t leave me behind Nee-sama ;A;**!!” Gosh so adorable. There was also the connection to Omiya’s LV hosted by 456′s VAs (Mucchan is popular af) but there’s a delay in the signals so the echoes were hilarious XD
Crash Mind - I LOVE THE CHOREOGRAPHY and again, not much to say except Hinahina’s rap is rad af and ASAMIN IS AMAZINGGGGGGGGG ASAMIIIIIIINNNNNNNN
Yup it’s Azalea not CYR next XDDDD
Torikoriko PLS - yes, the idiot standing up waving the AZA!Dia nesoberi somewhere at the front is me. I can’t help it okay!!! Need to show support to my best girl!!!!! It’s refreshing watching this performed with the 2nd Single’s outfits
Galaxy Hide and Seek - such a beautiful song :’D Unlike the HPT where sww and Kinchan ‘found’ Arisha later on after appearing on the carts in the arena, they just ‘found’ her on the stage XD It’s interesting to see the differences here and there
MC - lmaooooooooo like, X”D!!!! Arisha pls!!! So, Azalea introduced themselves - sww is the “cute/endearing one”; kinchan is the “genki one” and Arisha did this sexy sway with her sexy rear as the “sexy one” and slaughtered all of us in the audience. Since I sat close to the front, iono if I was the only female cheering X”DDD;;;;;; the rest were all dudes.
I also catcalled when Suwawa said this is the first time she’s let down her hair >w> but COME ON people that’s like an angel descending amongst us unworthy mortals!!!!???
After that, there’s the Torikoriko Battle Royale!! Kinchan vs Arisha first, to see who captured more of the audience in their rep colors; Kinchan won by a small margin I swear I wasn’t screaming and furiously waving my Dia nesoberi, but gosh Arisha, plz control ur kaoge???? XD!!!! And then Kinchan vs Suwawa who won (someone on the side was screaming noooooo); and lastly, Kinchan&Arisha vs Sww but alas, Osuwa-sama defeated them both (I was flailing my orca nesoberi); Kinchan and Arisha’s kaoges though, gosh you two XDDD!!!
Kinchan also mentioned she was disappointed that Mucchan didn’t show her forehead )=3=(
Innocent Bird - My. Favorite. Azalea. Song. Goddamit it was so fcking awesome adfadfagadfasda they’re all so sexy adfasgsdfagsdfsd that segment where sww and kinchan sang close to each other was so sexy and garnered a lot of cheers
Yes Anon, I died. It was illegal and Arisha shouldn’t do that because the damage is too devastating for my gay heart. I assume you saw my twitter flailing and tossed this ask here XDDDD oh and just FYI I do have [anon boxes] on twitter too :)
\CYR/!!!!! MY OSHI!!!! BUT I BROUGHT NOTHING SO I COULD ONLY WAVE MY EMPTY HANDS HOLDING INVISIBLE BLADES LIKE AN IDIOT LOL!
Genki Zenkai DAY!DAY!DAY! - man it was lit af! Everyone was so HYPED!!! It was so great and BECAUSE I LOVE CYR SO FCKING MUCH ESP THEIR PIRATE OUTFITS I LOST MY SHIT THERE LOL!!!!! And y’all know the second verse where AiAi sang the sleepy line and then fcking SKS JUST RESTED HER HEAD ON ANCHAN’S CHEST I WAS LIKE ?!!??!?!??!? AND SHRIEKING?!?!?! \\\ANSHK/// OMFG ASDGHASDJFHSDKF And those CYR Cannons?!?!?!
Kinmirai Happy End - After depleting most of my HP flailing around with DDD, CYR ain’t done with their PAWAA!!!! I don’t think I’ll ever say this enough BUT I REALLY LOVE THEIR OUTFITS IT LOOKS SO GOOD ON THEM AIAI’S WEE HAT SKS’S MEGAWATT SMILE AND ANCHAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those flags fck, the bridge part where they waved the flags I was just ANCHAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!
MC - I sincerely apologize for yelling Anchan when the camera zoomed in on her (I shrank down in my seat after that lol); but she was so fcking ikemen!?!?! She lifted that heavy cannon like it weighed nothing!??!?! So strong this leader??!!?! I WANT HER TO LIFT ME OR KICK ME?!?!?!? But yes gawd, they’re such a fun subunit, joking around so naturally and all the anshk interactions; there was a tidbit where they acted out a backstage scene where Asamin just coolly walked past Anchan “Do you know the Bay Area?” and Anchan just “huh?” (y’all know which adorable sfx I meant) and Shukashuu ofc mimicked it perfectly. With this, they talked about the next song and I was already ready with my hand in salute and CYR hand sign
TzuChaChaCha Kaigan Doori - I’ve always loved this song because it’s just so fun, always puts me in a cheery, playful mood. And, without kingblades, I was able to feel quite involved with the rest of the fans doing the Tzuchachacha lmao Gosh, sks almost collapsed from laughing while instructing the fans earlier in the MC XDDD Gosh she so adorable
It’s expected and understood that GK is the most popular subunit. While my best girl is in Azalea and my oshi unit is CYR, it doesn’t make me enjoy GK songs any less cuz let’s face it, THEY ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!
Strawberry Trapper - I still remember flailing like an idiot when I went to the 1stLive DV last year - this time however, I’m equipped with my Mari nesoberi!! So I literally just jumped up and down and again I sincerely apologize if I blocked the view of people behind me XD;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; GK’s 2nd Single outfits look SO FCKING GOOD and fck, Kyan’s solo, on the screen, black wings sprouted and there were a lot of cheers (and a shriek from this Yohane-oshi in the row behind me girl I totally understand ur feelz)
Kowareyasuki - My favorite GK song. I was just losing my shit and filled with feels why is this song so fcking sexy and all those camera angles are illegal????? and rkk is so ikemen???????? why is this song so good I can’t?????? And also you really can tell just how damn popular cnrk is bahahaha (there’s this dude I know is an utter yohariko trash)
MC - I apologize for shrieking and flailing my Mari nesoberi during Nya’s turn to speak. That purple rabbit mask looks so good on her, I love it, Nya is just so smol and cute aaaaahhhhh. Also Kyan shrieking when rkk and nya kept stroking her legs is prolly the best part; rkk being a dork later on in the Guilty Quiz corner was great too X”D she’s getting more and more ponkotsu by the day I wonder whose influence that is ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Shadow Gate to Love - all I remember is Nya’s sexy voice and all the yohariko/cnrk ojisans losing their shit during this part where they sent each other hearts XD!!!!! It was a very fun song ofc, more movements in comparison to the cart version from HPT
Back to Saint Snow’s Self Control!! It was so great, finally seeing this song performed live. Again, Asasmin is AMAZING and HInahina hyped up the crowd with her rappin’ madness skillz SAIKOUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MC - Saint Snow talked about their sparkly outfit and, gosh Hinahina played out Ria’s tsuntsun demeanor well when Asamin teased her about doing the expected Turning Around to show audience the outfits. And then a follow up to Anchan’s lil skit, Asamin and Hinahina played out how Anchan just walked past her and said “Do you know all the fun places at Numazu?” iirc, I was too busy giggling. Hinahina did a great Chika and Hanamaru impressions haha Anyway, you can truly feel the sincerity of their words when Asamin and Hinahina thanked the fans for the opportunity for performing and how they treasured every moment. Hinahina got all choked up but admirably held back her tears “I’m not crying!” Asamin also got teary but admirably finished her speech without actually crying I’m looking at you GK lololol!!!
There were more interactions with Omiya, and Mucchan showed her forehead LOL Like earlier, the delay echoes were great cuz Anchan totally went ???? when she finished one sentence and heard the delay just as she was about to say the next line gosh I love you Anchan *cry*
Last song is YumeKataru with all 11 of them and ;;A;; it was great, singing my song for my dream indeed!! There were a lot of hugs between the girls, too many that I lost count. Hinahina was standing on the left side of the stage with FKT while Asamin was with \3rdYears/ on the right stage, the middle is the 2ndyrs. Such a wonderful scene.
There were people surprised at the lack of encore but most of us already knew that was the end. It does make sense though - this is a UC, so AtP should be performed as a whole (possibly 3rd Live Fukuoka leg) so I look forward to that!
Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I really enjoyed myself (would’ve enjoyed even more had I been equipped properly with kingblades). And ofc there were ie taigas but they weren’t as annoying as expected so it’s still tolerable (though DV/LV first-timers might be really turned off I suppose? Cuz their calls did cover the girls’ singing in many instances)
Anyway, that’s enough rambling and if you’ve actually read this far, thanks XD I’m glad to be able to share my flailing and just how much I love these girls.
Well, I’m off to Japan for 3rd Live’s Saitama leg in two weeks and I’ll be equipped with UC’s kingblade and (hopefully 3rd Live’s kingblade from the buppan) I’ll be blabbering over on my twitter so make sure to follow me there!
I don't really support YouChika, but apparently it's one of the most popular ships in Sunshine :o. Can you help me see the light?
No problem, I will try Anon!
YouChika, whether you ship them romantically orplatonically, is undeniable. The bond is there since childhood – Chika hasalways considered herself normal monster Chikacchi, someone without a speciallight to shine on their own. You, on the other hand, seems to excel ateverything, and she is passionate about high-diving. This clean goal/dreamseems so bright to Chika’s eyes, so bright that sometimes Chika feels that sheis inferior, that she will probably never be able to acquire such light. Still,Chika is content to support her best friend because, if she cannot shine on herown, she is more than happy to encourage and help her friend shine.
You shares similar sentiment as well – when Chika discoveredher passion for school idol, You is thrilled to be able to help her bestfriend. In spite of her busy schedule, she wants to put forth everything shehas to help Chika obtain that special light. For You, however, Chika has alwaysbeen special – she’s not ‘normal’ at all – she’s kind and sweet and supportive,a bundle of joy and encouragements that brings the light to You. You strugglesto show Chika how amazing she is already, but perhaps due to their long timefriendship, Chika doesn’t see that.
Moreover, while growing up together lets them get familiarwith each other’s various sides, it also makes them blind to certain parts.It’s exactly because they’ve known each other for so long that they don’t wantthe other to see particularly vulnerable parts, fearing it would disappoint.It’s one thing disappointing a stranger, and another to disappoint someone whois practically family. They value and seek each other’s opinion but they don’toverly rely on it either. They know the little quirks etc and thus sometimesdon’t need words to understand what the other person wants to do or say.
The intimacy is already present, so it just takes a catalystto move them into a romantic stage. The admiration and fondness they had foreach other can always evolve to romantic love. With nudges here and there fromfriends (or, even a big shove lol), and after lots of trial-and-errors, they’llprobably reach the married couple stage faster than any ships.
I understand it’s difficult to get someone to even toleratetheir nOTP, but if my take above can help you think “hmm, I don’t support thembut I can see why people love this ship”, then I consider my job done 😊
