Is there like a lore summary for WD? How does this set connect?
i have these two posts explaining some of the worldbuilding in the knights cards. i'm also gonna tag all these posts as #white day au
edit: this was heavily edited in march 2025 due to the release of a blog post talking about the 2025 set. this blog post confirms that all the white day sets take place in the same continuity. i will refer to this blog multiple times in this post.
a few other notes not in any of those linked posts:
tsukasa's costume is called chivalrous chevalier. chevalier is the french word for knight. based on his card art having him bowing before (presumably) the throne, he's probably very high ranking.
akito's costume is noble paladin. a paladin or palatine is used to refer to a high-ranking heroic knight or a palace official. or the dnd class but that's probably not what's going on here. stems from the 12 paladins in charlemagne's court in medieval romance. definitely some sort of leader
mizuki's costume is called optatio eques. eques if it wasn't obvious is to do with horses, and is latin for horseman or knight (also the latin name for the knight chesspiece). so she's a horseback knight. i mean the others should be as well but they felt the need to specify it here.
len's 2* is called noble squire. squires were lower ranking and were servants to the actual knights, taking care of their armour/gear/horses and accompanying them in battle. sometimes would become an actual knight in future. fun fact, boys usually got the squire role at age 14, which is len's age. also len is probably tsukasa's squire considering he's wxs len here.
we don't know what shiho's class is.
all of them have different colored gem brooches on their collars, possibly related to some sort of class/rank system. aktio has a red gem, mizuki has an emerald green one, and shiho has a yellow-green one like her image color. tsukasa does not have a visible one (presumably under his cape) and len doesn't have one (not a knight).
notably all have a rose as part of their uniform, and also on the flags in akito and mizuki's cards. this will be relevant later. tsukasa's is red with gold accents, akito's is gold, mizuki's is blue, shiho's is the same color as her gem with gold leaves, and len's is also gold but less detailed (again, not a knight). mizuki's is the only one that doesn't appear to be metal. this might also relate to the class/rank system.
toya's costume is called shadow knight. he's a knight. done easy.
rui's costume is called mad sorcerer. again. sorcerer. simple.
kaito's is called wandering gunner. because sure. gun. don't think about it too hard guns are old. not the one in the card mind you. wandering also gives a bit of insight to the role he might play.
miku and saki's cards don't have costumes or names that indicate what they are.
miku is aligned with the imperial soldiers but seems to be a thief. she's got a dagger and is chilling in a trashed building, looking at a market. she possibly or very likely stole her apple from said market.
saki has a spear, so we know she's some sort of warrior/knight. she also is with the imperial soldiers, based on costume design (she has no visible emblem). that said her costume has a lot more brown than any of the others, most notably her shoes and jacket don't match with toya/kaito/miku. no leather either. imo this could possibly point to 1. her being a lower ranking member 2. her having recently joined, or defected and keeping parts from her old outfit, like rui or 3. she styled it how she wanted
as mentioned in one of the linked posts, rui defected. his outfit is based on the knight of white outfits and has their emblem on it still. he also has a red gem on his collar, so he was probably at the same rank as akito (or part of his team, however you interpret those brooches). all the imperial soldiers have red gems somewhere as an accessory, but the design and placement is very specific.
toya has a rose brooch and this is why i told you to remember that. it's completely gold like akito's (the design is slightly different as has no leaves but theyre modeled differently so i'll let it slide), suggesting there was a connection there and maybe toya defected like rui did.
toya also has a dragon and is the only imperial soldier seen with one. this could point to him being the founder and/or leader since their emblem is a dragon.
again suggesting past connection between akito and toya, the dragon is referred to as toya's aibou by the artist's. akito got replaced.
while not confirmed, it's possible that the other members of mmj are part of minori & airi's faction. the windows in minori's card have a three leafed clover as part of the design.
minori and airi are probably part of different ranks given the differences in costume design.
kanade's costume is called fleeting light knight attire and mafuyu's is called abyss knight attire. now this is interesting bc this implies a light side/dark side thing, but as mentioned in one of the linked posts, they are very clearly a part of the same faction, sharing some costume design elements, as well as a four-point star emblem, red gem on their collar, and red gem accessories. this is where things get interesting.
hear me out. so kanade's costume has a similar color palette to the original knights of white set and has the heart design from tsukasa/mizuki's costumes. mafuyu's costume is a darkened version of that color palette (think back to rui's costume being a darkened knights of white one) and also incorporates some leather-looking items, like her cape.
given the set being called "what awaits after the battle" my assumption is that this set, or at least kanade and mafuyu's cards, are set before the wday 1&2 sets, at the start of the war. ik a lot of people assume it's afterwards but the phrasing works for beforehand if put in the context of thinking about the future after the newly started war. and also for the following reasons:
kanade's card depicts a far more peaceful scenario than seen in past white day cards, there's no indication of any battles or wars in her card. while in mafuyu's there very much is, if we look at minori's or ichika's they strike more of a balance between light and dark, and both have very solemn looks. Ichika obviously looks like she's preparing for battle, but you could interpret Minori's to be this as well. This could suggest the war has just begun. So the cards take place in order of Kanade->Minori/Ichika->Mafuyu.
kanade and mafuyu are very clearly part of the same faction. however, kanade's costume bears resemblance to the knights of white ones, while mafuyu's bears resemblance to imperial soldiers.
mafuyu's costume follows the same rules as rui's, being a darkened version of kanade's. given design elements in rui's costume, it's very obvious the intent of him being a defector to the imperial knights side from the knights of white side. the same logic can apply to mafuyu in that case.
we can assume that over time, the light side changed their emblem from a four-pointed to eight-pointed star and adopted the rose thing. aside from that they kept virtually the same color scheme and patterns, and the jewel brooches, on their knight uniforms.
we can also assume that over time, the dark side developed further and adopted their own dress code, keeping the black leather from mafuyu's costume, and her red jewel accessories (see: toya/saki/kaito's earrings and miku's pin).
speaking of ichika, i already mentioned in the linked posts that she's from an entirely unique faction. her costume design doesn't match anyone elses, and she has a unique emblem design that looks like a heart combined with a tear drop. her costume name is illuminated courtyard knight attire which tells us nothing.
the blog post for the The Endless Battle for Peace set confirms that it takes place in the same universe as the previous sets, so what does this mean for Saki and Shiho?
So as the name itself suggests, and the blog post confirms, this set takes place an unspecified very long time after the previous ones.
The artist says to look for easter eggs in Saki's card, most likely referring to her garter being the same in both her 2023 card and this one. This is the same Saki as the 2023 card.
Saki's costume is called Saint Beast Sorcerer. So she's meant to be some sort of sorcerer, which makes sense given the Imperial Knights had at least one magic user on their side. Maybe they taught her, or she already was one.
Remember the thing about the red gems with Imperial Soldiers? Saki has a small one on her costume, though it's in the same place as Rui's and the Knights of White's ones. More evidence for her defecting from the KoW.
How she became a god/saint/whatever (the artist says she has an "unapproachable sanctity") is unknown. That you can come up with yourself
The artist describes her as lonely and isolated in the "secluded temple or tower" we see her in. Again, "unapproachable sanctity". It's possible she's trapped here, or is choosing not to leave.
The ruined weapons seen around her are also similar to the ones seen in past white day cards (though none are identical to past designs). Her hair is also said to be longer due to the passage of time, so she's been here a while.
Shiho and Rin are aligned with Saki, indicated by the same star symbol appearing in all their costumes. The blog post confirms only the one with Rin, but it's obvious if you look at Shiho's costume.
Rin is said to be running towards a "valued person" or "special someone" (original phrase is 大切な人). I believe the original is a phrase generally used for a romantic partner but I'm not too sure on that. Either way, you interpret that, we are not told who the person is. That's down to you.
Rin's costume is called Gold Sheep Soldier. So she's a soldier on the same side as Shiho and Saki.
The blog post describes Shiho as a mage here, and her rings are suggested to help with her magic or be connected to it in some way.
Is this the same Shiho as in the 2022 card? This is never specified. So you could interpret it as the same one, and a similar thing that happened to Saki happened to her, without the being trapped in a tower part, or you could interpret it as some sort of reincarnation.
Rin and Shiho are both meant to be depicted counter-attacking, possibly against Emu and MEIKO though again this isn't specified
Emu's costume is called Beastman Summoner. She's able to summon mice.
MEIKO is also depicted as a summoner, but with chinchillas
Emu and MEIKO are clearly on the same faction, as indicated by their costumes
Interestingly, there's a heart pattern on their costumes that is sort of similar to one seen on some of the Knights of White costumes, and has a similar color palette to Kanade's costume. This could possibly point to Emu and MEIKO being the current members of what was once the Knights of White, or possibly some split-off branch.
Emu's costume is described specifically as formal yet urban, so she's probably still from a wealthy family, and a part of a proper society in this AU.
uh yeah that's all. funfact did you know colopale staff likes Legend of Zelda. if that wasn't obvious by the fact that the 2025 wday set seems to take a lot of inspiration from Breath of the Wild specifically. From Saki's outfit and the concept of being trapped being like Zelda in that game, to the idea of this being set a long time after the Knights of White/Imperial Soldiers set, with all of them dead (killed in battle?), and the war still going on. It's not exactly subtle. Go crazy with that.