#25 Kaito

[pinenappo]

Niigo Kaito meets Tsukasa and sense something about him 🙂

[soapyakships]

i'm collapsing with my one secret

[hazeglu]

Who made him mad 🥶

[kidcosky]

4th anniversary celebration art!!

[threesacult]

big fan of the direction they took niigo kaito in

[the-overanalyst]

ok i gotta talk about how well the empty sekai vocaloids are written to enhance n25's story

empty miku takes a more active role in the main story than any of her alter egos. empty sekai was originally created with both the desire to disappear and the desire to be saved. miku embodies the latter, so she's the one who called kanade and the others to talk mafuyu down. her existence started out monotonous and lonely, but slowly filled up with good things, which mirrors mafuyu's journey.

rin's arrival signals that empty sekai no longer belongs to mafuyu alone. the members of n25 all share the same feelings to an extent. their connection causes the sekai to become less empty bit by bit. but isn't it interesting how that process began thanks to ena, mafuyu's polar opposite who gets along with her the least? ena uses the sekai for its original purpose--to escape from reality when she wants to disappear--so part of it becomes hers.

meiko, obviously, is a direct parallel for mizuki, always keeping her distance. so her time to shine was right along with mizuki's in this most recent arc. as mizuki gets to the point where she's willing to share her secret, meiko gets to the point where she's willing to get involved in the girls' problems. mizuki's first 4* in an ena event came with meiko's first feature in a non-mizuki event. and her character development is actually crazy, from "sometimes talking makes things worse" to being the one who gets mizuki to talk to ena. live laugh love empty meiko.

luka's self-proclaimed role is as the one who will shakes things up and bring change. she's not afraid to break something if it means learning how to put it back together better than before. in fact, she's pretty effective at this, being featured in events that correspond to mafuyu's biggest milestones: smiling for the first time and running away from home. to me, she's most interesting as a foil to meiko: action vs. inaction, reckless vs. careful.

len represents mafuyu's inner child. he was lost in sekai for an unknown amount of time, but when she finds him, she starts to remember what her childhood was really like. she remembers the way her mother guilt-tripped her for getting lost at pxl, that even then there was no warmth in their relationship. now, as her mother becomes set on stopping her from making music, mafuyu feels just as lost and afraid as len does.

and last but not least, kaito. a problematic fave perhaps, but also the true mvp of mafuyu's arc. he is an embodiment of rising stakes, of walls closing in and time running out. his first appearance is in the event where we see mafumom as the villain she is, and where she starts actively interfering with n25. he tells mafuyu the hard truth that she needed to hear: if she stays as she is, her true self will be destroyed. so of course, he terrifies her, but he's the one who gives her the push to save herself

[cheriidotclip]

no kaimei card in ena5 so i just threw kaito in there myself

[yunyunbby]

"Take one step at a time Tsukasa-kun"

VS

"Fight your mom, Mafuyu"

[monkie-see-monkie-do]

...Definitely looking too much into it, but ever since my first listen of Bake no Hana, I've found it interesting just how much Mizuki's lines near the end--

でさっさと消えて 化��の花 If it won't be understood in the future, 此処でさっさと消えて 化けの花 The flower of disguise quickly disappears, here.

--is obscured by KAITO's voice.

The mixing usually has it so that the girls' voices can be heard clearly over his. But in the final verse, his presence becomes less of a backup vocal. Mizuki, who's had her "flower of disguise" torn away and "true self" revealed against their will.

Mizuki's, now distorted by the evidently male voice that's been in the background up till now, coming out in full force.

[orchestrasekai]

✦ Where Does the Path of Thorns Lead To? Papercrafts ✦

minaide rikai dekinaideshou?

[awnrii]

somethings coming / to where you are

[soapyakships]

zukizukizuki zukizukizuki zukizukizuki ZUKIZUKI zukizukizuki zukizukizuki ZUKI ZUKI ZUKI

[memoriashell]

this came to me in a vision while i was at work

[prosekaipng]

Hello・Good・Day! x Colorful Festival

[burgersdayoff]

mizu5 was really good guys

[noname-nonartist]

It hits so hard in the worst way possible…/pos