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our-ensemble · 16 days ago

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Though Enstars often mentions systemic issues, it never really shows them from what I see.

That's not something that's surprising on its own - the visual format limits the sharing of information to text only, and the focus of Enstars has always been the characters (for most people, at least) so it makes sense to focus more on interpersonal conflicts or interpersonal aspects of certain issues rather than confronting the greater systemic questions.

But the thing is, when certain systemic issues are emphasized and condemned in the narrative, but not really addressed or elaborated upon, I feel like it weakens the message, if not outright works against it. A lot of this stemmed from thinking about Rinne and Aira, so I'll focus on them for now.

Rinne makes mention of systemic issues often, and is rather frank about addressing the issues of the Amagi - particularly their rejection from Japanese society and them being labelled inferior.

But while we're told that the Amagis face systemic issues, there isn't anything really to cement that. - meaning that we are facing a "tell, don't show" situation. But "tell, don't show" isn't without its own literary complications (and its especially hard to wrap one's head around when it comes to text-based media) so let me use a different framework.

The "theory" does not match the "execution".

"Theory" here is what the worldbuilding establishes (not to be confused for what the narrator establishes, as these can sometimes be in contradiction) - the Amagis are in an unfavourable position in society.

"Execution" is how this theory plays out - and its where our problem arises, because while there are certainly interpersonal squabbles that make it clear that some characters have prejudices, there's nothing explicitly systemic that we can really point at regarding the Amagis from what I can remember.

Interpersonal interactions - meaning interactions on an individual level - cannot always be used as a supplement for representations of systemic oppression. Sometimes, characters and NPCs can be used to represent the values and ideals of the system, acting as placeholders for a system that cannot always be shown. Other times, all it does is reveal the character's own feelings without indicating anything about the system, or the systemic feelings fail to be applied to the world at large since the system doesn't quite exist, resulting in some fourth-wall breaking and meta-commentary that can't actually comment on anything concrete in-text no matter how much it can be applied to the real world.

This isn't as much of a problem in !-era since all issues are being addressed in a school environment - meaning that the systemic issues mentioned are being filtered through the mouths of teenagers, and can tie into a greater conversation about how teenagers are affected by different sources (family, friends, cultural norms, preferences of the system, etc.). This isn't to say Doylist criticisms no longer apply to the !-era, but that the Watsonian perspective can be best applied here because of the convenient environment.

In !!-era however, we are now entering the industry, meaning that we're no longer interacting with only "other students". Agencies, idol norms, and greater societal and/or cultural norms have a more noticeable presence, especially as they come to hold greater decision-making influences on the characters. Essentially, we are moving one step closer to the system, and should expect to see it affect the characters more.

Except, we don't see these effects.

Analyzing this requires looking less at what we have, and more of what we don't have - essentially, we need to look at what is absent in the "execution" of Enstars' "theory".

With Rinne specifically, though he mentions that the Amagis are oppressed and we see nothing outright denying this, we likewise don't see any support for this. The presupposition is that Rinne and Hiiro should be treated differently from other characters by the system and by society because of their ethnic background, but that's not what happens.

Main Story !! has Rinne in an antagonistic role, and for the most part, sentiments about him are extended to the other members of Crazy:B - the negative reaction towards him is explicitly said to be for his actions, which is similarly applied to people outside of his ethnic group.

For Hiiro, Crazy:B's actions rub off on ALKALOID - but again, this is on the basis of their membership to a specific category (being newcomers in the idol industry with similarities to Crazy:B), not ethnicity. Further criticism of Hiiro is based on him being siblings with Rinne, which would still apply irrespective of his ethnic background.

This isn't to say that ethnicity cannot be compounded with the other negative reactions listed above, but that it is entirely fan interpretation that elaborates on this. As far as Enstars writes it, ethnic background has not been a grave concern for the Amagis as public figures - even though we're told that it should be a concern for them given that the issues that the Amagis as a group face are still persistent in the modern era.

Essentially, what I mean to say is that Rinne's complaints about being excluded from society fall short when there is nothing indicating that either he or Hiiro have been excluded from the idol industry. This isn't to say that I think Rinne is wrong in his observations, but that the writing fails to support it.

As time goes on, Crazy:B and ALKALOID's jobs are no longer influenced by their impressions from the MDM - even though we are told that these do still continue to have some impact on them. Crazy:B's stories in particular haven't focused on its appeal to outsiders for a while now. The system in regards to Crazy:B and ALKALOID (as representatives of deviant and/or marginalized groups) doesn't do anything - or at least, nothing out of the ordinary - which isn't what we are being told in our "theory".

This, when added to existing interpersonal interactions about the racism that the Amagis face, makes this narrative against racism even weaker.

To summarize, Aira's comments against the Amagi's don't amount to anything. For all that the fandom argues about whether or not these comments are out-of/in-character, at the end of the day, they have no impact. No matter what Aira says, Hiiro will still call him his closest friend and Rinne will still joke about him being his in-law. Mayoi and Tatsumi will scold him as much as they like - then, in the next chapter, they will sing and dance together as if nothing happened. Deleting instances of Aira's racism would only change so much (and while not to the same extent, some amount of this sentiment applies to Kaoru re: Adonis as well).

But... this doesn't make sense. The Amagis have been taught from their youth that the city is a place that oppresses them - and now, when faced with someone who makes prejudiced comments against them based on their ethnicity, their response is to do what, exactly...? No rethinking of what their family taught them? No concern that maybe - just maybe - there may be some truth to the fears of their family? No conflict between deciding where to go if neither the village nor the city is entirely accepting of them? No sitting Aira down, or fighting with him, or even just spending more than one line saying "Hey, can you not say that"?

Enstars cannot do so, because that would require a far more nuanced interpretation of the Amagi village: recognizing that the Amagis had an unfavourable response to a legitimate fear instead of them simply being overly paranoid for "far-fetched historical reasons". It would require understanding that in order for the "cult-like" environment that they've written for the Amagis to work, there must have been some motivation to cultivate that environment. However, Enstars' approach to the Amagi village is something that requires its own post.

If we are to take Aira as a representative of the system and Rinne as a representative of those against the system, then all of their interactions regarding racism fail to act on Enstars' "theory". In response to the system, the rebel's response should not be to ignore discrimination, but to confront it. This is not what happens, partly because Aira and Rinne are also supposed to be compliments to each other narratively because of their stances on idols (thus, this systemic point isn't the primary focus of their interactions), partly because Rinne never - either by chance or by choice - is the one to respond to Aira.

Additionally, even if Aira and Rinne aren't acting as representatives of opposing viewpoints, their interactions disprove Rinne's character as a disruptor of the system. I think its fair to assume that someone who condemns systemic oppression would likewise condemn expressions of prejudice in a casual context since these interpersonal interactions can be reflective of the system's influence. In fact, that last point is illustrated in Aira's narrative; though his interactions with his former classmates are classified as interpersonal (since they occur between individuals), they are representative of greater cultural views on foreigners and mixed-children and are meant to be taken as such.

Instead, there's nothing between Aira and Rinne - or any other character who either a) possesses biased or prejudiced views or b) condemns prejudice and discrimination - for all that there ought to be narratively.

But I might argue that the racism in Enstars isn't really a "narrative" but an "occasion". When it happens, its discussed, but once the moment is over, its over. These moments expressing racism are often forgotten and discarded up until they happen again - but even then, each expression of racism is a repeat of the previous with no development since or in between. With this sort of approach to racism, a grounded narrative discussing systemic issues cannot be sustained, and interpersonal squabbles can only be regurgitated.

#enstars #ensemble stars #crazy:b #alkaloid #rinne amagi #racism

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our-ensemble · 19 days ago

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Something else that I forgot to add:

Ibuki's rejection of being EsuPuri's leader has to do with him not liking its "childish" direction from what I gather, and he generally doesn't really seem to see himself as a child. In one of his winter voicelines, when he sees EsuPuri making snowman, he makes a remark about how they're enjoying their childhood, which is something he doesn't include himself in.

If he's trying to aim for a sense of maturity, then it would make sense why he might gravitate towards AKATSUKI since its a more "sophisticated" unit compared to the other ones in Enstars, especially with all of its members on the older end. However... that's also one of the biggest flaws of Ibuki's inclusion.

As many fans have mentioned, his short height makes him stand out too much in AKATSUKI's lineup, his higher voice disrupts the signature, deep sound of AKATSUKI's vocals (and before anyone assumes - no, I hold no ill-will towards the voice actor), and his age puts him in a distinct position separating him from the other members' experiences. Either we have a story about him "growing up" - which begs the question of why he as one of the younger characters is being encouraged to do so when, while definitely youthful, he is far from immature (and also a question of whose definition of "grown up" we are following) - or we have a story where the other 3 members of AKATSUKi go back and forth between acting their age and trying to meet Ibuki's stride in between everything else that they have going on.

If AKATSUKI's story were anything else, this could have been a point of interest, but as it stands, it just feels like an unnecessary plot point that ignores the more established points about Ibuki and AKATSUKI by creating hijinks that detract from a more fruitful narrative (which has already been a problem for fans with some Enstars units).

In the end, the inclusion of Ibuki in AKATSUKI to separate him from his "childlike" peers does the opposite by emphasizing how much of a child he truly is when compared to other characters. That, to me, is also a sign of how HappyElements is going out of its way to put Ibuki in AKATSUKI.

On Ibuki, Identity, And Establishing A Character

With Ibuki being a new character, there’s a lot of potential for where he goes – but at the same time, Enstars has established quite a bit in the time since release. Below, I’ll jot down my feelings in regards to his identity.

When it comes to his identity, Enstars in-text and announcements (such as 4piece’s Final Ceremony) calls him half-American, half-Okinawan. This alone stands out, because he isn’t being associated with the entire country of Japan, but with a specific region. This is an unusual way for Enstars to refer to any of its characters, with the closest any character being to this sort of region-based identification character being Mika.

Mika is one of the few characters whose regional background is specified, with him being from Kansai – but even still, it doesn’t compare to Ibuki. Mika’s character description makes no mention of this, nor does he address himself as such. He is classified by his nation, not his specific city/region of origin, meaning that he is considered Japanese, not explicitly called Osakan.

When it comes to characters whose nationalities and/or ethnicities are mentioned, there is Adonis (“A young idol that came to Japan from the Middle East” <- !!-era character description; “I was born to a Japanese mother and a foreign father…” <- !!-era self description) and Aira (“He is a quarter French…” <- character description).

But with the characters above, who are each half-Japanese, the term Japanese or Japan is used. They don’t have a region specified the way that Ibuki does, so we can see that this isn’t something that Enstars is implementing on account of Ibuki being half-American.

From his description alone, he’s already distinct because he doesn’t mention Japan at all, but has no problem mentioning Okinawa, so we already see a distinct and unique relationship with Japan.

Then, there’s also how he addresses himself. In his Idol Story 1, he explicitly calls himself uchinaanchu (うちなぁんちゅ) (In the voiced video for the Idol Story on the Youtube channel, this would be around the 0:44 mark). This is a term used by Ryukyuans, or Indigenous Okinawans, meaning that his relation to Okinawa isn’t just a matter of him being born there.

To elaborate on this, what I mean is that the term “Okinawan” on its own isn’t just used to describe Indigenous Okinawans, but in general, anyone who is a resident of Okinawa, or has some history in Okinawa (such as spending their youth in Okinawa). In English-speaking spaces, I personally find that people use the term Okinawan and Ryukyuan interchangeably, but there are certainly also people who use the term “Okinawan” by the other descriptions that I provide above. With Ibuki though, we aren’t seeing that he calls himself Okinawan specifically because of the circumstances of his birth – his ethnic background plays a role in his self-identification as well.

To summarize: he isn’t a guy who happens to have ties to Okinawa – he is specifically Indigenous to the Okinawan region.

Most importantly, when it comes to his relationship with his identity, we see that he regards his identity positively.

In Idol Story 1, Ibuki makes a comment about being discriminated against on the basis of being half-American, half-Okinawan (where he specifically uses the term uchinaanchu). Without getting too far for now into how Enstars uses this as a joke which risks underplaying the discrimination that marginalized groups face, we do see that Ibuki is familiar with the way that the groups that he belongs to are perceived, and condemns this discrimination.

There’s a comment that Ibuki makes in Idol Story 2 towards Tetora – “You shouldn’t think of yourselves as the standard for everything~, Mr. Japanese.” He pokes at how cultural ideas change with eras and places and so there is no one standard in Japan – despite its reputation as a homogeneous society – given the diversity that it has. (This does risk getting undercutted by Ibuki’s antagonistic role in the story, depending on how Ibuki’s pokings at Japanese society are depicted in Enstars from here on out.)

Ibuki’s pride is directed to both his Okinawan and American roots – his experiences in both places are valuable to him (which is going to be very important to remember later). This is consistent throughout all of his experiences – he continuously refers to cuisine and practices from both cultures without downplaying them.

What makes this especially important is that its distinct. For comparison: Rinne has a complicated relationship with the Amagi hometown due to his upbringing; Hiiro is trying to get acclimated to city-life and unlearn some of the ideas that he was raised with (though there is a lot more to say about the Amagis that I won’t get into here); Adonis deals with internalized racism as seen in his negative self-image; and Aira hasn’t made a strong claim to his French heritage since he wasn’t raised with French culture.

This is big, genuinely. His identity is not ambiguous, and he actively engages in it, which is also being directly shown in-game. But that also ties into another concern related specifically to discussions about Ryukyuans.

In the present, Ryukyuans are not a recognized Indigenous group in Japan. Instead, they are considered a sister group to the Yamato ethnic group, which is the predominant ethnic group in Japan (90+% of Japan is stated to be Yamato, with some sources putting them as high as 99%).

As such, Ibuki’s inclusion in AKATSUKI, which presents itself as a traditional Japanese group, is currently at a crossroads – either they acknowledge the Ryukyuans as a distinct group, but not to be treated differently from the Yamato, or they consider Ryukyuans an extension of the Yamato.

The latter is a concerning road to take given the assimilation of the Ryukyuans. When talking about assimilation, we usually talk about ethnic cleansing, which involves the prohibition of cultural practices or harm done to practitioners prohibiting them from engaging in their cultures. However, a part of assimilation that isn’t often discussed is absorption – as in, the targeted culture’s practices are deemed the practice of the dominant culture, thus denouncing or downplaying their claims to certain cultural ideas, if not all of them.

We see this especially in discussions about the Ryukyuan languages, to give a real-world example. When it comes to the prohibition of practices, in the Meiji era, to promote the use of Japanese and dissuade the use of the Ryukyuan languages, the language of instruction in Okinawan schools was exclusively Japanese, and use of any other language would be punished, usually by making the offending student wear a humiliating tag around their neck.

Then, when it comes to the absorption of practices, in the 19th century, the Ryukyuan languages were deemed dialects of Japanese. This strips the Ryukyuans of the ability to use their practices as a point of distinction and proof of Indigeneity, since their practices are mislabelled to integrate them into the dominant group. In the present, most discourses I’ve seen about the dialect vs. language classification agree that the Japanese government’s use of “dialect” (方言) is derived from political, social, and cultural arguments, not linguistic ones.

And so, when it comes to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, we are running the risk of misattributing Ryukyuan culture to all of Japan. Instead of their culture being “the practice of Indigenous Okinawans”, Enstars might label it, “the practice of Japanese people living in Okinawa.”

These Japanese vs. Ryukyuan cultural comparisons continue to be of great concern in Ibuki’s writing. In Ibuki’s Idol Story 3, he mentions that he’s trying to learn about the “true Japanese style” (和風). Here, we run into concerns about what constitutes true Japanese style – and the fact that Ibuki is searching for it implies that it is something he currently lacks. Ibuki is well-versed in Okinawan culture as was mentioned above, so what exactly is the part of Japanese culture that he struggles with? I don’t think its surprising for him to have some interest in the cultures of mainland Japan, but why should that be labelled the “true Japanese style”? Additionally, he has as much reason to consider himself Japanese as he does to call himself Okinawan, but as we see above, only the latter gets used for him.

And that gets us back to the importance of “ibuki as half-Okinawan” vs “Ibuki as half-Japanese”.

(Note: I am not Indigenous. The classifications that I’m making below are not supposed to be representative of every Indigenous person ever, and are mixed between local conversations that I’ve had and global debates. Corrections and alternative perspectives are encouraged.)

The self-classification of Indigenous peoples around the world, but something that we have seen is that not everyone associates with the nation-state that they were born.

Nation + Indigenous identification (Ex. A person calls themself Japanese-Ryukyuan) comes from different feelings and experiences across domains. For example, on one hand, in the legal and international dominant, the nation-state identity is what one will be referred to. The nation-state's culture is the one that a lot of children are raised in, and depending on the demographics of their area, it might be common that a parent and/or other family members will be from the dominant group, so its not wholly correct from an ethnic standpoint to reject the dominant identity. However, in other domains, the Indigenous identity still prevails. Maybe their Indigenous identity is more relevant locally, or their upbringing meant that they were sufficiently exposed enough to their respective cultural practices to build a foundational association with them. Nonetheless, its not a matter of one or the other – both identities have their place and relation (and it’s a very complicated thing to manage for people personally, not as clear-cut as I’ve put in my examples above).

Solely Indigenous identification (Ex. A person calls themselves Ryukyuan) comes from the rejection of the imposed nation-state identity – in particular, it rejects the borders that one’s respective Indigenous group was forced into. Whatever interaction there is with the dominant group – whether it be upbringing, blood ties, or extended exposure – it does not change the fact that one does not associate with the dominant group. Ultimately, the nation-state, irrespective of its legal and/or international presence, is deemed an imposed identity, not an organically originating one for those who refuse to call themselves by it.

(There are also Indigenous people who refer to themselves by solely the nation identification – I do not include this perspective because it does not relate to Ibuki specifically, but I ask that people keep it in mind when it comes to greater discussions of Indigeneity.)

For Ibuki, this is relevant because his lack of association puts him in the second category – he has never made any claims to Japan as a whole, and this is reflected in his written profile, meaning that it is something that Enstars is attributing to him, not fan interpretations.

Additionally, as seen in his interaction with Tetora in Idol Story 2, he is willing to poke at the idea of what constitutes being “Japanese”. As it currently stands with Enstars characters, there is a scale to how heavily characters associate themselves with Japan. I would personally put Aira at one end, given that he consciously makes attempts to follow norms since his appearance leads people to assume that he isn’t Japanese, leading to his complex, and I would put Rinne at the other end because for all that he enjoys the city-life, that doesn’t change the fact that he criticizes the idea of a homogeneous Japan, and he repeatedly condemns the historical treatment of his people.

I don’t think I would shock anyone if I said that Ibuki’s outlook is far more similar to Rinne’s. I also don’t think it would be shocking if I suggested that, if Rinne were to be written as Ibuki is, then it would be easier for people to see the contradiction between ideology and action.

But, as seen in Idol Story 3, Ibuki does have an interest in mainland culture. However, Ibuki isn’t unique for this – Adonis and Hiiro have a similar interest in mainland culture, yet their treatment has been vastly different. Using a Doylist lens, I’ll talk about why this is stands out to me.

As a precursor, let me note: Ibuki is still a character being established, and will take time to develop given Enstars’ medium as a gacha game, and I genuinely hope from the bottom of my heart that Enstars takes the many nuances of this situation into account – but this is unlikely given how Enstars has written racial minorities from its inception, and I don’t think its an unfair thing to voice concerns about.

In light of AKATSUKI’s mischaracterization, I don’t think its unfair to say that Ibuki’s characterization is also being “adapted” to justify his inclusion in AKATSUKI. I’m not using the term mischaracterization off the bat because I’m aware that people are going to take it in ways that I don’t intend it to, so let me explain:

Rather than thinking of it as “mischaracterization”, it would be more accurate to say that his characterization is being set up to make certain choices easier for the writing team. This has been a similar concern with Adonis’ internalized racism, given that his comments towards himself have been used to legitimize other characters’ tendency to describe him as “scary” rather than to serve his narrative and development. As such, instead of telling us anything about Adonis as a person, his internalized racism softens the discussion around racism by making it seem like racialized groups, too, find their own bodies as scary as out-groups do - which plays into racist assumptions that all racialized people consider themselves inferior culturally.

In Idol Story 3, we have Ibuki mention that he wants to find the “true Japanese style”, which Esu sympathizes with. The purpose of this scene isn’t to establish Ibuki’s motives – its to defend Enstars’ writing choice. Esu expresses sympathy, which prompts Ibuki to say that most people haven’t been understanding of his choice – but the question is who are these people? The closest we get to criticism about his choice to join AKATSUKI is Kuro and Souma’s reluctance, but even that isn’t permanent. We get throwaway lines about “people”, but never any clarification on what type of person. It’s a breaking of the fourth wall – and if we’re breaking it, lets go all the way.

People are surprised about Ibuki’s choice for many reasons, but allow me to say this – its sudden and doesn’t match up with what we’ve seen of Ibuki.

Between Idol Story 2 and VS. Audience, interacting with Keito suddenly gets him from “don’t assume what is or isn’t common in Japan” to “I need to find out what true Japanese style is.” Idol Story 3 doesn’t elaborate on this, it just puts it into plain words.

Again, as I’ve mentioned, Ibuki isn’t the first character to be interested in mainland culture. Adonis, specifically, is a friend of Souma who uses him as a reference for what is true Japanese culture. But at no point in his attempts to learn about Japanese culture does Adonis ever consider joining AKATSUKI, nor does Hiiro do the same in his attempts to learn about the city. Ibuki, despite having similar motives, is being treated is exceptionally invested. And I really want to emphasize that last sentence – there isn’t anything particularly strong or spectacular about Ibuki’s desire to learn, he isn’t written to be more determined than any other character, but Enstars expects us to see it differently.

It also doesn’t work with his character as established thus far, specifically as it pertains to character conflicts. In 4piece, we already see that Esu and Fuyume have a complicated relationship worsened by the airplane crash that took Esu’s father’s life, Kanna is burdened by the label “genius” and is unsure of how to become human, and Raika is suddenly being introduced to a society that he doesn’t understand. Ibuki has had almost as much screen time as EsuPuri, but he’s the only one to suddenly introduce a new character motivation.

At first glance, his unconstrained nature seemed to be a source of conflict given his tendency to pick fights and his easy-going nature. His mind in particular is said to be prone to swaying, and yet his resoluteness in joining AKATSUKI is unquestioned narratively from what I’ve seen. Wouldn’t other characters who know ibuki for his go-with-the-flow nature be surprised to see him give his all to a group? Instead, its being treated as something obvious that “people” need to respect.

There is some well speculation that Ibuki’s inclusion is meant to play into the ongoing idol-colonization of Okinawa in Enstars… but to be frank, connecting Ibuki to this plot point doesn’t require him joining AKATSUKI. In fact, one could argue that if Ibuki’s narrative purpose were to address this, he would be better off going solo or joining RYUSEITAI since this would give him more opportunities to address this plotline since AKATSUKI isn’t as heavily involved.

In the end, what really makes me doubtful about Ibuki’s writing is 1) the inclusion of the Rising Sun flag in the 2025 ver of “Hyakka Ryouran, Akatsukiyo” (百花繚乱紅月夜) and 2) concerns about his upcoming solo being about his identity – specifically a feeling of lack of identity.

Firstly… I truly don’t think that you can make a claim about respecting Ryukyuan culture if you’re doing so under an imperialistic image. Remember, the Ryukyuan’s problem is that they are being mislabelled as the Yamato’s sister group, so calling their practices “Japanese culture” from an ethnicity lens has problems. Also, using the Rising Sun flag to promote Ryukyuan culture risks associating their culture with the ideology that was used to ethnically cleanse them.

Secondly, Ibuki already has an identity. Its one of his most established traits, to be clear. If concerns of fans turn out to be true and it turns out that Ibuki is insecure in his identity, then we must ask: where is this coming from? Maybe its not his ethnicity specifically that he has problems with – don’t worry, I’ll allow nuance – but as I’ve said above, none of this is what we have seen with Ibuki thus far. It feels like they’re introducing this new insecurity to poke at fans who don’t like this decision to put him in AKATSUKI – “See, you’re the exact sort of person that makes Ibuki insecure! Aren’t you awful? Really, since this is Ibuki’s choice which absolutely isn’t being influenced by anything else, it shows that you don’t have any respect for people like Ibuki who follow their dreams (even if their dream is to follow the status quo against their own wishes)!”

But there’s another thing that Enstars risks saying with Ibuki, which is that yes, he may be Okinawan, but it’s not enough for him to just consider himself Okinawan – but if so, why? Why is it necessary that he call himself Japanese from an ethnic standpoint when he has not claimed that identity nor has been given a reason thus far to do so – an identity that has been used to erase his community?

#ibuki taki

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our-ensemble · 20 days ago

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On Ibuki, Identity, And Establishing A Character

From his description alone, he’s already distinct because he doesn’t mention Japan at all, but has no problem mentioning Okinawa, so we already see a distinct and unique relationship with Japan.

To summarize: he isn’t a guy who happens to have ties to Okinawa – he is specifically Indigenous to the Okinawan region.

Most importantly, when it comes to his relationship with his identity, we see that he regards his identity positively.

And that gets us back to the importance of “ibuki as half-Okinawan” vs “Ibuki as half-Japanese”.

To explain this, its important to note how many Indigenous groups self-identify, especially in relation to their nation-state.

People are surprised about Ibuki’s choice for many reasons, but allow me to say this – its sudden and doesn’t match up with what we’ve seen of Ibuki.

#story notes #ensemble stars #enstars #ibuki taki

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our-ensemble · 22 days ago

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Some Personal Thoughts on Disability in Enstars

disclaimer: disability is a very broad term that covers many different experiences. i will be talking about physical disabilities since i feel most comfortable doing so/have experience with them. obviously that ignores a Huge part of what disability and chronical illness is and can be. but i think it is beyond my capabilities to talk about experiences i don't know much about.

alt caption: i think ritsu is a good character and im trying to explain to myself why

this is sort of a long post, sorry.

content warnings: i talk about ableism and touch on related topics such as dehumanization and objectification and such below. individual parts of this post have their own cw's.

Enstars Writing, Beloathed

to get this out of the way; it is bad sometimes. this is discussed very often. it doesnt depend on the authors either, in my opinion, some writers will hit you with something really troublesome only to (seemingly accidentally) invent human emotion and compassion in a different story. i dont want to repeat what others have said eloquently but there is a fair amount of imperialist worldviews, xenophobia, just racism really, transphobia, ableism, and copaganda to be found in enstars. this isnt about x character being x thing, but about how it is very noticable when the author of a story holds these worldviews and they bleed into their stories.

so that is not the greatest foundation if youre looking for well-written disabilities. but i wouldnt be reading enstars if i didnt think it genuinely is really really good sometimes. in my opinion, the way disabilities are portrayed is a mixed bag overall but there are some extremely worthwhile bits that touched me quite a lot.

What I personally understand as Well-Written Disability

the way disabled people suffer often goes unnoticed, and disabled people dont have a platform to talk about oppression. a lot of life-changing issues can go unnoticed to those unnaffected by them, even if they are in broad daylight: underfounded or entirely lacking healthcare, the way many healthcare systems are marketbased and ethics are prone to suffer bc of this (even under 'welfare' capitalism), a lack of equal marriage, the inaccessibility of the most basic and necessary facilities, financing care and the dependency on family/loved ones (both a logistical and psychological problem), the huge stigma against disabled people, etc, etc, you get me....

we need to write about people who need care, to keep them in mind at all times. disabled people are not a minority in a mathematical sense but in a hierarchical sense. it is naive to think of them as "a substancial percentage" of populations. as we age, we inevitably all enter the stage of needing care at some point. SO to an extend, i want to claim its a topic that affects every single person. yet disabled people are rarely a central topic anywhere. it is not enough to acknowledge them, we need to plan and think with them in mind. and Write with them in mind, i guess.

SO when i see fiction grapple the topic, i am usually really happy, even if the portrayal isnt ideal. (critical, maybe, but generally speaking very happy) pointing out "badly" written disabled characters is obviously not as easy as calling someone out for uncritically saying "i think eugenics are a good idea!!!" through fiction. people with that sort of facist mindset exist of course but ableism does not end there.

if i were to single out things i see often: i think the most disappointing thing a story can do is to - mention a disability without it ever having an impact on people in the story (-> the disability is basically nonexistent, has no impact or relevance, outside of a theoretical mention) OR - uncritically use a disabled character as a mere plot devise, without granting them the ability to speak (-> dehumanization, a lack of understanding that disabled people are, well, People. they do shit.)

and then of course there is fetishization, both in a literal sense and in an inspiration porn sense and the problem of turning disability into a caricature for jokes (either to other disabled people for their behaviour/body or to create a sense of satisfying superiority by laughing at them) but i feel like those problems explain themselves.

to apply these to very basic examples: i think often something like a robotic sci-fi prosthetic is not a good way to represent a disability because it fails to represent what people go through irl and provides a "magic fix" without repercussions. here is a really good post about it. about the plot device issue... i think it is similar to what people often criticise as "manpain". a disabled person will never appear or speak, they are demoted to being the reason an able-bodied character acts a certain way, like a lifeless accessory. this doesnt always have to be bad, esp if its just a sideplot! but it can get tiring if the audience never gets to learn about other aspects of the unseen character in question and we are only introduced to their suffering.

all of this to talk about gacha idol boys. it is how it is. anyway, this is roughly my mental state when i tackle enstars.

disclaimer 2: i am really just a kogaP. this influences which characters i encounter when reading. there are tons of stories i just never looked at and there is SO MUCh lore i just dont know about. please lemme know if you have additions to stuff i say/understand a character better/have related story recommendations! tl;dr the sakuma bit will be long.

disclaimer 3: i genuinely adore every single character mentioned below and am always excited to learn smth new about them. if i criticize writing, that has nothing to do with that character or their fans. it is about the writers.

the most obvious example. Eichi (content warning for brief mentions of self harm and suicidal ideation)

everything eichi does, he does with the knowledge he will most likely die young. that is a truly dramatic setup.

but before i get back to that thought. it always felt to me like eichis illness(/es) lack a certain sense of conciseness? i do not think you need to put a name and diagnosis on it for it to be relatable and real to readers, tbh!! though to achieve believability, there needs to be a good amount of consistency. what i can recall off the top of my head is the following:

he breaks down/straight up blacks out frequently due to weakness and dizzyness

measures were taken to secure his safety in those situations (the infamous Eichi-kun Gauge as seen in Element)

his stamina is seriously low

he coughs a lot

we saw him cough up blood (Daydream)

he relies on long hospital stays because his health needs to be monitored and/or supported this closely

he stays inside a lot (hinting towards problems with his immune system?)

being healthy enough to eat unhealthy food is a big deal to him, so there are dietary restrictions/it was necessary to precisely control what he eats

his grandfather, who died recently, is considered an outlier for how long he lived (so it IS hereditary)

which..... could be a lot of things...? or, more likely: a culmination of many things at once. if you have headcanons on eichis health, please lemme know!

but in addition to eichis terminal illness, there is a second quality to him that separates him from most disabled people: he is extremely wealthy. and his wealth is fundamentally important to stories. usually illness and poverty go hand in hand, since income is tied to the ability to work, which worsens an already bad situation. no matter how limited eichis actions are because of his body, the possibilties offered by his wealth make him a central figure in every overarching plot. in addition to this, his family is well aware of his consitution and he is a patriarchal leading figure to them, the head to their coporate hierachy. eichi is free of the things that usually rid the chronically ill of their safety and power: society (he is an idol and popular) and money (he is the richest boy in japan). if youd ask me, i think that while being chronically ill is of course physically taxing, the worse problem is the economic state it puts you in. eichi simply overcomes this? yes, he is terminally ill, his situation is terrifying. but he has an extraordinary amount of control while he lives. more than a poor yet able-bodied person may have.

his unique circumstances enable him to be incredibly active. this is so fun to read about in my opinion. its a fascinating setup to me. without casting any sort of moral judgement on his actions and the antagonistic role he plays; he is, excuse me for my phrasing here, a disabled power fantasy. (at least to me)

this is a double-edged sword to him. because of who he is as a person (ambitious, cunning, ruthless, diligent)

he lives in relative safety but his strong ambition and financial ability to fulfill his dreams tempt him to go past his limits. because his remaining lifetime is uncertain, the need to preserve the body he is given seems uneconomical (a mindset his upbringing and education as an heir to his family would have enforced imo) he is bound to break down sooner or later anyway. i think he begins to see himself and his body as a tool to achieve his goals and neglects spending time on anything BUT working towards them. so the moment he runs out of goals (like at the end of Element), his reason to "remain" becomes futile.

it really struck with me how he appears in Blackbird - emaciated, pathetic, purposefully neglected because he chose to be neglected and weak in an act of self harm bc denying medical attention (something that couldnt have happened otherwise) wataru has to remind him that no one died and the obvious connection to make is that the eccentrics are physically unharmed and starting over, that they should not be a source of guilt to eichi. but i think this is just as much about eichi himself. he might have expected to die since he left the hospital and overexhausted himself at school and as an idol. he didnt die though. it was a real possibility and seemed likely but he didnt. the neglect and indirect self harm here point out, to me, that he saw the "role" he gave himself as fulfilled at that point and waited to die.

eichi stands over economic or social factors that could ostracize and dehumanize him but funnily enough he manages to do so himself by treating his body as a tool and his happiness as an option that got overshadowed by a need to succeed.

this vulnerability makes him, despite how vague the descriptions of his illness are and despite how unrelatable his wealth is, a very satisfying character imo. it is engaging to me. certain limits are removed for him but he created new ones, specifically because he did not see himself as something worth sustaining once he becomes useless. imo, eichi applied the idea that a lifes worth can be measured in its ability to function in an industry to himself. and spiralled over it, entirely inverting his uncanny amount of bodily autonomy. it is clear how the situation he is in worsens his mental health like that. and how his mental health in turn worsens his physical health. it is inseperable.

i cant really get into !! era eichi because i genuinely just dont... know enough. the fine tradition of having a weekly H-Day stands out, though. after all, eichi has new bigger ambitions and is, once again, inviting his own ruin through overexhaustion. so his friends (the new addition of having friends is essential) had to forcefully make him stop for at least one day a week. that is pretty big. i think.

this is true for many marginalized existences so it of course applies to disabled people: if neither your surroundings nor yourself permit you to feel human and therefore assign your person an inherent worth and lovability... sometimes you need a friend to do so!!! social circles are the best support structure for your health.

The Sakuma Family

(i will get into ritsu and rei seperately later on. there are just a few concepts i want to get out of the way that apply to both of them.)

so... to get a little theoretical; the concept of "disability" relies on the concept of a "normative" human existence. "disability" is an otherness and can therefore easily be seen as a "monstrocity" in the eyes of ignorant people, something that instils fear. (there is a reason why a lot of horror exploits disabled bodies as a source of terror and uses mental hospitals as settings) from an able-bodied point of view it seems "desirable" to be a "normative human", yet the disabled person knows that is not a possibility and knows their worth and place as a human in human spaces. at least ideally. able-bodied people sometimes lack this understanding. there is nothing to be desired about an able body or fixed about a disabled body, beyond what medical care can do for ones quality of life.

if you have read operetta, this is all very familiar;

operetta, chapter 17 and, well, here we are. vampires. a very basic truth about the sakuma family that i hate to see denied is that they are human. there is nothing supernatural about them. they are just disabled. or, to turn the idea around, if one was to assign them vampiristic traits and such... is vampirism not a disability and should be taken seriously as such? if you consider the limits a vampire has while coordinating through their life, is that not... strangely just a disabled experience? (MINUS THE KILLING PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY but much modern fiction is sympathetic towards vampires instead and does not display them as violent)

anyway, to hear it from the horses mouth (the horse is rei):

operetta, chapter 19 the sakuma family is a curious case. their condition is hereditary though the severity varies from person to person. it comes up in many stories but for the most part i am thinking about operetta, resurrection sunday, and devils right now. how did this all start? what made an entire family turn to live as vampires, with blood ceremonies and all that? what bizarre kind of generational trauma is this?

(and, while it does not play a role as important as it did for eichi, they are rich. this is important to mention. many normal experiences just dont apply to them because wealth makes them immune. ... how did the sakumas become this influential anyway.)

for an unspecified but long time, an entire family managed to mentally entirely seperate themselves from the rest of humanity because of their chronical illness. personally, i have no doubt this is the result of a world that othered them first. whether the main motivator at play here is a defensiveness towards a society that cannot understand you or an internal need to turn hardships into an identity that can be carried with pride. it takes a considerable amount of emotional strength and planning for the "hey we are human actually" declaration in operetta to occur.

they are, weirdly, what people mean when they talk about a "toxic anti-recovery mindset". (an expression i struggle with because this sort of rhetoric is often used to discriminate against disabled people who speak up for themselves or ask for accomodations. but that aside) it is an amount of pride that leads to internal self destruction.

of course, as is the case with every single character i write about in this post, a lot of it has to do with aesthetics and being chuuni to sell gacha cards. so we know the reason behind the reason. but it makes for some bizarre in-universe implications.

but in any case, the fact that their identity as false vampires is something they have always carried, that modern society sees as "mystical and sexy" has a hilarious side effect: their disability becomes marketable under the guise of vampirism. it is hard to recover from that.

so again, we have a double-edged sword: to present ones medical condition as a "persona" declares it as a performative act, something that is done to bring joy to an audience. personal detriment is not considered here, since it stops being a part of ones being and starts to become "work". the time and place of ones symptoms has to overlap with the time and place of ones performances. or people will hate you for your uncontrollable illness. however, rei and ritsu are both also able to carry their condition with a sort of playfulness. it is almost something like the act of "reclaiming" when they purposefully choose to larp a little for fun. usually, when a scene mentions their disability in the context of comic relief, they have control over the situation that unfolds and even initiate it and invite others to laugh alongside them. this can be a slippery slope to getting harrassed of course.... but i am rather baffled by the amount of dominance they have in social interactions. so it just reads as a healthy amount of dark humour to me.

this, and the consistent writing of their symptoms, and the ability to easily compare it to real existing illnesses, easly make them my favourite instance of written disabled people in the series. their illness has an impact on their behaviour and it is detrimental! and they are both very human in the way they attempt to cope. there is a certain realism to it. idek.

many people seem to headcanon them with myalgic encephalomyelitis, which is a really good explanation, and i personally want to suggest narcolepsy. the point being, there is room to accurately assign them a realistic relatable and understandable condition, even if nothing is ever named in canon. and of course they are mentioned to have an iron deficiency.

bear with this slightly "out there" theory for a moment: have you or a friend ever tried to get a compensation for your disadvantage at school or uni? it can be really hard to do, if it is possible at all, even if it is something very simple (more time, a slightly different enviroment, the ability to drink or sit, etc) yumenosaki is a school for performance arts, mainly idols. bold statement: it might genuinely be easier to get/explain an accommondation for your "idol quirk" (something that would be actively fostered), than for your disability. not that yumenosaki is very strict or asks for a lot anyway, its just something that has been on my mind.

here is another funny thing i have been thinking about: both of them crave juice, soda, and fruit - sugary yet fresh stuff. i feel like this is not uncommon for people who suffer from excessive tiredness and fatigue, the body subconsciously wishes for some sugar intake to "wake up".

Inventing a Guy to Cope. Rei

funny title aside... he... did that... ? rei is a curious example of how different mostly unrelated traumas can overlap. he had no childhood, thanks to his family that considered him "mature" at a very young age and his early status as a child star. and his bad health is a miserable addition to this. it is quite scary to image how pressured to do right he felt growing up and how that resulted in the fragmented distanced way he views himself; reinventable, and ultimately unknowable. (to others AND himself)

despite his bad health he has always been working and performing "well". he was praised for his remarkable talents but rarely had the chance to stop and patch himself up. whether this was a result of a pushy enviroment or his personality as a people pleaser who cannot show weakness and imperfection is hard to tell. maybe both.

the state he is in in Crossroad is fascinating to me. he all but directly lists the criteria of depression to keito when he attempts to explain his sorrows. he is restless, rowdy, mentions later on that he enrolled in yumenosaki against his familys wishes. he is very much searching for joy and his own identity in the middle of a health emergency. this has to do with the way he was raised, only knowing how to exist for and serve others, how he was made to sell a made-up version of himself, but i also believe it has to do with the fact he has started to exclude himself from his familys traditions and values. he started to cast away the uncertain "monstrosity" existence of his family (as well as the false idolhood others assigned him) and instead embraces humanity as a chronically ill person.

crossroad, i forgor which chapters

this of course marks a starting point of change that later results in him making up the wagahai pronouns persona - something he specifically created with the intention of looking vulnerable and weak. because he yearned to do less, to recover from years of exhaustion.

in a way, i want to say both, the ore pronouns persona and the wagahai pronouns persona, are attempts to cope with expectations he cannot handle physically or mentally. one relies on masking, on appearing stronger than he actually is and therefore invulnerable, and the other relies on exaggerating his weakness, in an attempt to finally let others recognize it. i think as a disabled person, both are performances one has to learn in order to "function" in everyday life, while remaining safe from serious harm (doing badly at ones job or classes, angering others that hold power over your life). since ones circumstances are often hard to grasp for someone who does not share the same illness, there is no choice but to simplify and exaggerate until symptoms become tangible concepts or to just brave through it, at the cost of ones health and future time.

rei in particular, for better or for worse, is incredibly capable when he needs to be and unfortunately that means others will often not take his health seriously because they saw him function just fine the other day. this is a general problem but an obvious offender in that regard is koga, who comments on reis fatigue constantly and loves to create a bit of a high expectations toxic work enviroment (and, to be fair, rei terrorizes him too. kogas hostility towards rei is sometimes ableist but not really rooted in ableism. after all koga is highly aware how performative the wagahai persona can be and is a huge motivational and inspirational factor in reis life. its a whole complex)

!! era holds some positive changes. his mental need to please other people remains a persistent source of trouble for him (and others) but he seems to really let his body recover and lives a more nocturnal life. both kuro and kaoru mention that he looks more healthy (in succession match???? i think??) since he finally stopped enforcing a normal day/night cycle on his body just to comply with social norms. you can indeed be very human even if you break human-made rules.

(additional comment: "becoming human" is of course a theme for each of the eccentrics and not uniquely tied to disability, it very much has to do with the objectification one goes through as a public figure. but this is a post about disability and it really fits in well. so here we go)

Literally Just a Realistic Teenager. Ritsu

ritsu, while not really being among my favourite characters, is my favourite instance of a disabled character in enstars. partly because of his writing and partly because my personal experiences overlap with his so much it sometimes is painful - but always extremely satisfying. just had to get that out.

ritsu is perhaps the most visibly ill. he blacks out and sleeps where he stands, everywhere, without control and often requires other peoples (well, mostly maos) assistance in order to remain safe when this happens. he also repeated a year of school, specifically because of his disability.

he is painfully aware of this. that he looks ill, that he behaves ill, that he is an underachiever compared to others of the same age, even to people younger than him.

ritsu developed unique behaviours to deal with this: he is very dependent and clingy and often asks others to do things for him, unapologetically. that does not mean asking for help doesnt hurt his pride, just that it is the most viable strategy for everyday survival that he ended up with. other than that, he clings more to the vampire identity than rei does. either to defy his older brother or, and this is important imo, because it is the one safety net he has to fall back on that makes him feel "normal" and like he is a regular being. albeit not human. no matter how much others might blame him for his shortcomings or how much he is a failure in the eyes of society, he is very regular for a "vampire". under the logic developed by his family, he is just a child, and the world at large is to blame. it is an easier truth to accept than facing systematic injustice and prejudice in a human world.

the stories i mentioned in another part above aside, i really love what ensemble band does for him; ritsu gets extremely irritated with mao in the prologue, seemingly out of nowhere. his character is allowed to express this sort of anger and to take it out on others, even if it is unjust and misguided. it is not pretty and it isnt good behaviour but it is a very heartfelt emotion to me.

its obvious that he cannot compete with others and that this will always been seen as his personal fault instead of a circumstance he cannot influence. and more than that: no one appreciates the real efforts he makes. for instance, getting himself out of bed in time for classes is difficult for regular teenagers and straight up hellish for ritsu. but he manages to do so a lot later on. instead of acknowledging that this is a real accomplishment on his part and possibly really exhausting and bad for his comfort in the long run, this is seen as doing the bare minimum.

while it is not correct, the malice ritsu sometimes treats others with comes from an comprehensible place. able-bodied ignorance can appear as purposeful slights made by those more privileged than him.

yet he learns to conform. his friends are important to him. knights success is important to him. (thought mental health probably played a role here too and made things even harder prior to his third year of high school) and yet;

seven bridge, chapter 24, but its really just an example i had at hand

the remarks stay the same. his peers still cannot help but brand him as "just lazy", even if they are kind and understanding otherwise and habour no ill intent. so i would like to ask: how long can he keep this up? how hard is this on him?

i dont think i need to explain just how common and hurtful it is to be accused of "laziness". probably the single most irritating comment someone with fatigue will hear every single day.

however, on the flipside, ritsu has perhaps the most people who care for him in comparison with other characters, though they sometimes complain (communication is hard, care is hard, everyone in enstars is very young and i cannot bring myself to see those comments as malice. its a mixture of ignorance and ones own burdens) there is mao, obviously. tsumugi is a very funny example. knights, of course, in particular naru. (at least based on my humble knights readings)

quite interesting how he just decided mao is his caretaker, now and in the future. i shared a few of my thoughts on caretaking here. this is.... a huge responsibility to just put on someones shoulders, to say the least. he shouldnt be doing this but i think it speaks for itself that this is a problem that is on his mind. ITS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT TOPIC TO BRING UP, especially since, the younger you are, the harder it is to get insurance to pay for your care. yes, he is often just teasing mao, but ritsu is looking for ways to get through life. by learning to be as independent as possible, whenever possible. though often you really just find yourself at the mercy of friends and family.

Inter-Sibling Violence

apologies, i will be done with the sakumas soon. i didnt know how to fit this in at the start.

the relationship between rei and ritsu, as people with the same disability who experiences different symptoms and challenges, is worth thinking about. infighting within people of the same disability is very common since experiences can be so different, there are no universal truths or opinions. with different lifestyles come different expectations for what is "normal" and sometimes pressure and social norms can cause someone to shift blame onto others who have no achieved the same things in life.

rei and ritsu are said to have been very close as small children and likely depended on each other a lot. i can see how reis fostering nature and ritsus needy nature developed alongside each other and enforced each other.

time and time again, rei says that he is a "less severe" case, that ritsu has it worse. he jets around the world because he feels forced to do so, when ritsu just wanted emotional support from him to begin with. ritsu stayed alone at home, sheltered and likely caged by their families convictions. but! i want to suggest the following: as much as it hurt him, it was important for reis health to be away from his family, too. i dont think staying there would have been good for him. his absence and the experiences he made away from home were an important catalyst for the positive family development we see in operetta.

of course, rei means well. he cares. he is trying to have a positive impact. yet from ritsus point of view, all of this must feel terribly condescending, especially with how much rei babies him. there is just one year between them. this is barely anything when it comes to sibling inferiority complexes the brain can make up. rei, who is successful and famous and beloved and, most importantly, proclaims to have it "easier than him", is trying to find a cure for him. from ritsus point of view this must be unbearable. their lives are so different when they basically started at the very same point of origin.

more than that, rei shoulders the sketchy blood rituals himself, out of love of course, but if one was more jaded, one could assume he doesnt think ritsu would be able to stomach the responsibility.

you will always compare yourself to your siblings in unhealthy ways but ritsu is just doing this on hard mode, i fear.

HHHRAGAHHHH GHHH ghgghrhgh. Niki

nikis writing is... driving me up a wall sometimes, to say the least. dont get me wrong, i love him. to an extend i understand that his single-mindedness and shallowless has purpose to it. in fact, i adore these character traits. he really seems to be behind four mental barriers at all times, unable to let deeper thoughts touch him, lest they make him succumb to despair. (yet nikis specific flavour of menhera cannot quite shine since... well, he has to stand next to himeru all the time)

the descriptions we get of nikis illness are nonsensical, at least to my knowledge. you could imagine he has something like hyperthyroidism. this never really gets explored though. at some point ENGstars mentions he has "gastroptosis or whatever" (the "or whatever" is part of his dialogue - niki really doesnt give a fuck), which makes no sense at all. weirdly enough, it would even be strangely in character if this was just a misconception.

so, can anyone take niki to a doctor? has this happened and i just wasnt there for it? there is no excuse why no one is considering medical care when it comes to him. except that he often is the butt monkey of jokes the writers want to make and has to stay available for it. more than that; his parents just left him alone like this? as a child? did he get an allowance at least? this cannot be legal, right? i wait for the day this comes up as a topic but i fear it is in vain. (please tell me if it actually did. i dont follow niki that closely) this is an unbelievable thing to do to a healthy child, yet alone one with a severe illness. we are basically looking at denial of assistance.

so many things surrounding nikis story are designed to make him as miserable as possible. i cannot help but feel that he exists purely as comic relief, for funny bickering, and superficial drama. i dont really like that at all, his misery just gets exploited.

EVEN SO... his self-image is actually really fascinating. as rinne likes to point out again and again, niki has no self-worth. he works two jobs, one of which he hates, he constantly gets into dangerous situations, and he will do anything just for some crumbs, and quickly forgets when others treat him badly. and of course, the worst bit:

es!! main story, please dont make me go find it

to some degree, he just accepts this as something he deserves. there is no consideration for his own quality of life, somewhere along the lines it seems like he got conviced just surviving is all he gets. he internalized self-degredation to a dangerous degree and i never see anyone mention this mental affliction specifically as a comorbidity of his disability. to me, there is without a doubt a relation here. sure, maybe he would still fight with this otherwise, just because he had to witness his fathers fall from grace as a child and knows there is a stigma attached to his name now. but i think you can tell it is more than that, from the way he is ashamed to beg (even in a life or death scenario, as seen in hot limit), as if his condition was his own fault.

this circles back to the point i made earlier for eichi; how much nikis life is worth, is measured in his economical value.

of the characters i have spoken of so far, nikis is financially the most accurate to real life. there is no safety net for him, no convenient family wealth.

(at this point it feels important to mention that somehow rinne manages to be the only person entirely aware of the danger and desires to change nikis mindset, YET he is a huge strain on nikis health. i dont know how those two function.)

Just a Lamb. Tatsumi

tatsumis specific trauma is a unique one: while most other characters struggle with conditions they were born with or developed as they grew up, tatsumis injury is the result of strain and violence. those are two different pairs of shoes, though the outcome may be similar. whether it is worse to be born into circumstances you cannot escape or to have to live with having something thrust upon you unfairly is up to personal judgement. pain is not really quantifiable. its just important to keep in mind, i think. under the circumstances tatsumi grew up in, he has his own burdens. it is very easy in many ways to compare and contrast him with eichi. of course this applies to how they used their bodies too: as an expandable resource. they had ideals for their school life (and beyond) that just seemed far more important and they both ended up in hospital because of this. (+ we know tatsumis surroundings were purposefully manipulated to destroy him)

and, of course, tatsumi got attacked later on. he never really talks about it directly but his legs seem to talk for him, in ways.

the story does not quite make it clear whether his occasional weakness and pain are the result of old injuries or entirely psychosomantic, and i dont think there is a real need to know, as a reader. in fact, in a certain light, i think it can be considered good that we dont know for certain: it would be relevant for tatsumi himself, sure, since it would influence which kinds of treatments and help he can seek out. however, i think the ambiguity may foster a certain level of sympathy in readers.

often psychosomatic problems are not taken seriously enough in real life: they cannot be proven physically and they dont fit into the neat little boxes that the ICD wants you to believe exist, so they cannot be defined on paper or easily explained to doctors or insurance providers.

to foster empathy with his situation requires his character to be lovable and for the narrative to treat him with care as well. which is thankfully the case. alkaloid are dear with him and, despite the fact he cannot perform in his work enviroment all the time, he is very respected for his other skills. he is a well-rounded person.

all that aside. it is absolutely worth to mention tatsumi pre-injury, too. he came up with a form of small-scale universal income among a semi-union at school. without getting too much into all that. (obbligato really seems like required lecture in the realm of enstars stories) the entire concept strives for social equality and is extremely anti-discrimination. it fundamentally goes against the idea that someone needs to "deserve" care, and is the opposite of the mindset i described with eichi and niki above. he never had to make first-hand experiences with disability to be extremely compassionate. this seems really rare among people in real life, even those who preach altruism.

While we are Here. K.... Kaname

as mentioned, i spoke a little about kaname before. so i wont get into the complex of caregiving.

it is extremely satisfying we got to meet kaname, if only for one event story. he does not have to remain a faceless motivation behind himeru and tatsumis lives, he thankfully became humanized.

the entire conflict around kaname at the moment is a matter of bodily autonomy. how much of your person can be in anothers hand, ethically? there is no excuse for the theft of his (idol) identity through himeru but the damage is done now. ideally, you dont want any part of yourself to depend on others but the disabled reality is that this is very often impossible. especially for kaname. there simply is no one else who could be responsible for him right now and, to be fair, at least when it comes to medical care, himeru seems to behave very responsibly.

repeating what has been said in the other post but i am worried for kanames seemingly inevitable reintroduction to the story. he has been in a comatose state for a year. if he wakes (since this is fiction, it is possible to exchange 'if' for 'when', realistically it really would be an 'if' though) he would most likely be confronted with permanent neurological and physical damage and years of rehabilitation. at least logically. (not to mention the psychological shock) would this be written with compassion and a sense of realism? it makes for a compelling source of conflict and emotional hardships that could be extremely worthwhile to explore. i just cant entirely bring myself to trust the writers with this one but i would love to be convinced otherwise.

that is, of course, if they dont somehow just skip rehabilitation entirely and declare it a miracle healing.....

imo, the in-game discourse between characters is just as important as his future development. i just really hope autonomy and recovery will be large topics.

He doesnt go here, but. Adonis

so bringing him up just really feels necessary within the context of this post because of his interests. one of adonis hobbies is sign language and accessibility.

this is, i think, maybe the best thing they ever did with his "protector" persona. it just fits so well, it is a direct conversion of ideals to actions. knowing undead songs have been translated for a deaf audience in canon is extremely wholesome and uplifting, even if it is entirely inconsequential for the story and just something that gets mentioned.

(now that sandstorm is out on engstars, you can check that out too for further mentions of this! if i could wish for one thing, it would be for the stories to acknowledge that there are tons of independent sign languages and i would love to know which one adonis and rei speak... you ever think about how adonis speaks like four languages fluently. at least.)

nightless city live, chapter 3

everyone in undead loved that and supported the vision. to see koga, who is usually against anything but musical performances and wishes to express art freely, praise the idea really puts deaf identity and accessibility in a great light. it is a very positively radical forwardthinking idea.

so, i just wanted to mention that. adonis is treated horribly by the narrative a lot, it entirely fails to grasp his identity and is insensitive towards foreign cultures, but i would die for him i think.

finishing thoughts

like mentioned, please absolutely let me know if you have different related ideas or recommendations. or corrections, or worries over something i wrote!!! learning and improving is always great. i am sorry i could not get into so many other characters, the ones i wrote about are those that i feel confident enough to comment on. in the future i would love to meet maguro!! i just havent really read any mama stories at all :'''3

i feel like i barely said anything at all and barely engaged with text enough since i didnt get into any character specifically. i would love to write another post about ritsu or rei or both. a draft for it has been sitting around for ages (as did the draft for this post, lol) but i hope someone will find an interesting thought in here somewhere.

all in all, enstars is actually... surprisingly nice to read for the disability in there??? even if it is disappointing in handling many other things. of course, the writings not always ideal (i read hidden beast just the other day and the ableism in there took years off my life) but often its really nice. nothing hits quite like seeing real emotions and experiences through some metaphorical stylized anime lense, you feel.

anyway thank you for listening. i am actually for real done now.

#enstars #ensemble stars #disability #eichi tenshouin #rei sakuma #ritsu sakuma #niki shiina #tatsumi kazehaya

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our-ensemble · 23 days ago

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Dear denizens of Tumblr, would any of you happen to have any resources or advice about learning (written) Japanese that you would recommend on your person. Or a word of encouragement as OP undergoes this daring endeavour.

#stars of mine #yes this is related to the whole es thing #I'm not translating all of es I'm not THAT daring #however... I Am Learning For Reasons #I already know hiragana + katakana + a solid 3 grammar rules #now. time to learn everything else #to delete later

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our-ensemble · 25 days ago

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let us take a moment and grieve for all the lives lost. so many thousand people have been murdered by the zionist entity in the last fifteen months. palestinians in gaza have lost too much, from friends and family to their homes and livelihood.

this ceasefire is not an end to our solidarity with gaza. we will all be here waiting and praying for palestine to be wholly liberated from the occupation and watch her people be happy and free.

in the meantime, please keep donating to palestinian fundraisers. it is essential to support families planning on rebuilding.

alaa is a mother of two young children. her fundraiser has been verified. i request you to help her by sharing and donating to her gofundme.

please donate here

#palestine #support

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our-ensemble · 25 days ago

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Hello. This is Mahmoud Khalaf from Gaza, currently studying in Ireland. I hope you’re doing well. You’ve been incredibly kind in the past by reblogging my posts, and I’m reaching out once more to kindly ask if you could reblog and share my latest post widely. The post is titled "Last Push for My Family's Fundraiser before the Temporary Ceasefire in Gaza: Help My Family Seize the Opportunity to Evacuate" As you know, my campaign has been vetted by El Shab Hussein and Nabulsi #151 on the Vetted Gaza Fundraisers List, as explained in the post. Link https://www.tumblr.com/supportgaza/772585234869911552/last-push-for-my-familys-fundraiser-before-the?source=share. We have reached 66% of our final goal, and it’s crucial that we push forward quickly so my family can seize the next available opportunity to evacuate and ensure their safety. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued support. It is compassionate and generous individuals like you who make the world a better place and give us hope

The verification list is here. May your family achieve its goal soon

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our-ensemble · 25 days ago

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Last Push for My Family's Fundraiser before the Temporary Ceasefire in Gaza: Help My Family Seize the Opportunity to Evacuate

Vetted by:

1. @el-shab-hussein and @nabulsi # 151 on the spreadsheet of Vetted Gaza Fundraisers List

2. @riding-with-the-wild-hunt Here.

From thousands of miles away in Ireland, I have watched my family endure unimaginable conditions of fear, displacement, hunger, and thirst in Gaza. It has robbed me of sleep, struck my heart with constant fear, and caused indescribable pain and agony.

If this war has taught us Gazans anything, it's that Israel can never be trusted. Many Israeli officials and extremist ministers have already declared that this ceasefire is temporary and that the war will resume with even greater ferocity, raining missiles and bullets on Gaza once AGAIN!

Hearing about the devastating loss of friends and acquaintances who have lost their families chills me to the bone. I cannot fathom how one continues to live in this world without their family. What would life look like? How could there be any joy, meaning, or value left? I don't want to know, and I won't take any chances.

I am determined to evacuate my parents and sisters at the first opportunity a ceasefire is reached.

Please help by reblogging and boosting my final support post for my family's campaign. This upcoming temporary ceasefire might be their only chance to evacuate and survive. Time is critical. Please take action today to help my family find safety and rebuild their lives in Ireland.

As we inch closer to achieving our goal, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you-friends of Gaza, friends of Palestine-for standing by us during this time of strife, fear, and agony. We are forever indebted to you.

Your support, even with just a click, can make a huge difference in the lives of people in desperate need. We pray that you and your loved ones will never have to endure the horrors of evacuation and war.

Please don't look away. Take action today.

Donate, reblog, and share with your friends.

#palestine #support

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our-ensemble · 25 days ago

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Observations of the Story, "1001 Arabian Nights/Surfer of the Desert Hills"

Just assembling my thoughts after going through the Enstars wiki translation via. the Wayback Machine

There's... quite a bit of back and forth in this one with regards to racism, and while the intent is pretty obvious, the execution isn't the best

Most notable is the plot of the story. The story is about UNDEAD helping Adonis open up with his emotional expressions, which wouldn't have meant anything on its own. However, when paired with him constantly being described as "scary" or "intimidating", this plot point feels less neutral.

Adonis is in a new country, surrounded by a culture that he isn't as familiar with, and speaking in a language that he's still learning, though somewhat fluent in (or else they couldn't hire Wataru Hatano). This is proven by the few mix ups that Adonis has - for example, while Kaoru is talking about "a storm", Adonis mishears him and assumes that he is talking about Arashi, whose name translates to storm. This helps cement the reading that this story is: "Man unfamiliar with x concept tries to learn it." Again, nothing particularly noteworthy.

But that's not the only thing being written.

As mentioned above, the constant mention of Adonis being scary to people doesn't help with the message, because then the message seems less like "here's how you can adjust to this new, foreign environment to help make interactions easier for you" and more like "you are unsuitable, and until you make efforts to change this, you will forever be seen as a threat."

In particular, it brings to mind a stereotype about Black and brown men that claims that they are more aggressive/less friendly than the "average" man. This leads Black and brown men to be seen as a) bigger than they are physically b) more angry than they are (a neutral or ambivalent response is interpreted as a hostile response) or c) more likely to inflict violence on somebody, among other assumptions.

Adonis suffers from this constantly, to this day. We still see him being described as exceptionally large, when he isn't even the tallest in UNDEAD, and a repeating plot point in his stories is having some NPC express fear of him without anything novel beyond other characters going "Oh that's so mean of them :(" and nothing else happening.

The thing is, it doesn't always hold up.

In Chapter 1, Kaoru addresses the crowd in the Livehouse while talking about how "This underclassman here [Adonis] has a scary face..." But Adonis isn't intimidating anybody in this scenario - he's in the middle of giving autographs to fans. The actual problem that Adonis is dealing with here is his lack of familiarity with idol etiquette and his own difficulty with communication. Instead, Kaoru's comment tacks this onto Adonis' appearance.

Adonis often makes similar comments about himself - as he does here in Chapter 7 ("Its true that I often scare people.") But here's the thing - it would normally be neutral on Adonis' part to mention that other people are scared of him (because people do tend to be scared of members of an out-group whether it be actual or perceived), however, look at his phrasing.

There's a difference between "I often scare people" and "people find me scary". The former positions the speaker as an offender, while the latter is an observation. It could be a matter of translation, but as it stands, it frames the situation as Adonis' mistake - as in, that his "threatening" appearance needs to be resolved by him.

But... how do you "fix" that sort of "mistake"?

That brings us back to the main problem with Adonis' writing as a whole - while Enstars understands that people are intimidated by foreigners, it a) doesn't do anything to explore these feelings, especially the structures and sentiments that foster these feelings of intimidation and b) it treats this intimidation as an understandable, instinctive response instead of one learned from the environment. And so, Adonis' stories never address the root cause of this behaviour - people just happen to be afraid of him, and its on him to teach people that "things that seem scary aren't actually that scary". Except why is he scary, Enstars?

(The above is a repeated concern with Adonis' stories and a very common observation by fans in general, so expect it to be mentioned often in this blog, especially as I go about rereading Enstars.)

1001 Nights mentions a fair bit about Adonis' family and background - or as much as we'll ever get for the time being. But there's one thing I want to mention:

Enstars does attempt to dispel some of the misconceptions about the SWANA region, using Kaoru to show some of the wrong information people may have. For instance, in Chapter 3, Kaoru mentions a) that he thinks that Arabia is full of oil springs and magic carpets (and I will say this: Kaoru's mention of the latter does make this interaction feel less serious to me, but maybe I'm just picky), b) that he thinks Adonis lives in a jungle and c) in Chapter 8, that Adonis' dad might be an oil tycoon owner.

Kaoru is negated in every instance above, which is good - if not for other things that wind up weakening this scene.

Namely: “Yes. It is a country that Japan is not very familiar with, so even if I say the name I doubt you will know it. It is a small country in the Arabian peninsula. My father is… a bit of an influential man in that country.” - Chapter 8.

Forgive me if this isn't the kindest interpretation, but it feels like such a cop-out to avoid actually confirming where Adonis is from. One very important thing about 1001 Nights is that it gives a rundown of Adonis' backstory, his motivations, and (crumbs about) his country. If there was ever a story where they should mention the country's name, it should have been this one. But they... don't.

In particular, Rei mentions in this very story that he has been in this country before - meaning that contrary to what Adonis says, there is somebody that knows about this country in this room. In fact, Rei would have been able to help Adonis talk about his country since he has an outsiders perspective, closer to Kaoru's and Koga's, which would help him anticipate what to explain.

(Additionally, I believe that Kaoru makes the jungle comment again after this point; so, if true, telling him off winds up being pointless.)

Though, the bit about Adonis' father is interesting. It does veer a little close to the "Arab prince" stereotype, but Adonis doesn't really play into that one, which is why I don't personally worry about it when it comes to Adonis' writing. It sets up an interesting family dynamic since Adonis, his mother, and his sisters are in Japan, while his father decided to stay in [insert country here] because of his position, but its not really taken advantage of in any stories.

... And that takes us to something else, which is that the reason why Adonis' father stayed behind is because Adonis' country is currently in war. This plays into stereotypes about "the Middle East being in constant conflict."

It's a bit of a lengthy one to break down, but let me put it like this: This stereotype flattens political discussions about the SWANA region, specifically by stripping each nation of its context and attributing any and all conflict to "the nature of the Arabs and/or Muslims". Additionally, it completely obscures the way that states outside of the SWANA region contribute to its turmoil.

To my knowledge, Enstars never uses this information to make any important point. The only thing we know about this war is that its happening, and that such conflict happens often where Adonis is from. I'll cover this more when talking about Adonis' Idol Story 1 in the !!-era.

As such, while there was no problem telling Kaoru that he was wrong about the SWANA region, there isn't any "correcting" done - and that's important because fighting misinformation requires proving it wrong, otherwise you risk replacing that misinformation with other forms of misinformation.

What I will say is I liked that the story acknowledges that, because of Adonis' position of privilege in his respective country, he does not "fully" understand the pains of war.

I know that in the event "Romance * A SWING NIGHT To Sing Along To", there were some concerns about the portrayal of Adonis' family, but since I have not read that event yet, I won't make any connections between the what we have here and what was revealed there. I'll keep in mind that some of the details about Adonis' family here might be relevant later.

There's one comment in particular that I didn't like, which is that when Adonis mentions that he doesn't use the Internet much in Chapter 2, Kaoru responds, “Adonis-kun, you act like a primitive man sometimes, huh?”

I cannot find a time when Kaoru uses the term "primitive" for Rei, who has a similar reaction to the Internet. Its all the more glaring when in Rei and Koga's interaction about the Internet in this story, Koga refers to Rei as a "geezer", never "primitive".

Adonis doesn't dispute it, much like how he doesn't dispute comments about his size as mentioned above, which makes it feel like a "legitimate" or "acceptable" comment to make about Adonis, especially when compared to other comments that were discouraged in this story.

All in all...

Enstars has some level of familiarity with the stereotypes and discrimination that Adonis would face. However, this understanding is rather surface level, and as 1001 Nights illustrates best (even about 9 years after its release), it results in a tendency to come around and reinforce the racism that it tries to condemn. Additionally, with Adonis' archetype being "The Arab Character" as opposed to some sort of personality type or character trope, we do see a fair bit of stereotyping to reinforce this idea. The card + outfit associated with this event ("Paradise Lion's Dream" + "Arabian") also does this story no favours.

#story notes #adonis otogari #enstars #ensemble stars #racism #if anyone has other translations/interpretation don't be afraid to mention them

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our-ensemble · 27 days ago

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Google Docs for Review

In this document, I'll be compiling all information that has been received. It will be open for viewing, but not editing.

(The email used does not contain my name, or the name of anyone I know some of us have burner emails, alright? so none of my information is being shown.)

#update

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our-ensemble · 28 days ago

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Personally, I'd love for Ibuki to join CrazyB. Rinne and Niki already have cute nicknames for him, plus he made American style sushi for them (+Jun and Tatsumi) and they all seem to get along well: https://citrinesea.github.io/translation/lets_have_some_sushi/

But since each member has an Alkaloid counterpart, they could bring back Kaname and let him be the Joker card (ToJO KAname). But I really doubt it, especially since he's just barely getting better. It'd be way to soon for him to recover

It's just really frustrating that they had so many other ways to include Ibuki into a unit (literally could've even changed up some characters/theme of esupuri), but they decided to go the worst way possible

Excellent insight, anon!

It definitely pushes up his likelihood to be in Crazy:B a lot more, and the Kaname bit could be an interesting development in the future after his situation improves as ALKALOID's response to Ibuki's addition! Though definitely not anytime soon.

Again, as you say, they could have done anything but this.

(And to clear up for future reference - not to you anon - I won't be talking about these sorts of things often. I think acknowledging the other potential options that Enstars has in its approach is important to showcase that these are choices being made, and that they are in no way pushed into a corner with their writing - especially of marginalized characters. That being said, there is a point where this may deviate from the intentions of this blog, and I hope people will understand if I don't interact too much in the fan creation space.)

#asks #stars of mine #<- this is the tag for atypical and/or personal content on this blog

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our-ensemble · 28 days ago

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Hello. This is Mahmoud Khalaf from Gaza currently studying in Ireland. I hope you are well. I am campaigning to evacuate my family from Gaza and reunite with them in Ireland. My campaign was vetted by el shab Hussein and nabulsi #151 on the Vetted Gaza Fundraisers List as you can see in my recent post. May I ask you please to reblog my post titled "Traumatized in Ireland While my Family is Facing Death and Starvation in Gaza" https://www.tumblr.com/supportgaza/767056441041420288?source=share. My family is still trapped in Gaza in the midst of a genocidal horrific war. We are at 66% of our final goal

This fundraiser has been vetted here! May your family be well

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our-ensemble · 28 days ago

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Traumatized in Ireland While my Family is Facing Death and Starvation in Gaza

Note: Vetted by:

1. @el-shab-hussein and @nabulsi # 151 on the spreadsheet of Vetted Gaza Fundraisers List]

2. @riding-with-the-wild-hunt Here .

I contemplate the happy faces of people around me here in Ireland and reminisce about the happy normal life my family and I had before the war. A life that turned into a distant memory for us and was replaced by an unending series of horrible nightmares.

Unlike my family in Gaza, people here have access to drinking water, all types of food, electricity, and a roof over their heads. Above all, they are safe, and I cannot help but wonder if they genuinely do appreciate these blessings in their lives enough.

People seem relaxed and laughing wholeheartedly around me in Ireland. I wish I could laugh too, but I am crushed way beyond recovery on the inside. I was evacuated by my Irish college after five months of living the horrors of war in Gaza. I hope you will never know what it feels like to live in constant fear and worry and be horrified by the most sickening and scary nightmares every single night while you are far away from your family in such circumstances.

When did my people in Gaza cease to be human beings worthy and deserving of a normal life? Has it become normal now for my family in Gaza to be starved and killed while the whole world is watching the genocide? If that is the case, then you will have to excuse me if I seek every avenue to bring them to Ireland and start a new normal life like all people here around me.

I was assured by the Irish Reugee Council (IRC) and lawyers in Ireland that there is hope I can reunite with my family in Ireland. In difficult times, it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. For me and my family, you are literally our light and hope for a better life.

SOS!

Please donate, reblog and share.

Tagging for reach <3

Please consider boosting my campaign.

@fancysmudges @brokenbackmountain @mothblossoms

@aleciosun @fluoresensitive @khizuo @lesbiandardevil

@transmutationisms @schoolhater @timogsilangan @appsa

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@shesnake @legallybrunettedotcom @lautakwah @sovietunion

@7bitter @toiletpotato @fromjannah @omegaversereloaded

#palestine #support

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our-ensemble · 28 days ago

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How else could HappyElements go about writing Ibuki?

Just a little exercise to see what else Enstars could have done with Ibuki besides what they're doing now. (This one is long!)

When it comes to putting Ibuki in another unit, its very debatable, but its not impossible. Below are just my own thoughts and I'll get into why I wrote this at the bottom.

So, units!

fine: Not the best. Writing-wise, I don't think it's impossible to fit Ibuki in... somewhere? But all in all, fine doesn't lend itself to a story that would make Ibuki's addition natural. Also, aesthetically, it doesn't seem up Ibuki's alley. While Eichi's actions in Okinawa could lead to an interesting conflict with developments for both parties which plays into real-life social issues, that depends on Enstars' ability to write it, which is currently in an unideal place. That being said, I am waiting for the day that Ibuki sues Eichi. Put your court skills to use!

Trickstar: Likely not. Again, like with fine, Trickstar's overall writing makes this difficult and unnatural. Maybe with a lot of pre-existing development where its made clear that he'll join, but otherwise, he's difficult to slot in Trickstar's current dynamic (and that's not even going into Trickstar's historical importance to its producers as being the four of them + Anzu).

Ryuseitai: Possible! Ryuseitai is currently in a directional shift + leadership shift, and Ibuki's addition plays well into this setup. Additionally, in Enstars, the pre-existing lore is that units must have 2 - 5 idols as a result of War-era imposed restrictions, and it would be interesting to see how that tidbit of worldbuilding holds up in relation to this idea. Ibuki and Tetora's interaction in Ibuki's Idol Story 2 also provides some idea of how Ibuki's inclusion would go, and the interaction also makes the inclusion less sudden. Though, if memory serves me well, he rejected being the leader of EsuPuri because it was child-like? or childish? Anyway, he might have similar concerns with Ryuseitai - or he could embrace his inner-child some more. Ibuki should watch Kamen Rider Geats.

ALKALOID: It can work! ALKALOID is in a bit of a lull writing-wise, and adding Ibuki could be just the thing to stir them up. Ibuki's personality + identity means that like each member, he is marginalized, but his narrative doesn't seem to be stepping on anyone's toes. He also seems more ambitious and energetic than the average member, which could be interesting. The points about Tetora made above also apply with Hiiro and Ibuki. However, how Ibuki would wind up in ALKALOID seems hard to determine, since they are weapons-but-not-really-anymore of StarPro. Unless Eichi takes interest in Ibuki? Plus, there are only 4 suits in a deck of cards. Guess we'll have to make up a fifth one... (Would Ibuki be "one of the kids" or would he be Tatsumi's grandchild? The world will never know...)

Eden: Highly unlikely. Unless Ibuki REALLY sweeps Ibara off his feet, its not happening. Eden also has an "it is the Four of them" atmosphere - and even if it didn't, I can't imagine Ibuki being the most comfortable in this setup. The aesthetics also aren't really for him. Maybe when you're older and more experienced, Ibuki...

2wink: How. (everything from this point on is a joke to be clear) In the twin unit? The 2 unit? Do we kick one of them out? Does Ibuki become a triplet? What's the thought process here? Where are we going from here? Is Ibuki the family therapist? Are we finally getting 3wink (thrwink... thwink...)?

Valkyrie: In Shu's words - Non. Writing-wise, this just wouldn't happen. Plus - and this really was the only way that I could word this - Valkyrie's freakisms are not for the weak of heart, and while I don't doubt Ibuki's tenacity, I'm not sure if he would want to be around these two for an extended period of time. The aesthetics also aren't tailored to him. Additionally, Shu's habit of calling Rinne a barbarian doesn't translate well here, and gets us into a situation with a lot of microaggressions and little to no resolution.

Crazy:B: There's a chance - if Lady Luck's in your favour. If any unit were to suddenly add a guy midway, it should be the rebellious unit, no? A unit that appeals to outsiders could also make Ibuki feel welcome as someone unfamiliar to Japan - or it could make him feel more isolated, but that depends on a lot of things. In their writing, Crazy:B has been focusing a lot on their interpersonal relationships lately, and Ibuki's addition might get them back into their greater theme of rebellion - or it could ruin what has been established about their interpersonal relationships, and we wind up going over the same song and dance when it comes to rebellion. Fans are also really fond of the Crazy:B dynamic now, so adding in another guy likely would not fair well. Then, same concern as ALKALOID - how would Ibuki end up here? Lady Luck'll have to be extra nice to Ibuki if he joins this unit...

UNDEAD: Hard to imagine. Honestly, I just couldn't visualize this one. In all fairness, Enstars' ability to integrate Kaoru and Adonis into UNDEAD's major arcs hasn't always been the most stable (see: HappyElements not using their names once in the original summary for UNDEAD's climax event) and Ibuki would likely get the same treatment, if not worse. Again, very hard to integrate Ibuki in writing-wise, and he would definitely be outright neglected. A shame, because while he might not be suited to UNDEAD as a unit, it's not as impossible to imagine his interactions with the individual members.

Ra*bits: Hmm... Ra*bits' recent attempts to mix "cute" and "cool" so as to stand apart from girl groups while still retaining their existing appeal gives a bit of room to work with. Ibuki's definitely a "cool" guy, so I imagine that he could teach them quite a bit - but it doesn't look like he gets much in return for now. Aesthetically, it bears for him the same problems that EsuPuri does. Again, that doesn't even go into Ra*bits as "the Four of them". Maybe if they develop a lot of interaction beforehand and clearly outline their future goal...

Knights: I have ideas (but Enstars might not)! With Esu formerly studying under Knights, do you have any idea how funny this would be? People were a bit peeved that EsuPuri and Knights had similar aesthetics, but introducting Ibuki into Knights then setting up Knights as their senpai + rival could be so fun, especially with a rivalry between Esu and Ibuki to mimic the older rivalries our protagonists had (Trickstar - fine, ALKALOID - Crazy:B). Like, the guy that dropped out of being leader, ultimately leading to you to become leader in his absence, is now singing and dancing with your senpai who are considered some of the best in the industry. Also, like with Ryuseitai, we get to poke at the worldbuilding that previously established that units cannot have more than 5 members. Please tell me you see the vision. (though I will concede that the aesthetics + goals of Knights don't scream Ibuki).

There's also something here that applies with some other units as well - which is that putting Ibuki in units where the leader is one of the younger characters in the franchise helps show off how pre-existing characters have grown. Since Enstars characters have been aged up a year 1-2 times, there's been quite a bit of growth for them, but people tend to be stuck with their impressions of when these characters were younger. EsuPuri + Ibuki can help show the growth of the younger characters by putting them into senpai positions, sometimes for the first time. So, for Knights, it means that Tsukasa would have a proper junior for the first time - which either leads to interesting developments for the Knights characters or neglect of pre-existing relationships.

Which is to say that a) we get to see Kasa-kun curbstomp a bunch of children and b) we get to see Kasa-kun realize that having an energetic junior isn't better than having energetic seniors.

Switch: Not the one. Can't really see Ibuki in this one for, as always, aesthetic and writing purposes. Additionally, SwitchPs have noticed that Sora doesn't get as much attention as the other two, which could go in two ways. 1) Ibuki and Sora become an in-unit pair akin to Natsume and Tsumugi, and their developing relationship allows them to battle this disparity in attention or 2) the lack of attention gets heightened, with either Sora, or Ibuki - or even both - being neglected.

MaM: Interesting. Madara and Ibuki both seem to be the independent type, and its noted that Madara isn't mindful of others when dancing in a group since he's used to being alone. Though, his experiences in Double Face must have changed that, and it would be interesting to see how he has changed since Double Face's creation - but if not written well, it could trivialize Double Face's history. On one hand, fans enjoy seeing Madara make friends, but on the other hand, Madara's choice of being solo has been quite the question, and Ibuki's addition might bury this worldbuilding away if not written well. It definitely has potential, but it has just as much potential to go awry. Ibuki could be Madara's lawyer instead I guess.

Solo: HappyElements, hire me and I will raise you to levels you could never fathom!

They could have made a whole show of it! Have Ibuki go from unit to unit where he's their understudy for the duration of the event and have him assess whether or not he wants to join! This would tie into the junior system in J-POP where idols pre-debut usually become backup dancers for other units, going on to do interviews, songs and other things to build up a reputation before debuting and using their now established fanbase to make a lot of dough! It would tie in so well to the idol-like direction that HappyElements is taking with 4piece!

It could have been such a grand event! Have them build up the hype over time, show off the pros and cons that Ibuki sees in joining a unit, and then when the time comes to announce his decision after months, maybe even years in real-life - pull the rug out from under everyone and have him go solo! And since going solo isn't allowed in-universe, have them confront the War-era rules that continue to affect idols! Let Ibuki challenge the idol rules that Eichi once established and mess with the system!

And if he were rivals with Esu? Imagine if he outperforms EsuPuri as a solo idol - that's gotta be a hit to Esu as a leader... Man...

and AKATSUKI...

The new AKATSUKI could have been "an idea of Japan that represents everyone" which acknowledges those beyond the Yamato. It could have recognized the diversity in Japan, and allowed for the "idea" of Japan to no longer be dominated by the majority - a unit that respects the people of Japan who are normally forgotten. An AKATSUKI were Ibuki's traditions are celebrated, not chiseled down.

Instead, Ibuki is being absorbed into "the traditional Japan" - a very different scenario from the above.

That's all from me. I have a little extra info below for the curious.

Why write this? It's not really related to your blog...?

Fair question. But for one, I think that we forget that writing is a part of HappyElements' problem of discrimination (but just one part). As people have mentioned for years with Adonis, its pretty clear that the message is that racism is bad - its just that in their writing, HappyElements reinforces the racism that it claims to be against, thus pitting themselves against their own message.

This is only exemplified more in the recent AKATSUKI event, but what I really want to address is fan reactions.

There's a bit of a rift growing now, particularly with AKATSUKIPs and IbukiPs

"If you were a real AKATSUKI fan, you would still recognize and support them as four."

"AKATSUKI is only ever three, the AKATSUKI with Ibuki in it is not who I grew to love."

"AKATSUKI fans are being so rude - there is no problem with Ibuki joining, and he deserves to be in a unit."

"Ibuki shouldn't be in this unit, and it hurts for me as his producer to see him here."

But here's the thing:

Fans are not the ones who created this situation, so why are they blaming each other?

Enstars did not write a good event for either AKATSUKI or Ibuki, frankly speaking. Even if you remove every incident of racism from Enstars, the writing quality is still bad. Even if the writing quality was good in this event, it would not change the imperialistic tones.

But this is not a dichotomy - HappyElements doesn't have to choose between making either AKATSUKIPs happy or IbukiPs happy. It could have written anything else, as I've demonstrated in my writing exercise above. Some fans have been theorizing about other units Ibuki could join, and some are rather amenable to Ibuki joining their own favorites! HappyElements chose the most divisive decision, sullied further by a slew of problems.

When the song Tenshou KAGETSU was first released, prior to the story release, there was a common sentiment in the comments:

"Let's hope for an event that will make us both [AKATSUKIP and IbukiP] happy!"

And their hopes weren't misplaced. It was more than possible.

HappyElements' choice is what made it impossible.

#enstars #ensemble stars #ibuki taki #stars of mine

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